A week
prior, as Andrew was cleaning his small home, he came across a small, yellowed
piece of paper tucked behind his kitchen cabinet. He had never seen it before.
He took care not to tear it, as he carefully unfolded it. On it, written in
bold letters, was his name: Andrew. At the top in small letters was “Boy 618”. Beneath
it, in careful script were the words: brave, strong,
courageous and warrior. He
laid it out carefully on his small table. What did it mean? Because his
learning was so limited (they only learned what they needed to do their
assigned jobs) he wasn’t used to problem solving with words. So it was days
before a sudden thought landed in Andrew’s mind. It was what his name meant; his
name had meaning! Upon this sudden realization, life surged through his young
body, his heart beat faster and sudden, unexpected thoughts filled his mind. He
was named intentionally. Someone had carefully chosen a name for him! What did
all that mean?
As Andrew
grew in this deep quest to know, his brain became quicker, sharper and
tuned into details he would normally have missed.
He had
mapped out much of the woods, but there was one part, darker than all the rest,
that he hadn’t yet ventured into. The shadows seemed darkest, yet there was a
pull. It didn’t make sense, but it was almost as if there was an outside force
drawing him in. In fact, it seemed as if there was a lit-up path. Surely his
mind was playing tricks on him, but what did he have to lose? This was a blank
part of his map. He didn’t know what the result of this map would be, but he
felt strongly about filling in the missing pieces; at least as much as he could
reach in the limited time he had to be away from his cottage.
That
afternoon, after lunch, he donned his sturdiest pants, tall socks, rain boots
(that was his best option), and a long-sleeved shirt. As he left his cottage, he
quickly threw his work gloves into his back pocket, with no idea of what the
tangled woods might hold.
Eleanor spent three days traveling. On the third night, she
still hadn’t reached the destination she had marked on her map. She made a
quick camp that night and ate sparsely. Her stomach was full of butterflies.
Tomorrow was the day she’d reach that part of the map she and Grandma imagined
held answers.
As the first flutterings of light peeked over the horizon,
Eleanor’s eyes flew open. Her heartbeat quickened as she quickly cleaned up
camp. As soon as she set off, goosebumps crept up her arms. She prickled with
anticipation.
As she crested a hill, she saw a darkness across the expanse.
Shivers tingled up and down her spine. At the same moment, a path seemed to
light up ahead of her.
FAMILY
CONNECTION
If you haven’t in the past, talk
about what your names mean, in your family. Talk about peoples’ names and
places in the Bible. Names were specific to what was going on in their lives.
Do your own names or kids’ names tell a story, relate to their time of being
born or a truth about identity?
Read John 3:3 (and the surrounding story and chapter if you
choose; context is always important). What does it mean to be born again? Ask
your children if they understand what this means (reading more of the story can
lend to this conversation). If your children have not already given their lives
to the Lord, ask if they want to ask Jesus to be the Lord of their lives and lead
them in prayer. In class, we discussed the ABCs of Salvation.
This week
plants were sent home with each family. There are two plants (although you may
need to divide the plants into two pots). These next few weeks we will look at
the power of our words. God SPOKE the world into being. We were created in His
image, so it makes sense that our words also carry power. Read Proverbs 18:21.
Treat these plants identically EXCEPT for the words spoken over them. Over one,
speak words of life, encouragement, kindness, love… Over the other, speak words
of death, bullying, discouragement, attacks, hate… Watch this video to aid in
your own experiment OR if you don’t get to the experiment, but still want to
see what happens. Bully A
Plant: Say No To Bullying (youtube.com). Continue this experiment over the
summer and do the same with rice: The Rice Experiment: The
Power of Words (youtube.com). There is also a water one, but I haven’t
figured out how to “see” this one, but the video shows the power our own thoughts
have: Water Has Memory!
Dr. Masaru Emoto’s Water Experiment! (youtube.com).
Verse to
memorize: Proverbs
18:21
Journal
Ideas:
Write
Proverbs 18:21 at the top of your journal page. Then make a hypothesis (you can
write or draw) about what you think will happen in this experiment. Make sure you
leave the next page blank to write what happens over the course of the next few
weeks.
Ask the Lord
to give you a name or two, of friends or family, to start praying for their
salvation. Write these names in your journal. Then write these names on a
sticky note and put someplace you will see and remember to pray for them every
day. Ask God to show you how to pray for them. Pray for God to give you
an opportunity to share the Gospel with them and how to make Jesus the Lord and
Savior of their life.
ABCs of
Salvation image: ABC-of-salvation.jpg
(514×586) (worthyofpraise.org)
