Abraham & Sarah

Joel and I help lead Funday Monday School at church in Big Sandy. It's what they have instead of Sunday school. We are using One Room School House curriculum because it is for an array of ages and we've been learning about Abraham.

During advent we focused on that church season. So, yesterday was our first day back to Abraham.

This week was about the birth of Isaac and Sarah's waiting.

As we were preparing the lesson, which is very lined out for us, I hit a low. I didn't even want to go. How do you teach a lesson to 3-6th graders on something so personal to you? How do I teach it without talking about our journey?

I was pretty sad.

We used an object lesson: I placed an ice cube in a bowl and set it in the center of the table. I pulled out a bag of candy and told the kids it was for them. BUT they couldn't have it until the ice cube melted. They were not allowed to move the ice cube or touch it...those were some pretty frustrated and bummed out kids!

Immediately they started blowing on it...that was allowed. But as soon as they tried to move it and throw salt on it, I had to move it out of reach!

After many minutes and after what felt like forever to them, with just 10 minutes left before it was time to go home, it finally melted.

And I disbursed the candy! Their faces lit up, they were joy filled. They all got an equal number of pieces. They traded candy flavors to make themselves even happier.

Then I got inspired, using my own story to ask them these questions:

What if I had promised you the candy, but then decided not to give it to you once the ice cube was melted?

What if you would have been given only 1 piece of candy each from the bag, instead of the entire bag equally divided?

What if I had told you, once the ice cube was melted, that actually you would have to wait til next week, or even next month, for the the candy, instead of getting it right that moment?

It made them think. It made me think. We talked.

It was good.

I cling to the promise that God gave Abraham and Sarah.

I cling to the promise we have in Jesus. I cling to hope.

I want the same ending, with a different age of course, but after years of waiting and longing, I want the same ending as Sarah and Abraham.