Teachers

THE HAND

Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class a fun assignment -- to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful.
Most of the class might be considered economically disadvantaged, but still many would celebrate the holiday with turkey and other traditional goodies of the season. These, the teacher thought, would be the subjects of most of her student's art. And they were.
But Douglas made a different kind of picture. Douglas was a different kind of boy. He was the teacher's true child of misery, frail and unhappy. As other children played at recess, Douglas was likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess at the pain Douglas felt behind those sad eyes.
Yes, his picture was different. When asked to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful, he drew a hand. Nothing else. Just an empty hand.
His abstract image captured the imagination of his peers. Whose hand could it be? One child guessed it was the hand of a farmer, because farmers raise turkeys. Another suggested a police officer, because the police protect and care for people. Still others guessed it was the hand of God, for God feeds us. And so the discussion went -- until the teacher almost forgot the young artist himself.
When the children had gone on to other assignments, she paused at Douglas' desk, bent down, and asked him whose hand it was.
The little boy looked away and murmured, "It's yours, teacher."
He recalled the times she had taken his hand and walked with him here or there, as she had the other students. How often had she said, "Take my hand, Douglas, we'll go outside." Or, "Let me show you how to hold your pencil." Or, "Let's do this together." Douglas was most thankful for his teacher's hand.
Brushing aside a tear, she hugged Douglas and went on with her work.
The story speaks of more than thankfulness. It says something about teachers teaching and parents parenting and friends showing friendship, and how much it means to the Douglases of the world. They might not always say thanks. But they'll remember the hand that reaches out.
--author unknown

badge

View my page on cmconnect.org

The Day they kicked God out of our schools!

THE DAY THEY KICKED GOD OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS!

AND HOW TO TALK WITH KIDS ABOUT TRAGEDIES!

See the video here: http://www.afr.net/newafr/wekickedgodout.asp.

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'
Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV)


The Senselessness of Monday's Events (and other tragedies)
By Patricia Meyers ( www.childrenschurchstuff.com )

It is so hard to talk to kids about tragedies, but we must. Not letting them talk is far worse and creates who knows what kind of imagination in their psyche. Let them talk and ask questions. My recommendation is to listen to them first. Get a feel for where they are regarding the issues. And then respond. Here is one idea of how to share with children when tragedy strikes. It is not meant to be a script, but a guideline and a thought starter. You will need a ball, preferably a hard ball, and some flower pots, dirt, seeds, and water.


The Bible tells us to "comfort those who need to be comforted" and "weep with those who weep". Since the Bible says this, we can know that there are going to be times when people need to be comforted and when people weep with sadness, sometimes overwhelming sadness. It is only logical, the Bible is clear. Jesus even said "In this life you will have trouble."

Yet when there is a horrific and tragic happening, we wonder how God allowed this to happen. That is a logical question. In our mind He is an all-loving God and an all-powerful God. If He had wanted to stop that mad-man, He could have. Absolutely. He is all-powerful.

But in His awesome power, He has granted man freedom of choice. That was His design early on and He has not changed that stance. Even when we wish He would. And while we don't really want people deciding what we can and cannot do, we know He is absolute love, so we could trust Him to step in on people's choices at the right time.

But He doesn't step in. And that does not take away from His perfect love and His all powerful stature. It only feels like it does when we are in the middle of such a crisis. You might even want to scream "IT HAS TO BE HIS FAULT A LITTLE BIT!" We all know how that feels. When bad things happen, no matter how big or how small, we feel a very strong sense of injustice.

And then we think, "Well, why didn't He at least save the Christians from this tragedy? There were Christians killed in the Virginia Tech massacre just like non-Christians." And sure, that is a normal next question. We can see in the Bible how God didn't change the events that led Daniel to the lion's den, but He saved Him in the lion's den. And that is not the only example of Him rescuing those that loved Him. But we can look at the life of Paul and see one tragedy after another: shipwrecks, beatings, stonings, etc. We do know, with certainty, that those that loved Him are in a much, much, much, much better place. While it still hurts terribly to lose a loved one, if they love Jesus there is that comfort.

We have to accept the fact that this event was simply horrible. And simply horrible things happen. We probably all know a family that has suffered a terrible loss of a loved one from a car accident, or a work accident. And while it may have involved only one person, the loss is still enormous. And the questions of "Why did this happen?" still come up.

As much as we wish it to be so, God does not step in and stop our actions. If He did, He would stop us from telling lies, He would stop us from disobeying our parents, He would stop us from thinking thoughts we should not be thinking, He would stop people from hating other people.

But He doesn't. We want to know why He would not stop this evil person from killing so many, but we never ask why He won't stop us from disobeying. And yet the answer is the same: We have to discipline ourselves. We have to choose to do what is right.

Then people want to blame the guns. It is not the gun's fault anymore than it is the car's fault in a car accident. Do you think guns have protected more people than they have wrongfully killed? I would imagine that to be true. And if this man was willing to do something as evil as killing all those innocent people, wouldn't he be willing break laws to get guns illegally? Certainly. It is never the object's fault. It is the person that uses the object. We cannot decide that outlawing guns would fix this. We haven't outlawed cars even though people are killed in car accidents every single day.

Has anyone ever been in a bicycle accident? Was it the bike's fault? Did you ride your bike again? Did you do the same mistake twice that caused the accident? Not usually. If you did, I'll bet you laughed at yourself.

Let's use this ball for an example. If I throw this ball at the wall, what is going to happen? If I throw the ball at the wall with all the strength I have, what will happen? If I throw this ball at the wall with all the strength I have, and someone steps into the path of the ball after I throw it, what is going to happen? Is it the ball's fault? Nope, it is inevitable. If the ball is going in one direction and you step in the way, you will get injured. That is just a fact. Now what would the difference be if I threw this ball with all my strength and I aimed it right at your head. Would it be the ball's fault then? Whose fault would it be? Mine, absolutely. That is what happened on April 16th, this guy took a serious weapon, much more serious than this ball, and aimed it right at people on purpose. It is his fault. One hundred percent his fault.

We have to be taught to be honorable, and responsible, and trustworthy, and kind, and generous, and good. That is the only thing that will affect how we use an object, how we handle ourselves in any given situation.

What is left is for us to comfort those that need comforted and weep with those that weep. It is our duty to pray that the God of all comfort would be ever present in these families' lives to help them through this dreadful time.

Every time we hear of another soldier killed in Iraq, we need to pray the same prayer. After 9/11 we prayed the same prayer. When we see reports on the news of tragedies, we should pray the same prayer.

While God does not step in and stop actions, He DOES step in and comfort. He does rescue our futures. He does bring beauty from ashes. Isn't that a strange phrase: beauty from ashes? Do you know what ashes are? It is the dirt and mess left after a fire. It doesn't look lovely at all, it is quite messy and sticks to stuff and makes it more messy. But God can take something that is completely and utterly horrific and bring beauty from it, if we let Him.

We don't have to understand completely. We don't have to get over it a certain amount of time. We don't have to say "It is okay" because it is absolutely NOT okay. We just need to trust that He will make everything better.

(Bring out some flower pots, dirt, seeds, and water.) Let's plant some flowers. This is probably the best example of healing that we can use. We'll use this dirt that is not really pretty all by itself as our base. And we'll take these flower seeds and plant them deep in the dirt. Let's say these flower seeds represent our hope that God will bring healing and restoration from this tragedy. Now let's water it, gently and evenly. Take your pot home and set it in a place where it can get some sunlight. Keep the dirt moist, not drenched in water, and don't let it get real dry. Water it gently and, as you do, pray for everyone affected by this tragedy. Slowly the seeds will open and new life will start to grow. You'll see a little sprout pop its head up and reach towards the light. Then one day a bloom will burst open.

That is how healing can come when bad things happen. Plant some hope and keep it watered. Do not abandon the God of hope. He has a future and a hope for every one of us; for every family affected by a tragedy, for every person that hurts and needs comfort. Plant some hope in your heart and keep it in a place where the Son can reach it. And watch God bring life again. It may happen slowly and it will only come with us helping each other and reaching out for hope. But it will happen if we trust Him.

Just trust. Don't blame. Just hope. Don't despair. Just wait. It will come. And pray.