Hello all! I haven't done a class blog in a couple weeks...busy busy busy! This is a portion of the classes I did when my parents were here. I usually do a Proverb, but my mom gave me the idea to show them this story and talk about making a difference. Here is the story I read to them:
The Starfish Story
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,
“Well, I made a difference to that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
I asked them if they understood what it meant to make a difference. If they didn't, I explained that lighting a match in darkness gives the room light, and the light makes a difference to the darkness. I then asked them to get into groups and tell me what they thought they could do in their community to make a difference. Here were some of their responses:
"Don't belittle other people. Donate some clothes. Adopt children."
"I will be friendly to all the people around me. I will visit and take care of the elder when the weekends come."
A lot of my students placed a lot of importance on keeping the earth clean and said that could make a difference. I thought these two were the most thoughtful in the ways of a follower and it is important for me to think about these students and keep them in mind.
Stan and I are excited about this coming Saturday. While my parents were here, we were able to spend some time with Bob and Linda King. Through this interaction, we were able to tell them a little bit more about who we are. We went to Kyle and Rebecca's house after dinner with them and Rebecca showed them a Children's Good Book. Linda was excited to read it and that lead to more discussion! We are going to meet with them on Saturday to read more and have some more discussion! Please please please think about this! We are pumped! Thanks for reading, I love you all!
Great idea. Maybe you need to recruit your mom as a teacher! I will be thinking hard about your time with Bob and Linda. Maybe they will be persons of peace! Remember to encourage them to think about who they know who needs to learn the new insights they are gaining. The quicker they pass it on the greater their transformation.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great work! Keep on keeping on!