FAITH...just do it!

Help! I am about to be buried under a MOUNTAIN of laundry! However, it is worth it...and I will tell you why. Savannah and I have just returned from church camp. This was the first year she was able to go as a "real" camper. Last year, we had to cancel at the last minute because of mom's unexpected hospital stay. The campground was really nice. There were plants and flowers and fountains and swings everywhere. It was shady and had paved paths for the kids to ride their bikes or scooters without fear of cars. We had a/c in all the buildings and cabins--so NOT like when I went to church camp years ago! But, the neatest thing about camp, for me, was that I got to teach a Bible class every day. The theme of our camp this year was: Faith...just do it. Each day, we used a verse(s) in the book of James to teach a lesson. My particular focus was on treating people equally or not showing partiality or favortism. We looked at James 2:1-9 and I used the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 to teach the 2nd-5th grade how important it is to treat people as their neighbor and to see people as God sees people. I also asked each grade level to write down something that someone does that bothers them. I had some pretty interesting responses...when people talk about me behind my back, stealing, lying, teasing. Then I asked them how they measure up. I put them on the spot and asked if they had EVER done those things that they listed to anyone else. We discussed the Golden Rule and talked about treating people the way we want to be treated. In some of the classes, I read a short devotional thought about how we should guard against looking at the outside of people. We should not focus on clothes, hair, money, skin color--all those things that we tend to look at and make judgements. Then, we went outside and used a hammer to break geodes in half. Those geodes were hard, rough, and ugly on the outside. However, when we broke them open, they had hidden crystals inside! God is looking at our hearts--our hidden crystals! In some of the classes, we talked about the variety of people in the world and how boring this world would be if everyone and everything were the same. Then, we made flower pens and discussed how God made a variety world--just like a bouquet of flowers. In one class, we talked about how the Good Samaritan had used his own possessions to help the wounded man. He used his own money, his own bandages, his own animal, his own medicine and cared for a person he did not even know. I asked them if God has no hands but their hands, what are some ways they can help other people. Then we made helping handprints. We also played the Good Samaritan game. We divided up into teams of 4. One person was the wounded man and the other three raced to him, put 8 bandaids on him, gave him a drink of water, and picked him up and brought him back to the starting point. It was alot of fun--but it also made us all think about how we need to treat people. I really had a good time preparing and teaching these lessons. I hope that the kids got as much out of it as I did.