Doves and Olive Leaves

This Sunday, I spent the majority of the day at the church. At the morning service, we did a graduate recognition (WOO HOO!!!) and later that afternoon, I went back to prepare my lesson and clean up the teen room. That room was a disaster and a half, but now it's much more organized and less sticky.

The lesson was about how life is hard at times, but it gets better when we have Christ in our lives. I began with a Horoscope activity. I gave each student a "unique" horoscope based on his or her zodiac sign. In reality they were all the same. They read:

You have a certain amount of independent thinking and reasoning faculty. You have an unusual desire to succeed in the things that you set your mind to. You tend not to follow the path of conformity and have your own ideas of right and wrong. Oftentimes you are very stubborn, impulsive, and courageous; but, on the inside you fear rejection and being alone. Your recent conflicts have been heavy on your mind, but you know how to hide your ill feelings well because you do not want those around you to feel sad. You strive to create a happy environment even when you are toiling inside. This week, you will find piece of mind in a true friend.

After they had read them, almost all of them said that it applied to them 100%! Then, I had them trade with a friend so they could read each others'. They were surprised to find out that they were the same! The point was, for one, to show that these things are written in a way that you could apply it to anything. Also, to show that everyone has some kind of struggle that they are dealing with. All of the kids really seemed to enjoy it and one said, "I want mine back!" I laughed and reminded him that they are all the same and he said that his had "sentimental value". I died laughing!

Next we talked about the story of Noah and how he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded after so many days. When the dove brought back an olive leaf (in other translations it is an olive branch), Noah knew that there was dry land and that their new life was about to begin. We compared the story to how we have "rain" and "floods" in our lives, but then God sends us an "olive leaf" to remind us that we have new life with Him. For this reason, the article that I write for our newsletter, The Compass, will be called The Olive Leaf. I told the kids this and one said, "What?!?! Isn't that a national magazine?!" Those kids are priceless. I love my job!