The Kids of Integrity Challenge is finished!

Acceptance blues

For two weeks now, we’ve been trying to start the Acceptance lesson, but “stuff” just kept cropping up unexpectedly. Usually it’s just me being unprepared that stalls us, but this time I was ready ages ago. 

We finally got a discussion going with the kids today and discovered once again that we really could have used some help with definitions for accepting, judging and including. Judging was especially tough to get across to a four year old. It was humbling to have to give personal examples of my own judgmental tendencies . . . perhaps God meant to make me more aware of them.

This was the second time we’ve read out loud all the sample prayers in Kids Talk With God. It helps Jess and Ben see how simple it can be to ask Jesus for assistance in various situations. Some prayers resonate more than others. Our kids are pretty inclusive, so their favourite one was, “Please show me if there is someone who needs my love and acceptance.” Jessica acknowledged that there is one girl in her kindergarten class who doesn’t have any friends and keeps to herself. We went over different ways that Jess might help her feel more accepted. I wonder what will come of that . . .

Because the Kids’ Corner family-tree idea is static (you just do it and it’s there . . . it doesn’t change), our kids were not terribly enthused about it. We discussed different ideas like making a tree and being allowed to add a leaf when we did something accepting, but there were difficulties associated with that. Kids’ Corner is normally one of the lesson highlights, so we’ll have to come up with something else that’s progressive and interactive. If any of you came up with an alternate “craft” for this lesson, please let us know about it!

Our memory verse is Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” What a job to explain that judging is sinful for us to do, but it is God’s right, and we will be judged in heaven! Rob and I tried to be careful not to state this in a way that made God sound mean. We talked about how we are not perfect, so we shouldn’t think we’re better than anyone else, but God IS perfect, so He is allowed to judge us. I don’t think we did a great job of explaining it. Anybody have a kid-friendly way to get that concept across?

In the struggle to explain the technical parts, the kids started to get bored. We didn’t pick up on that soon enough. By the time we had read the story of Blind Bart and were halfway through the questions, Benjamin piped up with a rare, “I’m getting kind of bored.” Needless to say, we wrapped up quickly.

Honestly, we’re off to a rocky start here and I’m not looking forward to the rest of the lesson. Lord, please help my bad attitude not to rub off on my kids! 

I’ve heard of other families who loved this topic. Please give us a shot of your enthusiasm!

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• Acceptance