Waiting.
For the past month or so, the CC kids and I have been reading through/studying Genesis for our Friday Fun Night lessons. I do my best to make each story or section from the text not only theologically clear and coherent for the kids but also presented so that it helps them see how understanding Scripture is actually APPLICABLE to their lives. I've really enjoyed working on these series of lessons. They take A LOT of preparation work. For each lesson, I create an introductory game that introduces the topic and reinforces whatever point the Scripture is making; then I prep about a 30 minute 'sermonette' (as I like to call it) for the kids as well as a power point for them to follow DURING the sermonette (b/c they are easily sidetracked, and I can't be all that entertaining). I feel conviction that the FFN lessons should explain the Scripture in its original context and what it is teaching as WELL as give them some help at applying the lesson/God's Word to their lives as 1st or 2nd generation Chinese kids who are usually coming from homes with immigrant parents and growing up in the NYC public school system (which is a cross-cultural experience in and of itself for most people, at least for us Southern-Suburban-schooled kids...but um, I guess that's only me. heh).
Anyway, with the challenge to do my part in presenting the Scripture's truth's tangibly and clearly, I am in need of much grace from God. (Good thing Jesus secured me a lot already). Also, I am often in need of the help of others in order to create my games or experiments. Last week, for example, we took only the last few verses of Genesis 11 and first few of Genesis 12 and then talked about WHY God would and could call Abraham out to follow Him in such a dramatic fashion and at such a late stage in Abe's life. Why is God so 'dramatic?' Why does Christianity teach such off the rails things like: sex only in marriage, no divorce, don't get wasted on drugs and alcohol, turn the other cheek instead of getting revenge. These things run opposite to our natural inclinations and often leave us 'wanting' or standing subversively in comparison with our friends who aren't believers. So we looked at the seriousness of God, why He is serious- and then I received help from a true life case story of a young girl who followed God and paid a price for it, the price being her death. Her life made a great impact, one that continues to resound, but her faith cost her her life. Finding and studying the case study put everything we talked about into a REAL LIFE example for them.
ANYWAY, all that is a side track tangent I suppose. THE POINT of this blog is that I recently sought the help of some friends to come up with a Top 10 List, of sorts. In a few weeks, we are going to be looking at when Sarai encourages Abram to take Hagar, her servant, and have a child with her since she (Sarai) isn't providing. So we're going to be talking about 'waiting' for things, waiting for God,' and I wanted a fun game to introduce the topic of 'waiting' or patience to the kids. (I remember looking in the past for a game to teach patience. I think in 2008 I was trying to come up with one and asked Joy to help, but all the two of us could come up with was to put something in the middle of the table that the kids might want to eat or use and then not let them. haha That seemed cruel. haha).
So I scoured the internet looking for a Top 10 List of things you DON'T want to wait for or HATE waiting for as well as a Top 10 List of things you DON'T MIND or almost ENJOY waiting for. Amazingly enough, I could find no such thing, however, so I emailed my friends and asked them these questions and if they would reply with their thoughts. I was hoping to compile a Top 10 List. Unfortunately, I didn't get A LOT of similar responses, but the responses I did get were quite entertaining. Everyone had their own little nuanced explanations of what they hated or didn't mind waiting for. I enjoyed reading that alot. It made me laugh...A LOT. But a las, for public display, I made the lists more general and got rid of the nuanced things because I didn't want people to feel betrayed. I did want to share the examples, though. They were SO entertaining. Ex: One person said he/she hated, and I quote, "Waiting for bathroom in a crowded Chinese restaurant when someone appears to be like building a house inside." hahahha Wonderful.
So yeah, since many of you readers were people who helped me compile my lists for my lesson, I figured I'd share it with you via my blog. This is a spoiler for March 30th's FFN, but I don't think my junior highers have the patience to read my blog, so I don't mind spoiling :). Remember, I made the examples more general, so they definitely lose some of the humor in the translation process, but I hope you enjoy these lists. Also, it was funny how some things ended up on both lists like...marriage?! Funny. Furthermore, since, as I said, there were a lot of things that were only mentioned once or that got the same number of votes, my lists aren't actually Top 10 Lists. They are "Top 12" and "Top 6" Lists :) hehe But I'll go ahead and post all the things everyone said just so you have more to read at your leisure (or while procrastinating during your work day). Ok- here they are!!! drum roll please
Anyway, with the challenge to do my part in presenting the Scripture's truth's tangibly and clearly, I am in need of much grace from God. (Good thing Jesus secured me a lot already). Also, I am often in need of the help of others in order to create my games or experiments. Last week, for example, we took only the last few verses of Genesis 11 and first few of Genesis 12 and then talked about WHY God would and could call Abraham out to follow Him in such a dramatic fashion and at such a late stage in Abe's life. Why is God so 'dramatic?' Why does Christianity teach such off the rails things like: sex only in marriage, no divorce, don't get wasted on drugs and alcohol, turn the other cheek instead of getting revenge. These things run opposite to our natural inclinations and often leave us 'wanting' or standing subversively in comparison with our friends who aren't believers. So we looked at the seriousness of God, why He is serious- and then I received help from a true life case story of a young girl who followed God and paid a price for it, the price being her death. Her life made a great impact, one that continues to resound, but her faith cost her her life. Finding and studying the case study put everything we talked about into a REAL LIFE example for them.
ANYWAY, all that is a side track tangent I suppose. THE POINT of this blog is that I recently sought the help of some friends to come up with a Top 10 List, of sorts. In a few weeks, we are going to be looking at when Sarai encourages Abram to take Hagar, her servant, and have a child with her since she (Sarai) isn't providing. So we're going to be talking about 'waiting' for things, waiting for God,' and I wanted a fun game to introduce the topic of 'waiting' or patience to the kids. (I remember looking in the past for a game to teach patience. I think in 2008 I was trying to come up with one and asked Joy to help, but all the two of us could come up with was to put something in the middle of the table that the kids might want to eat or use and then not let them. haha That seemed cruel. haha).
So I scoured the internet looking for a Top 10 List of things you DON'T want to wait for or HATE waiting for as well as a Top 10 List of things you DON'T MIND or almost ENJOY waiting for. Amazingly enough, I could find no such thing, however, so I emailed my friends and asked them these questions and if they would reply with their thoughts. I was hoping to compile a Top 10 List. Unfortunately, I didn't get A LOT of similar responses, but the responses I did get were quite entertaining. Everyone had their own little nuanced explanations of what they hated or didn't mind waiting for. I enjoyed reading that alot. It made me laugh...A LOT. But a las, for public display, I made the lists more general and got rid of the nuanced things because I didn't want people to feel betrayed. I did want to share the examples, though. They were SO entertaining. Ex: One person said he/she hated, and I quote, "Waiting for bathroom in a crowded Chinese restaurant when someone appears to be like building a house inside." hahahha Wonderful.
So yeah, since many of you readers were people who helped me compile my lists for my lesson, I figured I'd share it with you via my blog. This is a spoiler for March 30th's FFN, but I don't think my junior highers have the patience to read my blog, so I don't mind spoiling :). Remember, I made the examples more general, so they definitely lose some of the humor in the translation process, but I hope you enjoy these lists. Also, it was funny how some things ended up on both lists like...marriage?! Funny. Furthermore, since, as I said, there were a lot of things that were only mentioned once or that got the same number of votes, my lists aren't actually Top 10 Lists. They are "Top 12" and "Top 6" Lists :) hehe But I'll go ahead and post all the things everyone said just so you have more to read at your leisure (or while procrastinating during your work day). Ok- here they are!!! drum roll please
- TOP 12 THINGS FOR
- Waiting in Line at Store 5 VOTES
- Trains/Buses 3 VOTES
- Food- 2 VOTES
- Bathroom- 2 VOTES
- Traffic - 2 VOTES
- Table at Restaurant- 2 VOTES
- Dr.’s office- 2 VOTES
- Waiting to go home- 2 VOTES
- Theme Park Lines- 2 VOTES
- People who are late- 2 VOTES
- Money for things you want- 2 VOTES
- Red Lights/Green Lights- 2 VOTES
- (Side Note: I should have had a section in the 'waiting in line' section JUST for the DMV. Many people said they disliked waiting in lines at stores, but they all kept giving the example of the DMV. One person even said: " Waiting at the DMV just to pay them money to keep tabs on me with no service rendered to me." I thought that was a pretty good explanation of the DMV, especially in NY. This is why you should never join the dark side, Bobby, and become a meter-maid).
- Other Things Mentioned One Time Only (for which you do NOT want to wait)
- waiting for sex
- waiting for marriage
- waiting for graduation
- waiting for a baby to come
- waiting for a boy/girl to call
- waiting for for a day off
- waiting in ER
- waiting for immature people to change
- waiting for people to reply to emails when there is a deadline
- waiting for stuff I ordered online to be delivered
- waiting for new episodes of my favorite shows to come out
- waiting for webpage to load
- waiting to go to sleep
- waiting to be successful/rich
- waiting to graduate from school
- waiting to go on vacation
- waiting for movies to come out
- waiting for paint to dry,
- TOP SIX
- Cookies Baking in the Oven-3 VOTES
- School to start- 3 VOTES
- Marriage- 2 VOTES
- Places with nice Waiting Rooms- 2 Votes
- Waiting to Pay Bills -2 Votes
- The alarm to go off- 2 Votes
- Other Things Mentioned Only One Time ( that you do NOT MIND waiting for)
- people to reply to emails when there is no deadline
- sex
- an old lady/man or cute children to cross the street
- text message
- spring break
- a movie/concert to end
- food to arrive
- winter
- book series ending
- sales
- to grow up
- free stuff
- for God to take me to heaven / waiting to die
- nail polish to dry
Ok, so that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed these Top "10" Lists. If you have anything to add, feel free to comment. Sorry I haven't posted much recently. I've actually written a lot of posts that I haven't proofed yet, and then I've written some pretty intense ones that I haven't decided if I'm posting yet :). hehe But this one was pretty quick, and since it's on the topic of waiting, it will encourage you to be patient while you salivate in suspense and eagerness for the next post :).
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