We had a smaller group at ILA last night, so some of the classes joined forces. I am continually amazed at the level of participation each student shows, and in this case I am speaking of the 6th-8th grade and High School boys.
The bible lesson was about stepping out in faith, and the scripture referenced was in Matthew chapter 14 starting with verses 22. This part of the chapter is where Jesus walks on water towards the boat of disciples during a storm and asks Peter to join him on the water.
The High School boys joined Mr. Todd and the 6-8th graders to discuss and go through the lesson. Mr. Todd stated that he would like to go around the circle and read aloud the verses from Matthew; with no hesitation Zach started them off. It may seem like such a small thing that the boys read aloud the verses, but you see there was no complaining and no rolling of the eyes and no shrugging of the shoulders they just did what they were asked. The kids who remain faithful to coming to ILA are learning very important life skills, like doing something the first time you are asked and not complaining.
After the verses were read Mr. Todd did some explaining as to what the story meant and then invited everyone to join in a discussion. Mr. Todd asked the boys to say what they would have done if they had been Peter and were asked to walk on the water. VaDoll was pretty confident and said he would have stepped out of the boat, Zach asked if they knew how to swim and then he said he maybe would, and Cameron said he would have stayed in the boat. When it cam time for TJ to answer he hesitated a few minutes and then asked “would it be bad to think about it?” What a great question! What I gathered from TJ asking this question was that he wanted to know if Jesus thought it was bad to think about what decision to make. TJ was expressing his thoughts and I was tickled to see the wheels in his mind turning.
To me it was a step of faith for TJ to ask a question like he did. It also gave Mr. Todd an opportunity to do further teaching on the subject. Mr. Todd gave the other boys in the group a chance to say what they thought of TJ’s question. Then, Mr. Todd ended by sharing some words of wisdom. He said that the best way to answer what we would do then is to look at our lives now. How wonderful it was to see the boys taking a story from back then and using it to relate to life for them today. --Evian Schindler, Program Communications Coordinator
The bible lesson was about stepping out in faith, and the scripture referenced was in Matthew chapter 14 starting with verses 22. This part of the chapter is where Jesus walks on water towards the boat of disciples during a storm and asks Peter to join him on the water.
The High School boys joined Mr. Todd and the 6-8th graders to discuss and go through the lesson. Mr. Todd stated that he would like to go around the circle and read aloud the verses from Matthew; with no hesitation Zach started them off. It may seem like such a small thing that the boys read aloud the verses, but you see there was no complaining and no rolling of the eyes and no shrugging of the shoulders they just did what they were asked. The kids who remain faithful to coming to ILA are learning very important life skills, like doing something the first time you are asked and not complaining.
After the verses were read Mr. Todd did some explaining as to what the story meant and then invited everyone to join in a discussion. Mr. Todd asked the boys to say what they would have done if they had been Peter and were asked to walk on the water. VaDoll was pretty confident and said he would have stepped out of the boat, Zach asked if they knew how to swim and then he said he maybe would, and Cameron said he would have stayed in the boat. When it cam time for TJ to answer he hesitated a few minutes and then asked “would it be bad to think about it?” What a great question! What I gathered from TJ asking this question was that he wanted to know if Jesus thought it was bad to think about what decision to make. TJ was expressing his thoughts and I was tickled to see the wheels in his mind turning.
To me it was a step of faith for TJ to ask a question like he did. It also gave Mr. Todd an opportunity to do further teaching on the subject. Mr. Todd gave the other boys in the group a chance to say what they thought of TJ’s question. Then, Mr. Todd ended by sharing some words of wisdom. He said that the best way to answer what we would do then is to look at our lives now. How wonderful it was to see the boys taking a story from back then and using it to relate to life for them today. --Evian Schindler, Program Communications Coordinator
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