God Created Us With a Plan and a Purpose

     Monday we will officially start our month long journey, "How to Be a Friend to Someone with a Disability."  It is often hard to know where to start, but yesterday we laid the foundation by starting with God Himself.

     We kicked off our unit by talking about how wonderfully God created each of us!  God had a plan when He made us and God has a wonderful plan for our lives, both present and future.  We talked about the following verses, the truth about our creation and how God truly cares for us.  On Monday we will talk about how this is true for ALL of the people God has created.

• So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  Genesis 1:26-28
• For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  Psalm 139:12-14
• And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered.  Matthew 10:29-31
• I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  Psalm 139: 13-15
• "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:1-12

     After sharing the verses (and discovering that we cannot count the number of hairs on our head) we talked about what it means that God created us, planned us, and has a purpose for our lives.  I often tell my five year-olds that we are like secret agents and God has a special mission for us.  We just have to figure out what God's mission is.

     Next we read one of my favorite children's books, I Like Me by Nancy Carlson.  It was one of my daughter's favorite books as well.  It is about a pig and the things the pig likes about herself.  And when the pig falls, she picks herself right back up.  At one point in the book the pig looks in a mirror and says, "Hi, Good Lookin'!"  I passed around a mirror and had the kids look in the mirror and say, "Hi, Good Lookin'!"  We all laughed and had a great time as we did it.  I am sure some of my parents already wonder what is going on in The Castle Class!  I can envision all of them looking in their mirrors at home.

     We concluded our time together sharing the "All About Me" posters we had made the day before.  After each child presented their poster we clapped and cheered and said, "God did a great job when he created ....!"

     There are lots of preparations to make and I would covet your prayers.  Please pray that I will be able to answer the kid's questions, be able to point them to the sovereignty of God, and be a worthy example of compassion.