1-3-12 1st-3rd Chapel Notes

1st - 3rd Grade

I had a great time over the break, but probably my favorite thing I got to do was probably something you may not think.

Bennett and I got to help Will Jenks and his family. They decided they were going to get Christmas presents for the refugee family that lives beside us. They got presents for all 8 kids.

One thing I wanted to make sure happened was when they came to deliver the gifts, they got to go inside the house. I wanted Will and his family to understand what this family is all about. Before we went in, I told them it would smell bad, be really dirty, and the kids would probably be dirty as well. When we went in, they were prepared. I wanted Will and his sister and his dad to put themselves in the family’s shoes that they were giving gifts to.

We went inside to let them talk to them and give them the gifts. The best part of Christmas to me was seeing the family that had nothing, get presents from Will and his family. Every day since then, I have seen those kids playing with the toys Will and his family gave them.

My favorite book of the Bible is Philippians. My favorite chapter is chapter 2. It talks about Jesus dying on the cross for us. He came, walked on the earth, led a perfect life, then died for us. He put himself in our shoes, except He lived a perfect life.

When you get older, you need to read the book Under the Overpass. It’s about 2 guys when they graduated college, lived like the homeless. They traveled around the country living for one year as homeless people. They wanted to understand what it was like to be homeless. The book talks about how poorly they were treated…especially by people who went to church, worked in church, said they were Christian, and said they loved Jesus. I tell you that story because each of you live in a house and have the ability to help a family in our city. You can decide to do something about helping a family less fortunate than yours. We can do that because that is what Jesus did for us. It’s cold outside…there are a lot of people who don’t have coats, don’t have enough food, and no place to live. We go home to a nice house with heat and food.

We are talking about empathy this month. Empathy is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes…when you understand how they are living then you do something about it. You do this because of what Jesus did for you.

This is what I want to see from PDS boys.