We’re
Teaching This:
What
is the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced? Maybe it’s a basketball game
against your archrival. Maybe it’s passing your math class. Maybe it’s just
trying to get up and go to school on time. Whatever it is, you’re probably
familiar with the little knot that forms in your stomach. The nerves. The
feeling of being completely overwhelmed. The Bible tells the story of a guy
named Nehemiah who was all too familiar with that feeling. In fact, it isn’t
just one story—there’s a whole book in the Bible named after him. Growing up in
service to a king in Babylon and then Persia, Nehemiah probably didn’t think
his life would make much of a story. But when he learns that his family’s
homeland is in ruins, something changes in Nehemiah. He decides to do something
about it—to go there. To build. Nehemiah decided to face, head-on, the
God-sized challenge of rebuilding the wall surrounding Jerusalem and creating a
safe place for his people. And through his story, we may just find the tools we
need to face the challenge of improving our town or our school. It’s time to
build.
Session 1 Summary: Home Sweet Home (6/4)
Think about where you live for a minute. Do you
like it there? And what about your school? Is it the perfect place to be or are
there some things you wish you could change? It’s easy for the place we live
and go to school feel like a placeholder—somewhere that we wait for our real
life, as an adult, to begin. Maybe
you’ve never thought about it before now, but what if God placed you there on
purpose? What if there was a reason for
you to live where you live and know who you know? Nehemiah found himself in a
similar situation. Growing up in a country where he didn’t fit in probably
didn’t make Nehemiah feel like he had any real purpose or that God was even
paying attention. But as he began to
pray, Nehemiah discovered that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, his
situation was anything but random. And as we take a closer look at his story,
we discover that, like Nehemiah, where we live may matter more than we ever
dreamed. It may just be the exactly where God has positioned us to become part
of a much bigger Story.
Session 2 Summary: Against the Wall (6/11)
Paralyzed. Have you ever felt that way at the
beginning of a big project? Maybe it was a research paper or presentation for your
class. Maybe it was cleaning up your room after a sleepover with your friends.
Or maybe it’s something even bigger than that. Maybe you dream of doing
something big with you life—something that matters. But the idea of actually doing it is really intimidating. You
aren’t sure where to start. So it just seems easier to plan on back away
slowly. Big results require big
actions—and you just don’t feel ready for that. Nehemiah faced a similar challenge—he wanted
to do something, felt called to do
something that seemed nearly impossible. But what Nehemiah didn’t let the fear
take over. He didn’t stand, paralyzed, on the sideline. Instead, he discovered
that the most important step might also be the smallest – the first step.
Session 3 Summary: Get a Job (6/18)
52
days. It’s not a long time. Less than two months. Less than half a season of
your favorite tv series. Less than two units in your chemistry class. That’s
how long it took Nehemiah to build a wall around his entire city—not with
cranes, but with bricks and human hands. It’s really amazing. But Nehemiah
didn’t do it alone. There are lists in the Bible of different people, different
families who pitched in. Some of them used their specific talents. Others just
jumped in where they were needed. And, in doing so, they became a picture of
what the Church was meant to be. People of various talents and abilities
working toward one goal—unique but unified. And we have the opportunity to do
the same – to work as one body, toward one goal. As we do, we may just discover
that we are becoming the people we were meant to be all along.
Think
About This:
Where
did you grow up? Was it a small town with little to do outside of farming. Or
was it a big city with tall buildings and a public transit system? Or something
in between? No matter where you grew up, one thing is for sure—it still affects
you. Whether its in our taste for certain types of food, our comfort level with
certain groups of people, or the dialect with which we speak, there are always
traces of where we grew up tucked in the folds of our personality. And that’s a
great thing! Environment is one of the things that God uses to mold us into
unique individuals.
But
does your student know that?
The
reality is, life begins long before you move out on your own. Not only does
their current town profoundly shape them, but it’s also the first place
students will have the opportunity to invest themselves—to care, or to serve
others. It’s the first place they learn to assign value to the people around
them. What students learn in their hometown will be what they carry into every
town after that.
So
if our hometown is so important, why is it that so many of us get the idea that
the real-world exists after high-school? And how can we teach our students to
make the most of their time here?
Focus on now. College is coming.
The real world is coming. But for today, your student is right here. While it’s
important to talk about the future, we also need to fight the urge to talk only about what comes next. The truth is, if your student is in high
school, he or she already has a limited amount of time left in your home and
possibly in your town. By teaching them to use this time wisely and value the
impact they can have right now, we
are also teaching them a principle that they will take into their future. The
principle of caring for where you live.
Try
This
As
parents, it’s easy to talk about the glory days of college or our experiences
when we moved out on our own. Those stories are often more exciting or have
better morals to them. But, even in our well meaning way, we sometimes
accidentally communicate that our lives
didn’t start until after we left home.
Try sharing a story of what it was like
growing up where you lived as a student. Was it a big city or a small town? Was
there a lot to do or were you often bored? Most importantly, in what ways does
your hometown shape who you are today? As you share, you may just find your
student starting to value his or her own experience more exactly where they are.