day 557: purity & paint

we now have 2 weeks down & 4 to go in this, the last term of the school year. hard to believe! since this whole term is focused on HIV/AIDs, this past week we discussed God's good design, plan & purposes for sex - within the confines of marriage. this idea is a bit foreign to them. but, using a funny skit, we were able to communicate that when something is created for a good purpose & we misuse it - it can cause a lot of damage. this is true for anything in life...but especially where intimacy is concerned.

always an interesting split here with these grade 6 kiddos when s-e-x comes up: half have the expected, almost uncontrollable giggles. the other half sit with stone cold faces - evidence that they have potentially, in some way, directly or indirectly been affected/exposed to something they shouldn't have. it's a bit heart-breaking & it happens in every class, every week.

borrowing the idea from the True Love Waits curriculum, we took a poll in each class. out of 100 youth, how many will wait for marriage to have sex? at what age will girls/boys first have sex? by the time girls/boys are married, how many different people will they have had sex with? using their answers we then 'painted a picture' of how damaging a life lived in this way can be using a paper heart & a few learners' participation. we ended the lesson by storying around david's prayer in psalm 51. "create in me a PURE heart, oh God, & put a new & right spirit in me." writing this just after being confronted of his adultery with bathsheba & the murder of her husband, it's an open door & perfect opportunity to talk about someone who loved God, who sought hard after Him, BUT who made mistakes & sought His forgiveness & embraced a new heart. oh, how these kids connect to stories! would you join us in PRAYing God's Word takes root in these little ones' lives?

this weekend we had some fun running along the coast in a 5K Color Run here in cape town - said to be the "happiest 5K on the planet!" i may or may not still have yellow paint on my forehead that won't go away!! thanking Him for days like this - convinced more & more that laughter is truly good for the soul!