Hello, ladies! This craft idea was passed along to the Service Center by a GEMS Sister from Washington. We couldn’t resist sharing it with you!
http://www.thisgloriousday.com/2012/01/act-justly-love-mercy-walk-humbly.html
Peppered Chips Ahoy® Cookies, Anyone?
January 10th, 2012 by LenaeAn ingenious, fun-loving Club Coordinator recently shared an object lesson that she did at her club to portray the necessity of making wise choices. It’s quick, easy, and highly effective. Read it through and see if you’re not inspired to follow suit!
She said . . . I wanted to help the girls understand that they need to trust us when we tell them what is wise to do and not wise to do. Because some girls need to see it to believe it, I got creative.
Before club I peppered Chips Ahoy® cookies and then put them on a plate. At our club we don’t serve snack so the girls were SO excited to see food! I said, “Do you trust me when I tell you what is a wise choice for your life as a 3rd/4th/5th/6th/7th/8th grader, as you grow up? Do you trust your counselors? Do you trust the Bible in what it says about friendships, relationships, and rules to follow?”
They gave a resounding yes! I then held out the peppered cookies and asked, “Who would like a Chips Ahoy® cookie?” Again, hands raised and they responded with a resounding yes!
I then got serious and said, “I’m asking you to trust me when I tell you that you should NOT eat these.” The older girls put their hands down. The younger girls thought it was a trick.
I asked again.
The younger girls still wanted them so they went bonkers grabbing at them. They took a few bites and said they were good!
The older girls then thought it was a trick and started to want some. I got a little nervous, Read the rest of this entry »
SHINING Wisdom on Work
January 3rd, 2012 by Kelli
In a world with so many distractions, it can be hard to focus on what’s important. We tend to stretch ourselves in so many different directions that we give each task only part of our attention and we don’t complete anything to the best of our ability. The girls in your club fight some of the same battles – only in the form of homework, band practice, soccer camp, or friend problems. It is important for you to set an example of what wise working looks like. Wise working is always doing your best, no matter what the task or how many other things you have going on.
For the month of January, SHINE brightly is a resource for promoting wise working and explaining what it looks like in a girl’s everyday life. Use these tips to encourage your club to be wise workers!
Wise Working Power – A great way to engage girls is through a relevant quiz. The question and possible answers are provided for you as a resource to get your club thinking about their working habits. Turn to page 4 in SHINE brightly and have your girls sit in a circle. Find a stuffed owl, or another item that is easily tossed from one person to the next. Start by reading the first question and then toss the object to a girl in the circle. Give her the answer options and ask her to answer. Then go through each answer and explain why it is a wise decision or why it isn’t. Continue the game by having the girl who answered read the next question and toss the object to another girl in the circle to answer.
After you have answered all of the questions, ask the girls if they have any questions about wise working or how they can be wise workers. Be prepared to answer their questions.
Wisdom about Integrity Skit
December 9th, 2011 by LenaeDuring the month of December the focus of the Life Lessons in SHINE brightly! is integrity. The skit below is taken from the Get Wisdom: Go beyond the Gold! Family Celebration. Use the theme-focused family celebration to wrap up your GEMS in season in a fun and meaningful way. Use the skit TODAY as an opener to help your club focus on being girls and women of integrity.
You will need: a Bible, a table, a blanket and a bucket full of rocks – one rock for each girl.
Counselor/CIT places the blanket on the table, bunched in teepee fashion so girls can tuck their rocks under it. The Counselor/CIT then walks to the microphone with the bucket full of rocks.
Discovery Level Counselor/CIT:
Hold your Bible and say . . . Proverbs 10:9 says, The man (woman) of integrity walks securely, but he (she) who takes crooked paths will be found out. Together we learned that people of integrity always do the right thing. They walk rightly with God at all times and places.
Girls line up by the microphone and takes turns picking up a rock out of the bucket, saying their line, and then hiding their rock under the blanket. Note: If you have more than 8 girls either add more “people of integrity” sentences or have one girl say the sentence and one girl put the rock under the blanket.
GEM #1: People of integrity don’t cheat on their tests or their taxes.
GEM #2: People of integrity tell the truth even if it means they’ll get in trouble.
SHINE brightly in December
December 2nd, 2011 by Kelli
Living with integrity is something you can easily say you do, but do you know what it really looks like? Jesus was the prime example of living with integrity. He loved His neighbors and obeyed God in all circumstances. When you mimic His way of life, you live with integrity.
For the month of December, SHINE brightly is a resource for explaining how girl can live integrity driven lives. Use these tips to engage your club in what it really means!
Upside Down Thinking: The Christmas season is full of giving, gifts, and embracing those around you. But challenge your club to look outside themselves this Christmas. Check out page 7 to read more about Macy on a Mission’s challenge for girls to think outside their traditional Christmas activities.
Explain to your club that they can be part of something greater by helping their brothers and sisters in Zambia. Get your club to trade in their Christmas gifts in exchange for books, desks, or school supplies for The Esther School. Read the rest of this entry »
Full.
November 22nd, 2011 by Amy
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. Proverbs 33:5
I’m not sure how many times I’ve read this verse and missed the meaning of the word full. Full means bursting, packed, filled to the top. Full means there isn’t room for anything else—there’s already as much as possible and not a single drop more would fit. The earth is full of God’s love. His unfailing love.
Do you believe that? Do you look at your life—the scars of past pains and the ache of present struggles, and believe that God’s love is absolutely complete? Do you flip on the news or open the paper and read about natural disasters, disease, and death and believe that there’s literally no room for more of God’s love in this world because He says it’s already full?
There are days I don’t. There are days when that truth seems weighed down by an insurmountable gap in logic. There are days I see dark holes in this world—starring into the eyes of an orphan, the reality of slavery, or the ravishing effects of poverty—that appear void of love, and my heart cries out for Him to fill them. But His Word is clear: His love is already there; it’s already full.
So today I do. Today I believe it. I can cling to the fact that God is love, and He is pouring out His love in the only way He is capable of—in complete perfection. If the earth is full of God’s unfailing love—it’s everywhere and in everything. So I choose to believe there is love in every gut-wrenching experience, every trial, every tear, every test. In the unfathomably dark places—I believe there is love. In the muck and filth of life—I believe there is love. God is there, which means love is there.
The earth is full of his unfailing love.
His love is there: Wherever you are, whatever you’re going through. It’s there. Search for it. Seek it. And don’t forget to look in the mirror. You play a part in bringing His love to fruition in this life and in this world—so how can you make His love the undeniable reality in this moment, with this breath?
Shining Light on November SHINE
November 1st, 2011 by Kelli
We all have relationships – whether they are with marriages, friendships, siblings, parents, or children. But have you ever thought about what makes a wise relationship? For the month of November, SHINE brightly is a resource for explaining how girls can choose wise relationships and what they are all about. But we don’t want the understanding to stop there. Use these tips to keep the talk going about wise relationships in your club!
- Full of Worms – Have your girls read the fiction story on page 4 before club. Bring in any props that are fitting for the story (a basket of apples, worm or gummy worms, etc.). While asking your girls the questions below, have them pass around an apple to whoever wants to give an answer. They can’t talk unless they have the apple in their hands.
- Why did Keesha pick the apples so quickly?
- What did Keesha find in her apple?
- When Keesha was upset about Tina not wanting to be her friend, what did Lenae tell her?
- Fill in the blank: True friends _______________ each other because their friendship means more than what’s ______________ and what’s not.
- How do you show love to your friends?
More Than a Year-End Celebration
October 11th, 2011 by LenaeOne of the complimentary resources available to clubs is the Year-End Family Celebration. It’s a theme-focused event designed to help clubs wrap up the season in a fun and meaningful way. It does that well!
But it does so much more.
October SHINE in Action
October 3rd, 2011 by Kelli
The month of October is focused on wisdom about words. Our everyday lives would change drastically if we never used words. And our everyday lives would change drastically if we only used wise words.
Help your girls put SHINE in action this month!
Using October SHINE brightly, try this in your club:
- Use Captain Yellowbeak (page 4) to get your ship sailing! Read the story as a group or ask them to read it before club, and answer these questions together.
- Why was Brianna put in charge of Captain Yellowbeak?
- What was Brianna’s answer for everything (if she had done her homework, if she had practiced piano, and if she had given Captain Yellowbeak water)?
- What is a white lie?
- Why are white lies bad?
- How did Brianna fix her situation?
- Read the rest of this entry »
The Blame Game
September 12th, 2011 by LenaeLast night I had the privilege of watching a simulcast of Anne Graham Lotz and Joel Rosenberg called, “A Wake-Up Call For God’s People.” Within Anne’s message I learned something from the book of Isaiah that I had not noted before.