Copyright 2015 by Elizabeth L. Hamilton All Rights Reserved. Peacefulness Lesson 1 of 4 Peacefulness Stays Calm (Peacefulness remains calm, conveying to others a feeling that all will be well.) Scripture: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 Preparation Print on cardstock one copy each of the illustration pages. Print one copy of the age-appropriate activity sheet(s) for each child involved. Assemble the following items for the fruit smoothie recipe (last page) in this lesson: o electric blender o 2 or 3 different fresh fruits one red for excitement washed and waiting in containers. o large plate o fruit juice o ice in ice bag or cooler o small paper cups to share the smoothie with listeners o bright cloth to cover assembled items until appropriate time BE SURE YOU READ THE LESSON ahead of time, and write in substitutions, if any. Introduction Say: Character Builders, we add a new block to your character wall today. Hold up the peacefulness block and read it. Fasten the block on your character wall. A block of peacefulness in your character wall will make you happier. It will help you make other people happier, too. You ll really want peacefulness. Listen. Tell this story in your own words, changing it to fit your listeners culture and ages. Maggie stomped her foot. Mom!!! she exploded. She snatched a pile of clothes from her bed and threw them on the floor. She yanked open a drawer and dumped socks on the pile. Frantically, she jerked open a second drawer and dumped sweaters. She swept books off the shelf. Hot tears filled her angry brown eyes. She wiped them away and glared at the mess. It s Mom s fault, she snarled. She makes me feel like a hurricane inside! She threw a shoe at the bed and went to dinner. At the end of dinner, Dad said, I ll get dessert. He went to the kitchen, and came back carrying a big, covered tray. He set it on the table and took off the cover. Uncover your blender and ingredients. That s not dessert! Maggie pouted. Where s the pie Mom was making? I want pie! Dad took a blender from the tray and plugged it into the wall. Then he took a large plate from the tray. Show your plate. He took fruit from a container and put it on the plate. Name your fruit as you put it on your plate. Look, Maggie, Dad said. What are my strawberries, bananas, and peaches doing? Nothing, Maggie said rudely. They re just lying there. When do I get dessert? Be patient, Dad said. The fruits are calm lying there. They don t bother us or each other.
Dad put the fruit in the blender. Put fruit in blender. He turned on the blender. Turn on blender. How about now, Maggie? Are the fruits still calm? Maggie started to be a little bit interested. No, she said. The blender is making them smash together. Are they hurting each other? Dad asked. Maggie watched the blender. Yes! They re breaking each other. None of them is calm now, she said. They re agitated, Dad said. A blender agitates gets things worked up. It s hard to have peacefulness in a running blender. He turned it off. Turn off blender. People get agitated, too. Things get them worked up. They feel like their insides are whirling around. Then they do hurtful things. Dad stopped the blender and poured fruit juice into it. Put juice in blender. He turned it on again, and soon there was no more smashing. Now it isn t worked up, Maggie said. The juice made the fruit calm. Dad smiled. It s still worked up, he said. The blender is still agitating it, but the juice is a peace maker. It works to stay calm even when it s being agitated and it helps others stay calmer. Dad stopped the blender again. Turn off blender. He added ice, and turned it on again. Add ice, and turn on blender. Maggie giggled. Ice is NOT a peacemaker! Ice really gets them worked up! she said. Dad agreed. He kept adding more ice. Add ice as desired. Someone in this house is like the ice, Maggie. That someone does not stay calm. That someone does not help others stay calm. That someone is not a peacemaker. Maggie didn t laugh at that. She looked down at her lap and said nothing. That someone, Dad went on, gets worked up over very small things. She gets worked up at the store when her parents won t buy what she wants. She gets worked up at school when others won t let her play what she wants to play. She gets worked up when she isn t allowed to wear what she wants to wear. She gets worked up when people won t stop what they re doing and listen to her. Dad turned off the blender and poured fruit smoothies for all of them. Turn off blender and begin pouring as you finish the story. Maggie, he said, when you get worked up, you make things worse for yourself. Right now, your room is probably a mess. Maybe you ruined something you like maybe not but you did make yourself a lot of work. You made your mother feel worked up. You made me feel worked up. You must learn to be like the juice. Learn not to let things agitate you. Learn to stay calm, and help others stay calm. Maggie nodded. I will, Dad, she said. Then she tasted the best smoothie ever. Pass sample smoothies. Bible Story: Abigail Makes Peace I Samuel 25:1-35 Jesus told people, Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Jesus meant that people who act to make others peaceful are showing by their actions that they are God s children. God s Word tells about a woman named Abigail who was a peacemaker. The Bible says Abigail was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband Nabal was harsh and badly behaved. In other words, Nabal was a mean bully. Nabal was not only a bully. He was also very rich. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. One day, Nabal left his home in Maon and traveled about four miles to Carmel. He went there to celebrate and have a feast as his shepherds sheared those 3,000 sheep. While Nabal and his shearers were there, ten young men arrived at Carmel. David, who was hiding in the hilly country so that King Saul would not kill him, sent the young men. Go up to Carmel, David told the ten men, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name. And thus you shall greet him: Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. David said the ten men should tell Nabal that they had heard he
had shearers and this was a feast time. Then they should say that Nabal s shepherds had been with David and his men in the desert, and David s men had not hurt the shepherds in any way. Finally, the young men were to ask politely for some food for David and his men. The ten men did as David asked, but Nabal sneered at them. Huh! Who is David? A lot of slaves are escaping from their masters these days. You think I m going to take my bread and my water and my meat that I killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where? The young men turned away, went back to David with empty hands, and told David what Nabal had said. Every man strap on his sword! David ordered. David strapped on his sword, too, and set out for Carmel with about 400 men behind him to fight Nabal. Meanwhile, one of the shepherds told Nabal s beautiful, smart wife Abigail what was happening. He told her how David and his men had protected them day and night when they were in the desert with the sheep. We thought you should know, the young shepherd told Abigail, because David and his men will come to kill everyone, and your husband is such a worthless man that he won t listen to our warnings. Abigail thanked him, stayed calm, but took action to make peace. She loaded donkeys with 200 hundred loaves of bread, 2 skins of wine, 5 sheep, 40 quarts of dried grain, 100 clusters of raisings, and 200 cakes of figs. Ride ahead of me, and I ll come behind, she told her young servants. She did not tell Nabal she was going, though. She knew Nabal would get angry and not let her go to David. David and his men were striding along the desert road, ready for war, when Abigail met them. Calmly, she slid off her donkey and bowed low to David. Her words quiet and calm, she asked David not to kill Nabal. She said it was her fault David got no food she had not seen his men when they came. She told David, My husband s name is Nabal. Nabal means fool, and that s exactly what he is. She said how much she wanted God to bless David. Then she gave the donkeys loads of food to David and his men. Having made peace with David, Abigail went back to Carmel. She went to the house where Nabal was holding a feast fit for a king. Nabal was drunk very drunk, the Bible says. So Abigail didn t tell him that night what she had done. She remained calm and told him the next morning. God tells us that when Nabal heard about David coming to kill him, and how his beautiful wife had made peace for him, Nabal s heart became like a stone inside him. About ten days longer, God took Nabal s life. David heard the news, and immediately sent young men back to Abigail. When the men came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife. Abigail stood up, bowed to the men, and accepted David s marriage proposal. Then she mounted a donkey, took her five young serving women, and rode off to become David s wife. Beautiful, intelligent Abigail acted to make others peaceful when they were about to start killing one another! Apply the two stories in age-appropriate words. (Heads up Avoid limiting the meaning of peacefulness to a synonym of war or fighting. It is not.) Holding up the picture of the young girl, read the caption: Peacefulness Stays Calm. You show peacefulness when you stay calm, and help others stay calm. Maggie wanted her own way. She wanted her mother to as she wanted. When Mother did not, Maggie lost her cool. She lost her calm. She got worked up as though she was being agitated in a blender. Her father said she got worked up about very small things. Do you remember some of the things that agitate Maggie? 1) When her
parents won t buy what she wants. 2) When others won t let her play what she wants to play. 3) When she isn t allowed to wear what she wants to wear. 4) When others won t stop what they re doing and listen to her. What things make you get worked up? How does it make you feel when you get worked up? How does it make others feel? How does it make you feel when you stay calm? How does it make others feel? Holding up the picture of the donkeys, read the caption: Peacefulness Stays Calm. Abigail exercised peacefulness when she stayed calm, and help others stay calm. Nabal behaved very badly. He refused to share his huge feast with men who had helped his shepherds for many days. He made fun of David. He called David names: a nobody a runaway a slave. Nabal said, probably in a loud, angry voice, You think I m going to take my bread and my water and my meat that I killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where? Imagine how Nabal s face looked when he said that! Those were fighting words! Nabal was selfish, and he was getting worked up! Nabal was not calm, and he was not willing to make peace with David s men. What would have happened if Abigail had gotten worked up with her husband? What if she had agreed and screamed that they should give no food to David and his men? What would have happened if Abigail had remained calm, but took no action to make peace? Jesus tells us in today s memory verse, Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 What things did Abigail do to be a peacemaker? Our memory verse has a second part to it: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Jesus is telling us that peacemakers show, by their actions, that they are God s children. The things peacemakers do, while staying calm, prove that they love God and obey Him. By making peace, Abigail showed David and his men that she was one of God s children. In your assignment, you will think more about things that make you feel calm. When you think about them, remember that Peacefulness Stays Calm. Close by handing out assignment sheets.
Suggested Recipe for Fruit Smoothie If you substitute different fruits, be sure you change the ingredients in the story to match what you use. Ingredients 1 quart strawberries, hulled 1 banana, broken into chunks 2 peaches 1 cup orange-peach-mango juice 2 cups ice Directions 1. In a blender, combine strawberries, banana, and peaches. 2. Blend until fruit is pureed. 3. Blend in the juice. 4. Add ice and blend to desired consistency. 5. Pour into small cups and serve.
First and Last Name: I show peacefulness when I stay calm and help others stay calm. Look at these three pictures. 1. Talk about this with a parent. Do these pictures make you feel calm? Tell a parent the story of Nabal and Abigail. What can you do to help your family stay calm at home? What can you do to be a peacemaker at home at school? 2. Now do this. Draw a picture of someone who stayed calm in today s Bible story. Color your picture, and write your name on the back of the picture. Write your Bible memory verse under your name. Learn your Bible memory verse so well that you can say it every time without help. Christian Character-Trait-of-the-Month Program Peacefulness #1 Ages 3 to 7 Copyright 2015 by Elizabeth L Hamilton For more information, visit www.character-in-action.com
First and Last Name: I show peacefulness when I stay calm and help others stay calm. Is this girl calm? Is she helping others stay calm? What should she do? Is this boy calm? Is he helping others stay calm? What should he change? Is this man calm? Is he helping others stay calm? Why should adults stay calm? Finish your assignment on the back of this page. 1. Tell about a time when you got worked up. 2. Tell why you didn t stay calm. 3. Tell how a fruit smoothie changes calm fruit. 4. Write the story of Nabal and Abigail. 5. Write your Bible memory verse. Christian Character-Trait-of-the-Month Program Copyright 2015 by Elizabeth L Hamilton Peacefulness #1 Ages 7 and Up For more information, visit www.character-in-action.com