Love without Understanding
At sunrise everything is luminous, but not clear. It is often the same with those we live with and love and should know: they elude us. Yet you can love completely without complete understanding.
Norman Maclean
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Darkness and Light
A rabbi asked his students, When is it at dawn that one can tell the light from the darkness?
One student replied, When I can tell a goat from a donkey.
No, answered the rabbi.
Another said, When I can tell a palm tree from a fig.
No, answered the rabbi again.
Well, then what is the answer? His students …
A Third Way
Without the knowledge of our wretchedness, the knowledge of God creates pride.
With it, the knowledge of God creates despair.
The knowledge of Christ offers a third way, because in him we find both God and our wretchedness.
-Blaise Pascal…
Starfish
Washed up on the beach, stranded, with no means of getting back to the sea, except by tide or accident.
A wise man walked along a beach, and saw a gracefully dancing human figure. As he approached the figure, he discovered a child, who was not dancing at all, but bending and reaching down to sift through the debris and …
Primary Tasks of a Mentor
1. Build a Relationship – Establish a positive, personal relationship with your mentee
* Establish mutual trust and respect
* Maintain regular interaction and consistent support
* Remember that relationships take time. Don’t expect immediate results.
* Make your time spent with the youth enjoyable and fun
2. Develop Life Skills – Help mentee to develop or begin to develop …
True Love
Materials
Paper and pencils for each group of youth
Activity
Have a competition between teams of children to name as many things as possible that are associated with love. Based upon these lists have kids form a definition of “true Love.” You could also make a list of things on your own (like those listed below) and play a game …
Circle of Love
Materials
* Tennis ball (small ball)
* newsprint and a marker.
* A Bible.
Activity
1. Form kids into circles of 10-20 people.
2. Ask each group to sit in a circle.
3. Explain that you’re going to toss the ball to someone across the circle.
4. The receiver is to pick out another person across the circle that has …
Matching Emotions
Game Materials
Pieces of paper or notecards with emotions written on them.
Some suggested emotions are:
anger, fear, happy, nervous, bored, bitter, overwhlemed, depressed, at peace, embarassed, loved, proud, detached, shocked, hate, and finally, love.
Game Objective
Display the given emotion until you find the other members of your group.
Game Preparation
There should be at least two people that …
Valentine’s Day Love Letters
Game Materials
Newsprint, or two whiteboards and markers
Youth Create a wacky love letter, one word at a time.
Game Play
1. Tell the groups that they as a team will be writing the best love letter they know how.
2. Line each team up in a single file line and one at a time write one word of their …
Burning Heart
“We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart–a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning …