Patience

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the service module is to teach the children how to implement Christian service in our lives. In first grade, we are focusing on 4 virtues: humility, honesty, patience, and courage. This is to begin to teach the students about some of the most important virtues they can instill in their future service.

In this lesson, children will understand that patience is a virtue that teaches them to control their emotions and their actions even, when it might be difficult to wait.

INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 10 Minutes

Show the children two bananas: one that is green and unripened, and a yellow one. Ask them if they would want to eat the green banana and what it would taste like (bitter, not sweet or tasty). What happens when we wait until the banana turns yellow? This is why it is important to be patient and wait a while, because the taste of the banana becomes better.

• Ask the children if there is something they really want but had to wait a long time for it. It could be a toy, a place they want to go, having a sibling, going to a new grade, working toward a goal.
• Ask them if it is hard or easy to wait when they really want something.
• Do they ever get frustrated? Do they want to rush to the finish line?

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

Memory Verse

"Love is patient, love is kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4)

Psalm 37:7-9 - "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."

Story of St. Monica and St. Augustine

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 10 Minutes

Sometimes it can be hard to wait just a few days for a banana to ripen or a few months when we ask for a toy. Today we will talk about a lady who was very patient and waited many years for something she asked God for.

Tell the story of St. Monica:

St. Monica had only one son, named Augustine. Her only wish for her son was that he would get to know God, be baptized and go to Church. He kept avoiding going to Church. He always made excuses to his mother, St. Monica -- he would tell her, "Maybe tomorrow" or "Maybe next week." His mother, St. Monica, never gave up on him -- she kept praying for him, and asking others to pray for him. She did not complain or get frustrated.

Augustine had some friends who did not make good choices, and as a result, he was making choices that were not good. This led him far away from God. But St. Monica never gave up on him, and she tried to remind him to make good choices. Augustine was a very good speaker and became famous; he used to travel all around the country as he got older to give speeches and teach at schools. His mother, St. Monica, never gave up on him -- she used to follow him wherever he went, from city to city. She prayed for him every single day, with tears in her eyes, that he would make good choices and come back to God. She did this for many, many years, without complaining.

After over 20 years of St. Monica praying, something amazing happened. Her son, Augustine, did not want to make poor choices anymore -- he wanted to make good choices He wanted to go to Church and be baptized He said it was because of his mother's patience and prayers, in never losing hope and never giving up, that he came to know God. He became a great saint. She showed true patience -- waiting for something with a cheerful heart and having faith in God that it would come at the right time. She never gave up, and she did not complain while she waited.

All good things are worth waiting for -- we can ask God to help us be patient and wait, especially when it's hard to do. We can be like St. Monica and never give up. (Go over the list of things the children said they had to wait for and explain how they might be patient while waiting.)

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 5 Minutes

Why did St. Monica continue to pray for her son? What would have happened if St. Monica complained and lost her patience?

LIFE APPLICATION (Action) - 5 Minutes

Look for a way you can be patient this week. Maybe you need your parents' help or your teachers' help and you have to wait quietly. Maybe you have to go on a long car ride. Try not to complain while you wait. If you need help, ask God to give you extra patience

ACTIVITY - 10 Minutes

Give each child a paper cup with a little bit of water. Put another cup on a table. Ask them to fill the cup on the table with water, but only a few drops at a time. Ask each child to take turns putting just a few drops of water into the cup on the table (remind them not to pour too much). As they put a few drops of water into the cup on the table, point out that the cup is still very empty. Ask them how long they think it will take. Keep going around and having them take turns (go fast if needed). Keep going and point out when the cup is full.

When they first started, the cup was very empty. But drop by drop, the cup got full -- it took time and it looked like it was going to take forever, but if we persist, and keep going and never give up, it will fill up at the right time. It's like a basin or large bowl -- if you set it out and put one drop of water a day, it will look very empty. But if you are patient and keep doing it every day, over a year, you will find the bowl full. That is the blessing of patience in our lives -- if we are patient and persist without complaining, we find the blessings fill our lives and overflow.

PARENTS CORNER

Talk with your children about the importance of patience. Empathize with them that it's hard to wait, especially at their age, but great things will come when they wait without complaining. Share examples from your own life of things you had to wait for and how God blessed you (e.g., working patiently at a job or through school, waiting for some event). Try and solve a small jigsaw puzzle together over a few sessions.