Bless You

I just realized that I haven't sneezed in a very long time. That's kind of nice.
But, not the point.
Recently, I have begun teaching a Bible study for 6th and 7th graders at Crosspoint church along with a friend. I met the kids last week, and had the first get-together last night.
It was really exciting.
It's amazing the magnitude of the desire to be heard that God put in children. They aren't necessarily to the point where they understand the struggles in their lives, so they aren't complaining about politics, boyfriends and girlfriends, or career issues. They are just using their mouths to explore the world and share it. Every little thing that happens them, no matter how boring it is, seems like the most exciting story that they wan to share with someone, and I'm the one they want to listen. It's so cool.

This semester, I've decided to talk about blessings to them.
My prime example is Abraham, who blessed the world by fathering a nation.
It's interesting that, when we pray to ask God for something, we don't really think about how we're going to receive it. If I prayed for a new car, I wouldn't expect it to magically appear out of thin air. There wouldn't be a holy light from the clouds that would float this car down in front of me. If God were going to give me a car, someone would probably buy it for me, or one would go on sale and it would come to my attention.
In this way, God answers prayer by using people.
Sure, God is definitely the biggest blessing in the world. But he uses people to deliver his blessings.
So, this semester, we're going to talk about how they (the kids) can be blessings. I want it to culminate in a service project or something.
At this point, it's hard to even explain to them what a blessing is. We ask God to bless our food, and we bless people when they sneeze (a tradition which emerged during the plague), but what is a blessing? I want to go from this to showing them how God can use them, just as God used Abraham, to bless others.

We don't have to be perfect, or talented, but God will use us because we are designed exactly the way He intended. Abraham certainly wasn't either of those things. He was a pagan (I had to explain what a pagan is). He was 75 years old. He pretended his wife was his sister (and she was!! YUCK!)
We as the church are the body. We are the arms and legs of Christ.

It's cool to learn something and then share it, 10 years later, to kids who remind me a lot of myself.