Gratitude

Today in Kids Club, we told the story of the ten lepers who Jesus healed.

¹¹ It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance ¹³ but raised their voices, calling out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

¹⁴ Taking a good look at them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." 

They went, and while still on their way, became clean.  ¹⁵One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God.  ¹⁶ He kneeled at Jesus' feet, so grateful. He couldn't thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Jesus said, "Were not ten healed? Where are the nine?  ¹⁸Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?"  ¹⁹Then he said to him, "Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you."  Luke 17:11-19 (MSG)


In telling this story, we were able to teach the children many new words, but the most important one was not actually in the text.

Gratitude.

ความกตัญญู


In this story, Jesus essentially commends the one out of the ten lepers who shows gratitude.

So after telling the story, we gave the children the opportunity to show gratitude.

Mother's day in Thailand coincides with the Queen's birthday in August.  But in many places around the world, tomorrow is Mother's Day.  So we had the children make Mother's Day cards with a note of thanks for their mothers.  Since we're teaching English, we had them use English as much as possible, but for some it was easier to use their native Thai.  We just wanted to make sure that the mothers felt appreciated for what they pour into the lives of their children.

We gave them ideas as to the types of things they could thank their moms for.  Some came up with their own ideas.  Some used all of our suggestions.  Some struggled to write anything.  One of my favorites: "Thank you for loving me."




Thank you to all of the mothers out there who work hard at loving your children.  We appreciate your hard work.