Object Lesson

There is always a surprise in Princess Club! This week came with it's own unexpected object lesson. The theme of the day was the power of our words. We have been given authority and power in the Kingdom of God. This power comes through our words and we learn these words from God, as He speaks in our lives and as we read His written word that He has left for us.



We read through several scriptures (in Psalms, Luke, and Romans) about our authority that God gives us. To demonstrate the power of our words, we taped paper on all of our backs and each girl was given a distinct colored marker. The object was to write something nice about the girl on whose back you were writing. Each girl got to write on every girl's back.

When we finished, each girl took her paper off her back and got to read all the nice things the others had written about her...that is until one girl noticed a not so nice thing written on her paper. It said she was ugly. Who did that!! We had just learned about the power of our words!! About how we have been given authority with our words to build up or tear down!! Who had the orange marker?? The words were written in orange. The girl came forward but persisted she was innocent.

Freeze frame. At the beginning of group we went over the Princess Rules, which the girls helped to write. Rule number 4 is stated as follows: Only nice words. The consequences were discussed at the initiation of the club: immediate removal from club for that day if the rules are blatantly broken. The girl may return, but not until the next club meeting. (These are very similar to the rules I use when in my classes, which we have been using since September).

Flash forward back to the moment. The other girls were given the chance to speak up, in case that we had falsely accused, but no one came forward. The only fair call was to ask her to leave. I explained to her that because of the rules of the game, and the rules of the Princess Club, she needed to leave for the day. She would be allowed back next week.HARDEST CALL EVER!!! Even though it was not planned and one would NEVER hope this will happen again, it served as an instant object lesson for the power and consequences our words can have.

After she left, we shifted to snack time to relieve some of the tension in the room. During snack Ana Laura and I lead a discussion with the girls about the what had just happened. We again talked about the power of words and how our words have consequences. The girls definitely understood. It actually opened up a really good discussion with them.

And so finished another day in the Kingdom. Oh, and I was able to change the word "fea" into "Bella" (beautiful) with just a few pen strokes on the other girl's paper :)