{"id":33662,"date":"2020-02-05T13:50:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T20:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/?p=33662"},"modified":"2020-02-05T13:50:23","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T20:50:23","slug":"lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was starting my second quarter of Be Bold, but at a new service time.\u00a0<\/span>I had a whole new group!\u00a0<\/span>Despite the fact that<\/span>\u00a0this group was new and unfamiliar with each other<\/span>\u00a0or me<\/span>, we dove right in.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We talked about this question: If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?<\/strong> They all shared vulnerably and authentically about mean things people have said or done. It was incredibly meaningful to see how open they were in sharing so personally with a\u00a0<\/span>brand-new<\/span>\u00a0group of preteens. As adults, it can be hard to dive too quickly into a tough topic that requires vulnerability. Kids don\u2019t share those inhibitions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But there was one insight from kids that stopped me in my tracks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGrit Is Really Important\u201d<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I read from the curriculum, \u201cSome people think God should stop people from being mean to us.\u201d Before I could continue one boy shouted, \u201cOh HECK NO!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I looked at him. \u201cWhy do you say that?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we need to go through hard times in order to develop grit. Grit is really important for forming our character, and if we only ever experience good\u00a0<\/span>things<\/span>\u00a0we won\u2019t have grit.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then another kid chimed in. \u201cYeah, and if you never experienced anything SAD, you wouldn\u2019t know what it is to be HAPPY.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well wouldn\u2019t you know it, their thoughts\u00a0<\/span>made<\/span>\u00a0the exact point of the Scripture we were about to read.<\/span>\u00a0Not only was it the perfect segue, but it was so encouraging to hear this perspective coming from preteen boys.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This generation of kids gets slack for being spoiled, for getting participation ribbons even when they don\u2019t win<\/span>\u00a0(or not even keeping score so there is no \u201cwinner\u201d)<\/span>, for not knowing how to handle hardship, for being \u201ctoo soft\u201d and needing trigger alerts on the slightest of offenses.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But what I learned was, not only did they all share openly about hardship; they welcomed it. That\u2019s far more mature than I was at their age.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Learning\u00a0<\/b>F<\/b>rom<\/b>\u00a0Preteens<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I learned something that day, something the Scriptures told me but somehow seemed more convicting coming from the mouths of 6<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0graders. I learned to be thankful for the pain. I learned to be thankful for the sad times so I can appreciate the happy times. I learned that if a 12-year old boy can welcome hardship to develop his grit, then so can I.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Be Bold isn\u2019t just for the preteens; it\u2019s for the leaders, too. I learn from the lessons, and I learn from the kids. Their perspectives offer me a fresh look even on things I\u00a0<\/span>pridefully like to\u00a0<\/span>think I\u2019ve already mastered.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the Be Bold Values is \u201cWe\u2019re all in this together.\u201d That doesn\u2019t just mean the preteens; it includes us leaders. As you teach preteens, be open to learning. You may find that God has something to tell you through the mouth of someone much younger than you.<\/span>\u00a0You might find yourself challenged to embrace the hardship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was starting my second quarter of Be Bold, but at a new service time.\u00a0I had a whole new group!\u00a0Despite the fact that\u00a0this group was new and unfamiliar with each other\u00a0or me, we dove right in.\u00a0 We talked about this question: If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me? They all shared vulnerably and authentically about mean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":33666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[765,4],"tags":[733,766,767,739,75],"class_list":["post-33662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lessons-from-be-bold","category-sunday-school","tag-be-bold","tag-grit","tag-hard-times","tag-preteens","tag-sunday-school"],"yoast_head":"\nLessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times - Group Children's Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How will preteens respond when we ask them \u2018If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?\u2019 Find out in this week\u2019s Lessons from Be Bold Sunday School.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How will preteens respond when we ask them \u2018If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?\u2019 Find out in this week\u2019s Lessons from Be Bold Sunday School.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Group Children's Ministry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GroupChildrensMinistry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-05T20:50:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ali Thompson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"How will preteens respond when we ask them \u2018If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?\u2019 Find out in this week\u2019s Lessons from Be Bold Sunday School.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@groupkidmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@groupkidmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ali Thompson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/\",\"name\":\"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times - Group Children's Ministry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-05T20:50:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-05T20:50:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/94ad45d874a103c60c5cf445c1b3db62\"},\"description\":\"How will preteens respond when we ask them \u2018If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?\u2019 Find out in this week\u2019s Lessons from Be Bold Sunday School.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":628},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/\",\"name\":\"Group Children's Ministry\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/94ad45d874a103c60c5cf445c1b3db62\",\"name\":\"Ali Thompson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e771aa9caae6493571831a5de818cec3d1277bbda8f3a30200e316d1370eb07?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e771aa9caae6493571831a5de818cec3d1277bbda8f3a30200e316d1370eb07?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ali Thompson\"},\"description\":\"Ali Thompson is the Managing Editor for Children's Curriculum at Group Publishing in Loveland, Colorado. She loves puppies, puzzles, and playing board games!\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/author\/athompson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times - Group Children's Ministry","description":"How will preteens respond when we ask them \u2018If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?\u2019 Find out in this week\u2019s Lessons from Be Bold Sunday School.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times","og_description":"How will preteens respond when we ask them \u2018If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?\u2019 Find out in this week\u2019s Lessons from Be Bold Sunday School.","og_url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/","og_site_name":"Group Children's Ministry","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GroupChildrensMinistry","article_published_time":"2020-02-05T20:50:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ali Thompson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times","twitter_description":"How will preteens respond when we ask them \u2018If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?\u2019 Find out in this week\u2019s Lessons from Be Bold Sunday School.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg","twitter_creator":"@groupkidmin","twitter_site":"@groupkidmin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ali Thompson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/","name":"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times - Group Children's Ministry","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg","datePublished":"2020-02-05T20:50:23+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-05T20:50:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/94ad45d874a103c60c5cf445c1b3db62"},"description":"How will preteens respond when we ask them \u2018If God Is My Friend, Why Are People Mean to Me?\u2019 Find out in this week\u2019s Lessons from Be Bold Sunday School.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/02\/Be-Bold-Embracing-Hard-Times.jpg","width":1200,"height":628},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/sunday-school\/lessons-from-be-bold-embracing-the-hard-times\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lessons from Be Bold: Embracing the Hard Times"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/","name":"Group Children's Ministry","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/94ad45d874a103c60c5cf445c1b3db62","name":"Ali Thompson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e771aa9caae6493571831a5de818cec3d1277bbda8f3a30200e316d1370eb07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e771aa9caae6493571831a5de818cec3d1277bbda8f3a30200e316d1370eb07?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ali Thompson"},"description":"Ali Thompson is the Managing Editor for Children's Curriculum at Group Publishing in Loveland, Colorado. She loves puppies, puzzles, and playing board games!","url":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/author\/athompson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}