As students join the group time, set up a table in a corner with some sort of puzzle-type stacking game. There are many popular commercial games made with blocks where each person or teammate places a piece and then as the tower grows, one person or team’s mistake or misplacement will cause the tower to crash. (If you do not have access to a game like this, building a “house” with a deck of cards, stacking match sticks, children’s blocks or interlocking toys are adequate game substitutes.) Have all students take part in the stacking activity at the beginning of class. It is useful for getting across today’s message of perseverance.
If your class is meeting online, you can skip the game and modify the question about the game to ask what participating in a past challenging game or activity (whether at school, sports, or extracurriculars) has taught them.
After students have played the stacking game a few times with some success as well as obvious failure, regroup.
- What did this game teach you? (Answers will vary such as team work, cooperation, patience, endurance, etc. If no one mentions perseverance, mention it and ask students for a definition of this term.)
Merriam Webster’s definition of perseverance is this: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition: the action or condition or an instance of persevering: steadfastness.
Olympic athlete Brody Malone suffered a major injury to his knee last year. This injury made it uncertain whether or not he’d recover in time to compete for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics. It would have been easy for this injury to make Brody decide never to compete again for fear of further pain or injury. Let’s see whether he decided to let this injury stop him from pursuing his dreams.
Play the following video for your students [3:30; stop at 2:13]: Team USA’s Brody Malone overcomes devastating injury for second Olympic berth
Discuss the following questions related to the video as a large group.
- How do you think Brody was able to overcome a major injury in order to compete in the 2024 Olympics? (Answers will vary. Invite various students to share. Note that many people would not have been able to recover in time, if at all. Students may mention determination, perseverance, and a strong desire to do what he loved.)
The fact that Brody is once again able to compete in sports just a year after a major injury is impressive. Perseverance played an important part in his recovery. People don’t overcome injuries of this magnitude without a great deal of physical therapy coupled with pain.
Today we’re going to talk about another man who persevered during times of famine and drought and followed God’s plan for his family and for Israel.
