How can we become more compassionate people? Join us from July 3 through September 4 for “First Pres Reads!” For adults, the book Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" will guide our worship, preaching and teaching. Reading Armstrong’s twelve steps, and examining them in the light of Scripture, we will seek a more compassionate way of living, a more hopeful way of viewing our current culture, and come to embrace practical ways as God’s people to make compassion a key element of our discipleship. First Pres children will also be included in the journey to live more compassionate lives of civility and grace. Each Sunday, children will read a story and explore ways they can be compassionate.
July 3
Book: Cups Held Out by Judith L. Roth with illustrations by Brooke Rothshank
Summary
A young girl and her father cross the border into Mexico where she encounters poverty for the first time. Her father admits his own struggles to find an appropriate response to the poverty that exists just miles from their home. Will a few coins or a dollar bill dropped into an outstretched cup or hand make a difference in a life? Will the purchase of a blanket in a local shop make a difference in a community? Together the girl and her father ponder what they can do to help.
Questions for Parents and Kids
- Have you ever encountered someone asking for money on the street? What did they look like? What did they say to you? How did you respond?
- Consider some of the reasons that people may find themselves in need: a lost job, a dangerous home situation, an unexpected illness or injury, or other changes in life circumstances. How can you be compassionate to the situations that cause people to become homeless or hungry?
July 10
Book: Say Something by Peggy Moss with illustrations by Lea Lyon
Summary
At this school, there are some children who push and tease and bully. Sometimes they hurt other kids by just ignoring them. The girl in this story sees it happening, but she would never do these mean things herself. Then one day something happens that shows her that being a silent bystander isn’t enough. Will she take some steps on her own to help another kid? Could it be as simple as sitting on the bus with the girl no one has befriended (and discovering that she has a great sense of humor?
Questions for Parents and Kids
- Where in your life do you have the opportunity to help bring justice and compassion to a bad situation? Perhaps in your family, at school, or in your neighborhood? What does that look like?
- What stops us from speaking up? Why?
- How do we change our response from being silent to speaking?
July 17
Book: Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson with Illustrations by E. B. Lewis
Summary
Chloe and her friends won't play with the new girl, Maya. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her friends, they reject her. Eventually Maya stops coming to school. When Chloe's teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the lost opportunity for friendship, and thinks about how much better it could have been if she'd shown a little kindness toward Maya.
Winner of a Coretta Scott King Honor and the Jane Addams Peace Award.
Questions for Parents and Kids
- How can you see opportunities for kindness and practice showing kindness to others?
- Gather your family or a circle of friends around a bowl of water and practice the teacher’s lesson from Each Kindness. Drop a stone into the water and watch the ripples. Let each person drop a stone into the water and as you watch the ripples grow tell one thing you have done to show kindness. As each person tells something, affirm their actions by saying “we love, because God first loved us.” (I John 4:19)
July 24
Book: Stelluna by Janell Cannon
Summary
While out searching for food, fruit bat Stellaluna and her mother are attacked by an owl. Stellaluna is separated from Mother Bat and taken in by a family of birds where she must put aside her bat habits to fit in with her new family. But one fateful flight when she is separated from her adoptive siblings, Stellaluna is reunited with her bat family and learns that even though we’re different, we’re very much the same.
Questions for Parents and Kids
- In what ways is Stellaluna shown the love of a neighbor?
- How can you see God at work when bad things happen to Stellaluna?
- What do Stellaluna and her bird friends discover about themselves?
- How are we like Stellaluna?
July 31
Book: Wangari's Trees of Peace by Jeannette Winter
Summary
As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something—and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans. . . .
Questions for Parents and Kids
- Wangari saw a need and worked to create a solution that began small and grew. It took patience, persistence, compassion and commitment. How can these values serve as an inspiration in our lives?
- Wangari began her work alone but soon got others involved in solving the problem of deforestation in her village by asking them to join her in planting seedlings. I wonder what the needs are in our own community?
August 7
Book: Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox with illustrations by Julie Vivas
Summary
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, a rather small boy, lives next door to a nursing home in which resides Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper, his favorite friend, because she has four names as well. When Miss Nancy "loses" her memory, the intrepid Wilfrid sets out to find it for her.
Questions for Parents and Kids
- What are the ways Wilfrid takes care of his dear friend, Miss Nancy?
- I wonder how God want us to care for our friends?
August 14
Book: The Lunch Thief by Anne C. Bromley with illustrations by Robert Casilla
Summary
Rafael is hungry―because someone stole his lunch. Rafael saw a new kid in his class, sneak his lunch bag from underneath his desk and tuck it in his own backpack. How can he do something about the theft without picking a fight? Rafael’s solution is inspired by his mother's advice to “Use your mouth before your fists.”
Questions for Parents and Kids
- How can you show compassion to someone in need that preserves their dignity and helps build a foundation for friendship?
- What do you know about the ministries in your community that are helping to feed the hungry and house the homeless? What can you do to help?
August 21
Book: Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed with illustrations by Doug Chayka
Summary
When relief workers bring used clothing to a refugee camp in Pakistan, ten-year-old Lina is thrilled when she finds a sandal that fits her foot perfectly - until she sees that another girl has the matching shoe. Soon Lina and Feroza meet and decide that it is better to share the sandals than for each to wear only one. Four Feet, Two Sandals honors the experiences of refugee children around the world, whose daily existence is marked by uncertainty and fear.
Questions for Parents and Kids
- Thinking about your friendships, what ways are the children in this story alike or different from you and your friends?
- Do you have a special reminder of a friend who has moved away? How do you remember them.
- How can you help someone new in your school, church or neighborhood feel welcome?
August 28
Book: God's Dream by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams, with illustrations by LeUyen Pham. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 16, 1984.
Summary
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has a vision of God’s dream. It involves people who hold one another’s hands, but sometimes get angry and hurt one another — then say they’re sorry and forgive. It’s a wish that everyone will see that they are brothers and sisters, no matter their way of speaking to God, no matter the size of their nose or the shade of their skin.
Questions for Parents and Kids
- What makes all of us — no matter how different we look, sound, or live — brothers and sisters?
- Remember a time when you felt angry or sad. What made you feel better?
- What are some things that you think God would dream about?
September 4
Book: The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles with illustrations by George Fold
Summary
The year is 1960, and six-year-old Ruby Bridges and her family have recently moved from Mississippi to New Orleans in search of a better life. When a judge orders Ruby to attend first grade at William Frantz Elementary, an all-white school, Ruby must face angry mobs of parents who refuse to send their children to school with her. This is the story of Ruby's courage, faith, and hope.
Questions for Parents and Kids
- What part does the church play in Ruby’s family life?
- What part does prayer play in preparing Ruby for school?
- Try to imagine what it would be like to walk through an angry mob shouting at you each day. What feelings would you have?
- Find Luke 23:24 in the Bible. Ruby modeled her prayer after this Bible verse.