After opening prayers have been recited, the children should finish memorizing the prayer presented in Lesson 18 so that they can dedicate the next class to its review.
Patience - listen HERE
Your legs are getting tired
And the road is very long, long, long
You want to give up trying
And the sun is beating strong
No sense gettin’ impatient
It’s useless if you cry
If you take it step by step
The time goes rushing by
CHORUS:
Patience is the answer
When you’re sad and blue
Patience is rewarded
It brings happiness to you
Your brother doesn’t understand
But you’ve explained it more than twice
You really ought to try again
And do your best to be nice
No sense gettin’ impatient
It’s useless to be stern
If you show him kindness
It’s the way to help him learn
CHORUS
You want to do much better
But still you don’t succeed
You wonder why make an effort
And where it all will lead
No sense gettin’ impatient
It’s silly to do less
If you keep on striving
You’ll eventually progress
CHORUS (with last two lines repeated)
The children will learn a quotation related to patience today, which you can present to them in the following way:
Patience is one of the most important qualities we can possess. Without patience we can achieve little in this life. In our studies, in our work, in our friendships with others, in our efforts to grow spiritually, patience is necessary. Not all things in life can be done quickly. Many things can only be done little by little, day after day. When we exercise patience, we do not try to hurry those things that require time. We need to be patient with others and ourselves, because we are all learning and growing. To help us in our efforts to acquire patience, let us memorize the following quotation:
“He, verily, shall increase the reward of them that endure with patience.” listen HERE
Endure
1. Lixin and her family moved to a far away place. For the first few months, they had many difficulties. But, with the help of their kind neighbors, they were able to endure these difficulties and are now very happy in their new home.
2. Hugh became ill. He was in a great deal of pain, but did not complain. He endured his suffering with patience.
[Other quotes:
Buddhism: The greatest prayer is patience Buddha
Judaism: I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. Psalms 40:1
Christianity: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossions 3:12,13
Islam: And be patient in adversity: for, verily, God is with those who are patient in adversity. Quran 8:46 (Asad)
Baha'i Faith: The sign of love is fortitude under My decree and patience under My trials. Baha'u'llah
Be thou a . . . sea of patience Abdu'l-Baha]
Li Xin was very fond of peaches. They were one of his most favorite foods. Every day, he would bring a peach with him to school and eat it during his lunch break. He enjoyed every bite, but he always threw away the pit, with the seed inside.
One day, Li Xin’s class was learning about seeds. This gave Li Xin an idea. He would plant a seed from his peach and help it grow into a tree! At lunchtime, he saved the pit from his peach and wrapped it in a piece of paper. When school ended, he raced home and asked his father to help him find a place to start growing his tree. His father reminded him that he would have to wait for the pit to dry before he could get the seed out. Still, Li Xin wanted to plant the pit right away. “Li Xin,” said his father, “if you don’t have the patience to dry the pit, how will you have the patience to wait for the seed to sprout?” So Li Xin set the pit out to dry.
A few days later, Li Xin was finally able to crack the pit and pull out the seed. His mother showed him a corner of the yard where the tree could grow big and tall. Li Xin dug a small hole and dropped in the seed, then covered it with a mound of moist earth. He grinned with excitement. His tree was finally on its way!
Every day, Li Xin would visit the mound, hoping to see some sign that the seed had sprouted. But no sprout appeared for weeks, and Li Xin grew disheartened. Seeing Li Xin’s concern, his mother asked him what was wrong. “My seed is not growing,” Li Xin said. “I wonder if I will ever have a tree.” “Well,” said his mother, “this seed has a lot of growing to do. In that way it is very much like you. When you were born, you were just a tiny little thing and all you did was eat and sleep. And now look at you! You are a young boy, walking, talking, and thinking for yourself! This tree may take many years to grow, but, if you care for it well, then someday you will be able to sit in its shade and enjoy its fruit.” Thinking of this, Li Xin grew hopeful again. He knew from his class that a seed had to go through many changes before it could even become a sprout.
Then, one spring day, Li Xin went out to visit the mound, as he always did, and to his great excitement he saw a tiny green sprout poking up through the earth! His tree was growing! He ran to his neighbor, who was a farmer, and told her the exciting news. She gave him advice on how to care for the tree while it was so young and vulnerable, and he listened to her every word, eager to nurture it as best he could. “Soon I will have many peaches to give you as thanks for your good advice,” said Li Xin. But the neighbor just smiled. “Li Xin, do you remember how you had to be patient while you waited for the pit to dry?” Li Xin nodded. “And do you remember how you needed even more patience while you waited for your seed to sprout?” Li Xin remembered this, too. “Well,” said the neighbor, “it will take even longer before your sapling becomes a tree and some time after that before it gives fruit. It could be years before the tree is ready to produce any peaches for you to enjoy.”
And so Li Xin cared for the tree and tended to its needs as it grew from a sprout to a sapling and from a sapling to a tree. Little by little, it grew taller and broader, just as he did. And then one day, as Li Xin returned from school, he saw the tree’s first peaches beginning to emerge where only blossoms had been before. Once again, he felt the joy that filled his heart when the seed had first sprouted. And once again he knew that he would have to exercise patience. For it would be some time still before the peaches would be ready to eat.
Choose one child to go out of the group. While he or she is gone, the rest of the class picks another child to be “the starter”. All the children then follow the actions of the leader. For example, if he or she claps, everyone else does the same. If he or she starts waving good-bye, so do all the others. The one who was sent out must look carefully and try to discover who the leader is. At the same time, the others are careful not to look at the leader too closely or too much, which would make it easy for him or her to be identified by the one searching.
[Red Light, Green Light: i.e. "freeze" is an alternative that emphasizes patience. One child stands away from the others who are at a starting line. When the isolated child's back is turned, everyone sneaks/runs up to them. That child will turn suddenly (or after yelling "red light"), and see if everyone's frozen. If any kids are caught moving they have to go back to the starting point. This is repeated until one of the kids gets close enough to touch the traffic light and then it's their turn to be the light. Remind the kids that they are practicing patience during the red lights.]
[The improvisation scene (for the children to act out) was set as follows:
- Patience and Impatience each have a small plot of land. One year, they both decide to plant and harvest corn on their land. They gather up the seeds and equipment. How does Patience plant and harvest his crop? How does Impatience do it? The outcome? As Impatience kept digging up the seeds to see if they had grown already, his crop was tiny in the end, most of the seeds never made it grow into a full plant. Patience’s crop was bountiful and he managed to sell a lot of his harvest on the local market…]
Off and on throughout the year Target stores usually have small grow your own plant kits. At about $1 a piece they're very affordable and easy to purchase ahead of time. The kids can plant the seeds in class and take it home and patiently care for it and watch the plant grow. Or, if you're doing this in a classroom setting they can take care of them in class.
Using new or recycled paper that has a variety of colors, textures, or patterns, have the kids rip paper and use it to create an illustration for the quote, "Be thou... a sea of patience." The example photographed was made with scrapbooking paper, which works well because the paper has several layers so it can be torn in such a way as to reveal the white layers under the print.
lesson23patience.pdf |
Patience from The Family Virtues Guide
What Is Patience?
Patience is quiet hope and expectation based on trust that, in the end, everything will be all right. Patience means waiting. It is enduring a delay or troublesome situation without complaining.
It means having self-control because you can't control the way someone else is acting, or when things don't go as you'd like. Patience is being calm and tolerant when difficult things happen.
Patience is persevering - sticking with something for as long as it takes to finish it. When you are patient, you know that things take time, just as a seed you plant will someday grow into a flower or a fruit-bearing tree. Patience is a commitment to the future. It is doing something now so that later something good will happen. It is also tolerating all of the things necessary to make it happen. Patience is seeing the end in the beginning - doing what you can and then calmly waiting, with trust that the results will come.
Why Practice Patience?
Without patience, people want everything now. They might plant a seed in the ground and want to eat the fruit right away. They have trouble doing things ow which will have a result later, such as a project that takes a lot of work, or going to school so that someday they can be a doctor or an artist or an engineer.
Without patience, people can't stand to wait for anyone and fuss the whole time, which makes them and everyone else even more upset. When people are impatient, they act mad and irritable when things don't go their way or other people make mistakes.
When people practice patience, they do things now that will bear fruit in the future. They plant seeds to flowers, vegetables and trees will grow. They study subjects that they will put to use ten years from now.
When people are patient, they don't whine, complain or criticize. They forgive other people and themselves. They make the world a kind and gentle place, and other people feel safe around them.
How Do You Practice It?
You practice patience by accepting things you cannot control. Even if you feel impatient, you act calm and accepting while waiting for someone who is delayed. You have faith that things will turn out all right in the end. A sense of humour helps!
When you practice patience, you surrender to something that you have to endure, like an illness that will last a certain time, or a handicap you may always have, instead of fighting it and getting mad about it. You are gentle with others when they make mistakes, and you are gentle with yourself too.
Patience helps you to stick to something you are trying to do, even when it gets difficult or tiresome. You persevere until it is finished, even if there is no reward for all your work until the very end. You are willing to set goals for your future, knowing that it is really worth the effort.
Patience is having goals and picturing the end in the beginning. Trust in God can give you patience - a quiet hope that can get you through the hard times.
What would patience look like if...
- Your mother is very late picking you up and you have been waiting a long time?
- You decide that you want to be a lawyer when you grow up?
- You want to grow some vegetables in your garden?
- You start to get annoyed when your sister forgets to put back something she borrowed from you?
- You wish you were taller?
- You have an illness that keeps you from playing your favourite sport?
Signs of Success
Congratulations! You are practising patience when you...
| Keep trying! You need more practice when you...
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I am patient. I am gentle with others and myself when mistakes are made. I set goals and persevere until my goals are won. I trust God that all will be well.