]In virtual Sunday School, we began our theme of INITIATIVE - a perfect theme as we celebrated all American workers this Labor Day weekend! We talked about the different jobs in America and how some really require initiative such as astronauts and police officers. For fun, we made a rocket launcher out of a juice bag. We learned that although these jobs may not all be jobs we can do, there are lots of little everyday jobs in front of us that we can do. We take initiative when we don't wait for someone else to do what needs to be done. We can pick up garbage we see lying on the ground, we can clear the table of dishes after a family meal, and we can stick up for someone in school who's being made fun of. 

In virtual Sunday School, we learned how Nehemiah's initiative went beyond fixing the wall. When he noticed that people weren't being treated fairly, he took action. We learned that initiative starts with seeing what needs to be done and looking for ways that we can help the world around us. When we looked very closely at a picture of what appeared to be a fun day at the park, we noticed some unusual situations that we might have missed, situations where we could have been helpful. We did an activity to test our ability to notice subtle change. Each time we looked at a tray with various items, a change took place and most of us spotted it right away! 

In virtual Sunday School, we learned that after Nehemiah and his people built the wall, they had a big celebration because they knew it wasn't only their hard work that made it happen. They knew it was bigger than that - God had seen them through! We looked at all of the celebration days in October from National Smile Day to Halloween and learned that we should celebrate EVERY day! We should celebrate God because He has a good plan for our lives. We talked about different ways we can celebrate - prayer, music, feasts, getting togethers with friends, decorations, etc. We ended by listening to a beautiful celebration worship song called "House of the Lord" by Phil Wickman.