In virtual Sunday School, we began our theme of INDIVIDUALITY at the very beginning of the Bible. As we heard the story of creation, we watched a blank wall transform into a beautiful collage of images. We learned that we are God's most magnificent creation, each a unique masterpiece. We looked at how sun catchers reflect light into a room and learned that being created in God's image means that we also have the capability to reflect something into our environment...God's love, kindness, and goodness. We discovered that we can turn an old CD into a sun catcher!

In virtual Sunday School, we opened this week's discussion of INDIVIDUALITY by talking about candy and it's many unique flavors. We discovered that one particular type of candy has over 200 flavors - the jelly bean! We watched a video of a silly jelly bean challenge where participants were given jelly beans to taste. The jelly beans looked identical but the participants were surprised with either a good flavor or a wacky/gross flavor. Like jelly beans, God made us all unique - a custom creation! We learned that in our Bible story this week, Matthew might have felt like an undesirable person but Jesus saw him as God's valuable creation. We then looked at Reflection Art and noticed that two small mirrors expanded our design and allowed us to see more than what was on the paper. We were reminded that having Jesus in our lives is like having that mirror - it changes the way we see ourselves. Instead of seeing only a part of ourselves (maybe a part we don't like), we see ourselves as whole - unique and beautiful creations of God.

In virtual Sunday School, we heard the story of Lydia - a businesswoman who made and sold fabric with purple dye. We learned that fabric was originally colored with dyes made of natural materials...plants, animals, and minerals and that purple was the rarest and most expensive. We learned that Lydia used the money she made to provide a place to stay for the Apostle Paul and his friends. This story reminds us that what's really important is not the gifts we have but how we use them. For fun, we created a purple tie-dye T-shirt using blueberries!