She was a perfect baby, and she had a perfect name. Chrysanthemum. When she was old enough to appreciate it, Chrysanthemum loved her name. And then she started school. “I’m named after my grandmother,” said Victoria. “You’re named after a flower.” Chrysanthemum wilted. Life at school didn’t improve. In fact, it got worse. See what happens in this charming book about kindness and accepting others.
Enemy Pie is about a boy who is very disappointed when his worst enemy moves down the street from him. His dad says he has a surefire way to get rid of his enemy – Enemy Pie. The recipe for Enemy Pie calls for a secret ingredient of hanging out with the enemy for one whole day.
Enemy Pie is a recipe for making new friends and delivers a message about how to handle conflict and relationships. In efforts to build a reading community within our school, everyone from Kindergarten to grade 6th will be reading Enemy Pie! I choose Enemy Pie because I feel it has a great message of having respect for one another and because I hope to be able to Skype with local author Derek Munson!
Rather than making an enemy pie, we will be making a Friendship Pie! What ingredients do you think are needed for a Friendship Pie? What instructions would you write on how to be a good friend?
January’s character quality is “truthfulness”. Truth is authenticity and the opposite of lying. Truth has many benefits, including freeing you from the power of sin. Proverbs 12:22 tells us that the Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. Remember the story of Daniel from the Bible? Daniel told the truth which landed him in the lion’s den! But Daniel had faith that he if told the truth, God would bless him. And God did bless him! Telling the whole truth, telling the truth even though you might be punished, or even telling the truth even when no one will ever know the truth but you delights the Lord!
December’s character quality is “generosity”.
Tis’ the season of generosity and good will toward mankind. Do you remember the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”? This movie continually reminds me of the joy of the season, the kindness of strangers and the generosity of spirit. The gift of generosity can be wrapped and presented many different ways. Your time, donations, a gift of money, your actions and words.
The underlying principal of being generous is love. While this seems so simple it is often times hard to achieve. Through the year we work hard and we are busy. We have so much to do that it is easy to become consumed by the daily tasks of our lives. We forget the values that ground us. The holidays help us to slow down a bit. Crazy I know. But think about it, we slow down to enjoy the company of family and friends, decorate our homes, celebrate, play, share a meal and participate in activities that we don’t normally have throughout the rest of the year. This time of year helps us to renew and refocus attention on our most important values.
Seven Tips to Generosity
1) Be generous with kind words- All too often words of praise and encouragement get replaced with those of judgment and ridicule. Both approaches are powerful. One that tears down and one that builds up. Giving encouragement with words is one of the most powerful tools you can use. Watch your relationships and interactions transform into something positive when offering kind words. Remember what Ned taught us when we practiced saying positive words to each other!
2) Random acts of kindness -It might be holding the door open for a friend, baking an apple pie for your neighbor or cleaning up someone’s mess that isn’t yours in the lunchroom! Those acts of kindness will brighten someone’s day and maybe they will pay it forward.
3) Write a thank you note – In the age of the internet, social network sites, and text messaging a hand written note or card is a thing of the past. Or is it? The thoughtfulness of taking time to put your appreciation on paper goes a long way.
4) Check your attitude – being in the presence of a positive attitude can brighten a person’s day and it is contagious. What is your attitude saying?
5) Volunteer – There are a multitude of areas you can help out in your community, whether working with older adults, the food bank, or raking a neighbor’s leaves!
6) Apologize- Acknowledging that you have offended or hurt someone may allow healing to begin by leaving the door open for forgiveness.
7) Listen -Taking the time to listen to a friend or family member or someone you just met is one of the most generous things you can do. You might find out something that helps to foster a stronger relationship.
The book i am blogging is actually a series about a girl named Bethany Hamilton who lost her arm to a shark. Four books in this series about this fantastic christian girl,crunch, burned,storm, and clash. You have probably heard about her, but she is a dedicated christian and was thirteen when she lost her arm. She also was a surfer and still surfs with one arm. Ask Mrs. Kalbfleich if you want to borrow this book. Hope you enjoy it!
For the month of November “gratefulness” is our school character quality. When we think of gratefulness we also think of thankfulness and thanksgiving. Pollyanna, by Eleanor Porter, is a great example of being thankful for the circumstances we are in. Pollyanna is an eleven-year-old orphan who comes to live with her austere and wealthy Aunt Polly. Pollyanna’s father was a pastor and had taught her the “glad” game”. Pollyanna’s philosophy of gladness brings happiness to her aunt and other unhappy members of the community, especially after she experiences a disastrous fall and could be paralyzed for life!!!