This week I saw the value of inclusion and I thought that would make a great theme for my object lesson today. I hope this lesson will be useful to youth ministries, family devotionals and family home evenings.

Put together all the items for making homemade cake. If it asks for 3 eggs have each egg on the counter. If the recipe asks for 2 and ½ cups of flour then provide two separate cups and a ½ cup set aside. Then with everyone watching, start mixing the ingredients together. Intentionally leave out two eggs, and intentionally leave out a cup of flour or shorten the amount of water. Completely ignore the sugar etc. See if anyone in the family sees that things are being left out and if they state an item is missing add it. If they don’t say anything then make the cake without the items. You want to leave things out that will make an influence on a bad batch of cake or bread or whatever at the end of the lesson.

Another for the younger audience is to have a puzzle. Have everyone put it together but before the game pull some pieces out so that when the puzzle is complete it is missing several pieces making the puzzle incomplete.

Now talk amongst the class or family the different times they have felt left out of an activity. Maybe also discuss the times they met one of their friends. Were they friends instantly or did it take time to become? What was involved in making the friendship? Try to select experiences that showed that maybe kids didn’t get along in the beginning but later became the best of friends.

As a parent and teacher you might relate a personal experience where you were included in a group and it made a positive impression upon your life.

Then discuss as a group how often excluding someone or something can sometimes create a missed opportunity. How does the homemade cake or bread taste when important items are shorted or missing completely? Classmates and family members only have to relate their personal experiences of times they were skipped to appreciate when they are included.

You might discuss techniques on how one can include others in a group. If someone is sitting in a group but not participation a person might ask that individual a question. When they answer that makes them more involved.

I would like to illustrate this by a personal experience. This last week I hosted condo accommodations for some writers attending a writing workshop presented by Dave Wolverton. The three who stayed at the condo loved the workshop but they also got to meet and network with each other. The ting I was impressed with was how they included me in their conversations. I was not personally attending this particular workshop but as a room was available I came down for a week to work on my book Troll Bait.

Each evening the students would come back and talk shop (I love talking writing with fellow authors) They would include me in their conversation. I appreciate how they’d talk to me and listen to me. I was a part of the group even without being a part of the workshop. That made my stay at the condo more positive.

Another thing about including everyone is what I would have missed had we not all shared a part of ourselves. The thing I learned from a guy name Adam is his fantastic world building of his universe. I appreciate about the woman named Linda was her generosity in sharing links and knowledge from outside sources. She also added Facebook links on my web site. The fun thing about Aaron is his singing and his fun whistling provided an upbeat atmosphere to the week. We would have missed all that if any of us attempted exclusion rather than inclusion. It made my week at the resort a positive experience.

For the week’s assignment, have everyone plan to include someone they know in the next group get-to-gather and report on their progress at the next devotional/class/family home evening.

Please feel free to give additional suggestions you have on this topic in the comment section of the blog/site.