Joy and Gratitude

 If you have followed this blog for any length of time then you are probably aware that I teach a class at our co-op every semester called Joyful.  It is a class designed to have fun, build relationships, and, well, find Joy in every day things.  Just before this semester started I came across the following post and shared it with the class on the first week.  I thought I would share it here as well. It's a great reminder of the simple fact that Joy comes from Jesus and we can have joy even on the hard days. 

I saw this meme this past week and laughed because it was true.  HA!  

January has been a long year ;-) LOL   Anyway, with things this past month like sickness, weather, cancelling of lots of things, it would be easy to get down in the dumps for sure!  I decided to take some time this past weekend and remind myself of the good - to find gratitude -- to be thankful for the things this month.  Maybe you've struggled too so I thought I'd share some of mine. 

1. I'm thankful that we are all feeling better.  (Nate got sick January 6th with a head cold and then it just went from there - colds, coughs, stomach flu!  As of 1.25.26 I do believe we are all feeling nearly 100%) 

2. I am thankful that Darryl has been kept safe on the roads throughout some very treacherous driving this month.  (And it is still treacherous!) 

3. I am thankful that Nate had an amazing time at winter retreat!  He just plain loves camp. 

4. I am thankful for a very warm house. 

5. I am thankful that our furnace runs faithfully. 

6. I am thankful Josh decided to move his xbox to the living room - we've enjoyed lots of family time together in the evenings just all being in the same room. (Why? After being sick and stuck in his room he said he just needed to be in the living room where it was brighter) 

7. I'm thankful Josh was able to go to my mom's when Darryl and Nate when down with the stomach flu.  It's nice she lives so close. 

8. I'm thankful for Zoom calls with my mom and brothers - we always laugh about something. 

9. I am thankful Nate was able to earn his 2nd black belt!  

10. I am thankful that Darryl, Nate and I "happened" to clean the church on a Saturday and discovered frozen pipes; they were repaired before any damage was done! (I normally clean on Thursday - but due to the bad roads, went in on a Saturday and my guys helped out!)  

11.  I am thankful we did not have frozen pipes at home. 

It helps - it really does!  When I first started writing things done it was slow going but the more I wrote, the more I thought of.  So, if you are struggling take time to think of even small things you can be thankful for and remember to say thank you to God for those things!  (A lot of times I say, "Thank you God for . .. ." and then list that item.)

Joyful Fall 2025 - Week 1

 Our first week of our fall co-op started this past Friday.  As I did previously I plan to share my basic lesson plans for my teen class which is called Joyful.  I have taught this now about maybe 6-8 semesters and every semester is different - or at least as a majority of different things.  I do repeat items if teens ask for them but I also try to do new things as well.  I always tell them that I will teach the class as long as there is interest and, considering the fact that the class fills up (or almost fills up) every semester I guess there is still interest (a max of 15 kids - I have 14 this semester) The reason I share my plans is that I have found it super difficult to find teen co-op classes when I search.  Most of them or "for credit" ideas and, honestly, I just want to have fun with the teens.  

Week One is our intro week.  

We start our week with the "Joyful Bucket".  This is our candy/toy bucket.  We go around the room and everyone shares one things that brought them joy from their week and then take a treat.  It is always fun to hear about their lives! 

Then, we headed outside to play an "Get to know you game".  It is called "Speed Meeting" (think .. "Speed Dating" ha!)  They each received a packet of questions and then got into two circles facing each other.  I set the time for 1 minute and they started asking each other questions.  Once the time went off, the inside circle moved one space and started again.  It was a neat way to learn new things about people who they really already knew! 

Next up was a game called "Llama Llama".  I saw this game a few weeks ago at Center Shot with Nate and thought it was too funny not to do in Joyful.  At the end of each round there was an "old fashioned moo-off" to find the winner HA!  It was a fun game.  

We took a group photo before our morning ended.  

Some years the first week of joyful is chaos.  Some years it is super quiet.  This year - it was just perfect.  Everyone was kind and respectful and everyone participated.  It was a good day. 

Joyful Week 8 - Our Co-Op

 You might remember that a few posts ago I mentioned that I scheduled my posts and sometimes they might get posted before I'm done . . .well, that's what happened today! 

Anyway, our last week of Joyful was a little different.  We need to wrap somethings up like taking our final "Jumping for Joy" photo since everyone was actually in attendance!  (We took one last week but had one student gone).  

It happened to be 3/14 = Pi Day!  So we also took a photo with 15 numbers of pie . ... and we ATE Pie!  It was fun.  

Once we were done we headed down to the Sanctuary to practice our verses on stage. 

So this final week there isn't a lot to share.  During past semesters of Joyful I also saved the last week to finish up projects, take photos, etc.  Then I will always have a backup game or activity just in case.  

One suggestion I have if you are planning co-op class is to always have a backup game because there will be at least one week where things go faster than you plan!  I also suggest that you keep your final week open to finish up your final activities and projects.  

Now, it is time to start planning for next semester! 

Joyful Weeks 6-7, Our Co-Op

 We always start the same each week: 

1) This semester I am sharing a short devotional around the idea of why we memorize scripture.  I'm taking my thoughts from HERE.  There are 10 Biblical reasons to memorize scripture so I'm sharing one each week. 

2) We then do our Joyful Bucket.  Each student has to name one thing that brought them joy throughout the week.  Sometimes this is hard.  I try to help them understand that their item doesn't have to be a "thing" - something they did or experienced - but rather even something simple they saw that brought them true joy. They also get to chose something out of our treat bucket. 

3) We review our scripture memorization.  We spend the semester memorizing scripture that we then share at presentation night. 

What changes each week are our activities. 

Week 6

This was our crafty week.  Each semester I like to find a simple craft that the teens can do - I call it our return to Kindergarten week.  I found this fun idea HERE.  Their finger paintings turned out great! 

Week 7

This week we took time to take our "Jumping for Joy" Photo that I use in our slide show.  Then we played a favorite game called Whomp-It.  They get to hit each other with a blow up bat - which I think is why they love it so much.  :-) 

The great thing about this co-op class is that the teens really just want to be together and hang out.  While I feel like sometimes I should more things they all tell me that they like what we do.  Ultimately that is all that matters.  It has been suggested that I teach this class two hours next semester so that there is room for more students (15 is the class size limit).  I haven't decided if that is a good option yet or not.  We shall see! 

Joyful Weeks 4 and 5 - Our Co-Op

 We always start the same each week: 

1) This semester I am sharing a short devotional around the idea of why we memorize scripture.  I'm taking my thoughts from HERE.  There are 10 Biblical reasons to memorize scripture so I'm sharing one each week. 

2) We then do our Joyful Bucket.  Each student has to name one thing that brought them joy throughout the week.  Sometimes this is hard.  I try to help them understand that their item doesn't have to be a "thing" - something they did or experienced - but rather even something simple they saw that brought them true joy. They also get to chose something out of our treat bucket. 

3) We review our scripture memorization.  We spend the semester memorizing scripture that we then share at presentation night. 

What changes each week are our activities. 

Week 4 - This was our semester "Breakfast and Bingo" class!  It's the highlight of the class for sure.  Each semester I find a bingo board on Pinterest to use and print them off.  We start with breakfast where I supply sausage balls, muffins, donut holes, fruit, milk and juice.  Then we play bingo the rest of the hour!  

Week 5 - After fighting sickness in our house, I was not mentally prepared for planning our co-op HA!  So we had our first ever "game day".  Everyone could bring in board games and play with friends.  It went surprisingly well as in no one was left out and everyone played games the entire hour. 

Sometimes when planning a class, it is always good to have an "easy" idea for either a substitute or for weeks that just are busy! 

Joyful Weeks 2 and 3 - Our Co-Op

 I realized last Wednesday evening that I forgot to post my weekly Wednesday post and decided that I would just combine weeks 2 and 3 of my Joyful class all together in one post.  

Weeks 2 and 3 started out the same way as week one.  

1) This semester I am sharing a short devotional around the idea of why we memorize scripture.  I'm taking my thoughts from HERE.  There are 10 Biblical reasons to memorize scripture so I'm sharing one each week. 

2) We then do our Joyful Bucket.  Each student has to name one thing that brought them joy throughout the week.  Sometimes this is hard.  I try to help them understand that their item doesn't have to be a "thing" - something they did or experienced - but rather even something simple they saw that brought them true joy. They also get to chose something out of our treat bucket. 

3) We review our scripture memorization.  We spend the semester memorizing scripture that we then share at presentation night. 

What changes each week are our activities. 

Our activity for week 2 was a team building activity that included popscicle sticks, tape, and a rubber band.  It also included NO talking as it was an activity build around non-verbal communication.  

The activity is sold on Teachers Pay Teachers and you can find it HERE. 

It was great to watch the teams work together and figure out how to communicate their ideas.  It was also interesting to see them look around at what others were doing to get ideas for their own projects.  

I told my class that this was my new favorite activity.  Why?  The silence HA!  We are usually a SUPER loud class so having them work in silence was a nice treat. 

Our activity for week 3 is called The Fishbowl Game.  We actually played it last semester and normally I do not bring back an activity the next semester UNLESS it is something that is requested by multiple people.  

The full instructions can be found HERE. 

We divided into two teams after everyone wrote down 3 nouns on 3 pieces of paper.  All of those papers are put into a large bowl.  Then three rounds are played - Taboo, Password, and Charades.  It's great because the same words are used in each round so, if they pay attention, they can use clues used in previous rounds.  I was actually surprised at how much everyone enjoyed this game AND that they requested to do it again.  It really is "The best party game".  

 

Joyful Week 1 - Co-Op Class

 While I know this doesn't interest everyone, I like to share my co-op class lesson plans and ideas along the way because I search for ideas every semester and I wish that someone would share more!!  Especially teen classes.  So many teen classes are heavily educational and/or for credit.  That is not what I enjoy teaching - I focus more on relationships with our teens.  We spend 4 days focused hard on school for the sole purpose of being able to enjoy our Friday Co-Op, hang out with friends, and build relationships. 

I started teaching my Joyful class several years ago for the sole reason that Joshua asked for a "just teens" class so he didn't have to take all three hours with younger kids.  Well, teaching teens was not high on my to-do list!  I created this concept because I was already focused on the idea that we need to find joy in all aspects of our life.  When I first offered the class I had 5 students.  By the end of the first semester I was asked to offer it again . .. and then again. . .and again!  Each semester is fairly unique except we do "Breakfast and Bingo" every semester.  My class now fills up (15 students) and the idea of teaching it two hours so that more teens can participate has been brought up.  For now, though, I enjoy my one class.  

Week one of our semester started last Friday and here is my lesson plan: 

1) This semester I am sharing a short devotional around the idea of why we memorize scripture.  I'm taking my thoughts from HERE.  There are 10 Biblical reasons to memorize scripture so I'm sharing one each week. 

2) We then do our Joyful Bucket.  Each student has to name one thing that brought them joy throughout the week.  Sometimes this is hard.  I try to help them understand that their item doesn't have to be a "thing" - something they did or experienced - but rather even something simple they saw that brought them true joy. They also get to chose something out of our treat bucket. 

3) We review our scripture memorization.  We spend the semester memorizing scripture that we then share at presentation night. 

4) Our activities!  We did two activities this week.  First up we played a simple ice breaker game called "Human Taco". 

The basic overview is that each person received a paper with part of a taco listed on it.  They then had to find four other people with the different parts of a taco to make theirs complete.  We played two rounds and it went pretty quickly.  They laughed, it was was fun.  It would have been better in a larger space so I could have sent them to different corners making it hard to find people.  The game can be found HERE

Our second game was The Toilet Paper Game: 

The basic overview is that you pass around a roll of TP and each person takes "as much as you think you will need.".  Some took 1 piece and some took upwards of 20 pieces.  Once everyone has their pieces they are informed that they must share one fact about themselves for each piece!  Boy, we got some laughs.  I think those that took 1 wished they had take a few more and those that took over 20 (yes there were a couple of those) wished they had taken a few less!  One of the girls took 25 pieces and when she was done everyone said, "After that, we still didn't learn one new thing about you" HA!  I would recommend this game to any group.  It really was fun and you can find complete instructions HERE. 

Both of these games would make great activities for a youth group.  The Taco game would be great with a larger group too - the more people; the more crazy the search would become!