By Junior Youth Leaders

Dear Community,

In Formation this past Sunday, we talked about the final component of the Big Way of Love for Kids—spiritual practices that help us to look, live, and love more like Jesus. The topic was “TURN and choose to follow Jesus.” We read the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-24.

We asked the youth two main questions:

What can this story tell us about people?
What can it tell us about God?

(By the way, these are two good questions to have in mind anytime we read Scripture!)

The youth surprised and encouraged us with their insightful answers about human mistakes and God’s infinite love. We also did some imagining: How do you picture Jesus when you turn toward him? (Are his arms stretched out? Does he give you something? What does he say or do?)

Finally, we did a “turning stone” activity.

Holding a smooth stone, we each thought of a time recently when we did or said something that we knew was wrong, mean, or hurtful. We closed our eyes and squeezed that mistake into the stones in our hands, giving the mistakes over to Jesus. We put the rocks in a bowl and poured water over them, ready to turn back to Jesus and follow his Way of Love!

In Christ,

Kelsi, Angelina, Edina, and Gretchen