Definition

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Quotes 2

2

3

3

4

4

Robin’s

Reading List

5

Crosky’s

Corner

6

Character

in the

Classroom

Continuously

7

Flexibility

A U G U S T 2 0 1 1

I W I L L :

Character… It starts with me!

M O N T H L Y E D U C A T O R B U L L E T I N

Vs.

Go to the Root

Demonstrating the nature of God by wisely

reinvesting the resources that He has entrusted to us

F EAT U R ES

Generosity D E C E M B B R 2 0 1 2 I WILL :

share what I

have with others

recycle

not expect

anything in

return for my

generosity

give of my time

and talents

praise the good I

see in others

Character… It starts with me!

M O N T H L Y F A I T H B U I L D E R B U L L E T I N

Vs. Stinginess

Generosity is a natural character quality to follow a study of gratefulness because being generous requires that you be an “abundant thinker”, someone who believes that there is enough to go around. Abundance has nothing to do with facts and everything to do with faith. Abundant thinkers are generous because they feel Blessed and don’t mind sharing what they have. They value competition as it can lead to increased skills whether they win or lose. They are optimistic,

confident and believe more good things are yet to come. They understand that someone else’s success does not diminish their own. They are able to give with no strings attached. Generosity begins with God, for he was first generous with us. Laying all of creation at our feet, he trusts us to use his gifts wisely. He gave us the greatest gift of all when he sent us his only begotten Son to save us. On the other hand, scarcity thinkers are stingy

thinkers, afraid that someone will take what they are entitled to. They are fearful, suspicious and pessimistic about their future, choosing to hoard what they have “just in case”. Abundant thinkers are generous with spending time with others, giving of themselves and not just cash. This month, think abundantly and practice generosity with your time, talents and treasure.

Quotes 2

Character Model;

The Oil Jar

3

The Greatest Gift

Team Building

Activity - Group

Thumb War

4

The Giving Tree;

Egg-stra

Generosity

5

Everybody,

Somebody, Anybody,

Nobody;

Beach Blanket Ball

Bounce

6

Time, Talent and

Treasure

7

Croskey’s Corner 8

For the Family 9

CEO this month 10

Poster 11

Prayer 12

“For the person of faith, practicing good character is a matter of

loving God, self, and others.”

John Pierce, founding member of the Character Council

Character Quotables

P A G E 2

Buddhism

A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion

are the things which renew humanity.

Judaism

He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

Proverbs 22:9

Christianity

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.

1 Timothy 1:5

Islam

BEHOLD, God enjoins justice, and the doing of good, and generosity

towards [one's] fellow-men; Quran 16:90 (Asad)

Baha'i Faith

To give and to be generous are attributes of Mine; well is it with him that adorneth himself with My virtues.

Baha'u'llah Church of Latter Day Saints Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?

Book of Mormon 8:39

“One always receiving, never giving, is like a stagnant pool, in which whatever flows remains, whatever remains, corrupts.”

John A. James “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”

John Wesley “Blessed are those who give without remembering. And blessed are those who take without forgetting .”

Elizabeth Bibesco

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot loose."

Jim Elliot

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.”

Khalil Gibran

“Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.”

Frank A. Clark

“He who gives what he would as readily throw away, gives without generosity; for the essence of generosity is in self sacrifice.”

Henry Taylor

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”

John Bunyan

“Give yourself entirely to those around you. Be generous with your blessings. A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”

Steve Maraboli

“Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.”

Theodore Roosevelt

“When it comes to giving, some people stop at nothing.”

Vernon McLellan

“Children must early learn the beauty of generosity. They are taught to give what they prize most, that they may taste the happiness of giving.”

Charles Alexander Eastman

“It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.”

Kahlil Gibran

“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”

Debbie Macomber, One Simple Act: Discovering

the Power of Generosity

“”

Widow of Zarephath, Model of Generosity

P A G E 3

It was during a famine-causing drought that Elisha, the prophet, was hiding from King Ahab. The Lord spoke to Elisha and told him to go to Zarephath for there was a widow there that would help him. So he went to Zarephath and at the gates to the city he met the widow. He asked her for a cup of water and a piece of bread. The woman gave him the water but explained that all she had was a small amount of flour and oil and was about to use the last of it to make bread for herself and her

son. There wasn’t enough for him. He told her that God would not let her flour and oil run dry until the drought was over. The widow did as she was told. When she finished making the bread for Elisha, there was enough left to make some for herself and her son. When she was done, she still had flour and oil. Elisha stayed with the widow and she was able to make bread for all of them everyday and still have some left in her jars. The widow of Zarephath was generous in her giving

The Oil Jar

After you have told the story of Elisha and the Widow of Zarephath, ask the group what a jar of oil looked like back then. Describe for them what a clay jar would have looked like. Have some pictures to show them examples. Then give each person a ball of clay or modeling compound and instruct them to make a jar for oil. When they are finished, talk about how different each of the jar are yet they all have the same purpose of holding oil. How is that like each of us as servants of God? We are all different but we all have the same purpose of serving God.

to Elisha. She didn’t give what she didn’t need or have leftover. She gave out of the last meal she had for her own family. She trusted that God would provide if she gave away her last bit of flour and oil.

1 Kings 17:7-16

The Greatest Gift

P A G E 4

To prepare for this activity you will need to find a baby Jesus from a Nativity set. Place the figurine (or a picture of one) in small box and wrap it with Christmas Wrapping Paper. Place this box inside of another box and wrap it. So this several more times. To start the activity, arrange the group in a circle sitting down. Place the wrapped gift in the lap of the youngest person. When you start playing music, the group will pass the gift around the circle. When the music stops, the person (or persons if it was between two people) open the gift. Finding another wrapped gift inside, you start the music again. Continue starting and stopping the music until all of the layers are opened and the Baby Jesus is revealed. Ask the group why the Baby Jesus is the greatest gift. How does it feel to know we have this gift? How are we expected to share this gift?

Team-Building Activity

Building a culture of good character requires building the group into a community. Here is this month’s teambuilding activity:

Group Thumb War

Line up your class in 2 lines facing each other. The students facing each other are partners. If you have an odd number of students, then one student will have a “bye” round. Come up with a question that each person needs to answer. It can relate to this month’s character quality such as “How can you be generous as a kid?” It can relate to the holidays this month or anything of note happening in the community. The idea is to find a question that encourages sharing and getting to know one another better. You will only need one question. Announce the question and have each partner share the answer. Now the partners have a thumb war. Have them clasp fingers of their right hands with their thumbs up. Now they all chant together, “One, Two, Three, Four, Let’s have a Thumb War.” While they chant, they move their thumbs back and forth, trading places being on the left or right side. Once the chant is done, the war begins. The first person to pin the other’s thumb for several seconds wins. You can keep score by determining how many people on each side won and keeping a tally or you can just play round to round. Now have one of the lines take one step to the left. The left-most person will need to move all the way to the right. Each person will now have a new partner. Have each person in this new partnership, answer the question posed in the beginning and then stage another thumb war. You can play until the original partners are partnered again or until time runs out. At the end, ask if they modified their answer to the question after hearing other’s responses. Did they hear any responses that were similar or very different from their own? “And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their

right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.” Leviticus 8:24

"For God so loved the world that he gave

his one and only Son, that whoever be-

lieves in him shall not perish but have

eternal life.”

John 3:16

P A G E 5

The Giving Tree by Shel Silvertstein The ultimate children’s book about giving is Shel

Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. Read this book to the

students. You may even want to have them act it out to give

more of a visual memory. Discuss what it means to give by

talking about all of the things that the tree gave the boy and

how the tree felt about giving. On a bulletin board, construct

a large apple tree. The apples should be cut-outs that the

students can write on. Have them write ways they can

practice generosity on the apples.

“For it is in giving that we receive.”

St. Francis of Assisi

Egg-stra Generosity You will need a clear container with enough water to completely cover an egg, and then some.

Gently place the egg in the water and watch it sink. Discuss with the class, that this is how a sad

person feels who is need of our generosity. Discuss ways you could make this classmate feel

better. What things could you say or do with that person? Be sure to identify class behaviors that

could have led to someone feeling so down. Not doing these things and apologizing for past

behaviors are also things that can be done. Once you have created this list, remove the egg and

begin to stir in salt. You will need 1/4 cup salt for every cup of water in the container. With each

spoonful that you put in, name one of the suggestions that the class gave earlier. Stir the water

after every spoonful. Once all of the salt is stirred in, place the egg in the water. It should now

float. Explain that the egg is now being supported by the generosity of their classmates. Discuss

what kind of culture the school would be if we kept in mind all of the suggestions of how to treat

someone with all of our relationships at school? Compare the water in the container to the culture

in a classroom or school. What kind of “water” do you want to be surrounded with?

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.

Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 12:10

P A G E 6

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do

it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that,

because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody

realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody

blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.

(Author Unknown)

Beach Blanket Ball Bounce You will need to divide your group into groups of 4. Each group gets a beach towel and a beach

ball. The task is to use the beach towel to bounce and catch a beach ball. Each person grabs a

corner of the beach towel. The inflated beach ball is placed in the middle of the beach towel.

Together, the group must cooperate to bounce the ball into the air and to catch it again. Each

group can keep score and the results compared. An alternate activity is to divide into groups of 8

with 2 beach towels and a single beach ball. The task here is to bounce the beach ball from one

beach towel to the next. You can also line up all of the groups holding beach towels in a large

circle and bounce the ball from one beach towel to the next around the room. When the game is

over, ask how easy it was to do the first time compared to the last time? Did you notice that it

takes cooperation to all work together on the common goal of launching or catching the ball?

How is cooperating an act of generosity?

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Psalm 133:1

P A G E 7

Time, Talent and Treasure

BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR TIME

Discuss what it means to ‘give time’ with your group. These activities should only require that you spend time with someone. This could be reading to a younger sibling or playing cards with an aging relative. The focus should be on spending time WITH someone. This is not the time for doing chores for someone. Time is also required if you are trying to conserve your resources. It takes a few extra minutes to rinse out a can and put it in the recycle bin rather than just tossing it in the trash. Conserving our natural resources and taking care of the environment is being generous to future generations. For one of the weeks of this month challenge your group to find ways to give of themselves by giving time.

BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR TREASURE

Discuss what it means to ‘give treasure’ with your group. It doesn’t always have to mean money. These activities should focus on the giving of something. You can organize a drive to collect a specific item such as loaves of bread or new or used but usable mittens or socks and donate them to a local shelter. (It is much easier to coordinate a drive for specific item than it is to run a food or clothing drive.) If your school already has a clothing, food, or toy drive in place, beef up that activity by writing short notes to the people that will receive the items and attach the notes to the items. Once the items are collected, pick out a few to use as an example. Have the group imagine the people that their things will go to, and how happy these people will be to

receive them. Create a fictitious character and a story about the items. How does it feel to give to those who are not as lucky as you? What will you do the next time you notice someone in need?

BE GENEROUS WITH YOUR TALENT

Discuss what it means to ‘give talent’ with your group. These activities should focus on doing a task or chore for someone or for a group. It could be volunteering for a church or community activity or it could be doing something for a family member or neighbor. Another way to be generous with your talent is to find something that you do well and share it with someone else. For example, if you have skills in soccer, perhaps you could do drills with a younger soccer player. If you can sing, you can organize a neighborhood caroling adventure or perform for a nursing home. If you are good at reading or math, there are always students who could benefit from a tutor. For one of the weeks of this month challenge your group to find ways to give of themselves by performing a job that benefits someone else.

P A G E 8

For the Family

We are studying the character quality of Generosity: Carefully managing my resources

so I can freely give to those in need.

To practice Generosity I will:

share what I have with others

recycle

not expect anything in return for my generosity

give of my time and talents

praise the good I see in others

Family Activity:

Creative Giving

This month’s family activity is a little “covert”. Gather all but one family member together. The task for this group is to come up with a holiday gift for that person that is homemade. It can be a coupon book for doing chores, a favorite dessert or candy made with a special flare, detailing Dad’s car, making an organizer for hobby stuff, homemade candles, family scrapbooks, hand knit scarves or hats, a book of poems or stories written about the family member, etc. Half the fun of giving gifts like these can be planning the activities to create them. You will need to hold one meeting to plan a gift for each member of the family. At each meeting, discuss how you can be generous to each other at other times of the year, too.

Other ways to teach character in the home:

Display the character quality and definition in a prominent place such as on the refrigerator or let each

child decorate it for their bedroom door.

At the dinner table ask if anyone noticed anyone (not just family members) demonstrating the character

quality (or not demonstrating it).

Point out news stories where character was or was not involved.

Review the “I wills” and see if there are specific actions you can add to this list.

During car trips, challenge the kids by describing scenarios and having them identify if it describes being

the quality or being the opposite.

Praise with character by recognizing the character quality involved rather than the achievement.

For more ideas visit www.charactercincinnati.org/education.php

“It is more blessed

to give than to

receive.” Acts 20:35

P A G E 9

Character

Education

Opportunities

Every day is a Holiday in December! ...at least it seems that way! Families, schools, churches, and community groups of all types

offer many ways to help others at the holidays. Use the events happening in and around your

church and community to teach the character quality of generosity. It is also a good idea to

remind everyone that December is not the only time that the needy are hungry or that the

elderly need to be entertained. Perhaps you can get a big gift box and have the group put ideas

in it of how they can spread the holiday cheer throughout the year. Box up the ideas and save

them for later in the year.

Other Days You Can Use To Teach Character This Month

1 Rosa Parks Day 2 Special Education Day

6 St. Nicholas Day

7 National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

9-16 Hanukkah or Chanukah

10 Nobel Prize Day

21 World Peace Day/Winter Solstice

21 Yalda

21 Yule

23 Festivus

25 Christmas

26 Boxing Day

26 National Thank-you Note Day

31 New Years Eve

Week 1 National Handwashing Awareness Week, Tolerance Week

Week 2 Posadas

Week 4 Kwanzaa

The Month of December is Universal Human Rights Month.

For more information on these and other holidays visit: http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/december.htm or http://www.brownielocks.com/december.html

In DecemberIn December

Generosity Demonstrating the nature of God by wisely reinvesting

the resources that He has entrusted to us

“Go, sell what you have and give to the poor

and you will have treasure in heaven.”

Mark 10: 21

Do you give from your

‘share’ or your ‘spare’?

Prayer for Generosity

Dear Jesus,

We praise you for your goodness and mercy and

thank you for the example of Generosity in your

life. We remember how you always took care of the

poor and the sick and were generous with your

time with your followers. Help us to remember to

share what we have with others. Guide our

thoughts to not expect anything in return when

we are generous. Help us to give of our time and

talents as well as our treasure. May we learn to be

generous with our compliments of others. Remind

us to be good stewards of what we have been given

so that those of future generations may enjoy

your gifts, too.

Amen.

P A G E 1 2

The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

--Ernest Hemingway, American author and journalist

What is the best gift you ever got? This is a rhetorical question

because, if you answered out loud, you would offend all the givers who DIDN'T give you that

particular gift. OK, unfair question. I will re-phrase it. What is the best gift you ever gave? A car? A

house? Jewelry? If you're like me, you have seen a lot of birthdays, Christmases, or Hanukkahs, or

Kwanzaas. In other words, you've given and gotten a LOT of gifts. I can't even remember all the

gifts I have given, so picking the best is a difficult process. I know that my daughter remembers a

set of interchangeable watch bands and a collection of 20+ scissors, both of which I gave her. I am pretty sure

neither gift is one her “Greatest Gifts” list.

I grew up in a white, working class town in the Fifties. My neighbor, Mr. Cohen, owned the shoe store. My

neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Philhower, ran the drug store. The father of my friend Marty was the local barber. The

local meat market was run by a neighbor and his son, the butcher, graduated with my sister. A man at our church,

Mr. Westcott, ran the Five and Dime. Yeah, it was Hoosiers, and Leave It to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show

rolled into one place. But, unlike a lot of small towns, we didn't get to put our purchases “on our tab.” I had to pay

cash for my Coke at Philhower's or to get my hair cut. Christmas gifts were a challenge for me. I earned a dollar a

week for taking out the trash, mowing the grass, or putting my clothes away. That was when a dollar went, well,

not that far even then! So, I had to save my dollars if I was going to be able to buy my Mom and my Dad a present.

(Fortunately, I did not have to spring for a gift for my brother or sister.) I got my allowance, secretly slid open the

side of the Chinese Puzzle Box I used as a bank, and deposited my dollar. Yeah, we had banks; I had deposited my

25 cents in the school savings program the previous Tuesday. But that money was for college.

Well, about Dec. 15, I got on my bike and rode downtown, a 5 minute trip. I went to Westcott's and started looking

for a gift for my Mom. (My brother and I usually chipped in and bought my Dad a can of Union Leader pipe

tobacco. So he was taken care of.) My Mom was hard to buy for because she had everything. (Truth: she had very

little and wanted even less. She invented stopping to smell the roses in her life.) I don't remember every gift I got

my Mom, but one in particular sticks out. A carrot/potato peeler. Westcott's sold a pretty good metal one for 59

cents. Wow! I had 41 cents left over! I was proud watching Mom open that peeler. Also, happy! She made the best

French fries!

This gift was sad, in a way. I gave Mom a present that helped her work harder than she already did. But I still

remember with satisfaction the budgeting (fewer Cokes) and the planning which led to that peeler. Every time I see

a hand peeler, I remember that Christmas. I think this might be part of Generosity. Like the definition says, I

carefully managed my resources so I could freely give to my Mom in need. (If memory serves, her old peeler really

was in need of replacement.) Yeah, since then I have given gifts which were backed by careful money management

and were freely given gifts. Yet they sometimes fell flat in terms of satisfaction for the recipient. And, I got no

sense of Generosity out of that. So, I guess there is more to Generosity than the management and the no-strings

giving. The person I am giving to needs to feel a sense of appreciation. It means he or she must grasp the nature,

worth, quality, or significance of the gift. Appreciation takes a great deal of effort and thought, even empathy, on

the part of the one receiving the gift.

Therefore, a Generous gift given is an act of Faith. I must believe, in advance, that the one I am giving to will

bother to do the thinking, feeling, and reflecting to come to understand my work, my managing, my letting go of

my stinginess, and my fear of falling flat with my gift. You, the giver, cannot know how this will turn out. You

could have chosen very wrong. Think scissors or watchbands! So, you must listen and watch to discern the needs of

the other person. Then you must spend your saved funds and take the leap of faith that delivering that gift requires.

It won't kill you if you guessed wrong. But, feeling Generous – and appreciated – is terrific and

will bolster your faith for the next gift you give. Bill Croskey is a school psychologist from the Loveland City Schools

Corner Croskey’s

P.O. Box 33144

Cincinnati, Ohio 45233

Mary Andres Russell, Executive Director

Phone: 513.467.0170

E-mail: mrussell@charactercincinnati.org

Written by Jill Tomey

© 2012 Character Council of Greater Cincinnati &

Northern Kentucky

The 49 Character Qualities are adapted from Character First!

materials and are used with permission.

Use of external website links in our articles does not imply

endorsement of the site, its content or the views and

opinions of the external Web site's sponsoring organization.

Please use your own discretion when using material from

these links.

The Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and

Northern Kentucky

Character...It Starts With Me!

www.charactercincinnati.org

This bulletin contains ideas that can be used for youth groups, Bible study groups, Sunday school classes, families

or anyone who wants to build their faith with character. Pick those activities that are appropriate for your

group or can be modified to be appropriate for your group.

Combine bible stories or verses with an activity to further the lesson.

Join older and younger groups, allowing the older group to lead an activity that they have already done for a

younger group.

More resources can be found at www.charactercincinnati.org/faith.php

How to Use this Bulletin

We would Love to hear from YOU! Let us know what you think. What adjustments or additions did you make so that the activity was appropriate

for your group? What other activities or stories did you use to teach this month’s quality? Send your questions

or comments to jtomey@charactercincinnati.org and you just may be featured in a future edition.