Understanding the Four Habits of the Heart
Students were treated to a memorable message from Mrs. Julie Stender, the Lower School Academic Dean. Her talk on the "Four Habits of the Heart" powerfully brought biblical wisdom and life lessons to life. The students started the chapel with a time of worship before Mrs. Stender called the auditorium to recite the four habits, setting the tone for an engaging and thoughtful lesson.
Mrs. Stender centered her message on an unexpected yet relatable object lesson using a Happy Meal to teach about obedience, respect, and making good choices. The Happy Meal message became a profound metaphor for how big and small decisions affect our lives and the lives of others.
The Happy Meal Analogy
Mrs. Stender used the Happy Meal to represent the daily choices kids face. She began with the core idea of obedience, highlighting that obedience means "responding to authority with a happy heart." This foundational concept was the thread tying together each part of her analogy.
Chicken Nuggets: Obedience in Action Mrs. Stender began by discussing how children often choose to obey or follow their own way. She used chicken nuggets to represent what it looks like to obey when asked to clean your room. In this case, obedience was symbolized by eating the chicken nuggets as they were meant to be eaten—plain and straightforward. But what happens when we choose our way instead? Mrs. Stender dramatically dropped the nuggets into a blender, illustrating what happens when kids ignore instruction and do their own thing. The following mess was an object lesson in how disobedience leads to undesirable outcomes.
French Fries: Ignoring the Rules Next, Mrs. Stender moved on to the importance of following rules, using the fries to represent choices during school recess. She described how sometimes, in games like Octoball, kids might choose to disregard the rules in pursuit of winning at all costs. Each wrong decision—whether lying or breaking the rules—was symbolized by throwing fries into the blender. The mounting pile of fries and chicken nuggets and the disobedient choices sitting in the blender became a vivid metaphor for how not following the rules can lead to chaos and broken relationships.
Chocolate Milk: Distractions and Consequences As she added chocolate milk to the blender, Mrs. Stender talked about how kids can get distracted from their homework, choosing to daydream or doodle instead of focusing. These seemingly small acts of disobedience build up, much like the contents in the blender, and lead to more significant consequences. At the end of the day, the homework is unfinished, and the child has also lost screen time, missed recess, or faced other consequences. Mrs. Stender’s powerful image showed how disobedience doesn’t just disappear—it creates a mess we all face sooner or later.
The Big Moment: Blending Choices Together
The students had been waiting for the moment when Mrs. Stender turned on the blender. The result was a disgusting mixture of chicken nuggets, fries, chocolate milk—a sickening reminder of what happens when we continually make bad choices. The students watched in rapt attention as she poured the mixture into a cup, showing how disobedience ultimately leads to unpleasant outcomes, even if we think we're getting away with it in the short term.
A Redemptive Message
But Mrs. Stender didn't leave the students with only a sobering message about the consequences of poor choices. She emphasized that although we all make mistakes and may feel like a mess sometimes, God doesn’t throw us away. God washes away our sins just as she could clean the blender container. She highlighted the power of confession and trust in Christ in these moments. Mrs. Stender encouraged the students always to choose obedience, but when they mess up, to make things right with God and others.
The message left an indelible impression on students, reminding them of the importance of developing the habits of obedience, respect, responsibility, and making good choices. Through this creative and heartfelt presentation, Mrs. Stender connected these critical life lessons to their daily experiences while pointing them back to God's grace and love.
At the close of the Chapel message, the students left with more than just a fun story—they went with the reminder that, though our choices can create a mess, God cleans us up and offers us a fresh start, shaping hearts that follow Him.