Pause for Thought: Hope in a Hard Place
Don’t give up!
by Alison Thurlow (video recording by Vita)
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider how important it is to have hope in every situation.
Preparation and materials
- You will need to have the means available to play the video below. It is 3.04 minutes long.
- Optional: you may wish to use the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Hope in a Hard Place) in which case you will also need the means to display them.
- Extraordinary Women of the Bible by Michelle Sloan is available from: https://spckpublishing.co.uk/extraordinary-women-of-the-bible-hb
Assembly
Optional: show Slide 1.
Ask the children to think about how they cope when they find themselves in a difficult situation.
Optional: show Slide 2.
Talk about the fact that things don’t always go exactly as we would like – sometimes, things happen that make us sad or worried. When things go wrong, we mustn’t give up. Instead, we must keep on hoping.
Optional: show Slide 3.
Explain that one of the books in the Old Testament part of the Bible is called Esther. It is all about a young girl called Esther who found herself in some very difficult situations.
Play the following video.
Remind the children that Esther, the young queen, didn’t always have an easy life, but she always had hope. She wanted what was best for the people around her and she made good, brave decisions.
Optional: show Slide 4.
Time for reflection
Remind the children that when Esther was in difficulty, she talked to her cousin, Mordecai. Encourage the children to speak to someone about any difficulties that they are experiencing.
Optional: show Slide 5.
You may wish to use the following prayer.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for Esther’s story of hope.
Thank you that you are always with us in every situation.
Please help us to share our worries with someone when we are finding things difficult.
Please help us to realize the importance of talking.
Please help us to be good listeners.
Amen.
Song/music
‘My lighthouse’ by Rend Collective, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reAlJKv7ptU (3.53 minutes long)
Extension activities
- Maybe you would like to make a crown like Queen Esther’s in today’s story. A template is available at: https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/paper-crown.html
- To help focus on the positive, why not start a gratitude journal or a hope jar? Each day, write down something that happened that you were grateful for - you'll soon have a great collection of positivity to look back on.
