As students join the group time, set up a table in a corner with some sort of puzzle-type stacking game. There are many popular commercial games made with blocks where each person or teammate places a piece and then as the tower grows, one person or team’s mistake or misplacement will cause the tower to crash. (If you do not have access to a game like this, building a “house” with a deck of cards, stacking match sticks, children’s blocks or interlocking toys are adequate game substitutes.) Have all students take part in the stacking activity at the beginning of class. It is useful for getting across today’s message of perseverance.

After students have played the stacking game a few times with some success and as well as obvious failure, regroup.

• What did this game teach you? (Answers will vary such as team work, cooperation, patience, endurance, etc. If no one mentions perseverance, mention it and ask students for a definition of this term.)

Merriam Webster’s definition of perseverance is this: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition: the action or condition or an instance of persevering: steadfastness.

Canadian Olympic and X Games champion Mark McMorris is no ordinary snowboarder. He overcame extraordinary odds and injury to do what he loves the most—perform extreme snowboard jumps and stunts. What is remarkable about Mark is that he had already persevered through a broken rib and another horrific injury (a broken femur—the largest leg bone) prior to injuring himself almost fatally in a backcountry accident in Whistler, Canada. What Mark found was that overcoming his rib and femur break was nothing compared to how he would have to persevere to make it to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Korea.

Play the following video for your students [1:50].
Olympian Mark McMorris on overcoming disastrous injury

Discuss the following questions related to the video as a large group.

• How do you think Mark McMorris was able to recover from his horrific injuries in order to achieve his dream of competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Korea? (Answers will vary. Invite various students to share. Note that many people, even Olympians, would not have been able to recover in time if at all. Students may mention determination, perseverance, and a strong desire to win.) 

• Which of Mark’s injuries do you think may have been the hardest to recover from? (There is no correct answer; remind students that Mark endured a rib and then a broken femur that healed only with months of recovery prior to sustaining injuries of a fractured jaw, a fractured left arm, a collapsed left lung, multiple rib fractures, a ruptured spleen, and a pelvic fracture in his latest accident. Some students may mention that overcoming fear may have been difficult.)

The fact that Mark McMorris was able to compete and win an Olympic bronze for Canada 11 months after his injuries is nothing short of miraculous. Perseverance played an important part in Mark’s recovery. People don’t overcome injuries of this magnitude without a great deal of physical therapy coupled with pain.  

Today we’re going to talk about another man who persevered during times of famine and drought and followed God’s plan for his family and for Israel.

Additional Resources:
Merriam-Webster definition: perseverance
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perseverance

Last year he almost died in a snowboarding accident. Now he’s won bronze at the Olympics
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/11/sport/mark-mcmorris-snowboarder-olympics-trnd/index.html