A box kite and a little faith

Last Wednesday I met with our local Scout troop. For about an hour we assembled a simple box kite. In preparing to show the Scouts how to do this I had to find a simple design. I found a tutorial on a site called MyBestKite.com. Looking over the instructions for this, I realized they were way to convoluted to share directly with the boys. I decided to simplify the instructions substantially by creating a single page with images and diagrams. The rest would come from me, verbally telling them what to do.

Blender 3D

I created the below images in about 30 minutes using Blender 3D. Of all the Open Software I have ever used, this is by far the most polished and developed. The sheer scope of the capabilities of this program are amazing. I have barely scratched the surface of what I can actually do with it.

Assembly

As anyone who works with boys 12-14 years of age knows, getting them to do what is required in a specific amount of time can be like teaching chimps to herd sheep into a corral. Don't get me wrong, these are a great group of boys. If they didn't act the way they act they wouldn't be normal. All in all things went well. Everyone succeeded to one degree or another in assembling their box kite. Here is a link to the simple instructions sheet I created for them to take home. Please feel free to download and print.

Link to simple instructions of box kite

A little faith

After all was done, and the boys had scurried off to a basketball game I realized a few things and made a few connections to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As I began instructing the boys I received several comments along the lines, "This doesn't look like a box kite?" I kept on encouraging and instructing them. The thing literally did not look like a box kite until the final 2 struts were in place, forming the supports that make it look like a box. Despite their comments they continued to put faith in my instructions. Some lacked that faith, I paid special attention to them, helping them achieve successful construction.

What I took away from this is a simple comparison of what it means to have faith in Christ. Like these boys putting their faith in my instructions, all of us must put our faith in the instructions that come from God through his prophets (Scriptural or living). Unless we do, like failing to build the box kite, we can never experience the fruit of our faith and fly.