Martha Stewart, Pumpkins, and Kid's Talks

I was up late one night doing some channel surfing and ran across a Martha Stewart show. She was carving a pumpkin, but she was doing it a little different than I had ever seen before, so I put the remote down and took it in. I'm glad I did. I later tried this same pumpkin carving activity with my high school aged Sunday School class, and with a little creativity, they'll turn it into a unique kid's talk to be shared later this Thanksgiving seas First the carving. Martha started by carving a hole about 5-7 inches in diameter out of the bottom of the pumpkin. She proceeded to scoop out all the seeds and gook from inside the pumpkin. Then she took a tool (we used Phillips screwdrivers) and punched a bunch of holes in the pumpkin. When she finished punching, she took a lightbulb, placed the pumpkin over the bulb, and turned on the light. It was beautiful!! I tried out the activity at home with my two small boys. When my wife and her friend saw it for the first time, they thought it was a ceramic pumpkin glowing in the dark. The activity was well received in Sunday School as well. Now its up the kids to see what they come up with. The idea is something along the lines of a Christian ugly duckling story. This ugly old pumpkin with lots of holes and scars looks anything but special. But don't judge it only from the outside. Take a peek on the inside too. It's whats inside that counts. When it changes on the inside, this pumpkin can be viewed in a whole new light!