"Avoiding Crisis Living" (YW Lesson 44, Manual 3) - a few more ideas

Although I enjoyed reading the post by jeans from 2008 on this lesson, I still had a hard time getting excited about this lesson. I think perhaps the reason I have a hard time with the end-of-the-manual lessons is that since they are so practical-focused, I feel like I should be giving advice or being a good example, when in fact I'm not very good at not procrastinating or keeping a model budget. I'd rather have a nice solid doctrinal lesson, because then I can point to the scriptures for truth, and not to me. :) Seriously though, I think there is something more substantial in teaching doctrine from the scriptures, and letting the Spirit guide them in how to apply it. But, that said, here are some of the various ideas I had for this lesson, some of which I used (I got to sub this week! yay!) and some I did not:

1.) What is a "Crisis?" What makes us call something a crisis?

2.) Why do we procrastinate something that we actually want to do? How have you avoided that and made sure you did something that was important to you? (especially things like reading your scriptures?)

3.) When have you had something that felt like a crisis, but it actually turned out to be something you were glad you went through? What made the difference? Why was it good?

4.) What is the difference between going through a crisis, and avoiding crisis living?

5.) A thought of my own: When Lehi is talking to all his sons before he dies, he tells Jacob that even though his brothers Laman and Lemuel were completely rotten to him ("in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren"), God will turn this into something good: "Nevertheless, Jacob, my first-born in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain." Sometimes we have a crisis because we caused it (procrastination) and sometimes we have a crisis because someone else caused it. But, either way, we can go to God and ask for help, and he can consecrate it (or "make it sacred") in some way. (It might not be the way we want it, but God can do something good for his purposes with whatever happens.) It was at that point in the lesson that the Spirit came for us.

What other thoughts, discussion questions, talks, ideas, stories, media, etc. have you come across in preparing for this lesson? What went well for you?