Carol Hulbert

What was Jesus thinking!?!

Posted on September 12, 2013November 9, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

My two day-old son, freshly home from the hospital, was being laid down for a nap when my two and a half-year-old daughter surprised me. She insisted on singing to him the song we sang to her every night at bedtime – the first verse of the hymn Precious Lord — all by herself!

Has your child ever surprised you with something that you didn’t expect?

Sometimes things your child does will astonish other people. The Jewish teaching community likely experienced eye-opening amazement with a young boy named Jesus who joined their midst in the Temple courts during the Passover celebration. “Everyone was surprised and impressed that a 12-year-old boy could have such deep understanding and could answer questions with such wisdom” (Luke 2:47).

A public domain painting of Jesus amidst the 'doctors' in the Temple

That sort of thought didn’t percolate through Mary and Joseph’s minds, however. No, this event did not invoke a benign well-look-at-what-our-boy-is-doing sort of moment. Mary and Joseph had frantically searched for Jesus for three days. They couldn’t find him anywhere! Describe Mary and Joseph as anxious; worried sick. When they finally found Jesus in the Temple courts, can’t you hear Mary sputtering:

Jesus, what were you thinking!?

I’ll bet they are stunned by Jesus’ reply.

Why did Jesus stay behind at the Temple?

(a) He was almost a teenager. He wanted to irritate his parents.
(b) He got so wrapped up in his exciting surroundings that he totally lost track of time.
(c) Your reason here _______.

Mary and Joseph had been searching for Jesus. Meanwhile, Jesus was searching for something entirely different.

Jesus was searching for something that all of us look for!

Aren’t we all looking for an explanation for feelings we can’t explain…

What is this sacred reverence which hums within us, when we allow it to escape?
Why do certain situations (holding a newborn, catching a glimpse of beauty, the receipt of joyous news…) invoke feelings of deep respect, tinged with awe?
What is my purpose here on earth?
What can I do to promote peace, justice, love and compassion?

Do you suppose that Jesus found what he was looking for?

Have you?

Photo credits:
Jesus in the Temple a painting in the Public Domain by William Brassey Hole (1846-1917), via Wikimedia Commons.

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Jesus as a boy, in the Temple: September 2013 Schedule

Posted on September 5, 2013September 14, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

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At FUMC on Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings, our Christian education for children is based on the Workshop Rotation Model. In September kids will spend four weeks learning about Jesus when he was a young boy of 12-years old. Each week they will encounter a different kid-friendly multimedia workshop. When they are done they really know the stories!

Read this month’s story in Luke 2:41-52.

Jesus in the Temple as a boy

For Saturdays at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule…

Date	Workshop	Activity
9/7	Art Workshop	Create a unique book of God-given talents. The design of this book makes it a keeper! It will be easy to add more pages.
9/14	Cooking	Talk about Passover and make unleavened bread.
9/21	Video	Watch a video that tells the story and one that covers the story theme.
9/28	Games	Play a game of “Concentration” and learn story details.

For Sundays at the downtown location, here is the schedule…

Date	Our workshops…
9/1	Enjoy worship and Communion with your family
	Cooking	Games	Art	Video	Drama
	Social Hall	Room 211	Room 212	Pine Room	Room 215
9/8	3rd grade	5th & 6th grade	1st grade	4th grade	2nd grade
9/15	4th grade	1st grade	2nd grade	5th & 6th grade	3rd grade
9/22	5th & 6th grade	2nd grade	3rd grade	1st grade	4th grade
9/29	1st grade	3rd grade	4th grade	2nd grade	5th & 6th grade

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Cooking Workshop students will make unleavened bread. They will learn about Jesus’ celebration of Passover and his experience in Jerusalem – feeling at home in his “father’s house.”
In the Games Workshop students will participate in a game of Concentration — with a twist! This game will help them to learn story details.
In the Art Workshop students will create a “Book of Gifts” to record skills and talents God has given them. Their book will have a unique cover done with a marble painting. Ask them the significance of the cover!
In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the live-action video Jesus, and the video Finding Nemo.
In the Drama Workshop students will enact the story using a Greek Drama complete with masks similar to those used over 2,000 years ago.

If you are in the area please join us for the fun learning at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI

Photo credits:
Biblical illustration by Jim Padgett, from now-out-of-print Read’n Grow Picture Bible, circa 1984; via Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of Sweet Publishing, Ft. Worth, TX, and Gospel Light, Ventura, CA. Released under a Creative Commons license.

Accept mistakes and celebrate grace

Posted on August 8, 2013August 8, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

It’s a nasty train of thought that I’ve carried with me for a long time:

But it’s not perfect!

All of my life I’ve been a perfectionist. In the 2nd grade when we were creating self-portraits at school, my mother was mystified by my insistence that I wear the same dress for several days in a row. (I wanted to get the details just right.)

I recall in 8th grade getting a “D” in Art class because I couldn’t finish my projects; I couldn’t get them to be perfect.

It’s a disease and I know that others suffer from it too. (Like the 5th grader I worked with who was afraid to estimate an answer to a mathematical problem because, well, it could be wrong!)

I think perhaps it is something that we teach ourselves to believe?

Here’s the pitch I’m repeating these days: Jesus is bigger than any mistake.

Try this at the family dinner table (or wherever your family is gathered together): Have everyone (adults included) share a mistake that they made that day. Repeat the process on a daily basis.

Exposing and naming our goof-ups teaches our kids that:

Everyone makes mistakes;
Home is a safe place to confess our sins;
When necessary, forgiveness can be extended;
We can all celebrate God’s gift of I-love-you-anyway Grace.

It’s not too late to learn: Jesus is bigger than any mistake. What learning is happening in your family?

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Broken seedling by D. Sharon Pruitt, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

Proclaim the Presence of God

Posted on August 1, 2013December 3, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

Every family has routines — from the getting-up-and-getting-going groove, to the daily-drill, all the way to the beaten-path-to-bedtime.

Does your family routine include spending time every day, attentive to God’s presence?

It’s a behavior that needs to be taught.

Cultivate coming to recognize and experience God’s presence.

Here are some ways to teach your family to take note of God!

Make it a habit at every dinner table gathering to review everyone’s day with a sharing of highs and lows. Add in the question: where did you see God today?
Take a walk with a camera. Take photos of God at work around you. Puffy clouds with a blue, blue sky? Yes!
Is your child worried about something? Model for them the behavior of remembering when: Tell a story about a way that God has cared for you in the past. Encourage them to recall their own story. (Remember how you were afraid to go on that ride at the fair?)
Practice gratefulness. Start recording your thankfuls. (I’m up to #1756.) [Updated for December 2014 — I’m at #2985. Counting up reveals joy in all sorts of moments!]
Find God in the Bible. Read a passage using the practice of reading scripture known as Lectio Divina. Ask: “Where is God in this story?”
Add and subtract. Consider what needs to be reduced or augmented in your life, to make room for noticing God.
Admit that God is easy to see when life is full. Encourage looking for God, even in hard times.

Is God’s presence proclaimed in your family on a daily basis?

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
State fair photo by my niece, Sarah Clouse. Used with permission. Other photos from my archives.

Summer schedule 2013

Posted on July 25, 2013August 28, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

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What’s up for kids and Christian Education in July and August at FUMC?
Starting July 13th and 14th, we’re off to the movies! Our special summer film series will feature six selections from the “What’s in the Bible with Buck Denver” series. It will be a fun way to enjoy a change of pace while learning some really cool stuff! (This video series is by the creator of Veggie Tales!) And, we voted on special days! Check out the schedule below.

Here’s a preview of this film series:

Here is the schedule for July and August and the beginning of September:

Date	Green Wood location Saturday evening	Downtown location Sunday morning
July 13/14	Both locations introduced the What’s in the Bible video series. (And we voted for special days!) (If you missed this week, to be introduced to all of the characters in this series watch this short video.)
July 20/21	Attend worship with your parental units	Stuffed animal day. Kids brought their stuffed animals to the movies! We learned about Genesis. Here’s an important message from today’s lesson.
July 27/28	Attend worship with your parental units. Missing hearing the theme song? (I figured you were. Here it is.)	We’re fast-forwarding to the New Testament. Here’s the trailer.
Date	Green Wood location Saturday evening	Downtown location Sunday morning
August 3/4	Stuffed animal day! Today we’ll learn about the first book of the Bible: Genesis. Watch a portion of what we’ll see.	Attend worship with your parental units
August 10/11	Pajama Day! What a fun way to view a video; all cushy-comfy in your jammers. However, it would be wise if you at least wore shoes. Or would it be smart? I wonder what the difference is between wise and smart? We are going to find out!	Pajama Day! (It will be so easy to get ready for church!) We’ll be watching part two of the Gospels. Here’s something that the adults might be interested in watching. (Kids can watch too but it’s a message for the grown-ups.)
August 17/18	Wear your funky hat day. Yikes, I hope it’s not too hot to wear a hat! Regardless, come and watch part one of the Gospels. You know the Gospels right? (Here’s a review.)	Nothing special day? But wait! When YOU are there it’s special! This week you won’t want to miss. It’s all about the special gift that Jesus promised his disciples. That’s right, the Holy Spirit. Is this gift available for us today? Come and watch and see!
August 24/25	Pajama Day – again! Today we’ll be continuing on with the Gospels. There is lots to learn about: healing and miracles and teachings and things that aren’t even talked about in the Bible! But they are important concepts to understand. Watch this one about the Trinity.	Pajama Day #2 (just in case you missed the first one.) We’ll be learning about the books of the Bible called the “Writings.” Can anyone name a book in the Writings section? Here’s one.
Aug. 31 /Sept. 1	Backwards Day. That will be strange. Hey, we’ll be talking today about what happened on Pentecost. Now that was amazing strange!	Attend worship with your parental units. Have you been singing the theme song?

We are a Workshop Rotation Model church! Yeah for fun, meaningful learning! Join us in two locations: On Saturday evening at Green Wood, or downtown on Sunday mornings at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI.

Photo credit: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).

Tending the Kingdom

Posted on July 24, 2013July 25, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

Does anyone else have VBC withdrawal?
Or are you wishing the music would stop running in your head?

♪ ♫ Stand strong, when life changes.

Stand strong through the ups and downs. ♫

As for me, I’m missing VBC! I’m missing the comradery… after all, there were 127 kids and 75 volunteers!

(Place your cursor over each photo to see a caption.)

…And I’m missing the daily divulging drama…

Lady Adele is burdened with responsibilities

…And then there was the savory silliness…

But my favorite part was that we were tending God’s kingdom; reaching out to kids with an important message: God’s kingdom is a loving place. God accepts you into his kingdom here on earth — you don’t have to wait until you get to heaven — God wants you to be a part of his kingdom now!

When you build your own personal “kingdom” (i.e., your life)
on the foundation of God’s kingdom,
you will STAND STRONG!

We had our week of VBC. Now it’s your turn. Are you helping your kids to remember God?

Need support? That’s what we’re here for! Try these:

Hints on how to squeeze in talking about God in your family.
Adding some fun to your dinner table.
When faith is slipping.
How a few simple words a day can sustain your child.

Sometimes it can be hard to understand what God is up to, especially when hit with the “ups and downs.” Help your child to see that God is always with them, helping them to STAND STRONG!

~~Carol, on behalf of the VBC Team

Watch the slide show below of pictures from the last day of VBC.
Or to see other days of VBC photos.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Photos courtesy of Tom, Marcie, Wendy, and Carol.

The Bible Helps Us Stand Strong: VBC Day 5

Posted on July 14, 2013July 14, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

The group on stage. We so enjoy helping to lead singing!

Friday was the last day of Kingdom Rock Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) at FUMC – Where kids stand strong for God! At our opening time, Sing & Play Rock, we sang songs, of course! We’ve got a few favorites that kids were asking for and there was big news…

Wally became a knight! She did it!
But in typical Wally-fashion she started to worry about it right away! (Standard behavior for a lot of us, right?) Wally was concerned that she’d forget something that she’d learned in the training manual. The mention of a training manual reminded us that we all have our own special training manual: The Bible. And you know what?

The Bible helps us… Stand Strong!

All week long we’ve been learning ways that help us to Stand Strong! Amazingly enough, kids remembered all of the different ways!

God’s love helps us stand strong,
Family and Friends help us stand strong,
Prayer helps us stand strong,
Trusting God helps us stand strong, and now, today…
The Bible helps us stand strong!

In what has now become routine, we met today’s Bible Buddy: Victoria, a Red Fox. In the video that introduced Victoria, we learned that fox are thought of as cunning animals. Victoria told us that the fox weren’t special; they were just using the gifts God gave them. She reminded us that God gave us a gift that helps us, just like a training manual. So whenever you don’t know what to do, check out the Bible!

Today’s special verse from the Bible is:

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105

Our sneak peak at today’s Bible Adventure came from the once again, lost/hidden helmet. It was quite funny how the kids tried to help Rachel find the helmet. It turned up behind the cross but she thought they were saying it was, “in a pile of moss.” Ha! Our clue introduced another king. (We’ve talked about lots of kings this week!) This king’s name was Josiah (pronounced Jo-SI-ah). I’ll bet that Josiah will teach us something about the Bible.

The preschoolers went off to the following stations…

Games – We played “Pin the Tail” and “Scripture Search.” Did you know that in King Josiah’s time, the Bible wasn’t a book like we know it; it was written on scrolls that unrolled to be read. We unrolled the scrolls we found to see what they told us.
Bible Adventures – This is the station where our Bible story is told. Josiah became the king at the age of 8! Can you imagine being king as an 8 year old? Even though he was a youngster, Josiah wanted to follow God. But he didn’t know how to follow God! Luckily Josiah made an important discovery in the rubble of the Temple in Jerusalem. We looked for treasure in the “rubble” and just like Josiah, we found God’s word!
Chadder’s Theater – All’s well that ends well. Chadder found the treasure and saved the castle.

Preschool: Crafts - decorated picture frames

Crafts – We decorated picture frames for our Kingdom Rock crew photos. What a great memory!

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations…

Chadder’s Royal Theater & Missions – All’s well that ends well. Chadder found the treasure and saved the castle.
Tournament Games – We played “Towers and Castles,” “Pool Pass” (yep, it included water), and “Fallen Knight” – a different twist on tag.

Bible Adventures: the "fire" to burn the smashed idols

Epic Bible Adventures – This is the station where our Bible story is told. Our story is found in 2 Kings 22:1-23:23. Josiah became the king at the age of 8! Can you imagine being king as an 8 year old? Even though he was a youngster, Josiah wanted to follow God. Luckily he found an important treasure in the rubble of the Temple in Jerusalem. We looked for valuables in the “rubble” and like Josiah had done, we made sure that all of the “false gods” or idols were destroyed. Ask your kids how we demonstrated that!
Imagination Station – We decorated picture frames for our Kingdom Rock crew photos. What special memory from VBC will you recall when you see your crew picture?

At the King’s Kitchen we feasted on “Bright Bites” – a reminder that the Bible lights our way. (What cool cupcakes the kitchen folks made for us! Wow, they sure were bright!) We continued to gather God Sightings. God is everywhere when you look for him.

We gathered one last time (alas) for Fanfare Finale, the closing of another great day of learning. Today we learned about the power of the Bible. God gave us this special gift that helps us know what to do when we are sad, afraid, confused, worried and, even when we are happy (hint: say thank you.)

The Grad Group delivered another load of cereal boxes to the Bryant Community Center in Ann Arbor. Their count was a total of 122 boxes! The amount collected for the Evelyn S. Chapman Memorial United Methodist Elementary School in Monrovia, Liberia was over $400.00. (Sorry, I didn’t get the exact amount.)

Great job Kingdom Rock participants! You’ve done much to spread God’s great Kingdom in the world.

We reviewed the Bible Buddies for the week and everything they’ve taught us and watched an interesting demonstration that used balloons, Bibles and fans.

And of course we sang a few more songs!

Thanks for joining us at VBC!
~~Carol, on behalf of the VBC Team

For more info about children’s programming at FUMC, visit here.

Watch the slideshow below of pictures from Thursday. (Pictures from Friday will be up early next week.)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email). Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing. Other photos courtesy of Tom, Dave, Derrick, Wendy, Marcie, and myself.

Our Rock: VBC Day 4

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

Day four (already!) of our Kingdom Rock Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) at FUMC, where we have been exploring how we stand strong with God!

I loved seeing kids bringing in offerings for our mission projects! Some serious change made it into the toilet today! (Kids: Remember not to try this at home!) We have already collected over $250 for running water bathrooms for kids at the school in Liberia. And, we’ve collected over 75 boxes of cereal. Thank you for your generous donations!!

At our opening time, Sing & Play Rock, we met today’s Bible Buddy: Sir Valient. Sir Valient is a large, powerful lion. He is our Bible Buddy for the day to remind us that God is powerful. God is so powerful, not even death can stop him! That’s what our Bible story is about today: God’s son Jesus died and yet he rose from the dead! That’s powerful! That’s the sort of power that we can place our trust in. Indeed, today’s Bible Point is:

Trusting God helps us stand strong.

Wally could use some help standing! She was so worked up and worried about appearing before the king, that she couldn’t even stand up.

Whoa! Wally is so nervous she can barely stand up.

Our advice: Trusting God will help you stand!

We told her that trusting in God was the way to go. (That and practicing for her test!)

Our key Bible verse teaches us about trust:

Trust in the Lord always,
for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
Isaiah 26:4

Oh but it can be hard to trust God! Sometimes we go through difficult or confusing times. And then we keep making goof-ups; we call it sin – anything that causes us to become separated from God. That is the cool part of our Bible story: Jesus was willing to die on a cross and take the punishment for our sin. We can be reunited with God because of what Jesus did!

The preschoolers went off to engage in the following…

Games – Today we were bowling! One of the pins was very surprising. It just wouldn’t fall over. Ask your kids why.
Drama/Bible Adventures – We used a rock to help us to understand the story about Jesus’ death for our sins, and his coming back to life. (Kids: Ask your parents to try to break rocks, and to walk around with a rock in their shoe. Recreate what we did today!)
Chadder’s Theater – Our Chadder movie always leaves us hanging on a cliff! What will happen to Chadder in the dungeon? He sure looked like he was afraid. (It was dark!) Remember what he kept repeating? “Trust in God…”
Crafts – Today we created a surprising picture, but it required waiting to be able to see it. First we “colored” our white paper with white crayons. That’s right, it sure seemed like a strange request but we had to trust the leader. It only made sense when we did the second step.

Meanwhile the elementary kids visited…

Tournament Games – We played “The King Says,” “Four Kingdoms,” and “Lion Tag.” ROAR!
Epic Bible Adventures – We learned that Jesus was willing to die on the cross because he knew we’d sin. Jesus took our sins to the cross – the sins of everyone, even us! After hearing this moving story, we discovered a surprise in the dark tomb!
Chadder’s Royal Theater & Missions – Chadder is in trouble again. Will he be able to find his way out of the scary dungeon? We heard more information about the school in Liberia and looked at pictures. That’s one of the classrooms below.
Imagination Station – More surprising events in this station today! Unexpected results of a special type of paint, and more how-does-that-work demonstrations. We talked about how hard it can be to trust God because we can’t see God. We took a special trip to a dark room and were surprised by what we found there.

At the King’s Kitchen we feasted on “Crown Rounds,” two reminders about God: a crown for a King, and roundness because God’s love is never-ending. After we replenished our energy we worked on recording our God-Sightings and build relationships with our friends.

At the end of our day we gathered at Fanfare Finale. We sang and watched a very moving performance about Jesus dying on the cross and coming back to life again.

The Grad Group was “off-site” today. They headed over to the Bryant Community Center. The report from Dave: “Eight Grads and two VBC volunteers handed out canned goods, produce, bread, sweets, and boxes of cereal (collected this week at VBC!) to local individuals and families in need. These young volunteers did an awesome job in spite of being on their feet for a solid two hours. After the clients had moved through, we stored any food that was left, broke-down and recycled some cardboard boxes, and cleaned off the tables. At the end of their experience, we were rewarded with some malted milk balls and chocolate covered raisins for all of the hard work.”

Boxes of “freshly donated” cereal, passing between hands of those who have and those who need… What a moving experience!

Continue the learning at home!

Here are a couple of questions to talk about around the family dinner table:

Name some places you can be where you can trust God. (Hint: everywhere!)
Practice is good in sports, musical instrument playing, and in trusting God. What are some ways you can practice trusting God? (Some hints)
How do we know that God is real if we can’t see him? (I heard a preschooler answer this question with “but everything we can see is God.”

See you tomorrow!
~~Carol (on behalf of the VBC Team)

Here’s the slideshow of Wednesday’s pictures…

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Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).

Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing.

Other photos courtesy of Tom, Dave, Derrick, Wendy, Marcie, and myself. (Thanks guys, for all of the wonderful pictures of kids having fun!)