I love that spring ushers in a season of new growth. Take some time to ponder with your children over God’s wonderous creation. Plant a few seeds or pop some purchased seedlings into freshly dug scoops of soil.
To tie your efforts to an apt Blessing, say your child’s name and…
May God’s love take root, sprout, and grow fruitfully in your life.
+++++++++++
Curious about Blessings? Click here to find out more.
View other blessings here.
Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Seedling photo from D Sharon Pruitt. who licensed his photo under: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.
A family dinner game to prepare for the “big” game?
But don’t just eat. Play games.
That’s right. To extend your time together as a family, add a “game” to your meal. And the game I have in mind – a variation of Twenty Questions – will surreptitiously help your kids to prepare for this coming Sunday’s Cool Disciples review game – AKA “The Big Game.”
Supplies needed:
- Slips of paper no larger than someone’s forehead, 3 or 4 per person
- Writing implements
- Adhesive tape
- A Bible (optional, in case someone needs a hint, or an argument needs solving!)
Distribute the slips of paper and the writing implements and ask everyone to secretly write the name of a character on each slip of paper. The characters should be from the Bible stories that the kids have learned this year.
What were those stories?
The Beatitudes, Adam and Eve in the Garden, Four Friends Carry a Lame Man to Jesus, The Birth of Jesus from the viewpoint of his mother Mary, John the Baptist, The Parable of the Sower, and the story of Easter Week.
Right away you’ll probably not want anyone to write down God or Jesus. Way too easy to guess!
What are some possibilities?
- Someone at the Sermon on the Mount
- Adam
- Eve
- The snake (why not get creative)
- The man let down from the roof
- One of the 4 Friends
- Angel Gabriel
- Mary, mother of Jesus
- Elizabeth
- Joseph
- John the Baptist
- Daniel
- King Darius
- A farmer sowing seed (in Bible times)
- Peter (the disciple)
- The donkey Jesus rode on Palm Sunday
- Judas
- Caiaphas
- Pilate
- Herod
- Joseph of Arimathea
- Mary Magdalene
(Or you could just write out enough of the above characters ahead of time.)
Have everyone pass their pile of written characters (name-side-down) to the person on their right. Everyone will pick up one of the characters and paste it (name-side-out) on their forehead. (Pass the tape, please!)
Everyone takes turns asking yes or no questions about their character in an effort to determine who they are wearing. Have fun!
We’d love to have you join the fun at this Sunday’s game: “Are You Smarter Than a Sixth Grader” at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI.
Photo credits:
Child eating a peach by Bruce Tuten, who licensed his photo under: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. (Which allows me to re-touch this photo to add the forehead game card!)
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Wednesday’s Weekly Blessing
Here’s what I texted (or you could say this out loud to them in person)…
A Blessing for you! God has placed wisdom and strength within you. Love, Mom
I just discovered this new way of connecting with my far-flung kids!
How about texting your other family members and your friends? (We all need Blessings!)
And check here for other blessings you may try out.
Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Other photo from my archives.
Wednesday’s Weekly Blessing- inspiration
Has your child ever experienced homework-writer’s-block?
Have you ever heard the whining response “I can’t do it” when they are challenged by a math problem.
Or when faced with choosing a report topic: “I don’t know what to do!”
How about offering a Blessing?
Say your child’s name and…
God surrounds you with an unlimited source of inspiration!
It might not offer immediate help, but it plants God’s words in their heart and that is the point of offering Blessings.
What helpful words can you offer to your struggling child?
Click on a box if you would like to…
Satisfy your curiosity about why you should bless your child.
View other suggested blessings.
Photo credits:
Frustration by Jeff Meyer, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons (NC-SA 2.0) License.
Life’s Options by Pink Sherbet Photography, who licensed this photo under a Creative Commons License via Wikimedia Commons.
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What do Arbor Day and Easter have in common?
Friday was Arbor Day. In the town where I live, that meant a free tree! Of course I can’t pass up the chance to plant another tree. The nice people giving out free Douglas Fir trees also offered me a flyer about Arbor Day. This caught my eye; this description of Arbor Day as a distinctive holiday…
Most holidays celebrate something that has already happened and is worth remembering like the day someone was born or a religious holiday celebrating a past event. Arbor Day reflects a hope for the future.
Not so fast Arbor Day! You don’t have the corner on this market!
Hope for the future? What about Easter!?
Though comparing Easter to Arbor Day is like matching up apples to oranges, it did cause me to ponder.
Time Out. Talk about…
Ask your family: What are the similarities between these two holidays? What are the differences?
Both holidays share in hope for the future, but Easter has an advantage… we don’t have to wait for a tiny tree to grow into a towering timber.
With Easter there is no wait.
Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can have a close relationship with our mighty God…today!
That is something worth celebrating every day!
On the left, the bucket was placed there as a size comparison. This is a seedling! Though it has high hopes for someday being tall!
Photo credits:
The seedling photo is from my archives.
Tree huggers is by the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment.
The massive Douglas Fir is by Wildcat Dunny. Both of these Flickr photos were licensed under: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Wednesday’s Weekly Blessing – Confident
Do you remember this playground chant?
Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
I remember saying that. (It didn’t help.)
We now know that it isn’t true; words can be very powerful! All the more reason to impart for your children, words that leave them with a sense of God’s love.
Bless your child(ren), on a regular basis.
Here’s one: Say your child’s name and…
God calls you confident and courageous.
Click on a box if you would like to…
Satisfy your curiosity about why you should bless your child.
View other suggested blessings.
Photo credits:
Sticks and stones by Fran Hogan, offered in the Public Domain at PublicDomainPictures.net.
Attempting something new by Sébastien Bertrand, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.
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Easter Sunday
He is alive!
And that changes everything!
Have a blessed Easter!
Thanks for joining us on our journey through Holy Week, with questions for family discussion. Review the whole week here.
Photo credits:
Easter Morning by Marilylle Soveran, who licensed this photo on Flickr under Creative Commons (BY-NC 2.0).
Holy Week: Holy Saturday (almost there)
We’ve taken a journey through Holy Week, with questions for family discussion. Ready for one more day? It’s Holy Saturday!
Time Out. Talk about…
Jesus was dead, so what happened on Saturday of Holy Week?
We don’t know for sure but probably not much. Saturday for Jewish people, was the Sabbath; a day of rest. Jesus had been buried in a tomb (a place to put dead bodies; probably a cave) on Friday, before sunset – when the Sabbath started. Working on the Sabbath was forbidden. It was to be a day of downtime and prayer. There was probably a great deal of sadness and mourning among Jesus’ followers, who were afraid and hiding out.
Time Out. Talk about… If the disciples had gone into hiding, who buried Jesus’ body?
If you’re not sure about the answer to this one, how about a little look-it-up-in-the-Bible practice? Find the answer in all four Gospels but how about this one: Luke 23:50-54. (Or you can click on the Bible passage to read an on-line Bible. But don’t you want to show your adults how quickly you can find the Gospels?)
Time Out. Talk about… Wait a minute! The guy who buried Jesus… he was one of the council who had arrested Jesus; the ones who had convinced Pilate to condemn him to death?! What is that about?
That’s right, he was a part of the Sanhedrin. John’s Gospel tells us that another member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus, joined in the burial process, both at great risk to their public identity.
Time Out. Talk about… How did only one or two people move the stone to close the tomb? Wasn’t it huge?
Right, this wasn’t your garden-sized stone! Estimates are that it weighed between one-and-one-half to two tons! But it was easy to close the tomb – gravity was employed. The circular stone was in a channel carved with a slight downward pitch towards the tomb’s entrance. (See the photo below.) To close the tomb one would have only had to remove a wedge that held the stone in place; it would then roll closed. Opening the tomb would have been another story!
Time Out. Talk about… (No right or wrong answers here!)
- Whom do you relate to: Joseph of Arimathea – willing to be a secret disciple, or the followers of Jesus in hiding?
- Do you suppose the disciples in their grief wondered about the words of Jesus with regards to being killed and rising after three days? (For a couple of examples check out Mark 8:31, Mark 10:32-34, or John 2:19).
Thanks for joining us on our Holy Week series.
Family Faith Companion 