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A Christmas Blessing for you

Posted on December 23, 2014August 29, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

{Be sure to bestow this blessing on others.}

May you have a child-like faith.

children at the Christmas eve church service
Bowled over with the wonder of it all!

Always looking for what comes next.

May you be open to explore God among us.

Peanut crèche

Perhaps Immanuel is experienced in memories — provoked by a long-ago-made ornament.

Or noticed in nature’s ornamented arrangements…

Iced over American Cranberry Bush Viburnum

May you be awed by God’s redeeming love.

a sunset on a lake creates a cross in the water

May you have a blessed Christmas!

–Love, Carol

Photo credits:
Cross in a sunset by Rich Herrmann, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.
Other photos from my archives.

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God’s purpose? To be with us.

Posted on December 11, 2014November 26, 2020 by Carol Hulbert

You can do this: Dig deeper into the Christmas story.

Ask questions at your family dinner table.

Ask the question most frequently asked by young children: Why?

I remember telling my kids when they were very young, a simple explanation for why we celebrate Christmas:

It’s Jesus’ birthday.

Birthdays are easy for kids to understand. On your child’s birthday, do they enjoy hearing the story about the day they were born? (Or perhaps the day they were adopted?) It follows that on Jesus’ birthday we tell over and over, the account of his arrival.

We typically hear the story from Luke – a trek to Bethlehem, rooms at capacity, a babe born amongst beasts, topped off with sojourning, wonder-struck shepherds. It always amazes me: Jesus’ first bed was an animal feeding trough, and second-string sheep-tenders were Jesus’ inaugural guests. Everyone had been on the lookout for a majestic monarch, yet God slipped into our world as a defenseless little baby.

Why did the story happen this way?

What were God’s intentions? When we dig deeper, and read in Matthew, we reveal God’s purpose:

She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” (Matthew 1:22-23)

Immanuel, means in Hebrew: “with us is God.” Ah! A glimpse at God’s motive.

Jesus was sent to be God with us!

Ready for some family discussion surrounding Immanuel / God-with-us?

Start off reading together Matthew 1:18-24.

A long time ago, God quietly came to earth via his son Jesus. Most people in those days didn’t recognize Jesus as their long-waited-for Savior. What about these days, do you suppose people recognize God-with-us today?

What are some ways that God makes his presence known to us?
a magnifying glass
What can make it hard to “see” God?

How can we help others to notice God with us?

Back in Bible times it seemed that God was more overt in his communication with people. For instance, in our current Rotation on Jesus’ birth story, there are lots of “angels of the Lord.” One named Gabriel, visited Mary, whereas Joseph had two angelic visits in his dreams. And the shepherds… they got a sky-full!

Angels made by the younger kids at church

What evidence of God have you seen lately?

What about that bird perched just so, on the snow-covered branch…

Cardinal in snowy tree To me nature-happenings are a sort of message from God. He says, “Slow down. Take notice. Isn’t what I’ve created intricate and amazing? I created you too. Oh, what a beautiful job I did! Do you see that little bird? The one perched outside your window? I care about him. I care about you!”

God is with us.
In what ways will you look for his presence?

Photo credits…
Photos are from my archives. Copyright Carol Hulbert.

How to find time for God in the midst of Advent chaos?

Posted on December 4, 2014November 26, 2020 by Carol Hulbert

Are you feeling it yet? The rat-race turmoil leaning towards a muddled mess?

A dance of light rays

It must be Advent. (Or it could be in the midst of the chaos of any season.)

How can we find time for peace?
How can we find time for God?

Pastor Nancy Lynn at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI had some ideas in a recent sermon.

Let’s review Nancy’s ideas. (And is it okay if I build on them?)

Go out and notice something in nature.
(Even if it’s just a bunch of rocks.) Set a recurring timer (to go off when it will be okay to be interrupted). When it rings, go for a daily walk. Find a truly beautiful nature-made article. Allow yourself to fill with awe. Yes! God made this!
Take time for prayer.
(Be like Jesus?) How about a different way of praying? Breath prayer: This sort of prayer brings yourself to a quiet rest. Start by relaxing—take a couple of deep breaths. Then, focusing on your breath, silently recite a word (or words) over and over.
Try the Aramaic word (Jesus spoke Aramaic) that means “Come Lord” – Maranatha. Break it into four syllables:
Breath In: Ma
Breath Out: Ra
Breath In: Na
Breath Out: Tha
When your mind drifts, bring yourself gently back.
Change your prevailing viewpoint. Give yourself compassion and change your self-talk!
Practice grace and forgiveness… towards yourself! Rather than piling up accusations against yourself (I should have… I am such an idiot… Why didn’t I… ) Try loading your brain with positive, helpful thoughts. Phrases like:

Sometimes I make mistakes. I can learn from them.
Most decisions in life involve tradeoffs.
I chose not to buy the most expensive gift.

This change can take some brain-training. Keep at it!

Make a point to be spontaneously kind. Print a calendar page for December. Each day write something you’ve done to be helpful.

Want a different idea to promote a randomly caring attitude? Try “RACK” (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness).

May one of these activities help you to find peace (and God with you) in this busy season!

Photo credits…
Chaos by kevin dooley, licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0). Rest of photos from my archives. (I made the RACK’ed figure.)

Here comes Advent!

Posted on November 26, 2014November 26, 2020 by Carol Hulbert

Advent 2020 is coming!

Are you ready? Have you planned activities to engage your family in the season of waiting for Christmas?

Why Advent? The word “Advent” comes from Latin; it means “coming” or “arrival.” Advent signals that Christmas is coming; the day when we celebrate that God arrived on earth as baby Jesus. Advent gives us time to prepare to celebrate Christ’s coming. We get to focus our hearts and minds and actions, on the amazing story of God with us!

What can we do during Advent? Try some of these activities:

Bring out the Advent wreath. Remember when we in non-COVID times we’d spruce up our wreaths at church? Not happening this year! Bring it out of storage anyhow! It will work just as well. Replace the candles. Don’t worry about what color they are! Things are different this year!

Light those Advent candles. Starting on the first Sunday of Advent, and why not everyday, light the appropriate number of candles (one for each week of Advent) during your family dinner. Can’t all be there for dinner? How about over breakfast or over an after-school or bedtime snack? Or just use it as an excuse to gather together for shared family time. (Even if it’s only for 5 minutes!)

Use your Advent wreath as a way to spark faith conversation.
Print a copy of an Advent Wreath discussion guide.

Go on a photo hunt!
Join in on the fun of Picture Advent. On the first day of Advent 2020 photograph something that says “Open.” On Monday look for “Presence,” etc. See the list of various photo ops for 2020. share your photos on the church Facebook page.

Use an Advent Calendar. There are all sorts of these to be found, though they typically count the days in December (as opposed to the weeks of Advent).

Use your Nativity set as an Advent Calendar – set up a path of numbered “stepping stones” (cut from paper?) Have Mary and Joseph slowly make their way to the stable scene.

An Advent paper chain OR, have your kids assemble a paper chain with 24 links. Print out this list of Bible verses and glue one verse to each link. Every day in December snip a link and read the Bible together.

OR, Use my favorite Bible storybook – The Jesus Storybook Bible. Read one story each day. (They all tie to Jesus; even the Old Testament.) Download a PDF of this reading plan. A sample of which is shown below. (There are multiple other, not-so-fancy versions out on the internet. Do a search.)

A page from the Advent Calendar based on The Jesus Storybook Bible

grass grows in a cup Plant Straw for the Manger. Fill a cup with potting soil. Place it on a sunward windowsill. Have a container of seeds close by – use grass seed or “cat grass” or wheat berries. Every time someone does something nice for someone, they get to plant a seed. Watch it grow (water regularly) and on December 24th mow it down to fill the manger in your crèche scene.

Use unexpected moments to focus on Advent themes. Find yourself stuck in traffic or in the slow lane at the store? Transform your marking-time-moment into an example of how the Israelites waited for the arrival of the Savior – for hundreds of years! What are other daily instances that remind you of peace, light, grace, joy, hope, love…?

You've been RACK'ed - Random Acts of Christmas Kindness
Check this list of other Advent ideas…
including Random Acts of Christmas Kindness! A fun way to put the focus on being kind to others.

What Advent activities are being arranged in your household?

Photo credits…
Grass in a cup by Shardayyy Photography, licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0).
The page from The Jesus Storybook Bible Advent calendar created under fair usage. (I’m linking to their product at no benefit to myself. And you’ll for sure want one. Did I mention that it’s my favorite?)
Other photos, copyright, from my archives.

Our Advent Rotation (2014)

Posted on November 20, 2014January 1, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

Our next Rotation is about… Christmas!

A crèche scene

Since Christmas comes every year this allows us the chance to, each year, focus on a different aspect of the story. We’ve done Advent Rotations from the point of view of:

Shepherds and angels,
Wise Men,
Jesus’ mother’s perspective, and
through the eyes of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.

This year we’ll take a look at the overall birth story of Jesus. Our target is to ensure that kids know the sequence and timing of story events surrounding Jesus’ birth. We’ll also be digging into the concept of “God with us.”

Our story is found by interweaving the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Read the story as the kids will hear it, in Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 2:1-18.

On Sundays, at the downtown location of FUMC, our schedule is:

Date	Our workshops for 1st through 5th graders…
	Art	Cooking	Drama	Games
	Room 212	Social Hall	Room 215	Room 204
11/23	1st & 5th grade	2nd grade	4th grade	3rd grade
11/30	4th grade	3rd grade	2nd grade	1st & 5th grade
12/7	Enjoy worship and Communion with your family. Read the scripture to be used in the service.
12/14	2nd grade	1st & 5th grade	3rd grade	4th grade
12/21	3rd grade	4th grade	1st & 5th grade	2nd grade
12/28	Enjoy worship with your family. (One service at 9:30.)
1/4	Enjoy worship and Communion with your family. (One service at 9:30.) We are celebrating Epiphany. Read the scripture ahead of time.

And here’s what the 6th graders will be doing this Rotation…
Lots of special projects! (They’ll almost always be in the Pine Room.)

11/23	11/30	12/7	12/14	12/21	12/28 & 1/4
Watch a short video called “The Coat: A Story of Charity.” Participate in a service project for the Humane Society.	Do baking for Ronald McDonald House families.	Worship with your family. Read the scripture to be used in the service.	Spend the morning with our younger kids! Perform a drama, read storybooks and sing with them.	A Christmas party!	Worship with your family.

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

Date	Workshop or Activity
11/22	Work on a service project. (Bring your favorite music to listen to while we work.)
11/29	Game night! Bring your favorite board or card game.
12/6	Art Workshop
12/13	Cooking Workshop
12/20	Drama Workshop
12/27	Worship with your family
1/3	Children will enjoy a special showing of Saint Nicholas – A Story of Joyful Giving.

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Art Workshop students will help tell the story using various colors of felt, creating a “stained glass window.” They will create a stained “glass” scene made into a Christmas tree ornament that reminds them of the story of Jesus’ birth.
In the Cooking Workshop students will create a nativity snack bag with items to represent story elements. They will get to try out some of this snack at church but will bring home a bag of goodies. Share this snack bag as a family and have your child use it to retell the story!
In the Drama Workshop students will enact the story. What a great way to learn the story details by participating in the story!
In the Games Workshop students will play a quiz game to see how much they really know about the story.

On Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings at FUMC our Cool Disciples experience Rotation Model Christian education, as they learn about Bible stories and concepts through kid-friendly multimedia workshops. If you are in the area please join us for the fun learning at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI.

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Crèche photo is from my archives.

Big Questions with Nancy Lynn

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

This summer we’ve been delving into the movie series What’s in the Bible? with our star, Buck Denver. An exciting moment is always when they announce it’s time for…

I love questions! (Well, okay. I didn’t always love them. Especially when my kids were two and asked why, why, why… over and over and over…) Questions were at the core of day three at our recent Vacation Bible Camp. You heard it lots of times that day…

Even when you don’t understand…Jesus loves you!

But let’s admit, even though we know that’s true… it doesn’t erase the nagging thoughts that come with all of that mystery! We still have questions!

To acknowledge this quandary, in the “Imagination Station” the elementary kids thought up questions they would like to ask God. (Because it’s okay to ask!) They wrote their queries down inside big question marks.

They asked such great questions! In fact, their questions were so thought-provoking that for the next three weekends this summer, Pastor Nancy is going to do a sermon series on three of their most common questions!

What does God look like?
Why do people do mean things?
What happens when we die?

It sounds like it’s time for…

Since your kids asked the questions, we want to extend a special invitation to attend worship on July 26/27, August 2/3, and August 9/10! You can come to Green Wood on Saturdays at 5:00 p.m. or to the downtown church on Sundays mornings at 9:30.

Hey! How about doing this…

A suggestion on what to do as a family on the weekends.

I cant wait to hear some possible answers to some tough questions whether it’s with Buck Denver or Nancy Lynn!

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Other photos from the producer of our video What’s in the Bible, under a fair usage category. I’ve altered the one about Pastor Nancy.

Here comes July & August…

Posted on July 3, 2014July 29, 2014 by Beth Pascoe

What’s happening in Christian Education for kids and their caregivers in July and August at FUMC?

Worship and movies !

You can do both together as a family! Our summer film series features selections from What’s in the Bible with Buck Denver. (Yes, these videos are appropriate for adults and kids! Think of the family discussions this will open up!)

Watch a short preview of this series… (if you are reading this in an email click here to view the video).

This summer we are encouraging families to attend worship together at Green Wood and to come to our video lessons on Sunday mornings… YES, as a family… in the air conditioned Chapel. Afterwards there’s Lemonade on the Lawn for some fellowship time.

Join us!

Here is the schedule for July and August downtown on Sunday mornings…

Date	To learn about…
July 6	Attend worship & Communion as a family.
July 13	Watch the story of Jesus in the Gospels; all in one viewing! Can it be done? Big Question: Jesus doesn’t “make” us follow him. He invites us. Why would anyone refuse that?
July 20	Back to the Old Testament. Genesis means beginning! Big Question: Who picked the books to be in the Bible and what does a cannon have to do with it?
July 27	Jumping ahead to songs and poetry books in the Old Testament; the Book of Psalms is the people talking back to God! We can talk back to God?! (Sure! Let him know how you feel.)
August 3	Attend worship & Communion as a family.
August 10	Next stop: History books in the Old Testament. Some history of King Saul and David. King Saul is messing things up, so God sends Samuel out to “anoint” a new king. I wonder who that will be?
August 17	The book of Esther. I wonder if we’ll be casting “purs” and yelling “Boo Haman”?
August 24	Moving on to the book of Acts. Big Learning: Jesus knew that if he left, the Holy Spirit could be everywhere and the message could explode into the world!
August 31	Attend worship/Communion as a family.

Or if you can’t make Sunday morning then catch the action for kids at Green Wood on Saturday evenings…

Date	To learn about…
July 5	Watch part one of video (#10) that starts the New Testament. The “Big Question” is: How could one man, Jesus, solve the huge problems of our sinful world?
July 12	Watch the story of Jesus in the Gospels; all in one viewing! Can it be done?
July 19	Jumping back to History books in the Old Testament: King Saul and David. King Saul is messing things up, so God sends Samuel out to “anoint” a new king. I wonder who that will be?
July 26	Attend worship with your family.
August 2	The Old Testament book of Esther. I wonder if we’ll be casting “purs” and yelling “Boo Haman”?
August 9	Moving back to the New Testament and the book of Acts. Big Learning: Jesus knew that if he left, the Holy Spirit could be everywhere and the message could explode into the world!
August 16	Back to the first book of the Old Testament. Genesis means beginning! Big Question: Who picked the books to be in the Bible and what does a cannon have to do with it?
August 23	Jumping ahead to songs and poetry books in the Old Testament; the Book of Psalms is the people talking back to God! We can talk back to God?! (Sure! Let him know how you feel.)
August 30	Attend worship with your family.

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Photos of kids are from my archives (some were taken by other church members).