Joseph’s Coat – Family Faith Companion

The backstory to the Ten Commandments

Posted on January 16, 2014November 22, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

I am thankful that you seek for your family a means to connect all of your living to faith!

Last week I’d said that our Rotation on the Ten Commandments was likely to be difficult for your kids to grasp. Why did I say that? Do you suppose it was because…

(A) I spent weeks studying this story. How could I expect a child to grasp it?

+++OR

(B) It is an Old Testament story, and you know, the Old Testament can be tough…

+++OR

(C) The Bible is an unfolding narrative and for the Ten Commandments, there is a lot of important backstory. How could we possibly cover all of the story in Sunday’s Cool!

Answer: All of the above, but mostly the last one.

But I can relax! You are here to learn about that backstory and to help extend the learning at home.

So let’s address the backstory!

We’ll answer the questions:

How Moses and the Ten Commandments connects back to Abraham and Sarah? And Isaac and Rebekah. And Jacob & Rachel. And Joseph and all of his brothers. (They were all related weren’t they?)
How did the Israelites end up in Egypt?

Remember Abraham? He was living somewhere in current day Iraq and God called him. Over time God revealed his purpose to Abraham: “I want you to be a new tribe; a people that blesses others. You’ll show the world I care!” (Genesis 12:1-3; I’m paraphrasing here.)

The take-away point is that this was a radical new thought. Consider how other tribes at that time thought of their gods: distant and uncaring. Ponder the prospect of blessing your neighbors when what you’d been trained to do was to wipe them out!

Seriously different!

a speech bubble
Question to ponder: Did this new way of thinking stick?

So God is starting something big. He makes a Covenant with Abraham which included the promise of lots of descendants. And sure enough, God sticks to his promise! We met some of Abraham’s extended family when we covered the stories of Abraham’s son Isaac and his grandsons Jacob and Esau, and his numerous great-grandchildren (Jacob’s kids), including Joseph (with the multi-colored coat).

It was Joseph who caused the family (known as Hebrews or Israelites) to move to Egypt (Genesis 27:28, 42:3, 46:27). In fact, for a review on that story, let’s watch a video! (One that stars our kids!)

Can’t see the video? View it here on Vimeo.

Very entertaining!

Okay. We’ve still got some ground to cover to bring us to our story of Moses and the Ten C… So all of Jacob and his sons and their families (the stars in the video!) moved to Egypt; there were about 70 of them (of course in those days they only counted the men). Four hundred years later Abraham’s progeny have grown to include 600,000 — you guessed it — men! (Exodus 12:37).

However, life is not rosy for these descendants of Abraham. They are living in slavery in Egypt under a cruel pharaoh. Yet, God has not forgotten his covenant with these people. (Oh, yes – God had added to his promises: an enduring relationship with Abraham’s extended family, and as Genesis 17:7 reminds us: “I will be their God.”)

So God calls Moses (through a burning bush) to lead the Israelites out of Egypt to freedom. Many plagues later, they are on their way “home” to God’s promised land!

Mt. Sinai

There is much drama in the tales which follow: their escape complete with a dramatic water crossing, journeying through the desert, manna from heaven, water from rocks, and finally, vivid events on Mount Sinai, where the story of the Ten Commandments takes place.

Whew! The backstory is complete!
Now read our current story: Exodus 19:1-11, 16-19; 20:1-17; 24:1-2, 12-18; 31:18-32:24. I’m sure that it will be the backstory to yet another story!

Credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Abram counts stars by Stjepan Mokatelo, via Christian Clip Art.
I created the family tree.
The video starred kids in 1st-6th grade at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI. (Many, many thanks to Tom Gardner as photographer and video creator!)
Mt. Sinai by YoHandy, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

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Tying the story of Joseph to the story of Easter

Posted on February 27, 2013April 10, 2020 by Carol Hulbert

We are nearing the completion of our Rotation on Joseph’s Coat. But, you might ask, what happens to Joseph?? (The last bit of our story had Jacob in tears and Joseph packing off to Egypt after his brothers sold him to a band of passing traders.)

Joseph's brothers sell him to passing traders on their way to Egypt

Yeah, that’s where we left off in the story. So what happens to Joseph?

The Lord was with Joseph. He gave him great success.
Genesis 39:2a

Ah! But even that is not the end of the story! The story continues with a “part two” (which we will come back to, after an Easter Rotation). In part two—the story of Joseph in Egypt—we’ll see Joseph faced with even more chances to ask:

Where are you, God?!?

We will see that God has a plan. God’s great plan is all about love! And that conveniently leads us to Easter. (Which is God’s ultimate love story.)

Watch this short (3 minute) video (appropriate for even young children) which tells the story of Joseph and his coat and nicely ties to the Easter story!

(There is one small mistake in this video. Can you catch it? (See the answer below.)

The answer: What was the blooper in the video? Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver, however the reader made a mistake: Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver.

Rotation Photos – share with your kids

Posted on February 20, 2013February 20, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

Here are some photos from our current Rotation at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI. (We are studying Joseph’s Coat.) Consider gathering the family around the computer and sharing the pictures and talking about some of the questions that are posed.

Last Sunday the 5th and 6th graders were in the Drama Workshop. They had a chance to review the story (which they knew quite well, seeing as this was week number five for this story). They quickly moved on to practicing a skit telling the story of Joseph’s Coat.

Joseph tells his brothers about his dream.

Time Out. Talk about… a speech bubble
Ask your kids what Joseph’s dreams were about.
What did Joseph’s brothers think of the dreams?

Then the audience arrived for the real show! The preschool kids (who have also been learning in their own workshops about Joseph and his brothers) came upstairs on a field trip. They look pretty enthralled!

This show was complete with a spitting camel who arrived on the scene with some traveling traders. And this camel (seen below) really was playing the part! Watch out audience!

Time Out. Talk about… a speech bubble
In what scene in the story did the camel appear? (hint: camels were used on long journeys) How do you suppose Joseph felt at this point in the story? Do you suppose he wondered where God was?

The crew took a bow when it was over. And then they introduced themselves and proudly pointed out their little brothers and sisters in the audience!


The crew is introduced	2nd graders man the puppets!

Meanwhile, in the Puppet Workshop, the 2nd graders were busy enacting the story using puppets. There was a small class this week – only five, and all boys! But they still were able to put on a show. Here they are (on the right) with their puppets. Second grade boys sure have lots of energy! It’s a good thing our puppets are made to last. I’m not sure which they had the most fun at — putting on the puppet show or watching themselves on the TV afterwards? (We had taped the production. Hmm. I’ll have to see about posting that!)

Down in the kitchen, the 1st graders had a crushing experience! They each had one tasty-looking Oreo™ cookie and then the workshop leader smashed it! How did they feel about having crushed cookies? This was a good question that actually tied nicely into our story.
Time Out. Talk about… a speech bubble
What “crushing” experience did Joseph have?
Have there been times when you have felt “crushed” or disappointed, or let down?
What can you do when you feel that way?
Do you suppose learning our key Bible verse might help? (Romans 8:28a)

So, what to do with smooshed cookies? Let’s make the best of our crushing experience and turn it into something good to eat – “dirt pudding”! (Sorry, I didn’t make it to the kitchen on Sunday so these pictures are from the 5th & 6th grade visit to the Cooking Workshop.)

Time Out. Talk about… a speech bubble
What did Joseph do with the crushing experience of being sold in Egypt?
Do you suppose that Joseph remembered that God would always be with him?
What evidence do we have that God was with Joseph? (hint: read Genesis 39:1-5)

These last two pictures are silly…


Some shaking action was needed (and a quick set of rabbit ears)	Can’t have “dirt pudding” without gummy worms!

Which workshop will your child be visiting this weekend? Find out here.

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

Cool Disciples Schedule: February 2013

Posted on January 31, 2013February 27, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

February and a bit of March…

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On Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings at FUMC our Cool Disciples experience Rotation Model Christian education. (Click on any of those bold words to find out more about our programs.)

We are currently studying the Old Testament saga of Joseph’s Coat. (Wait a minute, we studied that last month!) That’s right, we are trying out a six-week Rotation to see how it might be if all the grades got to visit all the workshops. (When we did three-week Rotations we offered six workshops but kids only got to visit three of them.) So, stay with us as we experiment and please, give us your feedback!

Read our story together as a family — it’s in Genesis 37:1-36 and 39:1-5. Other resources for this story include the family reading plan with discussion questions. That is here. (Or, you can print out it out by going to this page and clicking on the little printer icon at the top left.)

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

Date	Workshop	Activity
2/2	Art Workshop	Discuss how Joseph’s family could have used a little peace! Create a backpack clip-on as a reminder of peaceful relationships.
2/9	Games Workshop	Play a Cranium®/Trivial Pursuit® type of game and learn story details in a fun way.
2/16	Drama Workshop	Enact the story with a special guest acting-coach!
2/23	Worship with your family
3/2	Puppets Workshop	Tell the story with easy-to-use handle-bag puppets and props, including a special coat!

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

Date	Our workshops…
2/3	Enjoy worship and Communion with your family
	Cooking	Games	Art	Video	Drama	Puppets
	Social Hall	Room 211	Room 212	Pine Room	Room 204	Room 215
2/10	3rd grade	5th & 6th grade	2nd grade	4th grade	{closed}	1st grade
2/17	1st grade	4th grade	3rd grade	{closed}	5th & 6th grade	2nd grade
2/24	2nd grade	{closed}	1st grade	5th & 6th grade	4th grade	3rd grade
3/3	Enjoy worship and Communion with your family

What’s happening in each workshop?

5th & 6th graders show off their creations

5th & 6th graders show off their Art creations

In the Art Workshop students will create a backpack clip-on to remind them of the story and it’s message. I’ll bet they talk about peace!

In the Drama Workshop students will focus on learning the story sequence by hearing about the story characters and their feelings and by enacting the story.
In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the animated video Joseph King of Dreams. They’ll compare the video to the Bible story. Does it get the story correctly?
In the Puppets Workshop students will use handle-bag puppets to re-tell the story of Joseph and his brothers; how a special coat and strange dreams cause trouble in Joseph’s family.

Students make "dirt" pudding out of crushed Oreos

Students make something good from a “crushing” experience.

In the Cooking Workshop students will learn about “crushing” experiences – those that can break us down and can separate us from family and friends. They’ll learn that good can come from what seems like bad and we are never separated from God!
In the Games Workshop students will participate in a game that involves answering questions, singing, acting, drawing, and sculpting – a Cranium®/Trivial Pursuit® type of game. In the process of having fun, they’ll learn about story details.

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).
Other photos by Beth Pascoe and Carol Hulbert. Used by permission.

Where is God when we need him?

Posted on January 30, 2013January 30, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

In preparing for our Rotation on Joseph’s Coat, I had an “ah-ha” moment. (It is times like this when I like to describe our Cool Disciples program as “adult education disguised as a children’s program.”) I was reading Genesis 37 and I was struck by the realization that in the entire chapter, God is never mentioned! That made me wonder:

Where is God in the story of Joseph and his coat?

That’s when I realized that this was the perfect chance to present this concept:

Recognize that in our lives God’s activity may be hidden.

Sometimes we wonder: where is God? And we want our kids to know that it is perfectly ok to have times in their lives when they may wail: Where are you God?!?

Surely Joseph had these thoughts as he watching his brothers trade him for pieces of silver. (Let alone during the long trip to Egypt!)

Surely Jacob wondered, where is God, when his sons presented him with Joseph’s bloody coat.

Surely you’ve wondered: Where is God? (I can think of dry times when I have!)

How about some discussion at the family dinner table? (Or wherever your family is gathered together.)

Share times when God has seemed far away in your life.
Allow others to share.
What brought you back to the reality of God as always being there with you?
What are ways that would help you remember that God is always with you?

God’s activity may be hidden to us. It may seem like God is ignoring us!

Rest assured that God is with you in all situations.

Sometimes God’s work takes place mysteriously out of sight. Joseph didn’t give up hope. It took time, but eventually Joseph was able to discover that God used each step of his life, the good and the bad, to complete a plan for Joseph’s life. Take a look at Genesis 50:20, as Joseph later (many years later!) said to his brothers:

You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best.

We may not always see it, but God is always there!

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Joseph is sold by Károly Ferenczy, a painting in the Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Joseph’s Razzmatazz Robe – a Family Reading Plan

Posted on January 10, 2013September 27, 2019 by Carol Hulbert

If you’d like to print out the following discussion guide, click here.

Our current Rotation covers the Old Testament story of Joseph and his brothers. It’s the story with the fancy coat.

It is a familiar story of family struggles: favoritism, bragging, sibling rivalry, and brothers gone bad. We’ll only catch a glimpse of it but it is also the story of God having a greater plan. Things can look pretty bad, but God is never far away. Recalling Joseph’s story can help us get through our own difficult times.

Read the scripture together as a family (it’s in Genesis 37:1-36 and 39:1-5.)

Use the following to read a passage and then discuss the question(s)/do the activities. Do this over the course of several days!

* = a review question!

Read in Genesis	Discussion question
37:1-2a *	Where have we heard of Jacob? (We studied about him and his brother Esau in Oct. & Nov. 2012.) Can you draw out the family tree? Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and… Bonus question for 3rd grade & up: what does the little “a” mean in “37:1-2a”?
37:1-2b	How would you like to have a brother who told bad stories about you? Has anyone ever told a bad story about you? Was the story true??
37:3-4 *	How many children did Jacob have? (Ans: Here + one daughter.) What other reason might there be as to why Joseph was Jacob’s favorite child? (Hint and Hint)
37:3-4 *	What kind of upbringing did Jacob have that sort of explains his picking of favorites? (Hint) Ask your child(ren) which traits of your family, they might like to pass on to their children.
37:3-4	Have a family-draw: Grab some paper and markers or crayons. Have everyone create their own rendition of what Joseph’s coat looked like. While drawing, talk about jealousy. Does everyone know what the word means? Tell me about a time when you felt jealous. What did you do with your jealous feelings? Be sure to spend time explaining your drawings.
37:5-11	Describe a strange dream that you’ve had. Do you suppose that Joseph could have told his dreams in a way that didn’t sound like bragging? Try re-writing Joseph’s story of his dreams in a friendlier way.
37:1-11 *	Where have we “seen” God in this story so far? Even though God isn’t specifically mentioned in chapter 37, think back to the stories of Jacob and Esau. What happened that makes you certain that Jacob shared his “God-stories” with his sons? (Hint)
37:12-17	Jacob seemed unaware of his sons thoughts about Joseph. What could Jacob have done about the brewing troubles? How do you solve issues in your family?
37:18-22	Have you ever had to talk a group out of a bad idea? Did Reuben’s strategy to save Joseph work? (Hint) Reuben was the oldest. Do you suppose that is why he offered this alternative idea? Adults: if you had siblings did being oldest mean anything special?
37:23-28	Have you ever heard the expression “it’s the pits?” How does that expression apply to this story? (Hint) Have you ever felt like you were stuck in a pit? Why? What (or perhaps who) helped you out of that pit?
37:29-35	Do you know why people in Bible times tore their clothes? It was a sign of mourning. (As well as putting on “sackcloth” and ashes.) What are signs in our culture that someone is sad? When the brothers saw how upset Jacob was, how do you suppose they kept their secret? Adults: share a time when you were growing up & pulled a fast-one.
37:36 & 39:1-5	What do you suppose Joseph’s prayers sounded like when he was in the pit? When he was being taken to Egypt? When he found God was with him in Egypt? How have your prayers sounded recently?

What have you learned together as a family?

Photo credits…
Jacob gives Joseph the coat, an image in the public domain courtesy of OldBookArt.com.

Joseph and his brothers and their family problems… what can this mean for us?

Posted on January 2, 2013March 29, 2022 by Carol Hulbert

A good idea for a New Year’s resolution (or for any time of year!) — include faith conversation with your family. Receive help in this endeavor by subscribing over on the right. Enter your e-mail address to have posts sent directly to your inbox. What could be more important than working on your faith journey together!

When kids experience Workshop Rotation Model Christian education, this means they are learning and having fun at the same time! Scroll down to learn more about the workshops we used for a “Rotation” on the story of Joseph and his brothers.

Joseph's brothers sell him to passing traders on their way to Egypt — Joseph’s brothers sell him to passing traders.

To kick off the new year (it was January) we returned to the Old Testament, and studied the sequel to our Jacob and Esau story from late fall. We heard about Joseph, the 11th (and the favorite) son of Jacob! Read about our story in Genesis 37:1-36, 39:1-5.

We spent two Rotations on the Old Testament account of Joseph. The first Rotation focused mostly on Genesis 37—Joseph, his brothers and the infamous coat. (The second Rotation focused on the story in Egypt.)

Joseph and his brothers is a familiar story of family struggles: favoritism, bragging, sibling rivalry, and brothers gone bad, but this is also the story of God having a greater plan. God’s love knows no boundaries. Things can look pretty bad, but God is never far away. Recalling Joseph’s story can help us get through our own difficult times.

Here is what happened in each workshop

Joseph’s brothers react to his dreams
In the Drama Workshop students focused on learning the story sequence by hearing about the story characters and their feelings and by enacting the story.
In the Cooking Workshop students learned about “crushing” experiences—those that can break us down and can separate us from family and friends. They learned that good can come from what seems like bad and we are never separated from God!
In the Video Workshop students watched portions of the animated video Joseph King of Dreams. They compared the video to the Bible story. Did it follow the story correctly?
The “brothers” puppet tell their father about finding Jospeh’s coat.
In the Puppet Workshop students used “handle-bag” puppets to re-tell the story of Joseph and his brothers; how a special coat and strange dreams cause trouble in Joseph’s family.
In the Games Workshop students participated in a game that involved answering questions, singing, acting, drawing, and sculpting! A Cranium®/Trivial Pursuit® type of game. In the process of having fun, they were learning about story details.
Building “peace houses.”
In the Art Workshop one year students created a backpack clip-on to remind them of the story and it’s message. In another year, we turned Art into Wood working and students created “peace houses” to remind them of creating peace among their family.

Why are we doing different workshops for the different times we’ve taught this story? There are several reasons including:

We used the Rotation Model for a lot of years! Stories repeated every six years.
Our focus for a Rotation changed (we’ve gained new understanding!)
The person who led a special workshop (like wood-working!) wasn’t available to help us out.
We know our kids. We know what will, and won’t work with them.
We’ve got a new idea! Usually something we gained from Rotation.org!

Explore more Rotation Model goodness! Where many of the lessons described above can be found in their entirety. (And they are free!)

Photo credits…
Copyright photos are from my archives.

To forgive is hard!

Posted on March 3, 2010July 24, 2013 by Carol Hulbert

Forgiving is hard.

I had forgotten just how hard.

Everyday occurrances are relatively easy to forgive. Forgive that driver behind me at the stoplight for honking at me so soon after green replaced red? Done.
Forgive my husband for not telling me he was going to be stopping at the store (and I had a list!) Ahem…Well, ok. Done.
But forgive someone of something that is BIG?

Wait just a minute! Not so fast!

Going into this Rotation about Joseph and his brothers, I was thinking, in these lessons we’ll talk about forgiveness. I’ll craft our lessons so that by the end of the Rotation, children will be able to…

Tell how Joseph forgave his brothers, and
Recognize that God calls us to forgive others.

It is humbling to realize that God is trying to teach me these lessons as well.

When Joseph was sold by his brothers to traders on their way to Egypt, or when Potiphar put Joseph in prison, I'm sure that Joseph felt anger.
Why was it so surprising to me to feel the same way when I got "sold to traders on their way to Egypt?" (Insert the offense in place of what happened to Joseph.)

I find myself continually asking God to help me forgive.
It is not easy.

This just goes to show: this way of teaching our children is definitely adult education (disguised as a children’s program). What have you been learning?

Photo credit: cheerfulmonk
Licensed under: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic