Resources – Page 5 – Family Faith Companion

Using a salad bowl to spark family stories

Posted on March 30, 2012April 2, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

“Do this to remember me.”
Love, Jesus

Remember the time… Jesus told us to remember?

You have it memorized. It was during that dinner that Jesus had with his disciples. You know. The last one. The one where Jesus invented Communion. Now every time we share the bread and the cup we remember what Jesus did for us.

What do you suppose would happen if we stopped telling stories to our children? Pretty soon, they’d forget! When the very first Passover occurred, God instructed Moses to tell the people to not forget this event. Every year on the anniversary of the first Passover, they were to tell their children the story of God’s intervention and their freedom from slavery in Egypt. (Read about this command in Exodus 12:24-27).

Are we finding enough occasions to tell our stories? How about around the family dinner table? Here’s an easy way to make sure that telling our stories happens.

Let’s make a salad!

Not that kind of salad. But our “recipe” does call for a salad bowl!

Before dinner take some slips of paper and write on them storytelling prompts. Things like…

A summer story
A school story
I was embarrassed when…
A celebration or holiday
An adventure
A food story
A family joke
My first memory
I was afraid when…
i knew God was involved when…
I trusted God when…
A question I’d like to ask God
Add your own ideas!

Mix up all the pieces of paper in the salad bowl and place the bowl on the table during dinner. At the appropriate time, have each family member take a turn drawing a slip from the bowl and telling a story.

Jesus was celebrating a remembering-Passover-supper when he gave us new instructions to remember a different sort of event: Jesus’ death for us. May we never forget to tell the whole story!

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Chalice and bread by James Emery and Zoe made bunny salad by Michael Newton, both licensed on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

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A Blessing: Support Your Child’s Character

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Carol Hulbert

The cover of the book, The Blessings of a Skinned Knee

The Wow Moms group (Women of Wonder, Moments of Mission) at FUMC, has just started reading and discussing the book The Blessings of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children by clinical psychologist Dr. Wendy Mogel.

This book chronicles the author’s discovery that her religious roots provided helpful axioms for her doubts and anxieties as a parent. In exploring ancient Jewish texts, including the Talmud and the Torah, she recognized venerable wisdom that could be applied to child-raising situations faced by all parents. She has laid out for us a road map for raising self-reliant, respectful and confident kids.

I have found her book fascinating! There was a lot of meat in chapter one of this book (to which our attention was attuned for this week’s meeting). From Mogel’s story of a return to her Jewish roots…

Something had been stirred in me, but I didn’t know what it could be.

To how we as parents place ourselves in a trap, all in the name of good intentions…

Determined to give their children everything they needed to become ‘winners’ in this highly competitive culture, they missed out on God’s most sacred gift to us: the power and holiness of the present moment and of each child’s individuality.

Quotes from the book.

It was this last point that our discussion focused on: Helping our children realize their God-given, inherent potential. We concluded that recognizing and encouraging our children’s personality, character and temperament, was important. Our leader, Shannan instructed us to take some time to jot down things we notice over the next few weeks. “Every child is so different, and the more we understand who they are, the better we can parent them.”

True words. Might I add to that?

Blessing your child to reinforce their character.

Here are some examples…

Is your child naturally exuberant? Give them this blessing: Say their name and… May God lead you to share your enthusiasm for life!
Is your child sensitive and quiet? Give them this blessing: Say their name and… God has given you the special job of noticing the good in every situation.
Is your child exhibit a “know-it-all” attitude? Give them this blessing: Say their name and… May God lead you to share your knowledge with others.

What other blessings apply to your children? Share your thoughts!

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: For info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email) click here.
Other photo from Amazon. (Clicking on this picture will take you to Amazon. I don’t receive any benefit if you buy the book!)

PandaMania – continue the journey

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Carol Hulbert

Wasn’t it great to have the Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) participants share a bit of VBC love during the worship service?

How can your family continue exploring a relationship with a God that is wild about you? Here are some ideas:

Did your kids bring home a pack of “iOpeners?”
They are cards with questions for discussion that tie to the Bible. Such as: “If you could invent the best thing ever, what would it be? Describe it…. Believe it or not, God already invented the best thing ever – you! That’s why King David said to God: ‘Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!'”
There are suggestions for games to play with these cards like “Panda Pick-Up” and “One, Two, Bamboo.” (Or just use them during the family dinner.)
Longing for a music video? (I know that you are!) You can view the same ones we watched as we sang. Here are links for Wild About You and Watching Over You. There are more! Click on “Videos” at the top, and then scroll down to “Music Videos.”
There are VBC games to play on-line: here. Any one for a little Fez’s Fruit Frenzy?
Don’t be a stranger at this web site. Receive new posts by email by entering your address at the box on the top upper right side of this page. (And then clicking the button). Check out a few favorites: On starting a good habit with your kids, or doing a family activity to celebrate a season, or an example of what I call one of my Time Out, Talk About… posts.
Add your suggestion by posting a comment. (No signing up for anything, is necessary!)

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

A family dinner game to prepare for the “big” game?

Posted on May 12, 2011June 8, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

I have said this before: a way to spark faith conversations with your family is to make family dinner a priority.

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!)

A child wears a game card on her forehead

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.

a blue line

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!)

Blessings: Doing something about the Race to Nowhere?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Carol Hulbert

Have you seen the film Race to Nowhere?

It looks at the pressure to perform that children (and their teachers) face today, including…

Hours of homework for students; not enough sleep.
The crunch to get into a “good” university.
Standardized tests (and teaching to the test… The school will loose funding if the students don’t pass!)
Just to name a few…

The film is a call to action for parents, educators, and people who care about kids, to stand up for change. My question is: how does our calling as people of faith, influence our response to this film?

Here’s one way… I am not saying that this is a cure-all but… how about offering regular Blessings to our kids?

Try out this one: Say your child’s name and…

God sees you as trustworthy and valuable.

When giving a blessing, you are painting a word picture describing what God would say to your child.

What are your thoughts on this film and our response? Share by clicking on “LEAVE A COMMENT” below.

Interested in finding out more about blessings? Click here to get started using blessings with your children. View other blessings here.

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Film poster from Race to Nowhere.

Family dinner games for the Parable of the Sower

Posted on March 25, 2011April 2, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

The cover of the book: The Family Dinner

So what games have you been playing at the dinner table?

Playing games is what makes eating dinner together fun! (And memorable.) The book The Family Dinner has this to say about the goal of game playing at supper…

To lead everyone to great family stories and good conversations.

And if that conversation tends toward talking about issues of faith… all the better.

Here’s some games you can play that tie in with our current Rotation for the Cool Disciples at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI.

What would you plant? Take turns telling what each family member would like to grow if you had a large garden.
Take it up a notch… assuming you could grow anything (such as colors of paint, or types of cars) what would each person like to try growing and why?
Play “Fortunately/Unfortunately” – one person starts off telling a story with a good or fortunate occurrence. Start off with: “Once upon a time, a farmer had good weather so he decided to plant some seeds.” The next person adds to the story with an unfortunate event, for example: “Unfortunately his bag for the seed had a hole in it.” The next person remedies the situation with another fortunate event, such as: “Fortunately, this farmer had a neighbor who had an extra bag.” Etc., etc. Back and forth with fortunate and unfortunate episodes.
Review the four different types of soil in the Parable of the Sower and note what happened to the seed on each soil. Go around the table and have everyone add one line to a modern-day story that conveys the same meaning. (How about a story about learning to ice skate?)

Have fun!

For more on making family dinners a priority, read here.

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email)
licensed under: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Book cover – from my archives. (I took a picture of this book when I had it out of the library!)

Cultivating the soil

Posted on March 21, 2011November 17, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

Spring is coming! It will soon be time to plant seeds! I’ve been enthusiastically planning my garden; dreaming of lush lettuce and tasty tomatoes. I love growing veggies and flowers!

Spring is a great time to talk about sowing seeds, so this month the 1st – 6th graders (the Cool Disciples) at First United Methodist Church (FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI), are studying a Rotation on the Parable of the Sower.
You can read this parable in Mark 4:1-9.

Time Out. Talk about…What is needed for a seed to grow? A speech bubble

Soil, sun, water, love… Did you know that there is something else that needs growing, that takes just as much care and attention?

Cultivating the soil of a thankful heart.

How does one nurture such a garden? Here’s one idea: Keep a list. Take up a notebook and start a list of the things for which your family is grateful. Jot a thankful every day, perhaps at the family dinner table. (Make putting out the journal be a part of setting the table!)

Time Out. Talk about…What are you thankful for today? A speech bubble

Here are a few from my gratitude journal.

590. Chickadees, waiting for the feeder to be filled.
594. Friends, both old and new.
597. Sunshine (after several days of gray.)
601. Drawer dividers for organizing.
605. Textures on tree bark.
607. A husband who is a great cook.
613. Opportunities for my children that allow them to stretch their wings.

How does your garden gratitude grow?

Where did my list making start? Click on this button…

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Seed packages by LollyKnit from Flickr, licensed under: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Button from A Holy Experience.

A Family Dinner “Game”

Posted on March 3, 2011March 2, 2017 by Carol Hulbert

A way to talk about faith with your kids is to make family dinner a priority.

But don’t just eat. Play games.

That’s right. To extend your time together as a family, add a “game” to the end of your meal. Here’s a game suggestion that ties to our current Rotation on Daniel and the lions. Make the story come alive! Tell the story dramatically, involving everyone at the table. All you need is a Bible.

Find Daniel 6:3-23. (If you want an easy to read version click here.) One person can be the story teller and everyone else… the characters in the story. To make it easy, there doesn’t have to just be one Daniel and one king – everyone can be Daniel and everyone can be the king. And everyone gets to be lions!

The reader can create voices for the different story characters. How would the bad guys sound? Sort of whispery? (You do this when reading regular books to your kids; why not apply it to reading the Bible.)

For example, in verse 11 it says…
 Some of the other royal officials went to where Daniel was staying. They saw him praying and asking God for help.

Ask your family to pretend to be the bad guys. How would they act when they discovered they’d trapped Daniel! Encourage everyone to use their body to tell the story. (The bad guys were probably giving each other high-fives. Yes! We caught him in the act!)

How did Daniel look when he was praying? How did the king react when he heard what he’d done to Daniel? How did the lions look before Daniel was thrown into their den? How did they look when Daniel was among them? (Mouths closed!)

Finish up your “game” with a prayer. (It’s what Daniel probably did.)

Photo credits:
Daniel with lions a photo of a painting by Robert Edward Weaver (c. 1952), is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Kid being a lion by Nathan, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 License.