Family Faith Companion

Games at the dinner table

Posted on May 10, 2012June 8, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

Who likes to play games? How about playing a game around the family dinner table? (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) After all, dinner table games can lead everyone into dialogue. And what could be better than a family talking!

Want to know how to bring up Biblical topics in your family time?

A game is a great way to have your conversation include faith stories. How about a game of Concentration? Only preparation necessary is to print out the these cards. (Have your kids cut them apart as part of their dinner-prep duties.) At an appropriate time, spread out the cards picture-side down. Everyone takes a turn to see if they can turn over two cards that match. Who ever finds a match, says something about the image on the cards.

Did you know that playing this game sometime this week can help your child to prepare for the big Cool Disciples review game this coming weekend? On Saturday evening and Sunday morning, we’ll be playing a large-group game to review the Bible stories we’ve covered since September. It will be sort of like the old TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” This game is always loads of fun.

A group of kids works together to determine an answer

A shot of last years 3rd graders formulating their answer.

Here are the stories we’ve covered since September 2011:

The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-15, Luke 11:1-4)
Psalm 23 (Psalm 23:1-6)
Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)
The Story of Jesus’ Birth (Matthew 1:18-23, Luke 1:26-38 and 2:1-20, Matthew 2:1-15)
Moses: Bulrushes to Burning Bush (Exodus 1:1 – 4:17)
Moses: Plagues and Passover (Exodus 5:1-6:13, 7:1-12:42)
The Last Supper (Luke 22:7-20)
Nicodemus (John 3:1-17)

Regardless of whether your child can take part this weekend, add an occasional game to your family dinner. Need another suggestion? Check out last years review game idea.

a blue line

Photo credits:
Concentration card images from WPClipart and Open Clip Art Library. (Images are in the Public Domain.)
Photo of playing the “big game” is from my archives.

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Cool Disciples Schedule: May 2012

Posted on May 3, 2012May 3, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

Don’t miss a chance to learn about how to bring faith conversations to your family! Easily read future posts (only one or two a week) by subscribing over on the right. Enter your e-mail address to have posts sent directly to your inbox. Or click on the orange RSS icon to subscribe in a reader. Let’s travel our faith journey together!

On Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings at FUMC our “Cool Disciples” experience Bible stories through kid-friendly multimedia workshops via Workshop Rotation Model™ Christian education. It’s hard to believe we are almost at the end of another school year! As we’ve done in the past, we will be mixing it up in May.

Sometimes there will be a workshop to attend…such as Puppets on a Saturday night.

Puppets are used to tell the story

And other times, instead of the usual focus on a Bible story, we’ll be participating in a variety of activities such as playing a great big review game or going to Youth-led Worship.

Grade groups of kids ponder the answer to a question

Last year at the big game “Are You Smarter Than a Sixth Grader?”

Youth Worship Sunday in 2011

For Saturdays at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule for May:

Date	Workshop	Activity
5/5	Puppets/Creative Writing Workshop	One last workshop on Nicodemus. Explore the mystery behind Nicodemus’ visit. Discuss and write some questions they might like to ask God.
5/12	Games Workshop	A large-group game-show-style review of Bible stories studied this year.
5/19	To be announced
5/26	No Workshop	Worship with your family.

And for Sundays at the downtown location…

Date	Activity	Additional Notes
5/6	Worship with your family. Note: No Communion this week.	Lots of music at this worship service!
5/13	A large-group game-show-style review of Bible stories studied this year: “Are You Smarter Than a Sixth Grader?”	Join us as we honor our graduating sixth graders!
5/20	Youth Worship Sunday	All children are encouraged to attend worship – see where they will be in a few years!
5/27	On Memorial Day weekend, if you are in town (and not at Family Camp) attend worship as a family.	Note: Register now for Family Camp on-line.

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 from the archives. The Youth Worship photo by Peter DeHart © 2011. Used with permission.

Etch the words into your heart

Posted on April 26, 2012March 26, 2017 by Carol Hulbert

Water stories?

In this Bible verse from Deuteronomy 11:18a, Moses is admonishing the Israelites to always remember what God has done for them.

So keep my words in your hearts and minds.

As our kids learned earlier this year, God provided freedom from slavery in Egypt. Moses goes on to instruct the Israelites to teach their children about these liberation stories.

Teaching these stories is still today a priority for us as parents/caregivers. But not only the specific stories of Moses; we also need to ensure that our children grasp the reality of God’s love. You’re probably already doing this task through many avenues:

Reading and telling Bible stories,
Praying with your kids,
Teaching service to others,
Naming instances you see in the world of God’s love and grace, etc, etc.

Here’s another way:

Encouraging the memorization of scripture.

And the perfect spot to start: John 3:16. (Read it in different Bible versions here.)

A heart shape with God written in it

Etching God’s words of love into our children’s hearts.

This is not memorizing like you would learn facts for a test. This is a different sort of learning, for a different purpose. Tell your children: “We are keeping God’s word in our heart.”

That’s right, I said we. Because you’ll want your kids to do as you do. It will be a much more powerful lesson if you are working on this as well.

Learning God’s words by heart makes it instantly available when you need it. Your mind can pull them up faster than a smart phone, right?

How to go about this task? Here are some ideas:

Refer to this past post for hints. (No sense in repeating myself!)
Start ’em young: Age 2 has been suggested. (But it’s never too late to start! Though it does get harder with age.)
Say it differently: Try a fun way of saying the verse. Use a cowboy voice, cheerleader style, opera style, referee style, or baby style. What other ways can you think of?
More games: If you have a dry-erase or a chalk board, write out the verse. Then erase one word and say the verse with the missing word. Continue until all the words are gone. Don’t have such a resource? Arm your child with a stack of Post-it Notes. Write out the verse on a sheet of paper and use the Post-it’s to cover up the verse a word at a time.
More songs: Try this one on YouTube to learn John 3:16-17. Search for other verses to find songs.
Catch them on video: Once your child can say part of a verse, video them. I’ll bet they’ll like watching themselves, and saying the verse with themselves!
After you’ve mastered John 3:16, learn verses based on the alphabet. Try these ABC Scripture cards.

What are your hints for etching God’s word upon our heart?

Photo credits:
Water stories by Abigail Keenan, via Unsplash.
Heart clip art by rygle, via Openclipart.org.
Both licensed under CC0 1.0 Public Domain.

I want directions!

Posted on April 20, 2012June 7, 2017 by Carol Hulbert

a weather vane points NW

Some days don’t you just want definitive directions?

Why is it so hard to understand the words and workings of Jesus?

And just how are we to explain the mysterious nature of God to our literal-thinking, want-a-definitive-answer, continually questioning kids? This sort of frustration happened in Jesus’ time as well.

Nicodemus came to Jesus with questions. He had high expectations but he left his visit even more puzzled. Jesus had told him: One needs to be born from above (often translated as “born again”) in order to see, or experience, the kingdom of God (from John 3:3). How can an adult be born a second time? Nicodemus didn’t get it. Do you?

So what are we to say when our kids ask a tough question?

Use this phrase: “Sometimes we have to live in the mystery.”

Go ahead; practice saying it:

“Sometimes we have to live in the mystery.”

Ambiguity is a fundamental part of our faith journey. If we knew with absolute certainty all of the answers, we wouldn’t bother to experience anything new! It is important to cherish the questions and the wondering.

Jesus rarely gave a straight answer when questioned. It is said that he only directly answered three of the 183 questions asked of him! So when your kids ask you a tough question, explain as best as you can and when you don’t know anymore say, “Sometimes questions about God and Jesus don’t have clear answers. Sometimes we have to live in the mystery.”

Then, of course, your kids will want to know what you mean by “live in the mystery.” Explain this concept by using a technique that Jesus often employed: storytelling. Try telling a story that has a bit of frustration in it; something where the ending leaves you with more questions. Something like this:

You are visiting a far-away country where the language is different from your own. Conversation with the locals is downright impossible. Thankfully you find a place to stay by looking for that international symbol for lodging – a picture of a bed. Because you are somewhat adventurous in your eating habits, you order food in a restaurant by pointing at what someone else is having. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. There are daily frustrations. You try to buy cheese at the local market, but nothing looks like the cheese you want! You don’t know how to describe cheddar. You leave the store empty-handed. Later, back in your home country you think of your time in that foreign place and you wonder what you were to have learned from your adventure. You don’t know. Sometimes we have to live in the mystery.

I’m struggling to live in the mystery. How about you?

Photo credits:
Weather vane by 23am.com, who licensed this photo on Flickr under Creative Commons (CC BY 2.0).

Nic at night

Posted on April 12, 2012April 12, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

This month our Rotation includes the well-known verse from the Bible, John 3:16. Definitely point it out the next time you see it lofted high at a game.

Did you know that this famous verse was spoken by Jesus in the context of a mysterious nighttime meeting? A man named Nicodemus, who had a lot to lose if his visit were noticed, came to see Jesus in the cover of shadows. It was an investigative sort of a trip, as Nicodemus had questions. Not only was it dark outside, but Nicodemus himself appeared to be “in the dark.”

To add to the intrigue, tell your kids this story is called “Nic at night.”

Who was this Nicodemus? Our story is found in John 3:1-17. We learn that Nicodemus was:

a Pharisee (recall that the Pharisees argued with Jesus and ultimately saw to his arrest)
a teacher of Israel
a part of the Sanhedrin – the Jewish ruling council during the time of Jesus.

These descriptions tell us that Nicodemus was a prominent, respected, religious leader; a real Bible-scholar.

So, what was the reason for Nic’s nighttime trip to see Jesus?

Nicodemus could easily have been labeled an opponent of Jesus, yet it seems that Nicodemus was perhaps a covert follower. We only learn later (in John 7:45-52) that when the Sanhedrin had suggested early on, the arrest of Jesus, Nicodemus asked for just-treatment, and that after Jesus’ death, Nic helped with his burial (John 19:38-42). Since Nicodemus is knowledgeable about Scripture and specifically what the prophets of the Old Testament foretold, maybe Nicodemus has an inkling about who Jesus might be.

Could he be the Messiah?

At a minimum, Nicodemus seems to be looking for something more in his life; something that is missing; something he saw, or heard about, in Jesus. It sounds like a situation that would bring anyone to want to know more about Jesus. And herein lies one of the beauties of this story…

It’s okay to ask questions.

Whew! That’s a relief to know! I sure have questions. It is okay to ask tough questions, and it is okay if there aren’t always straight answers. (We’ll see that Nicodemus likely left his visit with Jesus even more confused.) Pondering and questioning are good!

What questions do you have for Jesus?

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
A frequent sign held up at games by WELS.net, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

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.

Cool Disciples Schedule: April 2012

Posted on March 29, 2012April 12, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

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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.

In April, we are studying Nicodemus. “Nic at night” might be a way to subtitle this one, for Nicodemus visited Jesus in the dark of night. Or was it that Nicodemus himself was “in the dark”? Nicodemus had questions for Jesus.

Read about our story in John 3:1-17.

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

Date	Workshop	Activity
4/7	A special workshop	Children will sing during the worship service and then will head downstairs for a special lesson on Easter.
4/14	Science Workshop	Do experiments to discover the difference between changing on the inside vs. changing on the outside.
4/21	Art Workshop	Create an individual banner to help remember “the Gospel in miniature” – John 3:16.
4/28	Games Workshop	Play a life-sized board game to review story details.

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

Date
4/1	No workshops. Enjoy Palm Sunday worship & Communion as a family.
4/8	No workshops. Enjoy Easter worship as a family.

	Games	Newsroom	Science	Art 2	Puppets/Creative Writing	Art 1
	Room 211	Room 215	Social Hall	Pine Room	Room 204	Room 212
4/15	2nd grade	5th grade	3rd grade	6th grade	4th grade	1st grade
4/22	1st grade	4th grade	2nd grade	5th grade	6th grade	3rd grade
4/29	3rd grade	6th grade	1st grade	4th grade	5th grade	2nd grade

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Art Workshop students will create individual banners to remember “the Gospel in miniature” – John 3:16. Two Art workshops will run concurrently.
In the Pupptets/Creative Writing Workshop students will explore the mystery behind Nicodemus’ visit. They will discuss questions they might like to ask God and create question books.
In the Games Workshop students will play a life-sized board game to learn story details.
In the Newsroom Workshop students will create and videotape commercials that sell the desirable qualities of a “New Life.” Watch for videos!
In the Science Workshop students will do experiments to discover the difference between changing on the inside vs. changing on the outside.

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).
A painting by Crijn Hendricksz, Christ talking with Nicodemus at night, is in the Public Domain (via Wikimedia Commons).

Learning the language of faith

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

When my kids were little I had a inkling that we should be discussing God and having faith-talks, but how was I to start? I didn’t remember anything from my childhood Sunday school! What was I suppose to say?

Does talking about faith with your family seem foreign?

Are you in this sort of quandary? If yes, might I recommend a seminar I am co-leading on Saturday, March 24th at the downtown FUMC church. It’s part of a workshop called Building a Better Family. Read more about it here. Register on-line here. One of the sponsors of this workshop is the preschool at our church, FUMCN, however that doesn’t mean that only parents of preschoolers need attend! It applies to all ages!

In the meantime… back to the foreign language of faith… and a motto to adopt as you face this dilemma with courage!

I’ll bet you’ve acquired a host of different “languages” along your life journey; some simple, others complex. Back when I started my first “real” job I had to learn the difference between a frappe and a milkshake. (Yeah, I was a soda jerk.) In college I drank in the language of trees and plants; I could present on the pessimistic prospects of a bushy Euonymus alatus vs. rabbits. (This was in the days before concerns about landscaping with non-natives. This plant, otherwise known as the Burning Bush, is now considered invasive in several states!)

Later, after some soul-searching I changed careers and learned more new languages: communicating with computers. COBOL or Fortran anyone? (I guess I just dated myself).

Has your path been like mine? Acquired any new vernaculars along the way?

Since those days, my lifework has changed… again. I’m pursuing another language. It includes a burning bush… but of a different sort. This language includes words that I am often confused about like Incarnation, Annunciation and Atonement. You too?

When my children were little I’m certain that I didn’t try very hard to speak the language of faith because of uncertainty, and embarrassment and a bit of fear.

I don’t want you to repeat my mistake. So here is a motto to repeat to yourself, over and over:

Stumble if you need to.

Go ahead and make a mistake or two or more. It is a process with rich rewards… learning the language of faith… together as a family.

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
A horticultural Burning Bush by Jennifer Murawski, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.