A Blessing – Where God’s Love Leads Us

Posted on by Carol Hulbert
Why should you give your kids a blessing every day?

When we receive a blessing, it is a reminder that we are special; that God needs us. Try this one. Say your child’s name and…

May God’s love inspire you to offer love and compassion to others.

Two girls hug


What is a Blessing and why should I be doing this? Find out here.

Want other blessings to try out? Check here.


Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Two girls by Torrey Wiley who licensed this photo under: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

Time, talent or treasures

Posted on by Carol Hulbert
It’s a familiar part of the worship service.

collection plate

The Giving of Our Tithes and Gifts to God

Also known as “the Offering” or “the Collection.” At FUMC there is beautiful music to accompany this portion of worship. In the summer time it’s usually a soloist (or two or three) contributing their symphonious instrumental sounds. And hey! They are giving a gift to God!

That’s the point of our Rotation this month about the Widow’s Offering – to define an “offering” as gifts given to God and to discover that offerings can be time, talents, or money.

Ready for some family discussion about our story?

Gather kids around the computer and scroll down only far enough to expose a speech bubble and its question…

Time Out. Talk about…A speech bubbleWhat happens in this story?

Read together Mark 12:41-44.
Did you catch all of the details? It’s a short story isn’t it!

Time Out. Talk about…A speech bubbleWhat was Jesus doing?

Jesus was sitting in the Temple, the place where Jewish people came to worship. He was watching people give their offerings.

Time Out. Talk about…A speech bubbleWhat is an offering?

Offerings are gifts to God. Right off the bat we think of an offering as money; it’s what we put into the plate that gets passed around at church. Money is an important part of what we give in our offerings but our gifts can be more than just money!

Time Out. Talk about…A speech bubbleWhat are other examples of giving gifts to God?

There are many ways that people give gifts to God! An offering can be our time and our talents as well as our money. In church when we receive the offering, there are musicians or singers who share their gifts with us. The ushers are giving their time and leadership to collect the money we raise for God’s use. Other people oversee the use of the money that is collected. People who are teaching Sunday Cool classes, people singing in the choir, those who take turns in the nursery – all of these people are making a gift of themselves to God!

Of course this is just the start of the list; then there are people who give of themselves outside of the worship service.

kids at work on Appalachia mission trip Youth on Kenya trip Fish Fri

Kids on a Mission trip to Appalachia. Youth on a Kenya Mission trip assisting with the school’s feeding program. Kids & adults in the kitchen during a Fish Fri event.

Time Out. Talk about…A speech bubbleBrainstorm ways that kids can give gifts to God.

For a list of activities where kids can get involved in offering their time see this list for summer 2011. (Updated: sorry, this list is no longer available.)


Photo credits:
Collection plate by rubber bullets, who licensed his/her photos under: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.
Mission trip photos by various FUMC church members, used by permission.

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A Weekly Blessing – you are precious

Posted on by Carol Hulbert

A father and son hold hands

You love your children, right?

(Well, okay. Most of the time.)

Consider giving your child a blessing as a way of showing – and saying – your love. Try out this one: Say your child’s name and…

God calls you precious;
and so do I.

How is it going with blessing your children? What have you found has helped you to bless your kids? Or, what is holding you back? I’d love to hear your comments!

— Carol

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For a list of other blessings in this series click here.

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Other photo: Holding hands by Daniel Rothamel on Flickr, who licensed this photo under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

Cool Disciples schedule: June 2011

Posted on by Carol Hulbert
During the summer our “Cool Disciples” continue to explore Bible stories on Sunday mornings using Rotation Model Sunday’s school. What’s different about summer is that we combine grade groups. This summer we’ve also got more changes – a different choice for older students. Read more about that here.

In June, we are learning about the Widow’s Offering. Read our story in Mark 12:41-44. If you’d like to read a children’s Bible version of this story visit this site.

A Cool Disciples class from last summer.
Last summer’s Cool Disciples

Here is the schedule for the next three weeks…

Date Workshop & Activity Additional Notes
6/12 Missions Workshop: Make decorations for the church to use during Vacation Bible Camp. Wear clothes you’d don’t mind getting sloppy!
6/19 Cooking Workshop: Make sugar cookie “coins” to share with Alpha House. Click here for more info about this homeless shelter for families.
6/26 Art Workshop: Use an embossing technique – repoussé- to create an artistic coin. Repoussé is a method
of decorating metal in which the design is worked from the back of a thin piece of metal; in our case, copper.


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 photo from the archives here.

Summer Sunday’s Cool – that’s different!

Posted on by Carol Hulbert
It is summer – finally! School is almost out Updated: it’s out! Yeah! But that doesn’t mean Sunday morning educational programming quits at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI – It just looks a little different.

It involves a choice for parents and their children.

What is the choice?

  • For graduating 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders it’s easy: Just meet with the Cool Disciples in the Social Hall, after the Children’s Moment in the worship service.
  • For graduating Kindergardeners: they can either go to the B room (and continue with a similar Sunday morning experience that they have had this year) OR move up to join the Cool Disciples in the Social Hall. Typically, kids who have an older sibling or an older close friend, decide to meet with the Cool Disciples. Kids who like to spend more time “playing” should meet in the B room with the younger kids.
  • For graduating 5th and 6th graders: This summer, we are trying out some new curriculum called Grapple. Grapple is specifically designed to get preteens (ages 10-12) grappling with tough questions in meaningful ways. The first theme is: Why Can’t I Sleep In? (Grapple also comes with a safe, secure online community allowing kids to connect with each other during the week. Read more about Grapple here. This group will be meeting in the Asbury Room.
  • For graduating 4th graders: They can choose to join the Cool Disciples group or the Grapple group. (It would probably benefit if they choose the same option for the month of June. They can change their mind in July.)
  • For younger kids (babes and pre-schoolers) see here.
  • Of course kids of all ages are always welcome to stay in worship if they prefer!

A Sunday's Cool class from last summer
Last summer’s Cool Disciples

See you at church!
— Carol


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

Wednesday’s Weekly Blessing

Posted on by Carol Hulbert
Saying your blessings before bedtime?

A child sleeps

How about saying this one as you put your child to bed…
Say your child’s name and…

May God lead you from busyness, to stillness and rest.

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What is a blessing and why should I be using them? Click here to find out.
Want other blessings to try out? Click here.


Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Sleeping child by Tamaki Sono, who licensed this photo under: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

Wednesday’s Weekly Blessing

Posted on by Carol Hulbert
A child holds a seedling
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.

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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?

Posted on 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!)

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