Family Faith Companion

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

An ancient proclamation; still applicable to us today!

As our Cool Disciples learn about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, here are some points to ponder together with your children. Did you miss the first posts with questions to discuss with your family? View them here and here.

This is a story about hiding when you’ve done something wrong

• I wonder why Adam and Eve hid from God?
• Which do you think is easier, “hiding” or admitting you are wrong?
• Adults: tell stories from your childhood: an occasion when you did something wrong and tried to hide.
• I wonder what would have happened if Adam and Eve had said something to God instead of hiding?
• God would have known what they had done. Why do you suppose he asked them if they had eaten from the tree? (in Genesis 3:11)
• How can something that is good (because God created everything and called it good) be wrong? What modern-day examples can you think of?

And it’s about consequences

• What were the consequences of Adam and Eve’s bad choice?
• Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden; they were separated from God. How do you suppose they felt about this?
• How would you feel if you had to move out of your bedroom and sleep in the garage?
• What do you think, was God too hard on Adam and Eve?

And about second chances

• Where is the good news in this story?
• The good news is that even when we make mistakes, God still lovingly looks for us. “Where are you,” calls God? How does knowing this make you feel?
• Adults: tell about a time when someone offered you animal skin clothing to replace your fig leaves.
• Do you suppose that God may be calling out for you, but that you’ve missed his signals? What would help you listen for God?
• How does his story add to your understanding of who God is and what God wants for us?

May your family “talk time” be fruitful as you nurture and support one another in your faith journeys!

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Hiding child by Ubo Pakes.
Broken mug by Antti T. Nissinen.
Super glue by David Goehring.
All licensed under: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic on Flickr.

Teach them the story. Let it breathe with questions. Don’t smother it with pat answers. There’s more here than you can answer.

Those words were spoken by Rev. Neil MacQueen, on teaching kids the story of Adam and Eve. With Neil’s thought in mind, plan to spend some time together as a family, re-reading and pondering this story, knowing that your questions may not have definitive answers.
Did you miss the first questions post? View it here.

Talk about choices:

• Allow everyone to tell about what they’d pursue if they could do whatever they wanted, with no limits!
• Kids: Why do adults sometimes say no to things that kids want?
• Adults: Tell about choices that you face every day.
• God specifically made that tree and then asked Adam and Eve not to eat its fruit. He knew they’d eat from it! Why do you suppose he even put that tree there?
• What does this teach us about God?

We were created by God with the freedom to make choices. We have the option to thumb our noses at God; to decide for ourselves what’s right and wrong! God gave Adam and Eve a choice to obey or disobey. Note: Adam and Eve’s bad choice did not “infect” us with sin! Humans are not perfect; sometimes we are disobedient and choose the wrong thing to do.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Family Talk Time: about consequences and hiding.

What comes to mind when you hear the words “Adam and Eve?”

Is it…

• The Garden of Eden?
• The Tree of Life?
• Forbidden Fruit?
• The Fall?
• Fig leaves?
• Casting blame?
• Being cast out?
• Animal skins?

Or is it something else?

It would be easy to focus on the above list of images from Adam and Eve; to go into great detail, picking apart and analyzing the meaning of each component of this story.

But then we might miss the key points.

What core themes of this intriguing story are we trying to teach?

Here’s what our Cool Disciples (our 1st – 6th graders at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI) are learning as we tackle this Bible story…

Rotation Objectives — After completing this Rotation, students will be able to:

• Name that the story is found in the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis.
• Retell the story in his/her own words. (Build on their understanding of the story.)
• Recognize that is a story about God and about each of us, and choices we make.
• Identify temptations and wrong choices in their own lives, and ways to be obedient to God.
• Discover that God forgives even when we do wrong; God is our guide to doing right.
• For those in 4th grade and above: Recognize that this story is not historical.

That’s a lot to accomplish in three short weeks! (It would greatly benefit your children if you could continue talking about this story at home.) Here are a few questions to talk about… Start off with “fact” questions such as:

• Who are the characters in the story?
• What was the name of the beautiful place God made for them to live?
• What did Adam and Eve do to disobey God?

Then progress to questions which dig a little deeper (and lead to more discussion!):

• What ways do you notice people disobeying God today?
• What tempted Eve? [Note: not who!]
• What tempts you the most?

This would be a great spot for the adults to tell about a time when they’ve been tempted. Did you give in to the temptation? What were the consequences? It’s important for your kids to see that we all make bad choices sometimes.

Stay tuned for more questions!