Family Faith Companion

How to read a long story – a little at a time

Posted on October 15, 2015October 16, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

Pose this question at the family dinner table. (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) True or false: Dumpster-diving was practiced during Bible times.

Want to find out? Read our scripture together as a family. Since it’s a long story, use the following plan to read and talk about our story in stages, over the course of several days. Read a passage and then discuss the question(s) or do the activities. (Scroll down for suggestions on reviewing this story with preschoolers.)

Read in Ruth	Readers notes	Talk about or do…
Chp 1, verses 1-2 written as 1:1-2	Elimelek (or spelled, Elimeleck) is pronounced: ee-LIM-eh-lek. Mahlon => MAH-luhn. Ephrathite => EF-ruh-tight.	What is a famine? Where have we heard of Bethlehem before? Find Bethlehem and Moab on a map (look here). How long do you suppose it took to travel there?
1:1-5	Orpah => OR-puh. The Moabites and the Israelites were enemies! In fact the Israelites had strict laws forbidding these foreigners from participating in the Israelite community (Deuteronomy 23:3).	What is an “unusual” place you’d like to visit? Why does Moab seem like a strange choice as a place for an Israelite to go? Naomi has bad news! What do you suppose life was like for women back in Bible times?
1:6-18	In a patriarchal society, where women did not have access to jobs, widows were completely dependent upon men – either a grown son, or another husband (if they were able to remarry).	Choices, choices! Which choice would you make: Go with Naomi or go back to “safety?” What could have made Ruth decide to follow Naomi’s God? Why do you suppose Ruth was so devoted to Naomi? Where do you suppose this loyalty come from? Who is someone to whom you are loyal?
1:16-18	Verse 16b, c is our key Bible verse for this Rotation. The “b, c” means the second and third portions of verse 16.	Why does this seem like such an extreme promise for Ruth to make? What promises have you made lately? Any this radical?
1:19-21	Mara is pronounced: MAY-ruh. The meaning of names was important in Bible times. Naomi meant “pleasant;” Mara meant “bitter.”	How is Naomi feeling? She is hurting! She is moaning about her situation! She is doing what is called “lamenting!” Read together the classic Psalm of lament: Psalm 13:1-2. When have you lamented? Do you suppose that a little bit of lamenting is okay every now and then?
1:22-2:13	Elimelek => ee-LIM-eh-lek. Boaz => BO-az. For the laws which set up gleaning, read: Leviticus 19:10; 23:22	What does “gleaning” mean? (It was like welfare for the poor.) What sorts of programs do we have today to help people get food? Make a plan to attend FiSH Fri Service Night.
2:14-23	Israelite law required all farmers to leave dropped grain (or other crops) in the fields for the disadvantaged to glean, however it was the landowner who determined the generosity of the gleanings!	In verse 20, what word is used to describe Boaz’s relationship to Naomi’s family? A close relative? Nearest kin? Guardian-redeemer? Who do you have in your family who takes care of you? Is Naomi still lamenting? What has caused her attitude to change? Count all the ways Boaz showed kindness to Ruth.
3:1-18	According to Israelite laws, the nearest blood relative (a “kinsman redeemer”) was to marry a widow to continue the family line. Naomi is setting up a plan to implement this process.	Which verses tell you that Boaz is an honorable man? How are things looking for Ruth and Naomi? Why do these demonstrations of loyalty seem counter to the Israelite-Moabite prejudice?
4:1-10	Is this a coincidence that Ruth finds her way to Boaz’s fields, or is it God’s grand plan to bless the life of Ruth and Naomi through Boaz? (Methodists say that God works inside of people, to transform them, and others around them.)	What did you think of the handing over of the sandal? In what way do you seal promises? Remember Ruth’s lavish pledge to Naomi? (1:16b, c) What do you suppose Ruth thinks of her promise now that Boaz is going to take care of her? Do you suppose that Ruth gave thanks to God? From this story, what does God teach us about caring for others?
4:13-22	You may wish to take care in how you read verse 13.	What is the significance of the family tree? (King David was their descendant!) David had a great great great… (many greats)… grandson whom we talk about a lot, and who was born in Bethlehem just like Obed; who was it? (Jesus!) What would have happened with Jesus if Ruth hadn’t gone with Naomi?

a blue line

Reading and talking about the story for younger children:

Here are several versions of the story:

The Little One’s Bible

This Bible storybook has appropriate questions on each page.

The Beginner’s Bible

Show a map and point out Judah. Identify Moab as the place where Ruth and Naomi were.
At the end of this story, add in the part about Obed being the grandfather of King David and about David being the ancestor of Jesus. Draw your family tree.

A video by Jelly Telly (What’s in the Bible?): Ruth

What’s in the Bible: popsicle stick puppets – Ruth (If reading this in an email, you can watch this video on YouTube.)

a blue line

Photo credits:
Gleaning, a painting by Arthur Hughes is in the Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Are you seeing ads? They are not from me! They are placed by WordPress, who otherwise offers a free platform from which to share lots of good-ness. If you see an inappropriate ad, please report it to support@wordpress.com. Include the URL, the date/time the ad appeared, and a screenshot of the ad.

Loyalty, kindness, devotion… is this genuine love?

Posted on October 8, 2015September 2, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

Ruth and Naomi in stained glass Our current Rotation is on three important people in Old Testament history: Ruth, Naomi and Boaz.

Our story is told in the book of Ruth. It is a brief story — only four chapters — yet we find it full of rich teaching opportunities about loyalty, kindness, and devotion, and caring for and accepting the marginalized and “outsiders.”

It’s a love story of the best kind!

It shows us a picture of what God’s love is like.

Hebrew (the original language of this story) has a word for this sort of love: hesed (pronounced: HEH-sed). Hesed is often translated as “lovingkindness” or “mercy,” but neither of these words fully conveys that hesed means acting out of unswerving loyalty. Not surprisingly hesed typifies God.

Watch this short (2 minute) video to get a quick overview of our story. (If reading this in an email, you can watch this video on YouTube.)

Join us as we explore this story!

Check out a growing list of opportunities to foster faith learning at home.

a blue line

On Sundays, at the downtown location…

Date	Our workshops for 1st through 5th graders…
	Art	Games	Cooking	Puppets	Video
10/11	4th grade	1st grade	3rd grade	5th grade	2nd grade
10/18	2nd grade	5th grade	4th grade	3rd grade	1st grade
10/25	1st grade	2nd grade	5th grade	4th grade	3rd grade
11/1	Worship with your family. Read the scripture ahead of time.
11/8	3rd grade	4th grade	2nd grade	1st grade	5th grade

workshop location in the bulletin Note: Room assignments are in flux these days.
Check the bulletin for the location of workshops.

And here’s what the 6th graders will be doing on Sundays downtown… (They’ll always be in the Pine Room!)

10/11	10/18	10/25	11/1	11/8
Art Workshop	Assist the 2nd graders in their Art Workshop	Cooking Workshop	Worship with your family. Read the scripture ahead of time.	Prepare to host Connections. (Will be hosting on 11/22.)

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Art Workshop students will braid with wheat. (It’s as close to barley as we could get!)
In the Games Workshop students will participate in a key verse relay race, and a “Stick Together” balloon challenge. The class will also will visit the time-line mural.
In the Cooking Workshop students will create barley biscuits.
In the Puppets Workshop students will watch a popsicle-stick puppet show that tells the story. Then they will sse handle-bag puppets to retell the story of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.
In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the animated video from Nest Entertainment, Ruth.

And on Saturdays at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule…

Date	Workshop or Activity
10/10	Art Workshop
10/17	Worship with your family. Read the scripture ahead of time.
10/24	Puppets Workshop
10/31	Worship with your family. Read the scripture ahead of time.
11/7	Worship with your family.

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. If you are in the area please join us for the fun learning at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI.

Photo credits:
Stained glass of Ruth and Naomi, from Hook Church in the UK – photo by Bob Embleton, via Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons 2.0 License.

What is this mysterious gift with its hidden meaning?

Posted on October 1, 2015October 1, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

I wonder what is in this wrapped package?

A gift shrouded in decorative wrappings always presents an element of mystery!

Okay, so in this case, there was not that much secrecy. It was, after all, “hand-out-the-Bibles-Sunday” — so you were well aware of what object hid beneath this pretty paper.

Except, even when the paper has been removed, the gift is still mysterious!

Indeed, what is the Bible all about?

It does not provide the answer to all of our questions.

Then how are we to approach it?

Learn with the children… It started in the worship service.

Bibles are distributed in worship

This Bible must be something that is significant! After all, every third grader received a gift of one from the church. It was given out in a reverent sort of way – in front of everyone – in a memorable ceremony with each parent handing their child their gift as their name was called.

Pastor Doug showed us some of his Bibles. He has more than one! This Bible must be really important.

“Pastor

The mystery continued… we discovered that this gift was hidden beneath layers of gift wrap — five layers, to be exact.

layer one - gift wrap layer 2 - brown

It turns out as we unwrapped, that each layer taught us something about the Bible! After the gift wrap layer there was brown paper. An old-looking wrapper reminding us this is a book of very old stories. There is mystery in wondering why some of these stores were told over and over and over again! And why were they considered so important; important enough to be written down?

The next layer is the funny pages! (Do today’s kids even know what those are?) The comics tell stories, so the mystery is: What story is God telling me, here and now? It is for us to figure out! Thank goodness for dinner table discussion and for Sunday’s Cool to help!

Layer 4 - gold paper The 4th layer is shiny, gold paper. Gold is something valuable. What great value to discover that every story in the Bible points to God’s love for us!

But why!? Why does he love me? I am flawed!

Layer 5 - white paper Ah, the last layer was a clue: it was nice, clean, new, white. No mystery here; I get a fresh chance whenever I flub up! (Thanks, God!)

Checking out their new Bible

Finally, we made it to the final gift: our very own copy of the Bible! We were instructed to find our current Rotation story: The Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.

How appropriate that we’ve been studying a parable! A parable is a story with a hidden meaning! I can trust that the mysteries will continue.

I wonder if I will allow the mystery to nourish me?

It’s time for the group photo…

The class of 2025!

Photo credits:
Last group photo taken by Tom Gardner.
Rest of photos from my archives.

Revealing the hidden truth: Who is your neighbor?

Posted on September 24, 2015September 24, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

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

What game shall we play? How about a storytelling game! Chose someone to start the story. They can start to tell a tale about anything! After a couple of sentences, they choose someone else, who then continues the story where it left off. Of course it’s more fun if you move along quickly!

When your story finishes up. Ask your family these pointing-to-another-story questions:

A parable is a type of story. Who is known for telling lots of parables? [Jesus!]
Can you name some of Jesus’ parables? [There are over 50! Dig through a Bible to find some.]
What is it about a parable that makes it unique? [Parables are stories with a hidden meaning that are meant to teach us something.]
What do you suppose is the hidden meaning in the Parable of the Good Samaritan? (Need to review the story?)
The hidden meaning in this story was that our “neighbor” can be the person we least-expect! What is this parable teaching us today? [It asks us to look at how we view others. Isn’t everyone our neighbor?]
Pastor Doug has been talking about “Disruptive Christianity.” What do you suppose we could do that would help out a “neighbor?” How would doing that be “disruptive?”

a blue line

Photo credits:
Child at the table by Jenna P, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

What is a Good Samaritan?

Posted on September 8, 2015September 5, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

How would you define a “Good Samaritan?” Is it someone who stops to help someone who needs roadside assistance?

Not surprisingly, that is the modern-day meaning of a Good Samaritan, but that is not what Jesus was teaching us to do!

This coming Sunday the downtown Cool Disciples will start a new Rotation on the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I’m hoping that we’ll see the hidden meaning in this parable!

Here are some recommended steps you can take over the course of the next few days. Do these things at the family dinner table. Or wherever your family is gathered together.

a blue line

Your assignment: (Think of this as… Traveling down the path to deepening your family’s faith. And a way to get more out of Sunday’s Cool.)

Read our story in Luke 10:25-37.
The next time you gather, read the story in a different Bible version. (How about The Message?)
When you gather again, try telling the story from memory. Check a Bible to see how you did.
A fun thing to do after multiple tellings of the story is to tell the story incorrectly! “Once a man was traveling from Ann Arbor to Lansing.” Allow everyone to add a line to the story. See if anyone catches the purposeful mistakes.
Watch this animated video of the story.

Watch it a second time and tell the story as the video runs. (If reading this in an email, you can watch this video on YouTube.)

a blue line

Think of how much deeper the classroom discussion could be if everyone arrives with a general knowledge of the story!

See you in class! (Hope you’ve put church on your calendar.)

Photo credits:
Flat tire by OakleyOriginals, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

Does your crammed calendar announce commitment to church?

Posted on September 3, 2015October 1, 2015 by Carol Hulbert

I have always considered that September trumps January in the “starting-anew” arena. September means a multitude of fresh possibilities!

Here’s something that may be new to you: Adding “church” to your family calendar.

Here is how my Sundays look:
(It may be how your Saturday looks if you attend at Green Wood)

Is church on your calendar Have you considered the life-giving reasons why “church” should be on your calendar?

(a) Because research shows that active involvement in a faith community is a important factor in children becoming happy, healthy adults. (Want even more statistics? Here are 52 reasons to go to church — one for every week!)

(b) Because church provides folks with a built-in extended family of positive role models.

Get started with purposeful participation: delegate a block of time on your calendar for church!

a blue line

On another chronological note, we’ll be restarting the Workshop Rotation Model soon, after a break featuring our summer movie series.

Our first story of the new year will be The Parable of the Good Samaritan. Read about our story in Luke 10:25-37. (To see a growing list of opportunities to foster faith learning at home for this month’s story, click here.)

On Sundays, at the downtown location, here is the schedule….

Date	Activities for 1st through 6th graders
9/6	Worship with your family. Read ahead of time, the scripture Nancy Lynn will be using: Luke 10:38-42 and James 2:14-17. Last week’s sermon was part one. Listen if you missed it.
9/13	Everyone participates in a Video Workshop in the Social Hall. What a great way for all to be introduced to our story!

For the rest of the month, the 6th graders will do things a bit differently… (including special projects around our current Rotation). On 9/27 they will videotape a puppet show of the story that will be shown to the preschool and K’s on 10/4.

Date	Activities for 1st through 5th graders
	Cooking	Cooking	Art	Art
	Social Hall A	Social Hall B	Room 211	Room 212
9/20	3rd grade	4th grade	1st grade	2nd grade	5th grade will also do Art in Room 215
9/27	1st grade	2nd grade	4th grade	5th grade	3rd grade will have a special Bible presentation class in the Wesley Lounge.
10/4	Worship with your family. It is World Communion Sunday. Read ahead of time, the scripture: Acts 11:1-9. I’m wondering what this will teach us about what it means to live out “Disruptive Christianity.”

And on Saturdays evenings, at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule…

Date	Activity
9/5	Wrap up the summer movie series and find answers to the question: How can we show respect to God through our actions? See here for your family discussion guide.
9/12	The Good Samaritan Video Workshop.
9/19	Worship with your family. Read the scripture ahead of time: Matthew 20:20-28.
9/26	Worship with your family. Read the scripture ahead of time: John 8:2-11. (How do you explain adultery? For young children: A broken promise made between a husband and a wife. For older kids: Adults who did not stay faithful to their husband or their wife.)
10/3	The Good Samaritan Art Workshop.

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the animated Veggie Tales video Are You My Neighbor? They will also participate in a “Golden Rule” activity.
In the Art Workshop students will decorate cards for the visitation team to distribute to our home-bound neighbors.
In the Cooking Workshop students will create homemade granola bars to distribute to a “neighbor.” Includes coming up with a broad definition of “neighbor.”

Can a simple, uplifting, tucked-in note be a huge gift?

Posted on September 1, 2015August 30, 2018 by Carol Hulbert

Once again, they will go off to school. Carrying a backpack filled with practical supplies: pencils, paper, and pocket folders. Walking upstairs

Did you include a note for your child to find?

Perhaps when she opened her lunch? Or concealed in his pencil case?
Or tucked into the sleeve of a carried-along jacket?

One of several backpack or lunch box blessings Did you know that your note can speak powerful words? The very thoughts of God: a blessing.

Writing a note is a special chance to bless your child.

Get a set of free Lunch box / Backpack Blessing Notes here. (Two samples are shown.)

Another backpack blessing card Blessing your child empowers them — indicating who they are and who they are meant to be.

Tuck encouraging words into your child’s day.

Get your Lunch box / Backpack Blessing Notes here. Want to write them out by hand? Feel free to copy!

Photo credits:
Going up the steps by Jake Hills, who has released this photo to the Public Domain. Offered at unsplash.com.
Backpack blessings created with various Public Domain clipart from wpclipart.com.

What do respectful actions look like? Does God care?

Posted on August 30, 2015July 26, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

Another wonderful adventure in the Wonder-Blimp!

Our question for today was:

How do we show God respect through our actions?

Use the discussion questions below to encourage a dialog with the Bible! Start the conversation in the car on the way home from church, or around the family dinner table, or wherever your family is gathered together. Ask these questions even if you missed the video showing!

Have some family time discussion…

Here’s a quiz. You see the following actions. What would you say is true about the person who is doing these actions?
- Scowls at everyone.
- Greets everyone with a smile.
- Drops litter on the ground.
- Holds the door for the person behind them.
Why are our actions important to God?
In our daily life, how we can show respect to the people around us? (Hint: Read the “Golden Rule” in Matthew 7:12.)
What would that look like at the dinner table at home? At recess on the playground? In the classroom? In the car?
How can we remember to act that way? Can we come up with a family code word that will mean: “change your behavior to be more loving”? How about “Matthew 7:12” or just “7-12?”
We often mess up. (We are only human!) What can we do when we flub up? (Ask for forgiveness and for help in being more loving.)