In Real Life

Taking a moment to reinforce God's Word in your child's life doesn't have to take massive amounts of preparation and be part of a big lecture.  One of our Reign Forest parents shared this story of how she ran into an impromptu opportunity to discuss last Sunday's lesson during one of their family's everyday moments this week.

The parent and her child attempted to log onto Netflix on the computer in order to watch a show together.  The website rejected the log-on information repeatedly, until the parent said, "It looks like we won't be able to watch a show right now."  The child replied, "Mommy, try one more time.  I just prayed that God would help it work because GOD CAN HELP US DO ANYTHING!"

The mom smiled recognizing the quote from this month's "bottom line" at church (see right-hand column on this page).  "That's right," she reinforced, "God CAN help us do anything!  I will try again."  She prayed silently as she re-entered the log-on information, but the computer rejected her attempt once more.  She turned to her child and said, "Did you learn on Sunday that God answers our prayers in different ways?"

"Yes," the child replied.

"What are the ways that God answers?" the mom asked.

"Ummm, yes and no."

"That's right.  Sometimes He says YES, sometimes He says NO, and sometimes He says WAIT.  Which answer do you think He gave us just now?"

Big sigh from the child, "He said no."

"Yeah, it looks like He did.  Why do you think He said no?"

"I don't know."

The mom said, "He must have something BETTER for us!"  As they stood up to find something better to do, the mom noticed a misspelling in the user name on the computer screen.  "Wait!" she said to her child.  "I think God just showed me what was wrong.  Let me try again."  She tried again, this time with the correct spelling, and Netflix opened immediately.

Her child cheered, "Yay, God helped us!"

"Yes, He did!  Now, what answer do you think He gave us when we asked for help, was it yes or no or wait?"

"It was yes!"

"And how did He answer in the beginning?"

"He said no," the child responded.

"It sure felt like He said no, didn't it?  What He really said was WAIT.  Sometimes when He says wait, it feels like no at first.  Let's tell God thank you for helping us!"

The two shouted "THANK YOU!" to God and then watched their show together.  The "discussion" never felt like a discussion or a lecture.  It happened naturally and flowed into their daily life easily.

Bottom line?  Ask God to help you train your child His way, and He will bring moments like these into your day.  Remember, "God can help you do anything!"  ;-)


*****If you have a story to share about how your child's lessons have been reinforced at home, please tell us about it in the comments section, or send us an email.  You can also share the story with us on Facebook, or catch up with us at church to tell us all about it!  You may find your family's story featured on this blog soon after.

September 25th - Making It Stick At Home

During this week's lesson (Sept. 25th) your 2-5 year old children learned that God helped the Israelites make bricks while they were slaves in Egypt, and God helped Moses talk to the mean Pharaoh who was making God's people work so hard.  (Exodus 4 and 5) God can help us do anything!  All we have to do is ask Him for help.

The 4-5 year olds also learned that sometimes when we ask God for something, He can tell us Yes, No, or Wait.  He has a very good reason for giving us those "No" and "Wait" answers - it's because He wants to do something BETTER for us!  Hooray for our super-smart God Who loves us!

To help make this lesson stick, let your child take a bubble bath one day this week.  While he is in the bath, see if he can make bricks out of the bubbles like the Israelites had to make bricks out of mud and straw.  Can your child make a big tower of bubbles?  Making bubble bricks is fun, but making real bricks is hard work.  Who did the Israelites ask for help?  They asked God for help.  God can help me do anything!

Your Kindergarten through Fifth Graders learned what Jesus said when He taught in the Synagogue (Luke 4:14-30) because "when I discover what God says, I know how I should treat others." 

To help make this lesson stick, read Luke 4:14-30 at your family meal time.  Ask your child: What does Jesus say about how we should treat others?  Ask a parent: What do you know about Jesus and how He treated others?

To learn more about September's virtue (Knowledge) and discover helpful parenting insight, check out www.OrangeParents.org.  And for more mealtime questions, and great activities that you and your child can do at other times of your week, check out www.Studio252.tv and the Parent Cue app for your smartphone.

From Our Heart To Your Home

What is all this talk about Orange, anyway, just another crazy idea that popped into Pastor Brian's head?

Not this time.  But I can guarantee that will probably be the right answer the next time you ask a similar question!

Orange is the name of the curriculum Lakewood Park has chosen for our Reign Forest and Land of Promise students.  You can read more about it by clicking this link, but for those of you who want the simple version, well, you're in luck today!

The idea behind Orange is to get parents and children's ministry workers on the same page.  How many times have you gotten into your car after church and asked your child, "What did you learn in church today?"  The creative answers you may be getting can leave you scratching your head and wondering if your child's teacher has ever even opened a Bible!  And those take-home papers that you file into a "to talk to my kid about" file for later in the week that you just never do end up looking at again or that you find at the bottom of your bag the following Sunday as you prepare for church aren't really helping anyone, are they?

That's where Orange (and this blog) come in.  You can expect weekly blog updates and emails telling you exactly what the lesson was about and what the main point was.  Our monthly Bible memory verse will be posted (you can see it right now in the right hand column on this page) so you can work on it at home with your family.  But the parts that I am the most excited about are the practical tips and conversation starters to be posted each week that parents can use during our everyday busy lives to engage your child's heart in continually realizing how God's Word applies to his life at home and everywhere, not just in the classroom at church.

Let's get started!  To receive an email notification in your inbox whenever a new blog entry is posted, click this link and email me your request.  I'll put you on the list, and don't worry; I promise not to bombard your inbox.  After all, I've got one of those everyday busy lives, too!