November 27th - What We Learned

This Sunday, November 27th, your Reign Forest child (ages 2-5) learned how King David searched for his friend Jonathan's family members and found Mephibosheth to whom he could show kindness (I Samuel 20:14-17; II Samuel 9:1-13).  After Jonathan and King Saul had died in battle, Mephibosheth had gone into hiding.  It was common practice in those days for new kings to obliterate every relative belonging to the former king in order to show supremacy and prevent rebellion, but David went against what people expected of him.  Instead, he chose to be kind to his "enemy."  In fact, he went beyond simply being kind enough to let Mephibosheth live, he also reached out to him and helped him.  He gave him back all the property that King Saul had owned and sent servants to work for him and farm his land for him (because Mephibosheth was crippled in both feet).  He even invited Mephibosheth to eat with him at the palace every day for the rest of his life.

Even though David did this for his friend Jonathan's sake, and he was happy to do so, I couldn't help drawing a sort of parallel in my own mind.  What might happen if we went against the way people expect us to treat our "enemies" and instead chose to be kind to them?  Even more, what if we went beyond simply being kind enough to let them live their own lives without interference, and instead reached out to help them or heap gifts on them beyond what they would have imagined for themselves?  What might God do through us for other people that He loves and died for?

Your child in the four and five year old class became official members of the Happy Helpers Club this Sunday, and they received official club aprons.  They have been hearing stories all month of the adventures that Chadder the Chipmunk has been having as the founding member of the Happy Helpers Club, and they were very eager to be finally be allowed to be part of it.  Their top secret club oath went like this:  "I promise to help EVERYONE with a happy heart!"

To reinforce this Sunday's lesson, cuddle up with your child and pray with him at BED TIME.  "Dear God, thank You for making [child's name].  I love him so much.  I pray he will always look for ways to be a happy helper.  Help us both to be kind and loving to others.  We love You, God.  Amen."

Don't forget next week is graduation week.  If your four year old or younger child has had a birthday since July, you may be receiving a note to let you know that he or she will be moving up to the next class.  Please contact Suzanne or Connie with any questions about the move.

Your Land of Promise child (kindergarten through fifth grade) learned the importance of CELEBRATING what God has done!  Luke 22:14-20 describes how Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover together, commemorating a time in the past when God did something incredible for His people, Israel.  The disciples celebrated and praised even though they were facing an uncertain and frightening future (just before Jesus' crucifixion), and we should do the same as your child's memory verse illustrates.  I Thessalonians 5:18 - "Give thanks in ALL circumstances..."  This shows trust in our unfailing God.

During DRIVE TIME this week, talk with your child about a few times in your past when God did something amazing.  Tell her all about how wonderful He was to you.  Then ask her to describe something great that God did for her.  When the stories are finished, have a mini celebration in the car on your way to your destination and plan a more detailed celebration for when you are home.  For example: decide to eat your favorite foods for supper in celebration of what God did.  Give everyone a no chores evening, buy some helium balloons from the Dollar Store, and announce, "Today, we're celebrating the time that God did ___________ for us." 

Party hearty, my friends!  God is GOOD!

Truly Grateful

The article below was originally posted by Kendra Fleming on the Orange Parent's blog.  It struck a chord with me, and I thought it might resonate with you, also.

When my kids were little and someone would give them a cookie or a toy, I would always say, “What do you say Jack?” And his sweet little voice would say, “Thank you for the cookie.” Now that they are older, I listen for their “thank yous” and try my best not to prompt them. Something about reminding your 18-year-old to say thank you doesn’t go over very well.

But I want my kids to be more than well-trained and polite.

I want to nurture in them a truly grateful heart.

This is difficult. In our world, my kids have more than they will ever need. The number of gifts they receive for Christmas and birthdays is almost embarrassing. They are never in want and they have never experienced great loss.

How DO you nurture a grateful heart in the lives of children who believe that they SHOULD have everything they need?

Here are a couple of things to consider:

1. Don’t excessively give “stuff” to your kids.

You would think that the more you have, the more grateful you become. Because you have MORE to be grateful for. But somehow the opposite is true. Somehow the more we have, the more we take for granted. Strangely, when we have less, we are so much more grateful for each gift we are given.

2. Express sincere gratitude for the things YOU have been given. 

As a parent, you need to go beyond the polite “thank you.” Talk to your kids about the things you are grateful for. Help them see what a difference that gift or that home cooked meal made for you and your family. Express gratitude for your health, your job and your family. Go beyond the stuff and express your personal gratitude for the bigger aspects of your life.

3. Teach your kids to take care of what they have.

When you are truly grateful for something, you tend to value and take care of it. Taking care of the things that you’ve been given communicates that you understand the value of the gift. It matters to you. You are grateful.

4. Instill in your kids the understanding that everything belongs to God.

This is the thought that we don’t own anything. It’s all a gift. Every breath? A gift. Our children? A gift. A warm home? A gift. Clean water? A gift.We don’t deserve these things. We certainly aren’t in control of these things. God has given them to us. They are a gift. Everything we have belongs to God. It is all in His control. It’s all a gift.

When your children are young, you are in the training phase. You are teaching them the “thank yous.” But when you go beyond “thank you” to really helping their heart understand that they don’t deserve what they have, you have the opportunity to raise children who understand that everything is a gift. And a day will come when they realize the true value of those gifts.

On that day? You will have a child whose heart is truly grateful.

What are some other practical ways to teach your children to be truly grateful?

November 20th - What We Learned

This Sunday, November 20th, your 2-5 year old children in the Reign Forest learned that God gave us friends who can help us.  I Samuel 18:1-4, 20 tells the story of how King Saul's son Jonathan used a bow and arrows to make a secret code alerting David that his life was in danger and that he needed to run away quickly!  The two friends then hugged and cried together, and Jonathan told David he knew that God had chosen David to be the next king.  Then he asked David to promise not to harm Jonathan or his descendents when he became king, and David promised.

This paragraph is a tangent from our topic, but I can't seem to keep it to myself.  What Jonathan said to David as the friends parted forever has fascinated me for a while.  Jonathan, who was in line to become the next king; Jonathan, who obviously had a good relationship with God and would strive to lead Israel closer to God through his kingly role; Jonathan, who had most likely thought through his future and the steps he would take as king to be different from his father - this Jonathan realized God's plan was different from his own, and he bowed graciously to his Lord.  He knew that if anyone else became king besides himself, his entire family's lives were at stake, yet he still bowed graciously, relinquishing control to God.  He is caught in my imagination, and I wonder what emotions and struggles he faced before and after coming to that conclusion of obedience and faith in God...

Back to our regularly scheduled program:  To help your child hide God's Word in her heart, memorize Ephesians 4:32 with her using these hand motions, and spend the week together "catching" others in the act of helping your child.

Ephesians 4:32           (cup hands around mouth)

Be kind                       (make an exaggerated happy face and point to your cheeks with both index fingers)

and compassionate    (give yourself a hug)

to one another            (point to everyone else)

forgiving each other  (give someone next to you a hug)

just as in Christ,        (point up)

God forgave you.       (point to yourself)

Go ahead, be silly with it and have lots of fun!  (Very young children might want to try a shorter version, "Be kind and compassionate to one another.")

This week, your kindergarten through fifth graders learned how important it is to take time to say thank you.  In our Bible story (Luke 17:11-19), Jesus helped 10 lepers and changed their lives for the better, but only one of the healed men came back to say, "Thanks."  We need to slow down long enough to see what God has done and is doing.  

 

Gratitude is when we take time to let God and others know that you see how they've helped you. Who needs to hear words of gratitude from you or your child this week?  During MEAL TIME (maybe even Thanksgiving dinner), name some people who have helped you.  Then take it a step further: make a phone call, write a note, wrap up some leftovers, draw a picture, send some flowers...whatever it takes to show that person that you noticed them helping you and that you are thankful for their help.  And don't forget to tell God "thank You," for all of His help, too!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

November 13th - What We Learned

This Sunday, November 13th, your 2-5 year old children learned how Ruth helped Naomi by gathering grain and how Boaz helped Ruth by sharing his grain (Ruth 2:1-23).  God has given us many people whom we can help and who will help us, but we have to make the choice to help them and accept help from them like God tells us to in Ephesians 4:32, our memory verse for this month.  This verse tells us to be kind and compassionate to one another.  (See full verse in the right-hand column on this page.)  

During DRIVE TIME this week, see how many helpers you and your pre-schooler can spot.  When you see one yell out, "I SEE A HELPER!"  Helpers can be anyone: police officers, grocery clerks, librarians, coaches, teachers, nurses, friends, family members.  Help your child notice all the people God made who help others.  You can continue this game at home by shouting out whenever you see someone at home helping someone else.

Your Land of Promise child (kindergarten through fifth grade) learned the importance of stopping periodically and taking time to adjust his attitude.  The lesson centered around Matthew 20:1-15, where Jesus told a parable about a vineyard owner who hired workers at the beginning of the day and agreed to pay them a certain amount of money.  Later in the day, he hired some more workers.  When the day was over, the owner paid all of the workers the same amount of money, and this angered the people who had worked all day.  "Why do the people hired last who only worked a few hours get paid the same as we do?" they wanted to know.  The twist at the end of the story led right into a discussion about fairness.  Sometimes we think we have a right to complain, but we're forgetting the bigger picture our Master has in mind.

The visuals this month center around the idea of race cars needing a pit stop every now and then to run their best race.  Just like those race cars, we need to stop regularly and ask God to help show us what we do have to be grateful for instead of focusing on what we think we deserve.

Some people only say "Thank you" when they are happy or feeling really rewarded.  But our memory verse says, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  First Thessalonians 5:18  Taking time to check our attitudes and adjusting them even when we are disappointed or when things feel unfair shows others around us that Basic Truth:  I can trust God no matter what.

To reinforce this concept at home, take time once each day this week for every family member to tell something that he or she is thankful for.  You may want to stretch this activity out for the rest of the month instead of stopping at the end of the week.  At the beginning of this month, I accepted a challenge on Facebook to post one thing I am thankful each day.  I had no trouble the first week and a half, but this week, our entire family had the flu, and I certainly have not been feeling thankful.  It surprised me that when I forced myself to find something to be thankful about, I actually began feeling thankful again...and humbled... that all this goodness has been poured onto me!  Hopefully, you may begin to see the same gratitude adjustment happening in your child's heart and in your own heart as the days go by.

Nov 6th - Gratitude: Making It Stick At Home

The following is a true story from a family in our church.

In order to help my teenager develop and exercise an attitude of gratitude, we would play the "Glad Game" (inspired by the book and movie, Pollyanna) on our way to school in the mornings.  In the game, it was my job to think of a bad situation, and my child would have to come up with something happy about it.  After a few rounds, we would switch roles, and I would have to think of thankfulness items.  (We started doing this as a way to defeat morning grouchiness, but my long-term goal was to teach a life-time habit of optimism and praise - traits my teenager struggled with at the time.)  Here's what our game sounded like one morning.


Parent - "Oh no, it's raining today."
Child - "Oh, good! Now we won't get sunburned!"

Parent - "Oh no, our neighbor's house burned down."
Child - "Oh, good! Now they can stay with us, and we can become better friends!"

Parent - "Oh no, a meteor just hit that business and smashed it to pieces."
Child - "Oh, good! Now we can have a rebuilding party!"

Parent - "Did you know we're going to eat green beans tonight."
Child - (long pause)

Parent - "<Child's Name>?"
Child - "Well...I just can't think of anything good about that."

I laughed so hard, I almost drove into the other lane of traffic!  :-)


*****How about you?  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.

November 6th - What We Learned

This Sunday, November 6th, your two through five year old child learned that God gave him a family to care for him.  This was illustrated through the story of Naomi and Ruth in Ruth 1:1-19.  Naomi's husband and sons had died, leaving her alone in a foreign country.  She insisted that her daughters-in-law stay in Moab with their extended families who would care for them, while Naomi made the long journey alone back to Judah where she was originally from.  One daughter-in-law agreed to this plan and left, but Ruth, the other daughter-in-law, argued that she would not leave Naomi to face her life alone.  She then stated the words that have since become famous: "Where you go, I will go..." Ruth kept her promise to stay with Naomi, and she was a great helper to her on her journey back to Judah. 

The children in class listed people in their families who help them and they drew pictures of their families.  Then they thought of ways that they could be a help to the people around them.  To reinforce this concept, ask your child to join in with you as you carry groceries or sort laundry.  Sing the simple tune below as you help each other.  Singing makes helping fun!

(Sing to the tune of "The More We Sing Together.")

Oh, I'm a happy helper, a helper, a helper.

Oh, I'm a happy helper, a helper indeed!

My God made me a helper, a helper, a helper.

My God made me a helper, a helper indeed!

Your kindergarten through fifth grade child learned about The Silver Lining Principle found in I Thessalonians 5:18 which states "Give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  The kids in class got to watch someone stop at a pit stop for a Gratitude Adjustment that went something like this: 

Person A - “Man, am I having a bad day! I got here late and now I have to do all this work by myself. You’d think someone would help me. It’s not like I don’t have other stuff to do. And I don’t feel too good either. I didn’t get much sleep last night because my neighbor’s dog was barking and then I overslept and missed breakfast. I can’t think of one good thing that’s happened today.”

Person B - “We’re going to give you a gratitude adjustment and fill up your tank so you can see all the things you have to be grateful for! For example, you had a bed to not get any sleep in last night! And you could have had breakfast this morning, if you’d had time to eat it! Some people don’t have a bed or any food! And you have this fantastic church where you can come and help all these amazing kids learn about things like gratitude!"

Person A - “Wow! You’re right! What was I thinking? I have a great home, and food, and a wonderful family. And sure, my neighbor’s dog keeps me up at night, but that’s because God has blessed me with really good hearing! I’m so grateful!”

Sure that skit was a little tongue in cheek, but it gets you and your child thinking in a new direction.  Besides, if we really trust that God is good all the time, then we know we always have something to be thankful for even when the circumstances we can see don't look so great.  It's funny how gratitude and faith walk hand-in-hand.

Check back later this week for a silly post on how to make gratitude a habit at home.  You may want to read that post with your child so you can laugh together.


*****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.

November Previews

We've started a new focus for the month of November in both our Reign Forest and Land of Promise.  Watch this three minute video below to see what is in store this month at church for your two through five year olds who are learning what it means to be "Happy Helpers."  One idea that really hit home for me while watching this video was how interdependent God intends us all to be; verses from all over Scripture support that concept.  Let's train our children now to believe that and act it out in their daily lives!


FL Preview : Happy Helpers (November 2011) from Orange on Vimeo.


Your kindergarten through fifth graders are focusing on a different character trait as well, and it is one that perfectly fits in the month of November:  Gratitude.  This five minute video gave me a different and surprising perspective on the far-reaching effects that gratitude has on a person's life.


Preview: Pit Stop (November 2011) from Orange on Vimeo.

October 30th - What We Learned

This Sunday, October 30th, your 2-5 year old children learned that God created us to praise Him!  (Psalm 1-2; 34:1; 110:171-175; 150)  We talked about ways to praise God: by seeing a gorgeous sky that He made and shouting, "Wow, God! You made that so beautifully!" or by being happy enough in our hearts because God is so good to us that we sing songs to Him, or by lying in bed at night and remembering all the wonderful things God did that day and quietly thinking happy thank You thoughts to Him inside our heads.

You can remind your children to praise God during Play Time by clearing the furniture to the sides of the room and getting the stereo ready.  It's Praise Party Time!  Blast some of your preschooler's favorite worship music while dancing and jumping for joy.  Stop the music every few mintues and have everyone in the room shout THANK YOU to God for something in their lives.  "Thank You for my blankie!  Thank You for my family!  Thank You, God, for making me and loving me!"

In Land of Promise, your kindergarten through fifth graders continued learning about how creativity can be used in the body of Christ.  We read about the first church in Acts 2:24-27 and how they shared life together.  Imagine what could happen if everyone at Lakewood Park used our gifts together like that! 

To help your child comprehend this idea more clearly, at Meal Time serve each person in your family a different food.  For example if your meal that evening is milk, chicken, spinach, rice, grapes, and dessert, fill one person's dinner plate up with enough chicken for the entire family.  Fill another person's plate with enough spinach for the entire family.  Fill another person's plate with enough rice for the entire family.  Fill another person's plate with enough grapes for the entire family.  Etc.  Until every plate is filled.  (Try not to put each person's favorite thing on their plate.)  And one person might have only a gallon of milk at their seat.  When they want to know what's going on, ask them to remember what they learned at church on Sunday, how the first church shared what they had with each other until everyone had what they needed.  Instruct your family to figure out how to get what each person needs onto the right plates. 

At some point, you may be able to point out that just like it is not always easy to make room on the plate and transfer food back and forth - it is also not always easy to work together with other Christians in your church.  But it is always worth it!  And it does always bring joy to God and to the people in the church!

While you eat, ask your family for their creative ideas, "What can we share?"  It doesn't always have to be material items.  It can be time, talents, smiles...  Be creative!