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!