December 18th - What We Learned

This Sunday, December 18th, your 2-5 year old child learned how the angels performed the first Festival of Lights concert for some nondescript shepherds sleeping on a hillside with a flock of sheep (Luke 2:8-18).  After the angels disappeared, the shepherds had a choice:  stay there by the fire in their sleeping bags where it was warm and dozy or go searching in the middle of the night for the newborn King.  And who would take care of their sheep if they searched?  Happily, they chose Jesus rather than sleep, and after they found Him, the Bible says they told everyone about Him.

Some children love to talk to strangers, to the extent that you feel the need to restrain them, while other children don't even want to look at someone they do not know.  If you have a talker, guide them into conversations where they get to share what Christmas is all about, even with a stranger at the grocery store.  After all, that's what the shepherds did.  They were so excited about the Savior's birth that the news just exploded out of them to everyone they met!  If you have a shy child, let him try telling a stuffed animal all about Jesus and Christmas.  It's good practice!

The third week of our Christmas rhyme goes like this:

WEEK 1
The angel came down (make a flying motion)
from God to say (cup hands around mouth like you want to say something)
that Mary will have a baby on Christmas Day. (pretend to rock a baby in your arms)
His name will be Jesus (make a "V" with both arms up and fists closed)
God's only Son. (point a finger and arm straight up)
He will show that God loves everyone! (hug yourself)

WEEK 2
Mary and Joseph traveled far, far away. (walk in place)
When they got to Bethlehem, there was no place to stay (hold hands out and shake head "no").
God gave them a stable filled with cows and sheep. (make a roof over your head with your hands)
Jesus was born, (pretend to hold a baby)
and on hay He did sleep. (fold your hands under your head like you are sleeping)

WEEK 3
The shepherds were watching their sheep at night. (place your hand over your eyes like you're looking for something)
An angel came and caused a great fright! (put your hand to your mouth like you are scared)
"Don't be afraid. (shake your head no)
I have good news!" (give two thumbs up)
Jesus is born (make a V with both arms up and fists closed)
for you and you and you! (point to different people)
The angels sang (pretend to hold a microphone)
and the shepherds ran (run in place)
to see the baby (pretend to hold a baby)
God sent to man! (point both thumbs to your chest)

In Land of Promise, your kindergarten to fifth grade children also heard the Christmas story, and they learned that God was the first and is the best Christmas-gift Giver ever!  (John 3:16-17; Luke 2:1-18)  God is the ultimate example of generosity. We give because God gave to us. His original gift is our motivation for giving freely to others. Bottom Line: God gave the greatest gift when He gave us Jesus.

In one of the busiest times of year it’s important to take time to remember who gave first. We can stop and remember how amazing it is that God sent His Son to show us a new way to live and later make it possible for us to live with Him forever if we just trust Him to forgive us for all of our sins.

Your Land of Promise children got to practice generosity in real life this week by participating in a gift-giving event.  All the children donated presents and selected class representatives to deliver their presents to some sick children at Lutheran Hospital this Sunday.  Ms. Amber and Ms. Dodi drove the children to the hospital with their gifts, and Ms. Dodi took this picture of them in the director's office before they handed the gifts out to individual patients.

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.

October 16th - In Real Life

Image from NOAA.gov

This article was originally written by Carey Nieuwhof and posted on the Orange Blog on October 11th. It was so good, I had to bring it over here for you to read.  I wonder how Orville and Wilber Wright's mother and father interacted with them when they were children?

See Carey's article below.

When my son Sam was about four, he had a plan. He was a huge hockey fan, and he suggested we build a new house that was entirely underground with a hockey rink inside. There would be no windows and just enough space for the family and a Zamboni.

As far as four-year-old ideas go, he gets marks for creativity. But 11 years later, what I’m focused on is not his idea, but my reaction to his idea. I don’t specifically remember what I said, other than likely laughing with him about it. But then I’m pretty sure about what came next. I dismissed it. It was unrealistic. It was unconventional. And we would never do it.

While it’s true, I don’t really want a windowless, underground house, I wonder whether it would have been better to roll with the ideas of my kids when they were younger, even those that had us living in a frozen bunker. To let them dream. To dream with them.

You know what I think I tried to do in those years? Normalize my kids. I tried to get them to the point where they would stop challenging the status quo and just accept things for the way they were. After all, normal people live in bungalows.

Don’t get me wrong, we had some great moments and conversations. But those moments may have been eclipsed by those we’re-trying-to-clean-up-dinner-so-we-won’t-be late-for-T-ball-practice-and-please-stop-hitting-your-brother-and-pitching-me-endless-ideas moments. In those moments, I may indeed have squashed imagination, curiosity and in the process, creativity.

I remember dreaming as a child, lying under a canopy of trees and imagining what could be. What happened to that? I guess I got normalized too.

Do you ever find yourself battling the innate creativity in your child? If so, think this through.

Having ‘normalized’ our children in their younger years, should we be surprised when on a trip to the space museum our thirteen year old responds with an understated “Yeah,” to our amazement that they actually sent a man to the moon? When you ask your twelve-year-old to come up with a way you can help serve the marginalized in your community, is it such a surprise that she says, “I don’t know”?

So what can you do as a parent to encourage more creativity?

Let them ask questions. Lots of them. And don’t use the nuclear option on them by answering with “Just because.”

Co-operate with their imagination. When they come up with ideas like a windowless bunker for a home, don’t dismiss it. Try to find out what’s underneath it, and celebrate it.

Redirect. I say it all the time in meetings at work–bring on the bad ideas because bad ideas lead to good ideas. Even when their creativity leads them to come up with the implausible, linger there long enough to see if other ideas emerge–ideas that might be doable. At a bare minimum, you’ll have a fascinating conversation.

What have you discovered about creativity? How do you fuel it? What stifles it in your home?

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.