Archive for children

Make good choices!

December 9, 2014 / / One comment

Today’s reading from 1 Thessalonians is captioned “Final Exhortations, Greetings, and Benediction” and it made me smile. The passage reminded me of myself and all those other mothers trying to give their kids a long list of things to remember before launching them out into some new adventure that they’ll have to take on their own. Think about the moms in Freaky Friday or Almost Famous shouting out the car window to their children’s embarrassment, “Make good choices!” “Don’t take drugs!”

 

.          make good choices crop   don't take drugs crop

 

…we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.  See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.

Then you send them off with a prayer for a blessing (usually silent so as to avoid further embarrassment)…

May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Tell them not to forget you…

Brethren, pray for us.

and say, “Give everyone my love.”

Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.

And then it’s over. They’re gone.

 

 

 

 

Category: children, prayer /

Getting ready

November 29, 2014 / / Comments Off on Getting ready
The Creation from Favorite Stories From the Bible The Children's Bible in sound and pictures, Peter Pan Records DM 101

The Creation
from Favorite Stories From the Bible
The Children’s Bible in sound and pictures, Peter Pan Records DM 101

 

There are two seasons during the Christian calendar when we are given a special opportunity to get our personal spiritual disciplines in shape. There’s Lent, our somber and introspective time, and Advent which is four weeks of joyful anticipation. Though very different in character, they are both times of getting ready–of letting the Spirit cleanse the thoughts of our hearts and help us prepare for a Great Event.

This Advent I’ll be sharing illustrations from a variety of artists who tried to make the Bible more vividly present to our imaginations. Some will be from the Old Testament and some from the New; many will be from children’s books. They manifest the great diversity of Christendom and sometimes the odd and fascinating reality of the Church in the World.

I hope they will give you occasion to remember familiar stories, and perhaps look up a few passages to compare the scripture with the artist’s interpretation. Like the prayers and verses we memorize, pictures from Bible storybooks stick with us and become part of the way we weave God’s word into the fabric of our daily living. And in the end, isn’t that the purpose of all our spiritual disciplines? Enjoy!

 

 

The Temptation
from Favorite Stories from the Bible
The Children’s Bible in sound and pictures, Peter Pan Records DM 101

Category: Advent, Bible, children, Genesis /

Thank Him

November 9, 2014 / / Comments Off on Thank Him
"Thank Him" from Standard Bible Story Readers Book One by Lillie A. Faris, Illus by O.C. Stemler & Bess Bruce Cleveland. Standard Publishing Co.1925.

“Thank Him”
from Standard Bible Story Readers Book One by Lillie A. Faris, Illus by O.C. Stemler & Bess Bruce Cleveland. Standard Publishing Co.1925.

Thank Him

Thank God for all good things,
The birds and the flowers;
Thank Him for the daylight,
And for night’s quiet hours.

Thank Him for the bird-song,
The sun and the rain;
Thank Him for the fruit,
And the rich, golden grain.

Thank Him for our country,
Our dear homes so fair;
Thank Him for our loved ones,
And for kind, loving care.

Category: Books, children, Sunday School /

Goodnight God

July 14, 2014 / / One comment

 

I remember this one.

Category: children, music / Tags:

The Story of God’s Love

October 2, 2013 / / Comments Off on The Story of God’s Love

This is my favorite Sunday School book of all time.  I liked it so much, I took it home and read it over and over again. I’ve hung onto it for over 40 years. It begins like this:

Did you know that the Bible is one story–the story of God’s love for people like you and me?

The stories in this book are from the Bible and are a part of that wonderful story. They are about people of long ago who knew God’s love and answered his call to come into his family and belong to him.

I’m not sure why I loved this book so much. I had other Bible story books at home–and I read them too–but they did not occupy the same place in my affections as The Story of God’s Love.

When I read it again as an adult, I recognize Grace McSpadden Overholser’s talent for writing dramatic narrative and conversation which captured my imagination. I’m sure Polly Bolian’s illustrations were important too because they conveyed character and emotion. (Bolian is a well-known illustrator of Nancy Drew books which I was also reading about this time.) And I see from the brief author’s biography at book’s end that “Susan Hiett, a seven-year-old friend from Memphis, Tennessee, read all the stories in this book while they were being written.”  Perhaps her efforts were the secret ingredient.

But honestly, I’m not sure that I can explain it, and I can’t be sure that you would have the same experience if you picked up a copy. All I know is that this book is part of the story of God’s love in my life. A curious thing.

 

Category: Books, children, Formation, Sunday School /

What is the Bible?

January 8, 2013 / / Comments Off on What is the Bible?

If you liked to talk to tomatoes, or ever found yourself smiling at a squash, then have we got a website for you: Jelly Telly is an online video network created by Phil Vischer, the co-creator of VeggieTales. Jelly Telly aims to be a Nickelodeon of sorts for Christian audiences. Right now it’s in beta version as a website which streams about 20 minutes of content daily, but larger projects are apparently in the works.  One show, Buck Denver asks “What’s in the Bible?” has also been developed into a curriculum. This video is part of that curriculum and asks the question, “What is the Bible?”  Like some of the best of the Veggie Tales material, the video feels open and honest and wrapped in a gentle humor.  It won’t replace the “Song of the Cebu,”  Stuff-Mart Rap, and “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything,” but it’s well worth your 1:08.

Category: Bible, children, fun, humor / Tags: ,

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

December 25, 2012 / / One comment

Though most folks don’t consider me a sentimental person, there is one picture book that makes me cry every time I read it–The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski. It’s a story of death, and loss, and transformation. When a bitter woodcarver agrees to make a replacement nativity for a widow and her young son, he finds that he must deal with the innocent persistence of childhood. As readers, we find ourselves caught between real sorrow and real hope: death and separation, life and relationship. What is the truth of this world?

It’s a terrific book with beautiful, sensitive illustrations by P. J. Lynch. I hear it’s been made into both a play and a movie, but I find I don’t even want to see the adaptations. It’s complete as it is.  If you were here, we could read it together and think about all the wonderful nativities we’ve shared this season.  We could talk about why these figures become so precious to us, and why we bring them out, year after year.  And then, maybe we could talk about the mysteries of Christmas and the incarnation, and how we get a little closer to understanding the reality of hope and joy in this life every time we set up the manger.

 

Category: Books, children, Christmas, Creche, Manger, miracles, Nativity /

Brad’s Nativity Scene

December 19, 2012 / / Comments Off on Brad’s Nativity Scene

 

A long time ago, a little boy named Brad drew these figures.
A coat of varnish and a lot of love have kept the colors bright.

Category: Advent, children, Christmas, Creche, Manger, Nativity /

Scenes from the Manger

December 10, 2012 / / 3 comments

On a recent visit to my parents’ home I pulled out the manger scene I played with as a child.  That was what we called it then–not a Nativity or a Creche.  It was a manger scene, complete with Mary and Joseph, Baby Jesus, a plastic donkey and a cow, sheep and their shepherd, three wise men with gifts, and an angel.  The cardboard stable had (increasingly less) straw glued onto the roof, and there was a windup music box built in that played “Silent Night.”  Over the years, I wound that music box many times, learning about springs and gears as the tune played slower and slower before finally winding down to a stop.

Ours was not a fancy nativity, but it was an important part of our Christmas preparation every year.  We were not Nativity Purists at my house.  We didn’t wait until Epiphany to place the wise men in the scene, and we ignored the historical accuracy issue by letting the wise men and the shepherd worship the Christ Child at the same time. Sort of a “more-the-merrier” approach I suppose, with the entire cast on stage at once.

It was important, I think, that the figures were plastic, because no one was ever afraid to let me play with this religious object.  I could assemble the stable, arrange the characters in the Christmas story, wind the music box and let it play. I don’t remember ever making believe that the figures talked; it was a silent tableau except for the music.

     

Still, there are important considerations when you are a child arranging a manger scene. Mary and Joseph should be positioned where they can protect the baby. Everyone wants to be able to see Jesus, so the taller figures go in the back, and the shorter ones up front.  The shepherds and wise men need to stand at a close, but respectful distance from the Holy Child–though sometimes a curious young lamb will come right up and peer into the manger.  The cow and the donkey should stand together like old friends in the stable. And there must be an angel–preferably somewhere up high–to give the proper sense of mystery and holiness to the scene. 

As I stretched out on the floor, the lesson I took from the plastic manger was that this was a Bible story for me. Jesus’ birth was the first Bible story I could inhabit in my imagination; experience with my hands, eyes, and ears. I could be eye-to-eye with these Bible people. Think about their relationships and express them in space.  Come to know them in a way. Wait for their arrival every year.

During Advent I’ll be posting pictures of Nativities collected by friends and family over the years. If you have a creche or a story you’d like to share, let me know via email or in the comments section. Let’s get out the boxes, unwrap the tissue paper, and set up our manger scenes. It’s time for us to enter in.

Category: Advent, children, Christmas, Creche, hymns, Manger, music, Nativity / Tags:

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF!

October 31, 2012 / / Comments Off on Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF!

Every year it seems more churches are holding Trunk-or-Treat events in their church parking lots.  I like holding this sort of event at the church and rolling it all into a big All Saints celebration. Perhaps that’s because one of my childhood memories was going Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF with church friends.   I remember going around with orange cardboard boxes, collecting coins for children in need of food and health care. I think I even recognize some of the plastic face masks from this historical slideshow. (And be sure you see the picture of Spiderman and the UNICEF pumpkin.)

The Presbyterian Mission Agency Child Advocacy page explains that Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF and the PC(USA) have long had a special relationship. In 1950 the Reverend Clyde Allison, a Presbyterian minister and curriculum editor, and his wife Mary Emma designed and organized a “kids helping kids” program. “They believed that every child is created and loved by God,” says the Allisons’ son, Monroe.  Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF was first introduced to Presbyterian junior high students and subsequently adopted by UNICEF as a fundraiser.  Since then the program has raised over $164 million for children around the world.

 

 

 

Category: children, mission / Tags: , ,
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