Rebecca S. Ramsey's Blog, page 32

The Parable of The Good Shepherd

Welcome to our lesson for June 17, the Parable of The Good Shepherd.

What a beautiful story that so perfectly depicts Jesus–the one who would (and did) lay down his life for his sheep! The parable is full of so much meaning, so many layers that the children can explore. I’m sure they’ll be ready to talk about their own times when they’ve “found the good grass” as well as times where they’ve felt that they (or others they know) have been through places of danger. It’s a great time to share our own such experiences and how our faith in God helped us make it through. Most every child has a story to share about being lost and found. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy lots of discussion with this lesson!

There are wondering questions within the story script for this lesson. I’ll have them in the classrooms for you to write in their responses.

Idea Sparkers for our Create a Gift for God time:

There are two ways to go here. The children can either reproduce the parable in some way, or they can explore their own experiences with what the parable talks about: being lost and found, their own faith in the Good Shepherd, their own times of good grass and cool water or times of danger and faith.

Ideas for reproducing the parable:

1. Let the children make their own miniature parable boxes with this week’s parable inside. If you want to buy small boxes, just purchase them, give me a receipt and I’ll reimburse you. We have green felt in the resource room. The kids could use fun foam for the pen and the water and the dangerous places, and could make the sheep however they want, with clothespins and cotton balls or their own ideas. Some links for sheep are here and here.

They could draw and cut out a wolf and the shepherd.

2. They could make their own sheep and shepherd puppets at the links above. (in #1)

Ideas for exploring the parable in terms of their own experiences:

1. The children could make a class mural/picture of how it feels to be lost (on one side) and found (on the other side). The title could be something like The Good Shepherd Takes Care of the Sheep or something like that.

2. They could illustrate My Good Shepherd Calls My Name, drawing the Good Shepherd and themselves.

3. This would be a perfect time to study and illustrate the 23rd Psalm!

Check out more art response ideas on my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy!

Dinosaurs, Rings, All Sorts of Blessings!

Who doesn’t like to discover buried treasure? Or maybe treasure chucked over the fence and lying out in the open because the park we wanted to “bury” it in was locked shut for the night?

If you’re a kid moseying around any of three city playgrounds in Greenville, South Carolina, be on the lookout for a neon plastic dinosaur treasure meant just for you!

Yesterday was our Vacation Bible School Blast when we spent a full day and a sleepover learning all about the fruits of the spirit. (Enjoy the earworm! We did!) One of the fruits is goodness, (also translated generosity) so part of our day including tagging dinosaurs to leave as surprises at area parks for little people, and making blessing bags for bigger folks who might be homeless or in need.

Both projects were super fun, even if one of our parks were closed. It was exciting to sneak out in the dark and leave a surprise gift, a blessing of the plastic dinosaur kind, for someone we don’t even know!

People use the word blessing so much lately that sometimes I wince at it, honestly. When a cashier tells me to have a blessed day (sometimes after being rude to the person in front of me) I want to ask them just what do they mean by that.

Barbara Brown Taylor, one of my she-roes, writes in An Altar in the World, that the key to blessing things and people is “knowing that they beat you to it”- to recognize that because “God made these beings, they share in God’s own holiness, whether or not they meet your minimum requirements for a blessing.”

So we give out dinosaurs to kids we don’t know because they are a blessing to this world, just by being themselves, children of God. And we give blessing bags to homeless folks because of course they share in God’s own holiness too.

I was reading up on blessing things a few weeks ago.

It’s because of these dear two people, Susie and her daughter Juliana. They look a little different now, (but just as beautiful!) as that photo was taken back on Christmas Eve, 1999. Juliana no longer wears clothes out of my dress up box. But she did wear a gown a few weeks ago- a bridal gown! Juliana and my sister-in-heart Susie honored me by asking me to help lead the blessing of the rings during the service as Juliana married her love, Robbie. I was delighted to be a part of such a holy moment in their lives. It was a blessing to me too!

As we passed the rings through the rows of friends and family, each person had a chance to hold them in their hands and pray and wish and shower their love upon Juliana and Robbie, blessing the new family created before our eyes.

It was a sacred thing.

Blessings are like that, whether they come with rings or dinosaurs or ziplock bags of toothpaste and deodorant.

As Barbara writes, “God has no hands but ours, no bread but the bread we bake, no prayers but the ones we make, whether we know what we are doing or not…The most ordinary things are drenched in divine possibility. Pronouncing blessings upon them is the least we can do.”

Blessings to you, friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul’s Discovery

Welcome to our lesson for June 3, the story of Paul’s Discovery.

 Before we dive into a series of Jesus’ parables this summer, we have one more Sunday to continue our previous timeline: Jesus has been crucified, then resurrected. Jesus spent 40 days appearing to his disciples and letting them begin to know him in a new way until finally that time was over. He ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit arrived and we celebrated it first with Pentecost Sunday, then, last week, Trinity Sunday. Now we continue the story with Paul’s amazing transformation and work. It’s a wonderful example of the power of the Holy Spirit to change us in profound ways!

What a rich story of Saul/Paul, from birth to death! You’ll find the script in the yellow (Spring) book, p.126-135. The wondering questions are listed at the end.

Idea Sparkers for our Gift to God Time:

1. Paul’s life is so exciting. It would be fun to divide up the group and have the children act out scenes. Even our youngest kids could do it!

Scenes they may choose to act out:

1. Making tents with his father (bring a sheet from home and drape it over a table or rope) Pretend to hammer down stakes.

2. Waving goodbye to his family and traveling to Jerusalem (bring a suitcase)

3. Worshiping in the temple (Gather candlesticks, make a big scroll to read)

4. Saul trying to catch people who followed Jesus to bring them back for punishment.

5. Saul’s experience on the road to Damascus. (Maybe bring a lamp for a great light. )

Act out being led to Damascus and staying in the house, where the scales fall from his eyes.

6. Saul’s telling the good news of his transformation at the synagogue and then how Jesus’ followers hid him when people grew angry.

7.Paul’s escape over the city wall in a basket. (A laundry basket and rope would be perfect for this!)

8. Paul’s traveling and writing letters.

9. Paul kept as a prisoner in his own house.

2. Let the children work in pairs or alone to illustrate their favorite scene from the story. Have an “art show” at the end to look at everyone’s work and put the works in chronological order.

3. Examine the scrolls to see which books of the Bible do we think Paul wrote. Children could make bookmarks for their Bibles illustrated with scenes from Paul’s life.

For more art response ideas, check out my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy, everyone!

Before I Die… What Would You Write on the Wall?

Do you know of the Before I Die walls around the USA?

I didn’t until yesterday, when I tagged along with Todd on his business trip to Asheville. (What a great excuse to see the World’s Most Fabulous Grandbaby- and spend the night away from my sweet yet murderous cat who has been  toiling away at his self proclaimed duty of clearing our neighborhood of chipmunks, which he turns into gifts that he brings in my house. I needed a night off from the horror show.) Anyway, we walked around town and saw the wall, met its caretaker, the slightly disheveled guy who stands around the wall and talks to people and hands them chalk and keeps kids from messing it up with dirty pictures. Todd and I even picked up a piece of chalk and added our own words.

After we got back to the hotel, I googled it. It turns out that it’s part of a global art project created by Candy Chang in New Orleans, after someone she loved died. There are now 4000 walls in 75 countries and 36 languages.

What would you write on the wall?

I loved reading what others wrote. Here are some of them…

Before I die I want to climb a mountain into the clouds.

Before I die I want to pass high school.

Before I die I want to work in a children’s hospital.

Before I die I want to pet a groundhog.

Before I die I want to see my sons live out their God purpose.

Before I die I want to live to see my granddaughter.

Before I die I want to marry Joshua.

 

But my favorite by far was what someone added with art in the blank space.

USE MY PAIN TO HEAL OTHERS

The wall’s caretaker might have been the artist who added that- I’m not completely sure. But he saw me taking it in and walked over to me. He looked like he had seen a good amount of pain in his life. “You like it?” he asked. I nodded.

“It’s really beautiful,” I said.

And true, I could have added, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to pry into the life of this person, into his story.

“You’re an artist, aren’t you,” he said.

“Oh no,” I said. “I mean I love to play at it- it’s fun- but that’s not what I do.”

“Don’t denigrate yourself,” he said.

I scolded myself for being surprised that he used the word denigrate.

“You’re an artist, I can tell. Here,” he said, handing me three sticks of chalk, peach, green, white. “Draw something.”

“Oh no,” I said, trying to give it back.

“Oh yeah, you got to now. Draw something.”

I didn’t want to draw something- add my feeble attempt in front of Asheville- next to his beautiful self portrait, his truth. I wanted to hand him back his chalk and just appreciate his art. Write my own answer to the question of “Before I die I want to”– in words, the medium with which I’m comfortable, where I feel safe.

But then I realized that this is exactly what I want to do before I die! I want to live a life of expressing myself, of being who I believe God made me to be, WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT OR CARING MUCH WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK ABOUT WHAT I DO OR DRAW OR SAY. I want to share what God put in me- as we all do, hopefully- without worrying if it’s good enough for others to see. Without worrying if it’s good enough. THIS IS EXACTLY MY “before I die I want to.”

So I drew my own self portrait.

Which I’m not going to show you because I’m not there yet. I’m still a semi-failure at not caring what other people think of my art, whether it’s my writing or drawing or speaking or whatever. But I’m telling you about it, so you can give me credit for that, right?

What would you write on the wall? What do you want to do before you die?

It’s a good question to ask.

Before I say goodbye, I just want to add HOW GREAT IS ASHEVILLE?!

Where else, at least in this part of the south, can you take an evening walk and see sights such as these?

Happy Weekend, friends! May we all use our pain to heal others!

 

 

 

Trinity Sunday

Welcome to our lesson for Trinity Sunday, May 27.

 Today we celebrate the trinity, which is perfect timing, considering we just welcomed the arrival of the Holy Spirit last Sunday.

For this Sunday, we’ll use Lesson 6: Holy Baptism from the Winter (purple) book, p. 70-76.

The lesson is on baptism but it’s perfect for Trinity Sunday since a major component of the lesson is the Trinity. At the beginning of the script, it refers to “the Creator, the Redeemer, the Sustainer.” Do use those words, but add in an explanation of what they mean. Redeemer and Sustainer will be unfamiliar words to most children.

I would suggest that you modify the part of the script on baptism, fitting it to the way we do baptism in our church. Each of you should have in your classroom a bowl in which to pour the water, a pitcher, and a person (doll) to be baptized. I would encourage you to talk about the baptismal statement that baptismal candidates write (and a person special to them reads) expressing why they want to be baptized and what baptism means to them. I’ll have a copy of a baptismal statement that one of our children recently wrote in your rooms to share. (With permission, of course!) You might also talk about Discipleship Class, which our 4th and 5th graders can take in the fall and spring to learn more about baptism and being a disciple of Christ, before they are candidates for baptism.

The children would certainly enjoy the candle lighting part of the lesson. I hope you’ll feel brave enough. You might use tea candles (I’ll make sure there are plenty in your rooms.) For safety’s sake, you might have them sit on the carpet for this lesson and put the tea candle on the carpet in front of them, asking them to keep their hands in their laps at all times, assuring them that they will each have a chance to “change their own light.”  I’ll make sure you have a candle snuffer in your room-so the children won’t blow out the candle, spattering wax on the carpet. If you choose to do this part of the lesson, I’m confident they will always remember it!

Here are some wondering questions for this lesson:

1. I wonder what was your favorite part of this lesson.

2. Today we heard more about the Trinity. We poured the water and talked about the water of creation. I wonder if God the Father is still creating today.

3. We also lit the big candle and talked about Jesus, the light of the world. I wonder how Jesus is a light. I wonder why we call him that.

4. We also remembered the Holy Spirit with the dove and the perfume. I wonder why we use perfume and a dove to remind us of the Holy Spirit.

5. I wonder what baptism means to you.

 Idea Sparkers for your Gift to God time:

Focus on the Trinity

1. Your class could make a larger mural illustrating the three parts of the trinity, showing them intersecting like the circles of felt we used in the lesson. You could add illustrations to each circle. For God the Father, the children could draw creation in action, or their favorite old testament stories. For God the Son, the children could add drawings of their favorite Jesus stories, and for the Holy Spirit, the children could draw ways the Holy Spirit helps us–knowing right from wrong, giving us strength in times of trouble, helping us tell others about God, helping us understand the Bible, etc.

Each child could do this individually, but it could be more fun doing it together.

2. You could make simple trinity decorations, like this one from a blog with lots of great ideas,here. It’s simple, but the kids would enjoy making it. (Yey! A chance to use the glue gun!)

You can also glue on some symbols. This idea comes from this site.

3. You could talk about how the shamrock or 3 leafed clover is often used to explain the trinity- one plant, with a leaf for each of the three parts. Then go clover hunting around the church. The children could pick a clover, bring it back, draw it big sized, and label each leaf with part of the trinity.

Found here

The fourth graders made something like this during our Easter lessons.

Found here.









Found here.

Find some more art response ideas to get the kids started, go here to my Pinterest page.

Enjoy!

Love, Becky

When Baptists Play Host for Ramadan

If you read my title and have the urge to say, “When pigs fly!” then you don’t know my Baptist people.

In these days when the American president refers to unauthorized immigrants-even gang members- as animals, when Israeli soldiers kill dozens of unarmed protesters, and when a black graduate student gets reported to police for taking a nap in her dorm’s common room, I look for people who take seriously the words that we are all made in God’s image, each deserving of life, respect, peace. I think about this graffiti I saw last year in Bethlehem. And I replay scenes from Tuesday night when the Baptists sat down with the Muslims, and we listened, learned, and laughed– and filled both our stomachs and hearts.

Like Banksy’s “Flower Chucker” the Baptists came with flowers in hand- or at least on our tables. We came with goodwill. With hands open, because that’s how all friendships start, right? The dinner was about welcoming neighbors, not trying to change or convert each other. It was about hospitality- so important to both our faiths. We came ready to listen, ready to understand. And what did we find?

We found common ground. And we found baklava. (Baklava just might be the answer to most everything!)

I have to be honest and say that at first I wasn’t sure about the evening. On week nights, I like staying home. I like walking my dog and then taking a shower. I like changing into my pajamas that have bears toasting marshmallows on them and setting up shop on my bed to read or write or talk with my husband. I’ve spent three kids’ worth of years driving all over creation for soccer games and track meets and other assorted exhausting tomfoolery and I don’t need to do that anymore. Besides, not to sound like Oscar the Grouch, but I don’t generally like going places just to meet new people, as nice as they might be.

But when Atlantic Institute Greenville planned the Iftar Fast-breaking dinners and my Baptist church volunteered to host, I got caught up in a flurry of interfaith warm fuzziness and signed my husband and myself up. But by the time we both got home from work Tuesday night, my lovey-dovey zip was zapped. “It doesn’t start til 8,” Todd and I grumbled at each other,  “and that’s probably the time the program starts. Why did we (you!) say yes? We have to go out on a week night PLUS we have to wait til 9 to eat dinner?” But those ladies from the mosque had made the food and we were on the guest list, darn it. It was a done deal. We had to go.

So I left my bear pajamas at home and found at our table a new Muslim friend. It turns out that he lives just down the street from the neighborhood we called home for twenty years. He grew up in Chicago, where Sam goes to college. He’s a physician who works at a psychiatric hospital, as Ben may do after he finishes his last year of medical school and his residency in psychiatry. He works over the border in North Carolina, near the town where Sarah lives. His wife is a dentist, and we have teeth. Haha.

But there were deeper things too. He told us about what fasting means to him, how the discomfort of denying himself food and water sunrise to sunset helps him focus on God. How it makes him face things that come with discomfort- frustration and anger and impatience. And he talked about the joy of breaking the fast, though tiring for an introvert. (Hey, him too? I wonder if he has bear pajamas.) He talked about a month full of celebrations each night around the table with people they love– and sometimes people they hardly know but are making an effort to welcome. He talked about his striving toward generosity, away from envy and greed. He said that his girls are already fasting even though they don’t have to since they’re young, but they love it, and how folks often cry at the end of Ramadan, because it’s such a dear time of revival.

My friend Susan talked about how we all have favorite memories around holy days in our faith and asked him about his. His eyes brightened as he remembered being in the kitchen as a little boy, as his mother and aunts did the cooking for the fast-breaking. I told him about the time last year when we took a busload of children to the home of a large Muslim family whom our church adopted when they moved here twenty years ago, to hear about what it was like to be immigrants. I told him how shocked we were when we realized that they weren’t eating the feast they had prepared for our kids. Without telling us, they had invited us during Ramadan- right at the time they were fasting!

“I was so impressed that they would do that for us,” I said, “prepare all that food, when they knew they wouldn’t be able to eat any of it. It must have made their mouths water!”

My friend shrugged. “We try to be generous,” he said quietly. “It’s a part of our faith.”

Us too!

In these days when life seems full of strife and hatred and unrest, when even the “fun” news stories (Do you hear Yanni or Laurel?) seem bent on dividing us, I want to try to be a person who chucks flowers- or at least extends an open hand.

And maybe I can be a person who brings baklava, if I can find a friend to teach me how to make it! But if you teach me at night, be prepared. I’m wearing my bear pajamas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knowing Jesus in a New Way 7: Known by the Holy Spirit

Welcome to Knowing Jesus in a New Way 7: Known by the Holy Spirit, our lesson for May 20.

This week we get to share with the children the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost as told in Acts 2:1-21.

What a perfect time to not only share the story of the events of Acts 2:1-21, but to lead the children DURING the Godly Play lesson into an exploration of what the Holy Spirit is, what it did for the disciples and what it does for us today. A good time in the script to insert this is after you relay what Peter said, quoting Joel.

Here’s the part of the script as I would amend it:

(original script)

Peter stepped into this chaos with a confidence                  

and calm that the disciples had never seen before.

“These people are not drunk, like you think.  After

all, it is only morning. What has happened is what               

the prophet Joel wrote about. He said that God will

pour out God’s spirit on us so that our sons and 

daughters will prophesy, the young will see visions,

and the old will dream dreams. 

(Now, here’s the section you might add to help children get the concept of the Holy Spirit…)

The pouring out of God’s spirit was God’s gift of the

Holy Spirit. But was the Holy Spirit? Jesus had talked

about the Holy Spirit and when he did, he called it the

Comforter. He had told the disciples that it would come

after He left them. And now it was here! But what would

it do? Jesus had talked about that too and we can find it in the

book of John. Jesus had said that the Holy Spirit …

1. helps people see what they’ve done wrong and points

them to God

2. helps people do what is right

3. helps us understand the Bible

4. prays for us-the Bible says that He prays to God when

we sometimes don’t know how or what to pray. Helps us

through our hard times

5. helps us find out what our special gifts are so we can use

them to help others

The Holy Spirit had come! It had happened!

(The original script picks back up here…)

Many passed on by to keep their great traditions and live         

good lives. Others listened and became baptized…..                     

(Continue with rest of the script.)

You can see that I’ve included questions about the Holy Spirit in my wondering questions.

Wondering Questions

1. I wonder what is your favorite part of this story.

2. I wonder what the disciples thought was happening when the mighty wind filled the house and bits of fire began to dance around each person.

3. I wonder how it felt to have God’s spirit poured out on you.

4. I wonder what you would have thought if you were on the streets when the disciples ran out, overjoyed, telling everyone what happened in different languages.

5. Before Pentecost the disciples felt the love from Jesus. At Pentecost the holy spirit helped the disciples feel the love inside them.  I wonder how the love helped the disciples do their work.

6. I wonder how the holy spirit can help you.

7. When we celebrate Pentecost, we call it the day the church was born-it’s birthday.  I wonder why that might be.

I really hope that if you’re in a room where the children have access to Godly Play materials, that after the story is shared, you’ll try letting the children select something to bring to the circle that helps tell the story.  Those connections can be so meaningful.

IDEA SPARKERS FOR OUR GIFT TO GOD TIME

1. Flame hats or headbands

In some Christian churches church officials wear flame shaped hats to remind us of the flames seen over Christ’s followers on the day of the first Pentecost.

Why not show a picture of such a hat and let the kids design how they want to do their own. It doesn’t have to look like that one. Have fun foam or cardboard or fabric on hand- and long strips of large construction paper for the band part.

2. Flame portrait

As followers of Christ, let each child draw themselves as a disciple, with flames at the top of their heads. These flames could be added with tissue paper or paint or whatever they choose.

3. Make pinwheels or kites or windsocks to remind us of the mighty wind that filled the house.

There are great instructions for making a pinwheel here. If the kids want to make a kite, you can find instructions for making a real working one here, or just cut a kite shape out of paper and kids can decorate it as they want, hopefully with the story of Pentecost in mind.

Or make a Pentecost windsock, as shown here.

4. Doves

Since the symbol of the holy spirit is the dove, why not make flame colored doves (yellow, orange, red) and hang them from the ceiling to remind us of Pentecost. There are directions for doves here. Or make an origami one as shown in the video below.

Amazing Origami Flying Dove

Creative commons licensed photo by upsidedownapril

5. Birthday Cake-Since we celebrate the birthday of the church as we remember Pentecost, you could bring plain cupcakes to Sunday school and allow time for the kids to frost them and decorate them. If you’re feeling brave, you could have each child light a candle for their cupcake and remember the gift of the spirit, which looked like flames above each follower’s head.

See more art response ideas at my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy the story!

Love, Becky

Twenty Kids, A Trail, and My Second Grade Hero

My friend Addison comes to a children’s walk downtown prepared!

“What a good idea,” I said to her as we headed out of church to hit the trail, pointing to the toy binoculars around her neck.

“Thanks,” said the second grader, fingering a plastic lens. “It’s in case I see something.”

I nodded.

“I probably will,” she added.

Addison, you are my hero.

Let’s all be Addison, absolutely sure that although we have no idea what’s ahead of us, we fully expect that something cool or weird or wonderful is out there that we’ll want to examine more closely. Let’s be on the lookout instead of staring at our feet, asking how much longer til our journey is done!

I have to say that I didn’t hear that question EVEN ONCE during our 45 minute walk.

Maybe I just had good walking partners, or maybe the kids were too busy tumbling all over each other and off of the asphalt, doing cartwheels, picking honeysuckle and suckling out the sweetness, picking up sticks and waving them around, jumping and skipping and stopping mid step to pick up a leaf or smell a weed, or nearly cause a bike rider to swerve into the grass. (So sorry, bike riders!) ON YOUR LEFT, KIDS! Oh yeah, you might not know which side that is.

Let’s all be kids, walking the trail with all our senses in play.

In PLAY!

Running when we see the table set for us, an ice cream party in the park, loading up our bowls with chocolate or vanilla, all the sprinkles and jellly beans and oreos and M&M’s and caramel and chocolate syrup and whipped cream and more sprinkles, because God is good, and why not?

Why not?

Maybe I’ve been hanging around church too long, but it kind of felt like the Lord’s Supper to me.

What? The Lord doesn’t eat dessert?

Peace to you on your own journey through the honeysuckle and the weeds! May you have your binoculars handy and see ice cream at the end of the trail!

 

Knowing Jesus in a New Way 6: Known in Waiting

Welcome to , our lesson for May 13, Knowing Jesus in a New Way 6: Known in Waiting.

This week we get to share with the children the story of Jesus’ ascension as told in Luke 24:50-53 and chapter 1 of Acts.

What a wonderful opportunity to again talk about the disciples’ experience with having  Jesus right beside them and then having to learn to live with him in a completely different way. The children  have not witnessed this event of course, but most know what it feels like to be left or abandoned-even temporarily-by someone they love- or to feel afraid of what that might be like. For modern Christians whom have never had the joy of having Jesus physically with us, it takes some thinking to imagine what that must have been like, and then to have it taken away.

In addition to discussing the story itself, this Sunday is a good time to talk about the idea that feelings are not always the truth of what is really happening. When bad things happen we may feel abandoned by God, but that is not the truth. God never abandons. So what do we do when we have these feelings and fears? What did the disciples do? They did what Jesus told them to do.They waited and prayed and obeyed Jesus’ commands until they would be with Jesus again in heaven. As in the sermon last Sunday, they did the ordinary things of living as they waited on God. They chose a replacement for Judas. They went on with life, holding onto each other and to prayer.

I hope that if you’re in a room where the children have access to Godly Play materials, that after the story is shared, you’ll try letting the children select something to bring to the circle that helps tell the story.  Those connections can be so meaningful.

Here are the wondering questions for Sunday.

1. I wonder what is your favorite part of today’s story.

2. I wonder if you’ve ever been left behind. I wonder how that feels.

3. Before Jesus disappeared he told the disciples that they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I wonder what they thought would happen. I wonder what they thought the Holy Spirit was. I wonder what you think the Holy Spirit is.

4. When Jesus vanished, I wonder if he was really gone. I wonder how he was still with the disciples.

5. I wonder where you are in this story. I wonder what part of this story is about you?

Ideas for Our Gift to God Time

1.Today would be a great time for children to put all the Eastertide stories together in one project. They could do this as a class with a mural, with pairs of children working on a single story of this series, or they could put it together in a little booklet like the one below.

For the example I made here I took 12″ x18″ pieces of construction paper from the paper closet, cut each of them into 3 long strips of 4″x 18″ and folded each accordion-style into 6 sections.

I went ahead and labeled each section with the story title: Known at the empty tomb, Known on a walk and at the inn, Known by his scars, Known at Breakfast, Known at the Great Commission, and Known on the hillside. You could also add where each scripture is found in the Bible. Then children can illustrate each block.

2. Another idea is to celebrate the ascension story on its own by making your own Ascending Jesus, as shown in this kit from Oriental Trading.

You don’t need a kit to make this- just a solo cup and string and paper. It would be much more meaningful for the children to make it their own way, drawing their own Jesus and constructing it as they want, like the children here have done. (Scroll down and see below.)

 

3. Why not show the children images that artists have created showing the ascension and ask them to do their own watercolors or drawings of how they think it might have happened? It’s a mystery, so it would be interesting to see how they picture it. Find artwork to share with the children on my Pinterest page of ascension artwork here.

See some more art response ideas on my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy the story!

Love, Becky

Two Times I Flubbed Up Royally- and the French Flubber I Want to Be

Todd and I had noticed it on our evening walk, a perfect blue egg on the side walk. It must have fallen out of a nest in our neighbor’s crepe myrtle, dropped onto the soft ground and then rolled down the hill strewn with pine straw onto the sidewalk. “Maybe I should move it to the grass,” he said.

“But don’t people say not to touch it, that a mother bird will reject the egg if she can tell that humans have touched it?”

We weren’t sure, so we left it.

The next morning it was still there.

The egg had spent the night on the cold sidewalk. Could a baby bird inside withstand the chill?

A second after I took this picture, I put on my invisible superhero cape and decided to rescue it. One gentle tap would land it into the pine straw, right? Wouldn’t that be better than sitting on the concrete? I could use my phone as a putter, and TAP, the egg would sink into a makeshift nest.

I readied the grip on my phone. It’ll be like mini golf, I told myself. Just one little tap. 

TAP.

The second my phone made contact, the shell gave way, right where it sat. A clear liquid spilled out onto the concrete, along with a still baby bird, big eyed, curled up. It had been dead in its eggshell tomb, but now, thanks to me, it was a mess on the sidewalk.

Poor little bird.

Well, that didn’t go as planned.

I did the best I could with a sprig of pine straw as a broom to sweep it off to the side, as I struggled to keep Rosie from lapping it up (she’s a retriever, so what should I expect) and then went on my way.

My brain decided to entertain me on the walk by replaying other fiascos over the years in which I’ve flubbed up royally while trying to help.

Thanks a lot, brain.

There was the time at the children’s hospital when things went wrong.

My volunteer partner and I were going to make fairy houses with the children, and I was really excited. Who doesn’t love a fairy house? Usually we work in the playroom with a group of children, most often with patients but sometimes with siblings too, but this little patient was too sick to leave her room. We had to gown up to visit her bedside, which I had never done before, complete with donning masks over our mouths, glasses over our eyes, and gloves on our hands.

How do doctors and nurses deal with this, I wondered, care for the patient under all these layers? As I checked my bag of craft supplies, my own breath fogged up my glasses and sweat began to dribble down my back.

My volunteer partner was young and beautiful, and even covered by all the gown and masks, our patient immediately bonded with her as she explained who we were and what we were there to do. “You smell good,” the little girl said to my partner. “I like your earrings. They’re blue- that’s my favorite color.”

The self-centered child inside me wanted to pipe up and say, “Hey little girl! I love blue too! And I’m actually standing here too and I’d be happy to be your friend!” But I’m an adult, so I gave that self-centered child inside me a jab to the ribs. The goal was to be a bright spot in the little girl’s day, to help her have a fun, normal craft time, despite the fact that we were standing beside a hospital bed and that she had no hair and was hooked up to an IV, and we were covered in masks and gowns with hardly any skin showing.

I accepted my position as Craft Tech and handed the two of them items they needed: flowers for the fairy garden, silk butterflies to light on the fairy house roof, a battery candle for the inside of the house. And I manned the glue gun.

You need a trustworthy person to man a glue gun.

“I need some glue here,” our little patient said to my volunteer partner.

“Here, I can help you,” I said. “Where exactly would you like the glue?”

She pointed, and as I put the glue gun to the spot, she changed her mind a little, moving her finger just a tad.

“Right here,” she said, moving her finger just a tad again.

Then suddenly she said, “Oh,” and drew back her hand.

“Oh no, sweetie, did the glue gun touch you?” I asked, horrified.

The little girl looked up at me, tears welling in her eyes.

“Oh sweetheart, I’d never want to hurt you,” I said. “I’m so sorry that happened!”

“We’re so sorry, honey” my partner said, patting her back, furrowing her pretty eyebrows at me.

“I’m okay,” she said to my partner, and inched away from me on the bed.

“I think I’ll unplug this glue gun,” I said.

Of everything that child had been through, and I added ONE MORE THING.

I still ache to think about it.

As I rounded the corner back onto my street back in real time, back to my egg crushing failure of a morning, Rosie licked my hand, and my brain responded by trying to give me something nice to focus on.

Thanks a lot, brain.

I was volunteering again, this time years ago when we lived in France. After three and a half years of living in Clermont-Ferrand, the teachers at my children’s school finally realized that I was not going to quit asking if I could chaperone field trips and let me walk downtown with my son Ben and his fourth grade class to the art museum.

At one point, all the kids were sitting at the middle of a huge room as Madame Chomette, their teacher, stood in the center of the children, talking to them about the art surrounding them all. “Regardez ça,” she said, and stepped forward. A little girl yelped, and Madame Chomette immediately dropped to the floor, scooped up the child’s hand that she had mistakenly stepped on, and covered it with kisses. “Oh I’m so sorry, my dear! Children, be especially kind to Sylvie, today. Please forgive me, my sweet! It was completely my fault! I’m so sorry that I hurt you.” 

Madame Chomette is the French flubber I want to be, someone who drops to the floor when it’s called for, doing her best to bathe the wronged in love. Someone who quickly and easily admits her fault, even when it was unintended. Someone who wants to make life easier for everyone around her.

Someone who lives the words of 1 Peter 4:8, that above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Even when others smell better or have cooler earrings or don’t seem to ever do dumb things.

Love wins. As usual.