Rebecca S. Ramsey's Blog, page 34

Can a Band-Aid Be Holy?

When I took Josiah for a stroll around Asheville’s nature center a week ago, I had no idea so much would happen to me. Who knew I’d commiserate with Sassy, a raccoon with a hair loss problem? And there was more.

I didn’t even tell you about my brush with the Holy, thanks to a three year old I’d never met before who was throwing a huge fit. I thought our encounter was interesting and nice and slightly notable- but then Jesus/God/the Spirit/my own imagination (or all four) whispered into my ear about it during worship on Palm Sunday, and now I’m pretty sure that what happened is more than slightly notable- at least it is to me.  May I share?

So Josiah and I had just chatted with the otters (actually I had done all the chatting- Josiah and the otters just sat there observing me- as if I were the animal at the zoo!) and then we hung out in the petting area for a few minutes. That’s where I took this photo of Josiah as he struggled to understand what exactly donkeys are and I struggled with an intense urge to put that photo on Instagram with the caption, Josiah learns to deal with smart asses. I had a nice little laugh to myself but then decided that kids might see it and maybe that might seem unseemly for a children’s minister. So I’m sharing it here. Sometimes I crack myself up.

Anyway, after touring around the sheep and goats, we headed to see the bobcats. Josiah is just starting to say things that sound like words, and one of his first ones includes something that sounds like KEEKA, for kitty cat, of which he has two at home, one normal cat named Nala and one bizarro giant kitty named Aslan who is always falling off of things and trying to get in my lap.

So we were pushing our way up the hill to see the wild bobcat version of Aslan and Nala when I heard another wild animal– a young human kind.

“NO NO NO NO!” it shrieked from around the bend in the path. It was a little boy, maybe three years old, bent at the waist, hiding one hand like a candy bar he didn’t want to share. His mother leaned over him.

“Let me see it, Thomas. Let Mommy see it.”

“NO NO NO!!!”  he screamed and cried as if the world had canceled chicken nuggets.

“A BAND-AID!” he squealed. “A BAND-AID! I gots to have a band aid!”

“Mommy doesn’t have a band-aid honey. Just let me see it.”

“NO NO NO! You gots to have one!”

“I won’t touch it. Mommy just wants to look. See, I’ll put my hands behind my back!”

“NO NO NO!” he said, spinning around. He became one with the ground. “I gots to have a band-aid! I NEED ONE!”

As we approached, I gave the mom my best look that says “I’m sorry, I’ve had stubborn children too and I feel your pain.” (Josiah gave them a look that says, “Interesting. I will file this away.”)

That’s when Thomas had endured enough. He sat up and folded his arms and deepened his voice to sound as much like a bear as was possible for a three year old.  “YOU GOTS TO GIVE ME A BAND-AID!!!!!! NOW.”

“I don’t have one. See! Mommy’s purse doesn’t have one. But maybe they have one in the office. Let’s go see. But you have to get up and walk.”

I gave the mama another sympathetic smile as I walked past, just to show solidarity.

“BUT I NEED ONE RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW”

Poor little guy. Poor mama. It will get better, Mama.

“BUT I CAN’T WALK TO THE OFFICE.  I CAN’T DO IT, MAMA.”

Poor mama. Poor Thomas. If only there was a service to help mamas in need. A AAA for child repair.

And then the thought struck me. I HAVE A BAND-AID!

I could be the AAA!

I parked the stroller and opened my purse. Was it still there? My Michelin Man husband had given me a pack of Michelin Band-Aids, each one decorated with Mr. Bib’s puffy marshmallow head, though at the time I had told him thanks but no thanks. “I’m a children’s minister, honey.” I said. “I always have a first aid kit with me anytime I take kids anywhere.” But Todd had looked so disappointed that I had thanked him and stuck them in my purse, just in case.

In Case had arrived!

The band-aids were still there!

“Sorry,” the mama said as I turned around and approached, as if I were about to make a citizen’s arrest for baby whining.

“No, I have a band-aid,” I said.”May I give it to you?’

“LOOK THOMAS LOOK! OUR FRIEND HAS A BAND-AID!”

Our friend? How nice! I was OUR FRIEND!

“He is bleeding a little,” she explained. “But not enough to justify this,” she said, waiving her finger around his sweet face.

I nodded. “Sometimes you just gotta have a band-aid.”

“Look Thomas! See! Our new friend heard your voice and came to our rescue! ”

A feeling of joy  swept through me. A simple band-aid in my purse made me a super hero!

The mama was not done. “What do you say to our new friend?”

“Frank you,” he said, swallowing tears.

It was the best moment of the morning.

Thomas and his mom popped into my head during worship the next day, a few moments after our children had paraded down the aisle of the sanctuary, waving palms branches, celebrating Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem. After setting the branches on the communion table, we sat together for the children’s sermon, and I talked with the kids about how the people that day so long ago were excited about seeing Jesus, and lay their cloaks and more branches on the path, honoring him by making the ground softer for him. For easing his way along the path.

As I sat back in my chair on the platform and listened to our beautiful choir anthem, Thomas and his mom popped into my mind. What fun it was- and how lucky I was- to get to make the ground a teensy bit softer for him and his mom. It was just a simple band-aid. Not a big deal at all. Not at all notable, in the scheme of things. But what JOY I felt getting a chance to do it. A surprising level of happy!

Whenever I find extreme happy combined with surprise, it’s a clue to me that God is at work, somehow.

What else do I have in my possession that could ease someone’s path?

How can I make someone’s way in the world softer?

Here during Holy Week, when we remember Jesus, who said, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me,” it seems like a good thing to think about.

Featured Photo by Victor at Flickr, through Creative Commons. Thank you, Victor!

 

Faces of Easter 7: Celebrating the Risen Christ

Welcome to Faces of Easter VII: Celebrating the Risen Christ, our lesson for Easter Sunday, April 1.

What a beautiful and important lesson we have this Sunday: the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

I love how Godly Play presents this lesson, reminding children that the crucifixion side of the story cannot be pulled apart from the resurrection part, and that which looks like an ending is actually a beautiful beginning.

There are wondering questions at the end of the lesson with the script. I’ll have those in your room as well.

Don’t forget to allow time for your children to celebrate the resurrection by visiting the cross on the courtyard outside the sanctuary, where each child will have an opportunity to add a flower or two to the cross. Maybe the younger children can go at the beginning of Sunday school, and y’all can stagger your visits so everyone has time to enjoy the cross. If you like, you could even take the kids to the labyrinth, with instructions for them to pray their own Easter prayer as they walk it. If the kids have plenty of direction as to what they’re supposed to do (and if the weather is good) it might be a meaningful part of the morning!



We will have snacks in the game room before Sunday school, but you might want to share a special Easter snack with your kids (Hot cross buns or something Easter-y.) Just give me a clean receipt and I can make sure you’re reimbursed. Easter is definitely something that deserves a party!

The children may have their own ideas about how they’d like to explore the story and celebrate it through art. It would be wonderful if they wanted to work together as a class to make a gift to God. Maybe a mural of the stone rolled away, or of the two sides of this week’s story tile?

For more art response ideas, see my Pinterest page, here.

Thanks y’all! Happy Easter!

Much love, Becky

In Solidarity with Sassy: Revealing Our Truth

I’m sorry, Sassy the Raccoon, for bursting out in laughter at your unfortunate predicament. I looked all over your enclosure for you, not to ogle, I promise, but to cheer you on and raise a paw of support! As a woman in my early fifties, I feel your pain.

I guess the Nature Center got tired of people asking where all your hair went, and why you keep fanning yourself and taking off your sweater when it’s thirty one degrees outside, and they just wanted to make people stop coming to them with their questions when they have bears and cougars lined up with complaints of their own. So they put up a sign for all the world to see.

Poor Sassy.

At first I thought her sign was rude (well, after I thought it was hilarious) but now Sassy’s sign has got me thinking that it might be a good thing for all person-kind. What if we all had little signs like Sassy’s floating in the air that followed us around, wherever we went, explaining to the world what we’re going through? It might make the world an easier place to understand.

Our female office mate, Cynthia, is short with others because she’s had it with lazy people at work and at home treating her like their clean up crew, expecting her to deal with their messes. 

Our male postman, Herb, will talk your ear off at the mailbox because he’s so lonely since his wife died that he dreads going home at night.

Our female neighbor, Betty Jo, complains to others behind your back about the state of your yard because no one asks her opinion of anything anymore.

Our politician is stunningly braggadocious because deep down he feels so utterly inadequate that he cannot even be loved other human beings without him paying them to do so or telling them exactly what he thinks they want to hear.   

Our male physician, Fred, is quiet today because his teenage daughter laughed at the way he wore his pants and then he noticed in the mirror that he was getting a bald spot on the back of his head.

(See Sassy! You’re not alone!)

As a minister to children, moms and dads occasionally come to talk with me about the signs that would float above their children.  Many times they speak in hushed tones about the hard thing their child is going through. They’re scared, worried, and embarrassed somehow that their child seems to be the only one struggling in this way.  I’ve felt this too, about each of my three, and I’m so thankful for people who’ve reminded me that I’m not alone. AT SOME POINT EVERY CHILD STRUGGLES! Every child struggles with something so much that they need help. And it’s the same for teens and adults, don’t you think? If your life (or your parenting life) is one big joy ride now, wait a few minutes. It’ll change.

That’s why I’m in love with Ian Maclaren. Well, I should say I’m in love with his quote, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” I don’t really know the man, but his statement shows he understands life. He was a minister, so I’m sure he saw his share of the battles people face.

It’s so true. Everyone is dealing with some kind of battle. Life is hard and full of struggle, no matter who you are or what you believe. Even for Sassy. But lucky for her, she’s under vet care. What about the rest of us?

Prayer is good, and so are hands to hold and time to sit around the table with a mug of coffee or a glass of wine with people you trust, people who can listen and hear you- and sometimes be a conduit for the words God knows you need to hear. Counseling is a gift, too. I’m convinced that every person could benefit from it at some point in their life.

I’m so glad we have each other in this world. What sign floats above you today? Join me in speaking your sign to someone you trust today. Say what’s going on with you. Don’t keep it to yourself. Let God love you through others in your life.

Now if you’ll excuse me I need to take off my sweater.

Faces of Easter 6: Remembering Jesus At the Last Supper

Welcome to Faces of Easter 6: Remembering Jesus At the Last Supper. You can also choose to do the same basic lesson but told in a different way,The Synagogue and the Upper Room (Lesson 11 in the yellow book.) Or you can combine the two lessons as you like. I bet the children would really enjoy seeing how the synagogue and the upper room physically unite together to become the church!

What a whirlwind of a story this week’s lesson is! So much happens, and all of it so very important: Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, greeted with palms waving, Jesus teaching in the temple and sharing the parable of the widow’s offering, the temple guards’ plan to take him on Thursday, the last supper in the upper room, Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas’ kiss of betrayal and Jesus’ arrest. What an honor, to be able to share this with the children and help them process it.

This is a perfect week to let the children respond to the story by gathering things from the Godly Play materials in the room that they feel help tell the story. I hope you’ll be able to jot these down for me, along with their thinking on this, so that I can share it with the parents. I’ll also have the following wondering questions for you in case that works better for your class, or if you have time to do both:

Wondering Questions:

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

2. I wonder what part of the story is the most important.

3. I wonder what special message God has for you in this story

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

Give A Gift To God Time

Here are some ideas to add to your own:

1. Retell the story in sections. The story can be divided into scenes, with children working on different ones in pairs or individually. These can be hung together in your classroom if you like. Scenes would include the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, Jesus teaching in the temple, an illustration of the parable of the widow’s offering, the Last Supper, Jesus praying in the garden, Jesus’ arrest.

2. Act out the last supper.

3. Make more ornaments for your Jesus (Easter) tree. Children could make donkeys or palm branches, representations of the widow’s offering, bread or chalices of wine, praying hands or a praying Jesus, or bags of money, representing the 30 pieces of silver Judas was paid to betray Jesus.

4. Palm art. Here are directions for palm crosses for older children. You can use green ribbon too.

5. See more ideas of Palm Sunday crafts here.

If you’re on Pinterest, find my Last Supper page here for more ideas.

Enjoy! I hope you have a very meaningful Sunday!

Love, Becky

Faces of Easter V: Remembering Jesus Healing and Sharing Parables

Welcome to Faces of Easter V: Remembering Jesus Healing and Sharing Parables, our lesson for March 18.

 As we get ready for Easter this week, we remember the work Jesus did as he traveled around, healing people and sharing parables. It’s a great chance to make clear to our children that being with people of all kinds, loving them, healing them of their physical and emotional wounds, and sharing truth through stories was the work that God sent Jesus to do–and still sends Jesus to do today. I look forward to hearing from the children ways that they can be like Jesus: how they can show their love for others, heal people who are hurting, and share God’s truth with others.

You may want to share more detail in this week’s lesson than what is written in the script. Because we are retelling all the parts of the Jesus story, sharing every tile that we’ve shared so far during Lent, the writer keeps the script very brief. As for me, I’d rather give very short summaries of the tiles shared in the previous weeks and spend a bigger chunk of time in the circle sharing the healing story and an example of a parable.

I’ve fleshed out the script for this purpose with a more detailed telling of Jesus healing the blind man and Jesus telling the Parable of the Friend at Night and will send you my version by email this week. Feel free to use it if you like.

If you haven’t yet given each child an opportunity at the end of the circle time to gather something from the Godly Play materials that is related to this week’s story and to share the relation that he/she sees, this week is the perfect opportunity to try it. Even if you also use the wondering questions, it could be an interesting and valuable part of the lesson. If you do, try to have an adult jot down their thoughts and ideas so that we can share them in the newsletter.

Since there are no wondering questions listed with the script, I’ll have the ones below ready in your rooms. Thanks so much for taking time to document their responses. Having a peek into their thoughts and ideas is such a gift to the parents–and to the rest of us!

Wondering Questions:

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

2. In the healing part of our story, wonder how the blind man felt and what he thought when Jesus first took him by the hand.

3. Jesus put his spit on the man’s eyes, and the man could see, but not well. Then Jesus put his hands on his eyes again and his sight was perfect. I wonder why it took Jesus two times.

I wonder what this might teach us about helping people.

4. We can’t heal people’s eyes by touching them, but I wonder how we can help people with their hurt bodies and hurt feelings.

5. We shared the story Jesus told called the Parable of the Friend at Night. In that story, I wonder who the friend is who has gone to bed.

I wonder who you are in the story.

I wonder what Jesus wanted us to know about praying.

6. We talked about the fact that Jesus’ work was to come close to people, especially the people no one else wanted to come close to. If Jesus came to do this today, I wonder what kind of people Jesus would want to spend time with.

Gift to God Time

There are many different directions the children can go in responding to this week’s time together. They could focus on retelling the healing story or the parable or both. Or they could extend this lesson by focusing on how we as Christians can participate in the healing of others and in telling truth and sharing God’s message.

Retelling today’s story:

1. Children could make 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional representations of the healing story or the parable story through drawing or painting it, making a mural, creating the scene in a diorama, making clay figures to act out the story, etc.

2. Children could work in a group or individually collecting healing stories of Jesus or parables Jesus told. How long a list could they make? Could you work together, giving groups of kids different gospels to scan, making a list on a piece of butcher paper? Maybe they could illustrate the list with a simple drawing beside each title. The Bibles in our Sunday school rooms have headings of each parable and healing story, making them easy to find. Do all the gospels tell the same stories? This would be good to investigate.

3. Children could be given the option of examining other parable stories in the parable boxes and retelling them to a partner. They might have to look these up in the Bible to make sure they remember the stories. We’d just need to be sure that they’re careful to keep all the materials together and separate from each other.

4. The children could even make a mini-booklet of parables, with one on each page and a simple illustration.

5. Children could make ornaments for our Jesus tree from the different healing and parable stories. How about a set of eyes for this week? Or a door from the parable? Or items from other parables and healing stories. There are some interesting ones here.

How we can help heal others:

 6. Children could make cards to help heal those who are sick or lonely. I’d be glad to pass these on to the ministers when they visit. When we’ve done this before we’ve had a great response. Cards really do make a difference!

If you like Pinterest, see here for more ideas the children could use as springboards. (Rather than copying them exactly, they could use them as inspiration!)

Enjoy!

Faces of Easter 4: Remembering Christ’s Desert Experience

Welcome to Faces of Easter 4: Remembering Christ’s Desert Experience.

 As we get ready for Easter this week, we remember Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, described in Matthew 4: 1-11. It’s good to remember that this event happened right after Jesus’ baptism, before he could begin his work. Or maybe being tempted–and letting us see that even he was tempted–was part of his work!

As we all know (and have lived) children have plenty of experience with temptation. Thankfully they have this sacred story to refer to, both now and as they get older. Temptation never goes away in life, so it’s a great lesson for all of us.

Since there are no wondering questions listed with the script, I’ll have these ready in your rooms. Thanks so much for taking time to document their responses. Having a peek into their thoughts and ideas is such a gift to the parents–and to the rest of us!

Wondering Questions:

1. I wonder what is your favorite part of today’s story.
2. I wonder what it felt like to be so hungry and to be reminded that if he wanted to, he could turn the stones into bread.
3. Jesus responded, “To be a real human being, we need more than just bread to eat. I wonder what he meant. I wonder what he thought we needed.
4. When Jesus found himself on top of the Temple, I wonder how it felt to imagine himself falling and having the angels save him. I wonder if people had seen him do that, what they might have thought about him.
5. I wonder how it felt to be tempted to easily become the king of all the kingdoms.
6. I wonder why Jesus needed to go through all of these temptations before he started working with people.

Here’s an excellent video the kids might enjoy that tells the story.

It’s at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-6a25Yo2wE

Now, some ideas to add to your own to serve as springboards for the children’s response time:

Focus on retelling the story itself:

1. Children could draw the three separate scenes. They could do this individually, on a large paper, folded in thirds. Or they could do this as a class, on a large mural on butcher paper. They could make captions, explaining each scene.

2. They could show the desert scene with sand art, using glue and colored sand, as shown here.

3. They could pick one scene to draw (or all three) and paint the drawing with watercolors.

Focus on the idea of temptation and how God can help us deal with it.

1. On one side of a drawing or collage of magazine pictures, children could illustrate the different temptations they face at school or at home or at church or sports. (Cheating, disobeying parents, being hurtful to others, eating things that aren’t good for them, etc).  On the other side they could show how they resist temptation by asking God for help. Or they could put on that side a verse of scripture or “What would Jesus do?”  Some scripture that might be appropriate might include:

James 1:12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord* has promised to those who love him.

Psalm 62:8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,and do not rely on your own insight. 

Isaiah 12:2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for theLord God * is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

2. Children could make a What Would Jesus Do bracelet (or a love bracelet) with letter beads and twine, tying knots between each bead to make them stay in place.

6. Children could make ornaments for the Jesus/Easter tree in their Sunday school room. For today’s lesson, this might include hot gluing stones to thread to hang, or ornaments of scripture from this lesson.

7. Children could make a banner from felt or fun foam on What Would Jesus Do?

For more art response ideas, see my Pinterest page on the story, here.

Enjoy!

Love, Becky

Faces of Easter 3: Remembering Christ’s Baptism and Blessing

Welcome to Faces of Easter III: Remembering Christ’s Baptism and Blessing.

 As we get ready for Easter this week, we remember and celebrate Christ’s baptism and blessing from God. How good it is to remember that Jesus chose to be baptized before he started his work, to mark the beginning of his adult journey toward the cross by getting in line with us, teaching us what to do. It reminds us how meaningful it is to begin our own discipleship by leaning into the darkness of the water, letting God cleanse us, allowing our old selves to die and be buried, and then get up, dry off, and start life marked and blessed officially as God’s own.

There are so many ways we can go with this lesson. We must focus on the story itself, of course, but we can also give thought to examining the concept of the trinity, recognizing that this moment in Jesus’ life is a beautiful interaction of the father, son, and the holy spirit.

At the end of the storytelling time you could  ask the children to gather items to put by the baptism tile, or you could use wondering questions to help them process the story. Here are the ones I’ll have in your rooms:

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

2. I wonder what you already know about John the Baptist.

3. I wonder how John the Baptist might have felt when Jesus asked him to baptize him.

4. I wonder why Jesus wanted to be baptized, even though he was God’s son?

5. I wonder what people thought when they saw the holy spirit come down toward Jesus. I wonder what they thought when they heard God’s voice say, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.”

6. I wonder how it might feel to be baptized.

7. God and the holy spirit gave Jesus a blessing. I wonder what a blessing is. I wonder if you’ve ever been given a blessing and how that felt. I wonder if you’ve ever given anyone else a blessing.

Here are some ideas that might serve as springboards for the children’s own creations:

Retelling the story:

1.  Have a small Jesus figure, a small John figure, and a pool (a large bowl of water) and let the children take turns at one table retelling the story and acting it out with the figures.

2.  Let the children make their own Jesus and John figures (clothespins?) and their own pool (plastic bowls or recycled containers like Cool Whip size-there may be some in the resource room. If not, you could even use a Solo cup, cut shorter.)

3. I remember a teacher from my own childhood having us clean dirty pennies with water and vinegar, talking about how our sins are washed away in baptism. I’m not sure how I feel about this.  If I did that today I would want to add that even after our baptism is done, we still have to ask God daily to forgive us of the mistakes we make.

4. Make a snack to celebrate this special event in Jesus’ life, like our edible locust to the right.

You could make edible bugs to dip in honey as done here, or make trinity muffins as described here.

5. Make ornaments for your Jesus tree.

A. You could always make doves, as shown here or here (I know it’s an owl, but you could make it into a dove,)  or here (I love that one.) Or pick up some feathers at the craft store and let the kids think themselves how to make it from the feathers and other materials you have on hand.

B. Another ornament idea is to make a Chrismon-type ornament that celebrates his baptism in particular as shown here(scroll down and see the scallop one.) Or why not use real scallop shells from a craft store and make your own like the one in the link. The kids could hot glue a ribbon to it and figure out how to represent the three drops of water shown in the chrismon–or not! They could put a dove with the shell, or make it however they like!

 C. There’s a pretty one out of felt here. Kids could copy it or even better, design their own!

http://www.mssscrafts.com/newtestamen...

Examining the Concept of the Trinity.

Since we just enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day, it might be a good time to look at the 3 leaved shamrock as a symbol of the trinity. Here’s an ornament the kids could make out of fun foam here. And there are plenty of other ideas here. Be sure to scroll down to see all the examples.

For more ideas on art response to this story, visit my Pinterest page, here.

Enjoy!

Love, Becky

Who Gets to Play?

“It was an AR 15,” Ben said as I lifted my suitcase onto my bed and started unpacking. Todd and I had just returned from a four day drive through Florida, passing ten miles from Parkland the day before the shooting. Ben had been watching the house, and the news, apparently.

I had heard it too, of course.

It was a nineteen year-old armed with an AR 15.

Wasn’t that the same kind of gun someone used at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut,  killing 20 children, six staff and himself in 5 minutes?

Wasn’t it the same kind of gun used by someone in a movie theater in Colorado, killing 12 people and injuring 58 in less than 10 minutes?

Wasn’t it the same kind of gun used at a concert in Las Vegas, killing 58 and injuring 851 in less than 10 minutes?

Wasn’t that the same kind of gun used in a church in Texas, killing 26 and injuring 20?

And now? An AR 15 was used in a high school in Florida, killing 17 teenagers and staff in six minutes.

“I can see why people use it,” Ben continued. “Remember, that’s one that I shot that time I went with the guys to the gun range. It’s light. It’s easy to hold. You’d think with its firepower the kickback would knock you across the room. But the recoil? It’s hardly more than a tap. The gun hardly moves, so it’s no big deal to aim when you want to pull the trigger again.”

“You know what they call it don’t you?” Todd asked.

I had no idea.

“The grown man’s Barbie doll.”

At my raised eyebrow, Todd added. “You know, on account of all the accessories you can buy to go with it. Scopes, grips. Even a flare launcher if you want.”

I shook my head and sighed.

“It’s a weapon of war- there’s no other reason to have it,” said Ben. “But I have to say it’s fun to shoot.”

As Ben left the room I remembered little Ben, who’d make a gun out of a grilled cheese sandwich.

When Ben was three, his preschool teacher tapped me on the shoulder at pickup and let me know that my son and his buddy Forrest had spent the morning making guns out of their pointer fingers and chasing each other around the room, not to mention circle time shooting each other. “But don’t worry,” Mrs. Pettett said, “after he couldn’t seem to help himself, we told him that though the classroom wasn’t the place to do that, he was more than welcome to go into the bathroom and point his finger at the mirror whenever he needed to.” It wasn’t nearly as fun that way. Mrs. Pettett was brilliant.

“What’s the big deal about a play pistol?” my father in law once asked.

I think I shrugged my shoulders and told him I just didn’t like it. If I had been braver about disagreeing, I might have said that if he wanted to pretend to hurt people in his play, he could do that, but I wasn’t going to supply the weaponry. His finger would have to do.

My father in law didn’t understand. I imagined many others I loved wouldn’t either. Many of them were hunters. They lived in the country and ate what they shot. Guns were part of normal life and treated with safety and respect. But we lived in the suburbs and ate meat from the grocery store. Todd might have earned the expert marksman badge on his Air Force uniform, but neither us was comfortable having a weapon in a house with children.

“I’ll get other toys,” Todd said. “I can go to the gun range if I want to shoot.” The risk wasn’t worth it.

Now, with the barrage of mass shootings in our country, most everyone admits we’ve got to do something. I understand that some people like to hunt, some people like to target shoot, and some people want to be able to protect themselves. I don’t think we need to take away everybody’s guns- though I have to be honest and say it wouldn’t bother me after having lost three dear friends to suicide by gun and Todd’s Uncle Harold to murder by gun. But we can’t continue as normal, without making any major changes , expecting that the madness will stop.

As we take a hard look at all the factors to consider, we need to ask ourselves a question. Why is the AR 15 on the market?  Guns that make it so easy to obliterate masses of people so quickly? So easily?

Aren’t there other weapons for people to hunt with? To protect themselves with? To play with?

Who gets to play?  People who love to shoot an AR-15, with the likelihood that other killers will use these Barbies for grown men to mow down someone you love (or someone else loves just as much) at a school, a movie theater, or a church? Kill them so quickly that the victims don’t have a chance?

I vote for the kids.

 

Faces of Easter 2: Jesus Is Lost and Found

Welcome to Faces of Easter II: Jesus Is Lost and Found, our lesson for February 25.

 This week we remember and celebrate the phase of Jesus’ life when he was a boy by telling the story from Luke 2: 39-52. In this story, Jesus is found in the temple after the Passover festival.

What a great opportunity for children to think about Jesus as a boy, a child near their own age. I’m sure that if they really start doing some heavy duty thinking about this, a zillion questions may spring up. It’s great for all of us to witness this and ask questions of our own!

At the end of the story, you can choose whether to ask children to find an item in the classroom that helps tell about this part of Jesus’ life or you can ask wondering questions.

Here are some wondering questions you might ask:

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

2. I wonder what the most important part of the story is.

3. I wonder what God can teach us from this story.

4. I wonder where you are in the story- what part of the story is about you.

5. I wonder what questions Mary had about all of this after they were back home again.

Idea Starters for Our Make a Gift to God Time

There are several ways you and the children can choose to go during your response time. You can focus on the story itself, you can help children think about the role of church in their own lives, or you could focus on the idea of God helping us grow during childhood. I’m sure you can think of other ways to respond to this story. Here are a few ideas you might find helpful for the children to use as a springboard:

For a focus on the story itself:

1. Make a scroll of scripture, like the ones Jesus might have studied.

Each child could make their own, or the children could work together to make a big one for the class, with each child writing a verse on it.

To make a scroll, take a sheet of white paper the size of your own choosing and let the children write or copy a verse or several verses. (Luke 2:52 would be especially appropriate for this week.) Then crinkle up the paper, straighten it, and repeat several times to make it look old. If they want, kids can tear the paper around the top and bottom edge (not the sides, where they’ll attach the dowel sticks.) Then curl the sides around dowel sticks and glue to dowels. Paint the scroll with tea and let it dry.

2. Act out the story. Have props available (or make them!) Be sure to take photos!

3. Children could draw Jesus in the temple, or draw the temple background and cut a Jesus figure out of paper so that you can move him around the temple. Kids could also cut out Mary and Joseph figures so that they can “enter” the temple and play out the story. Or you could turn a shoebox into a temple scene with clay or clothespin Jesus, Mary, and Joseph figures, in addition to temple leader figures. Or you could have the children just make the figures and let them retell the story using the Godly Play temple we have in our rooms. (Our Mary to the right comes with a question mark, because she’s wondering where Jesus is.)

For a focus on the role of church in the children’s own lives:

1. Have the children draw or paint or cut out photos for a collage on what their favorite thing is to do at church. Maybe have one side of the drawing of all the things we do at church, and then on the other side their absolute favorite thing.

2. Have the children make a church/temple out of a shoebox or popsickle sticks or lego or clay. Kids could go look at the poster in the Children’s Activity Room and see what the temple looked like first.

3. Make a stained glass window from torn tissue paper and construction paper, as shown here.

For a focus on the idea of God helping us grow:

1. Have the children trace each other’s bodies on butcher paper and color them in with markers or paint. You could hang your classroom of students on the wall and have the children come up with a title about how God helps us grow.

2. As you talk about growing, each child could plant grass seeds or flower seeds in a small pot–or if you really want to get creative with the Easter theme, in an (Easter) egg shell, as shown here.

3. Jesus grew by learning and working hard. How do the children do this? They could draw the things they do as they grow to learn and work hard. Or they could make coupon cards for their parents, good for cleaning their room or dusting the furniture or sweeping, etc.

For more art response ideas, see my Pinterest page, here.

I hope these ideas help!

Love,

Becky

The First Sunday of Advent

Welcome to the celebration of the First Sunday of Advent, this Sunday, December 3.

What an exciting time of year!

This Sunday we focus on getting ready to enter the mystery of Christmas. It’s perfect timing then for us to focus on the prophets’ message that something big was about to happen in Bethlehem. The people didn’t know exactly what or when, but they were told to get ready, to watch and wait.

Our Godly Play lesson begins with a discussion of the color change at church to purple, the color of kings. It’s a great time to talk about what kind of king the people expected and how God surprised them all.

One thing to note: the Godly Play Advent lessons don’t come with wondering questions at the end. I think it’s so helpful to have some discussion questions to let the children process their thoughts on the lessons so I’ve included some of my own questions for this Sunday at the bottom of this blog post. I’ve put copies of these for the storyteller and the person writing the responses in each of your classrooms.

Making a Gift for God- Art Response Idea Starters for the Children

When it comes time to help the children decide what work they want to do–what kind of gift to God they want to make in appreciation for the story– there are several paths they can take, each exploring different themes to the lesson.

Some of the themes include:

1. The theme of Advent–getting ready.

2. The theme of who prophets are and what did they do and say.

3. The idea of Jesus being a light to the world, since we light candles each week in Advent.

Here are some “Gift for God” ideas to add to your own:

Something For All of Us to Do: Gift Bags for Senior Adults

Frank Smith has asked us again this year to decorate white gift bags for the senior adults for a Christmas gift. They love getting their gift bags decorated by our children. You can have the children use colorful markers to draw symbols of Christmas on the bags, manger scenes, whatever they like.  Thanks for helping with this project!

For exploring Advent…

1. Make an advent wreath together, or have each child make his own. Here are some we’ve made in the past.

   

Paper advent wreaths are a great idea too. I love this one, from second grade a couple of years ago. Each child contributed a leaf or two or a candle.

2. Make an advent chain. Have the children cut out 25 strips of paper each and (using tape or staples) make them into a chain. They could even put a task to do on each (“sing Away in the Manger,” or “read the Christmas story” or “draw an angel,” etc.) and each day in December the child would take off one link in the chain. This is a great way to illustrate waiting and getting ready for Christmas.

See lots of advent chain ideas here.

For exploring the Prophets…

1. Let the children look up some of the verses in which the prophets predict Jesus’ birth or a leader coming out of Bethlehem.

Verses include:

“But you, Bethlehem in Ephrathah, small as you are to be among Judah’s clans, out of you shall come forth a governor for Israel, one whose roots are far back in the past, in days gone by.” –Micah 5:2

King Herod called a meeting of the chief priests and lawyers of the Jewish people, and asked them: “Where is the Messiah to be born?” “At Bethlehem in Judaea”, they replied; and they referred him to the prophecy which reads: “Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are far from least in the eyes of the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a leader to be the shepherd of my people Israel.” Matthew 2:1-6 – NEB

“Surely the Messiah is not to come from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Messiah is to be of the family of David, from David’s village of Bethlehem?” John 7:41,42 – NEB

Isaiah 7:14. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign, Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

2. The children might want to make a model like the one we use of Bethlehem. They could use their own ideas of what Bethlehem might have looked like, or they could use books to research it.

3. Another option would be for the kids to divide a paper in half (or a mural on butcher paper.)  It could be titled something like, “A King Is Coming…” On one side they could draw or list what people expected the king to look like, and on the other side they could draw a manger scene with Baby Jesus.

For exploring Jesus as the Light of the Word,  the children could make candle cookies like this one here.

Susan D’Amato had our fourth graders do this one year and they loved it.

The directions are here. (http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/a-lig...)

For more art response ideas, see my Pinterest page, here.

Here are the wondering questions I’ve come up with for this week’s lesson. Enjoy!

1. I wonder about getting ready. I wonder what your family does to get ready to celebrate Christmas.

2.  I wonder if there are special things you might do at your house to remember what Christmas is really all about.

3. The prophets told the people of God that a new king was coming. I wonder what you think they expected. What kind of king do you think they thought he would be?

4. I wonder what you think about why God sent Jesus as a baby.

5. In our time together today, we talked about how prophets know the most important things and show the  way. I wonder if you remember any prophets from our Sunday school lessons and what it might be like to be a prophet.

Happy First Sunday of Advent!

Love, Becky

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