Abandonment

One of the most fearful concepts in life is the utter termination of a cherished relationship. Wheather we call it abandoning, forsaking, giving up on us, or divorce, the portrait is of a sharp line drawn in a relationship- a line that quickly becomes a great gulf between the two persons, putting them out of reach of one another. And one of the greatest consequences of being abandoned is that it threatens our feeling of self-worth. "I was worthless, so I was abandoned. I had something wrong with me, so no one wanted me." How comforting to know that God will never abandon anyone who loves Him.

I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. (Hew. 13:5)

The Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

(Deut. 31:6)

God will never desert those who trust in Him and love Him.  If you feel abandoned, don't give up on God.

The Lord will not abandon His people. (1 Sam. 12:22)

People we depend on sometimes desert us, abandon us, turn away from us. There may be only a few people we can truly count on- at times there may not be any. But the one we can always count on is God; He will never abandon us.

Even if my father and mother abandon me, The Lord will hold me close. (Psalm 27:10)

Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me. (Psalm 66:20)

Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for You. (Psalm 9:10)

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Cor. 4:9) 

Some key points to consider when teaching children that they can always rely on God are:

Teach and show them honesty.

Teach them that God commands honesty from us. Showing them this will help them associate God with truth.

Use F.R.O.G.

Another great way to teach your children about God’s consistency in our lives is to teach them F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely On God). Teaching them this acronym is a fun way to remind them that in their time of need, they can always rely on the Lord. I also like to tell my children to always take a leap of faith; we call this Leap F.R.O.G. 

Demonstrate.

The final and most important point you must remember when teaching your children to fully rely on God is to do so yourself.  I cannot teach great faith if I do not show great faith in all circumstances. Let your children see you lean on the Lord and they will imitate this behavior. 

Always pray. 

Remind your children that even when they feel alone, God is with them. Explain that He never will leave them. Teaching your children to pray whenever they are frustrated, angry, and nervous or even when they are happy, is a great way to show them they have a direct line to Jesus and that He is always listening.

As your children learn their favorite characters, childhood heroes and fairy tales are make believe, show them they will never be let down by God. Teach them that God is the true hero and He will always be the one to save the day.

Resources:

Visit: POPUPC.org

Teaching Children to Rely on God

Scripture quotations taken from the TouchPoint Bible

The Strength to Carry On

There is a truth about Christian living which, if people knew, would make all of life easier for them. The truth is this: Whatever trial or task comes our way in life, we will receive the strength we need to face it. 

There are several promises that give this assurance:

One reads, “your strength will equal your days.” (Deut 33:25 Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.) This seems to mean that the help which God gives, varies according to the tasks and trials of the particular day. God fits His blessing to our days.

When we are weak, He increases strength. (Isa 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.)

When we are sorrowful, He gives comfort. (2 Cor 1:3-6 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;  ⁴Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. ⁵For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.  ⁶And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferingswhich we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.)

When we are in danger, He grants protection. (Ps 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.)

When we are weary, He gives rest. (Mtt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.)

Another of Christ’s promises reads, “My grace is sufficient for you.” (Cor 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.)

Every word of this assurance shines with brilliant light:

“My grace is sufficient for you.” 

It is Christ’s grace that is sufficient. We know that He has all Divine fullness, and so we are sure that no human need can ever exhaust His power to give help!

“My grace is sufficient for you.”

It is Christ’s grace that is sufficient. If it were anything else but grace, it might not give us such comfort. Grace is undeserved favor, goodness shown to the unworthy. We deserve nothing because we are sinners, but it is Christ’s grace which is sufficient, and so we can claim it.

“My grace is sufficient for you.”

His grace “IS” sufficient. Christ is always speaking personally to the one who is in any need, and saying, “My grace IS sufficient for you.” "Is" indicates "current", "present", "immediate", and "now."

“My grace is sufficient for you.”

The word “sufficient” is one whose meaning expands and amplifies with the measure of the need. No need is so small that it can’t be included; and none is so great that it can go beyond the capacity of the blessing that is promised. "Sufficient" indicates "adequate", "enough", "comprehensive", and "all-inclusive."

“My grace is sufficient for you.”

The grace of God is sufficient for each of His redeemed children. “For you” the promise is made. Life lies before us, with its burdens, its duties, its responsibilities, its struggles, its perplexities. It does not come to us all at once. God breaks our years into months and weeks and days, and never gives us more than we can bear or do for the day.

If we take up the present duty or burden we shall always have strength to do it. If we do not have strength of our own, we don’t need to falter. Even if the task is impossible to our ability, He will sustain us by giving us all the help we need.

Jesus Stops the Storm

I use Toddler Level Word Aflame Curriculum, and this week is Week 8: Jesus Stops the Storm.  Again, I get a little OCD when carrying out a theme! I love gathering tons of resources! Of course, some Bible lessons are more easily gathered than others; this one being such an one. I found a lot of great activities to reinforce this very simple Bible story. 

Lesson Focus:  Jesus Stopped the storm.

Scripture Text: Mark 4:35-41

Bible Words:    Jesus does good things! 

Sensory: 

This Bible story just begs for water play, water play, water play!

• Create an ocean bottle: This is awesome! I SO LOVE sensory bottles!
• Create an Ocean Bag:
• Ocean In a Bottle:  (Use a smaller bottle for smaller hands? I like to use large, empty, plastic peanut butter jars. They are a good size for toddler hands, have smooth sides for clear viewing, and large mouths, which are easier to place objects and pour liquids into.)
• Jesus Calms the Storm Story Bag: (This is such simple genius to teach toddlers story-bag style! Love! I am definitely going to us this!) Make inexpensive smaller versions of the story bags (1 per child) to send home with the kids so they can retell the Bible story to their parents.
• Jesus Calms the Storm Tub Toy: (Uses a Pringles Singles tub)
• Ocean Sensory Tub: (Click on the link and scroll further down the page to see)
• Sensory Tub: Sea of Galilee 
• Create a sensory bin using blue water beads, toy boats, plastic plants, sea shells, and toy sea creatures. Be creative!

Movement/Motor/Music:

• Create Wave Streamers  Use these streamers to make "waves" as you play music, sing, or retell the Bible story.
• Song: "My God is So Big"
• Song: "Awesome God"
• Song: "How Great is Our God"
• Song: "Deep and Wide"
• Animated Bible Story: "Jesus Calms the Storm"
• "Sunny and Beamer Show: Jesus Calms the Storm"
• Create a Rainstorm: (by rubbing fingers, rubbing hands, and so on. Click link for instructions)
• Interactive Group Activities for "Peace, Be Still"

There are quite a few more animated children's videos for this Bible Story on YouTube. You can explore additional videos from any of the above video links.

Arts/Crafts:

• Tree Bark Boats
• Boat Craft with Blue Bubbles Painting
• Jesus Calms the Storm Craft (Using blue construction paper and die-cut boat)
• Build a boat out of a large cardboard box, or put together several smaller boxes to create a larger boat. You could also let the kids paint the "boards" of the boat. Use this boat to take turns retelling the Bible Story. 
• Use water colors and cotton swabs to paint the waves blue on any of the coloring page printables.
• After coloring one of the coloring page printables, cut out Jesus and His deciples on the boat and attach it to a large craft stick. Use this stick puppet prop to retell the story.
• Printable Boat Craft  This is really cute!
• Jesus Calms a Storm
• Bible Story Boat Craft

Coloring Pages:

• Jesus Calms the Storm
• Jesus in the Storm
• Jesus Stills the Stormy Sea
• Jesus Calms the Sea Door Hanger
• Jesus Calms the Sea Church House Collection
• Jesus Calms the Storm

Book List: 

• Calming The Storm by Connie Morgan Wade
• Theodore and the Stormy Day by Ken Edwards
• My Very First: Jesus and the Storm by Lois Rock
• Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll by Franklyn M. Branley
• The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Sunday school lessons:

• Preschool - Kindergarten  Jesus calmed a raging storm
• Early elementary Jesus calm the storm
• Upper elementary Jesus calm the storm
• Preteen Peace be still

Additional Resources:

• God's Little Explorers Free Preschool Curriculum: B is For Boat: Jesus Calms the Storm Awesome!!
• Rainy day Mum website Fantastic for summer (water play) activities!!

Jesus Heals a Man at Church

While working on lesson plans for Sunday School, it occurred to me that I might as well put my gatherings together in a blog post. In my limited Sunday morning time, I will only be able to use a small fraction of the resources that I gather, but I tend to go OCD when I follow a theme! Besides, who knows when, how, for what, or where I might need to use these ideas in the future? I'm a little late sharing my supplemental lesson ideas for tomorrow's lesson, but in the future I'm hoping to post on Mondays for the upcoming Sundays. This was actually a very difficult lesson to collect ideas for, as there are more adult sermons than Sunday school lessons on the web for this topic. Adapt and overcome! 

I use Toddler Level Word Aflame Curriculum, and this week is Week 7: Jesus Heals a Man at Church.  

Lesson Focus:  Jesus heals people at church.

Scripture Text: Matthew 12:9-13

Bible Words:    Jesus does good things! 

Coloring Pages: Jesus Heals a Man With a Withered Hand

Lesson (Age-Adaptable): Jesus Heals a Crippled Hand 

     This curriculum contains a little bit of everything: coloring, puzzles, games, lessons, etc.

Lesson (Activities): Man With the Shriveled Hand

Lesson: Jesus Healed a Withered Hand

Book List (Hands):

• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn  
• Press Here by Herve' Tullet  
• My Hands by Aliki
• Wash Your Hands by Tony Ross
• Hands Are Not For Hitting by Martine Agassi PhD
• One Hand, Two Hand by Max Lucado

Hand Print Craft Ideas: Choose what works for you based upon holiday/season/occasion, etc. These images did not have a website for me to credit, so let me say a special "Thank you" to the collection creators for their idea share! 

Sensory Learning:

• Teach the steps of hand washing Hands-on
• Provide a variety of sensory textures (sand paper, dirt, velvet, satin, water, feathers, egg in a bowl , etc) and talk about how things feel (wet, rough, soft, slimy,etc.)
• Provide an ample supply of lock or snap-together blocks for children to build their own church structure. Talk about how Jesus healed the crippled hand at church and how Jesus is still The Healer today!
• Allow time for children to explore a busy board. Some interesting DIY busy boards can be viewed at the following sites: DIY Busy Board, DIY Busy Board For Toddler Motor Developement, Latches Board For Toddler, DIY Busy Board For Kids, Homemade Busy Board For Fine Motor Developement

Have fun! If you have any suggestions for this topic, just comment them to me and I will look into adding them to this page! I always appreciate idea-swapping! 

The Christ-Centered Daycare & Preschool Environment

And Jesus took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me." (Mark 9:36-37)

What makes the *Christian daycare setting so unique in today's ever-darkening world? 

It is our desire to provide an environment of worship and learning where children can discover God. Our Christian daycare and preschool  responsibilities include playing with the child or directing his play, reading to him, praying for each child, exhibiting Christ-like patience and love, and relating the events of the day -or the preschool lesson and theme- in words the child can understand. We purpose to ensure a safe, secure, nurturing, clean and efficient care to our children. 

Teaching God's Word to Little Ones:

Early Childhood is the best time to build a God-centered worldview for children. Strive to integrate Biblical Truth into the activities the children are doing. Take advantage of every opportunity to make Biblical Truths “real” to the children, repeating them over and over, applying them to anything normal around them. For example: “Do you see the dolphin in the puzzle? God made dolphins. What else did God make? God made everything!”  It is important to be able to express excitement, energy, and love for God’s Word when sharing Bible stories and their principles. The Bible is to be taught as historical Truth, not as just a story. 

1. Christian daycare must be Jesus-Centered. This means that in our teaching, we must emphasize the greatness of God. The Bible is first and foremost a book about God. We want our children to see how strong and big and faithful and loving and majestic and smart and satisfying our God is. This is my prayer for the children I care for - that they would experience God in such a way as to develop a lifelong desire for Him; so when times of trouble come they will take refuge in Him. "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" Psalm 34:8
2. Christian daycare must be Bible-saturated. This means that God's Word must permeate everything that we do. "From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:15  Mere human works are not enough to guide our children to God - they need the Bible. Only God's Word can change hearts.
3. Christian daycare must be Gospel-driven. We must be intentional to proclaim the Gospel to children and their families. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes."  Romans 1:16  This was also the command of Christ:"Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."  Mark 16:15
4. Christian daycare must address the whole family.We recognize that God has called parents to be the primary faith-nurturers of children. Therefore, Christian daycare providers should work with parents to assist them in fulfilling this calling. This means serving the parents as well as the children.
5. Christian daycare is about serving kids. At the end of the day, we are working to help and serve the children. Our work is to put their ultimate spiritual needs ahead of our own. "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." Mark 9:35

I hope that these thoughts have encouraged you to make your Christian Daycare and/or preschool about God, his Word, his Gospel and His families.