Infant & Toddler Blog

Giving Gifts at Epiphany

2012-01-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

At Epiphany the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus. It is a beautiful story for our children to hear. It is just the kind of story that will hold their attention with kings, camels and strange gifts in shiny boxes. It is a wonderful story to follow the Christmas season.

At Christmas our children receive many gifts from family and friends. After Christmas, at Epiphany, we can tell the story of giving gifts to God. The magi may have been the first to give gifts to the baby Jesus, but we can still give gifts to God. It is the opportunity to teach our children, that while they will always receive the gift of God's love, they are also responsible for giving their gifts to God. It is a perfect time to teach them of the importance of giving of their time, their talents and their treasure.

Teach children to give money at church, to pray for their friends, to help in whatever small way they can, be it a smile or a kind word. By giving of their gifts they will truly learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Epiphany is the time to start these lessons.

The kings brought splendid gifts to Jesus and we, no matter our age be it 3 or 30, should offer our gifts to God as well.

Have a beautiful Epiphany!

An Advent Wreath in Every Home

2011-11-27T08:54:00.000-08:00

The season of Advent is a beautiful time to add simple prayers and practices to the lives of young children. The four weeks leading up to Christmas day are full of anticipation for little ones and so it is the perfect opportunity to teach patience, prayer and the joy of watching for a great event.

Each home should have an advent wreath. The wreath is full of simple symbols that children can understand. The circle that has no beginning and no end like God's love; the every green branches that stay alive even during the darkest time of the year reminding us of God's constant presence.Children love the bright pinks, purples and blues of advent candles and the slow change from dark to light as more and more candles are lit each week.

Further, the wreath with its lighting of sequential candles as the weeks burn on gives an opportunity for hands-on learning. Constructing the wreath with pine branches, either real or artificial is a simple project. (Parents may need to remember that it is the process that is more important than the end product.) There are many resources from which to find prayers of children to pray during Advent. For a lovely moment parents and children should read or repeat the advent prayer each day and then in silence light the candles, teaching children both the disciplines of praying together and of silence.

The advent wreath tradition brings families together during what can be a hectic time. The short time spent praying and taking turns lighting the candles can be an oasis of peace and a reminder of God's grace as we move into and through the holiday season.

2011-09-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

We parents have the knowledge, experience, faith and do our best to pass it on to our children. It is amazing how sincere and pure children are and how naturally they accept God and his Word. Before we know it we can learn a lot from them!

One evening this summer as I was saying prayers with my son, I prayed for our loved ones and told Alistair we will pray for Daddy who is faraway alone. He quickly sat up in his bed and loudly exclaimed "Alone?! Alone? He is not alone! God is with him!" It is just a small example how the truths we teach our children are being put into practice. A child knows God is always with us, he also believes it. It was a strong reminder to me that night to believe and trust that God would protect my husband.

The path to God's Kingdom is the path to the Kingdom of Love and our children intuitively choose that path. It is the adults who so often forget it and make it a life goal to make a career or get rich. What a wonderful time childhood is. It is a time we sow the seeds of faith in our children's hearts. A child is a most enthusiastic learner who eagerly takes in and believes the biblical truths. When we instill in the child that the most important thing in life is to love God and people, he will live it.

I recall reading the Bible with my daughter when she was two. As I was reading the story, I explained if one believes in the Son of God, one will go to Heaven. "I do!" she exclaimed although I did not personally ask her. It is easy for children to believe! Jesus knew that children can accept and believe Him with great purity. But it is our responsibility to introduce them to Him.

Let us model God’s love to our children and sow the seeds of faith and truth. And let us learn to trust as children do.

Kristina

Beginning to Pray

2011-06-06T11:23:00.001-07:00

(The articles usually found at this site are generally written by Kristina, the Early Childhood Minister at All Saints' Church . Kristina is traveling so this summers articles will be written by Michelle, the Children and Youth Minister at All Saints' Church .)

Prayer and quietness are traits not highly regarded in most of our society. Prayer and quietness are valuable to not only adults, but to very young children. The only way to learn to pray and to be quiet is to practice. Children wont do this on their own they have to be led, shown and taught. Prayer before each meal and before bed are a long standing tradition. this may be because those are the times when children are most receptive to it. They are willing to pray if it means they can then start eating and they are willing to pray if it means they can postpone lights out at bedtime just a little longer. No matter their motiviation, it is good to start a habit of prayer.

Several years ago I was at a kindergarten birthday party with a bouncy house, one of those inflatable houses that everyone goes in and jumps until someone is crying. A little girl became upset at some kindergarten level injustice involving the bouncy house. She left the house and laid on the grass crying and generally having a fit. Her father approached her and quietly said something in her ear, she talked to him through her tears for just a couple of minutes and then I saw them sitting together being quiet. The little girl was holding her hands in her lap and breathing deeply. It looked to be some kind of practiced way of calming herself, of bringing herself under control, of exercising self control. Clearly this was something that her father had taught her. I don't know if they prayed or were just being quiet, but it helped her quickly return to the party. It allowed a bad situation to be reversed, it kept things in perspective.

That father did not wait for the crisis to teach his daughter how to handle a situation that she preceived as bad. He prepared her ahead of time and then reminded her at the time and sat with her while she regrouped. That is much like what we should do with prayer. We can't wait until a crisis to teach our children the comfort of prayer or the practice of prayer; instead we should pray with them everyday to make a it a reaction that they can go to with only a gentle reminder from us. The hope is that someday they will pray even without that parental reminder.

Start today to pray with your children. It is an investment of time that will reap untold rewards.

Michelle

Joy

2011-04-24T04:56:00.001-07:00

It is important for Christians to be joyful (Phil. 4:4). Joy is closely related to the relationships in our lives. When those relationships flourish, when they are based on love and sincerity, we are filled with joy. The Bible talks about the powerful joy that evolves from our relationship with God. If we lack that joy, perhaps it is a sign we need to refocus and examine ourselves. Have we turned away from God? Have we not repented over our sins and mistakes for a while? And, most importantly, have we spent enough time with God, as healthy relationships require time. Only when we spend time with God can we experience the joy that the Bible is talking about.

Another wonderful source of joy in our lives comes from our relationships with our spouses. God knew from the beginning we would seek our other half for happiness and fulfillment. The most common joy killer in marriage is selfishness. It is amazing how sacrificing oneself and serving others can heal and restore us. When we focus on others, we are blessed with joy. No wonder giving is more rewarding than receiving!

A third wonderful source of joy is our children. The Bible says that children are a gift of God. And of course, God’s gifts are for our joy. And though we love them so much, oh, how easy it is to lose the gratefulness and joy in the routine of raising them!

When we begin feeling joyless, let us remember the blessings of faith. Let us be thankful for being chosen by God and be with Him daily. Let us attempt to spend time with our loved ones, as it is the greatest gift we can give them and the source of one of the greatest joys we can experience.

In this most joyful Easter season, let us give thanks for the relationships in our lives.

Lent with Little Ones

2011-03-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

Lent is a special time when we, parents, can share the concepts of prayer and gratitude with our children. It is an excellent opportunity to teach children more about Jesus and His love for us. Many of us will draw near God by giving up the things we are attached to or add the activities we need to enhance our spiritual life. During this time it is very meaningful to spend time together as a family reading a children’s bible and praying together about whatever we may have learned from the passage. There is great value in reading the Word and praying on one’s own, but doing it together as a family will strengthen the bond between parents and children. This is a time we strive to get closer to God, and doing so we can also grow closer with one another.

It Is Never Too Early

2011-01-17T07:29:00.000-08:00

As I sat down to write, I remembered a time when I met a childhood friend at a children’s bookstore in Lithuania. As I was perusing the books, I couldn’t contain my excitement about seeing many beautiful Bibles. Knowing my friend grew up Christian, I asked about her favorite Bible for her young son. Her answer was so unexpected that at that moment I did not have a ready response. “There are so many things I do not understand in the scriptures, that I simply could not explain it to him correctly. It is not something we read right now. I don’t even know how to begin to explain such a big concept as God to such a young child like my son.”

I never realized such a reason could make somebody wait. I knew I too did not understand a lot of things perfectly, and although my teaching is far from perfect, it never stopped me. I live believing our limitations should not stand in the way of our children learning about their Creator. We are so frightened by our disbelief that we assume children are too. But they are not. They are much more eager to believe! It comes to them naturally. Jesus even told us to become like them – open, innocent, trusting.

Wishing our children the best, we introduce a proper diet now and do not wait for them to grow up and then let them decide about it. Teaching children the Bible is not a lecture on religious ideas or ceremonies. It is teaching them how to live and have a good life. And that teaching must begin very early.

For my friends who are not reading their Bible regularly, I suggest to start by reading a children’s Bible to their children. That is how I came to really love God’s Word. Once we start doing it daily, we cannot help but be changed. I tell my children that their Bible is not just another great book. And those black letters on the pages are not just simple words. These words are God’s words and they are alive. His Spirit is willing to reveal the love, wisdom, and meaning of His Word to us when we ask Him.

Never would we leave our children without breakfast, lunch or dinner. However, it is so easy to be caught up in our busy routines, schedules and priorities and not open God’s book, leaving them without tasting His spiritual food. I close with a verse from Deuteronomy 6:7, encouraging us to build in God’s teachings in our every day routine: “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Teaching about Jesus

2010-12-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

As Christmas comes nearer the parties will start. I am always surprised when so many of the parties center around the food and the games and the presents and so few say anything about Jesus. Even at a Christian school Jesus seems to be a little bit forgotten.

Little children need to be reminded that the wonderful reason we have this holiday is not to eat more sweets or to open more presents. The reason we have this holiday is to remember God sent us Jesus. That God loves us so much that he sent his son Jesus to make us know God even better and show us God’s love.

Little children have had only one or two Christmases that they can remember. Every Christmas gathering and Christmas party should remind them of God’s love for us through the gift of Jesus. As adults we can recite the reason for Christmas, but for little children it is new, new every year.

As you celebrate Christmas add to your shopping list a beautiful story book of the first Christmas. Read it at night by the glow of the Christmas tree lights. Show your children in the “big bible” where the story of Christmas was first told. (Luke chapter 2). As you sing Christmas carols explain what the words mean and how they are meant to teach us the joy and love of God’s gift to us. Make the joyful story of Jesus birth an important part of your family’s Christmas for the little people and the big people.

Merry Christmas.

Take Time to Play

2010-11-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

Sitting on the floor playing with your children seems to be under appreciated. There are no commercials to sell this idea, but it is a wonderful way to spend time with your children. A stack of blocks, a cardboard box, a sock puppet, any of these simple things can lead to twenty minutes of fun. Playing with our children builds our relationship with them day by day. It shows our children that they are important to us. The time spent playing with them is a clearer message of love than money spent on toys or activities away from home.

The time we spend sitting on the floor with play dough, dressing up in costumes or walking down the sidewalk looking at birds and flowers is the time we have to teach our children about God’s love and about God’s gifts to us. Our interest in our children’s lives models God’s divine interest in all of our lives. The greatest gift we can give our children is the time we spend with them.

Enjoy play time,
Kristina

Perhaps our Society is Slowly Catching up with the Bible?

2010-09-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

The more conservative elements of the Christian community have long decried the media in all its forms for its negative impact on our society, especially on our children. Now, apparently, things have gotten so bad that even secular – and not particularly conservative- groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics feel compelled to speak out about the significantly negative impact media is having upon the sexual attitudes, and thus behavior, of children. The moral of this story is that media has a tremendous impact upon those who consume it, and the impact upon our children with regard to sexuality is overwhelmingly negative.

It is a huge mistake to believe that consuming media depicting immorality in a positive light is an innocent activity, without dire negative consequence for the consumer. As Christian parents, we have a responsibility to ensure that the media our children are exposed to conforms to the biblical instruction: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Philippians 4:8. That applies to parents too, by the way.

I am constantly amazed by all the money and energy our society expends studying social ills that could be avoided in the first place by simply doing as the Bible instructs us. The wisdom of the Bible is eternal. Let us all stand on it in the face of a society that has largely lost its way morally – but may be slowly, slowly coming around to the truth.

An article reporting the pediatricians’ statement follows. I have underlined some of the more significant points for those who are time challenged.

U.S. Pediatricians Decry Media's Portrayal of Sex
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter by Amanda Gardner

The nation's leading group of pediatricians has issued a strong policy statement directed toward pediatricians, parents and the media on the danger of messages American teens and children are getting about sex from television, the Internet and other media outlets.

The statement, Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media, was published online Aug. 30 and in the September print issue of the journal Pediatrics.
"The media represents arguably the leading sex educator in America today," said Dr. Victor Strasburger, the lead author of the paper. "We do such a poor job of educating kids about sex in sex education classes in school, and parents are notoriously shy about talking to kids about sex. The media picks up the slack."
Seventy percent of teen shows contain sexual content, Strasburger added, "and less than 10 percent of that content involves what anyone would classify as being responsible content. There's no mention of contracting an STD [sexually transmitted disease] or the need to wait to have sex until later."

The United States leads the western world in teen pregnancy rates and American teens have an alarmingly high rate of STDs -- one in four children.
Meanwhile, U.S. children spend seven hours and more a day with various types of often-sexually explicit media, including music, movies, television shows, magazines and the Internet.

"The research shows us that the portrayal of sex in the media is really unrealistic. It's unhealthy. It doesn't consider the consequences of sexual behavior," said Alan Delamater, professor and director of child psychology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "This is what our kids are growing up thinking. This is what sex is about. To deny its impact is ignorant because there's so much knowledge of it at this point."

Many pediatricians would like to flip the equation and see media outlets introduce more responsible programming.
"Media has an opportunity to continue doing the same old thing, which is to have an adverse effect on child development, or turn it around and shape attitudes and behavior that could have a positive effect on child development," Delamater said.
The statement contains a number of recommendations for parents, physicians and the media.

"We want physicians to ask two media questions at every well-child visit: how much entertainment screen time per day does the child engage in, and is there a TV set or Internet connection in his or her bedroom," said Strasburger, professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. "That takes 20 seconds and may be more important than asking about childproofing or car seats or bicycle helmets."

The authors of the statement ideally would like ads for erectile dysfunction drugs to not be shown on TV until after 10 p.m.
"Half a billion dollars of ads for erectile dysfunction drugs and virtually no ads for birth control pills or condoms or emergency contraception," Strasburger said. "There's not a single shred of evidence that exposing kids to birth control ads or even making birth control available to them makes them sexually active at a younger age. We're doing things completely backwards."

There should also be more attention paid to how kids use social networking sites on the Internet. And parents can use media story lines as teaching tools to discuss sex with their children, instead of having "the big talk," the statement said.
On the more idealistic side, the statement also recommends that advertisers no longer use sex to sell a wide range of products.

"We want parents to realize that kids are spending more time with media than in any other activity but sleeping, and that the media represents a powerful source of information and in this case a powerful sex educator," Strasburger said.

More information
To learn more about children and the media, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Lord, I Can't Do It!

2010-05-11T05:07:00.000-07:00

There is a mother whom I have been admiring since the day I saw her. Whenever I see her, she looks beautiful and pleasant, and always gentle and patient with her eight or nine children. Her children seemed always obedient, very thoughtful and helpful to each other. Surely, I thought, she knows some secret to be what she is and to parent so successfully! From the outside her parenting looked like an expert juggler’s play – fun, smooth…well…perfect!

During my harder mothering moments I often recalled her and wished to possess her wisdom, self-control and kindness. And I only had two little ones, while she had eight or nine! So, at the end of a long day of teaching, playing, cooking, cleaning, washing - and doing it all over again - I would wonder how she could do it all so well.

And then, about two months ago, I attended a mothers’ meeting where my friend was giving devotion. She said that every morning when she wakes up, she feels she cannot do it, cannot face the day with all its responsibilities and challenges. She said that every morning she cries to God – “I cannot do it, I cannot do it without you, Lord!” And He answers her each time. He continually and faithfully guides her through His word and prayer. She confessed she could not bear it all alone, but because of Him, she can do all things.

It was definitely an answer to my inner exclamations of “how can she do it?” It was an answer and an encouragement at the same time. In the busyness of the day, I often rush from chore to chore without sitting down to talk to Him until it is too late and I am out of steam and out of love.

Remembering my friend, I resolve to make daily prayer a priority. Because no matter how busy we are, after time with the Lord, we have His peace and His strength to face the challenges of the day.

"I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me"

Philippians 4:13