Sharing God's love with our Children

As we celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, let us remember how visual our children are. The story of Christ is the story of God’s greatest miracle that is a gift for all. Let us open picture Bibles, let us see animated productions of Bible stories together with our children. I still remember a strong feeling inside of me after seeing a movie about Jesus for the first time in my life. I believed and wanted to follow Him! Let us remember in our family prayers the victory of Christ and thank him for the future with Him.

Easter as Renewal

Being a mother of young children is a blessing, but it is also very tiring. It is easy, as children start to enter school age, to become more and more busy. As we become more busy the activities that were once very important can slip by.

It is important during the most significant religious holidays to take the time to be with our children, to read to them, to pray with them and to teach them the word of God. Each of us struggles with organizing our time, but each of us must remember to set priorities. Our priorities must be to God first and to our other commitments second.

This Easter be sure to share with your children the joy of Easter, not just the rush of Easter. Share with them the love of God by reading or telling them the very human story of Jesus death and the very heavenly story of his resurrection.

Have a joyful Easter.

Gentleness in Lent

This Lent I encourage us to stop and evaluate how we treat children in our families. Are we gentle, kind, generous with our time? Are we slow to anger and forgiving in big and little things? Are we affectionate and encouraging? When was the last time we played dolls, ball or cars with them? Are we joyful in our relationship with them?

It would make a huge difference if, starting this Lent, we would begin the day talking to God before we talk to people. Sometimes it is easier to be patient with a stranger than your family member. But when the Lord is first in our day, He prepares our hearts, fills them with light, strengthens us, so we can be full of love and ready to be how He wants us to be: gentle, kind, loving, patient, and joyful.

Starting this Lent, let us talk to God before we talk to people.

Giving Gifts at Epiphany

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

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.

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

(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