In God, Kids and the Little Things, I shared how God will give your kids lots of opportunities to serve others almost every day. Often your kids (like the rest of us) will not even notice these things. They will go through their day oblivious to the chances God is giving them to serve Him, often by serving others and sharing their faith. They will miss out on some amazing God adventures because they didn’t even see His invitation to join Him. They will miss opportunities to grow their faith by watching how God works in their world.
If you want to help your kids not miss the opportunities God gives them, you will have to get them out of the natural human tendency to be a bit self-absorbed. We all have a tendency to get so wrapped up in what we are doing that we can cause mayhem in our wake and not even realize it. Forget about noticing those somewhat subtle invitations to join God in touching the lives around us. Sometimes we even miss the huge blinking neon billboards from people God wants us to serve.
Continue reading Fun Ways To Teach Kids To Notice God’s Little Opportunities
It happened to me again this weekend. In fact, it has happened many times over the years in churches all over the country. As I struggle to take load after huge load of awkward bundles into a church building, I walk past the same people over and over and over.
“I can eat this entire box of Girl Scout cookies because I walked a mile today.” “I really wasn’t that mean to her.” “It’s not really a lie because…” “God would want me to disobey this command of His if He knew what was really happening.” “I’m not really drunk. I just had several glasses (I lost count) of wine with dinner.” “I wasn’t gossiping. I was just sharing a prayer request.”
Spring is a great time to have fun with your kids and teach them some of the parables of Jesus at the same time. Parables are great. They were short stories told by Jesus that helped people understand more difficult spiritual concepts by using things they encountered in their every day lives.
Imagine your child has invited a friend to your house. They volunteer to cook dinner on the stove. Before you leave the kitchen you say, “Do you remember the safety rules for the stove?” The visiting child replies, “Our family doesn’t believe in rules for the stove. We think the red burner is a symbol of joy and can’t hurt you.” “Well,” you say kindly “that’s an interesting perspective, but..” Before you can say anything else, your child interrupts, “Mom, please don’t be so intolerant. My friend is entitled to her beliefs and I think it is wonderful she feels so strongly about stoves. Don’t insult her by trying to force your beliefs about hot stoves and consequences onto her!”