For today’s activity, you will need six or more plastic or paper cups, several rubber bands and pieces of twine and a small object to place on top of the tower. We aren’t giving you the solution, so good luck!
Tuesday, December 29, Day 10
Bible Reading: Luke 5:17-39
Memory Verse: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
Interesting Facts:
- The fact that four men had to carry the man to see Jesus shows us that he was not able to walk or crawl there or help them move him in any way.
- Houses at that time had flat roofs and a ladder or steps that went to the roof. The way the passage is worded makes us think this house had a clay roof the men had to dig through to be able to lower their friend down to Jesus.
Thoughts to Share: How long do you think the man’s friends had to work to get him to Jesus? They didn’t want their friend to suffer anymore. They knew their best hope was to get their friend to Jesus and pray Jesus would heal him. They had to figure out a way to carry their friend to where Jesus was teaching. Then they probably tried to get through the crowd for a time. Once they had the idea about the roof, they still had to figure out a way to get their friend on the roof, make a hole and lower him to Jesus without anyone getting hurt.
All of that thinking, planning and working took perseverance. Perseverance is a big word that means to keep trying even when things get hard. It takes perseverance to be a Christian. It can be hard to obey God sometimes, especially if the people around us are making it as hard as possible. God wants us to have perseverance.
Family Fun Instructions: One way to have more perseverance is to practice doing hard things until you successfully complete them. Today, you will work together to do something hard, but fun. You might get frustrated trying to figure out how to do it. You will have to be patient with each other when you are trying different ways to finish the task.
Inside the box you will find pieces of string, 5 rubber bands, six drinking cups and a plastic Christmas eraser. Your job is to stack the cups into a tower and place the eraser on top. The only rule is you cannot touch the cups or the eraser with your hands! You must figure out a way to use the strings and rubber bands to move the cups and the eraser. Good luck!
Parenting Tips: Here you will find tips for raising kids who have perseverance. If you can help your kids have perseverance , they will do better in school, in jobs, in relationships and as a Christian. It can take perseverance to teach your kids how to have perseverance! We did not include a solution for the activity today, because it is something your family can keep working on until you find the solution. It may take minutes, hours, days or even longer. Continuing to work on it can help all of you have more perseverance.