Books

Positive Effects of Thankfulness

How’s your thank you list going?  Regularly writing down what you are thankful for can increase your level of happiness by at least 25%.   I have always believed that an attitude of gratitude is vital to your happiness and your health because of what Scripture indicates. (Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength” is just one example.)

However, Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier offers scientific evidence of this and that a grateful spirit actually improves your health: “The person who experiences gratitude is able to cope more effectively with everyday stress  . . . recover more quickly from illness, and benefit from greater physical health.”   I haven’t read the book yet, but I am always thrilled when scientists discover the reality of what Scripture has always said.  Read more of the research results here.

I read Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy this year as I was going through a difficult time in my life.   The book was a fresh reminder to concentrate on being thankful, which did tremendously help me cope with my circumstances at the time.   God doesn’t just tell us to do something for no reason.  He has our best interest in mind when He says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thes. 5:18

Let’s teach our children early to have an attitude of gratitude, not just so we look good when they utter an unsolicited thank you to the waitress ;-), but so that throughout their lives they will experience all the positive effects of thankfulness that God intends for them.

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Thanksgiving ideas – Excerpt from Here A Little, There A Little

Here a Little, There a Little is a compilation of  Bible activities I created years ago to use with my preschool children.  It was designed to spend a week memorizing the verse and reinforcing it through 5 Bible lessons and 5 activities.  I hope you find this helpful.

Memory Verse:   In everything give thanks.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Character Quality – Contentment

Bible Thoughts: (Read  and then tell  in your own words)

Hebrews 1:15 God wants us to give Him thanks more than anything.  He would rather us tell Him “thank you” than to give Him money.  He would rather us tell Him “thank you” than give Him presents.  God likes to hear “thank you”.

Psalm 119:1 David thanked God for everything God did.  He thanked him for the good things.  He even thanked God for the bad things that happened.  David thanked God even when he was hurt because it helped him to learn God’s Word.  The bad things that happen to us can help us learn more about God when we go through the hurtful things. God wants us to thank Him when good things happen and not so good things happen.

John 6:1-13 One day Jesus was teaching a lot of people and they were all hungry.  Jesus took what food was given to him by a little boy and thanked God for the food.  God made enough food from that to feed all the people.  Jesus gave thanks for His food and so should we.

Luke 17:19 One day 10 sick men came to see Jesus.  They asked Jesus to help make them well.  He told them how to be healed.  When they obeyed him, they were healed.  All 10 were healed but only 1 came back to thank Jesus.

Psalm 139:14 David thanked God for making him.  He said, “I will thank God for making me wonderfully”  David thanked God for making all of his body – eyes, nose, mouth,  ears, hands, feet, stomach, etc.  Thank God for making all of you.

Prayer: Dear God, Help us focus on the things we do have and not on the things we don’t have.

Activities for baby:
Thank God for someone special; show picture of them.
Pull pictures of things out of ‘thank you box’.
Show familiar objects while you say “thank you, God for…”
Sing “In Everything Give Thanks”.
Play with hands, feet, etc while you say “thank you, God for…”

Activities for older preschoolers:
Thank God for someone special and make a card for them.
Look for pictures of things to be thankful for and put in a ‘thank you box’.
Paste picture of foods (favorite and not so favorite) on a paper plate and write the Bible verse on it.
Make paper cut outs of the 10 sick men and act out the story.
Play ball together and thank God for each part of the body as you use them.

Songs: “In Everything Give Thanks” (be creative and put the verse to a simple tune)

Books:

The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes

He Remembered to Say Thank You (Arch Books)

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Halloween – Fun and Fear

A wise lady told me once, “Don’t make your children so different from the world that the world doesn’t want what you have.”  I thought that was great advice, so we have always enjoyed the innocent fun at Halloween.  But some things that go on at this time go beyond fun and can cause fear in children.

A friend of mine wrote me this week with a question about how to talk to her grandchildren about the fear they are experiencing after hearing some Halloween ghost stories.  Here’s what I sent her:

You could start by saying that there are bad spirits in the world, but we don’t have to be afraid of them if we believe in Jesus because of 1 John 4:4 “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight with these false prophets, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.“

Emphasize this is why it is important to stay close to God because He is greater than the bad spirits.  In fact, they are afraid of Him and the Bible says that at the name of Jesus they have to run away (Philip. 2:10 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”) He said we can use His name to tell the bad spirits to go away (Mark 3:15 “and he gave them authority to cast out demons.”) Talk to them about the power of using the name ‘Lord Jesus Christ’

God has given us good spirits called angels to watch over us  (Psalm 91:11-12 “For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.” All of Psalm 91 is about God’s protection – good psalm to memorize.

I would definitely choose at least one scripture to memorize with them that they can quote when they feel fearful.

Two that I always use with children are:
Joshua 1:9 “I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 56:3  “What time I am afraid, I will trust in God.”

Tell them about when Jesus used scripture to battle the devil (Luke 4)
There is power in the Word (Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.“)

Tell them that God doesn’t want us to be afraid (2 Tim. 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”)

Lead them to talk to God about their fears.

A good book to teach children to use this holiday to celebrate God’s victory over evil spirits is Halloween: Is It for Real? by Harold Myra

Please check out http://www.ministry-to-children.com for great insights and ideas to help use Halloween to emphasize trusting Jesus.

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God is With You Wherever You Go

The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

 

We all need to be aware that ‘God is with us wherever we go.’  This is called ‘practicing the presence’.  If you would like to learn more about this for yourself, I suggest reading Practice the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.  In it he says, “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it.”

Begin to practice the presence of the Lord daily in your life, if you don’t already, and then lead your little ones to grasp the concept that God is always with them.  Here are some simple suggestions to get started:

Go outside in the morning and talk about how God will always be with us just as the sun will always come up every morning.  Thank God that He is always with us.  Paint a picture of the sun.

Make a night time picture with moon and stars and thank God for being with us in the dark.

Make a Bible verse reminder to hang on the fridge by pasting pictures of the different places your family may go.  Write the verse out and repeat it often. (see picture above)

In everything you do be sure to include the thought of the presence of God – as playing say, “God, I’m glad you are here with us.”  As going to the grocery store say, “God, thank you that you are with us and will help us as we shop.”

Find pictures of children in other lands to color and talk about God is with them just as he is with us here  – Look at a globe or a map and share Joshua 1:9.

Sing the Bible verse to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”:

‘God, you’re with us wherever we go,
wherever we go, wherever we go.
God, you’re with us wherever we go;
God, you’re always near.’

Sing about where you are going or what you are doing – ex. God, you’re with us as we ride in our car, when we hurt ourselves, when we play at home, as walk in the park, when we are feeling sad, when we are feeling glad, when we visit a friend, etc.

Lay this foundation early and practicing the presence will be firmly established in your children’s lives.  What a relationship they will have with the Lord!!

 

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More of “A Brother is Born to Help in Time of Need”

This week we are emphasizing the Bible verse “A brother is born to help in time of need” (Proverbs 17:17b)

Today Grant and I read the story of Moses in The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes; we talked about how Moses’s big sister helped her little brother in time of need. We also read Courage the Monkey in which the little brother helped his big brother have courage. We read a favorite again today We’re Very Good Friends, My Brother and I.

We sang this song: Grant has a new brother

We cut out, colored, and put happy faces on paper dolls of Grant and Hudson.  We then covered them in plastic to make them durable to play with.

A simple activity but it gave us opportunity to talk about the fact that brothers are friends and that Grant can help Hudson and one day Hudson will be able to help him.

When Hudson was crying today, we stopped what we were doing and prayed for him to be happy and not cry.

I think Grant loves his brother!

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