Yesterday we said goodbye to our loving dog, Molly. She has been a stable part of our family for 14 years in our sometimes not-so-stable journey. Just 1 year and 4 months ago we had to say goodbye to another faithful dog, Goldie. (http://www.trainupthechild.org/2009/12/07/when-a-pet-dies/ This is the first time in 29 years the Daws family has not had a dog!
Our friend, Steve, made this comment yesterday, “I think one of the reasons God gave us dogs (I mean besides cleaning up our spills) is to show us how to lay at your Master’s feet, enjoying simply being in His presence and then showing unconditional love (i.e. crazy, uncontrollable tail waggin’) when you hear His voice. Here’s to Molly – role model.”
I love that analogy of our relationship to God. As I grieve the loss of Molly’s unconditional love and tail waggin’ each time we called her name or came into her presence, I hope to be reminded of how God feels when I am not fulfilling the role I was created for – ” to glorify and enjoy Him forever”.
Proverbs 16:4 The Lord has made all things for Himself
1 Tim. 6:17 . . . God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
God made Molly for Himself, but He gave her to us for 14 years to enjoy. Thank you, God, for sharing!
Train Up The Child is dedicated to helping you fulfill God’s commands to parents. Deuteronomy 6:7 instructs us to teach our children as we go; Isaiah 28:10 instructs to teach ‘here a little, there a little’.
Begin this lesson by creatively making a poster of Ephesians 4:32 and place it on the fridge all week. Read the suggested passages for Bible stories and tell them in your own words. I have given you suggested things to share about each. Do at least one of the suggested activities each day. I am sure you can come up with better ideas on your own – this is just to get you started.
Bible Verse: Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another
Bible Stories:
Luke 10:30-35 A man was walking down a road and some bad men jumped on him and beat him up and hurt him so badly he couldn’t move. Then they left him all alone. A man came by later but he would not help the hurt man. Another man came by, but he wouldn’t help either. Finally a man came by and felt sorry for the hurt man so he stopped and helped him. He bandaged his hurt places and took him to a nice, warm place to stay. Which man was being kind?
Ruth 2 Ruth and her mother-in-law had just moved from another country to Bethlehem. They didn’t have a garden to raise any food, so they were hungry. Ruth went to a man’s field of wheat and asked if she could have the left-overs from his field. The man’s name was Boaz. Boaz told her she didn’t have to get the left-overs, but she could have whatever she needed. Was Boaz kind?
Daniel 1 The bad King Nebuchadnezzar had put Daniel in prison. He was being mean to Daniel and his friends. But one of the king’s men felt sorry for Daniel. Instead of being mean to Daniel like the king wanted him to, he was kind to Daniel and helped him to show the king that God is good.
1 Samuel 18 through 2 Samuel 5 King Saul had been chasing David everywhere. He wanted to kill David because David was so good. David hid in a cave. King Saul came into the cave and didn’t see David. This was David’s chance to get Saul back for being so mean to him. He could have hurt him but would that have been kind? No, David let Saul go unharmed. When Saul found out, he told David, “You have been kind, but I have been evil.”
John 4:6-29 Jesus was sitting at a well where people came to get their water. A lady came to get water while he sat there. She was a Samaritan lady and Jesus was a Jewish man. The Jews did not like the Samaritans and would not talk to them or have anything to do with them at all. In fact they were sometimes very mean to them. But Jesus wasn’t mean to the lady. He began to talk to her and tell her about God and how she could be saved. Jesus was kind to the lady.
Prayer: Help us to show kindness by hugging, helping, sharing, and saying kind words to one another
Activities for younger preschoolers:
Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides
Feed birds or ducks or pet animals and share the verse
Share the verse while changing diaper and point out the kindness you are showing by
caring for him.
Teach him to hug and kiss – share the verse.
Play with ball and talk about playing kindly and sharing
Activities for older preschoolers:
Act out the story of the Good Samaritan with bandages and bandaides
Make a bird feeder out of a pine cone covered in peanut butter and rolled in bird seed.
hang outside in a tree. Watch for birds and share the verse.
Have him draw a picture and send it to someone just to show kindness.
Bake cookies and take to someone – share the verse as you work
Make or buy playdough and tell them you did it just to show kindness to him.
Describe situations or show pictures of different situations and ask if it is showing
kindness or unkindness –ex. Pushing, sharing, listening to parents, helping someone who falls down, telling someone, ‘I love you’, kicking someone
This is one of my favorite verses and my constant prayer has been that my children would walk in truth. There truly is no greater joy in my life than seeing all my children growing in the Lord. I am so thankful!!!
I had no idea there was a song based on this verse or that Johnny Cash had written and performed it. Thanks to http://ministry-to-children.com for making me aware of it. Even if you aren’t a fan of Johnny Cash, it is nice to know he loved the verse enough to write a song based on it.
Christmas carols are an important aspect of Christmas celebrations all over the world. They evoke in us the festive spirit with their simple lyrics and melody. Christmas Carols, whether “O Holy Night”, “Silver Bells”, or “Here Comes Santa Claus”, help to bring people together in harmony like no other music does. It has been said that Christmas songs wrap themselves about you like a shawl. But they warm more than your body. They warm your heart and fill it with a melody that makes you wish it would last forever.
Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas Carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations as people danced round stone circles. The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, usually taking place around the 22nd December. The word Carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy! Carols used to be written and sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has really survived!
Early Christians took over the pagan solstice celebrations for Christmas and gave people Christian songs to sing instead of pagan ones. This began in AD 129 when a Roman Bishop said that a song called “Angel’s Hymn” should be sung at a Christmas service in Rome. Soon after this, many composers all over Europe started to write carols. However, not many people liked them as they were all written and sung in Latin, a language that the normal people couldn’t understand.
This was changed by St. Francis of Assisi when, in 1223, he started his Nativity plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs that told the story of Christ’s birth. Normally they were all in a language that the people watching the play could understand and join in! The new carols spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries.
The earliest carol like this was written in 1410. The carol was about Mary and Jesus meeting different people in Bethlehem. Most Carols from this time were very loosely based on the Christmas story and were seen as entertaining rather than religious songs. They were usually sung in homes rather than in churches! In Europe, a tradition began of groups of people going from door to door in the community and singing outside their houses.
There is a legend that says the term ‘Christmas Carol’ originated because a young girl named Carol went missing in London, one cold winter night. As her friends went from door to door searching for her, in a manner similar to the Christmas singers, the name Christmas Carol began to be used.
Popular songs such as “Jingle Bells” or “White Christmas” are also considered as Christmas carols and are now sung with great gusto around Christmas time. Just hearing the famous Christmas carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” makes us feel happier. New Christmas songs continue to be written that try to put into words the special feeling that we have for family and friends at Christmas time.
So how do we transform this to make it a reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ?
As you listen to all types of Christmas music this year, remember that the Angels may have been the first to sing a Christmas carol, as one star-lit night, they began to declare the message that baby Jesus had been born. Luke 2:10-12 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Our favorite Christmas song is “Mary’s Boy Child”. We first heard it the Christmas that my dad died. Christmas is a sad time to lose someone you love (we have lost 3 of parents at Christmas time), but this song reminded us that year that ‘man can live forevermore because of Christmas Day’ and one day we will again see all those in Christ who have gone on to heaven!
Here are two of my favorite recordings of Mary’s Boy Child:
)
