Journey Kids

One too many?

~V~ — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:37:07 +0000

When I started this Journey Kids specific blog I thought that it may be a great resource for our Journey Parents. Looking at the stats, it looks as though most just go to my personal blog. So, instead of doing this blog I will now be posting all of these links and monthly resources on my personal blog. You can catch it all here.

Parenting Beyond Your Capacity

~V~ — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:59:35 +0000

I’m posting some highlights from the book “Parenting Beyond Your Capacity” over on my blog the next few weeks. Check it out here.

Make Gak

~V~ — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:24:20 +0000

Just a fun idea that I ran across on a blog this Saturday. Take a look and try it with your kids!

Make Gak

252 Basics – May 2010

~V~ — Sat, 01 May 2010 21:29:16 +0000

Chill Out

Depending on when you read this, you’re probably either still bundled up against the winter chill or you’ve shed your winter woolies for cool cottons, bracing yourself against the bite of the wind or basking in the bright, warm sunshine of late spring. Come May, snow days will have become a thing of the past, but many kids (and parents) will still be paying for the pleasure of a day off with an extended school year. Kids and families (and we church volunteers!) will have to dig down deep, grin, and bear it in order to hang in there till summer vacation. What better time to talk about patience?

So that’s what 252 Basics is all about in May: Patience, which is waiting until later for what you want now. Here’s the lineup:

If you don’t wait, it could cost you. Remember what Esau traded away for a bowl of soup because he let his stomach go to his head? (Genesis 25)

Don’t get tired of doing the right thing. If only the Israelites had kept on following God instead of the crowd! (Exodus 19; 32)

Don’t miss out because you think you can’t wait. Have you ever thought about what Joshua and the Israelites would’ve missed if they hadn’t followed God’s marching orders? (Joshua 3; 6)

If you don’t wait, it could hurt others. There are “gasoline girls” and there are “water boys.” Which one are you? (Proverbs 15:18)

And for the fifth week, we’ll depart from the norm and focus on a “faith skill,” that of prayer:

Take prayer out of the box. Are you in or out of the box when it comes to prayer? (James 5:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Romans 8:26)

Later Gator,

Melanie Williams
The reThink Group
mwilliams@rethinkgroup.org

My First Look – April 2010

~V~ — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:11:33 +0000

Basic Truth: Jesus wants to be my friend forever.

Key Question: Who is your friend?

Bottom Line: Jesus is my good friend.

Memory Verse: “A friend loves at all times.” Proverbs 17:17, NIV

Bible Story Focus Week 1: Jesus loves me.

The Last Supper / Resurrection • Matthew 26:20-30

Bible Story Focus Week 2: Jesus wants to be with me forever.

A Place for Us • John 14:1-4

Bible Story Focus Week 3: I love Jesus.

Caring for Jesus • Luke 7:36-50

Bible Story Focus Week 4: Jesus is a good friend.

Mary and Martha • Luke 10:38-42

252 Basics – April 2010

~V~ — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:02:25 +0000

Face to Face

Virtue: Friendship—spending time with someone you trust and enjoy.

Memory Verse: “A friend loves at all times. He is there to help when trouble comes.” Proverbs 17:17, NIrV

Bible Story:

Week 1: Face to Face (on the road to Emmaus) • Luke 24:13-35

Week 2: Keepin’ It Real (Jesus appears to Thomas) • John 20:24-31

Week 3: What’s Cookin’? (breakfast with Jesus) • John 21:1-14

Week 4: Straight Up (Jesus ascends to heaven) • Acts 1:3,8-11; Matthew 28:16-20

Bottom Line: A true friend will love you no matter what.

My First Look – March 2010

~V~ — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:24:09 +0000

Jesus loves everyone. He loves me and you and the mailman and the person at the grocery store. He loves everyone! Isn’t that the greatest news? This month we will share stories with preschoolers that show how Jesus loved while He was here on earth. Jesus took time to talk to the woman at the well who had no friends, and He loved her. He chose to spend time with those considered not worthy of His love like Zacchaeus. Jesus loved everyone. Then, Jesus asked us to spread this love. He asked us to tell others that He loves everyone. The Bible says in John 15:12, “Love each other as I have loved you,” (NIV). Jesus is our very best friend. We can share His love with others by being good friends to them.

We end this month with Palm Sunday. Easter comes early this year–get ready! Palm Sunday we will celebrate Jesus and His love for us. How amazing it is that Jesus came for us, for each and every one of us. He came to love us and show us how to love. He came to be the ultimate sacrifice. He loved us so much He was willing to die for us. What an awesome truth.

To hear the writers give you the “Why” behind the curriculum, go to the First Look website and play the vision video for this month. Your team can watch the video together or the link can be forwarded to your volunteers. You can also purchase a download of the video for your church’s use at the reThink Store.

Our team will be praying for you to have moments filled with wonder as you give preschoolers a “first look” at the God who loves them, made them, and wants to be their friend forever.

Kathy Hill
Editor in Chief, First Look
The reThink Group

excerpt -
By Kathy Hill. © 2009 The reThink Group * www.rethinkgroup.org * All rights reserved. Used by permission.

252 Basics – March 2010

~V~ — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:14:00 +0000

THE WEB

Have you ever seen the TV show Lie to Me? The Lightman Group (clever name, isn’t it, since light = truth, biblically speaking), made up of psychologists, researchers, and investigators, assist law enforcement and other government agencies in criminal investigations by detecting signs of deception in people’s voices, faces, and body language.

The premise behind it is simple and ordinary; the science complex and intriguing. Rather like honesty itself.

On the one hand, honesty is simple.
It always involves a choice.
We choose to tell the truth or to lie.
Honesty is ordinary, too.
Because every one of us,
from Adam and Eve to you and I,
chooses to be honest or dishonest on a daily basis.

On the other hand, honesty (and therefore
dishonesty) is complex and intriguing.
You can be honest (or dishonest) in your words, actions, and attitudes.
You can be honest (or dishonest) in what you don’t say or do, as well.
You can set out to lie, and
you can go along with someone else’s lie.
And then there are the multitudes of motives for
two-faced, duplicitous, and deceptive dealings.

So simple, honesty, but not always easy! Else no one would weave him- or herself into a tangled web in the first place.

Which is why, come March, we’ll be talking about honesty and some of the very practical reasons God teaches and guides us to be honest:

When you’re not truthful, you hurt the people you should care about most. Joseph’s brothers practiced so many forms of deceit in that whole sell-your-brother-as-a-slave episode you’ll weave quite a web recounting them all. (Genes is 37; Genesis 45)

Lying to hurt someone else really hurts YOU. Haman’s perfidious plot backfired on him. (Esther 3-5; 7)

Truthfulness builds friendships; dishonesty tears them down. Jesus gave even wee, little, fraudulent Zacchaeus a do-over. (Luke 19)

You can lie so much you forget what matters. Treacherous Judas forgot, or deceived himself, about what matters most. (Matthew 26; 27) Note that this week begins the Easter season and the Easter “story” in 252 Basics.

Honesty creates a safety net.
Honest thoughts, words, and actions weave together to
strengthen trusting, happy relationships with others and God.

Dishonesty creates a web.
Lies and deception weave a web that ensnares us,
tearing at the fabric of our relationships with others and God.

So, help kids be careful about what they weave.

Peace,

Melanie Williams
The reThink Group
mwilliams@rethinkgroup.org

252 Basics – February 2010

~V~ — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:25:52 +0000

A Code of Honor

When was the last time you used the word honor in an everyday conversation with a regular Joe? Does it strike you as outmoded, a little archaic perhaps? For instance, when did you last slay a dragon from the back of your trusty white steed, lay your cloak over a puddle for a lady, bow in deference to others at court, or swear undying fealty to your king? (More on that later.) After all, that stuff was around in the Middle Ages.

On the other hand, that stuff has been around since the Middle Ages. What student hasn’t read of King Arthur (first written about in the 1130′s) or Don Quixote (published in 1605, 1615)? Who among us hasn’t seen a Robin Hood movie (the first of which came out in the early 1920′s) or Shrek? If you’ve visited a museum and seen a suit of armor, haven’t you marveled at how small those guys were?

But, with all due respect, it wasn’t Geoffrey of Monmouth or Cervantes who invented honor. Nay, honor is older than, well, dirt. Noooo, it was God who created honor. Check out what David says about honor in Psalm 8:1-5 (NIV):

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise … When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”

Can you read that and not be awestruck that the King of kings and Lord of lords, who deserves glory over all others, would esteem us, even a little? Yet He does. David’s life, in fact, is chock-full of honor-related examples and principles. Think back to what you know about David, like:

… his encounter with Goliath. God said, “Those who honor me I will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30, NIV). David honored God, and God honored David, even though he was the little brother, a mere boy, and overlooked at every turn. Honor those who are overlooked.

… his friendship with Jonathan. God says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (Romans 12:10, NIrV). David honored Jonathan, certainly; but think how remarkable it was that Jonathan (the heir apparent to the throne) should honor David (who would eventually become king) more than himself.Honor others more than yourself.

… his turbulent and tragic relationship with his son Absalom. God says, “‘Honor your father and mother’–which is the first commandment with a promise–’that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth’” (Ephesians 6:2-3, NIV). What a contrast Absalom is to Jonathan! Honor those who are over you.

… his unself-conscious worship of God: “I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this” (2 Samuel 6:21-22, NIV). Honor God out LOUD.

So come February, we’re going to camp here, with David, Goliath, Jonathan, Absalom, and Michal, and examine some things God says about honor and what it looks like to live in honorable ways.

Now back to dragons and puddles. You may not have slain a dragon from the back of your trusty charger, but have you cheered the underdog or said thank you to the teenager taking your order at the drive-thru? You probably haven’t spread your cloak over a puddle for a lady, but have you held the door for one? You may not have bowed in deference to others at court or sworn loyalty to a king, but have you obeyed your parents without rolling your eyes or stood in heartfelt praise to honor THE King?

See, honor doesn’t live just in legends! Therefore, prithee don thine armour and thy cloak and henceforth seek to impart the ways of honour to thy probies thusly. Thy labour shalt not be for naught.

Huzzah,

My First Look – February 2010

~V~ — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:21:36 +0000

Basic Truth: Jesus Wants to be My Friend Forever

Key Question: Is anything too hard for Jesus?

Bottom Line: Jesus can do anything.

Memory Verse: “With God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26, NIV

This month we are teaching our preschoolers that “With God all things are possible,” (Matthew 19:26, NIV). Through the stories of Jesus doing miraculous things like walking on water and calming the storm, we hope to show preschoolers that Jesus can do anything. Jesus is God’s son, and He has the power of God behind Him. When Jesus is our friend, we have an amazing friend who can do anything.

Our team will be praying for you to have moments filled with wonder as you give preschoolers a “first look” at the God who loves them, made them, and wants to be their friend forever.

Kathy Hill
Editor in Chief, First Look
The reThink Group