While the typical health related New Year’s resolutions are good, why not consider a different focus for this year…purposeful parenting with Scripture!  I know that can sound vague or intimidating, so let’s break it down.  Start by prayerfully asking yourself the following two questions…

1.  What worked and didn’t work with the spiritual training of my children last year?

2.  What is our spiritual growth plan for our children this year in general and  also related to individual and/or family devotional times?

After considering these questions, write out an action plan.  This will vary depending on the age, ability, and needs of your family, but here are some further suggestions to help you formulate your plan.  

*A spiritual growth plan for the year for your family might include:
– resources you, your children, and family will use  (consider Parenting with Scripture as a family devotional Guide.)
– verses to memorize with a plan to stay on track 
If you need a place to start, see the Downloads tab at www.parentingwithscripture.com and look for 15 Fabulous Verses and Fun Memorization Methods…or pick topical Scriptures from Parenting with Scripture based on your family’s needs.
– key principles/facts/values  I want to focus on teaching my children this year (such as the books of the Bible, character traits, etc.)
– verse(s) to pray for my children this year (maybe one key verse or topical verses from Parenting with Scripture.)

*What books will I, as a parent, read this year to educate myself in order to better equip the spiritual upbringing of my children?

*How can I help keep my family on track with our spiritual growth plan?   Set reminders on my i-phone, make notes throughout the year in my calendar, etc?

Help your family take stock of what you are doing to help others through this cute and easy Christmas craft/decoration.  Simply tape several sheets of brown construction paper (or brown grocery bags) together and then cut out the form of a triangular tree, plus a trunk. Then trace the hands of each family member, including mom and dad!  Tape the smaller hand-prints at the top, working down as the hands get bigger.  Discuss ways that your family is helping others and write them on the hand-prints.  Embellish with a yellow paper star at the top titled “(Last Name) Helping Hand Tree” and some related Bible verses at the bottom (see suggestions below.)

We created the one in the picture when my kids were preschoolers, but I’ve kept it with our Christmas decorations and we pull it out every year to hang in our game-room.  It serves as a good reminder of ways we can help others, not only at Christmas, but throughout the year.  We haven’t added to it in several years, but I think we will at some point this season for a family devotional.  Now that the kids are older and we have new ways of helping others, it will be interesting to hear their input and let them do the writing…and let them compare handprints to see how much they’ve grown!

“But encourage one another.”  Hebrews 3:13

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  Ephesians 4:32

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  2 Corinthians 9:7

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”  Acts 20:35

As a little girl, my mom helped me memorize Luke 2…Charlie Brown Christmas style (aka King James Version).  It was always fun for me to be able to say the whole thing along with Linus.  As a mom myself, I’ve enjoying carrying on the tradition with my kiddos.  When they were younger, I’d keep a print out of Luke 2:8-14 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202:8-14&version=KJV) in the car and we’d work on it during car time throughout December.   Each year, it would get easier and easier as they remembered it from the past.  Last year, my daughter encouraged us to add more from the chapter.  Now we are working on solidifying verses 1-7 and 15-20 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202:1-20&version=KJV).

Mix-it-Up Message Luke 2 Scavenger Hunt:
This idea works well for families or groups with children of all ages.   Print out a copy of Luke 2:1-20 from The Message version of the Bible.  I’ve pasted the passage below for your convenience.   Feel free to cut and paste into a Word Document to print.  Cut apart sections of the passage, making as many strips of verses as you wish, depending on how difficult or easy you want the activity to be.   Tape each strip to a popsicle stick (picture below).  Hide the sticks in the yard and then have the kids go on a scavenger hunt to find them.  Once gathered, the older children can work together to put them in order.  Then read The Message version out-loud while they check to see if they got the order correct.  Because my children are familiar with the KJV and NIV versions of Luke 2, it was fun for them to hear the more contemporary language version of the passage through The Message.  We particularly got a kick out of the term, “sheepherders.”  Guess the word, “shepherd” is outdated?!

Luke 2:1-20

The Message (MSG)

The Birth of Jesus

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for.

So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them.

They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.”

They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing.

They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!

Do you wish for a simple way to make Thanksgiving about more than just turkey and football?  Consider adopting this tradition and adapting it in a way that fits your family schedule. 

On Thanksgiving Day each year, we have about a twenty minute drive to get to the extended family lunch or dinner.  The entire way there we go around and say what we’re thankful for.  Each person says one word each or a short phrase (“Thank you, God, for…”) as we continue around the circle of people in the car.  My husband and I started this tradition before we even had children as a way to get back to the heart of Thanksgiving.  Since then, it’s been fun to see the children catch on and participate more and more each year.  The year Jake was two years old, he thanked God for firemen every turn!   We appreciate the twenty minute time frame because it forces those of us who are beyond two years old to get creative and think past the usual thanksgivings (home, food, car, clothes) to fill up the whole time…no repetition allowed!   It puts our hearts in the right place and reminds us of our many blessings before a day of more blessings with our family. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1

Last year I was hosting Thanksgiving for my side of the family and wanted a fun way for all ages to give thanks.  I spied a big pumpkin that was still hanging around and came up with the Thankful Turkey.  The idea is for everyone to write something they are thankful for on a feather.  However, the catch is that everyone must read all the feathers that have already been written, because no two thankful feathers can be the same.  This year, to extend the idea, my immediate family will start adding feathers several days leading up to hosting my husband’s family on Thanksgiving.  The templates I used for the turkey head, feet, and feathers are copyrighted or I would have gladly attached them.  But, I think they are simple enough to eyeball and sketch out your own to match the size of your pumpkin.   Enjoy your Thankful Turkey!  Gobble, Gobble!

Supplies: 
Big pumpkin
Wooden skewers (from the grocery store…bbq skewers)
tape
pens or markers
cardstock or construction paper for the head, feet, and feathers

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to
him and praise his name. 

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness
continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:4-5

“What other time do friends, neighbors, and strangers knock on your door and ask for a treat?!”  I wish I could remember who I heard say that years ago because I would thank him or her for the impression it made on me.   My family makes the most of this opportunity by having tracts available to give out with the candy.  American Tract Society www.atstracts.org has a number of child-friendly tracts available for ordering.  I’m about to order ours so we’ll have them in plenty of time before Halloween.

Because we are out trick-or-treating with our own children on Halloween night, we are not at home to pass out the treats.  So, every year we decorate a brown grocery bag, fill it with candy and tracts, and leave it on the porch along with a note instructing the trick or treaters to only take 2-3 things.  Who knows whether or not they all abide by that rule, but we figure whoever gets the tracts are the ones meant to have them.  My kids love prepping the bag and then together we pray over the bag that God would use the tracts to help the recipients learn more about Him and salvation through Christ Jesus.

Here’s what ours and some of our friends’ looked like from a couple different years…

In thinking about parenting with Scripture, 4th of July style, I realized it’s the perfect opportunity to discuss with my children the freedoms we have in Christ alongside the freedoms we celebrate in our country.  These concepts are abstract, but worth introducing and expanding on from year to year as this holiday rolls around and the children grow to understand more.

Here are the basics of what we’re going to talk about with our almost 8 and 10-year-olds to get you thinking of how you might discuss this with your child(ren).

Discussion:
How are we free in Christ?  We are free from the consequences of sin when we trust in Jesus as our Savior.
How are we free in our country?  Google “Bill of Rights for kids” to find a list of our freedoms and explanations geared toward children.
However, freedom doesn’t mean we can or should do anything we want to do.  For example:
-In the Christian realm that means just because God will forgive us for lying, doesn’t mean we should lie.  Discuss.
-In our American government that means just because we have the freedom to say anything we want, doesn’t mean we should.  Discuss.

Activity:
My children are familiar with Chris Tomlin’s version of Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) because we sing it in church.  We’ll download it or listen to it on Youtube and have them listen for the word “free” in the lyrics.  Then we’ll discuss what it means in the context of the song and Biblically.

We’ll also listen to The Star Spangled Banner and You’re A Grand Old Flag and have the kids listen for the word “free” and discuss what it means in those contexts.

Scriptures to discuss:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.   Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Galatians 5:1 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation  for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  Romans 8:1-2 

Resurrection Rolls

This fun recipe uses crescent rolls and a disappearing marshmallow to help your child understand the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

~Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

Crescent rolls

Melted butter

Large marshmallows

Cinnamon

Sugar

Directions:

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Read Matthew 27:57-61

Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.

Have him/her dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils that were put on Jesus’ body.

Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.

Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus’ body after death in cloth.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (The oven represents the tomb – pretend like it was three days!  You could set a kitchen timer for three minutes and pretend each minute is a day.)

Let the rolls cool slightly. The children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN!!!! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)

Now read Matthew 28:5-8

Explain: At the tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw an angel, who told them not to be afraid. No one had taken Jesus’ body, but He Had risen from the dead! The angel told the women to go and tell the disciples what they had seen, that Jesus had risen from the dead! They were so excited, they ran all the way to tell the disciples the Good News! He is risen from the dead!  Alleluia!

Can you believe that Easter is just a month from today?!
One of my favorite resources for this time of year is Resurrection Eggs.

Spice up your family or children’s devotional times by incorporating these through a variety of methods throughout the month –
*Open one a day and tell that portion of the Easter Bible Story.
*Hide the egg you are focusing on that day and let your child go on a hunt for it before discussing the contents.
*Once your child is familiar with the eggs and story, let him tell the story through the eggs.
*Let him hide the eggs for you to find before doing a review.

Last year, I received an e-mail  invitation that forever changed the way my family will observe Lent.  Not having ever been in a church where Lent was emphasized, I was floundering as how to make Lent a special part of our family tradition of preparing for Easter.  A lady at our church e-mailed a bunch of moms asking if we wanted to go in together on a Lenten Tree ornament swap.  The idea was based on this book –

The Lenten Tree by Dean Lambert Smith.  Click on picture to link to Amazon…

The book has 41 short devotionals, each with a corresponding image, for the days leading up to Easter and Easter Day.  The way the swap works is that each person takes one of the images and buys or makes 41 of the same ornaments.  For example, I picked the symbol for Day 19, which is a fish, and bought 41 key chains from Oriental Trading Company (www.orientaltrading.com) that work perfectly as ornaments.

On the day of the swap, each person brought her 41 ornaments.  The organizer  had 41 spaces on the floor labeled with everyone’s names.  Each person went around and put one of their 41 ornaments in each pile.  After everyone is done, every person checks her own pile to make sure she has each of the 41 different ornaments.  Voila!  All of us left with a complete set for the Lenten Tree!

Swap Tips – We actually didn’t have 41 people participate.  Several people decided to take on a couple of the slots so they would have one to keep and one to give away.  After all of us who wanted to participate had signed up, there were still about 6 slots left.  The organizer purchased the supplies for these ornaments and we all chipped in and helped make them during the swap.   With all of us working, it didn’t take us long to assemble the 41 of each of them and add them to the piles.

Non-Swap Version – An easy way to still have ornaments for your tree without the swap, is to photocopy the graphic on the title page for each day’s devotional (see above picture).  Cut them out and let your children color them.  Then punch a holes in them and hang with ribbons or yarn.  If you want to keep these, consider laminating them.

What to Use for a Tree – I’m sure there are lots of creative ideas for this.  But, I wanted something inexpensive, easy to store, and sturdy enough to hold the 41 ornaments.  I found the perfect one at http://www.adoremusbooks.com/woodenornamenttreekit.aspx?zmam=46742494&zmas=1&zmac=2&zmap=21195.  Several other swappers and I ordered them together in order to save on shipping.

What a special time this was for our family last year!
 We look forward to continuing the tradition this year and for years to come.