The man who didn't have any friends (day 49)

For the story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19, we made some stilts. Sally Lloyd-Jones tells the story on page 264. We took two empty peanut cans and made holes through the tops. We strung a piece of rope through each can to use as the handles. Then we acted out the story. Climbing trees never gets old.

the point? Jesus changes people, Jesus loves even sinners

A little girl and a poor frail lady (day 40)

For the story of Jairus' daughter from Luke 8, Sally Lloyd-Jones begins on page 216. For some reason I am in a magnet mood so the kids each drew pictures of the little girl on an index card and attached a small alligator clip to the "head." As we talked through the story, we used a strong magnet to "pick up" the girl when Jesus brought her back to life. We folded the card in half so it looked kind-of like she sat up in bed.

the point? Jesus works miracles!

Let's go (day 39)

The story of Jesus being tempted by Satan and then Jesus calling his disciples, from Matthew 4, and Luke 4-6, begins on page 208 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. Even though the disciples were actually fishing with nets, we decided to make some fishing poles and "fish." The kids cut fish out of card stock and attached paperclips. Then we tied a magnet to one end of a 3 foot piece of yarn, and the stick/pole to the other end. As the kids were fishing we took turns being Jesus and "calling" them. It is interesting to see how the disciples dropped what they were doing to follow Jesus, yet the kids didn't even want to stop fishing for a second...

the point? Jesus is all powerful, he commands a following, yet he loves us!

Heaven breaks through (day 38)

Page 200 is where Sally Lloyd-Jones begins the story of John the baptist, and Jesus being baptized. We attempted to make a dove painting, while talking about the dove and God's voice accompanying it. For the dove we folded a piece of paper in half and painted one of Von and one of Alyse's hands. They then put their hand print along the middle fold line, and closed the paper so the paint was transferred to the other side in a mirror image. However, it turned out more like a butterfly than a dove. Perhaps we should have printed the hand lining up the pinky side of the hand on the fold, instead of the thumb side??? You can probably do better- but the kids still liked it and we still got to talk about the story.

the point? "The Great Rescue had begun..." (page 206)

The wise men continued (day 37)

After reviewing the story of the wise men seeking and finding baby Jesus, we made a star out of cardboard. Then we took turns hiding the star and the other "wise men" searching for the star, in order to find the new King.

the point? Jesus is King over all kings

The King of all kings (day 36)

The story of the wise men visiting Jesus from Matthew 2 begins on page 192 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. Alyse had the idea to use a flashlight to guide the "wise men" to baby Jesus. This would have worked better at night so we could get the house darker, but we did try it in the closet. One person would place themselves in a corner (while it was dark) and then turn the light on. The rest of us would find them just by seeing where the light was. Then we bowed down to Jesus.

the point? God guided the wise men to his son