Rachel and Leah continued (day 10)

For review we acted out the story using t-shirts over "Rachel and Leah's" head for the wedding. We talked about God not showing favoritism based on popularity or looks. We also discussed the amazing fact that although Laban was dishonest and wrong, God still used it for his plan.

the point? God's plan always happens

The girl no one wanted (day 9)

Sally Lloyd-Jones beautifully tells the story of Rachel and Leah, from Genesis 29-30, on page 70 of "The Jesus Storybook Bible." In fact she presented it in such a new way that it was so touching. We pulled out 3 plastic cups and placed different small toys under two of them. We took turns mixing them up and trying to guess where the shell was. It was much harder to guess if you didn't watch the cups the entire time. One time Alyse even put the shell in her lap to trick me. It made Von upset. However, it was a great time to remind them of the trick that Laban played on Jacob.

the point? "But then God chooses people we least expect" (Page 70)

The Present (day8)

The story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac, from Genesis 22, is on page 68 of "The Jesus Storybook Bible." Wow, is this a tough one. I cannot get through it without sobbing. I was hesitant to even read it to my kiddos, but the modeling/foreshadowing of God sacrificing his own humble son, is just so amazing. After reading it we talked about how Abraham trusted God fully. We played a couple standard "trust games." For example, one kiddo falls backwards and Mom catches them. Then Von (age 7) caught Alyse (age 4.) However, it wasn't a good idea for Alyse to try and catch Von. In this case, Alyse was not worthy of trust-- she would not be able to catch him. God is always worthy of our trust and always able to catch us.

the point? God is trustworthy

Promise of Isaac continued (day 7)

We reviewed the story of the promise of baby Isaac by drawing the story on the dry-erase board instead of reading it. Then we stood on opposite sides of a door (like Sara listening in on the angels telling Abraham she would have a son.) We took turns telling each other jokes or things that made the other person laugh. Sara thought it was just as absurd that she would birth a baby in her old age. For some reason, my kids love to be silly.

the point? God is not limited

Son of Laughter (day 6)

Page 56 of "The Jesus Storybook Bible" begins the story of God promising a son to Abraham and Sarah. After reading the story we acted the story out. The highlight for Alyse was bathing baby Isaac-- complete with a bottle of soap and a washcloth. Von wanted a "boy doll" so he found a bathtub whale to be his "Isaac."

fyi... just to show you the natural progression of things... after bathing the babies, Alyse put her legs in the bucket and washed her own legs... then Von threw sidewalk chalk into the bucket and discovered that the chalk is a lot brighter when it is wet... then we had a tiny lesson on color mixing and rainbows... just go with it :)

the point? God has a plan and keeps his promises