A dream of heaven (day 59)

Well, we finish the Jesus Storybook Bible today. And summer is over for my kiddos :( I hope to still do Bible time with them after they get home from school. I will blog when we figure out what to do. If you have any ideas, that would be great.

The last story of John and the Revelation, begins on page 342 of the JSB. Sally Lloyd-Jones emphasizes all people and creatures bowing down to Jesus, and Satan being defeated. We talked about the fact that not everyone worships and submits to Jesus now, but in the end they will. To show this we lined up dominoes. When we tapped the end, they all fell. This is what we will all do when we see Jesus- worship him. Yippee.

the point? Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

A new way to see (day 58)

The story of Saul's conversion, from Acts 6-9, and 12-28, begins on page 334 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. To act out the story the kids wanted to use cars. We dialogued through the story, using a flashlight to be "the bright light." Von pointed out something (and we checked it in Acts 9.) I had not noticed that after Jesus asked "why are you persecuting me?" Saul replied, "LORD, who are you?" So Saul knew it was God, he just didn't know Jesus IS God. Pretty cool.

the point? Jesus changes people, Jesus is God

God sends help (day 57)

Pentecost, from Acts 1-5 and John 15, begins on page 326 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. We got out some lightweight scarves and waved them around to pretend they were the flames and the wind that God sent. The kiddos did some dancing, some dressing up, and some general silliness with the scarves. We talked about the fact that the Holy Spirit is with his children today (though not with flames) and gives them the help to do his work.

the point? God gives us a helper, the Holy Spirit

Going home (day 56)

Sally Lloyd-Jones shares the account of the ascension from Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 14 on page 318 of the JSB. This picture is from another time we did this story and the kids worked together to toss a balloon in the air, to represent Jesus going up back to heaven. Today, we only had tiny water balloons so we filled them with air and gave each of the kiddos their own. They tossed it up and tried to keep it in the air, counting how many bounces they use to keep the balloon from hitting the ground. Of course we talked about the fact that Jesus did not keep bouncing back down but went up until the disciples could no longer see him.

the point? Jesus promised to return for his children

God's wonderful surprise (day 55)

The resur-rection, from Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20, is re-told on page 310 of the "Jesus Storybook Bible." As Von said, "now I don't have to be sad anymore." We did two different activities. For one, we sprinkled a thin layer of cornstarch in a cake pan (at least 1 cm deep.) Then we used a medicine dropper to gently drop colored water on the cornstarch. We said the water was Jesus. After carefully shaking the cake pan side to side while it is still on the counter, The water drops disappeared! Just as Jesus was gone from the tomb.

The other thing we tried was a recipe I got from idealstolife.com called resurrection rolls. However, I did not have the marshmallows called for so I used bite-size 3 musketeers bars. FYI, they don't disappear, but they are yummy :). Since my kiddos are used to things not working as planned when we experiment, they were fine with the explanation that "although the candy is still inside the roll, Jesus was not in the tomb." Process, not product :)

the point? Jesus is alive!

The sun stops shining (day 54)

The re-telling of the crucifixion, from Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19,begins on page 302 of the JSB. The kiddos gathered sticks from outside to make a cross (one long and one short one.) We used yarn to criss-cross the sticks together. Alyse made a small one for her bear, Von wanted a large cross. Then, we acted out the story. One person was Jesus carrying Von's large cross. We all walked into the closet and pretended to nail "Jesus" on the cross. After Jesus asked his father to forgive the people, and said "it is finished," we turned out the lights. I wiggled the kids and told them it was the earthquake. After the lights came back on we took "Jesus" off the cross and carried him to the tomb, covering him with pillows.

A dark night in the garden (day 53)

Sally Lloyd-Jones shares the story of the garden of Gethsemane, from Luke 22, Mark 14, and John 18 on page 294 of her Jesus Storybook Bible. Wow, lots of tears. Anyway, after such an emotional reading it was hard to think about playing a fun game. But of course the kids don't really want to do a "not fun" thing. So, we played chase where the person tagged gets put in jail. I periodically asked them questions such as, "but did Jesus run away when they came to put him in jail?" "If Jesus had run, would they have caught him?" Amazing.

the point? THANK YOU Jesus for coming, planning to die in our place

The Servant King (day 52)

The last supper, from Mark 14 and John 13-14, begins on page 286 of the JSB. We went outside on the porch and spread a path of wax paper. On the wax paper I sprayed a stream of shaving cream. The kiddos walked in the shaving cream (it was slippery) to "dinner with Jesus." When they arrived, we washed and dried each others feet. Fyi, the wax paper path stuck to feet and blew away thus spreading some shaving cream on the concrete. Perhaps the lid from a large plastic storage box would work better??

the point? Jesus, King over all kings, came to serve

Washed with tears (day 51)

The sinful woman anointing Jesus' feet from Mark 14 and Luke 7 begins on page 280 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. We took some scented body mist and sprayed it on some no-bake clay. You can use play-dough or even make your own with this recipe on familyfun.com. After the kiddos worked it in they pressed the clay into a bowl. We talked about the perfume, the value that it had, and the gift that the woman gave Jesus. After the bowl dried Von threw his down to break it like the woman did with the jar of perfume. Alyse liked hers too much to want to break it, so we pointed out that the woman may have felt that way about her jar. The kids also sprayed some of the body mist on each others feet.

the point? Jesus came to save sinners

Running away (day 50)

For the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15, and found on page 272 of the Jesus Storybook Bible, we created a "journey." The kiddos each got a few flat marbles to be their "money." We pretended they were the son and wanted to go out on their own. They went through various challenges (run around the house twice, climb across the swings without touching the ground, go up the ladder and down the slide, etc.) At each stage of the "journey" they had to pay some of their money. By the time they were hungry and thirsty from all the work, they were out of money. I put some cereal out on a cookie sheet to pretend it was the pig food. The funny thing was that Alyse, knowing it was cereal she eats often, still refused to eat it like a pig. Which was a great time to talk about the son deciding he could live under his father's rules after all. The "sons" returned to their father (me) and received lots of hugs, kisses, and real food.

the point? Jesus took our punishment so he can joyfully welcome us home

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

The Friend of little children (day 48)

Jesus and the children, from Matthew 18, 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18 begins on page 256 of the JSB. To the tune of "London bridge is falling down," we sang the verse "let the children come to me, come to me, come to me, let the children come to me, Jesus said" (Mark 10:14.) Then we actually played London bridge. Two of us holding both hands and one of us walking round and round under the tunnel. When the song ended, we gathered the child in our arms and hugged them tight while singing the song again. Lots of giggles and sweetness.

the point? Jesus loves un-proud (humility)

Treasure hunt! (day 47)

Sally Lloyd-Jones tells the story of the hidden treasure and God's kingdom on page 250 of The Jesus Storybook Bible. As my son just pointed out, "but God really told that story." We played hide and seek. Then we searched and searched for Von's lost wallet. Though we still have yet to find the wallet, we talked about how bad he wants to find it, and how God and his life is worth yearning and searching for even more.

the point? God is worth so much more than anything

Jesus feeds 5000 continued (day 46)

We very often use the kids senses of touch, sight, and sound during our super summer Bible fun. But today we get to use their sense of taste and smell, yumm. Just take a couple packages of refrigerator biscuits and help the kiddos cut them into fourths using a plastic knife. Roll each piece in melted butter (one-half to one stick) with a lot of sugar and cinnamon in it. Then place them all in a bundt pan. Pour the remaining butter mixture over the top. Bake the "monkey bread" according to the biscuit directions (you may have to cook it longer though.) Then, use the bread and pretend to be Jesus breaking off pieces of bread to feed the people. However, Jesus' bread didn't run out! If you want more formal instructions and even a recipe to make the bread from scratch check out familyfun.com

the point? Jesus is perfectly able to take care of all our needs

Filled full! (day 45)

Jesus feeding the 5000 people from Matthew 14, Mark 6, and Luke 9 begins on page 244 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. Well... we pretty much always have a bucket of single socks so we brought those out again to be the bread and fish. When "Jesus" asked if anyone had any food, the little boy brought him a basket with 7 socks (2 fish and 5 loaves of bread.) Then Jesus passed out the food to all chairs, corners, and other spots around the living room. We talked about the fact that while we were just filling the basket with socks we already had, Jesus was actually making more food appear from nothing.

the point? Jesus made food out of nothing

Jesus calms the storm continued (day 44)

Sorry it has been so long since I blogged. Our family got to get away for a vacation, yipee. Anyway, another activity to help review Jesus calming the storm is to make wind and wave pictures. Simply take some blue food coloring and water and drop it in drops on some construction paper or card stock. Take a straw and blow the water. As it fans out you can take turns telling the "wind and waves" to "be still." This picture was actually done by my grown sister who thought it was too much fun not to try her own. My kids pictures were obviously not embellished as much but still were pretty cool.

the point? Jesus is all powerful

The captain of the storm (day 43)

Jesus calming the storm, from Mark 4 and Matthew 8, begins on page 236 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. I love when Sally Lloyd-Jones says "the wind and the waves recognized Jesus' voice (They had heard it before, of course-it was the same voice that made them, in the very beginning.)" The kids were in a very hyper mood so we played "freeze" but pretended to be Jesus saying "be still" to the storm.

the point? all creation knows and obeys Jesus

The singer (day 42)

"The singer" is the story of the sermon on the mount from Matthew 6,9 and Luke 12, in the Jesus Storybook Bible. We talked about picking flowers but it really wasn't the right time of year around here. So, we made our own by coloring with markers on a paper towel. Then the kiddos used a spray bottle to wet the towel and make the markers run a bit. After cinching the middle with a twist-tie and taping it to a straw, we had ourselves a flower. We talked about the fact that God makes his flowers even more beautiful, and he says we are even more important than the flowers.

the point? God will provide everything we need

How to pray (day 41)

For the re-telling of the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6, Sally Lloyd-Jones begins on page 222 of the Jesus Storybook Bible. She gives a lot of guidance on how to pray and does a great job making the reader feel relaxed and loved in it. We simply practiced some praying. We talked about how we can whisper or even talk to God in our heads. Then we took turns doing sentence prayers out loud. I started with "thank you God for today" and then we each took turns thanking Jesus for things, be it jelly beans or grandparents. Then we went around the circle asking for forgiveness, i.e. "please forgive me for not being patient" or "please forgive me for hitting my sister." Last we did asking sentence prayers. "Please help me save the money for a doll" or "Please help me not have bad dreams." We did this to get the kiddos comfortable to say anything to God.

the point? God wants us to always talk to him

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!