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

A Giant Staircase to Heaven (day 5)

For the tower of Babel (page 48 in the Jesus Storybook Bible) we attempted to build a tower out of magazines together. However, we each were only allowed to say "mamamama" or "lalalala." I attempted to say things like "start here" or "you hit my thumb" using the gibberish. It successfully confused the whole project. Then, we later built a tower speaking English, which worked much better.

the point? Nothing we do can get us to heaven. God is the author of success.

A New Beginning (day 4)

Page 38 in "The Jesus Storybook Bible" begins the story of Noah's ark. To act it out we assigned roles of God and Noah. Then we found a large rubbermaid bowl with a lid to be the ark. "The animals" came and got on the ark (dolls and hotwheels.) When God closed the boat it began to rain. We all got in the blow up pool and used funnels to "rain" on the ark. After counting to 40, we continued the story, until the people and animals were able to get out of the boat.

the point? God takes care of his people

The Terrible Lie (day 3)

We read the story of the fall of man (page 28 in The Jesus Storybook Bible.) We set up water bottles in a bowling formation, to represent all the trees that Adam and Eve were allowed to eat from. We used a baby bottle to represent the one fruit they were instructed not to eat. The goal was to knock down as many water bottle/pins without knocking down the baby bottle. They were allowed to set the "pins" up in any formation. They discovered if they set the baby bottle far away from the others, it was easier to avoid. It was a neat lead in to staying far away from the things God tells us not to do. Flee from temptation.

The Point? God's ways are best

Creation continued (day 2)

There are so many activities to help review the story of God creating the world. Sometimes I like to read a story and do one activity one day. Then the next day we may act or draw the story to review it, and do another activity. Today we played in the water. I got to tell them about the world being covered in water and darkness before God separated the waters (sky) and made light. Aren't we glad God made the air so we don't have to be in water all the time!

The point? God is so super smart! Nothing takes him by surprise.