Papa Don't Lie!

Sunday was a beautiful day here in SE Oklahoma!  I had a great day with my Bible Class.  I began by reviewing the story from last week about Paul's nephew giving a warning about a group of men plotting to kill him.  "L" said, "I remember that story.  And that was the day my momma got baptized."  I said, "Yes, it was!"  She said, "She got baptized to wash away her sins."  I answered, "That's right!  Did she explain that to you after you got home?"  "L" said, "No, my papa did and HE DON'T LIE!"  So funny!  I'm glad that she believes and trusts that what papa says is true!  She also added, "He always keeps his promises too!"

I went on with the story to remind them about the soldiers being there to guard and protect Paul from the enemies that were trying to kill him.  The Bible says that they boarded a ship to take him to a new town and to protect him.  While they were out at sea, a storm came up and the men were scared they were going to drown.  They began to throw things overboard to help the boat stay afloat.  Paul kept telling the men to take courage and have faith.  God would take care of them.

The storm got really bad and finally it crashed into some rocks.  The ship fell apart and began to sink.  The men were very afraid.  As I was telling this, "P" said, "I almost drowned one time."  I said, "How did that happen?"  He answered, "Well, we were at that swimming pool and I was in the kiddie pool and a kid PUKED and we had to get out to go to the big pool.  The water came all the way up to my chin and I almost drowned!"  I said that I was glad that he didn't drown and that we always have to be careful around the water.  "L" said she almost drowned one time too but her momma grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out.  I told her I was glad that she didn't drown either!

The story continued on with Paul and everyone on the boat making it safely to land.  The people that lived on the island made a fire to warm up Paul and the men and to dry their wet clothes.  They fed them and took care of them while they waited for another ship to come to get them.

"Therefore, keep up your courage men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told."-Acts 27:25

Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a fantastic Mother's Day!  I was so thankful that my two kids were able to come for a visit this weekend.

Since Ashley was here this weekend, she helped me in Bible Class on Sunday morning.  Our story was taken from Acts 23 and "B" immediately started thumbing through her Bible to find it.  She found it BEFORE I could even get to it!  Then she went around the table, looking up the scripture for everyone else.  That just the sweetest thing!  As she was finding the passage for the last child, under her breath but still loud enough that I heard it, she said, "I don't know why I'm always the smartest one." It was so funny!  She didn't say it with a bragging or haughty tone, just sort of matter of fact which made it even funnier!

The story in Acts 23 is about Paul preaching and as usual, there is a group that doesn't like to hear what he has to say.  Paul was very bold in his statements and this really angered some of the crowd.  For his own protection, he was taken to a safe place by the soldiers.  Paul's nephew happened to be near the group of men that were angry and he overheard their plot to kill Paul.  The nephew went to where Paul was being guarded and demanded to talk to him.  He was allowed to do so and he told Paul about the plan to kill him.  Paul sent him to the chief captain to tell him about this plan.  So, he did and Paul was secretly taken to a safer place.  

I emphasized to the kids that this young boy was able to save his Uncle Paul.  I told them that it's very important to tell a grown up when you see or hear something bad going on or if someone is about to get hurt. One of the girls said, "But if you go tell too much, then that's being a tattletale."  Something tells me she's been reminded of this quite often!  So, we had to talk a bit about only telling important things and not every little thing.

During the last few minutes of class, Ashley and I helped them make a card for their mother/grandmother.  I thought the cards turned out so cute!

This little guy did the absolute sweetest thing that I think I've heard of from a 6 year old boy. I had given them instructions on making their cards-glue down the green strips(which someone quickly corrected me by saying, "They're called stems."), next, glue a colored square, then scrunch up a square and glue to the center of the flat square.  They were busily doing this when I noticed "P" was doing something different with one of his flowers.  I didn't say anything to him but just let him create his flowers how he wanted to.  

After class, I went to talk to his mom and she said she loved that he made her favorite flower-calla lily.  THAT'S what he was doing!  He was folding that purple square into a cone shape and working so hard to fix it just right.  Mom said that when he gave her the card he said, "I made your favorite flower-a funnel flower." MELT. MY. HEART.  It made me tear up to think that he EVEN knows her favorite flower and then to take the time to figure out how to make her one.  Absolutely priceless!  He is just so sweet!

All of the kids were so proud of their cards and couldn't wait to hand deliver them!  I didn't get a pic of "L" with her momma after church.  Her momma was baptized during services so they were busy with people  congratulating her.

I made a card for my momma too!  She put it on her fridge like every good mom does!

At services on Sunday night,  these two sweeties brought me bags of rose petals!

Their MeMaw has one of the prettiest yards in town.  Beautiful rose bushes that are just loaded with blooms right now.  I hope they didn't strip all the gorgeous roses off MeMaw's bushes but it was so sweet that they gathered petals to bring to me!  As they were leaving church, one of them hollered back to me, "Don't forget to put some water on your flowers!"  OKAY!  

"Honor your father and mother..."-Matthew 19:19

Warnings!

We had a beautiful Sunday here in SE Oklahoma yesterday.  I love this spring weather!  We got to church and soon after, my kids began to trickle in to Bible Class.  After singing "Jesus Loves Me" and "The B-I-B-L-E", I began the story.  Over the last few months, we've learned about the Apostle Paul and how he suffered many trials and persecutions while teaching about Jesus and God.  In our story today, the Prophet Agabus was giving Paul a warning since Paul was about to leave the area and head to another town to teach and preach.  I gave a few examples of what 'warning' meant by saying that when a parent says to not play in the road that they're being warned about the dangers of doing that because they could get really hurt.  They began to give examples of warnings of their own.  "P" said rather emphatically, "You should NEVER go near any guy that is wearing a skeleton mask cos he's a bad guy." Well, I had to laugh.  I just couldn't help it.  He continued, "On NCIS they ALWAYS have bad guys on there with skeleton masks, so just NEVER go near one if you see one."  Just to see what he would say, I asked, "Well, what about at Halloween when people are dressed up wearing costumes?"  He said, "No, you still should stay away from him because he's probably bad.  On NCIS and CSI, they're always the bad guys."  Too, too funny! But a good warning though...I guess!

"P" with his Agabus puppet

One of my girls gave a couple of "warnings" too.  She said, "Since I was two weeks I've known how to do a lot of things, like eat like this." She proceeded to act out eating with her mouth closed.  She then said, "You should always chew with your mouth closed so no crumbs can pop out of your mouth."  I agree that this is good advice but a warning? haha  Then she said, "Whenever there is a tornado or bad storm, you need to get close to your momma.  Get close to your momma and get in a closet with a sheet over your head." She's so serious with her advice/warnings.
I think my cover was blown today:(  Since I've started this blog, I've kept either my phone or some paper next to me while I'm teaching so that I can quickly jot down the things the kids say so I don't forget it.  Several times they've asked me what I was writing and I just usually say that I'm writing myself a note.  Well, today I jotted these stories down, tore the paper off of the notepad and began to fold it to put in my purse.  "P" looked at me with a little sly grin and said, "So, where's your list?"  I said, "What list are you talking about?"  He grinned and said, "The list where you write down the funny things I say."  CRACKED ME UP!  I just laughed and continued to put the paper away in my purse.
I finally got to where I could finish the story.  After hearing all of Agabus' warnings, the people cried and begged Paul to not go.  They didn't want to hear of him getting hurt or killed.  Paul told the crowd to stop the crying and begging him to stay.  He was going to go anyway and he wasn't afraid.  God had taken care of him through his other troubles and He would take care of him if anything else bad happened.  The people stopped their crying and accepted that God's will would be done.

And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, "The will of the Lord be done!"-Acts 21:14

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter Sunday!  It was quiet around my house since the kids weren't able to come home and Allan had to work.  I got to church and when my Bible class kids began trickling in, the place really livened up.  They were all so excited to talk about dying eggs, hunting eggs and presents from the Easter Bunny.  I doubt they got too much out of class today because clearly other things were on their minds.  "P" brought one of his new toys with him and one of the girls kind of just took it over from him.  He's really nice and polite to the girls but he was REALLY wanting his toy back.  "J" was totally ignoring his nice requests to have it back.  I was about to step in when he said, "I think my mom would be really mad if I shared that toy."  That made me laugh but I told him that his mom would be glad that he is sharing and that "J" WAS going to give it back to him.  I guess he couldn't make himself be forceful about getting his toy back, so he just blamed it all on mom! Too funny!

The last few minutes of class we made these cute bunny masks.  I thought they turned out adorable!  

Another funny story-Just out of the blue "A" said, "My momma said you're not supposed to drop a hair dryer in the bathtub cos it will 'electric you' and you'll die."  I  agreed with her that it was very dangerous to do that.  She said,"Yes it is cos it will 'electric you'.  Water and hair dryers...well...they just don't mix."  Um...no they don't!   At least she's paying attention to words of wisdom from momma!

Sandy was SO EXCITED to try on my bunny mask!  I think it fits her nicely!

Have a great week!

The Man With The Rotten Feet

Last Sunday I had a group of five little girls in Bible Class.  After we got through checking out everyone's dresses, shoes, nails, and hair, I got them settled down to start class.  We always begin class with the 

B-I-B-L-E song so afterwards, they know to settle down and listen to me tell the story.  

This week's story was about the crippled man who was brought to Paul & Barnabas for healing. 

I talked at first about what being crippled meant.  "A" kept saying that if you couldn't walk, you had to use a "crowch".  I corrected her by saying it is a crutch.  She got up to get the little crutch I have in class and said, "This is a "crowch" and my sister hurt her foot and had to use one."  I don't know how many times the word crutch was used by me and some of the other kids, but to her, it was still a "crowch"!  She was very interested in my visual aids, especially the one with the crippled man laying on his mat.  Whenever I said he was crippled, she would say that his feet looked rotten!  I said that they weren't rotten, but just didn't look right or work like other people's feet worked.  Over and over she kept saying, "They're rotten.  They look rotten. I think they're rotten."   Well...alrighty then!  There was no changing her mind..on anything!  I imagine she went home saying that a man had to use a "crowch" because he had rotten feet!  

These girls LOVE to color!  

At the end of class, we were getting ready to pray and I asked if one of them wanted to say the prayer.  One little girl said that she would say the prayer.  

She prayed, "Dear God, thank you for everything you give us.  Please be with us when our family goes through hard times. In Jesus name, Amen."  Oh. My. Goodness.  I'm not at liberty to tell what is going on in her family but this little prayer brought tears to my eyes and I could hardly talk for a minute after she finished. I'm so proud of her for knowing that she can talk to God about anything and I hope that's a comfort to her during her hard times.

"...and all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."  Matthew 21:22

The Devil Made Me Do It

A few weeks ago, our Bible Story was about Saul being blinded on the road to Damascus.  I began telling the story of how Saul was a bad guy and that he went about killing Christians.  The kids talked about how bad that was to do that to good people.  It must be because of the Devil they thought.  The talk went on with them saying a bunch of bad things that the devil tries to make us do...lying, saying bad words, not obeying and such.  I agreed with them that those were all bad behaviors that we should not do.  "B" said, "Well, I think that "C" (her brother) must be the devil because he's always trying to get me to say bad words."  It was so funny except for the fact that she was SERIOUS!  She really thought he must be the devil!  I assured her that "C" is not the devil but that she still should not do any bad things that he might try to get her to do.  This idea of the devil is so hard for them to grasp at this age because they really want to put a face on him.  I told them that we really don't know what he looks like.  I was quickly corrected by "P".  He said, "I know what he looks like!  He's red and has horns and that tail with a pointy thing on it."  I couldn't convince him otherwise!  

Anyway, back to Saul...I told them how he was on the road to Damascus when a bright light from heaven came down and he was blinded! The story goes on with Jesus speaking to him, telling him to go on to the town and that someone there would tell him what he needed to do. Saul was blind for three days before Ananias met up with him and his sight was restored and he was baptized.

We acted out the story later on in the class time.  

We laid out carpet squares to make our road.  I'd brought a flashlight to be the bright light to blind Saul.

They took turns being Saul and his friends on the road.  I shined the light on them and they fell to the ground, blinded.  Oh my, they got so dramatic with their falling down!  I figured they would want a turn to be "Jesus" and get to shine the light in someone's eyes but no one asked to do that!  I couldn't believe it!

"...and he regained his sight, and got up and was baptized."  Acts 9: 18

The Camel With Three Humps

Happy Daylight Savings Time!  Although I hate losing an hour of my precious sleep time, I do LOVE the longer days with more daylight at the end of the day rather than the beginning.  At church this morning, I guess everyone remembered to set their clocks forward because we didn't have any late comers, as we usually do!  

Two of my darling girls showed up bright and early for class.  They just can't wait for class to get started.  "B" immediately grabbed a Bible and asked if we were still in Acts for today's lesson.  I didn't even have my things out and ready and here she is wanting to know where to open her little Bible to.   

Our lesson was about the new Christians in Antioch helping Paul & Barnabas prepare to leave on an important job.  I asked if they had jobs at home to do.  Both of them started saying things like folding clothes and putting them away, cleaning up their room and also picking up sticks to put on the brush pile.  Since we had such a terrible ice storm earlier in the winter, there are plenty of sticks to clean out of yards.  Anyway, while they were talking about cleaning their rooms, "B" said that her room is always clean and that she likes a clean room.  "A" said that she cleans her room, too.  "B" looked at me with a funny look on her face and said, "No, she doesn't clean her room.  It is so messy that you can't walk across the floor without tripping over stuff."  "A" had an "uh-oh" look on her face as if she'd been caught! 

The Bible story went on with the Christians fasting, praying and laying on hands as Paul & Barnabas got ready to leave on their journey.  The girls didn't quite understand the idea of fasting because "if you're hungry, you just need to eat something".  I stressed to them that Paul & Barnabas could only take a few things with them as they traveled.  I asked them if they remembered how the people in the Bible days did their traveling.  "B" said, "They walked and rode on donkeys and horses."  I asked, "What about when they came to water?  What did they do then?"  She answered, "They rode in a boat.  OH, and they also rode on camels."

  I agreed with all of her answers.  She then added, "If they had a camel with three humps, then Paul can ride on one hump, Barnabas could ride on the next hump and they could just hang their bags on the third hump."  She thought she had the solution for sure!  I cracked up!  It's just too hard to keep a straight face sometimes.

We made praying hands and they were to draw things that they should pray for.  It's always interesting to see what is really on their little minds.

"B" drew a variety of things-home, her daddy, food, sunshine.  "A" drew only people and expected us to identify each one she drew...haha  It took us a while to come up with the right names since everyone looked alike!

"And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on the, they sent them away."  Acts 13:3

The Bible is the 'goodest' thing to share!

It was a bitterly cold day here in Oklahoma!  I'm so ready for winter to be over and to have sunshine and warmer days.  I had three little girls in class today and they were so eager to see what the story was about. "B" is learning to read and lately has been asking where in the Bible our story is from.  She has learned to quickly find the scriptures all by herself in her Bible and then finds it for several of the others.  So, so sweet!
Today's lesson was about the first Christians sharing.  We learned that Saul had his named changed to Paul after he obeyed God and was baptized.  He then went on to preach and teach throughout the area.  "B" asked me, "What was Steve's name before he became a Christian and a preacher?  Steve is our local preacher.  I had to giggle a bit as I told her that I'm sure his momma named him Steve when he was born and that he's always been named Steve.  You just never know what's going on in these little minds!   I went on to explain that the people were baptized and first called Christians at the town of Antioch.  They all know about baptism and that people become Christians when they are baptized.  

They story goes on with the prophet Agabus warning Saul & Barnabas about a famine and that the people wouldn't have food or money to buy food.  The new Christians in Antioch brought money to Saul & Barnabas to take to the needy people.

Our application story was about a tornado going through a town and a family waited the storm out in a cellar and were safe.  None of their property was damaged but in a nearby town, there was much damage and destruction.  The children in this family overheard their parents talking about the loss of houses and such.  The children asked if they could give some of their toys and clothes to the storm victims.  My girls started naming things they could give to people in times like this-toys, food, money, and clothes.  I then told them that something else we can always share with others is the Bible.  "B" said, "The Bible is the goodest thing to share."  What a profound statement coming from a 5 year old little girl! 

"...and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."-Acts 11:26



"Let's Get Out Of Here!"

We had a great Bible class Sunday!  I had three precious little girls that came.  Our story was about Peter being in jail and his group of friends at a house who were praying for him.  When I told that the friends were praying for him, "B" said, "You can even pray at school."  I  said, "Yes, you can.  You can pray at home at mealtimes and bedtime, in the car while on a trip, while outside playing and riding your bike."  She interrupted me to say, "Nooooo!  You can't pray when you're riding a bike because you can't see where you're going!"  Made me laugh!!  I said, "Well, sure you can pray when you ride your bike!  Just keep your eyes open and pray!"  "A" said, "You have to pay attention when you're riding your bike cos you might have a wreck."  They are just too funny!

I continued on with the story about how Peter was chained up between two guards so that he couldn't get away.  I told about the angel coming to wake him up, telling Peter to get dressed and follow him.  They retold the story by saying, "The angel from God snuck in the jail and woke Peter up.  The angel told Peter, "Put your clothes on! Put your shoes on!  LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"  Once again, I cannot keep a straight face!  OK, so maybe that's not quite how it was put to Peter, but it's how they perceived it. 

The story continues with the angel disappearing and Peter deciding he hadn't actually dreamed this but that it HAD happened and he was a free man.  He then went on to Mary's house where his friends were praying for him.  The servant girl, Rhoda, heard a knock at the door, heard a voice and recognized it as Peter's.  Then, in her excitement, she ran to tell the others and FORGOT to let Peter in!  My girlies thought that was so funny!  Several times throughout the rest of the class, they kept saying, "This is my favorite story EVER!"  This is one story that I hope will impress them about the power of prayer and how important it is for each of us to pray for each other.

"...Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me"-Acts 12:8

Don't Say Bad Words!

Last Sunday, I had a full classroom of kiddos. They were kind of wild and all wanting to talk at the same time. I finally got them settled down to listen to the story.  Our story was about the baptism of Cornelius.  At the part in the story where Peter is on the housetop praying, "L" says, "I like to pray at school, but I'm always afraid someone will laugh at me."  It's a shame that a pre-schooler is already feeling like she shouldn't be praying in school.  I assured her, that she CAN pray at school  or anywhere else she feels like doing it.

Later on during the class, something came up from one of them about listening to rap music and that sometimes it's not nice.  "A" put in her two cents worth of wisdom about that-"If you say bad words, your tongue will fall out."  I about died from trying not to laugh because she was totally serious!  "L" spoke up right quick about that- "That is NOT true!  Whoever told you that was just having a discussion."  Cracked me up!!  She was totally serious too and I'm not sure what she meant about the discussion part but it was still very funny! 

 

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment so that it will give grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4:29

Does God Shave?

I dearly LOVE children! I have been a Bible Class teacher for many years at my church.  As a teen, I helped my mom and learned a lot from her about how to properly teach young kids about God and Jesus.  Later on, I became THE teacher instead of the helper. 

Me with my own kids during Vacation Bible School one year

I love teaching preschoolers the best!  I just love watching them learn and to be so excited about learning. One of my little girls rushes up to me on Sundays and says, "Let's go to class now!  I'm ready to learn."  If only everyone else was as eager to be there as she is!

 Every Sunday, I seem to have at least one funny story to tell about what happened or what was said during class.  That is how the name of this blog was decided! 

A few weeks ago, our lesson was about the stoning of Steven.  Boy, did that topic ever get their attention!

I tried not to linger too long on the actual rock throwing and Steven's death since it is a little much for these 4-5 year olds.  I instead, focused on Steven's looking to the heavens as he was about to die...looking upon God and Jesus as his comfort.  Their take-home paper was a figure of Steven and a cloud figure to glue on a sheet of construction paper.  Steven was looking up towards the heavens.  Next, they were to draw what they thought God and Jesus might have looked like.  This is where the deep question was asked of me.."Does God shave?"  Little 5 year old "P" asked me this.  I had to giggle a bit but got myself under control and said, "I really don't know."  "P" then said, "I don't think He does cos His beard is really, really long. It just keeps growing and growing and whenever He needs to talk or do something, He just moves it out of the way." One of the girls said,"We really don't know what God & Jesus looks like."  "P" said, "I do!  I've seen Him and his beard is really long.  He cuts His hair, but not His beard."  (All of this time, they're continuing to draw their perception of God & Jesus on their papers. And, I'm quietly laughing now and making notes of their conversation on my phone.)  One of my little girls, "J", says, "No, He doesn't have a beard.  He has a GOATEE!"  That comment pushed me over the edge and I just busted out laughing!  Funniest thing ever!  I have no idea where she got the idea of a goatee but it still cracks me up every time I think of it!  And, who knows?  Maybe God DOES have a goatee!