Parable of the Lost Sheep

Today was the first Sunday of the new year and I'm excited to continue on with my little Bible Class.  I have some plans in my head to promote and encourage some memory work for these little ones.  Miss P was my only student this morning and she quickly reminded me that I DID NOT send her a card for missing class last week...oopsie! 

Our story today was from Luke 15 about a little lost sheep and the effort made by the shepherd to hunt for it and bring it back safely to the fold.

I first talked about what a shepherd does.  This shepherd in particular had 100 sheep to care for.  I explained that each day he took them out to find green pastures for them to eat from and cool water for them to drink.  I told how the shepherd's duty was to keep the sheep safe from wolves and other animals that might harm them.  Miss P said, "And dinosaurs!  Dinosaurs will grab them and kill them." Well, alrighty then!
I said that the shepherd counted his sheep and only had 99.  He was worried  about the one that was missing so he went looking for it.  Again, Miss P said, "The dinosaurs will get it and eat it!" 

So, anyway, the shepherd did indeed find the lost sheep and was so happy that it was safe...from the wolves AND the dinosaurs, I guess. 
After the story, we made the cutest little sheep craft!  On the back, I had written the memory verse and we went over it many times until she got it!

  Next, we acted out the story with our sheep, taking turns to be the lost one but always being found.  She really had a good time doing it and I think learned the lesson intended. 

 We  did a couple of other take-home papers, sang several songs and then ended with a prayer. 
"...I have found my sheep which was lost."  Luke 15:6

X's and O's

Long time no see on this little piece of blog land. I always say I'm going to try to do better but other things seem to get in the way at times.  I really miss kids when they age out of my class and go on to the next level of classes.  These two still come sit with me during worship and I just love it.

I always try to keep little booklets in my Bible to keep kids occupied when they sit with me.  I sometimes get to keep the little treasures that they make and I have quite a collection from them.  They're so creative and sometimes just plain funny! So, last night "P" and "B" were sitting with me, drawing in their books.  "P" was, in his words, "making part 2 of the monsters take over the world" story he made for me a while back.  He is SO meticulous in his drawings and he's really talented!  He spent the whole time last night just designing the cover of his book. "B" was making a get well card for her MeMa who was home not feeling well.  Her books are usually for people she loves and she puts a lot of love in whatever she's drawing for them.  On one page of her book last night she'd drawn a picture of MeMa in bed, one page had a balloon bouquet, and one was filled from top to bottom with X's and O's.

"P" happened to glance over at what she was drawing.  He saw the X's and O's and said, "What's that all about?  Ox, ox, ox, ox,ox?"  I almost had to get up and go out to the nursery since I got so tickled!!  "B" looked up at me with a disgusted look and said, "Tell him what it means."   So, I did, but I'm not sure he believed me.  It still looked like something about a lot of oxen to him.

They really are precious in His sight! And in mine too!  

We Ought To Obey

It was just me and "P" in Bible Class today but we still had a good time of learning about obeying.  Our story was one of Jesus' teachings in Matthew 21 about the father who had two sons and told them each to go work in the vineyard.  One obeyed  after first telling his father that he would not go to work.  The other son said that he would go to work in the vineyard but then did not go.

We talked about which son really obeyed and did as he was told by his father.   "P" said that she liked to help water the plants at home after we talked about what the sons in the story might have been doing in the vineyard.

I used other examples of how we obey our parents.  I said, "When momma says to come  eat your supper, you should say, "Yes, ma'am." and then obey her."  She agreed.  Then I said, "When momma says it's time to take a bath, you should say, "Yes, ma'am" and then obey her." She again agreed that is the right thing to do. Next, I said, "When momma says it's time for you to clean your room and pick up your toys, you should say, "Yes, ma'am, and then clean up your room."  She wrinkled up her little nose, frowned and said, "Cleaning up my room makes my tummy hurt."  I thought to myself-Me too, sister!  She wasn't going to be a part of that if she can help it!

The Peter and the other apostles answered, We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29

Happy Birthday To Me!

Last weekend Allan and I celebrated our birthdays with  a party at Roma's with our church friends.  We have a great group of friends that turn out to celebrate each other's birthdays and we always have such a fun time!

So, on Sunday morning, one of my little girls mentioned that it was my birthday.  I told her that yes, my birthday was on Saturday.  She asked, 'Miss Cheryl, just how old are you?"  I said, "I'm 35 (Ok, we all know  that I'm not 35)." She looked at me with these huge brown eyes and said, "35???? Oh my goodness!  You're going to be dead soon!!"  Out of the mouths of babes!  I'm glad I didn't tell her my real age!  No telling what she would have thought or said then!  I can remember when I was a child and thinking that most adults were really really old, so I know where she's coming from.  Still, it made me laugh!

Acts of Worship

Last Sunday morning, one of my little girls got to class kind of early and I wasn't quite ready ok, I really wasn't as prepared as I should have been.  I was scurrying around trying to get things set up for Jesus to walk on the water.  She asked me if she could look at this picture wheel that shows all the acts of worship.  I said ok and told her to tell me about each one.

She said, "We come to church to learn."  I said, "Yes, we do.  We learn in Bible Class and in worship when the preacher is teaching us."  "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."  Acts 20:7

She turned to the next picture and said, "We sing."  Again, I said, "Yes and even the children can sing in worship to God."  "Speaking to yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to God." Ephesians 5:19

She continued on, saying, "We pray at church."  I said, "Yes, we do and the children can pray too."  I ALWAYS stress to them about how to act, QUIET, during the prayers in our worship time.  "These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer..."  Acts 1:14

Next, she said, "And we put money in the plate."  Once again, I agreed we should all put money in the collection plate.  "On the first day of every week, each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.  I Corinthians 16:2

THEN, she came to the last picture on the wheel and said, "Oh, and there's crackers and grape juice."  I said, 'Yes, and is it for the children?"  She said, "No".  I went on to say, " It's for the grown-ups that are Christians."  She said, "Yeah, cos us kids have to bring our own snacks."  CRACKED ME UP!!  She seemed to think that this really was snack time for the grown-ups!  When I eat a snack, I for sure want more than a pinch of cracker and a swallow of grape juice!  She asked if she go through the wheel again, and I said, "Yes".  She gave about the same answers but when she came to the last picture, she said, "This is only for the Pilgrims."  Again, I laughed!  She knew it was for some group of people!  "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he come."  I Corinthians 11:26

It Isn't Any Trouble Just To P-R-A-Y Pray!

I've really, really neglected this little blog for way too long!  I  really don't have a good reason since the kids are always providing me a lot of material, so I'm going to try to do better and share some of the sweet and funny moments that happen in my Bible Class.

Today, we learned about prayer and Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray.  I love talking about prayer with young children.  You never know what they're going to say and it really gives you an incite to what is in their minds when they start thanking God for random things.

We learned that you can pray anywhere and that you don't have to get on your knees to pray.  You can talk to God anywhere and any time!  I mentioned that you can pray at church, in the car, outside riding a bike.  I was quickly told that you shouldn't close your eyes to pray if you're riding your bike because you might crash and get bad scrapes on your knees.  I agreed that yes, it was ok to keep your eyes open in that circumstance.  

We talked about praying before we eat our food, always thanking God for what we have to eat.  "A" told me that sometimes she is just too hungry and gobbles up her food so she doesn't take the time to pray.  

I think most kids are taught to say a bedtime prayer, at least I hope they're being taught that at home.  I talked about praying when we're happy, sad, scared or just thankful for something good that has happened.  I know that when I end my day with prayer that I'm really comforted by the thought that I've told God whatever was in my mind and on my heart and know that He really does hear me.  

We made a handprint craft (I'm crazy about handprint crafts!) where I listed anything they wanted to pray about.  "P" quickly spouted off 10 of her family members!  She was saying them as fast as I could write.  I thought it was sweet that she wanted to list herself and I told her that yes, we pray for ourselves to be good and obey our parents.

"A" really elaborated about specifics that she wanted to pray about.  She wants ALL the sick people in the world to be well.  She is thankful for all of her toys and to quote her, "I have a whole lot of them."  She wanted to pray for the "whole wide world that God made".  Along with family members, she said, "I want to  pray for you!"  Melt. My. Heart.  She said it without any prompting from me which made it even more special!  What really got me was what she said about Nan, her great-grandmother.  Nan is the one that brings her to church so she is a pretty special person.  Here is what she said about Nan:  "I'm going to pray that Nan will be young again and not be so old."  PRICELESS!  I could hardly wait to show Nan what she made and tell her the story.  Nan LOVED it, as I knew she would!  

Another tidbit of information that "A" randomly told me was this:  "If you say bad words, God will take away your voice."  Alrighty then!  A while back she told me, "If you say bad words, your tongue will fall out."  So, funny!  

"..ask and it shall be given unto you..."  Luke 11:9

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