That's what I thought of when someone googled Jesus healing the soldier's servant (not the servant's soldier) and Peter (not Jesus) walking on the water.
You know all those early education exercises: Which two pictures or letters or numbers are the same? Which one is different?
For you as a grown-up or maybe even with older kids...take two similar stories from scripture and look at them from a different angle. What's the same? What's different?
Just a simple change of position, a shift in where you're standing, may help you see things you haven't seen before.
A non-story example: If you take a camera and...how about a tree. Any tree. Take photos from different angles, different positions. You may not be able to take it from overhead unless you climb a taller tree or photograph a small tree from an upstairs window. Lay on the ground and take a picture looking up. Take it from 4 different positions. Take 4 sides standing up. Take a far away and and up close. Take the whole tree and parts of the tree. Take the bark, a leaf, a pine cone. Take bark, leaf and pine cone in the same picture. It's all the same tree. God made that tree. But there's so much to see (and smell and touch and hear...!) Choose two trees. Using the exact same picture of 2 different trees may be a better analogy.
Anyway if you do that with stories from scripture - without adding, taking away or speculating- I'm guessing you will see things you haven't seen before.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Leftovers?
Somebody asked "What did Jesus do with the leftovers?"
It doesn't say.
Does that mean it's not important? Good possibility! Or at least it doesn't matter in this story. Is there a story where using what you have or not wasting, or not throwing away or...pick a word or phrase...is there a story in scripture about that? Remember the story of the manna and the people were only supposed to take what they would use and the rest rotted? Not exactly the same but similar.
What could he have done with the leftovers?
Another thing to do (unless you're using the method that just looks at the text and doesn't look elsewhere - forgot what it's called) is take a word like "waste" or "left" or "left over," do a word study and see where it takes you.
It doesn't say.
Does that mean it's not important? Good possibility! Or at least it doesn't matter in this story. Is there a story where using what you have or not wasting, or not throwing away or...pick a word or phrase...is there a story in scripture about that? Remember the story of the manna and the people were only supposed to take what they would use and the rest rotted? Not exactly the same but similar.
What could he have done with the leftovers?
Another thing to do (unless you're using the method that just looks at the text and doesn't look elsewhere - forgot what it's called) is take a word like "waste" or "left" or "left over," do a word study and see where it takes you.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Activity ideas at Emerging Kids
Most of my rambling posts about activities are more about possibilities than take home projects...but in a nutshell (and I think this applies to every age):
Tell or read God's stories.
What concrete parts of the story can kids relate to? How can you help with that?
Depending on the age you're working with, do you need the big picture of the story or more details. I can get bogged down with details and miss the simple big picture. But both are important depending on the age and the individuals you're working with.
With all the different translations and personal differences, how do you handle God's Word as more than just a story like every other story?
How do you give the Holy Spirit room to work?
Each of us loves and remembers different kinds of learning activities. Think about the specific kids you have. What can you do with children to help them interact with the story so they take away more than a throw-away project? What can you do with children to help them remember the story?
How can you assess what each of your kids took away from the story? Is that important?
2 Tim 3:15 talks about the scriptures. I assume it includes God's stories.
Tell or read God's stories.
What concrete parts of the story can kids relate to? How can you help with that?
Depending on the age you're working with, do you need the big picture of the story or more details. I can get bogged down with details and miss the simple big picture. But both are important depending on the age and the individuals you're working with.
With all the different translations and personal differences, how do you handle God's Word as more than just a story like every other story?
How do you give the Holy Spirit room to work?
Each of us loves and remembers different kinds of learning activities. Think about the specific kids you have. What can you do with children to help them interact with the story so they take away more than a throw-away project? What can you do with children to help them remember the story?
How can you assess what each of your kids took away from the story? Is that important?
2 Tim 3:15 talks about the scriptures. I assume it includes God's stories.
Monday, August 24, 2009
a little sidetracked...
Started looking at the things that Jesus said to the 12 disciples. Got distracted when I read Matthew 10:42. Does that mean little ones were there, too?
So then I decided to look up "little ones." (A different word study than "child" or "children"). This word study list is from "biblestudytools.com" Does it mean there were little ones there? And what about all those other places that weren't neccessarily about children where that same word "little" was used? It's just interesting.
Then all those references made me think of Zechariah 4:10. I looked up the NAS cross references but then I was curious about that word and what other passages in the OT used the same word. Promises, warnings, (often inclusive & impartial) stories (including David, the little girl in the story of Naaman, the little boy who went with David to meet Jonathan, references to younger and youngest ) .
It's just interesting.
So then I decided to look up "little ones." (A different word study than "child" or "children"). This word study list is from "biblestudytools.com" Does it mean there were little ones there? And what about all those other places that weren't neccessarily about children where that same word "little" was used? It's just interesting.
Then all those references made me think of Zechariah 4:10. I looked up the NAS cross references but then I was curious about that word and what other passages in the OT used the same word. Promises, warnings, (often inclusive & impartial) stories (including David, the little girl in the story of Naaman, the little boy who went with David to meet Jonathan, references to younger and youngest ) .
It's just interesting.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Naaman's servant girl activity
with typical pondering and rambling.... This is a story you could have fun acting out or doing with puppets. Let the kids make the puppets and do the show.
You could also use dolls and water and play the story.
You can do some research before you start about the disease, the two armies and why they were fighting. . .
When you tell Bible stories about war and soldiers remember kids from families in the armed services may connect to these stories in ways that other kids don't.
What is leprosy? What does it look like? What does it feel like? Remember concrete and sensory with children. In Israel lepers were outcast. They had no friends? The only people they could be friends with were sick like them? Do you know kids in situations like that?
I find it interesting that the Samaritans were considered lesser Jews or out of the mainstream when Jesus walked but this prophet, Elisha, was in Samaria and Naaman was healed there.
Naaman is the commander of a major army. But he has a horrible disease that has no cure. Imagine taking orders from someone with leprosy - someone who is ugly with disease. He is a soldier. A valiant soldier! A well-respected, honored man with a disease. And it says, the Lord had given victory through him.
Somehow being captured by a "band" of soldiers sounds more like thievery than war. In a sense, the little girl is kidnapped but she ends up in the home of a commander. Given the value (or lack of value) of children, particularly the children of enemies, was that typical? It seems God took especially good care of her.
This little girl knows her master is sick. She has access to her mistress. She knows who the prophet of her own people is. She knows that he makes people better. She could stay silent and withdrawn but she shares this information with her mistress. She is compassionate. She is brave. Her mistress listens to her!! If your kids were put into a situation like this, would they speak up? Would they know or volunteer someone who heals impossible situations?
I imagine the next thing she is aware of is the return of her master and the stories he tells. He comes home healed! Something amazing happens to him. Is she surprised? We don't know. Maybe he tells the story of what happened. He got angry but he did what the crazy man said. He took lots of treasure to pay the man but all it cost him was his pride.
And now he would worship the God of Israel! Did this simple act of faith and unusual chain of events unlock a door for the child to worship the God of her fathers with her foreign master's family instead of being forced to worship a foreign god?
And what's with the dirt?
If you work with grown-ups, teens or pre-teens consider looking at the story from the perspective of the different people in the story. What would they know first hand and what would they not know? What would they see and hear? You can look at it from the child's perspective, the wife's, Naaman's, one of the men who went with Namaan, Elijah's.
Visit a polluted body of water and imagine washing there and watching all of the sores or discoloration on your body miraculously disappear. Today we think about pollution causing sores and disease. God worked a miracle for an enemy of His people and used a little girl forced to serve them to do it.
Activities: Take a 1/2 sheet of white paper and a piece of blue cellophane* or blue paper the same size. Tape the blue sheet over the paper, taping just the sides. Leave the top and bottom open. Create a template of Naaman (front and back) to color, cut, and glue together so it can sit on a craft stick- a two-sided stick puppet of Naaman. Don't attach it so it's easy to slide the figure on and off the stick. Make two puppets - two Naamans- one is sick, one is not. Hide the healed Naaman in the blue cellophane envelope. Sick Naaman goes into the water behind the blue cellophane. (Slip the stick out of one puppet and into the other one.) Healed Naaman comes out.
With younger kids the cellophane will tear easily. You could also do it with two sculpy Naamans or two laminated Naamans in a tub of water.
The usual focus of the story is Naaman. But what about the little girl's story? Can you divide your class into small groups of 4-5 and let them pretend. The soldiers take the little girl. She goes to a strange house. She sees that her master is sick and tells her mistress about the prophet. Naaman goes off to Elijah. He comes home and tells them the story.
Do you want a take home craft project or something to do that will allow your kids to jump into a story about a child and her faith in God? Consider taking photos or video of the non-paper/pencil activities that you do. If your families have computers save the pictures on CD and send copies home with your children at the end of the year. If it's not in your budget maybe each child can bring in a blank CD.
*blue cellophane is fairly brittle. It's a pain in the neck to work with. Pre-cut the pieces and place them in a manila folder under something heavy to keep the pieces flat until you need them. Using sharp scissors or a rotary cutter helps. It tears easily. Cut extras.
You could also use dolls and water and play the story.
You can do some research before you start about the disease, the two armies and why they were fighting. . .
When you tell Bible stories about war and soldiers remember kids from families in the armed services may connect to these stories in ways that other kids don't.
What is leprosy? What does it look like? What does it feel like? Remember concrete and sensory with children. In Israel lepers were outcast. They had no friends? The only people they could be friends with were sick like them? Do you know kids in situations like that?
I find it interesting that the Samaritans were considered lesser Jews or out of the mainstream when Jesus walked but this prophet, Elisha, was in Samaria and Naaman was healed there.
Naaman is the commander of a major army. But he has a horrible disease that has no cure. Imagine taking orders from someone with leprosy - someone who is ugly with disease. He is a soldier. A valiant soldier! A well-respected, honored man with a disease. And it says, the Lord had given victory through him.
Somehow being captured by a "band" of soldiers sounds more like thievery than war. In a sense, the little girl is kidnapped but she ends up in the home of a commander. Given the value (or lack of value) of children, particularly the children of enemies, was that typical? It seems God took especially good care of her.
This little girl knows her master is sick. She has access to her mistress. She knows who the prophet of her own people is. She knows that he makes people better. She could stay silent and withdrawn but she shares this information with her mistress. She is compassionate. She is brave. Her mistress listens to her!! If your kids were put into a situation like this, would they speak up? Would they know or volunteer someone who heals impossible situations?
I imagine the next thing she is aware of is the return of her master and the stories he tells. He comes home healed! Something amazing happens to him. Is she surprised? We don't know. Maybe he tells the story of what happened. He got angry but he did what the crazy man said. He took lots of treasure to pay the man but all it cost him was his pride.
And now he would worship the God of Israel! Did this simple act of faith and unusual chain of events unlock a door for the child to worship the God of her fathers with her foreign master's family instead of being forced to worship a foreign god?
And what's with the dirt?
If you work with grown-ups, teens or pre-teens consider looking at the story from the perspective of the different people in the story. What would they know first hand and what would they not know? What would they see and hear? You can look at it from the child's perspective, the wife's, Naaman's, one of the men who went with Namaan, Elijah's.
Visit a polluted body of water and imagine washing there and watching all of the sores or discoloration on your body miraculously disappear. Today we think about pollution causing sores and disease. God worked a miracle for an enemy of His people and used a little girl forced to serve them to do it.
Activities: Take a 1/2 sheet of white paper and a piece of blue cellophane* or blue paper the same size. Tape the blue sheet over the paper, taping just the sides. Leave the top and bottom open. Create a template of Naaman (front and back) to color, cut, and glue together so it can sit on a craft stick- a two-sided stick puppet of Naaman. Don't attach it so it's easy to slide the figure on and off the stick. Make two puppets - two Naamans- one is sick, one is not. Hide the healed Naaman in the blue cellophane envelope. Sick Naaman goes into the water behind the blue cellophane. (Slip the stick out of one puppet and into the other one.) Healed Naaman comes out.
With younger kids the cellophane will tear easily. You could also do it with two sculpy Naamans or two laminated Naamans in a tub of water.
The usual focus of the story is Naaman. But what about the little girl's story? Can you divide your class into small groups of 4-5 and let them pretend. The soldiers take the little girl. She goes to a strange house. She sees that her master is sick and tells her mistress about the prophet. Naaman goes off to Elijah. He comes home and tells them the story.
Do you want a take home craft project or something to do that will allow your kids to jump into a story about a child and her faith in God? Consider taking photos or video of the non-paper/pencil activities that you do. If your families have computers save the pictures on CD and send copies home with your children at the end of the year. If it's not in your budget maybe each child can bring in a blank CD.
*blue cellophane is fairly brittle. It's a pain in the neck to work with. Pre-cut the pieces and place them in a manila folder under something heavy to keep the pieces flat until you need them. Using sharp scissors or a rotary cutter helps. It tears easily. Cut extras.
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