It doesn't always happen, but this year Clean Your Room day lands on Mother's Day. That seems like a fitting match, maybe even a Mother's Day gift. But the truth is, this holiday isn't only for kids. I know plenty of adults who have a room that needs to be cleaned up. Our rooms are filled with so many possessions! So today as you clean your room remember to thank God for every single piece -- as they get put in the dresser, closet, or maybe even in the trash. And thank Jesus for his forgiveness in our lives and clean-up work he has done in our hearts.
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Oh how fun it is to go to someone's house and sleepover. Not because you need a babysitter, or because your parents are out of town. But to sleepover at a friend's house, just because you're friends -- now that is fun! Sometimes you get to stay up late and eat popcorn or watch a movie. Sometimes you get to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag, but you don't really sleep because you tell stories late into the night. Raiding the refrigerator at someone's house is fun, too. And you get to make funny combinations of stuff when their parents have already gone to bed. Have you ever had peanut butter in your ice cream at midnight, or a banana sandwich? It is fun just thinking about it. It is a fun way to see how other people live. What is it like to eat supper with another family? How do their parents talk to each other when they think no one is listening? And you get to see your friend's toys and house and bedroom and pets and books and bed and all the other stuff they have. But after all of that, usually it is fun to go home to your own bed where you can really sleep. And the food your mom cooks is more familiar. It's fun to visit our friends, but our own home is best. Can you imagine what it was like to leave your home in HEAVEN where everything was perfect, and come to live in Bethlehem. Earth was a nice place to visit, and Jesus came here for a very important reason. John 1:14 says that Jesus "moved into the neighborhood." But it wasn't just for a sleepover so he could see our pets and our houses, he came here to forgive our sins so we could go to heaven to live with him someday. His place is perfect, and I'm excited to think about going on a "forever sleepover" with Jesus and all of the other Christians in heaven someday! Something to think about: What do you think heaven is like? Talk to your parents today about people they know who have gone to heaven. If you are not sure that you will go to heaven when you die, ask your parents to help you understand how you can know for sure. Heaven will be a perfect place to live someday!! Today is the day that you officially get to drag out your flip flops, your sandals, or totally just go barefoot! It is No Socks Day! This fun day was invented by people who wanted to promote less laundry and more freedom. Seems like a kinda funny day, but I will thoroughly enjoy going all day without socks! I wonder who invented socks. When I looked it up on Google it seems as if there were socks long before Jesus was here. They were pretty funny looking, with just two divisions for toes so they could be worn with sandals. That reminds me of the socks I have seen where every toe goes in it's own slot, they were called "toe socks" and most people thought they were very uncomfortable. But, what is the purpose for socks anyway? What do you think? I would guess they were invented for warmth, or to keep our feet clean. I'm sure whatever the reason, they were created for a really important purpose. So were you! You were created for a very important purpose. It says in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are called according to his purpose." Are you following God purpose for you? He plans, or purposes, for you that you will follow after him and seek to do his will and when you do, all things will work together for your good. (Even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes we have to trust the heart of God who loves us and created us.) Here's a challenge for today: Find the basket of socks that don't have matches that your mom has stuck away somewhere. See if you can find some matches out of the pile. And while you are working on that, think about God's purpose for your life -- to live for him and share the gospel with others -- and enjoy going sock-less today! Since we live in the center of beautiful Minnesota, we maybe understand what "tourism" is more than other parts of the country. Tourism is when a city or an area feature something special about themselves so that people will come and see and spend money. In our part of the state, people come to see our beautiful lakes and rivers. Then restaurants and businesses try to get those people to come to town and buy stuff. That's tourism. Can you think of other tourism things in our area? Here's some ideas: people come to see our forests, our bike trails, our Paul Bunyan things. People come here to fish and hunt and ski and snowmobile and watch birds. There are so many cool things where we live, and many people drive lots of hours just to get to where we live. Sometimes it is easy to forget how beautiful it is around here and how people are drawn here because of its beauty. The Bible talks about a different kind of tourism. It doesn't use the word "tourism", but it says that people should be drawn to God because of you. In 2 Corinthians it calls us a "sweet fragrance of Christ". Just like people are drawn to Minnesota because of its beauty, people are drawn to Christ because our beauty (sweet fragrance). I guess that means we are all in the tourism business -- the work of drawing people to us to see the beauty of Christ. Can you think of some practical ways we can do that?? Today's special day celebrates something that we all enjoy -- beverages. What's your favorite? milk? pop or soda? juice? iced tea? water? lemonade? Do you have other ideas? Sometimes we even put special things in our beverages to make them even better, like ice cream in our root beer or lemon in our water. On a warm day or after playing outdoors it is very refreshing to get a tall glass of something, maybe with some ice, and just sit and sip! One time Jesus was looking for a cool beverage after a long walk. He sat down by a well and asked a woman there to help him get a drink with her water jug. They struck up a conversation and pretty soon they were talking about living water that Jesus could offer that would quench a thirst forever. The woman sure didn't understand that! Jesus was talking about himself -- He was "water" that could help her forever. He said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I give them will never thirst." (John 4:13) Go look in the refrigerator -- make a list of all the different things in there to drink. Thank Jesus for being the living water and his promise to help you forever. A pearl is used in many different kinds of jewelry. Your mom might have a pearl necklace, earrings, or a pearl ring. They come in lots of different sizes, shapes, and color but all real pearls come from oysters. The largest type of oysters can get as big as a dinner plate! An oyster is a shellfish that lives in salt water or fresh water. It sifts through its food from the water where it lives. But sometimes a piece of sand gets stuck in the oyster's sifting system. When that happens the oyster covers that little piece of "trouble" with a special substance. Layer after layer of it covers the sand and over time it becomes a pearl. People harvest oysters for food and sometimes they find this little oyster has a pearl inside. That is a treasure and can be very valuable for jewelry. What starts out as a little problem in the oyster's search for food turns into something valuable. Oh, does that remind you of a Bible story. Here's a hint: there was a old testament story of a real person who had lots of trouble with his brothers. They tried to kill him and evidently sold him as a slave! Many years later when the brothers got together again, the slave-brother said, "what you meant for evil, God used for good." (Genesis 50:20) Can you name the Bible character? Did you say Joseph?! If you did, you were right. God turned that bad thing (like the sand for the oyster) into something that brought good for the whole nation. Ask you mom if she has any pearls? She might have some imitation pearls or real pearls. Either kind can help you remember that God has the power to turn your bad things into good things! There really are at least three days in the year that celebrate, this one is just called "Bird Day". It was established in 1894 at a school in Pennsylvania as a special day to watch birds, all birds. Did you know there are about 10,000 different species of birds in the world, and only about 1,100 live in the United States. And the researchers say that only a few over 400 live in Minnesota. Have you ever got up early in the morning and listened to the birds? It is so pretty to hear them sing in the morning. Do you think they are talking to each other? What are they saying? Do you think they care about you watching them? Can you guess what the most common Minnesota bird is? You could look that up on your computer. Even though there are only 400+ kinds of birds in Minnesota, there are thousands of many of them. I don't know if anyone has a count on how many total birds there are in Minnesota. I can't even begin to guess, can you? One place I read said that the second most common bird in June to July in Minnesota is the Song Sparrow. Jesus know how many birds there are in Minnesota. He watches every one of them. Jesus said in the Bible in Luke 12:6-7, "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God." Jesus is telling the people that sparrows are important to him, but then he goes on to say, "Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." When we think about how God specially designed these little birds to know how to sing in the morning, how to fly south in the winter, and how to make a nest out of sticks -- that's pretty amazing. But God made you even more special than that, he know how many hairs on your head -- and you are so valuable. Today -- spend some time counting birds and thank God for watching over you! Sometimes we accidentally put on two different shoes, but today is the day you should do it on purpose. They don't even have to be the same style! I wonder how many people will notice your shoes. It will be pretty hard to wear them very long if they have a different heel. That would probably make you walk funny, but it would be a fun way to celebrate this funny day. This almost sounds like a made up "national day", but it really was invented by Dr. Arlene Kaiser and really has its own website! It is supposed to remind us about how diverse and different we are. It reminds me of that old Sunday School song that "Jesus Loves the little children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." It doesn't matter to Jesus what we look like. It doesn't matter how smart or tall we are. It doesn't matter if we have curly hair or freckles, or if we have a smart phone or not. Jesus loves us all and we are all partners in his church. We need to work together with other people -- who might not be like us -- and care for each other. John 13:34-35 says, "Love one another as I have loved you." So, today, when you are wearing your two different shoes and someone asks you why, tell them that you are thinking about loving other people who are different than you, just like Jesus does! I know you have heard of Mother's Day and Father's Day. You have probably heard of Grandparent's Day and you've maybe heard of Baby Day (which is also today), but today is Brother and Sister Day. This is the day we celebrate YOU. We're not really sure how this special holiday got started but it always celebrated on May 2, no matter what day of the week it is on. Most of you probably have a brother or sister, but even if you don't you are part of God's big family so we are brothers and sisters together. So what should we do to celebrate our siblings? Clean their room, nah. Should we let them have the biggest piece of cake? Well, should the brother or sister get the biggest? That seems like could start another family fight. How about thinking of something that would be special, something that no one else would think about. Think hard, you have all day, but make sure you come up with something to let them know that today we are celebrating them! Your family was put together by God, and your parents were so excited as you and your siblings joined the family. They love you very much and even though you might not want to admit it, you love your siblings very much. So celebrate today and thank God for each one of them. The first day of May has been celebrated as "May Day" for many, many years but it becoming a forgotten occasion. The day is a celebration that is about half way between the start of spring and the start of summer. When your parents and grandparents were kids, they would make a little basket filled with candy or flowers and secretly delivery it to a friend's door. After knocking and yelling "May Basket", they would run and hide. If they were caught they would get kissed! May Day is really just a way to celebrate summer and friendships and flowers and surprise! All of those things wrapped into one little basket dropped on a door step. It might be a fun little tradition for your family to do, starting with today! You can make a basket out of just about anything, fill it with flowers or candy, and surprise a friend or neighbor. You could even drop it off at your own house for your mom. That would really surprise her! Seeing the flowers in the spring always makes people smile. It confirms that the cold of winter is finally over and the new life of spring is here. The Bible says, "Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come!" (SofS 2:12) So, let's celebrate May Day with this fun little surprise and enjoy the "season of singing"! |
AuthorWriten by Sue Van Hal, Children's Church Leader Archives
July 2020
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