Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Letter of the Day = Lesson of the Year!


So, the letter of the day yesterday was "J" - a popular letter at our house. :-) So, you'd think that "J" day would be an easy one for me. Well, I had so much to choose from, I focused on three specific activities: Jesus dying on the Cross, Jack and Jill nursery rhyme (we even acted it out... so funny!), and finally, the story of Jonah and the whale. We had much fun doing art and telling the stories on our chalk board. Of course, there's no more powerful story than Jesus on the Cross, but honestly, I was struck by how much my boys seemed to learn about Jonah. And oh my word, me too. The Bible encourages a childlike faith and teaching these stories to my boys is helping me do that. I love their questions. Here's some of their questions about Jonah: Why didn't he just obey? Wouldn't that be easier? Was he scared in that fish? Did he want his mommy? How did the fish find him? Here's some of MY questions that arose too - Why does God love us so much that He's willing to give us second (and third and fourth) chances when we deliberately disobey him? Why is disobedience so enticing? Why is it so easy? What blessings have I missed because I simply didn't want to do something God told me to do? What if He chose (chooses) NOT to give me a second chance when I disobey?
Wow - didn't expect a simple letter of the day to have such a profound impact on me. Thank you Lord for continually teaching me. Even through my children.

2 comments:

Mommy Webb said...

Great post. And great reminder. People who say the Bible is boring just need to read a few of the stories like Jonah:). Thank you for setting such a great example of the high priority that the Word should have in teaching our children. Love ya.

Miriam said...

Very Cool! You're right, teaching our children about the Lord can also be a challenge to our own faith at times. Yet in the end it always grows us. Jurnee will ask so many deep questions that I simply don't know the answers to...the answer is "faith" most the time, which is difficult to convey to a 3 year old. Thanks for sharing!!