Each day until Thanksgiving, Everyday Truth is looking at a different reason to be thankful in a family devotional. Use these devotionals with your kids to help keep your family focused on giving thanks. If you missed the introductory post, check it out here for directions on creating a "Thanksgiving wall." When you're done wiht the devotional head on over to the Everyday Truth Facebook page and join in the discussion of why we're thankful for God's creation.
I love to learn new things. Just last night, I learned how to make a new recipe for dinner. I didn't have a person teach me. I learned it by following the directions in my cookbook. I could read the directions because a long time ago someone taught me to read. I could follow the directions because when I was a kid my mom taught me how to cook.
God gave us brains that can absorb and remember information. Our minds let us learn new things, but without someone to teach us how to do things, we would be lost.
There are lots of teachers in our lives. Can you think of a few? You have teachers at school and at church. But did you know your coach, the person who teaches you to play piano and your dance instructor are all teachers, too? Your parents and even your brothers and sisters can be teachers, too. Anyone who takes the time to teach you something is a teacher.
God made us all with special gifts and talents, and He wants us to use those gifts and talents to share with others. Jesus was the ultimate teacher. Matthew 11:1 tells us "After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee." Jesus spent much of his time teaching other people about what God wanted them to do.
Think of the people in your life who have taught you about Jesus. Those are important teachers in your life. There's no more important thing for us to learn than to learn what God wants us to do. And God wants us to be teachers, too. He wants us to teach other people about Jesus.
Be thankful today for the people in your life who are teachers. Be especially thankful for those people who have taught you about Jesus. Thank God for all the teachers he has put in your life. Write the names of those people on your Thanksgiving wall. Be sure to tell some of those teachers thank you in person, as well.
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Summer: Don't Lose Your Voice
As many of you know, we had a rough winter around here. My kids were sick more than they were well. We are a family happy to see the warmer days of spring and are looking forward to the even warmer, germ-free days of summer.
However, it seems that illness decided to take one last whack at our family. Both girls spent time at home in the past two weeks with head colds and ear infections. Amazingly, as much illness as has been in our home over the past five months, I have managed not to get sick. Until this week.
I have a miserable head cold. My head is stuffed up, my throat is sore, and I've lost my voice. There's a lot of "What did you say?" going on around here. I have to resort to a combination of whispering and hand motions to get my point across. I will be so glad to be well.
As summer rolls around and we begin focusing on what we want to teach our children with the extra time we have, it can be easy to lose your everday voice. We can get so caught up in our plans for the summer that we miss the everyday moments to teach our kids. While having a plan for the summer is great, don't let that plan become the only focus of your summer.
We want to continue to take advantage of every opportunity to teach our kids in the style of Deuteronomy 6:6-9. We want to use the everyday moments of the summer to pass along God's truth. Look at the opportunities that God gives us to teach every day. Read those verses: "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Make this command your purpose for the summer. Talk about God at every opportunity.
If you're at the zoo, talk about how God created everything. If your child is going off to sports camp of some kind, talk about the importance of being a good sport and revealing a Godly character. If you're hanging out in the pool, talk about how God is like a lifeguard -- he saves us.
Have a plan for the summer, but use those everyday moments to bring God into your lives each day of the summer. Don't lose your everyday voice in the midst of your summer plans.
Next week, the blog is going to focus on ways to teach particular topics during the summer. I'd love to know what some of you are planning to focus on with your kids this summer, so I can get you started. Leave me a comment here on the blog or on the Facebook page letting me know what topic you'll be creating opportunities to teach your kids this summer.
However, it seems that illness decided to take one last whack at our family. Both girls spent time at home in the past two weeks with head colds and ear infections. Amazingly, as much illness as has been in our home over the past five months, I have managed not to get sick. Until this week.
I have a miserable head cold. My head is stuffed up, my throat is sore, and I've lost my voice. There's a lot of "What did you say?" going on around here. I have to resort to a combination of whispering and hand motions to get my point across. I will be so glad to be well.
As summer rolls around and we begin focusing on what we want to teach our children with the extra time we have, it can be easy to lose your everday voice. We can get so caught up in our plans for the summer that we miss the everyday moments to teach our kids. While having a plan for the summer is great, don't let that plan become the only focus of your summer.
We want to continue to take advantage of every opportunity to teach our kids in the style of Deuteronomy 6:6-9. We want to use the everyday moments of the summer to pass along God's truth. Look at the opportunities that God gives us to teach every day. Read those verses: "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Make this command your purpose for the summer. Talk about God at every opportunity.
If you're at the zoo, talk about how God created everything. If your child is going off to sports camp of some kind, talk about the importance of being a good sport and revealing a Godly character. If you're hanging out in the pool, talk about how God is like a lifeguard -- he saves us.
Have a plan for the summer, but use those everyday moments to bring God into your lives each day of the summer. Don't lose your everyday voice in the midst of your summer plans.
Next week, the blog is going to focus on ways to teach particular topics during the summer. I'd love to know what some of you are planning to focus on with your kids this summer, so I can get you started. Leave me a comment here on the blog or on the Facebook page letting me know what topic you'll be creating opportunities to teach your kids this summer.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Summer: Creating Opportunities to Teach
A couple of summers ago, my kids had a case of what the Berenstein Bears call the "gimmes." You've all run into the "gimmes." You walk into a store, and immediately your kids start saying "gimme this" or "gimme that." It seemed as if my kids had turned into greedy children almost overnight.
So, I decided we were going to spend the summer focusing on those less fortunate than we are. I created a summer "camp" around an Amazing Race theme. We called it "Passport to the World." Every week we "traveled" to a different country where we learned about the customs in that country and compared them to the way we live in the U.S. We also learned about a missionary in that country and the work they did.
By the time our summer was over, my girls and four of their friends had a good grasp on how people in the rest of the world live and how fortunate they were to be able to go to school, have enough to eat and not be limited in their options for life simply because of who their family is. They learned six Bible verses and ate some different foods.
Their attitudes had undergone a radical change as well. While we still get the occasional attack of the "gimmes" in our house, more often we find our girls looking for people in need and trying to meet those needs. We've continued to work with the girls and teach them about unselfishness, but the roots of what they learned came from that summer spent "traveling" around the world.
While most of the time, this blog is about finding moments to teach in your kids simply as you go about your life, summer is the perfect time to set aside some time to create an opportunity to teach your children. Great teaching takes place in the spur of the moment -- and we'll talk about that tomorrow -- but if you create an opportunity to put the spotlight on a character quality or other subject for the entire summer, you can take advantage of the time to really reinforce the concept.
Yesterday, I asked you to create a focus statement for your summer. Today, I'm going to walk you through the steps to create your own opportunity to teach your kids this summer. Your opportunity doesn't have to be as big as our "trip" around the world. You can take a half hour a week to get your point across, or you can do something every day. The amount of time you invest is up to you. The important thing is that you make the effort to provide your kids with a concentrated focus for the summer.
Begin by making a few decisions:
You can create an entire summer of activity focused on your theme or you can plan to spend a few minutes each day simply talking with your kids about a topic. Whatever you do, make it fun and make it memorable. Let your knowledge of your kids be your guide in creating activities. If your kids love crafts, plan some craft activities around your theme. If they love sports, figure out a way to get some physical activity in your time together.
Make the most of your time together this summer by creating opportunities to teach your kids because the days will slip by quickly. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." In our house, we've found summer to be the season for creating opportunities to teach our kids, mold their character and have fun together. I hope this summer, you'll find that to be true, too.
Next week, the blog is going to focus on ways to teach particular topics during the summer. I'd love to know what some of you are planning to focus on with your kids this summer, so I can get you started. Leave me a comment here on the blog or on the Facebook page letting me know what topic you'll be creating opportunities to teach your kids this summer.
So, I decided we were going to spend the summer focusing on those less fortunate than we are. I created a summer "camp" around an Amazing Race theme. We called it "Passport to the World." Every week we "traveled" to a different country where we learned about the customs in that country and compared them to the way we live in the U.S. We also learned about a missionary in that country and the work they did.
By the time our summer was over, my girls and four of their friends had a good grasp on how people in the rest of the world live and how fortunate they were to be able to go to school, have enough to eat and not be limited in their options for life simply because of who their family is. They learned six Bible verses and ate some different foods.
Their attitudes had undergone a radical change as well. While we still get the occasional attack of the "gimmes" in our house, more often we find our girls looking for people in need and trying to meet those needs. We've continued to work with the girls and teach them about unselfishness, but the roots of what they learned came from that summer spent "traveling" around the world.
While most of the time, this blog is about finding moments to teach in your kids simply as you go about your life, summer is the perfect time to set aside some time to create an opportunity to teach your children. Great teaching takes place in the spur of the moment -- and we'll talk about that tomorrow -- but if you create an opportunity to put the spotlight on a character quality or other subject for the entire summer, you can take advantage of the time to really reinforce the concept.
Yesterday, I asked you to create a focus statement for your summer. Today, I'm going to walk you through the steps to create your own opportunity to teach your kids this summer. Your opportunity doesn't have to be as big as our "trip" around the world. You can take a half hour a week to get your point across, or you can do something every day. The amount of time you invest is up to you. The important thing is that you make the effort to provide your kids with a concentrated focus for the summer.
Begin by making a few decisions:
- How much time do you have?
- Do you want to work with just your kids or do you want to invite some of their friends?
- How much money do you want to spend?
- Do you want to do it all at your home or do you want to go elsewhere?
- What resources do you need?
- When will you meet?
You can create an entire summer of activity focused on your theme or you can plan to spend a few minutes each day simply talking with your kids about a topic. Whatever you do, make it fun and make it memorable. Let your knowledge of your kids be your guide in creating activities. If your kids love crafts, plan some craft activities around your theme. If they love sports, figure out a way to get some physical activity in your time together.
Make the most of your time together this summer by creating opportunities to teach your kids because the days will slip by quickly. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." In our house, we've found summer to be the season for creating opportunities to teach our kids, mold their character and have fun together. I hope this summer, you'll find that to be true, too.
Next week, the blog is going to focus on ways to teach particular topics during the summer. I'd love to know what some of you are planning to focus on with your kids this summer, so I can get you started. Leave me a comment here on the blog or on the Facebook page letting me know what topic you'll be creating opportunities to teach your kids this summer.
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