A "Hands-Up" Victory

Triumph comes at the hand of the Lord. That was our theme for this week's lesson about the children of Israel defeating the Amalekites. We traced our hands and colored them, then gathered for our story time. We talked about how hard it is to hold up your hands in the air for very long, then heard the story about Moses, helped by Aaron and Hur, praying with uplifted hands during the battle. (When Moses' hands were raised in prayer, the Israelites would gain ground; when he had to lower, them the Israelites lost ground.) I emphasized that Moses' hands were not actually determining the course of the battle but that God was doing it in answer to Moses' prayers. God wanted to show the Israelites that He hears and answers their prayers, and that He alone is the source of their strength. (And, oh, what a source He is.)
In the question and answer time, they correctly answered this question: What would happen to you if God stopped helping you? I think it was CJ who said: "We couldn't do anything!" He's right! We couldn't even go on living without his help! In Him we live and move and have our being. This is an awesome thought for 5-year-olds to ponder. (For me, too!) As my husband puts it, God holds every beat of your heart in His hand at every moment. That certainly puts things in the proper perspective.
We also talked about how Jesus is always praying for His people, and without His prayers we would have no hope.
We put together a puzzle of our verse, Exodus 20:2-3, then played a game replacing key phrases with pictures and singing the jingle each time we put in a new picture. This seems to be an especially effective way to teach the meaning of the verse, and to help cement it in the memory, a phrase at a time. This starts our study of the Ten Commandments, the moral Law of God. How wonderful it is that the children are memorizing and will always know these absolute truths in our relativistic, post-modern times.
They are doing great with learning their verses, and they all have sweet and eager attitudes. I can't tell you how much I love to be with your children. The hour we have together flies by, and the Lord blesses me so much through them. I thank God for making little children and thank you for bringing yours to hear the Word of God.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: In opening time, I was chatting with early bird SarahClaire about all the things that God does. She rattled off a list of all the amazing ways He keeps the world going. I said something like, "I'd get tired if I had to do all that, but He never does!" She said, "Yeah, he must not have any kids."

NOTE: Please notice that we have revised the Memory Verse Schedule. I have posted the revised timetable under the "Verse Schedule" link to the right and will e-mail you an updated copy, as well. Blessings to you this week!