God Calls Abram

"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euprhates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan.' " (Joshua 24:2-3)

This week we began the sweet story of God's grace and faithfulness to Abraham, a man chosen by God and given three promises: that he would be given the land that God would lead him to, that he would lead a great nation and that through him all the world would be blessed. We emphasized that God loves to tell his people things, that Abraham was chosen not for anything that he had done but because God is good and that God always keeps His promises. I also told the children that God's promise to bless the whole world through him was the same promise He had made Adam and Eve in the garden -- a promise to send the Redeemer Jesus, who would reverse the curse.

In opening time, we reviewed several of the five verses that we have learned so far, playing games we had done in previous weeks and singing the Scriptures. Melanie and Joey both knew most of the verses -- Melanie from the CD and Joey from his grandma -- he says she practices for her 3-year-old class on him!

In our classroom, we sat down at a table with writing paper, crayons, envelopes, stickers resembling postage stamps, and round stampers to use as "postmarks." While we "wrote" letters, we talked about why we write letters, how fun it is to get a letter in the mail and how nice it is to be able to read that letter over and over again. (Or have it read to us.) I told the children that God loves to talk to his people, and that we would hear many stories this year about God talking to men. He still talks to His people today, and the most usual way He does that is through a very special letter: His Word. I emphasized that he can also do it other ways, but the most usual way we hear from God is by reading or listening to the Bible. The Holy Spirit helps us understand and love God's Word.

Then we moved to our story rug where the children took turns pulling items from out of a suitcase I had brought: a foam mattress, a Bible, an apple, a sleeping cap, a set of pajamas, a toothbrush. I told the children that this would be enough to bring if I were just going away for one night -- but what if I were going for a week? Noooo. Or a year? Nooooo. I would need to bring a lot more than that if I were going away for a long, long time. I told them that today's story was about a man whom God told to pack up all his things and go far away, leaving his comfortable home -- and He also made some wonderful promises to him. And Abraham did what God told him to: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents." (Hebrews 11:8-9)

When we had finished, Melanie seemed sad. I asked her why and she said that she was sad because Abram had had to leave his family and friends and never see them again. I agreed that that must have been very, very hard. But I reminded her that God was so good to let Abram take his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and all of his servants and the servants' children and all his camels and sheep. And most of all, God was so good to give him His loving presence. I said sometimes we have to give up something that is good to get something that is even better.

After the story, I hid the items in the suitcase around the room and let the children find them and pack up as quickly as they could.

Then we sat back down and I layed out tiny envelopes with letters of the alphabet on the outside. I had the children take turns choosing which letter came first, starting with A, and continuing on. Inside the envelopes were little letters with questions from the story written on them. The children did very well remembering Abram's name, the promises God had made and that God was faithful to do just what He had promised.

To wrap up the evening in our room, we played a Verse Review game using two different colored sets of construction paper cards. Blue cards showed picture hints for each of the verses we have memorized. (The same pictures as found in the VersePaks). Red cards displayed a variety of instructions, such as, "March in place," or "Hold hands like an angel choir." We layed all the cards out on the floor, and Melanie offered to let us use Aerial, her teddy bear, to toss. The children took turns tossing Aerial first on a blue card (the verse), then on a red card (the instruction). Then we would sing that verse while following the instruction.

We did this for all five verses. Melanie was sweet to lend us her bear, even though she worried about Aerial getting tossed at first. Joey was so kind to make sure that Melanie got her turns at the right time. We missed so many of our friends who were sick this week and hope that they all feel better and are back on Wednesday!

Most of you should have received a letter showing the Badge Requirements for this year. If not, they are listed under Badge Requirements 2009-10 to the right of this screen. I will explain a little bit about each of the badges as we progress. The Scripture Badge is self-explanatory. By listening the jingles on the CD, most of the children will easily learn the 10 verses required for this award. Children may learn as many sets of 10 verses as they are able to during the year. Our goal is for them to understand and retain the verses, "to hide them in their heart," rather than to just be able to say them one week and then forget them. This is why we learn the verses in groups and review continually in the classroom. The jingles, while very simple, are a great tool for retention. My own teenage children remember verses that they learned to music to this day. But whatever works best for your child is great! Our job is to come alongside you and help you as you obey God by raising your child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thank you for letting me serve you in this way. It really is a great joy in my life.

P.S. I will discuss in a later post the Reading Badge, but I just want to recommend most highly the book "Grandpa's Box: Retelling the Biblical Story of Redemption." It would be a wonderful accompaniment to the Old Testament survey we are doing in class. The book is listed as being for ages 9-12, but as a readaloud it is very appropriate for any of the children in this class. The chapters are very short and interesting. There are no pictures, but this is a good age to be teaching them to listen to stories if they are not already doing so. Reading to them while they are in the bathtub or laying in bed all ready to sleep is a good way to help them start to build those skills. You could also have them color or draw or play with pipe cleaners as they listen to you read.