Teaching the Hard Stories

       God knows us, inside and out, and Faith pleases Him. We learned this Truth through a story that many children's Bible curriculums omit: the story of Cain and Abel. We handled the murder with care, but teaching our children how to understand difficult stories like this is vital to guiding them to a deep faith, rather than a shallow one. Cain was rejected because he gave his gift without Faith in his heart; Abel was accepted because he had Faith. Only God knows the difference.
     To prepare for the story, we had set out dolls with blankets among the other toys during Opening Time. We also had a simple activity available to make a baby doll by wrapping a peanut in a felt blanket, then securing it with a pipe cleaner. Children are free to choose which activities or toys they play with during this time. When children played with the dolls or did the baby craft, we chatted with them about babies in general, and what it would be like to have never seen or even heard of a baby -- then to suddenly meet one! We reminded them that Adam and Eve would never have seen a baby. The only people they had seen were each other, both grownups. To pique their interest, we let them know that they were going to hear about the World's First Baby. We also had some puzzles out with the two verses we had previously learned written on them, and several of the children worked on them while Danielle led them in singing the verse. Bethany had brought several homemade bracelets, and she showed a willingness to give sacrificially when she let her friends each pick out one to keep.
    Clean-up went smoothly with lots of eager helpers.  We gathered around our table for a little introduction to our Bible Story Time.  I showed the children a small box, telling them that even though they didn't know what was in it, God did. God knows everything. He knows what is inside of that box, and he knows what is inside of us, too. He knows what we think and the things we feel. He knows things that no one knows. Then I told them that our story was about two boys and what was inside of them.
        As I began the story of Cain and Abel, I emphasized that both brought gifts to God, but only Abel came with a heart full of true thankfulness and faith in God's promise to rescue broken Man, recognizing that he was sinful and did not deserve the blessings of God. We stressed that Faith is trusting in God's promises. Only Faith pleases God, so Cain's faithless gift was rejected. Anger and jealousy welled up in Cain, and he did not fight his sinful thoughts. Instead, he gave into them and killed his brother. I made my face and voice very sad during this part and not a child stirred as we considered the horror of the deed, God's consequence of sending away Cain and the apparent hopelessness of Adam and Eve's plight. With no sons, how could God send a man to conquer the enemy and reverse the curse as He had promised? The sadness made the joy all the more sweet when I told them that God sent a new son Seth, followed by many more children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, until many, many years later God sent Someone very special. Without naming Him, I compared that Someone to Abel in certain ways: Someone who trusted God and obeyed Him, and like Abel would be killed by jealous bad men. When I asked who that man was, they all made the connection and said, "Jesus!"  Our Savior, a far better Abel!
       At the end of the story, we prayed that God would give us the faith to believe His wonderful promises. Only then, did I show the children what was hidden in the box: fancy baby shower mints with "Baby Boy" printed on them, to celebrate God's kindness in sending Baby Seth, and many years later, that most special baby, Jesus.
     For our Question Time, I had hidden numbered cutouts of Cain, Abel and other figures from the story around the room. The children had fun rounding them up, then came back to the table. As I called their number, each child came up and tried to answer questions from the story. The children did well with these and also with listening to each other. They are improving in raising their hands when they know an answer. Brenton was asked: "What kind of heart did Abel have?" The previous question had been about Cain's heart and the answer had been: "Bad." Brenton said that Abel's heart was bad, too. That was true! Abel had a bad heart in one sense because he was born sinful -- but good in another because he was trusting in God's promise and grateful for it! Later questions also brought out the point that only Faith pleases God, but it is obeying God that shows we do have Faith.
      Our Bible Verse Activity was a hit this week! We taught them the Scripture Proverbs 3:5, explaining that God knows our heart, outside and inside, He made our heart, and He knows best what makes it happy. So.... we need to trust Him, even more than we trust our own thoughts, about what is right.  His Word is the standard, not our own judgment. We sang the Verse Jingle to the tune of "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush." Each time we said "heart," we bent our knees; when we said "lean" we all swayed to one side. They almost had this verse mastered by the end of that activity! We went on to play a game based on the carnival shell game. I had three Styrofoam bowls and put a foam heart sticker under one of them. Then I mixed the bowls around while we sang the verse. When we finished, I chose a child to tell me which bowl had the heart under it. They were able to do this surprisingly well and loved it, finishing the game by sticking the hearts on a poster of Proverbs 3:5. Brodie especially was into this activity. Each heart also had written on it something that we might not want to do sometimes, but that God's word says is right, things like "Apologize," "Forgive," or "Give When We Don't Want To." One of the hearts said "Believe" again emphasizing that this isn't merely about outward behavior. We have a tendency to doubt God's promises ("Will He really supply all of my needs? Will He really never leave nor forsake me?") but we are called to fight to believe all of His promises -- through prayer and by reminding ourselves who God is and what He has already done! (This is one of the reasons for our class: Teaching through the Old Testament, as we are doing, increases the children's understanding of God's character and shows His promise-keeping throughout all of history.)
     We took prayer requests, which I wrote down in our prayer journal and will be praying for this week. Bethany offered to begin our prayer time, and we went around our circle taking turns praying for the requests. That was a very sweet time.
    Next, we worked on the third page in our Attributes of God book, which we are making to earn one of our CDG Badges. The children colored a picture of Abel and Cain and added foam heart stickers to remind them that God can see inside your heart, and only faith pleases Him. I'm praying that these children will learn to trust in the Lord with all their hearts more and more everyday. God bless you as you share His mind with them during your daily duties!