April 24 – King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
Knowledge is important. I bet learning right now is very different when you are at home. Not being at school can be hard because you aren’t with your friends, and you don’t have your teacher right there with you when you need them. Just remember to be easy on yourself. It’s OK if you are struggling with school right now. It’s a hard time to try and do everything really well. Pray that you have health, joy, and that you can take it easy and be OK with learning in this new way for the time being.
April 23 – David and Goliath
Do you know what the word “brave” means? Brave can mean when we do something even though it’s scary, like singing a solo in choir, getting a shot at the doctor’s office, or lots of other things! I think that living life right now takes a lot of bravery. We are all doing a lot of new things that can feel scary, like online school instead of going to school. And, when we are being brave, we can still be scared and have a hard time. Being brave doesn’t mean that you are always happy and confident. It does mean that we do that scary thing though in spite of feeling scared. And usually afterward, we might feel like we did something really good! I pray that you find ways to be/continue to be brave today.
April 22 – King David is Anointed
In today’s story, David’s father overlooked him because he was too young. He didn’t think that David could be seen as a ruler because he wasn’t as old as his brothers. His father was wrong! Greatness comes to anyone of any age! You were created to do loving and good things! It doesn’t matter how old you are. Love and goodness is created in all shapes, sizes, colors, abilities, and ages. How can you be love and goodness today?
April 21 – Samuel in the Temple
When God calls, we answer. But, wait. How do we know if God is calling to us? I like to think about it like this. If my teacher calls on me in class, I know it’s her because of her voice, her placement in the class (standing up front most likely), and what she looks like. My teacher has things about her that define her. God has those things too. Just different.
With our example teacher, all of the ways we define her are physical things: voice, where she is standing, and what she looks like. With God, it’s a little different. My simple definition of the God I believe in is love.
Let me give you an example. We at Mayflower stand up for the earth. We protect her as much as we can, and would like to do more. Our hearts tell us to protect the earth because it’s one of the most loving things we can do. It’s a loving thing to do. God is love too! When we feel like doing something loving, we are listening to God– this God that’s main definer is love.
When God calls on us to love, make sure to answer!
April 16 – Story of Ruth
Today we learn about love. Love is the most important. When we are sad. Love. When we are hurting. Love. When we are bored. Love. When we happy. Love. When we are scared. Love. When we are angry. Love. When we feel alone. Love. Love can change us. Love can change the world. Love your friends. Love your family. Love your neighbor. Love those you don’t know yet. Just love!
April 15 – Ten Commandments
Today’s story is about the ten commandments. And, God gives us a bunch of rules to follow, well 10. I wanted to tell you a little about these rules, overall. And, the most important thing to say about them is that we are not perfect! It’s ok to make mistakes. And, we all might understand these rules a little differently. For instance, in the video, I talked about how not worshipping other God’s might mean not worshipping money or politics (humans in power). Sometimes, we can make things really important in our lives and that can be really hard when those things let us down. I hope you think about these commandments with your family and talk about them. I would love to hear your thoughts about it.
April 14 – Let My People Go
Happy Easter! I hope you had a really good day! We all missed you on Sunday. I really missed not being able to have an Easter egg hunt with you on Sunday! I pray you and your family are doing well.
April 10 – Jesus is Betrayed
Today is Good Friday, a holiday we commemorate (mark as a special day) in the Christian Calendar. At Mayflower, we call Good Friday Sorrowful Friday because it is the day that Jesus is caught by Roman soldiers and taken away from his friends. It’s a hard day because we know that Jesus won’t see his friends again. And, his friends will really miss him! In this story, Jesus mentions that his life will end.
Talking about death can be really hard. We don’t think about it often because we usually focus on living! But, today’s story does bring it up. If you have questions about what happens to Jesus in our story today, make sure to ask your parents questions, reach out to a pastor at church, or you could read/ have an adult read to you Waterbugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Children by Doris Stickney.
April 9 – Last Supper
In today’s story, we learn about Communion. When Jesus eats with his disciples for the last time, he breaks bread for them and also shares grape juice with him. When we do it at church every month, this is why! Kinda cool, right?
Also, Jesus does this thing where he washes his disciples feet in this story. Can you imagine that? These a folks that walk all over the place in sandals! Jesus wanted to show how much he cared by doing something that was pretty gross at that time, like touching someones feet. This was Jesus’ way of showing just how much he loved his friends, and how much he cared about them.
I wonder in what ways you show your friends that you care about them. What makes you a good friend?
April 8 – Mindful Movements Part 2
Today, we’ll get to learn the ten movements! This has reminded me to move my body more these days. I’ve been doing the movements. And, Archie (my dog) and I have been doing a lot of running. We both love to run. Being outside is really important, right now especially! When Archie and I run, we make sure to give everyone a lot of space. And, I like to smile at people if I’m not wearing a face mask. Running and smiling bring me so much joy! I wonder what outdoor activity or body movements bring you joy.
