Lenten Devotions

As a protestant, I’ve felt at times like more of an observer than a participant in Lent. This is fitting to a point—the practice of giving things up for Lent—though certainly meaningful for some people—leans a little closer to legalism than I’m usually comfortable. Still, I recognize that great meaning can come from preparing our hearts for Easter, in a similar way to Advent preparing us for Christmas. Properly done, Lent can be a meaningful time to set aside distractions and remember the suffering and sacrifice of our Savior. 

One way to do this is through family devotions. I put together this list of Lenten devotionals for my church and thought I would share it here as well. I tried to give a variety of options, so hopefully there's something for everyone. Quick note before you read about the different resources: Remember that Lent is 40 days or 46 days if you count the Sundays. The Sundays during Lent are meant to be "little Easters" and so they usually aren't counted. So you have about 40-46 days to work with when considering Lenten devotions.

The Bible! One of the best suggestions I have is to read through the Bible. All of the gospels are under 40 chapters, so if you read a chapter a day you can read an entire gospel during Lent. If you read on Sundays as well, (which gives you a total of 46 days) you can read through both Mark and John during the season of Lent. 

Click on the image to the left to access the Bible reading plan I put together for my church.

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Loyd-Jones: We read through this children's Bible several times a year. It's definitely a favorite of our family's--I can't recommend it enough. The writing is fantastic--simple enough that my 3-year-old can track with it, but so full of meaning that most evenings I get as much from the reading as my kids. You can also buy an audio version, which is beautifully narrated. Sally Lloyd-Jones has a free printable schedule on her website for those that sign up for her newsletter. If you already receive her newsletters, you should have gotten an email this past Monday with a link to the download.

Seven Last Words Devotional Guide & Coloring Pages by Illustrated Children’s Ministry: I've purchased this devotional for my church the last two years. It's a great, simple weekly devotional that has accompanying fun coloring pages (think adult coloring). This year the devotional goes through the last seven sayings of Christ, focusing those sayings into seven last words. This devotional can be used with any age; it was actually written for an intergenerational audience this year and is meant to be used by adults and children alike. You can purchase this devotional here and the coloring pages here. (Note: this is a download that you would need to print out.)

The Passion of the King of Glory by Russ Ramsey: I read through volume 1 of this set during Advent and loved it. This is one of three books Ramsey has written to retell the story of the Bible. This book, volume 2, has 40 chapters and is meant to be read throughout Lent. Please note, though, that this is not to be read as Scripture. Rather, similar to the Jesus Storybook Bible, it’s a retelling of Bible stories with Ramsey’s imagination filling in some of the details we don’t have in Scripture. This would be a great option for children that have outgrown children’s Bibles, but aren’t quite ready to read right from the Bible yet. Or it's a great option for parents to read as well! 

Hearts and Minds Bookstore is a great place to order from if you're looking to get a copy of The Passion of the King of Glory or The Jesus Storybook Bible. Owners Byron and Beth Borger have been selling fantastic books for over 35 years--there's no one I'd rather trust with my book buying. It's a tough time to be a Christian bookseller so let's show them our support!

Lent starts on March 6 so you have one week left to plan what you'll do as a family. I plan to do the Jesus Storybook Bible with the kids during the week, the Seven Last words on Sundays and read The Passion of the King of Glory on my own before bed each night. Feel free to share your plan below!

Moms Need a Break Too

A common struggle for me as an introverted parent is people overload. I love my kids--love being around them and spending time with them. Most days spending time with them is not draining in the same way as spending time with non-family drains me. But...I'm an introvert. So I don't get energy from being around people. I'm not refreshed from being around people. I need alone time to feel refreshed.

I haven't been a parent for long--only five quick years--but in that time I think one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that this need is okay. Introverts get a bad rap at times. In fact, recently, when I asked a mom if she thought her daughter might be introverted, she responded, quite sharply, that, "She likes people if that's what you mean!" I kindly responded that so do most introverts.

People hear the term introvert and automatically apply labels like, "anti-social" to the person in question. But in reality, being an introvert is more about how you are refreshed or how you get energy. I'm an introvert who loves people--loves spending time with people and is overjoyed to host people at her home. But as an introvert, I don't get energy from being around people.

I've learned to accept that I need time to myself and I've learned that it's okay to ask my kids for this. My kids are 3 and 5--so when I ask them for alone time, I'm asking a great deal of them. Some people would say I'm crazy for making such a request of young children. But I think it's important, even at their young age, for them to realize that people sometimes need a break from each other.

We recently watched the Daniel Tiger episode, "Daniel Wants to be Alone," proving again that there's little in life that can't be solved with a Daniel Tiger song:

Sometimes you want to be alone
You can find a place of your very own

My kids loved this episode and have used the song frequently to let one another know when they need a little time to themselves. It's good for my kids to hear me asking for alone time--it gives them the freedom and confidence to do likewise.

Also, the reality is that I'm a better parent when I've had this time to myself. I am more patient, understanding and less likely to lose my temper. Over time, my kids have recognized that and know that it helps us all have a better day when I have a little time to myself.

So here is my (not at all foolproof) advice for getting a few minutes of alone time from your kids:

• Prepare well for your alone time. Don't just suddenly sit on your own, proclaim, "THIS IS MY TIME," and expect your kids to comply. At least not if they are as young as mine. Help your children find an activity to do that will keep them occupied for a little while. Make sure this is an activity that you won't have to help with. (For example, my kids could paint for hours, but they would certainly come ask me to get them clean water every couple minutes, which would defeat the purpose of alone time). Also be sure to think about how siblings are getting along on that particular day and separate them if you think a joint activity will end in tears.
• Have realistic expectations for your alone time. Don't expect a 3 and 5 year old to give you an hour to yourself. They are young and have needs. Be realistic about the amount of time you expect them to give you. If they are really having a hard time respecting your time, set a timer and tell them that they can't talk to you until it rings. Even at a young age, kids should be able to do their own thing for ten minutes or so.
• Spend your time well. Make sure you fill the short time you have with an activity that is relaxing and refreshing. Personally, I love to knit or read, usually while drinking coffee. I do not allow myself to look at my phone as I find that even a quick glance at the screen often results in wasting my alone time staring at social media (which is not relaxing or refreshing for me).
• When your alone time is over, let it be over. Don't try to extend it or stretch it out. Return to parenting and be sure to tell your children how much you appreciate them giving you a little time to yourself. I like to find a nice activity we can all do together after my alone time, like reading a book aloud or coloring pictures.

It's ok to want to be alone. Introverted or extroverted, we all have times when we need a short break. We actually can't do it all and it's ok to let your kids know that. Allowing them to see your vulnerable side, gives them the freedom to show theirs as well.

Free Webcast: The Spiritually Vibrant Household

Anyone else participating in this free webcast next week: The Spiritually Vibrant Household? It will be held February 26, 11 am PT (2-4 EST). The Barna Group is offering this free resource with David Kinnaman as the keynote speaker. You can participate by registering here.

From the Barna website, here's what you can expect to learn:

• what households look like today
• how Christians describe their household atmospheres
• the different ways fathers and mothers influence faith today
• how faith heritage is linked to beliefs and rituals in adulthood
• how churches and ministries can help create healthy homes
• and many more practical insights for both parents and pastors

Sounds interesting! I'm excited to check it out. I've (loosely) followed Barna's work since I read UnChristian back in 2009 and have also been a fan of David Kinnaman since then. He gave a fantastic talk at Gordon-Conwell my first year there. I'm sure something from Barna with David Kinnaman will be worth checking out!

Easy Valentine's Day Craft

This is party week for me. Both my children are in preschool which means planning and running back to back parties this week. I will be very tired come Thursday afternoon! Helping with the parties is always a fun time to look at holiday themed crafts and activities, though. This year, I'm especially loving this little poem and craft I put together for both classes to do.

We'll have the children use red paint to put fingerprints in all the circles around the outside of the heart. This is also a great way to make kids' familiar with the heart shape. As a mom, I love when my kids bring home fingerprint or handprint crafts--they are always the most special.

Fingerprint crafts are also a great way to talk about how God made each of us. No fingerprint is the same—God made us all unique! This can be a great way to talk about the special care God put into creating everything.

Feel free to save the image above to make these with your kids! Whether with nursery kids, Sunday School students, or at home with your own kids--this is a great simple craft for little ones to do. You can use a washable ink pad instead of red paint if you want to keep the mess a little more minimal.  I used these ink pads (affiliate link) when I made these with my kids the other night and they worked really well. Enjoy!

(And yes, I realize this goes against my emphasis on process art in previous post!)

Also, I found the poem here on Pinterest--couldn't find the actual printable though, so I don't know who gets credit for this cute little saying!

Coloring pages vs. Creativity

I did something a little crazy last month. I got rid of all of the coloring pages in our Children and Worship rooms. Maybe you're thinking that's not as serious as I make it sound. Or maybe you're fully understanding the level of crazy this hits. It felt a little crazy to me because our coloring pages are the fall back option for my volunteers. It's the thing they can get out for the kids to do if they have run out of other options and still have 5 minutes to fill. It's their safety activity--almost like a safety blanket--something that's always there to fall back on if they need.

So why eliminate them? Two reasons: First, since the pages were only occassionally used, copying them each week ended up being a huge waste of paper. We have 37 weeks of Children and Worship from fall to spring and have 22 children participating in the classes that needed coloring pages. That's over 800 pages of paper that most weeks wasn't even being used!!

The more important reason, though, is that coloring pages aren't as beneficial for children's learning. In explaining the difference between "process art" (free art expression) and "product art" (color pages, directed activities), NAEYC points out the various benefits with process art, while admitting that there are few benefits with product art (Supporting the Development of Creativity by Laurel Bongiorno). In process art children strengthen their motor skills as they glue, cut, paste and play with clay. Their vocabulary expands as new art materials are introduced and new words are attached to those materials. And children experience growth in their social and emotional development as they're able to express themselves freely with a variety of materials. Certainly children work on some of these things with coloring pages as well, but not as many developmental areas are addressed with such a limited activity.

After reading the above article, I was completely convinced--the coloring pages had to go. But I have to admit, I was a little concerned about what would come next. I was a little concerned about making a creative space for our kids. But I'm a task person, so I just jumped in and started working my way down the list of supplies included at the bottom of the article. As I worked I found that the process was easier than I thought. It took a few days of ordering materials here and there and collecting items we already had at the church. I asked for magazine donations from the church and had a volunteer go through the magazines I received to cut out pictures that would be appropriate for the kids to use. Then I spent one afternoon organizing and labeling everything in our Children and Worship rooms. Overall, it took less time than I previously spent printing all those coloring pages.

The end result is pictured above, but here's a description of everything I added to our Children and Worship rooms:

• White paper thick enough to withstand paint and glue
• Colorful construction paper
• Crayons and twistable crayons
• Thick and thin makers
• Colorful masking tape and clear scotch tape
• Scissors
• Glue sticks and bottles of glue
• Play-doh and modeling clay
• Washable paints
• Magazine pictures

As you can see in the photo above, everything is well labeled and has a place on the shelf. This allows children to go find what they want and then find the place to return it when they are done. 

I love the end result, but must admit this is still a work in progress. One reason our color pages weren't being used is that we have a guided craft that the children do each week as we review our story. The coloring pages were just the backup activity if the children finished the craft before church ended. Allowing the children to pick their own art supplies and make whatever craft they want each week would better support their creativity and self-expression, but I'm not sure my volunteers are quite ready for that level of chaos. So for now, the free art is how the children fill their time if they finish the guided activity early. Baby steps!

The Importance of an Interactive Classroom Environment

There's a great article on The Network today about making classroom time interactive for kids:
Click here to read "Talk to Me."

It's a great reminder of the need to involve kids in their learning. As the article points out, the bulk of Christian education is still hearing oriented and studies show that we only retain about 10 percent of what we hear. How scary is it to think that kids are only getting 10 percent of God's story? Adding visual aids brings this up to 50 percent, but in order to have children retain all of the information, they need to be an active rather than passive participant in the learning process. "Talk to Me" gives some great suggestions for working on this in your own classroom.

This article is actually a chapter from the book Dwelling: Helping Kids Find a Place in God's Story which is one of my favorite resources for volunteers. It was written as a companion for Faith Alive's Dwell curriculum, but I think the information is helpful no matter what curriculum you use. It includes 42 very short chapters, which can be read through quickly. So it's a great resource for volunteers, who may not have extra time to read a long book. I actually used it in our Sunday School teacher training last year--having all our teachers read two chapters for each training and then spending a few hours working through them together. Total they had less than 10 pages to read, but 10 pages full of quality information they could apply to their classroom time.