Hand Down Confident Faith with Animals, Activity & Solid Conversations

 

Well, it was a busy Summer and Fall around this grandma's house! My grandsons helped with the development of four books designed to engage children, teens, young adults, adults, and help grandparents/ parents hand down a confident faith. They tested a water-balloon launcher, made "bugs" and then spent time shooting them off plants outside with water-guns, tested recipes, enjoyed science projects, made tie-dye shirts, created hover-crafts, participated in an egg drop activity, and many more activities chosen to engage children/teens/adults and help make the message of our books "stick"! Most importantly, we have been able to have important conversations about why we are able to believe in God and trust Him with confidence.

Why Wouldn't We Want to Do This?

One of the most effective, important things a church will ever do is to commit to equip the grandparents and parents in their church so they are able to hand down confident faith to the children they love. Certainly church has a role to play in teaching and reaching children, but even in the best circumstance, children are only at church for three or four hours a week - and a week has 168 hours. And, especially with covid closing or limiting opportunities for children, most children are only at church for two hours a week, and many are only there for two hours every other week.

However; parents are with children most of the 168 hours a week and grandparents have the potential to be there for far more than just a few hours! Equipping the parents and grandparents to hand down faith just makes sense.

Hand Down Confident Faith & Please Share With Your Church

The most important thing we have to do as grandparents - and parents, too, is to hand down confident faith to the children God has entrusted to us. There are several ways for us to do this -

Take a Closer Look at How Megabats, Bengal Tigers, Quetzals & More Help Teach the "Whys"

We have one more book which is currently available in the "Life on the Goldilocks Planet" curriculum and book series - Megabats, Bengal Tigers, Quetzals & More! and today I'm happy to let you take a closer look at it.

Look at All the Animals Which Show Us They Were Designed "Just Right"!

Over the previous four days, I have shared with you the animals you will find in each of the first four Life on the Goldilocks Planet books - all 48 of them! So, in the four-in-one combo book you will find the following animals - Carrier Crabs & Fire Urchins, Okapis, Koalas, Honey Bees, Platypuses, Sloths, Narwhals, Blue Dragons, Manatees, Hoopoes, Hummingbird Bobtail Squids, and Red Pandas, Eyelash Vipers, Cassowaries, Sunflower Sea Stars, Pygmy Elephants, Large Blue Butterflies, Mantled Guereza Colobus Monkeys, Golden Poison Dart Frogs, Sun Bears, Hawksbill Sea Turtles, Pangolins, Tufted Puffins, and Archerfish, Civets, Arctic Foxes, Echidnas, Blue-Footed Booby Birds, Tree Kangaroos, Leafy Sea Dragons, Pronghorns, Giraffes, Snow Leopards, Peacock Spiders, Ladybug Mimic Spiders, Orange Tortoise Spiders, Shoebills & Batoids, Red-Lipped Batfish, Rufous Hummingbirds, Gharials, Asiatic Lions, Giant Purple Squirrels, Komodo Dragons, Dumbo Octopuses, Sumatran Rhinos, Baikal Seals, Guanacos, Whale Sharks & Blue Whales, and Kakapos. While you are certainly familiar with animals such as Giraffes and Koalas, you may find animals like Blue Dragons, Cassowaries, Leafy Sea Dragons, and Kakapos (to mention a few) are animals with which you are not familiar. These unfamiliar animals are interesting and have much to teach us about how we are able to believe in God with confidence! 

Take a Closer Look at Red-Lipped Batfish, Giant Purple Squirrels, Kakapos & More!

Over the past few days I have been sharing a "closer look" at the books which are currently available in my "Life on the Goldilocks Planet" series. Today I want to give you a "peek" inside Red-Lipped Batfish, Giant Purple Squirrels, Kakapo & More!  This book is filled with animals - some of which you may never have heard of before - and while it makes an ideal gift for the children you love, it is also a curriculum resource which will equip grandparents and parents as they strive to hand down confident faith. 

Take a Closer Look at Book Three - Civets, Tree Kangaroos, Batoids & More!

Civets, Tree Kangaroos, Batoids & More! is book three in my "Life on the Goldilocks Planet" series. While it also makes an ideal gift for the children you love, it is a much-needed curriculum resource designed and written to will equip grandparents and parents as they strive to hand down confident faith.

Hand Down Confident Faith While You Learn about Interesting & Unique Animals

Have you ever heard of Eyelash Vipers, Cassowaries, Sunflower Sea Stars, Pygmy Elephants, Large Blue Butterflies, Mantled Guereza Colobus Monkeys, Golden Poison Dart Frogs, Sun Bears, Hawksbill Sea Turtles, Pangolins, Tufted Puffins, and Archerfish? Well, in the book, Eyelash Vipers, Pygmy Elephants, Pangolins & More! you will find maps, fun facts, full-color photos, activities and quotes from scientists which will help the children you love - and you - discover how these animals help you have a confident faith! 

Take a Closer Look at Blue Dragons, Red Pandas, Hoopoes & More!

Blue Dragons, Red Pandas, Hoopoes & More! is a multi-purpose book. While it makes an ideal gift for the children you love, it is also a curriculum resource which will equip grandparents and parents as they strive to hand down confident faith. 

Don't Let Covid Stop Children From Having Confident Faith

 

The past ten months have been difficult. Some of you may have caught covid. Some of you may have people you love who have battled with this disease. Some of you may have people you love who died due to covid. The children in your church have likely learned what it means to go to school "virtually". You, and the ones you love, may have experienced times of unemployment. Most of the families in your church, if not all of them, have likely not been to church in ten months - and this is likely true for the ones you love as well. If you have been able to return to church, it is extremely possible the Children's Ministry has not restarted - or if it has, it has done so in an extremely limited way.

Ask the Question - What About the Grandparents?

When we think about the questions we need to ask on a regular basis about our Children's Ministry, there are definitely several important questions to keep in mind. One you may not think about, but need to, is; what about the grandparents? This question, and it's answer, matters for the following reasons . . . 

Yes, Our Children's Ministries Need to Change

I'm going to say something you may not have heard before . . . the church has allowed parents and grandparents to "outsource" their job of handing down confident faith to their children and grandchildren. Not only has the church allowed parents and grandparents to do this, but, sadly, we often encourage it. Even more, we communicate to parents and grandparents we in the church are the people best equipped to hand down confident faith. We must stop doing these things.

Equip Parents/Grandparents to Hand Down Confident Faith

When it comes to teaching children in your church, you likely use curriculum to help you teach effectively - whether you write it yourself or buy it from a publisher. Children's Ministry leaders often tell parents/ grandparents to hand down confident faith at home, but many of these parents/ grandparents do not know how to do this. When they do not know what to do to hand down confident faith at home, most, if not all, of them will do nothing - other than bring them to church.

Did You Know?

Did you know simple cells are so complex, it is just not possible for them to develop on their own? Did you know DNA is actually programmed to do the things it does - which means it had to have an intelligence design it as it is not possible for it to develop on its own? Did you know animals have their own unique features and abilities which differentiate them from other animals? For example, did you know Pangolins have spines - "teeth" in their stomach, but not in their mouth? Did you know Wombats have very thick skin - actually cartilage on their backsides so when a hungry neighbor finds a Wombat, all the Wombat has to do is dive head-first into a near-by tunnel (and since they dig tunnels a lot there is likely a near-by tunnel for it to dive into) and the hungry neighbor will not be able to bite on to the Wombat's backside and pull it out?

Equip Parents & Grandparents to Hand Down Confident Faith in 2021

2020 meant a year of limited and reduced personal contact with the children and families in our churches. 2021 will at least begin with more of the same. Think about this. For many of the children and families they will not have been able to participate in Children's Ministry for a year. A year. This is a long time.

It is also the reason why we must be focused upon equipping parents and grandparents to hand down confident faith to the children. If families rely on church to do this - as so many do - then what happens when we experience a pandemic (and we are likely to experience this again)? Handing down confident faith is something which must take place during the day-in-day-out living of our lives - not something which must depend upon being able to go to church.

Make 2021 the Year Your Church Hands Down Confident Faith!

Most churches have offered little - if any - actual in-person opportunities for children, teens, and families to help them learn and grow in their walk with God for almost a year due to covid. While 2021 brings with it the promise of a return at some point to "normal", this return will not arrive until at least June or so. We do not have to spend another six months offering little or nothing to the children/families in our church and community. We are able to do so much more - and for just $1 or $3 per family!

Sculpt Their Souls - it is a Humbling Privilege

Are you a parent who is handing down confident faith, or are you one of the grandparents who are so blessed to have grown children who love and walk with God, and who are committed to hand down confident faith with you to the children you love? Do your grandchildren want to go to church, want to talk about their walk with God, and embrace a confident faith of their own? Or, are you a grandparent who has grown children who, like so many their age, are no longer involved in church, who do not embrace a confident faith of their own, and/or grandchildren who tell you they are, "not into that church thing any more"?