Family Faith and Fun Friday: When Faith Gives You Wings
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. -Hebrews 4:12
Welcome to Family Faith and Fun Fridays!
As the week winds down and I anticipate more family time over the weekend, I often ask God for one good idea that will enable me to bring the Word to life and bring our family together. Usually, the activity overflows out of something the Lord has been teaching me through the scriptures.
Are you ready for some family fun? We’d love to have you join us as we seek to fan the flames of faith and let the Word of Christ have the run of our house!
Learning How to Soar
I picked up these cheap styrofoam gliders at the Dollar Tree a few weeks ago and started thinking about what kind of fun family night we could invent with my great find. (You can buy something quite similar here on Amazon).Since one of my favorite Old Testament verses isIsaiah 40:31, I decided to create a simple lesson on how we learn to “soar” by faith.
Because the styrofoam gliders had a bit of assembly required– we needed to attach the wings ourselves- I realized that I could create a tangible picture of what life looks like when we live with faith as compared to what it looks like when we live without faith.
So first, I gave the kids the styrofoam glider without its wings and I invited them to conduct a test flight off of the deck.
As expected, the wingless planes just spiraled to the ground.
Why won’t these planes fly? I asked.
To which the kids replied, Because they don’t have any wings!
Then two of my smart ones rolled their eyes.
And a certain third-grader muttered, “Nothing like stating the obvious!”
(I just want you to know family faith and fun nights don’t magically produce impeccable children!)Next, I gathered the kids around the table and said,
These gliders without wings are like people who choose to live without trusting in God.
I explained: If we say we trust in God, it means we have faith in Him.
But if we don’t trust in God, we don’t have faith in Him.
I tossed a wingless glider once more and we watched it crash. Does it look like living without faith in God works very well?
The unanimous consensus was NO!
I think these planes need some wings, I said.
Then, I pulled out my Bible and smiled: God’s Word has a recipe for flying!
Together, we read Isaiah 40:31-But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.
After we clarified that trusting in God wouldn’t literally grow wings on our bodies, we talked about what it means to “soar high on wings like eagles.”
I suggested that when believers “soar”, they live above the curse of sin. In other words, they don’t get STUCK in ruts of sin because they are putting their faith in Jesus. When we live with “wings of faith” and we put our trust in God instead of in ourselves, we are able to do things we wouldn’t normally be able to do on our own strength. That’s spiritual soaring!
Hannah also thought that this verse meant we would live lives of joy, because when our hearts are filled with joy, it just makes us feel kind of like we’re flying, ya know?
After musing on the idea of soaring, I gave everyone the wings that went with their airplanes. We attached the styrofoam wings and tried our test flights again.
This time, the planes glided and SOARED across the yard!
To conclude, I asked which flight looked like more fun- the one with wings or the one without?
Of course, everyone agreed that it was more fun to fly a plane with wings. And so I closed with this final question, So which life do you think is more fun- a life with faith in God or a life without faith in God?
We all agreed that it looked like trusting in God makes for a far better adventure!
Our simple lesson ended with an impromptu painting party, each child decorating his or her own plane to look like a flying faith machine.
How have you been putting your “wings of faith” into action lately? I’d love to hear about your flying adventures!
How have you been putting your “wings of faith” into action lately? I’d love to hear about your flying adventures!
I love your lesson about spiritual soaring! Beautiful flying faith machines! 🙂
Are you writing these ideas down? I mean other than here? Good job you for the creativity and for making lessons like this a priority.
ps You kids are a-dor-able.
pss I quoted you in a psot today, you wise thang.
Brilliant. I love the combination of a fun craft and the Truth. My kids are kinetic learners and always do well with a combination of DOING with the learning. What a fun life lesson/Truth you have been able to impart to your children. My guess? It will be a highlight in their learning.
Bless you,
Laura