Family Faith and Fun Fridays: God’s Word Kid-Style

 

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 His Word during the week. I’d like to invite you to join me and my family in the adventure. Sometimes I’ll post things we’ve tried; other times I’ll post an idea in the works. If you’ve got thoughts to add or suggestions on how to adapt or improve the activity, please don’t hesitate to comment.   Enjoy!

In light of this week’s invitation to hear God’s voice through the “whisper” of our children, I’d like to share one of the simplest ways I’ve found to bring the Word of God to life within our home. When I’m running dry on creative juices, I often turn the stage over to my children and invite them to re-enact a favorite scene from scripture.

Often, my girls will pick a Bible story they love and invite their brothers to act out the scene in our living room. There’s nothing more precious than to see the Word come to life through our children’s perspective. The slant they add to the “old, old stories” often make me laugh out loud and re-think my own interpretation of God’s living Word.

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Not long ago, the girls decided to re-enact Jesus’ account of the Good Samaritan as found in Luke 10:25-37. My young drama directors added their own unique flair to the story as they exchanged the Levite and the Priest for a wealthy woman and a snobbish teenager. They captured the outcast nature of the story’s hero when they cast the  Good Samaritan as a kind-hearted nerd. Their littlest brother had the honor of being mugged and stripped of his precious John Deere shirt and the red scars that had been carefully drawn in body crayons added an extra element of “gore” to the horrible injustice.

Though the fur-coat clad woman and the i-pod grooving teen stepped right over the poor assaulted boy, a buck-toothed nerd tended to the little one’s wounds and then carried the victim to the nearest pink hotel.

 In the end, the gospel lesson echoed the Old Testament’s reminder in 1 Samuel 16:7-  External appearance doesn’t matter to God. The one who truly loves his neighbor is the one who demonstrates a beautiful heart.  “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Perhaps this weekend, you can set up the family stage and turn the Word over to your own children. Then, between the giggles and drama, you just might hear the whispers of God through the timeless truths of scripture.