Family Faith and Fun On Fridays: Signs of Spring
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 HisWord 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!
Signs of Spring
While tulips and parades, traditional costumes and dancing signify winter’s end in our little Dutch town, we welcome quieter signs of spring as well. Whispers of leaves on trees, dandelions dotting the lawn, birds rejoicing in the sunrise each morning all remind us that the frost is gone and nature’s frolic has begun!
Not long ago, I decided to use the sparkling signs of spring to teach my kids about the Holy Spirit. Armed with notebooks and drawing pencils, the kids tromped about the yard searching for proof of the season’s change. They drew pictures of tiny buds on trees, green stems poking out from the muddy brown ground, and green blades of grass waking from a long winter’s sleep. 
We gathered later around the coffee table and shared our findings. Then I asked: “How do you really know God is growing Spring in our backyard?”
Everyone had a different answer, but each response pointed to the same conclusion: Our yard encapsulated undeniable evidence of Spring.
I opened my Bible and asked, “Did you know that if we are growing in Jesus our lives will be filled with certain signs of Him at work? (Kind of like the blossoms in our yard that remind us God is growing something back there?)”
We read Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:17-20: “Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”I explained that by “fruit” Jesus meant qualities that our lives displayed, like kindness or anger, hatred or love. Then I asked my kids to brainstorm what kind of “fruit” they think would show that Jesus is at work in a person’s heart.
We ended with Paul’s words in Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.” And then I pulled out a large sketch of a bare tree that I’d drawn on a piece of poster board. I told the kids I’d hang the tree on the refrigerator along with a pack of stickers (I just used garage sale dots). Then I challenged them: “Each time you see someone in our family displaying one of these fruits of the spirit, put a sticker on our tree. Next week, we’ll take a look at our poster and see if our family is showing signs of Jesus at work.”
Throughout the week, when a child showed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, or self-control, we popped a dot on our budding tree. What fun to see a once bare-tree blooming with bright dots that confirmed the Spirit was at work in our home. Yes, there are more than just tulips blooming in our town these days. Jesus is growing the little sprouts in our midst and their Mommy, too. Sometimes we just need to slow down long enough to notice.This is a great weekend to hunt for some signs of Spring wherever you are. Why not give your kids a notebook for drawing or a paper bag for collecting the evidence of this beautiful new season? Then take the “fruit” challenge from Galatians 5:22 and look for some proof of the Holy Spirit at work. My guess, is you’ll discover that Jesus is indeed growing a few blossoms of hope in your home!
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