Shema, Pt 3: Making Memorization Fun

This is part 3 of a series, during our study of the book of Romans at Creekside, as we encourage families to memorize the "Shema" together. Previous posts here:

• Intro
  
• What is the Shema?
  
• Why memorize?

If helping your kids memorize scripture is important to you, you need to be intentional, and it needs to be enjoyable. Ask God to give you some creativity, and then think about some different ways you can learn the Shema together.

• Secret Message. White crayons + white paper = invisible secret message! Break out the water color paints and let your kiddo paint over the message. Want to make it a bit more complex? Try breaking the page up into a grid or using black crayon to draw wavy lines, and taking turns painting one area at a time. See if you can guess the word that's partially revealed.
  
  
• Make a game of it. Break the passage up into phrases, and write each phrase on an index card. Then:
  Play a memory game: turn all the cards upside-down, and take turns flipping two over - looking for two phrases that go together. As you locate phrases that connect, put them all in order until you've turned over all the cards.
  Scramble up the phrases, and work together to unscramble and put them into order.
  
  
• Sing a song. You could learn one that's already out there (this one is based on the Shema), or make up your own. Be willing to be silly. Kids are good at this.
  
  
• Use Pictures. Write out the verse on paper, chalkboard or whiteboard, then substitute some of the words with a picture to represent it. The mind often recalls pictures better than words. Use an ear for "listen", a heart for "heart", a cloud for "soul", a strong arm or dumbbell for "strength", etc.
  
  
• Motions. Motions are so useful, especially if your kids tend to get rowdy when you'd rather they sat still. Make up motions to go with the words, or learn a few ASL signs. Here's a great resource for sign language.
  
  
• Fill in the Blank. Write the verse out on a whiteboard or chalkboard, say it a few times together, then start erasing words, replacing them with _______. Erase an easy word, then a hard one, saying the whole verse together again each time. Make it harder: start erasing the blanks!
  
  
• Sticky Note Mania. Just like fill-in-the-blanks, here's how I'm doing it: Yep, I'm dedicated to memorizing the Shema myself. I know the concept of course, but I don't have all of the words to all 6 verses memorized. I'm learning it word-for-word along with you guys, so I wrote out the verses on a bunch of colorful sticky-notes, which are now plastered on my wall. A couple of times each week, I read through it out loud, then remove a sticky. As I read through it again, I fill in the blank. By the end of this adventure, I'll know all of it. Will you?
  

Have you found another way to make scripture memory fun? Share with us! Leave me a comment, or post to our Parents of NEXTgeneration Kids Facebook page.

Shema, Pt 2: Why memorize?

This is a continuation of a series I'm posting during our study of the book of Romans at Creekside, as we encourage families to memorize the "Shema" together. Previous posts here:

• Intro
  
• What is the Shema?

I struggled with closed-book tests in school because studying was hard for me. I always appreciated the teachers who were more interested in evaluating your ability to locate the information over your ability to memorize it. In other words, I like open-book tests.

Today, we have the internet, the Bible, and useful Bible tools readily available. We can find what the Bible says about any topic, in a snap. We might be tempted to dismiss scripture memorization as an old-school (old-church?) practice.

But there's value in memorizing God's Word - regardless of how many tools you have at your disposal. When we internalize God's Word, God's Spirit uses it to speak to our hearts.

When I am afraid, God whispers to me "I did not give You a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control..." (2 Timothy 1:7)

When I am distracted and frustrated, God says "I will keep you in perfect peace, if you keep your mind focused on me..." (Isaiah 26:3)

When I am ready to give up, God says "Consider it joy that you are being tested, because testing develops perseverance..." (James 1:2-3)

And when I am tempted to think that we don't need to help our kids memorize scripture, God says "hide My Word in your heart, so that you will not sin against Me..." (Psalm 119:11)

I did all of those from memory - not to show off, but to tell you that memorizing scripture helps me live my life guided by the Spirit.

And in case you think teaching kids to memorize scripture is a fruitless effort, let me tell you my own experience: when I was 5, I was very briefly involved in a kids program that emphasized scripture memory. The very first verse I learned was John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

That's the King James Version. I don't read the King James Version. My family didn't attend church, and we never talked about Jesus at home. But that verse stuck. When I was 17, I came to Christ. I still didn't know what "begotten" meant. In my early 20s, the words really clicked, and it all made sense. This is why I memorize scripture now, and this is why I encourage you and your family to do the same.

Kids are sponges. What would you like yours to absorb?

Thursday, I'll post a few ideas for making memorization fun at home.

Have you memorized a verse that God keeps bringing back to you? Tell me about it! Leave me a comment below.

Shema, Pt 1: What is Shema?

(This is a continuation of a series I'm posting during our study of the book of Romans at Creekside, as we encourage families to memorize the "Shema" together. Even though this is primarily focused on elementary-aged kids, there's no reason why you couldn't begin teaching your preschoolers. Learn more here.)

"Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9*)

This is the statement of faith, from the Old Testament, known as the "Shema". The word "Shema" comes from the first word of the passage, literally meaning "to hear". But the implication is that we are not just to hear, we are also to act. So "shema" could mean "listen and obey".

You know that joy you experience, when you have a teaching moment with a child and they receive and understand what you say? That's shema.

I think God must feel the same joy every time we listen to Him - His Word, His voice in our hearts, and do what He says. Shema.

The trouble is this: as sinful humans, we are not inclined toward shema. We are inclined to do the opposite. To ignore. To disobey. I bet you've experienced that with your kids too.

We can only truly shema with God's help, and we can only live out the commands of the Shema with God's help.

So, as you begin your own look at the Shema, ask God's help in this journey: to guide you, as you live out the commands - to love God with all of your being, to commit yourself to His Word, to teach His Word to your children, all day, every day. I'm praying for you too.

As a family:

• Once this week, open up your Bibles together. Locate Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and show it to your kids. Remind them that the Bible is God's Word, like a letter for us. Highlight or underline the words. Tell your kids that we call this part the "Shema"; tell them what "Shema" means. Read the Shema out loud, and talk about each part. What does it mean to love God with all your heart? Your soul? Your strength? What does it mean to write them on the doorposts and gates?
  
  
• Make something together to go on your table, so you remember to read it and talk about it throughout the week. I made this "table-sitter" out of a few scraps of paper I had lying around - taping the edges of 3 pieces together to form a triangle. It doesn't have to be elaborate! Let your child write out the words, or decorate it with stickers. Make it fun. Do it together.
  
  
• Put your table-sitter on the dining room table, the bathroom counter, or your child's nightstand - wherever you'll see it and have a moment to say it together or talk about it. Try to say the Shema together a few times throughout the week to get comfortable with the words.

(*This is the NLT version, which we use with kids in 1st-6th grades at Creekside. It's a paraphrased translation. Check out the NIV version here.)

New Blog Series Coming this Week!

Yesterday, we began our study of Romans at Creekside: for the next several months, our adults and elementary-aged kids will be working their way through the book of Romans, investigating God, Jesus and a whole host of topics that Paul, it's author, wrote about to the church in Rome, about 56 A.D.

During the next 8 weeks (maybe longer!?), we're encouraging kids and their parents to memorize a passage of scripture together, as a family. We'll be looking at Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - called the "Shema" (pronounced "shi-MA").

Studying Romans, memorizing Shema... Why?
Romans is a foundational book in the Bible. Paul teaches us the gospel with a simplicity - and also a complexity - that few authors could pull off.

The Shema is a foundational statement of faith. For thousands of years, this confession of faith is how God's people acknowledged the one true God and His commandments for them.

You can't believe in Jesus and not follow the Shema. You can't follow the Shema without believing in Jesus.

Does the Shema still apply to us today?
When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He answered by quoting the Shema. Yes, it still applies to us.

About this series...
We want to equip families with ideas and opportunities to grow together in faith. So on Monday or Tuesday of each week, I'll be posting a few thoughts or an activity you can do with your kids to learn more about the Shema, and about Jesus. I hope you'll follow along.

what to do with all that snow...

snowpocalypse. snowmageddon. whatever you want to call it. (and really, can we justify such severe terms when we call every year's best snowstorm by the same end-of-the-world hyperbole!?)

but we do have a good five inches, with a rumor of up to ten more. (i'll believe THAT when i see it!)

anyway, i realized today that for the first time in my life, i have both an ample supply of fresh snow and real maple syrup.

Little House fans will remember the scene in "Little House in the Big Woods" (perhaps my favorite of the series), when the family goes to visit Grandma Ingalls and help with the maple sugaring. that night, the whole clan has a celebration, dancing while Pa plays his fiddle, and meanwhile, Grandma slaves over a hot kettle of maple syrup until finally she calls that it's ready. there's a rush to fill every available pan with fresh snow, and they drizzle out curlicues of boiling syrup, barely able to wait until it's cool enough to taste...

it's a maple taffy that results, and i have a vague recollection of trying this as a child, unsupervised, with nothing but Laura's recounting of the story to guide me - and without realizing that pancake syrup is not maple syrup.

thankfully, today was different. after all, we have the internet now. and real maple syrup. file this away under "fun with kids". want to try it? here's a good recipe, but let me tell you a few things i learned the hard way:

1. for this recipe, plan to have two big 13x9 pans of snow - or several smaller pans.

2. fill the pans and pack down the snow. if it's not packed down, the syrup will just melt right through it, and you'll be licking your candy off the bottom of a cold, wet pan.

3. i used a ladle and didn't exactly get the curlicue look i expected. next time, i'll make indentations in the snow to make separate puddles of taffy.

off to find a "safe place" for the candy before matt gets home...

we're expecting, but it's not what you think...

it's been a bit under-wraps for the last four months, but we have news!

matt and i are growing our family a bit non-traditionally: we're becoming foster parents. we're not able to have kids biologically, and we have a heart for kids in need. we have a home full of love, and we're eager to add a few kids into the mix.

we're nearing the end of the "home study" process now, which is an in-depth study of our home and family. we started in mid-august, and we've filled out 44 pages of personal information, done our fingerprinting, TB tests, worked through 36 hours of training, baby-proofed (uh, and adult-proofed) our house, which included a whole lot of unusual tasks, like locking up all of our medications, and we've done a whole lot of thumb-twiddling while waiting for our really wonderful, but very over-worked, licensor to work her magic.

so here we are, four months after jumping into the paperwork. we had a really great meeting with our licensor yesterday, which included an inspection of our home and property, and a whole lot of personal questions. (i wonder how many other parents consider how their family of origin will affect their parenting methods before conceiving... my guess is not that many!) we thought this would be the final step and have us licensed within a few days... we were wrong. in our discussion, she told us that there was an option for us to go with a new program called a "unified homestudy" which would save us some trouble down the road, when we're ready to adopt. we opted to go this route. the good news is that it won't take any longer to complete the license; the bad news is that we have some more paperwork to do. and also, we were wrong about anticipating our license within a few days - it'll be more like another month.

oh well! we have a busy month ahead of us anyway, so i'm sure the time will go quickly...

Helping more kids discover, trust and love Jesus.

[This is part 3 of a series highlighting each goal of our NEXTgeneration Kids Ministry Leadership team for 2011-2012. See part 1 and part 2.]

This goal doesn't really stand on it's own - it's the result of our participation in the first two goals. When God made clear to me the goals we would set, He identified that if we do the first two (Building our team as a team and serving with greater excellence), He would bring more kids to us, entrusting them to us, so that we could combine our awesome team with our A-game excellence to help them discover, trust and love Jesus.

That is why our work on the first two goals is so crucial.

We haven't officially "met" those goals yet - they're a bit ongoing, aren't they? But we are seeing progress.

And you know what? We're seeing progress on this 3rd goal too. When we put the goals to paper in June, we were averaging 87 kids each week. In October so far, we've averaged 97 kids each week. That's progress, my friends. That's progress.

Keep up the good work.

Serving with greater excellence.

[This is part 2 of a series highlighting each goal of our NEXTgeneration Kids Ministry Leadership team for 2011-2012. See part 1 and part 3.]

Around here, we describe "serving with greater excellence" using the words "bringing your A-game".

Excellence is what sets the Hilton apart from the Motel6. It’s easy to slip into the hum-drum pattern of bringing your “C-” game, and pray that the Holy Spirit makes up for the difference. But if you really want to see God work through you in ministry, be sure you’re bringing your “A” game! The Holy Spirit always brings His best, so when you bring your “A” game, and the Holy Spirit brings His best - look out! It’s going to be incredible!!

We do this in a few different ways

1. Be Prepared: Start preparing early. Whether it’s praying for the kids you’ll meet and the families you’ll greet, or planning the lesson you’ll teach, don’t wait until Friday. Start on Monday!

2. Arrive on time: Be in your classroom - with your coffee - 30 minutes before service begins. (Hint: Did you know you can leave your order at the cafe, and they’ll deliver your coffee to you!? Just tell them what room you’re in!)

3. Pray with your teammate: This is a great opportunity to build relationships with your team, and also to have a quiet moment before things get hairy.

4. Sick? Realize that you’re not available? Find someone to trade with by emailing or calling your teammates. This is a great way to serve your team leaders, who work hard to coordinate and schedule!

5. Provide feedback - Right/Wrong/Missing/Confusing: We send a weekly email on Sunday nights to the whole team, asking for feedback (from the parent's, the leader's or the child's perspective). You can help us evaluate what was “right”, what was “wrong”, what was “missing”, what was “confusing”. Whether you served that day, or simply experienced our Kids Ministry as a parent, your feedback is incredibly valuable.

Redecorating Bug!

When we moved in, Matt selflessly gave me the largest of our three bedrooms as my "crapcraft room" - which we call "studio" {lest we invoke images of dusty closets overrun by pom-pom balls}.

My master plan has always been that when the current TV room needs to become a bedroom, my studio would become a family room. But that wasn't going to happen without a whole lot of purging. Over the summer, been collecting ideas for finishing up that space to make it easier to convert when we're ready, and the climax of that was my big focus in August.

I did lots of deep cleaning, purging, and organizing, and spent about $220 on furniture, paint, hardware, curtains and a few accessories. Ready for a tour?

My sewing desk - spray painted a buttery yellow, and dressed up with new knobs. Also painted the frames, showing off a hunk of my great grandmother's quilt and some vintage patterns, and covered the lampshade with a scallop pattern of a white gauzy cotton.



This bookcase replaced an old set of wire cubes. I'm not a fan of cheapo laminate, but we needed a quick and easy solution. To pretty it up, I bought several sheets of a gorgeous blue print with birds and cherry blossoms, and used spray adhesive to "wallpaper" it to the backing piece of the bookcase.


I've been in love with the idea of a scalloped paint-line for a while, and I knew this was the perfect place to make it happen. The curtains were one of my spendiest changes - I splurged on fabric that brought in the playful, summery feel I want for our future family room.





My work desk is much clearer, having made use of the vertical space! I also created a few mason jar holders, using trim and hose clamps, to hold attractive and most-used supplies.






A bit of pegboard in a fancy, thrifted frame makes a tidy place to keep my tools. Spray painted both, and added a pennant string to the pegboard for some playfulness.


More pennant string! This is a thrifted shower curtain on a tension rod to close off the closet. I used scraps from my stash to create the pennant string, just sewing across the top of the pieces. The curtain itself was too short, so I added a ruffle and pom-pom trim as well - see below.




A few more details:

{Cute little display shelves for tiny things that make me smile.}

{Jars painted on the inside, using acrylic paint.}

{Covered the thermostat with orange patterned paper for the sake of de-uglification.}

Building our team, as a team.

[This is part 1 of a series highlighting each goal of our NEXTgeneration Kids Ministry Leadership team for 2011-2012. See part 2 and part 3.]

Backstory: In March 2011, my Kids Ministry Executive team suggested we have a dinner for our entire Kids Ministry team (about 70 people). I agreed, reluctantly (the details daunted me). In April, I had no idea what that dinner would look like, except a bunch of people eating. In May, I went on an amazing trip to learn about leadership in some model churches, and a few days later, God gave me very clear instructions about our goals for the coming year. So when the dinner came around in June, I was ready, and I was pumped.

Goal 1: Build our team, as a team.

Over the last few months, we've identified 35 openings on our team, because of the rate at which our ministry is growing. Filling these roles will help us make sure we're ministering to families at our best.

I love inviting people to serve with me! It's exciting to know that I'm making a difference - why wouldn't others want to make a difference too? But if only one person is inviting others to serve, that person will become the bottleneck.

So instead of one person doing all the inviting, what would happen if all 70 of us were doing the inviting?

Here's how:

1. Identify two friends who aren't already serving on a ministry team at Creekside. (But what if all my friends are already serving?)

2. Tell your friends about why you serve on the NEXTgeneration Kids Leadership team. What do you get out of it? How are you blessed? How has obeying Jesus' call to serve others affected your life? Tell them a story from your experience with the kids - funny, sweet, cute, whatever. (If you're just doing this out of obligation, we should talk.)

3. Ask them if they'd like to serve alongside you. In most cases, we can rearrange things to allow your friend to serve WITH you. And serving with friends is so fun!

4. When they say yes (and experience tells me that 4 out of 5 will), grab them a Leadership Application from the Hosts Station OR give me their name and I'll mail one to them.

5. If they say no, keep sharing those stories about your experiences with the kids. It's good for them to hear that you love what you're doing.