What a strange and terrifying phrase! But that's what EL thought of when I described the day ahead of us!
On Friday we read the story of Jonah. I love Jonah's story but I have to say that the children's story book kind of made it sound...happier...at the end than the real story. I think it's important to be accurate so when we reached the end and the story told us that Jonah was very happy, I went...no.
Jonah was not happy. In fact he was pretty peeved at God. The Bible says that he several times mentioned wanting to die! Wow Jonah...the guy has some issues. I think that Jonah's lack of understanding in the end is one of the main reasons that we can learn from Jonah. He knew God would spare Ninevah but was still angry when he did. He didn't think anyone but he and his people deserved to hear the word of God! Does that sound familiar? Often we ourselves are found thinking who does and doesn't deserve Jesus and that is wrong. Because none of us deserve Jesus and that's what makes the Gospel so great!
EL and I discussed how we could learn from Jonah's mistake. Who should we tell God's message to? Everyone! Some of the main points were:
God saved Jonah and God saved me.
God is everywhere.
God's word is for everyone.
To add to the list of things EL does not like: Art! He hates it! Or so he says... So when I brought out our 'Jonah in the belly of a whale' craft, it was with great reluctance that he participated. I encouraged him to color the paper whale however he liked and he opened up saying that he didn't think he was 'good' at art! Not good at art??? That's what they told Picasso, Van Gogh, Pollock! And that's what they tell kids who don't color the sky blue or stay within the lines. So to his horror and my amusement I began to color my whale purple. That's right. Purple. So he followed suit by grabbing a bunch of crayons and coloring his with a smorgasborg of colors. "I still don't like art." he says, but I think we're getting somewhere.
I understand that schools teach accuracy, following directions and more by making kids color properly and stay in the lines. But when it's being used for a Bible lesson, I'm not too concerned if their whale isn't gray/blue. I'm more concerned with making sure they understand the story. In my opinion, if a child is having fun then let them! If they tell you that the blob on the paper is their Mommy, do not question it! If their sky is green and their grass is red then praise them for being creative! Don't berate them for being inaccurate.
One thing EL DOES like is cooking! It's funny because he rarely eats what he cooks. So today when we made Christmas cookies he really had no interest in the eating part. In fact, he thought it was too messy. But he brought out the cookie cutters anyway and began really getting into making shapes. This is where my mistake came in. Anyone who has ever made cookies has most likely made the mistake of making them too thick...
EL was devastated when I pulled out all his hard cookie cutter work from the oven to reveal one giant pan shaped cookie. But I informed him that if we were quick...we could fix this! While the cookies were still soft we pressed the cutters back into them and removed the scraps from around them. Now we had shaped cookies! We ate the scraps as a reward for our quick thinking.
After our cookies we had luch and watched the Veggie Tales Jonah movie. I absolutely love Veggie Tales and if you haven't seen it, I reccomend it for every parent in the world!
Some of the things I love about the Veggie Tales Jonah:
It's Veggie Tales, which means it's going to appeal to everyone who loves the Bible, songs, and great humor.
It gave new light to a story that I honestly, until seeing veggie tales, had not thought of before. It's not often that a cucumber gives a new perspective to a Bible story...
The funnies were hilarious! But the serious parts were still treated with respect.
The music is adorable and impossible to get out of your head
They ended the story just like in the Bible, on a sad note.
Kahlil!! "I am a caterpillar. Actually that is only half-true. My mother was a caterpillar, my father was a worm...but I am okay with that now." So cute!
And finally we played beyblade. Is it bad that I'm actually learning more about it and understand the tv concept? Probably. Is it even worse that I've started encouraging my little spin top throughout the battle? Most definitely. Ah well. It can't be helped...
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