Splink 1:
Something Good
Bake some cookies to help kids understand that God is so great He can take even the bad things that happen to us and make something good out of them.
Gather the ingredients and let the kids taste each individual ingredient—baking soda, baking powder, salt, flour, butter, etc.
How do those things taste? (NOT SO GOOD)
Just as these individual ingredients do not taste good, there are some things that happen to us that are not too good.
What are some bad things that can happen to us? (Lose ball games; fail tests; friends treat us wrongly; death of people close to us; etc)
Mix the ingredients together and put the cookies in the oven to cook.
Just as we have to wait for the cookies to cook and cool, we may have to wait to see the good that can from the bad things that happen to us. Joseph had to wait a long time to see God make something good from the bad way his brothers treated him.
Read Genesis 50:20 to see what Joseph said about the bad things that happened to him. (They meant it for evil, to harm him, but God used it for good, to save many people alive.) Joseph could have paid his brothers back and made them suffer. Instead he forgave and reconciled with them.
A Good Way to End the Day
Start a new habit. Every night, before bed, ask, “What three things are you thankful for?” If they are reluctant to share or have trouble thinking of something, go first and share three things. It doesn’t have to be material things. (Share good things that happened; things you learned from the Bible; people who helped you; spiritual blessings; etc.)
Teaching kids with words and by modeling thankfulness, will help everyone be happier and more content.
Don’t Forget…
Stick post-it notes on our blessings.
We use post-it notes to help us remember things. Did you know the idea for the post-it note was thought of in church? In 1974, Arthur Fry was singing in the choir. He couldn’t remember all the numbers for the songs they were going to sing, so he used little pieces of paper to mark the pages. But the pieces of paper kept falling out.
Mr. Fry was a scientist at 3M Company and he remembered that four years earlier another scientist, Spencer Silver made a weak adhesive—one that was super weak instead of super strong. It stuck to objects, but could easily be lifted off. Mr. Fry used some of it to coat his markers and success! The adhesive held the markers in place, but was easily lifted without damaging the page. Today they are one of the most popular school and office supplies.
Give each family member five or so post-it notes and ask them to stick them to something they consider a blessing.
Blessings are things that bring happiness/joy to us. When we remember the spiritual blessings we have because of Jesus, we can be glad. When we remember a person who was kind to us, we smile. When we remember a Bible verse that comforted us when we were sad, we can be thankful. When our pet greets us at the door, we can be happy. We have many blessings!
God gives blessings—things that bring happiness to His people. Every good and perfect gift is from God (read James 1:17).
Does this mean we will only have good things in our lives? No, God blessed Joseph even though many bad things happened to him. And don’t forget our biggest blessing is that we have a God who has promised to be with us and to bring something good from even the bad things that happen.
Source: Splink from D6 Family
