"If Jesus Came to My House" - BFIAR Activities

 

I think this story has been one of Ellie's favorites. Each morning at breakfast she would grab the book and lay it out as well as our bible and memory verse chalk board and tell me to get started! I couldn't even get my coffee poured before she was asking for me to read to her!

Our Bible verse go along for this book is Matthew 7:12, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets."

We also read Isaiah 41:10, "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

We also have our monthly bible verse of Isaiah 9:6.

Math:

We built with blocks and made many different structures, shapes, and patterns. Ellie was pleased to do this for a solid 3 hours one morning! We made squares, rectangles, and hexagons with our blocks. She made a linear pattern of squares and then wanted to count them. She would build one, then count the series, then add one, then count the new total. She actually also upon her own mind decided to make the letter "E" with her blocks for "Ellie" and she did it over and over. I was so proud. This was awesome fun learning for her. 

Reading: 

In addition to the book, we also did so much other reading. We are daily in the word of God and this book made a really neat connection to that time. We finished the book of John and moved into the book of Acts this week. We were deeply focusing on the characteristics of Jesus and what it is to be Christ like and to serve and love others above ourselves. It is also December and we are doing nightly Advent reading from "Jotham's Journey," "The Dawning of Indestructible Joy" by John Piper, and "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus." Advent is a time to celebrate, pursue, and prepare for the time in which Jesus came to us on Earth. Which so ties in with this story this week. Pursuing, entertaining, and loving like Jesus. I am very happy we chose to row this book at this season. 

We also have a practice in our household of reading poetry by the fire in a cozy pallet of blankets and pillows with candles and tea (hot chocolate and egg-nog a few of these nights). In the book, Jesus and the boy gather by the fire and enjoy tea so again it was literally just perfect that we already had this family habit. We read a poem to go with the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, "My Shadow." So we had tea by the fire as they did and delved into a poem discussing a shadow which the boy is timid of if not for the presence of Jesus. 

We also had a few other Christ faith focused stories to read to go along. Here they are:

Activities:

We made shadow puppets in the dark bathroom with Ellie's flashlight. This was fun! We made alligators, geese, spiders, people, bunnies, and Ellie made up stories to go with them. Shadows can be fun, not scary!

Another shadow project was to make "shadow cookies." We rolled out sugar cookie dough and used a gingerbread boy cookie cutter to make a human figure. Once we rolled them out and cut them and baked them, we let them cool and then frosted them with chocolate icing so they were dark like shadows! Ellie totally got the concept and could not wait to eat some cookies.

For a snack, Ellie ate apples as were offered to Jesus. We actually also have our own small young apple orchard which was a fun connection for Ellie, though our apples were not from our orchard. She said she could take Jesus to her orchard, too! 

We do a monthly hospitality or service project to love others as Jesus calls us to do. The book emphasizes this importance as well. This week I will simply only say that we helped a friend in need. There's nothing else that needs to be said. I think the important take away here is that we daily love and serve others, and care for those in need as Jesus would and does. It is so important to teach our children this. 

We also went hiking and found a new waterfall and we relished in the creation of God and had quiet time with Jesus in His beautiful creation. We can spend time with God even if we cannot see Him and we can hear Him, witness His goodness and beauty, and talk with Him. 

We discussed how we can communicate with God and have a relationship with Him: Reading His word, Praying to Him, Seeking Him in His creation, serving others. We discussed how we can glorify God: by loving Him, keeping His commandments, and loving others. 

This week was a really awesome week of bonding together and bonding with Jesus and just taking time to be quiet with Him. I hope rowing this story will be as big of a blessing for your family!