Motherhood

Even the littlest among us can wonder their worth… can ask that question, “Who Am I?” with greater sincerity and honesty of heart than us, their mothers and fathers.

And as humble they are in asking this defining question… so they shall be in receiving its answer.  We all know this; we know that the softness of childhood is the prime time to educate our children on God’s love, on their identity, and on their value in the world.  But don’t we sometimes struggle with practical ideas?  Amidst the day-to-day, the dishes and lessons and running to and fro, don’t we sometimes just need a little help teaching our children?

When I stumble upon a simple and lovely way to teach our children a biblical truth, I’d like to share it with you here.  And this one begins, like all my posts, with a story.

Two weeks ago, my women’s group from our church went on a retreat.  The theme of the retreat was “Who Am I?”  From what I hear, there was an amazing teacher, personality testing, and plenty of small-group discussion.  Since I wasn’t able to go, I decided that instead of sitting around moping that weekend, I’d do something instead.  First, I invited a few other ladies from church who also stayed home that weekend to come over for coffee.  We shared stories and prayed for each other and had a sweet and simple afternoon.  (Thank you, lovely ladies.)

And second: I decided to explore this theme with my kids.  We traced silhouettes and filled them with words of life.  But let me explain it to you with a little more detail, so you can do it, too.

Materials:

~One big sheet of paper for each child (We used 11×14 art paper).

~A pencil

~A sharpie

~A Bible

~ One or more kids

(See?  Simple!)

Instructions:

1) Tape up the first piece of paper in a room that can be darkened (like a laundry room or bathroom) at about the level of the first child’s head.  I recommend starting with your oldest because he or she will likely be able to hold still a little better than their younger siblings, thus setting an example for them.

2) Hand a flashlight to the next oldest and ask them to hold it still while it’s pointed at the first child’s head, casting a shadow on to the paper.  Try to laugh, not cry, when they don’t understand/ point the flashlight all over the room/ shine it in your eyes/ have to go to the bathroom.  When they finally point the flashlight at their sibling’s profile, trace that profile real quick with your pencil.  Don’t worry about perfection; it’s a pencil, you can go back and make little adjustments later!

3) Repeat with a new piece of paper for each child.  (My four year-old held still for about 2.5 seconds.  But the more kids you try, the faster you’ll get at the drawing part, so we were actually able to get a good profile for him!)

4) Place each paper on the ground and when you are satisfied with your pencil drawings, go over them with a Sharpie (I was surprised how well and cute our profiles turned out!)

5) When your kid cries because “Mommy’s doing a special project, and no you can’t scribble all over it with marker,” offer to trace a new one for her by laying a clean piece of paper over the silhouette you made, and going over the lines.  She can do whatever she wants with the copy.

6) Here is the fun part.  Start with one kid’s profile.  Ask, “What words of life do we have for Naomi?” ** Anything goes, as long as it’s encouraging!  I believe one of my kids said: “Mandy is cute as a dandelion!”  YES!  Also, Jonah was said to have a soft head of hair.  Sometimes it’s not easy to get started; but once they do, we don’t want to shut them down by asking them to think of words that don’t come naturally.  Anything that’s positive and uplifting will do! (We get the kids involved in choosing words for each other because this project actually accomplishes two goals. We are not JUST making a cool picture with encouraging words for each child; we are ALSO starting to train them in the art of speaking kindly to each other.) Write down the words they say inside each child’s profile.

7) Now it’s Mama’s turn.  Speak those words of life that you know your kids need most to hear. Open your Bible to Psalm 139 and include one or two verses about our identity on each child’s profile.  If you haven’t before, I encourage you to look up the meaning of your children’s names.  The origin of a name can give them a feeling of belonging (that name came from somewhere!) as well as a unique calling to live into; and besides, it’s fun!

8) Take pictures of each child beside his/her profile.  Prepare to be surprised at how much this simple activity matters to them.  Be ready with thumbtacks or scotch tape to hang it up beside their beds.

In all, this activity took about thirty minutes with my three kids.  And that’s including bathroom breaks, a lost Sharpie, and reminding them what “words of life” are.

** If you haven’t talked about Words of Life in your family before?  I would recommend reading Proverbs 18:21 with your children: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  Sobering, no?  But oh so important.  Especially when we are with each other so much, and it is so easy to be lazy in our speech.  But if our words can bring life?  Then they are worth practicing.

Happy weekend, friends!  Grab a kid, grab a sharpie, and speak some love over those little blessings of yours.

Clinging to Jesus,

Laura