We are restarting studying the New Testament this year! I am so excited. This is the second time that we will be going through the New Testament as a family. Last time (2019) I recorded cute and insightful things that the kids said in my wide margin scriptures and I can’t wait to share those thoughts with my growing kids and add our more recent insights.
To introduce our study I kept our discussion short and sweet. I asked the kids what they thought we would be learning about in the New Testament and who the main character of the book would be. The answer is that the New Testament is all about Christ and his teachings. We learn from Christ to become more like him, its going to take effort and time on our behalf but I know that following Christ is the easiest way to find peace, happiness and continue to grow as individuals and as a family.
Parable of the 10 Virgins
One of my favorite parables from the bible is the story of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). There are 10 women waiting for the Bridegroom (Christ) with their oil lamps. 5 brought extra oil and 5 did not have extra. Unfortunately when the Bridegroom arrived, 5 of the women had left to get more oil and were not able to join the Bridegroom. I talked about this story with the kids and asked them how we can gather oil drops for our lantern, our testimony and faith. The parable was a tad challenging at first but once I started talking about service, religious study, good music and prayer they came up with some of their own ideas on how to add oil to our lanterns. I was even prepared for this discussion and purchased some of our own clay lanterns to help us remember to keep searching for truth. I plan on lighting the lanterns during our Last Supper at Easter.
While they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut – Matthew 25:10
Resources used
New Testament
Clay Lanterns
There Is Power In Agency and Repentance
I know that as a parent I cannot transfer my knowledge or faith to my children. I can only teach and set an example, they will choose if they will listen and act in building their own testimony. Certainly in the future this will be hard when/if my children choose a path different than mine but I am a huge believer in agency and in repentance. Kids need to be able to choose their own destinations and know that they are loved for whichever road they take.
One of my roles as a parent is to make sure that whatever road they are on they know that they can always find the intersection that will bring them back to Christ. It doesn’t matter how far they travel the highways of Christ’s love will not close. They can always come back, they might take the highway for a quick return or they might get stuck on the back roads and need an angel to push them out. Either way, repentance is there for them and its there for us as parents too.
Goal Setting
One way that we will be helping our kids to learn and grow is by setting and working towards goals. I count our blessings that we homeschool and can easily add goals into our daily and weekly plans. The categories we are setting goals in is spiritual, social, physical and intellectual. We made plans with each child and asked them how we could support them. Some kids just wanted supplies and some asked for reminders. The littlest wanted me to join them so I too am working on trying new food and catching baseballs. It may seem silly but its validating and supporting to them which is exactly the type of parent I strive to be.
And the child, grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. And Jesus increased in wisdom and statue, and in favor with God and man. – Luke 2:40,52
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