Well, read!

Or do something for someone else.

Or both!

The wonderful writers here at Christian Children’s Authors are geared up for a great summer, including a variety of posts about summer service . . . lots of ideas for getting children and families involved in serving others in Jesus’ name.

And to underscore the lessons and benefits of serving, here’s an inexpensive little book from Standard Publishing to add to your family’s library.

In God’s Boredom Buster Plan, Logan’s up early and ready for fun, but his best friend in the neighborhood is away on vacation. Logan watches TV, plays video games, makes play dough dinosaurs and a castle, rides his bike, skateboards, and jumps in his moon shoes. By lunchtime, Logan is b-o-r-e-d.

That’s when Mom introduces Logan to God’s boredom buster plan:

“If you want to not be bored, just be a servant of the Lord.”

Logan doesn’t get it. Not at first.

But then he helps Mom frost some cupcakes and deliver them to Mrs. Jennings, a neighbor with a broken arm. While they are visiting, Logan discovers that Mrs. Jennings hasn’t been able to wash her dishes.

So Logan volunteers to do the job. He washes every dish until it sparkles, and Mom dries.

It’s fall, and Mrs. Jennings’ yard is covered with leaves.

So Logan rakes the leaves into big piles, and Mom stuffs the leaves into bags.

Mrs. Jennings has some letters that need to be mailed, so Logan takes the letters to the mailbox on the corner. Then he walks Mrs. Jennings’ dog, Shep.

When it’s time to go home, Logan realizes that while he was serving Mrs. Jennings, he had fun and he wasn’t bored!

“If you want to not be bored, just be a servant of the Lord.”

Back at home, Logan sees old Mr. Winter struggling to get his heavy trash container out to the curb and runs to help him.

Logan’s sure he’s never going to be bored again!

Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.–Matthew 25:40

God’s Boredom Buster Plan is part of the Happy Day Books series from Standard Publishing.
Written by Diane Stortz and illustrated by Phyllis Harris. Paperback, 16 pages, $2.49.

DIANE

One of our favorite summer activities was Summer Movie Fun, which was sponsored by the largest movie theater chain in our state of Arizona. I’m betting your local theaters have a similar program. Here’s how ours works. For only seven dollars, you get to see ten movies rated G or PG, so they’re always kid friendly. You pick the theater you’ll attend and the day you’ll go each week and get a book of tickets for each person attending. All movies start at 9:45 a.m. If you want to take along an extra friend (adult or child) you can purchase another single ticket for only two dollars.

There’s usually a concession special, like a small popcorn, soda, and a mini candy bar for around four dollars. But we skip that. I go to the local warehouse store and buy a box of assorted candy bars and a case of drinks. Then I label a gallon-sized Zip-lock bag with each child’s name and let them choose a candy and a drink to go in their bag to take to the movie. It’s like concession shopping at home. And much cheaper.

I took my own kids to Summer Movie Fun when they were young, as well as my nieces. Now I take my grandchildren. But because there’s getting to be more of them than I can manage on such an outing, I’m thinking we’ll do our own SMF here at the house this summer using Redbox. I’ll pop popcorn and let them choose a special drink to go with it.

However it’s done, we always enjoy this special day of the week and we’re making memories that last a lifetime!

What special activities have you done with your kids or grandkids? 

For someone who has walked the single path herself for several years, this is a subject very close to my heart.

This isn’t a path I chose for myself, in that, ever since I was a little girl, all I really wanted to be was a wife and mother. I loved reading fairy-tales (actually, I still do!) and would sigh with contentment at the “and they all lived happily ever after.” However, by the time I reached the “dating” age I was determined I wasn’t going to go out with a guy just for the sake of going out with one – I wanted to “hold out for a hero”. (I hadn’t read Robin Jones Gunn’s Christy books at that stage, but my sentiment was the same, if not that eloquent! All these years later that line is the one I remember!) I asked God to protect my heart and that if I was interested in a guy, if he wasn’t God’s best for me, then he wouldn’t approach me. Well, several guys did approach me – just not the ones I was interested in. (And no, it wasn’t just I wasn’t interested, they weren’t at all suitable either! They either weren’t Christians, or their hearts were not close enough to God’s.) So, while I didn’t exactly choose it, in a way I did, because I chose God’s will for me. I just didn’t realise the wait was going to be so long – nor how hard it was going to be!

The other thing I didn’t realise was that the people I thought would be the most supportive (the Church) have been the ones who have made thoughtless, insensitive and sometimes very hurtful comments, whereas those I thought would be less discerning (secular society) have actually more often than not been the ones who have been most accepting of my single status.

Here are a few comments I have received, even as a teenager, generally from older married Christians; and the replies I wanted to give, but just brushed off with a light laugh and moved (or at least attempted to move) the conversation to something safe. So do you have a boyfriend yet? – No, is there a problem with that? Why don’t you have a boyfriend? – Umm, good question. How about God’s plan is that I remain single at this time! Which guy here do you like? – Just because I don’t have a boyfriend, why do I have to be interested in one here? For someone who would have loved to have a boyfriend, the comments stabbed the heart as a longing that hadn’t yet been fulfilled was being brought out into the open and questioned. I often felt (and still do actually) that my value in their sight was diminished because I didn’t have a significant other. I’ve often wondered why can’t I just be accepted as I am?

For some reason, the church seems to have the view that you should be married, and if you aren’t, then something must be wrong! Considering Paul has written in the Bible about singles and the honourable role they have in church life, I’m not entirely sure why this view prevails. However, I do believe that when we are teaching our young people about dating, courtship, marriage; I also think it needs to be balanced with teaching them about being single and fulfilling that part of their life too! At this stage they are all single. For some, it won’t be long before they are married. For others it will be several, maybe even many years. A few won’t be married at all.  But all need the foundation to navigate through this season in their lives, knowing that God loves and respects them for themselves, not for the other person in their life.

There are many books out now on the single life. I wish they had been around, or at least the principles taught when I was a teenager! This one (pictured left) is my favourite, and one I return to when my Tambourine Tribute starts to wobble! (Those who have read the book will understand what I mean by the The Tambourine Tribute.) Emily Ryan has been there and walked the single path into her thirties, and during her struggles, she came across an unnamed, unmarried and unshakable heroine in the Judges 11 – Jephthah’s daughter. Here she walks through the aspects of Jephthah’s daughter’s life and shows us how to follow “the lead of a single woman who teaches us how to be godly.”

A book I highly recommend for your single daughters, or to follow through as a Bible study with your girls’ group at church, or if you just want to better understand the single person in your family/church, and help them to celebrate their single status rather than focusing on their lack of marriage status. Emily Ryan says, “Together we’ll look at a girl in Scripture who can show us who God wants us to be in Him. We won’t learn her name, for she remains unnamed. We won’t meet her husband, for she is unmarried. But we will study her character, for she is unshakeable. And she’s not simply a godly woman who teaches how to be single. Rather she’s a single woman who teaches us how to be godly.”

I don’t know when I’ll be married – being chronically ill has made that option seem even further away.  But that’s okay. God has my heart, and what He wants for me is what I want for me. I know He’s taking care of me, and covering me, and despite – or even because of – this single season coupled with a chronic illness, I know He has a particular plan and purpose for me. Maybe someone today needed to read this post either as encouragement, or to change the way they look at the single life. I also know He has a purpose for my future.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

I know who holds the future.

I also know He has a plan and purpose for your life too.

Wendy

Then I had an idea. We lived in a neighborhood with lots of kids and had at least a dozen kids right on our own street. “Let’s have our own Bible school in the backyard with all your neighborhood friends,” I told my son. He thought about it for a moment and nodded his head in agreement.

A few days later, with my two-year-old in the stroller, my son and I walked through the neighborhood delivering our handmade invitations for Bowman’s Backyard Bible school. When our Bible school week finally arrived, I was surprised to find twelve children on my doorstep at 9:30 in the morning. We went to the backyard and played duck-duck-goose in the grass. Then we colored pictures of Jesus on the picnic table, sang happy praise songs, and ate a snack. During the final minutes of our Bible school, I gathered the children in a circle and told them stories of Jesus and how much he loved each one of them.

For the next seven summers, the neighborhood children came to Bowman’s Backyard Bible School. As the children grew, so did the numbers (I added another child of my own to the group!). I commissioned some of the older children to be helpers since they still wanted to attend and also got help from another mom in the neighborhood. I soon became known as “The Bible School Mom.”  When the kids came trick-or-treating at my door in October, many of them asked, “Are you going to do that Bible thing again this summer?”  My answer was yes.

If you are looking for a way to reach out to your neighborhood children this summer, consider having Bible school in your backyard. Remember to keep it simple. I didn’t do fancy crafts or even use any visuals. I just sat on the lawn with the children at my feet and told them about Jesus.

 . . . for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these. (Matthew 19:14)  

Crystal

I can remember starting the countdown to summer vacation right after the school Easter break. Unfortunately, once it arrived, summer always sped by way too fast. Before I knew it, I was back in school, writing my essay on what I did over the summer.

How would you like to involve your kids in something really big this summer? Something they’ll remember for years to come? Something they’d be proud to write about for their “What I Did Over the Summer” essay when they go back to school?

This year Focus on the Family is sponsoring A.C.T.S.! – A Call To Serve. Through this summer program, they are hoping to encourage thousands of kids across the United States to make a commitment to serve their family, their community, and even their world. A.C.T.S. has two goals: to facilitate over 50,000 hours of service, and to donate 500 lambs for Operation Christmas Child.

Interested? Here’s how to learn more: 

• Go to http://www.whitsend.org/FeaturesView/ACTS.aspx for additional details and resources
• Tune in to the May 22 webcast (times are listed on the website)

The program is organized in three “Acts”:

• Act One: Serve
• Act Two: Share
• Act Three: Enter to Win! 

Contest entries may be submitted from June 1 through August 16, 2013. Prizes for winners range from a one-year subscription to the Odyssey Adventure Club to an expense-paid missions trip. Official contest rules are found here.

Help your children help others this summer. Regardless of how the contest turns out, everyone will be a winner!