Sunday, October 28, 2012

What About Heaven?



What About Heaven? by Kathleen Long Bostrom is a children's book about heaven and the questions that children ask.  The first several pages are full of questions a typical preschooler might ask.  The following pages answer those questions with statements.  On each page, the Bible reference that supports the fact is listed in the top corner.

I am leery of feeding my children too much information that I'm not certain of.  I'd much rather say "I don't know!" and talk about things from there, rather than give certain answers.  I appreciate that the books starts off by saying that some things we won't know until Jesus comes back.  A few comments concerned me though.  The book promises that "Jesus will give you a room of your own, with others nearby so you won't feel alone."  The scripture reference is John 14:2, which says God is preparing a place for us, not necessarily a "room of your own".  I just felt like that was a stretch and might actually scare my kids.  The other statement that I didn't like was about us wearing white clothes and not needing a washing machine in heaven.  I'd rather tell me kids that I don't know if there will be washing machines in heaven or not, I don't think the Bible addresses that fact!

Aside from these reservations, the book is adorable.  The illustrations are fun and I can see this being a great starting point for discussions with children.  The book talks about what heaven is like, with the only mention of how to get there being "The way is with Jesus, believing in Him."  I suppose you could elaborate on that as you read.

I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for review from Tyndale House Publishing.


Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Nature Walk Bracelets

We went for a fun nature walk today!  I took a piece of tape and wrapped it around each child's arm.  As we walked, we found things to add to our bracelets and make them beautiful.  :)

Julia's was mostly dandelions. 

Lucy chose a variety of things and even got a rock to stay on. 

I love our big beautiful tree! 

sick baby snuggling mom

Esther kept putting things on and taking them back off again. 

one of the bracelets after we cut it off

This was a fun activity that we will probably do again sometime.  Do you have any creative ideas for making nature walks interesting?  Please share!  :)