Saturday, August 17, 2013

Sharing Time: August week 3



We have talked about how to pray, where to pray, when to pray… now let’s talk about why we pray.

Heavenly Father has asked us to pray to show love for Him, but we also pray to receive direction, get help in choosing the right, and to receive blessings.

Heavenly Father sees the whole picture, not just what we can see.  Sometimes our prayers are not answered in the way we think or wish they would be.  But, we need to have faith that Heavenly Father knows better and will give us the things we need.
  
      Through Prayer we can receive direction. Set up some chairs to create a maze.  Have someone blindfolded and try to walk through a maze.  Have another child be Heavenly Father, giving the first child directions.  Do this a couple more times to give more kids a chance to participate.

Just as it is difficult to navigate through a maze without being able to see, it is much easier to navigate through life if we pray and get help from Heavenly Father.  He can see the end of the maze and knows just how to get out. 

Sometimes there are mazes with more than one path, though.

2.       We can pray to receive help making good choices.  Have a child at the front of the room.  To the right have a poster that says BLESSINGS.  To the left have a poster that says SORROW.  On the board have numbered papers covering scenarios. (You hit your brother, you told a lie, you lost your temper and yelled at your mom, you helped your mom make dinner, you shared your toys with your sister, you were happy and helpful at school, etc.)  Have the child at the front choose a number.  If it is a good choice, have them move one step to the right.  If it is a bad choice, have them move two steps to the left.  Tell them that there is someone who knows which numbers are good and bad.  If they ask for help, have another child come remove the paper on one of the positive numbers. 

Explain that it can be difficult to make the right choices when we are faced with decisions.  We can pray for guidance and Heavenly Father will help us choose the right.

3.       We can pray to receive blessings.  Sometimes in life, bad things happen- we get hurt, family members get sick, we struggle in school.  Sometimes, we are just confused about something.  If we pray, Heavenly Father will bless us with the things we need.  Many of the songs we sing in Sacrament meeting or in Primary are actually prayers.  Can you think of a song that sounds like a prayer?  Sing one or two of these songs and talk about the lyrics.  

Wrap it up by saying that there are many reasons we pray.  Heavenly Father knows more than we know and we need to get his help in life.  Share testimony about prayer.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Sharing Time ideas- August week 2

I was recently called to be in the Primary Presidency, so I now have the opportunity to do Sharing Time every third month.  This month is my first time doing it- last week being the very first.  I am so grateful for people who have posted their ideas online, so I thought I'd do the same for other people who might be interested.

This month, the lessons are about prayer.  Last week we talked about how to pray.  This week we are talking about when and where to pray.  I am pretty much following the ideas outlined here.

I am going to have a child try to identify two people while blindfolded simply by the sound of their voice- their parent and a stranger.  We will then talk about why they couldn't identify the stranger.  (They don't know them, they've never talked to them.)  It is the same with Heavenly Father.  We cannot hear  Heavenly Father or come to know Him without talking to Him.  We do that by praying.

We will then talk about where and when to pray as outlined in Alma 33 and 34.  We will talk about the modern day equivalent of what the scriptures discuss:



Alma 33: 3-9; Alma 34: 18-26

Mercy                                (repent, when we do something wrong)
In my field                         (playground, park, work, school)
My house/ household        (house or bedroom/ For family)
Against the devil               (To not be tempted)
My closet                           (any private place)
In the wilderness                (feeling lost or alone)
In congregations                (at church)

Then, we'll talk about where/ when else they might pray.  We will review how to pray and maybe talk about some of the "thank you for" and "please bless" associated with each place/ time.  (For instance, "Thank you for my family.  Please bless my brother, who is sick."

I will then show the kids a penny and point out the words "In God We Trust."  We will talk for a second about how we can only trust someone that we know well.  Just like we trust our parent and know their voice, we can come to know Heavenly Father, and be able to trust Him, through prayer.  I will give each child a penny to put in their shoes and a handout.  Each time they see a coin or feel the penny in their shoe, they should remember to say a prayer.

I just found images from google image search to go along with the modern-day places to pray.  I can post those, too, if anyone wants them.  Here is my handout to go with the penny:


Friday, August 2, 2013

Recent Happenings

This post is going to be heavy on the pictures, and very light on the text.  I have been updating my creative blog and let this one kind of fall by the wayside.  Here are some current photos, though (all from the phone, so don't mind the blur):

Easter 2013



April 2013
Family Vacation #1
 







 
 May 2013















 June 2013







 Happy Birthday, Daddy!


 Happy Father's Day, Daddy!








 
 July 2013







 Family Vacation #2