Character Building {Honesty}

We are on a new adventure!

Won’t you come along and join us? We are learning how to have strong character. We are using the book, A Child's Book of Character Building, book 1, along with a bunch of other activities to round out our experience.

HONESTY:  Truthful words and ways.

“Stop lying to each other; tell the truth.  For we are all parts of each other and

when we lie we are hurting ourselves.”

–Ephesians 4:25

We are nearly finished with this Character Building Study. 

It’s about time too, since my original plans were to be done by Christmas, and onto a Bible Basics unit that I’ve been working on.  Honestly, I didn’t realize what a difficult season of character building we would have as a family. 


So we have taken our time with this unit, and will more than likely come back and repeat it again. 


There were many times that I wanted to skip ahead and do this unit on Honesty, in order to teach a certain young man, who couldn’t seem to keep himself from lying all.day.long.






We did the normal bookwork and coloring pages that we usually do.



And recited this verse over and over again.  It became a mantra for our family.

(Click here for a FREE printable of the Bible verse and the song.)



I drew a visual for them of the Church, with Christ as the head.  We filled in different parts of the body with people we know, and included ourselves.  Then I drew “bite” marks for every time a lie is said, and how it hurts us and Jesus when we tell lies.


I have so far to go in learning how to teach my kids and reach them the way that God has intended me to.  This lesson was very impactful for me, as the Holy Spirit revealed through a friend, that my job as a parent is not just to teach them right from wrong, but to lead them to the Spirit who is the only one who can change their heart.  I feel like it is a big burden that has been lifted off my shoulders, because no matter what I do or try to accomplish to change how they act, I fall short in very big ways.  Relinquishing this job back to the Spirit has changed how I can approach their misbehavior, and has freed me from the guilt and sense of responsibility that I have been carrying around for my kids’ sin.


This lesson, like so many others, was just as important for me….

Next week:

Character Building {Thankfulness}

We are on a new adventure!

Won’t you come along and join us? We are learning how to have strong character. We are using the book, A Child's Book of Character Building, book 1, along with a bunch of other activities to round out our experience.

THANKFULNESS:  Being grateful and showing it.

“I will enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. 

Give thanks to Him and praise His name.”

-Psalms 100:4

This weeks lesson was on Thankfulness, a trait I have been gently guiding in each of them since they could talk, and learned how to say the words Thank You.  Though I am certain that each of them know how it feels to be grateful to receive something they wanted, or to be thanked, I have often wondered how deep the gratitude goes.  It’s one thing to say thank you for a cookie, and another to say thank you to God for all the blessings He has poured out. 

How can one truly be thankful for all that they have, unless they have gone without….

Our kids are so incredibly blessed. 

I hope that one day they grow up to realize it!

 

Our stories this week were perfect for the subject at hand:

 The woman who wanted to show her thankfulness to Christ,

washed Jesus’ feet with her hair, and poured fragrant perfume on his head. 

A little boy who had too many toys, so he gave some to a needy family

who were so thankful to receive them. 

Students whose teacher is out sick miss her and decide to show

their thankfulness with special cards. 

And a family whose car breaks down, but still thank God for

providing a way to make the needed repairs. 

There was a lot of natural discussion that came up this week, which provided for great reinforcement.  I also got lots of extra “Thank you” s! 

We did a cute craft to go along with our lesson.  We made signs that said,

“Don’t worry, be thankful!” 

Basically I just had the kids do some stamp painting on their signs.

I think they turned out pretty cute!

Of course we watched our Character Builders video and also saw the Veggie Tales movie Pistachio, which is all about the consequences of not being honest.

Next:

Character Building {Wisdom}

We are on a new adventure!

Won’t you come along and join us? We are learning how to have strong character. We are using the book, A Child's Book of Character Building, book 1, along with a bunch of other activities to round out our experience.

 

WISDOM:  Thinking God’s way.

“If you want to know what God is asking you to do, ask Him.

For He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask”

. – James 1:5

We talked this week about wisdom. This has been a very important lesson, one that we spent much time discussing throughout our days.  We talked about people who are wise and people who are unwise, and what kind of life each has.  We prayed for God to grow our wisdom, and remind us to lean on Him when we are unsure of what to do.  This was a great time to show the kids that we as adults have to lean on God for wisdom in our lives every day. 

I want so much for each of them to know this fundamental truth:

To lean on God, in and through all things.

The kids made a great sign entitled THINK.  We made this sign to help them make wise choices.  I have actually witnessed them using it often, and love that we have it hanging up in a place that they are able to use it!  This was a great project that they were all able to do together,  and tied in perfectly with our lesson for the week.

 

 

Elaina wrote the title…

1.Is it right?

2. Is is good?

3.  Is it helpful?

4. Would my parents approve?

5.  Would God approve?

And Nate and Isaac took turns writing out the rest.

I think it turned out great!

The kids worked through the coloring pages each day as we discussed and reviewed each lesson.

We also spent time each day learning the new memory verse and song:

(Click here for a FREE printable for the Bible verse and the song.)

We ended the week as usual with our Character Builders movie.  We also watched The Veggie Tales movie Jonah.

The kids have come to really cherish this time we spend as a family in The Word!  Honestly, I’m not sure I would  be so diligent with developing this life habit for them, had we not homeschooled them.  Our family is clinging to the words in Deuteronomy 6:


 

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with

all your soul and with all your strength. 

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

Impress them on your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down and when you get up.

Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

 

We are so blessed to have the gift of time to cultivate a deep love and knowledge of God in our kids! We get to start our mornings with a family Bible reading and discussion. Then on go the praise songs while we do chores. (Nothing like sweeping the kitchen floor to “Counting on God!”)  We have our bible lesson in the afternoon, and spend faithful time in prayer over our meals and at the end of each day.  We have the ability to talk about God in all of our day, read His holy word whenever we want, look upon the verses hanging up on the walls.  And I love when they ask me what I am studying in God’s word too because they truly are interested. We spend time each day in memorization, so we can guard our hearts against the enemy.

 

My prayer is that these life habits will impact their lives in big ways! Our kids each have such big hearts for God…

What a blessed life we have! 

Next:

Character Building {Contentment}

We are on a new adventure!

Won’t you come along and join us? We are learning how to have strong character. We are using the book, A Child's Book of Character Building, book 1, along with a bunch of other activities to round out our experience.
 

CONTENTMENT: Being happy with what I have.

“I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want; For I can do everything God asks me to, with the help of Christ who gives me the strength and power.”

-Philippians 4:12-13

This weeks lesson was centered around being content.  We defined it as:  Being happy with what I have. The first thing we did was write a bunch of things on our white board that we really liked having.  Things like toys, games, movies, and also things like our family members and food and water too.  Then we read the story in the bible about the rich man who asked Jesus if he could follow Him, and Jesus told him he would have to deny himself of all his possessions in order to follow Christ.

We talked about how Jesus teaches us that all we really need is food, clothes, and shelter, and everything else is a bonus.  So we went back to our list and crossed off all the things that we didn’t really need and circled what was left.  This was a great visual for the kids to help change their perspective. We also had a wonderful opportunity to thank God for providing us with so many things we didn’t need but enjoyed having.

 

 

 

Just like other weeks, all the kids colored the pages from the stories each day.

And learned our new memory verse and song for the week:

(Click here for a FREE printable of the song and Bible verse.)

At the end of the week they watched their Character Builders movie and the Veggie Tales Madame Blueberry which is a great lesson in being happy with what we have.

 

 

 

Next: