The Kids of Integrity Challenge is finished!

Laundry lessons

The other day, Jessica came home all excited about a painting they had been doing at kindergarten. I wasn’t exactly happy as I caught sight of the wide brown paint stripes now adorning her brand new shirt! But then I brightened as I remembered the “Clean Hearts” (Science with a Twist) part of the Forgiveness lesson. This was my chance to turn a mess into a teachable moment!

After having Jess change tops, all three of us traipsed down to the laundry room. I used the formerly white shirt as an example of what it means to be “stained” with sin – the brown streaks representing an unforgiving heart. Then, as I began to wash the paint out, I told the kids how Jesus can help us wash away our bitterness and make our hearts perfectly clean again. The kids waited as I scrubbed. The paint was lighter but still clearly visible. I used bleach and tied that into my teaching by saying that sometimes we are stubborn and don’t want to let go of our sin. Unfortunately, the paint still wasn’t coming out. After a third product failed to remove the streaks, I dismissed the kids and told them we’d continue the lesson when I got the shirt clean. Then I Googled “How to remove Tempra paint from clothing”!

I never did manage to get the stain out completely and the rest of that instructional moment fizzled. I have since forgiven Jess for not wearing her “paint shirt” (instead of new clothing) while painting, but not before I gave her a lecture on taking care of her clothing. It’s a good thing Jesus doesn’t lecture me every time I need forgiveness. (Sigh.) One day maybe I’ll be more like Him.

On another note, I’m wondering how other KOI families handle choosing memorization verses for their lessons. At the start of the Forgiveness lesson, Rob and I looked through the provided memory verses and took a fancy to Colossians 3:13. The problem was that we liked different phrases in different translations. Wanting to use language that would be easy for the kids to understand, we decided that the “official family verse” would be a blend of the NIV and NLT. Our final product was: “Put up with each other and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Our visual was clip art of a broken heart with a Band-Aid on it.

Even though the poster with our verse is on the side of our fridge, I still forget to go over it with the kids. Maybe I should stick it on the bathroom mirror. Does anyone have tips to make verse memorization a fun, daily exercise for the whole family?

Tags:

• Forgiveness