How much does He love me?

This year, 2014, I started 3 collections........


Rocks with holes to build towers



Beach glass

Heart shaped rocks

















In the Children's Worship Class for Kindergartners to fifth graders, we try to create an environment where children can be with God and spend time getting to know Him and listening to Him.  Trying to explain what being alone with God could look like, I decided to take them along on one of my walks with God.  I had them close their eyes and try to imagine the scene.  I was on the beach of Lake Michigan.  The sun was shining and the waves were lapping up on the shore.  I was enjoying my walk alone, feeling the sun on my shoulders, a gentle breeze on my face, and listening to the waves roll up on to the shore...over and over again.  I was talking with God and thanking Him for loving me and for taking care of me and my family, and thanking Him for all of the ways that I saw Him working in the world.  I thanked Him for the beauty around me, the sunshine, the lake and the time that He had given to me to be with Him.  I could feel His love for me and I knew that He loved Me no matter the things that might be going on around me.  As I walked, I was looking down at the sand, feeling it squish between my toes.  I noticed the round rocks that had washed up on the beach.  There were rocks of all colors and sizes.  As I walked, I noticed a rock that was shaped like a heart.  I picked it up and wondered if He had left it there for me.  As I walked, I thought how much He must love me to show me something tangible like a rock that I could hold in my hand.  I had a sense of awe and wonder.  As I walked along, I looked down, and there was another rock that also looked like a heart to me.  Was it a weird coincidence, or did I just have hearts on the brain?  As I continued to walk, I found another and another and another...Pretty soon, it was ridiculous.  I had a pocketful of rocks that looked like hearts that said to me, "See how much I love you?  It is never-ending... and tell the children...how much I love them...give these to them.."  So I had the children open their eyes, and I placed before them all of the heart shaped rocks that I had collected. I had them look them all over and pick one that jumped out to them.   I told them to take it home and put it in the special place at home where they talked and listened to God so that they would be reminded how much that He loves them.

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