Magnets And Mothers
A teacher gave her class of second-graders a lesson about the magnet and what it does. The next day, in a written test, she included this question: “My name has six letters. The first one is m. I pick up things. What am I?” When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word mother.
Your Children Will Ask
One of the most important events in Jewish history is the exodus, when God freed His people from the bondage of Egypt. Prior to leaving Egypt, the Israelites were commanded to eat a special meal called the Passover. As an act of judgment upon the Egyptians, God said that He would strike down every firstborn son, but He would pass over the houses that had the blood of a lamb on the top and sides of the door frame (Ex. 12).
Cardboard Kids
When Mike Wood began to advertise his sign company, he didn’t know how useful his work would become. Some of his signs were life-size cardboard pictures of kids, which he put close to the street.
Pass It On
One day as my wife was baby-sitting our granddaughter, she shared an old, familiar friend with her. With Eliana in her arms, Sue picked up a well-worn book that we had read to our daughter when she was a little girl. It’s a book called The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, a staple in our efforts to share God’s truth with our children.
All Out Of Teenagers
For 18 years, our home was blessed by the presence of teenagers. But now that our youngest is in his 20s, my wife and I are all out of teenagers.
Loving Our Grown-Up Children
Comedian Henny Youngman used to say, “I’ve got two wonderful children—and two out of five isn’t bad.”
A Child’s Wonder
In 19th-century Scotland, a young mother observed her 3-year-old son’s inquisitive nature. It seemed he was curious about everything that moved or made a noise. James Clerk Maxwell would carry his boyhood wonder with him into a remarkable career in science. He went on to do groundbreaking work in electricity and magnetism. Years later, Albert Einstein would say of Maxwell’s work that it was “the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.”
Family Stories
In her book The Shelter of Each Other, Mary Pipher gives advice on rebuilding troubled families. She explores how today’s children sometimes overuse TV and video games to the exclusion of informal instruction received from extended family.
The Dead Sea Squirrels
Our family was excited to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit that was coming to town all the way from Israel. These ancient copies of the Old Testament provide evidence that our Bible has remained accurate over the centuries. Our nephew Daniel was so elated about this outing that he told his schoolmates, “Our family is going to see ‘the dead sea squirrels!’” We all laughed when we heard his misquote. His little ears had turned a word he had never heard (scrolls) into a word he did know (squirrels). And in his childlike enthusiasm, he also knew that the family was going to see something wonderful!
