God’s FAITHFULNESS: God never stops caring for us
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
It is easy to worry. We’re worried all of the time about any number of things. Jesus knows this. Remember, He was fully human too. But also being fully God, and knowing His Heavenly Father, He knew how fully and perfectly God the Father loves and cares for His children. I can imagine Jesus looking out on the faces of the crowds gathered in front of Him and His heart breaking over the pain and worry He saw in their faces. – Because He knew it didn’t have to be this way. This is not what God wanted for His children. God is faithful. He sees us. He loves us. He cares for us. He will not stop.
Lamentations 3:22-23 says “The LORD’S loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Retelling of Matthew 6:25-34 for TODDLERS
Try reading this to your 1-4 year old using figures or paper cut outs, acting out the story as you read.
Jesus was teaching a crowd of people one day. The people were sad and worried about a lot of things. Jesus didn’t want them to be sad. He wanted them to know that He loved them. He wanted them to understand that God would take care of them.
Jesus pointed up into the sky. “Look at the birds,” He said. “They are not worried about anything. God takes care of them. He gives them food to eat. You mean more to God than birds.”
Jesus pointed down at the ground. “Look at the flowers. They don’t worry either. God takes care of them. He gives them beautiful colors to wear.”
So don’t worry about anything. Not about what to wear, not about what to eat, not about what to drink. God knows all about you. He knows what you need and He will take care of you. God loves you.
Gardening Bin
Fill a bin with gardening soil. Add flower pots or cans, small spoons or child trowels, and silk flowers. Give your child a cup of dried beans, seeds or popcorn kernels. Let them explore the dirt and create their own garden, poking, planting and playing in the soil.
Play Dough Birds
Use playdough, feathers, googly eyes, and bits of orange foam to make your own birds. Let your child be creative. Birds come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. It is so fun to see what they come up with! My kids had a blast with these. Talk about all the ways God cares for the birds. He is FAITHFUL to provide for them and He is FAITHFUL to provide for us.
Play Dough Garden
Another idea using play dough as a base, use craft sticks and construction paper or cardstock to make flowers. Fill your playdough garden with colorful blooms. Talk about the beauty God makes and how He also made you and me.
Potted Flowers
If you’ve never gifted a potted flower cutout of your child to someone, let this be your opportunity. We decorated flowers and put a photo in one and our Scripture verse in the other. I laminated them for durability and then hot glued a craft stick to each one. Place a foam ball in the bottom of a plant pot and stick your flowers in. Decorate your pot, tie a ribbon around it, and gift it away! ( or keep for yourself 😉
Find My Eggs: GAME
This game was quick , easy and fun. Think: Easter egg hunt… kinda haha. We built a little nest from a hula hoop and blankets. A laundry basket would also work well. I had them all go away to another room while I hid colored balloons around the room. They then were instructed to fly around the room and find “their (colored) eggs” and bring them back to the nest. It was not overly complicated, but they love balloons and searching for hidden things so it worked out well.
Flower Fruits & Cracker Bird snacks
Who loves a good fruit, cheese and cracker snack? …and all my children raise their hands haha. It’s our favorite around here, so naturally they were thrilled when I laid this out for Bible Story Snack. I used an assortment of sliced fruits, round crackers, stick pretzels, and sliced string and cheddar cheeses. They immediately went to work creating and snacking.
BABIES IN THE WORD 