PARENT CORNER DAY 1 TODAY: APRIL 7-8 weekly Read 1 Samuel 1:15-18 Hannah desperately wanted a baby. She was so sad ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// she couldn’t eat. What did Hannah do that made her feel better? Fill in the letters. (It’s in verse 10). Hannah Prays for a Baby 1 Samuel 1:6–2:1 Bible Story: Hannah P __ A __ E __ April 7 & 8| K1 Big Idea: When you think you can’t wait, talk to God about it. Is there something in your life that you are sad about?

Memory Verse: “Wait for the LORD. Be strong and don’t lose hope. Wait for the Take out a sheet of paper and write a prayer to God, LORD!” Psalm 27:14, NIrV WEEK 2 or draw Him a picture, telling Him what is bothering you and how you need His help. Be honest with Life App: Patience—Waiting until later for what you want now. Him. Fold it and put the letter by your bed or maybe even Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what. between the mattresses if you want to keep it to Bible Story Summary: yourself and pray honestly to God about it. (PS- You’ll need this letter another day this week!) There’s a phrase we say a lot: “I can trust God no matter what.”

As people who follow God and call ourselves Christians, this is something all of us say. And probably for the most part we live this out. We trust God to provide for our needs, for THANK God for caring about what is troubling you! our safety, even for our health. But there are certain times when trusting God seems just a bit more difficult—often those are times that try our patience. Times when we’re not where we were, but we’re not at our final destination. We’re somewhere in between on this journey. Put simply, we’re waiting. And it’s in the waiting that our faith is tested.

This week we looked at 1 Samuel 1:6–2:1 and the story of Hannah. She had waited DAY years for a child. Rather than become frustrated and angry toward God, she prayed and 2 told Him all about it. When God answered her prayer, she gave her son back to God. He Read James 5:7-8 honored her waiting and blessed her with even more children. If you have a houseplant somewhere in your house, go find it. If not, go outside and find a flower or a tree. Look at the dirt around the plant, flower or tree.

Big Idea: When you think you can’t wait, talk to God about it. It’s important for us Draw pictures of how it started. all to remember that talking to God about how we feel will help us stay patient through whatever circumstance we might face. He may not change our circumstance, but He’ll give us the strength to keep waiting well.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// SEED STARTING TO GROW NOW It took water, sun, and time to grow. l T ea im Sometimes we may pray and ask God for help, but then we get in a hurry and try to fix it on e What is a hard situation you are facing now, that M Ask a kid: our own instead of waiting to see what God has planned. you need patience? This week, give your problems to God and trust that He’s working on it, even though we can’t always see that. Be patient for God’s timing. Ask a parent: Why would you never want to go it alone and leave God out of situations that are hard? God to help you with your problems, and ASK then trust that He can do just that! DAY 3 HEY PARENTS parent CUE: Read Psalm 46:10a SIGN HERE! /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Grab a stopwatch and a sibling or parent to play Have a parent sign your the Quiet Game with you. The goal of this game completed GodTime. Courtney DeFeo, author of In This House, We Will Giggle, said, is for you to keep still and quiet, no matter what the person does to you. Take turns being “it.” When “You aren’t supposed to BE Jesus for your kids. You’re supposed you’re “it,” it’s your job to get the other person to to SHOW them Jesus. Wow. I never thought of that. We often put laugh, talk or generally make noise. You can make so much pressure on ourselves to figure the whole faith thing out silly faces or whatever it takes (without touching for our kids. The truth is WE CAN’T! them). See how long it takes for them to crack and Parent signature break the silence. Then switch roles. We have a great opportunity to guide the process of our kids’ faith, It’s hard to be still and quiet when there’s a lot going but remember… the most important thing we can do is live out our on around you, isn’t it? It’s even harder to be still and Date own faith in front of them. They will hear it in our conversations and patient when we have a problem we want to solve or see it in our choices. And Jesus will continue to pursue them. a person who is annoying us. But God can give us the strength we need to be patient while He works out His plan. We just have to pray and ask Him to help us Bob Geoff says, “Jesus is supposed to lead people to Jesus.” trust Him. What a relief! I often think of the words to the song Reckless Love Return for 5 Bible Bucks! and remind myself that this is the kind of love Jesus pursues not only me with, but my kids, too. for ways to practice being still and LOOK waiting calmly for God, this week. “Oh, the overwhelming, never ending, reckless love of God. Oh, It chases me down, fights till I’m found, leaves the 99.” DAY 4 Read Philippians 4:6 Find the piece of paper that you wrote your letter prayer to God on earlier this week. Now take the paper and crumple it up. Throw it in the trash. Now go get it out of the trash, open it up and read it. Is it still there? at a Of course it is! Asking God for help doesn’t mean the problem will GLANCE just go away. But if you tell God about it and trust that He has it Bibles-N-Bucks Shopping: under control, you can stop worrying and let it go. Remember, God is *Closed March 31-April 8 in charge and He wants the best for you. 4th grade: April 14-15 This time, crumple the paper up and throw it away for good. Anytime Kindergarten: April 21-22 you’re tempted to worry or stress about that situation, remind 1st grade: April 28-29 yourself that God has it and you don’t need to take it back—you can leave it with Him!

KNOW that God’s plans and timing are perfect!