As you have figured out by now, my goal to produce these
posts about the “Over Time” series in a matter of 6 or 7 weeks has been rather
unsuccessful. However, thanks to the
encouragement from Kevin, my dear husband, I’m not allowing myself to feel like
a failure. I’ve always been slightly
ridiculous when it comes to goals and meeting them. So this time, I’m learning to take a page out
of Kevin’s book: Goals are great. Aim to
achieve them. But don’t beat yourself up
if you don’t, and certainly don’t give up.
That said…I started this in early July. It’s now the beginning of October, and I still have 2 more posts after this one. And that’s okay. The funny thing is, I’ve actually been eager to write this particular post since I got started. This is my very favorite of all the things a child needs over time…stories.
Have you ever thought about the role that storytelling plays in the life of your child? Probably not. At least I never had until reading this book (http://secure.rethinkgroup.org/store4/product.php?productid=1649&cat=&page=1). Sure, I’ve always loved hearing stories. And books and stories are a big part of every single day in our house with 2 young boys. But until I read this chapter of “Playing For Keeps/Losing Your Marbles,” I had never really pondered the fact that, “Stories over time move us to imagine a world beyond ourselves.”
Let’s start with the obvious. Without stories we wouldn’t have the Bible, right? At church, we teach the kids that the Bible is “God’s Big Story” of what has happened on this Earth since the beginning of time. It is His story of how everything came into existence. It is the story of His constant love, care, forgiveness, and provision for His people. It is the story of His plan to rescue the world from the most awful, unimaginable, damnation, replacing it with an eternity in an incredible place that is far beyond our imagination. It is the story of how He still works today, in my life and in yours. He is the author of every intricate detail. Think about life without the Bible…life without knowing God’s Big Story.
Without storytelling, our children will feel no connection or sense of belonging to a family that goes back generations. When I was a child, I loved when my mom or dad would tell me about things in their past. To this day, I can still recount the details of a particular Christmas morning that as a boy, my dad got dragged out into the snow by my grandpa to receive a whipping for his ungrateful response to a less-than-desirable toy given by my great-grandma. Or how he and his brothers were playing in the hay, and a pitchfork went straight through his hand. Or how my mom and her siblings would play this game where they sat in a line, folded a blanket over their legs, and played “On a kayak.” Perhaps these stories seem meaningless, but they’re not. They connect me to where I came from. Who I am has a lot to do with who my parents were as children, who their parents were, and so on.
And this is no different for Oliver and Isaac. Already, at age 3, Oliver has an insatiable craving for stories. It is a language that he speaks, and when you speak it with him, you can always count on diving into his world, and connecting with him. He is a captive audience no matter what kind of story it may be. He loves for us to read Bible stories to him. He can go through his Jesus Storybook Bible (fabulous Bible story book for kids, by the way) and tell us exactly what happened, just by looking at the pictures. But he also loves fictional tales that are totally unrealistic (like when Grandpa tells him about fighting crocodiles with the help of Superman).
I love fiction because it requires imagination. One of my favorite things said in the book is this: “God created imagination. Then, God invented stories to ignite it. Don’t underestimate the potential of your God-given imagination. Have you ever considered that without imagination, you can’t see past what you already know? Care how someone else feels? Hope beyond your present situation?” Isn’t this absolutely true? Without the ability to imagine, we are unable to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. We lack the wherewithal to see someone in a tough situation, empathize with them, and reach out to them.
After all, it is through storytelling that Jesus, the only flawless human that ever walked the face of the earth, was able to connect with folks. Just ordinary folks, like you and me, who are enduring life, and striving to find the answers to the questions of this world. Jesus clearly cared for people such as this. And the Son of God believed that people were valuable enough for him to get on their level so he could relate to them. How did he do this? Through telling stories…stories that would provide them with the right answers, and that would help point them to God. These stories—parables they are called—are sprinkled all throughout the New Testament, and they are beautiful pictures of outreach at its finest.
So perhaps you already knew that stories are an important element in raising your children. Or maybe stories have never really been a part of your role as a parent. Wherever you are in this, I challenge you to take things a step further. Maybe you’re awesome at making up crazy tales full of impossible happenings, and you do this with your kids on a regular basis. That’s wonderful! Begin implementing some stories out of the Bible throughout your week, as well. Remind them that every single story in the Bible is true. Maybe you’re really good at reading the Bible to your kids. And this is so vital in raising them to know Christ. Begin telling fictional stories, too. Let their imaginations run wild. They need this. Trust me.
Knowledge of God’s Word. Connection to family. Empathy for others. Marvelous imagination. Who wouldn’t want these things for their kids? I sure do. Stories, folks. But not just today…stories over time.
That said…I started this in early July. It’s now the beginning of October, and I still have 2 more posts after this one. And that’s okay. The funny thing is, I’ve actually been eager to write this particular post since I got started. This is my very favorite of all the things a child needs over time…stories.
Have you ever thought about the role that storytelling plays in the life of your child? Probably not. At least I never had until reading this book (http://secure.rethinkgroup.org/store4/product.php?productid=1649&cat=&page=1). Sure, I’ve always loved hearing stories. And books and stories are a big part of every single day in our house with 2 young boys. But until I read this chapter of “Playing For Keeps/Losing Your Marbles,” I had never really pondered the fact that, “Stories over time move us to imagine a world beyond ourselves.”
Let’s start with the obvious. Without stories we wouldn’t have the Bible, right? At church, we teach the kids that the Bible is “God’s Big Story” of what has happened on this Earth since the beginning of time. It is His story of how everything came into existence. It is the story of His constant love, care, forgiveness, and provision for His people. It is the story of His plan to rescue the world from the most awful, unimaginable, damnation, replacing it with an eternity in an incredible place that is far beyond our imagination. It is the story of how He still works today, in my life and in yours. He is the author of every intricate detail. Think about life without the Bible…life without knowing God’s Big Story.
Without storytelling, our children will feel no connection or sense of belonging to a family that goes back generations. When I was a child, I loved when my mom or dad would tell me about things in their past. To this day, I can still recount the details of a particular Christmas morning that as a boy, my dad got dragged out into the snow by my grandpa to receive a whipping for his ungrateful response to a less-than-desirable toy given by my great-grandma. Or how he and his brothers were playing in the hay, and a pitchfork went straight through his hand. Or how my mom and her siblings would play this game where they sat in a line, folded a blanket over their legs, and played “On a kayak.” Perhaps these stories seem meaningless, but they’re not. They connect me to where I came from. Who I am has a lot to do with who my parents were as children, who their parents were, and so on.
And this is no different for Oliver and Isaac. Already, at age 3, Oliver has an insatiable craving for stories. It is a language that he speaks, and when you speak it with him, you can always count on diving into his world, and connecting with him. He is a captive audience no matter what kind of story it may be. He loves for us to read Bible stories to him. He can go through his Jesus Storybook Bible (fabulous Bible story book for kids, by the way) and tell us exactly what happened, just by looking at the pictures. But he also loves fictional tales that are totally unrealistic (like when Grandpa tells him about fighting crocodiles with the help of Superman).
I love fiction because it requires imagination. One of my favorite things said in the book is this: “God created imagination. Then, God invented stories to ignite it. Don’t underestimate the potential of your God-given imagination. Have you ever considered that without imagination, you can’t see past what you already know? Care how someone else feels? Hope beyond your present situation?” Isn’t this absolutely true? Without the ability to imagine, we are unable to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. We lack the wherewithal to see someone in a tough situation, empathize with them, and reach out to them.
After all, it is through storytelling that Jesus, the only flawless human that ever walked the face of the earth, was able to connect with folks. Just ordinary folks, like you and me, who are enduring life, and striving to find the answers to the questions of this world. Jesus clearly cared for people such as this. And the Son of God believed that people were valuable enough for him to get on their level so he could relate to them. How did he do this? Through telling stories…stories that would provide them with the right answers, and that would help point them to God. These stories—parables they are called—are sprinkled all throughout the New Testament, and they are beautiful pictures of outreach at its finest.
So perhaps you already knew that stories are an important element in raising your children. Or maybe stories have never really been a part of your role as a parent. Wherever you are in this, I challenge you to take things a step further. Maybe you’re awesome at making up crazy tales full of impossible happenings, and you do this with your kids on a regular basis. That’s wonderful! Begin implementing some stories out of the Bible throughout your week, as well. Remind them that every single story in the Bible is true. Maybe you’re really good at reading the Bible to your kids. And this is so vital in raising them to know Christ. Begin telling fictional stories, too. Let their imaginations run wild. They need this. Trust me.
Knowledge of God’s Word. Connection to family. Empathy for others. Marvelous imagination. Who wouldn’t want these things for their kids? I sure do. Stories, folks. But not just today…stories over time.
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