"The Terrible Lie" (pg 28-37) was a great discussion for us. The older ones have to think of a way the story relates to them personally, or how it talks to them practically where they're at in life. The younger ones talk about what they liked, or ask questions. The three year old just asks for the apple, makes snake noises if engaged at all, or just grumpily says, "that's my Barbie", snatching her back and pulling off the Parsley modesty leaves, thus exposing Eve, and causing giggles throughout the family. Anyway, we plough on. They tasted the organic carrot cake nakd bar; two in favour, four not so much.
One of the topics which comes up is of course disobedience. We talk about how Adam and Eve were not allowed just one thing, whereas it was a yes to everything else, and the disobedience was actually A&E not trusting God.
They gave in to the temptation that they knew better than God, they gave in to the lie that God's best for them wasn't actually the best for them. It's such a great parenting topic, not to become all law-based, and use it as mum ammunition, but to teach our kids that we have their best interest at heart. Of course, with the humble admittance that we may well get it wrong, and the wonderful truth that God doesn't. His best for us is His best for us. No mistakes.
Our kids know that if we can trust them, their world gets bigger (boundaries stretched, independence upped) and if they break that trust, their world gets smaller. There's plenty of stuff I didn't understand as a kid about my parents wanting the best for me, because it didn't look like that at the time, but some teaching only comes into fruition when you're an adult; that's a long time for a mum to wait for fruit!
Another topic which came up was of course nakedness. Standard. The boys actually tried not to burst into hysterics, when it was mentioned; just sly looks at each other and a smirk. (As a side note, our kids aren't allowed to tell each other about sex, until the husband has individually taken them on a little camping trip, explained everything, and only then the older ones can talk to the younger ones about it. It's like a coming of age. It involves a library book, a campfire, and being able to laugh at a Sperm Whales. I'll get him to write a guest post on it! All the boys have had this chat so smirks are allowed...
We talked about the nakedness in Adam and Eve's story, and how it represented shame. We just thought for a moment how shame felt, and we understood why A&E wanted to cover up and hide. It was a great chat, with one boy really sharing about temptation in an area of his life, and another boy seeing how vulnerable his brother had been in sharing it. It's important that the Bible has application for us as adults, and for kids to grasp too. There's reasons for the Bible stories. They're not Fairy Tales or just moral teaching. And that's what The Jesus Story Book does so well; pointing everything to Jesus.
We all laughed at Adam's, "She made me do it". I sometimes say to a child, "I'm really sorry for shouting, you just made me snap". That's not an apology, and neither is it a taking of responsibility for my own actions. It may well be true! But one of the fruits of the spirit is 'self-control' no matter which kid pushes my buttons! (This is a life long lesson for me I'm sure). And the kids had to admit, that they all do throw the "he made me do it" excuse out into the justification speech. It may not be as clearly said as that, more like,
"well we were both.... and then he....so I....."
It was good to remind them that God has an enemy, and therefore they do also, and we shouldn't be fearful of the serpent, but we should remember that he is always whispering, "does God really love you? Do your parents really love you? Does God really want what's best for you"? Because if they learn to recognise their enemy's voice, with God's help they'll learn to ignore it, dismiss it, refuse it. Instead they can tune into God's voice telling them they are;
chosen John 15v16,
loved Ps 86v15
created Ps 139v13-14
forgiven Ps 103v10-12
loved some more Romans 8v37-39
righteous Romans 5v1
protected Psalm 46v1
blessed Ephesians 1v3
and loved even more John 3v16
Adam and Eve's garden story ends with God's compassion, God's love for them, even in the midst of their discipline, even in the midst of their sin, and their shame. Our story begins in sin and shame, but God's compassion, God's love for us had a great rescue plan attached to it; Jesus. A terrible lie outweighed by a tremendous truth.
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