What's For Dinner?

As we continue through the Jesus Story Book Bible, we find ourselves at a slightly tricky chapter, a hard one to explain to little children; Abraham sacrificing his son. We must be wise in how we tell Bible stories, but we must tell them. I've spent far too long as an adult falling back to the New Testament, the gospels where Jesus is in all His splendour, rather than searching for Him in the Old Testament as well. I want to teach my kids to find Him everywhere. A friend of mine says that it can be like playing 'Where's Wally?' You have to really search for him. But when you do, when something is made clear about Him, the penny really drops and your eyes are open to seeing Him more and more. 

So tonight we told the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, and we discussed what the story meant to us. My son had a realisation as I read the words, "Many years later, another Son would climb another hill, carrying wood on His back. Like Isaac, He would trust His father and do what His father asked. He wouldn't struggle or run away". (pg69 JSBB) 
My wide-eyed son simply said, "it's the exact same story". He had found Jesus in the story.

After reading, we went into the kitchen where I had acted out the scene on the dinner table, using tonight's dinner. My kids had asked the infamous question earlier, "What's for dinner?" And I had simply replied sausages. (I know they ask me this to gauge whether they're going to like it or loathe it). 

Sometimes my kids barely bat an eyelid anymore, but they were amused and grabbed a plate. One of them suggested that I should have put ketchup all over the Ram roll of bread, to show where it had been killed. But I reminded them that they have little sisters, and that may not have been appetising. (Obviously I could have gone for a lamb joint, but that's an expensive dinner to spread all over the table!!) 




I asked how the story had spoken to them. One of my boys said that it was hard to sacrifice what you want for someone else, one said that he was coming to realise that we, his parents, want what is best for him, even when he can't see it. (I just nodded along, gently, humbly rather than fist pumping the air and shouting rather smugly, "finally!!")

My example was that I had recently felt the cost, the sacrifice of leaving one church site for another, and how I had to trust that it was God's best for me, for my family, and for both those church sites. One boy said that sometimes giving away what you want, actually means you get something better instead, and sometimes it doesn't. My little girl tearfully added that she had to trust God with her best friend moving to another country, even though it was sad and she didn't understand. I was just shocked that she had grasped an element of what I was teaching, on a really personal level. And the three year old was cross with me that I had stuck her Playmobile people in the savoury rice!

It was good to remember at the end of chatting and sharing, what God had sacrificed for each of us; His only son that He loved dearly, because of His vast never-ending love for us. Someone said to me yesterday that they wondered when Jesus' death on the cross had hit home, was it when He hung there and died? Was it when He carried the cross up the hill? Or was it when Him and His Father made that hill in the first place?! 
What an eye opening moment that was!