Things Above {Colossians Family Time #5}

It has been a crazy week. My to-do list was piled high… laundry just had to be done… and children seemed to need extra love and care. A sweet three-year old was found hiding out in the bathroom putting every band-aide left in the box on her little legs… make-up all over the floor… hair-cutting scissors in her hands… I thought she was playing in her room. A one-year old got a fever for the third time this month. And the “big kids”… they are awesome, but still have issues fighting over who gets to pour the cereal and pouting when they get a “draw two” in Uno.

I can get wrapped up in the good and the bad of the day, and completely lose sight of what’s really important. It’s that thirteen year-old in me coming out again, as I find myself struggling between things of this world and my most awesome and holy Savior.

This week’s family time (read below why we did family time a little early this week) was a precious reminder to me (& hopefully our kids too) of where my heart and my mind should be- even in the upside-down days…

Colossians Family {Bible} Time #5

*Tape paper to the bottom side of a table and allow children to paint or color the paper upside down. :) Encourage them to paint a beautiful scene to show what they think heaven looks like. {With little ones, I recommend coloring with chalk soaked in sugar water… it’s almost like chalk paint and turns out SO pretty… I only got pictures of my “bigger” ones.}

*You’ll notice that I stuck some words on with stickers before they painted… “SET… HEART (or heart sticker)… &… MIND… ON… THINGS… ABOVE.” (From Colossians 3:1-2) My hope was to peel them off afterwards, like we did for our canvas painting, but the stickers crumbled when I tried to peel them off… so we left them on instead, and it still worked (or you could just write the words on once the paint dried.  ;)

*While it’s drying… Read Colossians 2:16-3:6 together- focusing on Col. 3:1-2. (If you’re not going through Colossians word-for-word with your family, then Colossians 3:1-4 would work just as well!)

*Talk about how they had to continually look upwards while they were painting or coloring, and how this was to remind them that we are to set our hearts and our minds on things above.

*If you have time, read other verses that talk about heaven and the greatness of God. (Psalm 84, Isaiah 6, and Revelation 4 & 5 are what we read. And although our kids started off “antsy,” they soon became enthralled and amazed by what they were hearing. I was almost in tears and the oldest girls kept saying, “Wow! I didn’t realize that.”

*Hang up your picture… somewhere high, where you have to gaze upward to see it. You could tack it to the ceiling, place it hanging near the top of a doorway, or cut it out and make it into a banner as we did (Don’t forget to add the words from Colossians 3:1-2).

*Now, every time your family sees your “upside down art” hanging up high, let it be a continual reminder to set your hearts and minds on things above, not on earthly things! Turn your gaze upward!!

I’ve shared our Colossians Family {Bible} Time early this week (okay, only a tiny bit early) because tomorrow (Friday) we are headed to candidate at some churches many miles from here. Our kids get to have fun with some of our favorite people in all the world (grandma and grandpa), as we fly to the mountains to seek what God has planned. Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying for us.