Surprise!
Items Needed: what you need for a special treat or outing
Announce to your children that you are planning something special, but don’t tell them exactly when it will happen. (You will probably get lots of, “Is it time yet?”)
At a random time, say, “Surprise! Come with me. It’s time for something special.” (ice cream, trip to Dollar store, playing at the park, etc.).
Ask (while you’re enjoying the “treat”):
Was it hard to wait?
Why is waiting so hard?
Jesus has promised to take us to a wonderful place called Heaven. If we really understood how wonderful Heaven is, we would have a hard time waiting. Only God knows the time and when He says, “It’s time,” we’ll go. Until that moment, we should be doing what He has told us to do.
Incomplete
Item Needed: Puzzle
Ask the children to put together a puzzle, but hold back several pieces (without telling them). When they get to the end and realize several pieces are missing, give them the other pieces.
Why was it hard to put the puzzle together? (Some of the pieces were missing.)
Some parts of life are like a puzzle. We see things happening that just don’t make sense. Sometimes people do WRONG things, and it seems as if they get away with it. Sometimes people do the RIGHT thing, and they have trouble.
Even though we don’t understand why something is happening, we can still trust God. Someday we will see God, and there will be no pain, sadness, or confusion in Heaven. The picture will be complete. Remembering this can give us hope while we wait for Jesus’ return.
Counting the Days
Items Needed: video or pictures of special event
Show your child a video or pictures of a special event in your life and talk about how much you looked forward to that special day. Maybe you crossed days off the calendar as you “couldn’t wait” for the big event.
Jesus has promised to come back and take all believers to be with Him in Heaven (2 Peter 3:3-14)! Even though we don’t know exactly when that will happen, we can look forward to going to Heaven to be with Him. Heaven will be great because God is there!