Something Good
Items Needed: Ingredients for cookies, Bible
Bake some cookies to help children understand God is so great that He can take even the bad things that happen to us and make something good out of them.
Gather the ingredients and let the children taste each individual ingredient—baking soda, baking powder, salt, flour, butter, etc.
How do those things taste? (NOT SO GOOD)
Just as these individual ingredients do not taste good, there are some things that happen to us that are not too good.
What are some bad things that can happen to us? (lose ball games; fail tests; friends treat us badly; death of people close to us; etc.)
Mix the ingredients together and put the cookies in the oven to bake.
Just as we must wait for cookies to bake and cool, we might have to wait to see the good that can from the bad things that happen to us. Joseph had to wait a long time to see God make something good from the bad choice his brothers made.
Read Genesis 50:20 to see what Joseph said about the bad things that happened to him. (They meant it for evil, to harm him, but God used it for good, to save many people.) Joseph could have paid his brothers back and made them suffer. Instead, he forgave them and reconciled with them.
Start Today!
Start a new habit. Every morning, every night at dinner, or every night before bed, ask your children to name three things they are thankful for. Pick the time that works best for your family. If they are reluctant to share or have trouble thinking of something, go first. It doesn’t have to be material things. It might be good things that happened, things you learned from the Bible, people who helped you, spiritual blessings; etc.
Teaching gratitude and modeling thankfulness helps everyone feel happier and content. Remind your children that every good thing in our lives is from God. He is our Provider, and He provides so well for us! God provided for Joseph through protection, rescue, and food during a famine. We can trust Him to provide for us.
Don’t Forget!
Items Needed: Post-It Notes
Give each family member 3–5 Post-It Notes and ask them to stick them to the things they consider to be a blessing.
Blessings are things that bring happiness and joy to us. When we remember the spiritual blessings we have because of Jesus, we can be glad. When we remember a person who was kind to us, we smile. When we remember a Bible verse that comforted us when we were sad, we can be thankful. When our pet greets us at the door, we can be happy. We have many blessings!
God provides blessings—things that bring happiness to His people. Every good and perfect gift is from God (James 1:17).
Does this mean we will only have good things in our lives? No, God blessed Joseph even though many bad things happened to him. Our biggest blessing is that we have a God who has promised to be with us and to bring something good from even the bad things that happen.