Whit's End Mealtime Devotions: The Second Helping

Whit's End Mealtime Devotions: The Second Helping

by Crystal Bowman
Whit's End Mealtime Devotions: The Second Helping

Whit's End Mealtime Devotions: The Second Helping

by Crystal Bowman

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Overview

Many families today are on the go so much that it’s hard to get everyone around the dinner table long enough to share a meal, let alone hold a meaningful conversation. Parents looking for help with conversation starters and ways to build strong relationships with their children will want to incorporate this devotional into their family’s routine.

Adventures in Odyssey delivers readings in this second volume of Whit’s End Mealtime Moments designed to grab a family’s interest and get them interacting in lively, often hilarious, conversation. Dealing with both unusual and everyday topics in a creative and fun way, this devotional helps parents engage their children in meaningful conversation and pass on a spiritual heritage to their families.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781624053474
Publisher: Focus on the Family
Publication date: 10/18/2013
Series: Adventures in Odyssey Books
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 112
File size: 6 MB
Age Range: 5 - 12 Years

Read an Excerpt

WHIT'S END MEALTIME DEVOTIONS

THE SECOND HELPING


By JOHN AVERY WHITTAKER, Marianne Hering

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 Focus on the Family
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-58997-679-5



CHAPTER 1

In a Pickle?


Mealtime Prayer:

Give thanks to God that He is with us in all situations and will guide and direct our lives.


Appetizer:

Q: What is green and bumpy and red all over?

A: A pickle with a sunburn.

How many kinds of pickles can you name?


Main Course:

Ever gotten yourself into a pickle? Not a bumpy, green pickle, of course, but a difficult situation. What happened? The Bible gives examples of people who got themselves into "pickles" and how God helped them:

• Daniel ended up in a lions' den because he prayed, but God kept the lions from hurting him (Daniel 6).

• Jonah disobeyed God and ended up inside the belly of a big fish (yuck!). He prayed to God, and the fish spit him out (Jonah 2).

• When Paul and Silas were in prison for preaching the gospel, they prayed and sang hymns of praise. God sent an earthquake, and their chains fell off (Acts 16).

• Who deserved their "pickles," and who didn't? Why?


Table Talk:

• How do we sometimes end up in a pickle?

• What did the Bible characters above do to get out of trouble? What should we do?

• Will God help us get out of our pickles? Why or why not?


Vitamins and Minerals:

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. (James 5:13)


Not Like Ice Cream

Mealtime Prayer:

As you thank God for your food today, thank Him that He is eternal and that His love is everlasting.


Appetizer:

Q: Which animal lives the longest?

A: The quahog clam. Some live for more than 400 years.

Who is the oldest person you know?


Main Course:

At the beginning of your meal, place a small scoop of ice cream in a bowl. What happens to the ice cream while you eat your dinner?

Ice cream doesn't last long, does it? Name some other things that don't last very long. Name some things that do last for a long time.

The Bible says that God is everlasting. What does that mean? What are some things about God that are everlasting?


Table Talk:

• How does God being everlasting make a difference in our lives?

• How do we know that God will always be alive?

• How are Christians everlasting?


Vitamins and Minerals:

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2)


Let's Go Fishin'

Mealtime Prayer:

Ask God for opportunities to share your faith and bring others to Him.


Appetizer:

Name all the ways that it is possible to catch fish.


Main Course:

Have you ever gone fishing? If so, what bait did you use? How many fish did you catch? Imagine you caught 500 in an hour. How could it have happened? Read the story of an exciting fishing trip in Luke 5:5–7.


Table Talk:

• How did the men catch so many fish?

• How are people like fish?

• What did Jesus mean when He told the disciples they would catch men?

• What kind of bait can you use when you fish for people?

• Where can you go fishing for people?


Vitamins and Minerals:

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19)


Aromatherapy

Mealtime Prayer:

Ask God to help your life be a sweet smell—pure and acceptable to Him.


Appetizer:

Have each person share his or her favorite smell. Which do you prefer: the smell of food or the smell of flowers? Why?


Main Course:

Why do you enjoy pleasant aromas? What aromas remind you of certain things or events from your life?

The Bible tells us that God enjoys pleasant aromas too. When Noah came out of the ark and offered a sacrifice, "the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma" (Genesis 8:21).

Imagine that your life is an aroma, and everything you do and say is part of your aroma. What would your life aroma be like? Why?


Table Talk:

• If kindness had an aroma, what would it smell like? Why?

• How do you think God feels when you send pleasing aromas to Him?

• How can you make your life smell nice?


Vitamins and Minerals:

We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. (2 Corinthians 2:15)


Sweet Attitudes

Mealtime Prayer:

Ask God to help you be what He wants you to be.


Appetizer:

Do you know how bees make honey? They eat pollen, mix it with their saliva, and put it in their honeycombs! Think of as many words as you can that rhyme with the word bee.


Main Course:

Why do people use the phrase "busy as a bee"? What do bees do that keeps them so busy?

Every bee has a special job, and each bee does what it's supposed to do without grumbling or complaining. Do you think they have "sweet attitudes"? (Imagine a bee complaint box. What might it contain?)

The teachings in Matthew 5:3–12 are called the Beatitudes or "Bee-attitudes! Read what these verses have to say about attitudes.


Table Talk:

• What does the word blessed mean?

• How can you be happy when you are having problems?

• How can changing your attitude help you to be happy instead of sad or angry?

• How can you turn a disaster into an adventure?


Vitamins and Minerals:

Blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. (Proverbs 16:20)


Free Refills

Mealtime Prayer:

Think of ways that God provides your family with what you need. Thank Him for providing these things for you.


Appetizer:

Set a pitcher of water on the table. Have everyone guess how many glasses the pitcher of water will fill. Then fill as many glasses as possible. Whose guess was the closest?


Main Course:

Read the story of a poor widow in 2 Kings 4:1–7.

Why did the oil stop when all the jars were full? What do you think would have happened if she had collected more jars? If the widow had come to you for jars, how many would you have given her?


Table Talk:

• How does God provide for poor people today? How can you be part of that?

• How does God provide for you?

• How is the widow's oil like God's blessings?


Vitamins and Minerals:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20–21)


Mud Pie

Mealtime Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, for the food we eat, for our family and the friends we meet. Each is special and unique! Amen.


Appetizer:

Q: Can you name three types of dirt?

A: Sand, silt, and clay.

The main difference between them is their size. "If a particle of sand were the size of a basketball, then silt would be the size of a baseball, and clay would be the size of a golf ball!" What would your yard look like if dirt were really that size?


Main Course:

Is there a special place where you can dig in the mud? What do you like to make out of mud?

Q: When did God play in the mud?

A: When He formed Adam out of dirt! Read Genesis 2:7.


Table Talk:

• Why do you think God "formed" Adam instead of simply speaking him into existence like the other creatures?

• If you formed all the food on your plate into the shape of a man, could you make him come alive? Why or why not?

• How did God's "breath of life" make man different from the animals?

• What do you think God enjoyed most about forming you?


Vitamins and Minerals:

The Lord God formed the man ... and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)
(Continues...)


Excerpted from WHIT'S END MEALTIME DEVOTIONS by JOHN AVERY WHITTAKER, Marianne Hering. Copyright © 2013 Focus on the Family. Excerpted by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Contents

Welcome to the Table....................     ix     

Mealtime Devotions....................          

In a Pickle?....................     1     

Not Like Ice Cream....................     2     

Let's Go Fishin'....................     3     

Aromatherapy....................     4     

Sweet Attitudes....................     5     

Free Refills....................     6     

Mud Pie....................     7     

Bible Trivia, Bonus Round....................     8     

That's Impossible!....................     9     

Grab the Biggest Peace....................     10     

Freshly Squeezed....................     11     

Soup's Up!....................     12     

Ba-Manna Splits....................     13     

Two's Company....................     14     

Hide-and-Seek....................     15     

Just a Drop in the Bucket?....................     16     

Cold Feet....................     17     

Chicken Nuggets....................     18     

Complete Confusion....................     19     

Garbageman to the Rescue!....................     20     

Jumbo Shrimp....................     21     

Seven Spiritual Food Groups?....................     22     

Chicken or Egg?....................     23     

Feeling Sheepish?....................     24     

Spread the Mustard....................     25     

Scrambled or Fried?....................     26     

Inside and Out....................     27     

Quiet, Please!....................     28     

The Big Apple....................     29     

All Ears!....................     30     

It's All Gravity....................     31     

Rubbing Shoulders....................     32     

Miles in His Shoes....................     33     

Goin' Down!....................     34     

Frogs for Dinner....................     35     

Just Say "Cheese"....................     36     

Peanut Problems?....................     37     

Eggs-actly Like Jesus!....................     38     

No Mis-steaks!....................     39     

Icing on the Cake!....................     40     

No Busy Signals....................     41     

No Crying over Spilled Milk....................     42     

The Journey of a Lifetime....................     43     

The Opposite Game....................     44     

In His Image....................     45     

Need Directions?....................     46     

Solve the Mystery....................     47     

Lean on Me....................     48     

Tell Me a Story....................     49     

Seeds and Sprouts....................     50     

"Lettuce" Pray....................     51     

Fresh-Baked "Roll" Models....................     52     

Simon Says—God Says!....................     53     

Forecast: Heavenly Sunshine....................     54     

Native American Thanks....................     55     

Prune Face....................     56     

Give Me a Break....................     57     

What's New?....................     58     

Tastes Like Chicken....................     59     

God Is Berry Good....................     60     

Heavenly Preparations in Progress....................     61     

Adam's Apple....................     62     

Tomato Face!....................     63     

Choices, Choices....................     64     

Good from Bad....................     65     

A Garden of Goodness....................     66     

Watch Them Jiggle....................     67     

Eating It Up....................     68     

I Smell Trouble!....................     69     

Aloha!....................     70     

Fun with Fondue....................     71     

Pears and Pairs....................     72     

Pizza Party....................     73     

Human Play Dough....................     74     

Got the Goose Bumps?....................     75     

The Spittin' Image....................     76     

You Are Here....................     77     

Today's Special Is ....................     78     

Halos and Wings?....................     79     

Hats On!....................     80     

Made to Order....................     81     

Going in Circles....................     82     

Enemies Eyeing Your Plate....................     83     

Spice and Everything Nice....................     84     

Not a Peep....................     85     

Hey! That's Mine!....................     86     

Don't Hide That Heart!....................     87     

Home Sweet Home....................     88     

Hot or Cold?....................     89     

True North....................     90     

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