Good Thursday evening!

From the Heart

Sucker Pumpkin - Preschool and Elementary School

You will need the following items:

Pumpkin
Different colored Sharpies
Small (skinny) screwdriver
Bag of multiple colored suckers (Dum-Dums)
Four bowls (one for each color sucker)

Devotion – Fruit of the Spirit

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things.” Galatians 5:22-23

In the Bible, Paul talks about qualities found in God. God wants us to have these qualities in our lives, too.

When you think about God, do the words “hate” or “mean” or “bad” ever come into your mind.

NO!

God isn’t mean… or hateful… or bad. He is none of those things.

Paul tells us God (the Holy Spirit) produces (or makes) LOVE, JOY, KINDNESS and GOODNESS.

These qualities are called the “fruit of the Spirit.”

Does that mean it is always easy to love people?

No.

Does that mean it is always easy to be good or kind?

No.

Does it mean if you know God you are always happy or joyful?

No.

But we are supposed to let others see God through us and how we act or behave. So when we are good and kind and happy and loving, people who do not know God get to see a little bit of God by how we are acting.

Today, we are going to make a Fruit of the Spirit Pumpkin.

NOTE FROM NANA B - Prior to sitting down with the kids for the Devotion, use the screwdriver to make holes on the very top of the pumpkin. The holes should be shallow. If you go all the way through to the inside of the pumpkin, it will not last as long. The suckers should stand tall… like a buzz cut!

With a Sharpie, show the kids how to draw a face on their pumpkin… two eyes, a nose and a mouth. (There is no “wrong” way to draw the face.)

Explain what each sucker symbolizes…

Red – Love
Yellow – Joy
Purple – Goodness
Green – Kindness

Whenever you stick a sucker in a hole on the pumpkin, be sure to say which “fruit of the Spirit” it represents. Also, make sure the children use all four of the colors.

When the children finish the pumpkins, here are a few more questions you can ask…

How can we show God’s love to our classmates?

Our brothers or sisters?

Our neighbors?

Give everyone a sucker, and end the Devotion in prayer.

ANOTHER NOTE FROM NANA B – This is a great devotion to have before a preschool or elementary school party in October. Your child can take the pumpkin to his or her classroom a few days before the party as a decoration to share with the class. On the actual day of the party, all of the classmates can take a sucker from the Sucker Pumpkin. Your child can even tell the other children what their sucker color represents.

RANDOMNESS - "G" Adventure - Judith, Eden and I accompanied RT on his "G" Adventure... because we're GIRLS, you see!

And Pop came, too, just for fun!

Before the GIRLS arrived, we started the GLORIOUS "G" Adventure with the always popular GRAVY biscuit.

We also enjoyed some GRINS, GIGGLES and GUFFAWS!

We went to the Demonstration Farm at Oak Mountain, and it didn't take long for all of the kids to figure out why!

Although several different types of farm animals were represented, we were happy to see GOATS GALORE, Baby!

And the fact RT found a GOLF Cart in the middle of a field with a GOAT sitting in the front seat...

Well, that was just icing on the cake!

We had 22 other "G" words/pictures, but I will spare you and just put them in the Alphabet Adventure Book!

I hope everyone has a fantastic October weekend! I'll talk to you very soon.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

P.S. My next post will feature all things "Roxie," so stay tuned for that one!

The Chick just can't take a bad picture, can she?