Using All Our Senses with Real Live People
Our younger team members help us to be in the know about trends of their generation. I am happy to hear that real vinyl record albums, like the ones I grew up with, have gained in popularity. We bought a turntable ourselves a few years ago and are glad to have a way to play records. Our daughter recently brought us an old record of children’s songs. We enjoyed gathering around the turntable and listening to it with her and two of our granddaughters. There’s something wonderful about doing activities with everyone in the same room.
I’m thankful for virtual opportunities, such as reading to grandchildren on Skype, receiving pictures by text, and talking on the phone almost anywhere. Still, it’s wonderful when we have opportunities to use all of our senses with the real live people we love and with real live objects. I have a book which is a one-volume collection of Happy Day® stories. One of the stories that is most requested by grandchildren is one about a family who turns off the TV for a week and enjoys real activities.
When grandchildren came to spend the night recently, I gave the oldest one half sheets of paper and asked her to get ideas from her siblings and write one activity on each half sheet. They thought of these ideas:
- Play house.
- Play Clue®.
- Play outside.
- Play hide and seek.
- Play in the attic.
- Play with the glass babies.
Note: The “glass babies” are porcelain dolls that live in the bassinet I slept in as a baby. My great aunt made most of them. When Mother gave me the first one as a present when I was in my twenties, I had no inkling that grandchildren would enjoy them so much one day.
The children hid the papers and then had Notty and me (Little) find them. That way we had an order of which activities to do when without conflicts about the order of when to do what.
Homeschooling does keep families busy, busy. However, if we plan carefully, it also allows time to do things for real.
One night the apostle Peter was asleep between two soldiers. He was bound with chains and guards were in front of the door.
Suddenly a real angel of the Lord appeared. Real light shone in the cell. Peter felt the angel strike his side, and he woke up. The angel told him to get up. The chains fell off his hands. The angel told Peter to get dressed and put on his sandals. He told Peter to wrap his cloak around him and to follow him.
Everything that happened was real, but Peter didn’t know it was real. He thought he was seeing a vision. First Peter and the angel passed the first and second guard. Â When they got to the iron city gate, it opened for them by itself. Together they went along one street. Then the angel left.
It was at this point that Peter came to himself and knew that what was happening was real. The Lord really had sent an angel and rescued him from King Herod.
Peter went to the house of John Mark’s mother where many were gathered and praying for him. He knocked on the real door of the gate and Rhoda the servant girl came to answer the door. She knew it was Peter, but she was filled with too much joy to open the gate. Instead she ran in and told the others that Peter was there.
They didn’t think it was really Peter at first. Peter had to keep on knocking and knocking. At first they said, “It is his angel.” Finally they opened the door, saw him, and were amazed at the real Peter they saw before them.
Wow! Isn’t it wonderful that God is real and what He does is real!
Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can show forth all His praise?
Psalm 106:2Â