Learning About God Over Summer Vacation
by Mia Cronan

With summertime come blessings of nature, as evidenced in just about everything we see. 

Since school in not in session, we can use the vibrant components of summer to keep God's love alive in the minds and hearts of our children.

Our springtime weekends are often booked solid with Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations, and weddings. Take time to talk about how these things are gifts from God. Baptisms bring newborns and grown-ups alike into the family of God, opening the door to His kingdom. First Communion helps us welcome youngsters to the table of God. Confirmation allows our adolescents to reaffirm for themselves what was said for them during their Baptism by their God parents. And marriage is a sacrament, a commitment, and a blessing. All of these things are usually accompanied by celebration to reflect the joy and gratitude we should feel for God's gifts.

This summer as you take a nature walk with your kids, ask them some thought-provoking questions about what they see.
1. Do you see any of God's gifts around you? (Flowers, trees, birds, etc...)
2. How does the growth around us resemble how we grow with God?
3. How do all the components of nature work together to prosper? (Wind carries seeds to new and fertile ground, sun and water encourage life, the fruits of gardens and farms nurture our bodies, we work the ground to ready it for growth, etc...)

Are you going to the beach this summer? Ask your children to look at the grains of sand and the massive expanse of water. Help them wonder how God made these things. How are we like grains of sand and drops of water? Well, there are so many of us, yet God knows and loves us all. How about the fish in the sea - we might not be able to see them, yet we know they are there. Discuss how Jesus tells us that those of us who believe in Him anyway without seeing Him will be blessed. Talk about how John the Baptist must have felt when Jesus came to visit him while John was baptizing others in the sea.

How about the sun? You can talk about how we have one sun which gives us light and warmth, just as we have one Savior Who is the Light of the world. The sun helps our trees to grow, just as Jesus helps us grow in God's love. Ask your children to feel the sun on their faces and tell you how they relate what they feel to God.

The simplest things in life can give such joy. Watch your children play in the sprinkler one day. Look at the sheer joy in their faces, and then talk about God wanting us to be joyful. How can we do that? Can we be joyful when we know we've done something nice for someone? Could we feel joy when we've hurt someone? How about when we've said we're sorry or when we've been forgiven? Is that like our relationship with God? How?

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