2016 MYB2

View all the photos, month by month by clicking here.

February 7th

Me, You and Breakfast, too was a happy affair in February. We went back to the beginning with Adam and Eve with the moral that it makes God very sad if we disobey him. Good thought for all of us! The children made Adam and Eve puppets and had fun with very wiggly snakes.

March 6th

We used Me, You and Breakfast 2 to tell the story of how Moses grew up with the support of many different people, to show that we can all do ‘mothering’, caring and supporting, whether Mums or not. And most importantly, that God loves us just as much as Mums love their children. We made cards for our Mums and presented them with posies, after the serious business of writing prayers on the branches of a bulrush we were making. And yummy chocolate ‘baskets, complete with a wrapped up jelly ‘baby’. We had some great singing too!

April 3rd

What a busy morning! We were completely taken by surprise on this occasion, when our usual three or four families suddenly became seven, and with assorted friends and grandmas, we had 32 people all wanting breakfast. Cue extra tables and chairs, and ‘family hold back’ on the sausages! What a joy, though. Julie was telling the story of Noah and the ark and the church was a cacophony of animal noises and a veritable zoo of visiting stuffed toys. Prayers and crafts featured animals of course, including animal biscuits and origami giraffes. The serious message was that God loves us and he keeps his promises!

May 1st

Another happy crowd gathered to hear about Abraham and Sarah.  God sent them on a journey to a new country where he promised them they would have a big family, too many to count, just like the stars in the sky. They were quite old when they started out on the journey and they had to wait for many more years until –  one day an angel told them the time was right – Sarah would have baby the next year – and she was now 90 years old! Surely that’s too old to have a baby! Well, God keeps his promises, and there’s nothing God cannot do!

June 5th

Following the story of Abraham last month, we moved on to his grandson, Joseph, who was, to be fair, boastful and a bit of a tell-tale. Some might say he had his comeuppance when his brothers threw him ionto a pit to die, only to have a change of heart and sell him to some passing traders. Sue had made a fantastic coloured coat and prayers were written on jigsaw pieces to stick on to the coat. Prayers took ages – it was so much fun! Then there were gingerbread Josephs to decorate, a circle of origami brothers to make and colouring and dot to dot as well. We concluded that God loved Joseph and had great plans for him, despite the rocky start. That’s good news for all of us! We left the story there as a cliffhanger and will address Joseph Part II next month.

July 3rd

The story of Joseph part II (A story of two coats!)

We heard how Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt, but thanks to his obedience to God, he was able to help people find out what their dreams meant. Pharaoh heard about him and made good use of his talents. Joseph became second in command to Pharaoh and was able to ensure there was enough food for everyone throughout a great famine. His brothers came to Egypt looking for food and eventually they, and their father, were all reunited with Joseph. God looked after Joseph through everything that happened to him. We made Pharaoh style helmets, and sumptuously decorated bowls of fruit, just as they would have enjoyed in Egypt, the land of plenty. We hung our prayers on Joseph’s chain of office. (Sue had turned the coat of many colours around and made the reverse look like Joseph’s special coat when he was second in command to Pharaoh.)  

August 7th

The story of Moses – not the baby in the basket, but the grown up man, who became a shepherd. And God got his attention by showing him a bush that was on fire but which never went out. He sent Moses to Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to ‘Let my people go!’ For the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh said, “No!” So God sent ten horrible plagues, each one worse than the last until Pharaoh relented.

September 4th

Moses got old and died, but not before he had trained young Joshua to take his place. Moses’ job was to take his people out of Egypt; Joshua’s job was to take them into the land God had promised them many years before, and to remind the people how they were to live good lives, listen to God and put him first. The first place they came to was Jericho, a city surrounded by strong walls and guards, full of their enemies. Normally it would take an army and big weapons to break down walls, but that was not God’s way. That didn’t stop us making catapults though! God told Joshua to get the people to march round the city – on each of the next six days. On the seventh day, they were to march round the city seven times and then blow their trumpets and shout! The walls came tumbling down and they entered the city! So of course, we made trumpets. The people promised to live as God wanted; we made wall hangings with the same promise on.

October 2nd

Appropriately, Rev. Ruth told the story of the Ruth of the Bible. The story starts with Naomi, a woman who loved God. She left Israel (where there was a drought and nothing to eat) to go to Moab (where there was plenty to eat!) with her family. There, her two sons found Moabite wives. But later, her husband and both her sons died. She decided to return to Israel, but told her daughters in law to stay with their own Moabite parents. One did so, but Ruth, decided to go back with Naomi. She said, “Where you go, I will go, the God you worship, I will worship.”  And so they went back to Israel. Ruth looked after Naomi. They were very poor and Naomi found food by picking up the leftover wheat after the harvest. Boaz, the farmer, noticed how good she was to Naomi and fell in love with her and married her. Their child became one of Jesus’ ancestors!

November 5th

Today was all about a little boy called Samuel. Through this we learnt that God speaks to children as well as grownups! And that God keeps his promises. A very busy morning indeed. We created prayers on big ‘listening’ ears; we dressed a stick figure in robes such as Samuel would have worn; we made a bed with Samuel in it, who magically opened his eyes when God called him!And the obligatory food item – an edible bed… We were surprised to see young Archie with his Mum, as Archie’s brother was well overdue! Happily, on November 11th, MYB2 gained a new member with baby brother Franklin ‘s arrival. Congratulations to all the Relf family.

December 4th

The first Sunday in December is always Christingle Day – when we remember through the symbolism of a Christingle (‘Christ’s Light’) why Jesus came at Christmas. Our beautifully behaved children coped so well with understanding the different elements of the Christingle which Rev. Ruth demonstrated – and then had loads of fun making their own with help from Mums and Dads. For some, it was ‘one sweet for the Christingle and one for me’! Prayers on Christingle shapes were hung on the prayer tree, three songs were sung and during the final one (Shine a Candle, hope to bring’), they all sat round the long table and carefully lit their Christingles – and no burned fingers! The happy morning finished with drinks and doughnuts – round like the Christingle, filled with jam, red like the ribbon round the Christingle.