God's Stormy Day Camera

Every had a day where it poured down with rain and lightning filled the sky? It's pretty hard to compete with! Either the kids are petrified of the lightning and thunder or fascinated by it - either way, just about every word goes in one ear and out the other with little happening in between! This is a great lesson started though that the kids might just listen to. Give it a try next time you have to compete with a dazzling lights show.

Wait for a flash of lightning, then say, "Everone say cheese!" You'll probably get a bunch of puzzled faces looking back at you. If the lightning is happening often you could wait and try again. The kids might eventually get it. One of the children will eventually ask, "Why?" (that inevitable question to everything!) "Because I think the lightning looks like the flash from God's camera. He's taking a photo of you. You better smile to make it a nice one!" You might like to have a discussion with the children about what type of camera God has - a digital so he can take lots of pictures of you; a polaroid so he can get the pictures instantly; a film camera so he can get good quality photos to stick up on the wall and remember you. "Actually, it says in the Bible that God can always see us. We are 'never out of his sight' (Psalm 139:2, The Message). He always remembers us. He doesn't need a camera to take photos of us, He watches over us all the time. How special is that?"

A good follow-up activity might be to take Stormy Day Photos.