The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;
Your version:

he makes me lie down in green pastures.
Your version:

He leads me beside still waters;
Your version:

he restores my soul.
Your version:

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Your version:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
Your version:

I fear no evil; for thou art with me;
Your version:

thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Your version:

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
Your version:

thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Your version:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
Your version:

and I shall dwell in the house ofthe LORD forever.
Your version:

Amen .
Your version:

Children Saving Money

In Newale S. Godfrey’s book, Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children (Fireside Books, 1994), the author makes the following points:

Saving money is essentially a discipline that youngsters must be taught just like brushing their teeth or doing their homework. She offers a three-step process for teaching children how to save money.

We save money for three reasons: first, for protection in case of an emergency; second, for retirement; and third, to buy something we really want. For younger children, she suggests that you approach with the third reason(to save for something they really want to buy.

The principles for inspiring anyone to save money are the same for youngsters age six to sixteen:

1. Provide your children with the tools to save. They must have a source of money of their own to save.

2. Provide the proper environment where the children can safely keep the money saved. This can be a piggy bank or toy safe.

Monitor the activity and provide encouragement. Set attainable goals and then reward your children with praise for successfully saving the money.

Allowances: When and How Much

To learn about money management, youngsters must have real money on their own to manage. Rather than handing youngsters a sizable sum of money, or doling it out a dollar at a time, a weekly allowance gives children a source of income that they can learn to make decisions about.

It has been debated whether this weekly money should be tied to chores. Yes, yes, yes! In addition to using an allowance to teach money management, this weekly sum will also show your children the relationship between work (chores) and money (allowance), clearly an important concept. Not only will the children someday work for money, but earning an allowance will underscore the fact that you, the parent, work hard for your money, too.

Once you’ve decided that an allowance is a useful teaching tool and that your children are ready to begin “earning and learning,” then you need to formulate a starting “salary.” For my own two children, I started them on an allowance when they were 3 and 6 years old. I used an easy rule of thumb: their allowance was the same number of dollars as their age. I’ve continued to use this rule as they’ve grown.

Many people’s first reaction is that three dollars is a lot of money for a three-year-old. Let me explain what you and your youngsters will be doing with this money. There are three basic areas of money management we will be working on. I call it my S. O. S. system. Briefly, they are:

1. Savings. Some portion of the allowance needs to be allotted for both short-term savings, like for a special toy or outing, and long-term savings, such as for a bicycle or college fund.

2. Offerings. This is a small amount of money set aside for donation to charity or to the less fortunate. However small the sum, it is a valuable way for a parent to teach personal values through money by showing the children how to share their good fortune.

3. Spending. Depending on the budget you develop with your children, part of their spending money may go to cover specific expenses. It can range from lunch money or bus fare for young ones, to total management of a year’s clothing budget for more sophisticated teenagers. At any age, however, there needs to be some money that is the children’s discretionary fund to spend as they wish (with whatever limitations you set—for example, no drugs).

I believe in assigning specific chores that each child does weekly to earn the allowance. In my household, we have two kinds of chores: personal maintenance (like keeping one’s bedroom free from fire hazards) and general household chores (such as setting the table or dusting the living room furniture). Payment of the allowance is based on the latter. Each child has specific chores that must be completed each week before the allowance is paid . . .

Here is where children should be in terms of financial independence at different ages:
Ages 3–9: Allowance
Ages 10–15: Allowance supplemented by outside jobs (baby-sitting, yard work, etc.).
Ages 16 and up: Teenagers’ outside jobs cover expenses like dating and gas. All basic necessities are funded by parents in an account the teenagers control.

Additionally, a parent should have certain odd jobs available to the youngster who wants to supplement their allowance the same way some employers offer overtime pay. Make a list of the not-urgent jobs you need done with the “overtime” fee you would pay, and post it on the refrigerator. Then, when your offspring asks for a second pair of designer sneakers or money to go ice skating with friends, refer to the list.

Source: Parenting for Peace and Justice Newsletter, Issue Number 65, December 1994

One time when the children were playing "Hide and Seek with God" one of them found God hiding in the wind and another found God hiding in some beautiful music and several found God hiding in people who were building a house for people with no home but the game was over they began to want something different. One of the children said, "We find God in all these different places but I don’t want to see just a part of God. I want to see all of God, all at once!" The other children agreed, and they called to God saying, "God, the next time you hide and we find you we want to find all of you, all at once. We want to see everything."

Surprised to hear their request, God said to them, "That is not as easy as you might think. Let me think about it for a little while." So God thought, "They don’t know yet that even though they can know some things about me, they can never know all of me, all at once. Why, even I don’t know all of me, all at once. Sometimes, I even surprise myself. How can I help them to understand this?" and God, thought and thought some more.

After a while God got an idea and then called to the children saying, "All right, I will hide again and this time when you find me, you will find all of me, all at once but be prepared for a surprise!" The children jumped up and down they were so excited. One said, "I think God will be something like the sky at night, with all kinds of shining lights." And another said, "I think God will be like the earth with everything growing out of it." And a third child said, "Maybe God will be like a person you can talk to." But one child reminded them, "Don’t forget God said, Be prepared for a surprise so maybe God won’t be like any of those things."

The God said, "I’m ready to hide now. Close your eyes and count to ten." So the children did and then they went to seek God, this time staying together. They looked and looked but didn’t find anything for quite a while, until finally they discovered a box all wrapped up like a present. They looked at each other and said, "Could this be God?" "Should we open it?" and finally they agreed that they should. Very carefully they took off the ribbon, and very carefully they removed the paper and then very carefully they opened the box and peeked inside.

What they saw did surprise them! It looked like lots and lots of puzzle pieces. Then they heard God say, "Put me together and then you will see all of me, all at once." So the children began to work and everyone helped. There was a piece that was a loving heart and they started with that. Next to it fitted a piece that was a peaceful, quiet feeling and next to that fitted a family sharing with others. Once they got the first pieces going, it became easier and they began to work faster. They found where the new growth of spring went and where a powerful thunder storm went. And they did find a person and the sky and the earth though they were only parts. They worked and worked, putting in more and more of the pieces until they had put in a great number of the pieces. Then they looked to see what pieces they had left and they were really surprised. The pieces that were left were empty. They fit in but they weren’t anything.

Then they said to God, "Is this truly all of you, all at once?" and God said, "Yes." But one child said, "But there are some pieces where we still don’t see you." "That’s true," said God. "Those pieces are where my mystery is." "Your mystery?" the children replied. ”You see," God said, "There is much of me that you can see but there is always a part of me that is a mystery. That is where my wonders and surprises come from." The children stood quietly for a few min, looking at the finished puzzle, with the places in it where the mystery was and they knew that they knew something wonderful.

Then they said to God, "Okay, I guess we’re ready to play Hide and Seek again, the old way. Will you go hide for us?" "Off I go!" said God and they knew that they were going to be surprised once again.

Goal:
To learn about the life of Muhammad

Activities:
Read or enact the skit “The Story of Muhammad.”

We come together (Bring hands together and clasp them in front of you.) To remind ourselves (Touch your index and middle fingers to your temple.) To treat all people kindly (Spread arms wide, encircling.) Because they are our brothers and sisters, (Fold your arms across your chest, in a hug.) To take good care of the earth, (Raise your arms above your head, in a circle.) Because it is our home, (Fold your arms, holding your elbows, and motion as though rocking a baby.) To live lives full of goodness and love, (Put both hands over your heart.) Because that is how we will make our world (Raise your arms above your head, in a circle.) The best place it can be. (Clap your hands quietly.)