Day 12: Ruth

There are so many fascinating stories to tell from the life of Joshua but for tonight's lesson we fast-forwarded to the story of Ruth. Ruth, whose noble reputation and future children would bear Mary, mother of Jesus. Her story with Boaz reflects an attribute of God who also redeems the destitute in the role of Kinsmen's Redeemer. We're not sure this is a story we will keep in the line-up every year, but in keeping with "Jesse Tree" she is part of the lineage of Jesus as the great-grandmother David, from whose line Jesus was born. There were a few more Legos and 2 ornaments like the wheat Ruth threshed in the box tonight. We ended with "Away in a Manger" again and this time they definitely knew more of the lyrics!

If you are following along with the Bible in Stories -  pages 220-223
If using the Bible or another Bible reader - summarize Ruth 1-4
Song: "Away in a Manger"

As far as adventures in crafts go with boys, I tried a new one this week- plastic cross-stitch shapes. I got a 10 pack of star shapes for $1.50, some gold and silver cord, and large eye needles and let my oldest experiment with them. This actually turned out to be a good boy (or girl, I'm sure) craft because he had plot which direction to go, count the holes, and figure out how to end up on the right side to go to the next part of the star. You could really make a good math and pattern lesson out of this! When he does the next one I'm going to challenge him to use the 2 colors and make up a symmetrical pattern. If I can figure out the best way to cover all our knots and oops on the backside, these will make cute (and economical) ornaments to give on top of our gifts.