Five Goals Setting Goals Week #1

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1 Setting Goals Week #1 I will set goals in 2013 because Jesus wants me to grow! Do you have dreams about something you want to do? Get good grades in school, become a talented volleyball player, learn to play your favorite instrument, or pray and have devotions everyday? Have you ever heard your parents talk about making New Year s resolutions? Well, kids can make them too but we will call it setting goals. Sometimes we look Luke 14:28, NIV at older kids or adults we admire and wonder how they became who they are. Even if you don t look up to anyone, you probably still have dreams about something you want to do in your life. Just dreaming about it won't make it happen. Praying and asking God to help you determine the areas you should work on, then setting goals will help you work to make it happen. A goal is like a target you want to hit so you make a plan to help you hit it! Goals should be simple and very specific to you and not what you want others to do. One of the best ways to set goals is to write them down. They don t have to be long and wordy maybe just one sentence. For example, I want to learn to play the clarinet this year, or I want to read my Bible every day. Be sure your goals are realistic. In other words do not write, I want to be a concert pianist this year, if you have never played the piano before. Then with your parent s or another adult s help, write down the steps you will take to make your goal happen. As with your goals, the steps you take should also be realistic, Do not write something like, I will practice playing baseball ten hours a day, this is not an attainable step. You re just a kid so remember your limitations. Kids make choices all the time, and God wants you to make good ones. Why not start making choices that will help you honor God as well as grow and develop your strengths and abilities? Help your children think about what they want to accomplish in the upcoming months. Perhaps you can write down your own goals and model the process for them. The website listed below has a helpful article to help children set goals. Read the article to your children to help them get started with setting realistic and attainable goals for Dear Jesus, I know that You created me with unique gifts and abilities. Help me to develop those things and become the best me I can be. I need Your help to set goals and make it happen. And if I get tired of trying, help me not to become discouraged but to keep trying my best. Amen.

2 I Will Pray Week #2 I will pray every day starting in the year 2013 because I want to talk to Jesus and He wants to talk to me.. Do you pray at church? Do you pray for your food? Do you pray with your parents? You may have answered yes to any of these questions, congratulations! Let me ask you another question, do you pray when you re alone and no one is watching? Learning to pray without help from your parents or other adults is very important because that is how we talk to God. We should pray even when our parents are not there to pray with us. But sometimes we don t know what to say and it can even feel funny to talk to Someone we can t see. Well you re not alone, not everyone knows how to pray all by themselves, sometimes even grown-ups need help too. One day some of the disciples saw Jesus praying and when He was done Luke 11:2-4, NIV they came up to Him and said something like this, Hey Jesus. We see you praying all the time and we want to pray too but we really don t know how, will you teach us? Jesus taught them how to pray. If you have trouble praying remember, Prayer is just a fancy word for conversation with God. Just talk to Him. Begin by thanking Him for something, then if you have a need go ahead and tell Him about it, then end by thanking Him for your family, your friends, your pets, etc. The more you pray the easier it will become. Try your best and don t worry if you forget to pray sometimes. Just pick up where you left off. Prayer is not supposed to be a chore. It is supposed to bring us peace and help us get closer to Jesus. As you develop your prayer time, it will become a habit that will stay with you throughout your life. Will you make it a goal to pray every day in 2013? Parents ask your children questions to help them think about what to pray for, i.e., What would you like to thank Jesus for? Is there someone you would like to pray for? Or simply start a prayer and let your child fill in the blank. Dear Jesus, thank You for. Please heal. Dear Jesus, thank You for loving us so much and for wanting to spend time with us every day. Please remind us to pray even when our parents or other adults are not to there to pray with us. We love You and we love talking to You. Amen.

3 I Will Read Week #3 I will read the Bible because I need it to show me the way! Note to parents: If your child does not have a Bible be sure to provide one that is age appropriate for her. You might also provide a small journal for each one. Have you ever spent the night at a friend s house and in the middle of the night you need to get a drink of water. But it s pitch black and you don t know your way around the house, so you end up stubbing your toe and bumping into the wall trying to get to the kitchen! Having a flashlight would have been a big help! There are times in our lives when we don t know what to do about certain situations. Perhaps we are sad because our dog ran away, someone we love was hurt, or someone was mean to us at school. We can go to our parents or other adults who love us and they will do their best to help us, however, there are times when even they don t know how to help us. What then? The Book of Psalm 119:105, NIV Psalms tell us that the Bible is like a lamp that lights our path. However, we need to know what it says before we can use it. Reading the Bible is like turning on our flashlight it will help us know what to do in different situations or provide words of comfort and encouragement when we are worried or scared. God s Word (the Bible) is like that flashlight that can light our way to the kitchen where we can finally get a drink of water. When we read it often, we learn what it says and it helps us make good choices. Reading the Bible on a daily basis is a great goal to make in the new year. Keeping a Bible study journal and writing your thoughts will also help you remember what you learned from reading the Bible. You could also write prayer requests and answers to your prayers in your special journal. Remember, the Bible is like a flashlight that can light your path but you have to read it first! Turn off the lights or blindfold your children (one at a time). Have a parent stand on the opposite side of the room and begin calling out to the child so she can make her way toward the voice. If you have other children ask them to distract the blindfolded child by yelling loudly or simply play loud music and turn the TV on to try to drown out the parent s voice. When the child finally makes her way to the parent, explain that in the same way, the Bible serves as a guide to help us find our way through life. Dear Jesus, sometimes I have questions or feel sad or worried about something and I don t know what to do. Help me to read the Bible daily so that I will know what to do and make good choices. Amen.

4 I Will Give Week #4 I will be generous and give to missions and my church in Did you know the Bible talks about giving 10 percent of our money to the church? Have you ever seen your parents or other grown-ups put something in the offering plate at church? Perhaps they ve even handed you a quarter or even a whole dollar to place in the offering plate too. What is this all Malachi 3:10, NIV about? The Bible teaches us to give our tithe to the church. A tithe simply means 10 percent of what you make. For example if your parents give you five dollars as part of your allowance, your tithe to the church would be 50 cents. We give to the church and to missions as an act of faith and obedience to the Lord. However, Malachi 3:10 tells us that when we give to the Lord we can expect a blessing as well because the Lord will be pleased. Sometimes it s difficult to know how much to give. Perhaps it will help you if you separate your allowance or wages into three piles, one for saving, one for spending, and one for giving. You will be surprised how quickly your giving and saving piles will grow. When your giving pile has grown, take it to the church and place it in the offering. Then enjoy the feelings of joy and satisfaction that comes from knowing that you were obedient by bringing your tithe to the church. Your tithe will be part of the money that helps your church pay the bills and continue to hold services for you and your family, and help missionaries to preach the gospel to people in other places of the world. All this because you and many others were obedient and did your part. Be prepared to give your children an allowance which can be easily divided into three parts. Provide each of them with three envelopes, jars, or piggy banks. Help them count and separate their money into three separate piles one for giving, one for spending, one for saving. Dear Jesus, I know the Bible teaches us to give. Help me to learn to give my tithe to You with a joyful heart. Remind me to separate my money and be a good steward of everything You bless me with. Amen.

5 I Will Worship Week #5 I will worship God everywhere, every day, with my whole life! What comes to your mind when you hear the word worship? Did you think about jumping and singing in kids church? Or did you imagine your parents singing and raising their hands in big church? We are wrong if we think that worship is only what we do at church. There is so much more to worship than just singing. While it is true that we worship Matthew 21:16, NIV at church, worship can also happen at school, and it can happen at home, or even at the mall. We can worship God even when we re not in church. Don t worry, we are not expecting you to sing, jump, or raise your hands at the mall or at school. You see, we can worship God in other ways. We worship God when we obey. Remember Noah? He obeyed God even when it made no sense! Imagine being asked to build a huge boat in his backyard? Noah is a great example of someone who worshipped God through his obedience! We worship God when we obey Him and our parents. We also worship God when we are kind to others, when we show love to kids who are sad, and the elderly who are lonely, when we help our neighbors rake their leaves, or when we take care of our pets and remember to feed and play with them. In other words, we can worship God every day and in ways that seem ordinary. Worship is what being a Christian is all about, honoring God in all we do. It s a lifestyle not a song! Ask your children to call out ways they can worship God outside of church. Write these ideas on a white board or on a poster board. Place the board in a visible location so that it will be a daily reminder to your children of ways they can worship God with their actions throughout the week. Challenge them to keep track of ways they worshipped God every day. Suggest they write their experiences on the board. Dear Jesus, thank You for loving us and for providing for our needs every day. We want to show You how much we love You too by worshipping You in everyday situations. Help us to honor You with our lives. Amen My Healthy Church. Springfield, MO All rights reserved. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. ngm.ag.org