Lisa O Engelhardt - God is My Friend: A Kids Guide to God

God Is My Friend A Kids Guide to God Lisa O. Engelhardt Illustrated by R. W. Alley Abbey Press A Message to Parents, Teachers,
and Other Caring Adults One night, as we were saying bedtime prayers, my daughter asked, What good does it do to pray anyway? Arent we all just in Gods video game? Her five-year-old imagination had conjured up a God who yanks us around in the game of life with a giant joystick. This was not the image of God I wanted to pass on to my children! How do we help children to get close to Godto see God as a loving, understanding, helpful Friend? Children four to six are highly susceptible either to benevolent images of a loving God or to frightening images of God as a powerful avenger. Try to steer impressionable minds to a God who is a gentle, caring Friend.

Small children can readily relate to a God who is as warm and snuggly as a teddy bear, or a God who watches over them as a mother bird cares for her hatchlings. Knowing that God is with them everyday, everywhere, helps to ease the fear of abandonment that many children of this age experience. Seven- to nine-year-olds approach life more logically and want the real lowdown on God. You can point out that we come to know God by the marvelous things God has made and done. From atoms to galaxies, from dew-strung cobwebs to canyon vistas, Gods fingerprints are everywhere. Yet God is more than just a remote Creator-Operator of the World.

God is our personal Friend. Because children of this age are becoming more socially aware, they will readily understand the implications of sharing such a close relationship with God. Talk with your children about how God has been a Friend in your own life. Let them see you spend time with your Friend in prayer, and talk about why and how you pray. Show them how to engage in conversational prayerinformal, sincere, and trusting dialogue with a God who listens and cares. Lisa O. Lisa O.

Engelhardt Your Best Friend I f you had a computer program to create a Best Friend, what would this friend be like? Which of the choices below would you click on?

caring	happy	kind
honest	fun	helpful
likes the same	loving	good listener
stuff I do	interesting	awesome

G od is all of this and much, much more. God is the very Best Friend a kid could ever have! You Can Be Yourself W ith a true friend, you feel free to be yourself. Its the same way with God. You dont have to put on an act for God to like you. To God, you already are a star! I f youre not any good at playing dodge ball, thats okay with God. If you think you have too many freckles, dont worry.

God thinks you look just fine. If youre in a bad mood sometimes, God can take it. D o your best to be yourself, and youll always be good enough for God. A Friend Likes to Be With You A little puppy dog wiggles and waggles all over when her owner comes home. She is so glad to see the person she loves. G od feels that way about youtimes a zillion! You make God happy just because youre YOU! God loves to see you and spend time with you.

S ometimes, if you just sit still with your eyes closed and think about God, you can feel God smiling back at you. Being with your Best Friend makes your heart happy, and your Best Friend feels the same way about you. A Friend Likes to Play With You Y our Best Friend loves to play with you. And Gods playground is the whole world! Y ou can play hide-and-seek with God. Look for God in the things you see outdoors. If you find a birds nest, think about how God is like a mother bird.

What about a sparkly rock or a snake skindo those remind you of God in any way? W henever you enjoy yourself, God enjoys you too. When you ride your bike so fast you can feel the wind in your hair, God is riding with you. You cant see Godjust as you cant see the wind. But God is there, having fun with you. A Friend Is Fun to Get to Know A s you get to know a friend better, you find out all kinds of amazing things. You can get to know your Friend God better by looking at all the wonderful things God has made and done.

L ook at the patterns on a butterfly wing. God is an artist! Think about how dolphins are able to talk to each other under water. God is a genius! God controls all the stars and planets in all the galaxies in the whole universe. God is very powerful! G odyour Best Friendis an Incredible Genius, Mastermind, Amazing Brainiac, Awesome Power, Superhero, Master of the Universe! What a great Friend to have! God Is No Ordinary Friend W e cant see or hear God the way we can visit and talk with a regular friend. But we can sense Godwhen we look, listen, and feel Gods love in our lives. Y ou can see Gods love in the beauty of clouds melting into a pretty sunset.

You can smell and taste Gods love in the yummy-ness of a chocolate chip cookie. You can touch Gods love in the warmth of a grandparents hug. You can hear Gods love in music that wraps itself around your heart.