{"id":301937,"date":"2009-12-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-14T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/reaching-children-with-the-love-of-christ\/"},"modified":"2009-12-14T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-12-14T17:00:00","slug":"reaching-children-with-the-love-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/reaching-children-with-the-love-of-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaching Children With the Love of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ready for a spot of tea?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2009-12-14.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"14.36M","filesize_raw":"15060591","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2821],"tags":[4722,4818,4159,2209],"podcast_series":[7696],"cwp_profile":[8922],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301937","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reaching-out","tag-christianity","tag-evangelism","tag-gospel","tag-parenting","podcast_series-tea-parties-with-a-purpose","cwp_profile-robert-and-bobbie-wolgemuth","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301937\/reaching-children-with-the-love-of-christ","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301937\/reaching-children-with-the-love-of-christ","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"vZJgvPnlEp\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/reaching-children-with-the-love-of-christ\/\">Reaching Children With the Love of Christ<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/reaching-children-with-the-love-of-christ\/embed\/#?secret=vZJgvPnlEp\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Reaching Children With the Love of Christ&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"vZJgvPnlEp\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Ready for a spot of tea?","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2009-12-14.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 (speaking to a group of children) OK, now you give a good word to someone on your left.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 On almost in any given afternoon in Bobbi Wolgemuth's neighborhood, you can find her having tea with children who have come to her house for a tea party.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Child 1:<\/strong>\u00a0 And my favorite thing that she makes is very good cookies.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi: <\/strong>(to child) How did that make you feel when I said you look so happy today?\u00a0 Did feel happy when I said that?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Child 2:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>I gargled.\u00a0 That was fun.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Bobbi's tea parties have a spiritual purpose.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 There's a verse that says \"What shall I render the Lord for all His benefits to me?\u00a0 I will lift up the cup of salvation.\"\u00a0 And for me, I lift up a tea party cup.\u00a0 That is the salvation I want to give to children.\u00a0 I always give them a smile, a hug, a bible lesson, and a prayer.\u00a0 A child comes to my house and they know they're going to feel the radiance of Jesus bestowed on that child.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Monday, December 14th.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We're going to talk today about tea parties with a purpose.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, thanks for joining us on the Monday edition.\u00a0 I was thinking about all those tea parties that were held back in cities all across the country.\u00a0 It's a different type of tea party that we're going to talk about today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 No, no, no...\u00a0 And by the way what she's about to talk about here in a minute, is really one of the more fascinating ways to touch the soul of a child.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 But before we introduce Bobbi, and before we get to that topic.\u00a0 We're about half-way through the month of December and we want to say a word of thanks to those of you who have already contacted us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I am pounding the table, saying thank you to all of you who have called in and have given toward the December match.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, we had some friends of the ministry who came to us back a few weeks ago; they know that year-end is a critical time for a ministry like ours.\u00a0 In fact, I think the number is about 40% of our giving comes in at year-end.\u00a0 Right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Close to that. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 And so they said, we want to help, and we want to challenge others to help.\u00a0 They made a significant gesture.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 They sure did.\u00a0 In fact, after last year and the difficulty last year was, and the continued challenging economic times we're in,\u00a0 to have a family step up and say, \"You know what?\u00a0 We so believe in what <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is doing, what the many outreaches of the Weekend to Remember, HomeBuilders, our internet site, our international outreach is doing, we want to empower it to continue. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe want to encourage other people to join in this ministry in giving.\u00a0 We want to give you a million dollars that can be matched here in the month of December.\"\u00a0 And Bob, this is the single largest matching gift we've ever had in the 34 year history of FamilyLife.\u00a0 Here in December to be matched, dollar for dollar to donors who'll step up.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Since they came and made that donation, we had other folks who came and said.\u00a0 \"Well, we'd like to help out too.\"\u00a0 So, we started off the month of December being able to come to listeners and say, we've got a total of $1,250,000 available in matching gift funds.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf we're going to take full advantage of that amount of money, we need every listener.\u00a0 Everybody who's ever thought about giving, who's given before and can give again.\u00a0 We need everybody to do what they can do during the month of December, and make as generous a donation here at year end, as is possible for you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 I want to speak to three groups.\u00a0 First of all Bob, one you mentioned, those who thought about giving a gift but perhaps have never given in the past, I want you to know it's time. If God leads, this would be a very timely gift to give to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> and enable us to--not only stay on this station, but to really to help a ton of families in 2010. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnother group is those who have given in the past.\u00a0 I want to say thank you to you, for doing that, but maybe this year is the year to stretch.\u00a0 Because of this matching gift that has been offered, you need to help us take full advantage of every dollar that has been offered to be matched. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then to a third group, it's a group of people that, perhaps uniquely have the ability to give a large gift.\u00a0 We need you to write out a check.\u00a0 Just say, you know what, I want to make sure all of that matching gift is utilized for strengthening marriages and families in here in America. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBob, I have to tell you, in all my years at FamilyLife, I've only seen a few times where there's been the electricity that there is right now in anticipation that God's up to something very significant.\u00a0 These are important days for us to finish strong in December and to begin 2010 with some of the best initiatives we have ever rolled out in the history of this ministry.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 All donations, of course are tax deductible, and let me just mention that FamilyLife is a charter member of the Evangelical Counsel for Financial Accountability\u2014the watchdog group that looks over our shoulders and makes sure that what we say is happening is what actually happens with the money. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, again, if you can help with a year-end donation go online to FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 Make your donation online.\u00a0 Again it's FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 Or call 1-800-FLTODAY. 1-800 F as in \u201cfamily\u201d L as in \u201clife\u201d and then the word TODAY.\u00a0 Make donation over the phone, and again your donations will be matched on a dollar for dollar basis up to a total of one million 250 thousand dollars.\u00a0 So, we do hope to hear from you.\u00a0 Those of you who have already donated, thanks again for your support. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Thank you\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 We appreciate you.\u00a0 Now we're going to talk about tea parties. I am secure in my masculinity.\u00a0 I am secure...\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You have a problem with today's broadcast Bob?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I'm just looking at this going, I am secure in my masculinity.\u00a0 I'm secure\u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Can a boy go to a tea party and still be secure in his masculinity?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 We're going to have to ask the expert on tea parties because, I'm not thinking so, but she may tell me differently.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I've got a hunch; she's going to correct you on this.\u00a0 Let me introduce our listeners to \"Miss. Bobbi.\"\u00a0 Miss. Bobbi?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Actually, I started off only doing tea parties for little girls.\u00a0 And, a mother called me and said, \"My son is here and he is crying, because he's not invited to the tea party.\"\u00a0 I said, \"Well, you tell Cameron to come right over. He is invited to the tea party.\" \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I'm just saying I've never personally been to a tea party.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You will! You will!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The day will come?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Well, let me introduce \"Miss Bobbi\" and her famous husband who are our guests here.\u00a0 Robert and Bobbi Wolgemuth join us on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 They are no strangers to our listening audience.\u00a0 They're authors, they have written books that have sold over a million copies, they also represent authors to publishers and help them get their works published and out the door to Christian retailers around the countries.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And they're both graduates of Taylor University.\u00a0 I heard the greatest line about Taylor the other day. I think it was Chuck Colson who said that Taylor is fifty miles from the nearest sin. Have you heard that? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 As a graduate I can tell you that is not true.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, Bobbi has written a book called, <em>Tea Parties With a Purpose<\/em>.\u00a0 You actually sent this to Barbara and me several months ago.\u00a0 I really do like this. I didn't think what Bob was thinking that it wasn't for little boys as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 But tell me the truth.\u00a0 You got this book; you took it straight home and gave it straight to Barbara before even opening it and looking at it at all. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I did, I did.\u00a0 But I also thought about sending it to my granddaughter, and I'm going to get Bobbi, \"Miss Bobbi\" to sign this and send one to, probably Savannah, and Gabby and Caroline, and...\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Don't leave out the boys.\u00a0 The boys like celebrations.\u00a0 This is all about celebrating.\u00a0 It is not just--actually we sort of just use the idea of a tea party as an excuse to get together.\u00a0 And for children to come and just visit and have, I call it \"face time,\" where you're looking into a child's eyes.\u00a0 You're letting them know how special they are to you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tReally this is something that sort of happened out of my kitchen 35 years ago.\u00a0 It began when I had little precious neighbor children, and I had small children.\u00a0 I just wanted to invite them in. And so we'd say \"Ok come on in.\u00a0 We'll have a tea party.\"\u00a0 Well there really was no tea; it was just cups and even water.\u00a0 Jesus said, just give a cup of cold water in my name and you'll not lose your reward. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd it all started that way.\u00a0 Kids just started understanding that there was a place where they could come and share some ideas.\u00a0 We had show-and-tell.\u00a0 We have books, we have art.\u00a0 The book just came about because I wanted to share with other moms and neighbors and aunts and grandmas what was going on.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So, the first \"Miss Bobbi Tea Party\" was a spontaneous event.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, they all began just because I loved children, and I wanted to have a way to connect with them. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So, when the kids were there in the house and you said, \"Let's have a tea party.\"\u00a0 You'd never done a tea party before right?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, it's so interesting, for a child, an idea gets bigger and bigger if you have a theme. So if you just say the word \"tea party\" and then you say OK we're going to have a\u2014we always have a theme.\u00a0 An \"Under the Sea\" tea party or a \"Teddy Bear\" tea party or...\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Three Pigs tea party\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, we can make them up. Sometimes I just say \"Today we're having a tea party with the letter \"B.\"\u00a0\u00a0 You can bring something that starts with the letter \"B\" to the tea party.\u00a0 I've had boys bring their soccer balls, and a girl might bring her ballerina doll, another one would bring a bunny, and then we talk about ideas and things. And, of course always, I have the Bible.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat is my treasure, and I always share with the kids some bible story.\u00a0 Always, we hold hands, and we pray.\u00a0 I just thank the Lord for these friends, and this tea party and what a good time we're having.\u00a0 Just simple glimpses of God that they're getting from an adult sharing a little bit of time with them. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I'm thinking about neighborhoods these days and all the fences that are up and the tendency of our culture in this high-tech, low-touch age is to retreat from our neighbors and as followers of Christ, not fulfill Matthew 5, which said, \"Let your light shine in such a way that ultimately people see who God is.\"\u00a0\u00a0 I think today, Bob, families really need to realize they're placed on a block and in a neighborhood with a divine purpose.\u00a0 Some of those neighbors that you think are odd may just be the people that God wants you to be a part of redeeming.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I'm sitting here thinking about\u2014we have a lot of our listeners who, over the years have order the Resurrection Eggs\u2014you're familiar with that resource? And they've used them with their kids, and they've shared the Easter story with their kids, but there have been some parents or some moms in particular who have said, I'm going to open this up to the neighborhood. I'm not just going to share this story with my kids. But I'm going to get the neighbor kids over. We'll have an Easter egg hunt, or we'll do something special. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere are moms, who have a missionary heart. A missionary mindset, and said, \"This is where God's put me.\"\u00a0 Whether it's tea parties, or Easter egg events or whatever they do, they're thinking \u201cHow can I represent Jesus to these little ones?\"\u00a0 And, how often Bobbi, in the Bible, does Jesus commend ministry to children?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 He loves children.\u00a0 He speaks to children.\u00a0 He says, \"Feed my lambs.\"\u00a0 One of my favorite times of year to share with Children is Christmas time.\u00a0 Because, we have a birthday party for Jesus, and we invite the children.\u00a0 One Christmas I had a mother-daughter, or grandmother-granddaughter tea, and it was a birthday party for Jesus.\u00a0 But, I disguised it as an \"Angel party\" because everybody loves angels at Christmas. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, I sent out little invitations with an angel cookie-cutter on it, and said, bring your angel mom or grandma with you.\u00a0 So, all the children came and I had taught the children to sing \"Angels We Have Heard On High\"\u2014taught about five little girls to sing \"Angels We Have Heard On High\" and it was so fun because we got to share, the grandmothers were there that were visiting for the holidays, and just having a time to stop and\u2014it's amazing, the Christmas Carols tell the story.\u00a0 All you have to do is sing \"Hark the Herald Angels Sing,\" and you get the entire plan of salvation. And so kids will listen to Christmas carols, and I try not to ever offend someone, so I ask the parents if it's OK if I read the Bible.\u00a0 Or I say \"Make sure your mom, when she comes we'll ask her.\"\u00a0 Or \"Make sure you mom says it's OK for you to come over, and we're going to have a tea party, and we're going to sing Christmas carols.\"\u00a0 I always ask before I have a child over.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 And you do tell the story and you use some common elements that don't cost a lot of money to do it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 That's right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I love the peanut nativity scene.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 That is so fun.\u00a0 I take little--I give each of the children a peanut that's sort of big, and the next size down, and they draw a face on it and a little single peanut and that's the baby Jesus.\u00a0 They get to draw these faces, and I put them in rice.\u00a0 I actually have one for you all.\u00a0 I brought a set of peanuts for you all to draw faces on so you can have your own nativity.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 This could challenge our artistic ability. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I am secure in my masculinity; I am secure in my masculinity.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Tell Bob and Dennis about your pantry.\u00a0 Because, that's the place you bring the kids, when they want to have a tea party but can't decide what kind of tea party, tell them about your pantry.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Actually it's very easy for children to let their imaginations run wild.\u00a0 In my pantry I have little fish crackers and some Teddy Grahams maybe, and maybe rice cakes, so if we're doing a Japanese tea party they might choose the rice cakes.\u00a0 And we put something on them.\u00a0\u00a0 If we're having a honey bee tea, we might choose a little bit of honey, and put it on something.\u00a0 Or\u2014It's just very simple things.\u00a0 We always have something artistic like crayons.\u00a0 I always have crayons and paper.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd the other thing I always do is I give each child a nametag.\u00a0 Because, children\u2014here's a little key that works with children all the time\u2014everyone loves their own name.\u00a0 When they come over I always get down on my knees and I hug them, and then I always use their name and say something special about that child.\u00a0 Often I will tell the child \"Could you just cup your hand?\"\u2014Dennis and Bob I want you to do this\u2014just cup your hand a little bit.\u00a0 Do you see?\u00a0 Can you trace the \"M\" in there?\u00a0 Do you see the \"M\" in your palm?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Mine's a \"U\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yours is an \"M\" too.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, it's an \"M,\" there it is.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Everybody has an \"M.\"\u00a0 Here's what I say.\u00a0 I say, \"Bob, give me your hand\" and I say \"Look, there's a 'M', you're a miracle.\u00a0 God marked you as a miracle.\u00a0 Did you know that?\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Bob has a bigger \"M\" than I mine.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 He's a bigger miracle than you are.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 And so, the kids look at that and they're like, \"I'm a miracle!\"\u00a0 And often\u2014one of our tea parties is called \"Hands and Feet tea.\"\u00a0 We just talk about how incredible it is that God made our hands and our feet and all the things we can do with our hands and feet to serve God.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Now, how often are you doing tea parties at the Wolgemuth house?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, it depends you know.\u00a0 I had to get to the point where I had to put a note on the door saying. \"Yes you can ring the doorbell today.\" because Robert will say \"Some of your friends are here.\"\u00a0\u00a0 I'm not getting anything done.\u00a0 But it really has been such a joy almost any time. Especially after school, the kids will come over.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You have five grandchildren now.\u00a0 You're still doing this.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have five grandchildren.\u00a0 Oh yes, and the boys love it just as much as the girls. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Did you hear that Bob?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I heard it I'm still... \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Just wanted to make sure it didn't go past you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Still straining credibility a little bit but I heard it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0 Back to the \"M\" in the hand. I've never seen that before.\u00a0 That really is interesting.\u00a0 Can you share a miracle story of one of these children who came from your neighborhood?\u00a0 It's just a great story of how God just placed a little boy or a little girl right there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have lots of stories.\u00a0 My head is swirling right now.\u00a0 One is the little girl next door.\u00a0 Her name is Grace, and her mom was killed in a plane crash.\u00a0 So, she was without a mom.\u00a0 And her dad is a doctor.\u00a0 He got a nanny for them.\u00a0 But she was sort of needing somebody to talk to. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo she came over one day and brought her little friend and I said, \"Your name is Grace!\"\u00a0 I said \"Did you know, besides being a miracle, the bible is all about grace.\"\u00a0 I said, \"There's a song called 'Amazing Grace'.\"\u00a0 Well, I taught her \"Amazing Grace\" that day.\u00a0 And I taught her the Lord's Prayer.\u00a0 She didn't know the Lord's Prayer so I taught it to her.\u00a0 Every time I see her in the neighborhood I say, \"Hi Grace. You're amazing!\" \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd she often would come over and tell me things.\u00a0 He dad has since remarried. But when she didn't have a mom, she would often come over.\u00a0 She would ring my doorbell and say \"Miss Bobbi, I just feel like I need to talk to a lady about this.\"\u00a0 And she would tell me something.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tA child is more hungry for attention and affection than they are for food.\u00a0 So it doesn't matter what you serve on the little tea party plates, or the little cups.\u00a0 What they want is, they want a glimpse of who they are.\u00a0 They want \"You're a miracle!\u00a0 God made you; he has a plan for you.\" And just sharing that little bit of bible story and time with her.\u00a0 It was more exciting than the happiest place on earth because her heart was needing this nurture, this food, this spiritual glimpse of God.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 It's really pretty simple.\u00a0 You're saying that if you've got love for kids, an availability and a little bit of creativity\u2014and you provide the creativity in the book.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 From start to finish, you don't have to be creative.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 So you don't have to have a lot of that.\u00a0 But if you've got a heart for kids and an open door, you can have a profound ministry, an impact in your neighborhood.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I actually got involved in a marriage and family ministry because I loved kids.\u00a0 I worked with high school students for five years nationwide, and both Barbara and I love kids. And we wanted to influence and impact the most number of children possible.\u00a0 The family is what creates children and what shapes them.\u00a0 The family can be used by God to reach out and impact them. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat you're really illustrating here through your love for children and opening your front door, and being willing to allow these little people to invade your privacy, is you're really fulfilling Matthew chapter 28:19-20 where Jesus commanded us to go.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn this case you're inviting them into your home, and you're teaching them about Jesus Christ, the gospel, about how they're made in the image of God in very practical ways.\u00a0 The cool thing about your book, and I am going to get a couple of copies to send to my granddaughters, I don't know if I'm going to send one to one of my grandsons or not yet. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Will you guys get over this? Please? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Really.\u00a0 I'm concerned that my sons may get onto me for sending\u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Robert:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, the pictures in the book are probably more pictures of little boys at tea parties than there are little girls.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I stand rebuked.\u00a0 There are ten simple and fun party ideas in here.\u00a0 There's a whole lot we didn't talk about.\u00a0 If you lack the creativity that Bobbi has, she's put it between two covers here and it'll be a great resource to your family.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And when it's time for the sequel: The \"Root Beer Party Book for Boys.\"\u00a0 I'm telling you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bobbi:<\/strong>\u00a0 I was thinking about cowboys and cookies. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 There you go.\u00a0 We've got some ideas for boys.\u00a0 Oh yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 We do have copies of the <em>Tea Parties with a Purpose<\/em>\u00a0 book. <em>Ten simple and fun party ideas for kids of all ages.<\/em> It's in our FamilyLife Today Resource Center and I want to encourage you to go to FamilyLifeToday.com and look this information over or maybe order a copy from us online.\u00a0 Again the website is FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd if you want to do a special tea party just before Christmas, go to FamilyLifeToday.com and get our <em>What God Wants for Christmas<\/em>\u00ae nativity scene.\u00a0 It's an interactive Nativity scene, designed for kids. You can invite the neighborhood kids into your house, serve them Christmas cookies, have a tea party with them, and break out <em>What God Wants for Christmas<\/em>\u00ae and teach them the real story of Christmas along with the surprising box number seven.\u00a0\u00a0 Which, I'm not going to tell you about.\u00a0 You have to go to FamilyLifeToday.com for more information about <em>What God Wants for Christmas<\/em>\u00ae and box number 7. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain our website is FamilyLifeToday.com; you can also call us toll-free, 1-800-FLTODAY. That\u2019s 1-800 F as in \u201cfamily\u201d L as in \u201clife\u201d and then the word TODAY.\u00a0 When you get in touch with us we can answer any questions you have about the resources we've talked about here today, or make arrangements to have the ones you need sent to you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow before we wrap things up here today, take just a minute with me and think about what it was like to be a child at Christmas time.\u00a0 How excited you were about everything that was going on, about the gifts that were starting to appear underneath the tree.\u00a0 I want you to imagine that somebody had come to you and said, this year at Christmas, every gift you receive, somebody is going to give you a second Christmas gift, so you're going to get twice as many gifts this year as you did last year. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tObviously back when you were nine years old, you'd have gotten pretty excited about that.\u00a0 Well, we have had something like that happen here at FamilyLife.\u00a0 We've had some friends of the ministry who came to us during the month of December and said, \"We want to encourage regular <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listeners to join with us in making a year-end contribution to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\"\u00a0\u00a0 So, they have agreed that they will match every donation we receive during December on a dollar for dollar basis, up to a total of $1,250,000. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis is the largest year-end matching gift that we have ever received as a ministry. So, when you go online or call 1-800-FL-TODAY to make a donation, if you donate $50 dollars, we get $50 from this other group. It goes all the way up to 1.25 million dollars.\u00a0 We're hoping to take full advantage of this largest ever matching gift opportunity, but if that's going to happen, we need to hear from as many of you as possible with whatever donation you can make here at the end of the year.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tKeep in mind your donations are tax-deductible, you can donate online at FamilyLifeToday.com, or you can call 1-800-FLTODAY to make a donation over the phone.\u00a0 We do hope to hear from you. We want you to know we appreciate you thinking of us here at the end of 2009.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd we want to encourage you to be back with us again tomorrow, when Bobbi Wolgemuth is going to be here again along with her husband Robert.\u00a0 We're going to have more ideas on how you can engage the children in your neighborhood or maybe even the children in your extended family in some fun evangelistic tea parties.\u00a0 I hope you can be with us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today Keith Lynch and our entire production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I\u2019m Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today, Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. 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