Ezekiel 16:13

“Thus you were adorned with gold and silver,

and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth.”

The windows of the house were open but without much of a breeze the house was warm and the air was still. Mary Rose and Ruthie headed down in the basement to play where it was nice and cool. Laying on the large braided rug, they talked and giggled doing all sorts of silly things. Sticking their feet in the air pretending they were riding a bike seeing who could go the fastest and then rolling over into a pile of pillows falling on top of one another like they had crashed. In this part of the house, there was lots of floor space. Enough they could even run and slide in their socks without breaking or running into anything. After a while, they settled down and just laid there. This really was a fun place to be. Lots of interesting things to look at in this part of the basement. Mary Rose especially liked the two old trunks passed down to her Mama from her aunt. She got up and walked over to the one that had a curved top. Ruthie followed. This one was her favorite. Sometimes Mary Rose liked to sit on top imagining all the things that could have been stored inside. Maybe dresses, pictures, or books. Who knows? It had a latch but didn’t have a key. The key had been lost ages ago.

“You want to see what’s inside?” Asked Mary Rose.

“Sure.”

“We won’t get into trouble will we?”

“No, I’ve looked inside before and it just has lots of old hats and things.” My parents don’t care.”

When the lid was opened, a picture came into view. It was glued on the inside of the lid of the trunk. It was a girl in a dress with wavy hair tied on one side with a ribbon. She was smiling and her hands were folded in front of her. You could tell the picture had been there for a long time for it had yellowed and small cracks were forming around the edges.

Mary Rose began pulling things out one by one. Ruthie helped. Like she said, lots of hats, but there were also pretty cloth scarves with fringe, wire glasses, several pairs of ladies gloves, a man’s jacket, and even some old jewelry and buttons in a basket.

“I know what we could do.” Said Ruthie.

“Let’s dress up and put on a play!”

“How about we put on these hats and scarves and act out things from Bible stories?” Asked Mary Rose.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Ruthie replied. “We can take turns and guess who each other is supposed to be by what we are doing.”

They found a large piece of cardboard to be a room divider to hide behind so the other person could not see them get into costume. Once they were ready they came out and the rug became the stage! Mary Rose was on the couch and clapped as Ruthie bowed.

“Tada!”

Dress up and acting was something they both liked to do. Ruthie was dressed in a scarf around her head and another around her waist like a skirt. She carried a basket in her hand and was acting like she was picking something from the ground and putting it into her basket. Over and over she moved around the rug putting more and more into the basket. It didn’t take long and Mary Rose guessed she was Ruth who gleaned in the field collecting grain. Now it was Ruthie’s turn to guess. Mary Rose knew just who she wanted to be and ran behind the cardboard to get ready. She dug around in the bottom of the trunk and pulled out a small brown leather bag. After filling it with buttons she grabbed the man’s jacket and was ready to go.  Finally making it out on stage, she bowed and this time it was Ruthie’s turn to clap and yelled,

“Yay!”

She noticed she had a pouch in her hand with something inside. Mary Rose acted like the buttons were coins and was paying someone. Then she acted like she was climbing up some stairs and then going down some stairs. Next, she laid down and was sleeping.

“You’re sleeping!” said Ruthie.

Mary Rose nodded her head that she was right but there was more. Next, she was sitting up talking to someone, climbed up the stairs again, jumped, and acted like she was swimming. Then she rolled into a ball, turned over, got up, and knelt down acting like she was praying. After holding up 3 fingers, she jumped to the other side of the rug and acted like she was wiping something off her clothes and began walking with her hand at her eyebrows like she was looking for a certain place. Ruthie thought and thought.

“Hmmm,” she said.  “I don’t know. You paid someone, fell asleep, then ran upstairs, jumped, then you were swimming, then praying and you jumped up and walked off looking for something.”

She thought and thought and finally said,

“It had to do with water and praying.”

“I know, I know, you are Jonah!”

Ruthie was correct, and they laughed about how funny Mary Rose had looked when she was “swimming” on the rug.

Some of the other characters they played were Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to see Jesus, fisherman who left their nets and followed Jesus, Dorcas who sewed clothes for the poor, died, and was raised back to life, Jesus dying on the cross, David who killed Goliath the giant, and Achan who hid stolen things in the floor of his tent. The afternoon flew by and before they knew it Mama was calling down to them saying supper would be in about 15 minutes and Ruthie’s parents were going to eat with them. Mary Rose and Ruthie were so excited to hear this because it meant they could be together longer. They hugged each other tightly. Mary Rose called up to her Mama begging her to please come downstairs to look at what they had been doing and take a picture of them in their last costumes. So she took a minute to do what they had asked and giggled upon seeing them. She thought they were two, pretty clever girls with wonderful imaginations.

They had just enough time to hurry and get things put back into the trunk before getting ready for supper. They were so excited about having a picture to remember their fun afternoon, and also so they could show Ruthie’s parents.

Greetings!

To my Sister Bible class teachers,

Mary Rose and Ruthie had quite a lot of fun playing Bible character-dress up-charades. I think it would be a fun Bible class review!

Imagine a box full of hats, a few scarves, medium sized baskets, and anything else you may think of for the different the Bible characters you have talked about within the quarter. This could be a fun review for just about any age! Most kids love to act and this would give them just the right setting. You could start by doing one for yourself in front of the class. If a student cannot think of what to do for their Bible character, you could make a list ahead of time telling how to act like their character. If you are wondering how to make a hat, begin with a band to go around a child’s head and go from there. The picture here is a headdress I made out of bulletin board paper for my V.B.S. helper and myself. It is just a band of paper accessorized in the front. I put it on and pulled the top of my hair out of it so the band was actually under my hair. We were lady soldiers in the Lord’s army, with dented armor because of so many battles we had been in.

Something you could add to this review is when they guess who the character is, the class has to tell you about that Bible character or lesson they are from. Maybe even find them on the timeline.

I hope you give it a try and let me know how it goes.

This month’s featured visual aids are found below. Just click on the words. They are meant to get you started with your Bible character review supplies.

Find ideas for a paper crown, fabric crown,  headband with fire for Day of Pentecost (pictured), the book of Esther main characters, easy shepherd’s headwear, Egypt wear.

My prayers and encouragement go with you

Serving in Christ,

Gwendolyn Schnell

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Gwen Schnell

Gwendolyn (Gwen) Schnell is a dedicated Christian wife, mom, Grandma, Nina, daughter, sister, and friend. She is known to many as “Miss Gwen”.
She enjoys opening the Word of God with various ages, but children are one of her all-time favorites. Gwen has had the pleasure of putting the Word into the hearts of children for over 40 years and loves it still! Gwen also loves to conduct personal home Bible studies.
Gwen has been married to her husband Dan for over 45 years. He has been the pulpit minister at the Owasso Church of Christ in Owasso Oklahoma for over 26 years. They both love working with this congregation. They are richly blessed with 3 grown children who along with their spouses love and serve in the Lord’s kingdom in various ways. Gwen and Dan are even further blessed to have Jonathan, Matthew, Micaiah, Lydia, and Esther Rose join the ranks making them Grandma/Nina and Opa!
Gwen enjoys lectureships, outdoors, good movies, reading, crafting/sewing, organizing, pizza, and a comfortable chair.

She is the author of the book, Mary Rose & Me Learn Bible Truths Together! Mary Rose will help you love God, others, and yourself! Check it out at the link below!
https://www.amazon.com/Keaac-Womens-Pieces-Crewneck-Sleeve/dp/1943245150#customerReviews

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