GBBW: Manna
and 5 ways to do less on purpose
Hello there— It’s April! It’s Spring Break! (Here at least.) And it’s week 8 of the Great Big Bible Story Walkthrough, where we are walking in the wilderness.
If you haven’t be walking with us at all, you can join the GBBW today and start getting a Bible story a week, with ideas for responding to it, and a commentary & context cheat sheet. Plus, you’ll get access to all of the stories we’ve done so far.
Then the next two weeks will close out what we’ve affectionately called ‘The Pentateuch Pack’ by talking about The Law—specifically the theme ‘love God, love neighbor’ and the story of Jubilee and the festivals.
After that, it’s all about Life in the Land—10-ish Old Testament stories from entering the land to exile.
Reminder! If you or the kids you hang with have questions about The Law (Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), we’d love to have them to be sure the commentary pages offer the most help possible. The Law is weird, we know, so we want to do our best to wade into the weirdness.
When I started my job at Curriculum Director at Willow Creek, the small group materials for a volunteer were 6 pages long. Per story. And these folks didn’t even tell the kids the story; they were helping with the time that followed it.
6 pages for a 20 minute time. One of the first things our team did together was get it down to 2.
Unsurprisingly, many volunteers said their group time was going better. Why? Shorting the lesson gave the kids more space of their own.
A 2 page lesson was how we were doing less on purpose.
Do less on purpose.
I write about this in Woven, so you may remember this principle, but because GBBW comes to you weekly and because it’s got 3 ideas per story, it may feel like you are meant to do it all.
Nope. (Unless your kids want to.)
In fact, so much good happens in faith-related conversations when we do less.
When we teach less on purpose, we talk less. We literally just say fewer words.
And that creates space.
That space can then be filled by your kids. By their thoughts, their questions, by the jokes they just made up and their favorite part of the story.
When you talk less they have more space to talk.
When you talk less there can also be more quiet.
That quiet can then be used by your kids to think, imagine, wonder, or process in their own minds.
As kids have space to process (internally and aloud), they can bring back new questions, share doubts, express wonder, and generally feel supported and respected as real people who are growing and getting to know God.
In other words, you are not a teacher of content for your kids to receive and recite back. You are their guide and companion as you explore stories together. As you do less on purpose, you are offering your kid the gift of space.
Let’s make it practical. Here are 5 ideas for how someone could do less on purpose with the GBBW*:
(*Or any other resource for kids and family faith conversations.)
Less elements
Do only 1 of the 3 elements (story & wonder; play; pray) on a given day. Then do another a different day.
Less time
Set a timer for your conversation and when it goes off say, “That was fun! We can talk more about it later this week, too,” and then be done.
Tip: start with 10 minutes. Make the timer where only you can see/hear it, incase it goes off and they’re actually really engaged, so that can keep rolling.
Less talking
Ask a question and count to 10 before you talk again. If they’ve said nothing in those 10 seconds, say, “Take your time! I really want to know what you think.” Then count to 10 again.
Less answer-giving
Make your first answer to their question, “Ooh, great question—what do you think? (Or “what’s your guess?”) then go quiet again.
Less leading
If you have a reader, have them read some of the story, or the wonder questions. Switch places for a round of the game so they kid is in charge and you are the player. After the story, let your kid pick if you do the wonder questions or the prayer.
The space you create as you do less on purpose is often the very thing that makes these kinds of conversations and activities more engaging for kids. And that makes them far more likely to become regular parts of your rhythm over time.
No need to do it all. Do less.
