Happy Epiphany!

Today is Epiphany!  This is exactly 12 Days after Christmas and is sometimes known as Three Kings' Day.  On this day, I celebrate the discovery of the Christ child by the Magi to whom He was revealed ("epiphany" means "to reveal").  This is a big deal because these folks were the very first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as "King"!  These dudes traveled super far (took them about 2 years!) to find our King - and when they found Him, they fell down and worshiped Him - and gave Him wonderful gifts - the best of the best!

When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him.

-Matthew 2:11

This past Sunday, my Sunday School Superstars (that would be all the Sunday School kiddos, ages 3 - junior high - I'm the Director of Children's Ministry) had a big old party at church - an Epiphany Party! 

I told the story of the Wise Men.  The kids were floored that there had not been specific reference to THREE of them - that we don't really know how many there were.  I explained that because THREE gifts were referenced (in the Bible - gold, frankincense, and myrrh), folks have come to picture THREE wise guys, but this may or may not be the case.

We also played games, sang songs (check out this really fun one that they all liked called "Three Wise Men" which is sung to the tune of "Three Blind Mice" - of course, after this, I reminded them again that there may or may not have been three wise men), did a scratch-art star craft and ate these cute little cupcakes (just Wal-mart cupcakes with a yogurt covered pretzel star - had to have a star ...) with punch.

My favorite part of the party was the kids' take on a question I posed at the conclusion of the Epiphany story.  I said, "So, the Wise Men brought some of their VERY best things to present to Jesus, the King.  If you were off to visit the King and were to present Him with some of your VERY best things, what might you bring?"

I can't stop smiling when I recall the answers I was given! 

"My Wii."
"My DSi."
"My XBox."
"My shotgun."

Oh, my goodness!!!  Can you imagine?  Instead of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, our dear little children would come bearing electronics and weapons!!!

What would YOU bring?  What is your "best of the best" for the King?

Happy Epiphany!  :-)

The Sunday School Superstars and I play "Hot Potato"

My boys got a Hot Potato game for Christmas that is so much fun - just a plush potato that sings for an unknown amount of time - and whoever is left holding it when it stops is out.  We wanted to place this - so I made it tie in by reminding the kids how LONG it took the Magi to find the King - and like the Hot Potato, they never knew when the star would stop.  I think that worked out okay ... :-)  The game was a hit.

Snack time!  We sent the preschoolers through first, but they kept dropping their plated cupcakes, so we learned from our mistake - and sent them to their tables to be served like little kings.  :-)