The Gift of Values: Volume Two

By Rosie Boom

The Gift of Values - Volume two is resource book for parents or teachers to use to help them in the all-important and challenging task of teaching children values. Easy to use,full of stories, inspirational quotes and creative ideas, Volume Two covers the values of :
Forgiveness
Patience
Self Control
Compassion
Generosity
Encouragement
With each value there are the following sections:
Once Upon a Time - stories that demonstrate some aspect of the value being studied.
Think About It - questions you can ask your children to get the ball rolling.
Boom Clips - personal glimpses into the Boom family!
Something To Do - practical activities which will reinforce the particular value.
So Said – inspirational quotes that you can use to stimulate discussions with your older children.
Words To Live By – verses from the Bible.
Dig Deeper - suggestions for further reading, and DVDs and movies to watch.Published by HSM Australia in 2009. Printed Hardcover in blue leather-look with silver hot foil printing. 198 pages.

“Some would say values are better caught than taught. But both approaches are needed. It respects a child’s intellect to explain clearly what generosity is, for instance, and why we should be generous. The Gift of Values is an excellent tool for teaching values. Use it while you also demonstrate consistency in living out those values before your children, and you will effectively pass on Godly values to the next generation.” - Dave & Neta Jackson, authors of the Trailblazer Books and Hero Tales, America

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rosie Boom
• Release date: May 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310221217

Rosie Boom

I am a wife and homeschooling mother of six children, living in rural New Zealand. My passion is to encourage and inspire others. Over the years I have been able to communicate this passion through songwriting and singing, and public speaking. For the last twelve years I have discovered the thrill (and effectiveness!) of writing – my books travel far further afield than either time or money enable me to go myself. Let me tell you a bit about myself and the wonderful family I have been blessed with...We are eight Booms living on a small homestead in Whangarei, New Zealand. Chris and I have been married now for nearly 25 years. I met him in New Zealand shortly before I went to Borneo to be involved in missionary work. Some months later he came over for a visit and declared his love. When I returned to NZ a year later our romance blossomed and we married in 1987. We have been blessed with six beautiful children! Now I am a full time home-schooling mother.I spent some of my childhood in Papua New Guinea, where my parents were missionaries. It was a fantastic childhood – weird and wonderful pets, jungle clubs, huts by the river...We came home to NZ when my twin sister Penny and I were ten. I went on to do my nursing training and worked for the next ten years in both public and private hospitals and as a practice nurse in a doctor’s surgery. I finished nursing when our oldest son was born, and since then have swapped my nurse’s uniform for my teacher’s garb. I have been homes-chooling now for 20 years and it has been my ‘magnum opus’. But whenever I get a spare moment, I love to write!Chris and I are also singer/songwriters (in our spare time!), and have been travelling around New Zealand now for 25 years, singing at churches, camps, conferences etc - most anywhere we’re asked!In 2007 we made the big move and bought 11 acres of land, complete with river and a ninety-year- old barn which was to become our home.I never dreamed that the next four years would hold so much fun and so many memorable moments. We knocked the barn into some semblence of order, evicted the resident possum, put in a few windows and best of all, set up a Homewood stove which was to become the heart of the barn – cooking our food, heating our water and keeping us warm through the cold winter months. In the first six months, we survived two ‘one hundred year’ storms. The barn creaked and shook and groaned, but outlasted the onslaught. Those were exciting, nerve-wracking days and nights of gale force winds, rain so loud on the tin roof that we couldn’t hear ourselves shout, rescuing animals and anxiously watching to see if the barn roof would lift off.In our second year I began writing Where Lions Roar at Night, a family read-aloud book telling all the fun and adventures we had in our first year of living in the barn. The second book in The Barn Chronicles, Where Arrows Fly, was published in 2010 and the third book in the series, Where The Crickets Sing,was released in May 2012, and the fourth book is on its way!

Book preview

The Gift of Values ~ Volume Two

by

Rosie Boom

Published by Rosie Boom at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Rosie Boom

Discover other titles by Rosie Boom at Smashwords.com:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my parents, Evan and Leone Harris. They have been my lifelong inspiration and daily example of each and every value in this book.

I love you Mom and Dad.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and wisdom in your book, The Gift of Values. I have been struggling with our morning devotions - trying to inspire our six children, who are all different ages, and trying to keep them all interested. Your book really has been an answer to prayer. I feel like God has touched my heart and kissed my forehead. Joanne Van Vliet, New Zealand

Some would say values are better caught than taught. But both approaches are needed. It respects a child's intellect to explain clearly what generosity is, for instance, and why we should be generous. The Gift of Values is an excellent tool for teaching values. Use it while you also demonstrate consistency in living out those values before your children, and you will effectively pass on Godly values to the next generation. - Dave & Neta Jackson, authors of the Trailblazer Books and Hero Tales, America

Well done for writing such a readable, entertaining, honest and challenging book! Barbara Jones, New Zealand

Family devotions should be an exciting time, a time that everyone looks forward to with great anticipation. This book, The Gift of Values will help create such an atmosphere. It’s a fantastic book filled with inspiring stories, quotes, and wisdom, with lots of practical ideas. It is the best resource for family devotions that I have ever read. I only wish that I had had something similar when my children were growing up as I am sure I would have used it again and again over the years. - Don James, Senior Pastor, Crossroads Community Church, New Zealand

We recently were sent a copy of your book, The Gift of Values – Volume One. What a tremendous blessing it has been to me.  I was so encouraged to read about your Milly. I have taken on the fact that I am training a champion! - Alex and Lisa Snary, Mongolia.

"This book should not be in everyone's bookcase, it should be on the coffee table where it can be easily accessed every day. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:19-20 to go into all the world and teach all nations to observe the things which He has commanded us. Rosie is doing just that by compiling a book full of the values that Jesus himself taught while He was on earth, and that the Holy Spirit continues to teach us through God´s Word. This book gives us, in a format that any parent can easily use, the resources and experiences that Rosie and Chris have had in the raising of their children. It goes on the highly commended list." - Rob and Sharon Holding, Radio Rhema, New Zealand 

I received your book The Gift of Values about a week ago.  We love it!  I love the fact that you have stories to relate to along with quotes and other applicable ideas.  It is exactly how we teach our children.  Thank you for heeding God’s call to write this book.  May it bless many other families as it is blessing ours!  Marla, New Zealand

"I just bought a copy of The Gift of Values ~ Volume One and sat down today and read it right through. We had our 'Bible Time' a bit late this afternoon and I read my boys the first story. They really loved it, and I could tell they got the message intended!

Thanks for following your inspiration to write these books." - Lisa Crosse, New Zealand

The Shema

Hear O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6 v 4 – 9

CONTENTS

Preface

How To Use This Book

VALUE ONE — GENEROSITY 

The All for God Club 

The Silver Thread

The Box

VALUE TWO — ENCOURAGEMENT 

The Castle of Giant Despair 

The Two Frogs 

In the Camp of Death

VALUE THREE — SELF CONTROL 

The Two Pirates 

Waldo Pigginson  

The Boy with Gifted Hands 

VALUE FOUR —COMPASSION 

Ninepence 

William and the Ring 

The Watchmakers of Haarlem 

VALUE FIVE — PATIENCE 

Hannah and the Corn 

Uncle Hendrik's Moustache

Show Me How to Live 

VALUE SIX — FORGIVENESS

Hard Choices 

The Shepherd’s Call 

The Color of Spring

Ackowledgements

About Rosie Boom

Contact Rosie

Epilogue

More Books by Rosie Boom

PREFACE

I have had the great joy of writing Volume Two of The Gift of Values in our new, temporary home – a somewhat run-down, ninety-year-old barn in Whangarei, New Zealand. Earlier this year, Chris and I bought eleven acres of farm land, complete with river and majestic native trees.

As soon as school is over for the day, the children roam all over the land, canoe down the river, make tree huts and teepees, ride their pony and go exploring. It’s an adventure wonderland for our six children!

Chris and I have enjoyed doing up the barn – concreting floors, putting in windows and installing a cast iron wood-burning stove. I love it here. Truth is, I could stay here forever, but Chris and Josiah and I will soon begin building the new Boom family home. I know, however, that none of us will ever forget the wonderful memories we are making here in our ‘pioneering’ days. And for me, it has been a fantastic place to write this book – rich in experiences and anecdotes and learning.

Not long after we first moved into the barn, a fierce storm swept in. In fact, it was to be the first of two ‘hundred year’ storms to hit the area in a matter of a couple of months. Chris and Josiah hurried to brace the east end of the barn, which was waving in and out under the battering of the gale force winds. They worked for hours outside in the torrential rain, securing the roof which was threatening to lift off, rescuing stock as the river rose higher and higher, and battening down sheds and equipment. The girls and I worked feverishly inside the barn, moving furniture into the middle of the room and lifting the carpet away from the corners where the rain was driving in. The power went off for three days. We had two sleepless nights as we listened to the wind rage against us, wondering if at any moment the roof would disappear. The barn creaked and groaned, but stood strong.

When the storm abated, we ventured out to inspect the damage. Lying all over the countryside were big trees, uprooted by the winds. I stared in astonishment at some of these massive trees – at their beautiful foliage, impressive trunks, and then in surprise at their roots. Nearly all of the fallen trees had very shallow root systems. It was a profound picture to me of the importance of the values we are trying to teach our children. I long for each of my children to send down deep, strong roots, which will help them stand in the storms of life.

As I stood looking at the fallen trees, I imagined the root of honesty reaching deep into the soil; the roots of compassion and perseverance holding the earth, and the root of courage nurturing the tree that grows above. I understood all the more that these values are vital to our children’s futures. For storms will surely come to all of us.

So much of the real ‘work’ of parenting involves the hidden places of the heart. We can’t see the roots that are growing deep and strong in our children’s lives. At times we catch glimpses of progress and growth, and we rejoice. But unfortunately it is all too easy to become focused on the outward appearances – the trunk, the branches, the leaves. The storm forcefully reminded me that a tree is only as strong as its roots. It’s not what’s visible on the top that counts. It’s the strength and depth of what lies below.

My prayer is that this book will help you remember the importance of those things that are hidden deep - the inner integrity and character that will be the making of your children. I pray you’ll be inspired to teach these values to them, no matter how small the beginning seems. Oak trees do not grow overnight. But they do grow from little acorns!

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Perhaps some of you reading this book have already worked your way through Volume One. If so, you will be familiar with the way the book is laid out, and will probably have worked out the best way to use it in your family times. For those of you who haven't read Volume One, I have included the How to Use this Book section again in this volume. It gives you a brief outline of the structure of the book and a few suggestions on how you may use it with your children. Of course, there is no 'right way' - you need to find what works for you and your children.

My prayer is that it will help you instil in your children a love for God, a thirst for truth, and give them a solid foundation of true valuesWe all long to see our children develop a strong character — a character which will help them navigate their way through this ungodly world, not just by the skin of their teeth, but as shining examples to others.

We have the awesome responsibility of planting the seed of God’s word in the hearts of our children. Within the seed of strong, clear moral values lies the fruit of joy and personal fulfillment. Our children will lead happier and more fulfilling lives if they have a strong foundation of Christian values.

It is never too early (or too late) to start. Some of you reading this may be thinking, How can I possibly teach my children the values of honesty and forgiveness when my own life has been such a mess? Aren’t I being hypocritical trying to teach my children something that I am still struggling with myself?

Absolutely not! You can teach your children not only from the things you’ve done well, but also from the things that you wished you’d done differently. Richard Eyre writes in his book, Teaching Your Children Values, We all want to teach better than we ourselves have learned. We all want our children to surpass us. Amen to that!

I have written this book with my own family in mind, aware that many of you also have families with a fairly big spread of ages. Ideally, we want to make family devotions a time which all the children enjoy. This can be a challenge, but I believe it can be done. I have included stories that will appeal to the younger ones, and that the older ones can listen in to as well. Always be thinking of age-appropriate questions that you can ask each of the children. I have included thought provoking quotes for the older children.

In our own family, I have generally stayed with one value for at least a fortnight. That way, the children become aware of it in their own lives, and begin to look for examples of it in the books they read and in everyday life. My suggestion would be to read the first story, and ask questions on the first day. Over the next few days, you could look at the Bible references and discuss some of the quotes. Enjoy plenty of discussion times. Choose further readings from the suggested reading list. There are plenty of ideas for further developments if you so choose. I hope it’s all here for you — a small bite if that’s all you have time for, or a three course meal if you’re hungry!

Each chapter includes the following...

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

At the beginning of each new value, I have written a short introduction for parents to read. It will give you a brief overview of what the chapter will contain, and some thoughts written especially for you, the parent.

ONCE UPON A TIME

The words ‘Once upon a time’ never fail to thrill me. A story can move you; challenge you; open your eyes. There is nothing like a good story to get a truth across. Jesus knew that. He was a master storyteller.

In each chapter I have included stories that you can share with your children, and suggestions for further reading as well. But don’t forget — your own life is a book full of wonderful stories you can share with your children. You may never become a children’s writer, but you can learn to tell your own stories. Your children will love to hear you share about your own life. As you read a new chapter, ask God to remind you of anything in your life that will help apply the truth. It may be just a small incident that happened when you were a child, but as you share it, it will have real impact. And once you start looking for these ‘stories’, you’ll find them everywhere.

Encourage your children to tell their own stories as well. You’ll be amazed how even the youngest can tell something so pertinent to the value that you’re talking about. It only takes one of them to say, I remember when... and the others will be bursting to have their say.

THINK ABOUT IT

Jesus asked a lot of questions. He wanted people to search out truth for themselves. Get into the habit of asking lots of questions. Get your children thinking. Once you develop the habit, you’ll find it becomes very easy to think of thought provoking questions, even while you’re reading a story. I have included some prompts to get the ball rolling.

SOMETHING TO DO

And if you feel you haven’t got a creative bone in your body — don’t worry! Creative ideas are given by God to be shared. Borrow the ideas of others and make them your own. There are plenty enough ideas to go around!

SO SAID

Over the years, I have tried to think of practical, creative ways I can illustrate a truth that we’ve been learning about in our devotional times. I’ll share some of these in each chapter, and they’ll probably be the only prompt you need to think of plenty of your own. Van Dyke once said, Opportunities swarm around us, thicker than gnats at sundown. Every day we walk through a swarm of them. Creative ideas are like that. Once you train your eyes to see them, they come thick and fast. But you have to be looking for them.

A few carefully crafted words can hold so much truth and meaning. They offer great starting points for lively discussion. The quotes I list in each chapter are just the tip of a huge iceberg.

A caution here. If your older children plan to search the internet for more quotes, proceed carefully! The internet is a mine field, and quotes can be a storehouse for offensive material. I always type ‘Inspirational quotes on...’ in the search engine, and have not read an offensive one yet. However, the one time I left the word ‘inspirational’ out, I was bombarded with some really dubious quotes.

I have found some great quotes on blackboards outside shops, in the newspaper and in books. Go hunting yourself and pin them up in different places around your house. A notice board in the ‘little room’ is a great place for displaying your finds!

WORDS TO LIVE BY

There are countless scriptures that apply to each topic, but I have listed just a few as a starting point. If you have older children, encourage them to use these as a springboard for their own Bible studies.

BOOM CLIP

In this book, I have shared with you many personal experiences and anecdotes that have happened in the Boom household. We are a very