In one night, teach your kids the foundations of giving — and make dinner too!

As loving parents, we want the best for our children. Right now I’m not talking about the best schools, the safest housing or the most nutritious foods, although that’s true as well. The best we want for our children is the best part of them, the God part of them. We want our kids to be who God created them to be—people who care and live their life showing it.

God, our loving parent, wants the best for us too, no matter how old we are. The best God wants is that place in us where our generous hearts still beat, our souls trust in God’s economy and our spirits feel compelled to pass on this most essential news to the next generation: “We are richly blessed by God. We feel the most joyful and free when we share God’s blessings.”  

Let’s nurture that best place of caring and generosity in our children and in ourselves by learning how to be good stewards. Here’s a delicious activity, “Stewardship stew,” which will get us all cooking (allow two hours), thinking and learning together.

Announce to your kids, “We’re making stewardship stew for dinner tonight.” Get excited about it. Nothing wakes up our hearts like a creative chance to focus on what really matters.

Start the stew

Before that night, make sure you have the ingredients from the store. If cooking time is an issue, cook the meat/protein source the night before and store in the refrigerator. Add vegetables the next night as a family.

1.  Saute the meat, stirring constantly. When all surfaces are well-browned, put it in the soup pot.

2. Cover with water or broth and bring to a boil, skim fat off the surface. Simmer for one hour.

3. Add carrot, turnip, onion and potatoes and simmer for one more hour.

4. Thicken with 3 tablespoons of flour diluted with enough cold water to pour easily.

5. Let the stew come to a boil again and cook 10 minutes.

Add the home ingredients too

Now consider: Where will you find the ingredients from home?

Where do we keep love? Give each other hugs. Stretch out your arms and pretend to hug God’s world. Stretch out your arms as wide as a large soup pot. Love surrounds us and our stewardship stew.

Where are the blessings? Look around at home and name some blessings you see inside and outside. They’re everywhere. Scoop some up for pretend and throw them in the stew pot.

How about the Bible, our stewardship how-to book? Find it and read John 21:15: Jesus asked his disciple Peter, “Do you love me?” Peter answered, “Yes, Jesus, I love you.” “Great!” Jesus said. “Then feed my lambs.” Of course you’re not going to put the Bible in the stew! And no, we’re not feeding actual lambs. But you can pretend to shake some words in there. For example, “Jesus wants us to take care of each other.”

If you can, find a picture or remember the story of your child’s baptism. Before the stew is cooking, let your child help you pour cold water or broth over the meat in the pot. When we are baptized, God pours water over us and God gives us some jobs. Ask: “What are some jobs God gives us?” (Possible answers: making stew, sharing what we have and telling someone else the story of Jesus.) Our baptism goes in stewardship stew because when we’re baptized God says, “Care, give, share.”

A secret ingredient or two

Don’t hold back on adding more to your stewardship stew: fresh tomatoes, herbs from your garden, a Bible verse that taught you about giving, a song that really makes you feel God down to your toes. Kids can say something they love to do or sing a favorite song about God and mix that in.

Kids can use their bodies as you season the soup. They can be salt shakers who jump up and down, herbs that pop up in the garden, pepper that makes big sneezes. They can twirl around, like the stew going around in the pot. They can lean over and get poured out, like God helps us pour out love.

Taste and see

Now it’s time to eat. Here’s a grace to bless your meal:

Thanks to You who gave us stew.
As we chew, help us think what to do
for you love this world too.
Amen.

After the stew cools a little, surprise someone by bringing them a container of it or invite someone to share the meal at your home. There’s nothing like excited expectations and the look on a recipient’s face to teach children the joy of giving.

Cleanup and review

The best in ourselves is not always the tidiest in ourselves. It can get messy making stewardship stew and  figuring out how to care for the world and people. Kids can find it fun to help clean if you make it an adventure. So summon up a little more energy (God has it for you) and let children help you do the dishes and put away the pot.

While you clean, review some of what your family has learned:

• We can make stewardship stew—so just think what else our family could do.

• Jesus wants us to feed one another and Jesus feeds us.

• We have lots of ingredients in our home for stewardship stew.

• We can talk, plan and have fun learning about God.

• It feels so amazing to share, and people absolutely love it.

Stewardship happens over a long time. God teaches us to care and share over our whole lives. Day by day, God cooks up new ways for us to find the best in ourselves. God gives and forgives—providing us with a sustainable model of a faithful life. May we be blessed by the best that God created in each of us for good.

Extra cooking credit

Do these activities while waiting for the soup to cook or on another day

There's lots of waiting time while the stew cooks. What can we do? Here are some ideas:

Read, talk or go outside

Read more about being a good steward, learn about other people who shared and cared, or say a prayer that God will help your family to be generous. Hoe a garden, look at books, write a letter, talk about how your family could help in your community and at church. Take a walk and see how God takes care of us in creation.

Make a giving plan for your family

While the stew is cooking, fill out a family giving chart that outlines what you will do to share your time, resources and special family traits. Think of your family as a team and ask, "What can our team do together?"

Three banks

Use three banks to introduce a system for money management with your children. When your kids receive some money, they can place part of it in the "share" bank, in the "save" bank and some in the "spend" bank. From an early age, children learn they can share and that money doesn't all go to one place. While the stew cooks, practice putting coins in the banks. Talk about how much to share, save and spend.