Today we have a great variety of questions for you to read, perhaps some of these questions will help you come up with some solutions to questions that you might have but have never asked. The first question and answer tackles what you can do when someone violates your child’s personal space. We have personally had this happen to us in our ministry as well and I love the answer the ministry wife provided. Father’s Day is around the corner and these ladies have some great ideas for what type of gifts they are going to give out this year. Do you ever wonder if there is King James devotionals for you and your family to read together? Several women gave some great answers of resources I had never heard of before. And what do you give to a shut-in that is not food related? Read all the answers below!

Q: “We consistently have a church member who violates my children’s personal space. They do not seem to be a threat in any way but they just do not seem to know they don’t want them in their face, etc. I know it makes our children uncomfortable and I see them avoiding this person when they speak to them and now in general. Is there something I should/could say to the person? or should I just leave it up to the kids to allow them to have as much or as little to do with them as possible?”

A: We have a man in our church that likes to hug. That normally wouldn’t be an issue but he hugs and holds on, keeping you hostage to his grip. He makes me and my kids very uncomfortable. Others in the church don’t have an issue with it. We just had a talk with our children and instructed them to keep an eye for him so that when he starts to approach they can position themselves in such a way as to not allow him the opportunity to grab them. If that’s not possible, they’re to leave and avoid the situation altogether. If he manages to get to them without them noticing they are to pull away and put their hand out to shake his hand. Surprisingly, it’s worked really well. I think he got the picture pretty quickly and now refrains from even trying. My opinion is, when it comes to my children I’ll do/say whatever is necessary to make them feel safe and protected. If they’re uncomfortable it’s my responsibility as a parent to deal with it, not them. I will say too, our congregation likes to hug…a lot! I don’t like it at all. I don’t mind hugging, I just don’t think it needs to take place in the church. Especially when you have people of the opposite sex doing it, no matter the age. I know there have been times that visitors have come and have felt very uncomfortable by it. I wish we had a no-hug policy and stuck to strictly hand shaking.

Q: “Can you give me some of your creative Father’s Day ideas for gifts as well as special things you do in the church service for the men on Father’s Day?”

• “Coffee cups always went over well for us or gift certificates for coffee.”
• “We have done ties, tools, pocket knives, and flashlights.”
• “We’re giving a hammer with the phrase “Love building memories with you” on it in vinyl.”
  
• “A nice collection of steaks to be grilled. A win for everyone!”
• “I’m thinking about making them a large snickers cupcakes and putting it in a box. This is our first Father’s Day for our church.”
• “We’ve done several good ones: a bottle of Dad’s root beer, a Payday candy bar (everyone deserves an extra payday), cheap but nice socks rolled up into balls that we threw out from the pulpit to the men standing, like baseballs, they loved it!”

Q: “I want to give a gift to some elderly women in our church, some are shut-in’s and others have had their children precede them in death. Is there a practical and heartfelt gift that I could give them that is not food related?”

• A small flower arrangement, something to brighten their day.
• “I guess it’s technically food, but I’ve given flavored tea bags as gifts with a nice card and they seem to go over really well. Classy, no fuss.”

Q: “I’m looking for a good King James Version (KJV) family devotional or children’s devotional, do you have any suggestions of good material that you have personally used?”

• “Arch Books has good Bible stories, Leading Little Ones to God, 95 Animals of the Bible, Noel (story about a lion from Bill Rice), Super (story about a dog from Bill Rice), Cowboy Boots in Darkest Africa, Thrilling Western Stories vol. 1 and 2 from Bill Rice. We also have a The Picture Bible and that has Bible stories in illustrated/ cartoon form and has follow-up Bible questions. We also have done devotions that don’t have KJV verses and just read them in KJV.” (Find the Bill Rice books for kids here.)
  
• “Call to Glory or Mercy and Truth are great!”
• “If your child is old enough to read, the Glow in the Dark Jr. Devotional is excellent. My son uses it & LOVES it!”
• “We use Call to Glory, Call to Glory Kids, & Glow in the Dark Jr. Devotionals.”
  
• “Not a devotional, but we have a Child Training Bible that has specific topics you can go over, I ordered a kit bought a Bible and set it up. It took some time to put together but I enjoyed it and now it is very useful to show the kids out of the Bible why something is not okay.”

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