With a 30-45 minute drive to and from school every day the kids and I have a lot of time in the car together every day. To fill that time I have found a few free audio  short stories for kids that we have all quite enjoyed…

1. Paws and Tails
2. Kids Corner
3. The Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast
4. Karen and Kids
5. Sesame Street Podcast (Video)

Of these five I think that Paws and Tails and Kids Corner are our favourites. They are similar in their premise, but with their own unique characters and situations. Both of those shows have their characters based on young animals, which ads for an interesting twist.

The Kids Corner and Paws and Tails kids audio programs are built around a few main characters attending middle school. They deal with the issues that face children of that age and have lead to some pretty good conversations between me and the kids.

Paws and Tails is especially good at facilitating discussion as in addition to the free audio short story you can also download a free parents study guide for each episode. The study guides include different sections including story comprehension, personal application, spiritual application as well as directors notes. The guide helps us to talk though with the children what the story was about, what it means and how they can apply it to their own lives.

While checking out the site for this article I found that Kids Corner also has free parent discussion guides available for free on their web-site. We haven’t tried them yet, but after a quick review they look pretty good.

Kids Corner and Paws And Tails are both repurposed radio programs so they run between 25 – 27 minutes each episode, which is perfect for our time frame in the car since it lets us listen to it and then talk a bit about it during our drive.

The Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast follows along with the radio program and usually has behind the scenes commentary and feedback about the stories. Every once in a while though they release a free full episode of The Adventures in Odyssey. These are great stories and look at many different biblical stories and relevant topics. So far in the year and half or so that I have been subscribed I have pulled in 18 free full episodes.

Karen and Kids is built around music and story telling. It seems to be geared to a slightly younger age and Jessica loves this one. We probably don’t listen to it enough for her to learn the songs, but I’m sure if she were to listen more she would be bopping along to the songs in no time.

The Sesame Street Podcast is a weekly video podcast. Every video is about 6-minutes long and includes your usual cast of characters from Sesame Street, and occasionally a guest host.

Lately the Sesame Street Podcast has been going through the alphabet during their episodes. Although we can’t watch the videos in the car, these prove to be invaluable on the iPod Touch when we have a long wait at appointments or when shopping.

Do you know of any other free kids short story audio programs that you think should be included? If so, let us know in the comments below …

Even If You Didn’t Vote For Them…

We are all pretty good at complaining about our politicians or about the results of  elections if our preferred candidate doesn’t get elected. What if we took the time spent complaining to instead do what Paul asks of us in his letter to Timothy?

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Do you notice how Paul doesn’t say to pray for kings and all those in authority who we agree with or who we elected? He didn’t say that, he said to “pray for kings and ALL those in authority” (emphasis mine).

How Should We Pray For Our Leaders?

So now that we all agree that we should be praying for our leaders, how should we be praying for them? I found a great article that outlines some of the things that we should be praying for when praying for our government leaders:

• Love of the Truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12)
• To have Wisdom (Proverbs 4:5-8, Psalm 119:98-100)
• Display Courage and Integrity (Proverbs 10:9, Proverbs 11:3)
• Be Sharp in Insight and Quick in Discernment (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, 1 John 4:1)
• Surround Themselves with Good Staff and Advisors (Psalm 1:1, Proverbs 29:12, Proverbs 24:6)
• For God’s Protection over Themselves and their Families (Psalm 46:1-3)

There you go, next time your having a whinge about your elected politicians remember Paul’s words to us and instead of complaining about them, pray for them.

I know that we are all guilty of it. We get asked a question and we give the “right” or expected answer, rather than the real or honest answer. When our son does it we call it lying, when we as adults do it we call it being polite.

I’m talking about the answer that we give when someone asks you “How are you doing?”. I lie all the time when I get asked that question. The “right” answer is “I’m doing well thanks.”. To be honest, that is my usual response no matter how I’m actually feeling.

Asking the Question

Because “How are you doing?” has become a common greeting I don’t think that many of us would be prepared if someone were to tell us how they are actually doing! I don’t reckon we are deliberately being disingenuous when we ask, it’s just become so second nature to ask it, we just say it without really thinking. Do we really have the time to listen if someone answers us truthfully and says it how it is? Are we actually willing to take the time to listen if someone were to take the time to tell us how things really are?

Our Response

From the other side, are we willing to be vulnerable and honest and tell someone the truth when they asks us how we are doing? It’s humbling to tell someone that we are struggling, and I reckon that a lot of the time I am not humble enough to answer truthfully.

The thoughts that often go through my mind are:

I’m a Christian Missionary trying to walk in God’s will for my life, everything should be great … shouldn’t it?

or

Why would people support me financially in my ministry if they know I’m struggling personally?

Usually it’s easier to say you’re doing fine than to tell people how you are actually doing. If you struggle for long enough, and are open about it during your struggles, then people may eventually get tired of hearing it and cut you off. We’ve had that happen before, and it hurts when it does …

10 things you need to know to drive like a Calgarian

1. Speed – anything less than 10 kph over the speed limit is too slow
2. Tailgate – if another car can fit between you and the person in front of you, you aren’t close enough
3. You own the road – act like it is your road and everyone else on it is just a guest
4. Don’t signal – using your turn indicators is a waste of time, don’t bother
5. Multi-task – You don’t need to concentrate while driving. Use your time driving to make phone calls and text your friends
6. Orange means go – make sure to speed up when you see an orange light. You have at least a few seconds after the light goes red to speed through the intersection
7. Get a big truck – it’s easier to own the road (see point 2) if you are bigger than everyone else
8. Drive alone – car pooling is a waste of time. Everyone should have their own vehicle
9. Bicycles don’t belong – bicycles should not be on the road and belong on the bike paths or sidewalks, crowd them out
10. Complain – if you don’t feel like a Calgary driver after following the above steps then complain about the other drivers. It’s not your fault that everyone else on the road is a menace to society and belongs on public transit

Any other advice you might have to help people drive in Calgary? Let us know in the comments below…

photo credit: lurw