"Following in the Footsteps of Jesus through Lent"
Thoughts and ideas for creating a "Lenten Journey" and "footprints" artwork for kids (and adults) in Sunday School.
- Luke 4's story of Jesus' journey into the wilderness begins back in Luke 2 where he tells the story of Jesus traveling to Jerusalem Temple as a boy and learning from the elders there.
- The next step in Jesus' journey, according to Luke 3, is when Jesus travels to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.
- The third step in Jesus' "lenten" journey begins in Luke 4 when Jesus travels into the Wilderness of Temptation.
You can see a LOT of lesson ideas and full lesson plans for each of these "stops" along the journey in our Jesus as a Boy, Jesus is Baptized, Jesus is Tempted lesson forums. They include my favorite ideas from our Writing Team.
So about this "Lenten Journey ~ Footsteps" idea...
The other day I was making this "Jesus has been here before" graphic for our pandemic forum and it reminded me of the famous "Footprints in the Sand" poem.
Granted, the "Footprints in the Sand" poem has for some reason become a cliche --but I got over that and re-read the poem. It's a poem about our journey with Jesus --with an especially Lenten theme of us being carried for part of that journey. I've included a graphic of the poem below to refresh your memory. They are words I would gladly teach any student. (There are thousands of such graphics on the internet, and I also discovered that there are many versions of the poem itself, so choose the right one. Here's the version I like.)
Excerpt of the last stanza:
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
(If you need a prooftext for that, try the Parable of the Lost Sheep or Psalm 23 --which would be equally excellent Lenten scriptures as well.)
What caught my children's ministry eye in the poem was the image of FOOTPRINTS as a possible art project.
That sent me searching and I found this image in an archive from a non-defunct art ideas website. They are painting with their feet a "footsteps in the sand" work of art. How much fun does that look like! And so memorable. 
What they did not include was how they incorporated the words of the POEM into the artwork --which is something I feel strongly about. So below are some ideas about how to do that. If you have other ideas, please share them.
The poem is too long to have kids write out the whole thing, but they could do an excerpt such as the one above. You could also type up the poem and run it through the church copier on a thick piece of cardstock and then paint that with watercolors.
You could also type up the poem and make copies of it on transparency sheets which you could either lay over the top of your paintings, or paint the transparency itself with "glass" transparent paints and add your own footprints. Glass paints can be found at the hobby store. You could also "thin" your acrylic paints. See this video for the "how to thin acrylic paints."
What other ideas do you have for incorporating the poem?
How about creating one LARGE "Footprints Lenten Journey" on butcher paper --and have the kids walk on it with painted feet alongside a set of footprints created by a pair of Jesus sandals. Then along a certain "Jesus carried me" stretch the footprints are gone. The words of the poem could be added to this large stretch of butcher paper --which could then be displayed on a wall.
Footprints can also represent gathering and going to serve
rather than an individual journey.
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
from Isaiah 52:7
or the version Paul quotes in Romans 10...
Sometimes it's fun to THINK BIG:
Years ago for a VBS we created a large Bible story sand table on the floor of a clasroom using 2x4's, heavy plastic, bags of play sand, and a little bit of water. It was great for creating the landscape and settings for numerous Bible stories and for re-enacting them. It was also a great medium for having kids DRAW their thoughts in. Who doesn't like to play in the sand? (BTW: The sand was easy to remove once it was dry. We just dragged it outside on the plastic.)
What would that sand look like if kids WROTE the "Footprints in the Sand" poem in it (or parts of it) and recreated the footprints? That would be a super memorable lesson.
What would a "Prayer Trail of Footprints" look like around your church or church property?
I'm thinking of stations like we suggested for "Advent Trails" here at Rotation.org or Prayer Labyrinths.
Footprints are as unique as fingerprints.
How can you see Jesus' footprints in your life?
How closely are you following him right now?
When do you feel Jesus has carried you (or what do you need him to carry for you?)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28
