Stories from the Storyteller

Kylar and Kam manage their own theme park cards and end up being bored most of the day after using up all of their credits. The "good" siblings poke fun at their folly before all of the kids learn a valuable real-life lesson which is powerfully driven home through the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Kelsey and J2 develop a scheme to avoid their chores while their parents enjoy a night out together. When Jonathan and Kanika arrive back home bearing gifts for anyone who completed their chores, Kelsey and J2 gladly accept-until bedtime when their chore aversion is comically exposed just as Jonathan is reading the parable of Talents.

After trading in their game consoles for a family trek to the great outdoors, the boys-J2 and Kam-don't take their tent-making instructions seriously, but the girls do. The next day the girls are well rested and dry, but the boys are exhausted and soaked to the bone. On the ride home, Jonathan unpacks the parable of the wise and foolish builders.

Kanika's creative homeschool activity-a friendly cooking competition between the kids-also serves as a surprise dinner for their grandfather Tony Evans (who thinks Kanika has done all the cooking).

Kanika's hands-on homeschool lesson on the difference between healthy seeds and invasive weeds results in a surprise mix up the next day. While the family sleeps, Curious Kylar decides to plant the invasive species plant-a rapidly growing carnivorous weed-in all of the pots where her siblings planted good seeds.

Parable: The Debtor (Luke 7:33-50). The kids reflect on forgiveness while learning the parable of the debtor.

When Jonathan and Kanika give their children new responsibilities, everything goes haywire. The Bigs" (the older two) cause major damage and are forgiven, but when "The Littles" (the younger three) cause minor damage their older siblings withhold forgive- ness. At bedtime Jonathan unpacks the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.

When the "littles" (Tyson and Bunny) are the last to get in an epic (and zany) annual family field-day game and Bunny effort- lessly scores the winning touch down and gets rewarded, the "bigs" (Kelsey and J2) and the "middles" (Kylar and Kam) feel burned-having been in the game longer. At bedtime Jonathan unpacks the parable of the labor- ers in the vineyard.

When Tyson gets bullied and mistreated at the local dog park, an unsuspecting ally comes to his rescue. Later, when the family realizes what was actually happening at the dog park, Jonathan and Kanika share the parable of the good Samaritan with the kids at bedtime.

When the Evans kids are invited to a friend's birthday party at a local go-cart track venue, Kam is honored with a well-deserved surprise after a few of his siblings comically miss the moment and have to take a back seat. At bedtime Jonathan breaks down the parable of the place of honor as the children connect the days events to what they've learned.