Freebie!

I save my dryer lint...not because I'm a hoarder, but because of what a friend told me.  Well, the conversations went like this, "Hey Summer, since we're camping next weekend, bring your dryer lint."  Uh- why?  "Because it makes a great fire starter."  It's so true!  Well, 10 years later and with the help of Pinterest I saw a new way to "package" your lint as fire starters.

This is a FREE activity!  Save your empty toilet paper rolls., Paper towel rolls, and lint. (I keep it all in a bag in the laundry room).  Fill the empty tubes with dryer lint.

Roll them in newspaper and then tuck the ends in!  

This project was so easy that Callie was able to do it (although you can tell which ones were hers :)

I think this project would make a great object lesson for Bible study, don't you? 

There are several directions you could go, but here's what I was thinking:

• What do all of these items (lint, TP tubes, and newspaper) have in common?  (They are leftovers).
• We changed that. These items went through a process of being made into something new for a specific purpose.
• God takes our lives, full of sin and waste, and makes them into something new: what we were really intended to be and do!
• What do we do as new creations?  We are to be a light for all to see!  When we see a fire it catches our attention and makes us ask, "What's going on?"  Our lives should do the same!  The way we act causes people who don't know Christ to ask, "Why?" (Why did you forgive that person? Why are you generous?  Why don't you think about yourself more?)  Then we get to answer: JESUS!
• Go outside and have a campfire using your new, homemade fire-starters!  Notice how some last longer than others. We are each given a specific amount of time here on earth, so don't wait to let your light shine!

Obviously this is just an object lesson.  Unlike the lint, newspaper, and cardboard tubes that were made for one purpose and re-purposed into another, our lives are meant for only 1 thing: To bring God glory.  If we aren't doing that- we're wasting our lives. 

I hope you enjoy this activity with your family, maybe on a rainy day (or week like we've had)!

Afterthoughts: I can't help but think about our future in Thailand.  We won't have a dryer...so we'll enjoy our lint while we have it!