Kimberly Farmer

 by Kimberly Farmer

God Made Me Special

“You [God] made me…with Your own hands.” -Psalm 119:73

All this week, Ava and I are focusing daily on the Biblical truth that God made her special. Today I let her paint a sheet of construction paper, and then she made a handprint. (I find that brushing her hand with paint is much easier than her dipping it in paint.) At random times, I shout out “God made Ava….” and she finishes with an energetic “special!”

I found a simple song in the Toddlerific lessons book I have, which reinforces this truth. It is sung to the tune of London Bridges…

I’m so glad that God made me,
God made me, God made me.
I’m so glad that God made me.
God made me special!

I’m so glad God made my hands,
Made my hands, made my hands.
I’m so glad God made my hands.
God made me special!

I’m so glad God made my _____,
Made my _____, made my _____.
I’m so glad God made my _____.
God made me special!…..

 by Kimberly Farmer

Special Notes Gift Tin

This is a thoughtful gift that you can put together for free. Decorate the outside of an empty container with paper, and then fill the container with special notes for that special someone. Then direct the recipient to open one note a day.

This one is for Father’s Day and each note (folded and held closed by a sticker) tells one thing I love about my dad. You could also write an encouraging Scripture on each piece of paper and give it to someone who is sick or has been going through a rough time. There are lots of other possibilities, too…

 by Kimberly Farmer

Little Chef

My brother made this chef’s hat for Ava. He just used paper, tape, and some ribbon. Isn’t he clever? Ava now refers to herself as “Little Chef.”

 by Kimberly Farmer

My Fresh Attitude and Perspective Regarding Personal Evangelism

The Truth

For the last several weeks at church, the topic of the services has been personal evangelism. As I told my life group last week, this is hands-down, my biggest weakness as a Christian. Give me a Christian who needs to be ministered to, and I am ready! Give me someone who does not know Christ, but it is openly seeking information/direction/help,and I am ready! But place me in front of someone who has not yet been introduced to Jesus, and I am very uncomfortable. Of course, I want them to know the Lord, but the process of discussing it is very difficult for me. It probably sounds odd that I feel this way, since I am such a passionate person, I am married to [drum-roll please…] an evangelist, and I enjoy helping other people. Deep in my spirit I want nothing more than to see them come to Christ, but my uncomfortable, busy, little self gets in the way…

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 by Kimberly Farmer

His Son Died for My Son

Landon just turned eight months old, and this morning I was able to spend some quiet, alone time with him. He is so precious – I held him close and just let myself enjoy the sweet time I had to hold and love on him. I told him how wonderful he is and how much I love him. I told him of God’s overwhelmingly big love for him, too, as I quoted John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world [that means you, Landon] that He gave His one and only Son [Jesus] that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Suddenly, my spirit was overwhelmed with the awesomeness of the truth that
God gave His Son to die for my son.

What a wonderful love God has for humanity. Who are we that God Himself should send His perfect Son to save us from our sin and give us marvelous life through Him? Thank you, God, that because your sinless Son died on the cross and rose again three days later, my son (and all of us) can live.

 by Kimberly Farmer

Beware: Tiger Sighting at Our House

A paper plate, marker, and scissors can temporarily transform the sweetest of children into a tiger…or bunny…or dog…or….
I didn’t even bother attaching a string or band to hold the mask on Ava’s head. She likes just holding onto it herself.

 by Kimberly Farmer

Touching the Savior

We often read and hear the wonderful account of the woman in the Bible who had the issue of blood. There were crowds around Jesus, but she pressed through the crowds to reach him and when she touched the hem of Jesus’ clothes, she was healed. But have you ever noticed that this was not the only account of someone touching Jesus’ clothing and being healed? Matthew 14:35 says,

“And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.”

What an amazing verse to just stop and meditate on. Imagine all the people who were sick who came to reach Jesus. These people must have been very sick, because they had to be brought to Jesus; they didn’t just casually walk there. They must have been desperate for healing, because it was not an easy feat to get near Jesus; some were coming from the surrounding country, they didn’t have easy modes of transportation or communication, and once they arrived, there were many crowds surrounding Jesus. They must have had faith. One doesn’t go through all the pain and all the trouble to touch a man’s clothes, if he doesn’t believe that he will be healed.

The Scripture says, “and all who touched him were healed.” Can you imagine the wonderful chaos that must have been taking place as lame men jumped, blind men saw beauty, lepers were physically transformed, and so many other diseases and sicknesses were healed. What a time of rejoicing! What a compassionate Savior!

Now think of all those who were sick and did not go to Jesus. The Great Physician was in their town walking their streets, and they were too busy to meet Him or they didn’t believe in Him or they just didn’t care. How terribly sad, and yet I think of the people today who are also missing out on God’s compassion because they won’t reach out and touch Him.

Miracles still surround Jesus; His power is not dead, because He is not dead. Reach out and touch Jesus. Know His compassion, know His mercy, and experience His healing. He still heals diseases, and He still heals broken hearts.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” – John 3:16-18

* This post was originally written in January 2008.

 by Kimberly Farmer

Jumping Hopscotch

Ava and I made up a new version of hopscotch. Instead of the traditional hopscotch layout, we drew random squares on the pavement and jumped from one to the next. After this picture was taken, Ava wanted numbers in the squares, so we added them and called out the numbers as we jumped on them.

You could do the same thing with letters, or for older kids you could make it a math game by having your child jump on a number, then you jump on a number, and then have your child add/subtract/multiply/divide the two numbers you are standing on. Lots of possibilities…

 by Kimberly Farmer

Pretty Flower Pressing

The other day, I came across the pretty little flower press my parents gave me when I was a girl, so I got it out and Ava began picking flowers to press in it. If you don’t own a flower press, just do it the old fashioned way – sandwich your flowers and leaves between absorbent paper and then stack heavy books on top. (If you have never pressed flowers before, the online article A Beginner’s Guide to Pressing Flowers may be helpful.)

After the flowers and leaves have dried, let your child have fun with them. They can make pretty designs, patterns, and scenes as they glue the flowers to paper.

Because I wasn’t in the mood for the mess of glue, I cut out a circle of contact paper and let Ava just stick her flowers and leaves directly to the sticky side. After she finishd, I added the other piece of contact paper (slightly larger than the first, to make placing it easier) and trimmed it. Then we added a hole and a ribbon, so it can be hung. I like making it with contact paper, because both sides of the flowers and leaves can be viewed. This technique would also make a pretty bookmark or card (You know I love my bookmarks and cards!).

Sandpiper Creatives - Mail Play Set
 by Kimberly Farmer

Mail Play Set

When I saw Ava playing with a postcard my brother sent her, I decided to laminate it with contact paper so it would stay in good condition a little longer. And then the idea grew into a little set of play mail, which turned out so cute and has been enjoyed over and over again.

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 by Kimberly Farmer

Mini Notepad

Ava is interested in all things “beachy,” so, we decided to paint paper to look like the ocean using our Negative Space Painting technique (This time we used tempera paint, instead of watercolor). It’s really difficult for me to just let art be art – I have some crazy inner-drive to come up with some way to make it practical. This time was no exception. So, Ava’s pretty paper became mini notepads to give our ocean-loving friends.

Our Steps for Mini Notebook Assembly
The Cover:
1) Choose outside cover paper (we used Ava’s ocean paper) and cut to desired size. I cut our paper into the approximate dimensions of 8.5″x5.5″, which becomes 4.25″x5.5″ when folded.
2) Cut your choice of paper to use for the inside of the cover (we used brown construction paper) to the same dimensions as your outside cover.
3) If you want a string/ribbon closure for your notebook (we used raffia), cut it to the length of your cover paper, adding a few inches for tying a bow.
4) Now it’s time to sandwich the cover together. First fold your two papers in half (like they will be when your notebook is finished). Glue the string to the back side of the outside cover. Then glue the back side of the inside cover to that.
The Pages:
5) Cut the paper you have chosen for your pages to the obvious size it needs to be. A paper cutter is handy, but you’re only making a stack as large as will comfortably fit in a stapler, so it’s not a big deal if you only have scissors.
6) After your paper is cut, staple it down the side three or four times.
7) Put glue all over the very back of the very last page. Open the cover and place your stapled stack of pages where it should go and press the glue side down.
8) To give the stapled edge of the top page a more finished look, cut a strip of paper (we used more of our cover paper, but you could also use more of your inside cover paper, a completely different paper, or some ribbon) and glue it over the stapled edge.

You’re all done! Now you can let your child turn it into a storybook or doodle pad, use it yourself, or give it to someone else.