I used a permanent marker on heavy paper to draw a stained glass window pattern, and then Ava took over with her watercolors. The permanent marker won’t bleed when the watercolor goes on the paper. Stained glass is a good subject matter for little ones, because it looks pretty no matter how they paint it.
I have always been intrigued by the Biblical account (Exodus 2) of Moses’ birth and the action his mother took to save his little life when he was three months old from the king of Egypt’s orders that every Hebrew baby boy would be thrown into the river. I cannot imagine what she must have felt and the scenarios she must have dealt with from the moment she suspected she was pregnant. And she wasn’t the only mother facing these fears and realities. What a terrible, scary, sorrowful time for all the Hebrews.
If you back track to Exodus 1, just prior to Moses’ birth, there are other very interesting people whose account is very worth reading, pondering, and being inspired by. Two Hebrew midwives – Shiphrah and Puah.
“The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, ‘When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.’ The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.'”
What brave women. They must have feared for their own lives and yet they feared God more. They went completely against the king of Egypt and pleased God instead. There was no concern for political correctness, there was no self-justification for sin. It must have been frightening, but God was on their side.
“Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, ‘Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?’ The midwives answered Pharaoh, ‘Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.’ So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.”
Because they feared God, these midwives not only directly impacted the Hebrew population, but God gave them families of their own. Isn’t it interesting that the very thing Pharoah wanted to stop (the increasing population of the Hebrews) and the very thing he was destroying (lives and families) is exactly what God reversed as a result of these midwives’ obedience.
I wonder how many times we see evil in our society and we feel good about ourselves for just talking about how it is wrong. Recognizing evil isn’t enough. As followers of Christ we should be taking action to make a stand for what is right and pleasing to God.
Ava and I made these autumn napkin rings together this week. Beads and raffia are all we needed. The project was fun, easy, cheap, clean, and turned out really cute. Plus, we will be able to reuse them over the years and talk about how we made them when she was little. Sometimes Ava strung the beads, and sometimes she handed me the colors I asked for as I strung them.
If you are unable to be with family this Thanksgiving, these would be sweet tied together with raffia and a card and mailed to your family to use for Thanksgiving. It will be a reminder at their dinner that you are thinking of them and wish you could be there, too.
Other Ideas:
- Christmas – Trade the autumn-colored, natural-textured beads for sparkling, Christmas-colored ones and let your child go Christmas crazy.
- Table Decoration – Instead of forming napkin rings, create one really long strand to wind around the yummy food dishes at your holiday table.
- Bracelets – Instead of using raffia to string the beads, use stretchy string to make bracelets.
- Place Cards – The napkin rings can do double-duty as place cards. Write each guest’s name on appropriately colored heavy paper and attach each one to a napkin ring with raffia or ribbon.
At the end of May, I wrote a post titled “Worrying Doesn’t Help” where I shared my tendency to worry about a particular situation I have been facing. In my post, I concluded,
“…my God is faithful. When this is all over, I don’t want to look back and say, ‘Why didn’t I trust God? He was taking care of me the whole time.’ Instead, I want to be able to look back and say, ‘I trusted and praised God during that time when I didn’t know what was going to happen.'”
Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time at appointments, on the phone, filling out paperwork, working through some intense dislikes, facing fears, and it hasn’t been fun. However, I have continued to concentrate on God’s greatness and not my situation. I’ve been prayerful and hopeful and three months later, I want to report for God’s glory, that He was indeed watching out for me during that time. What I couldn’t see, He understood perfectly. Things I thought were negative and discouraging were actually just parts of the situation that had to take place in order to “get to the good part.” To be honest, I knew God would take care of things, but I didn’t know how amazingly He would work it out. Thank you, God, for being so good to me!
Luke 12:22-34
Psalm 20
Supplies:
Small Clay Pot
Construction Paper
White Glue
Ava loves glue, so this simple project was a good one for her. Her grandma and I helped her tear the paper and then let her put the glue on the pieces and stick them wherever she pleased to the pot. Her interest ran out before the pot was complete, so I ended up finishing it. Also, I added a layer of glue to the outside to help the paper last longer. Cute project and minimal supplies.
Here is a poem/prayer I wrote one month before Ava was born. And I can express the same sentiments for my son…
Yesterday, I was pondering how at no moment in my life have I felt as much joy as during those times when I have been fully engaged in worship to my Lord. Communing with Him and expressing my love for Him is so special and intimate and perfect that I can’t fully describe it.
Then I began to consider how wonderful it is to be worshipping the Lord in the fellowship of other sold out believers who will abandon all to give God praise. How beautiful that must be to the Lord.
The thought crossed my mind, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could hand-pick the people with whom I wanted to be in a worship service?” Several people immediately came to mind. I pictured us all in a room together lifting our hands, dancing, bowing, singing, shouting, crying – expressing our love to the Lord in all the ways that we repeatedly read about in the Bible. “Wouldn’t that be incredible?” I asked Tim. “Can you imagine worshipping God with only the people whom you knew would be really worshipping Him, too?” The more I thought about it, the more excited I became.
And then I began to consider how much more wonderful and how much more indescribable it will be when we are worshipping God in heaven. Every person will be worshipping Him to their fullest. No paralysis will keep anyone from dancing with joy. No old age will keep anyone from bowing all the way down in adoration. No distraction will tempt anyone from focusing on the King. All honor and praise and glory and adoration will be the Lord’s, and I am excited to one day be a part of it.
Until that day comes, I am thoroughly enjoying giving God praise and adoration while I am here on this earth.
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.5 For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.– Psalm 100:1-5
If you have a little tyke, chances are really good that you own more than one little board book that was picked up from who knows where and is never read. Yesterday, Ava and I got out construction paper, scissors, and glue, and we got busy remaking one such little board book. I cut and she glued.
So far, we have only covered the pages, but our next step is to decorate them. Here are some book ideas to create using crayons, stickers, paper, magazine pictures, photos, etc.: Shapes, Colors, Foods/Cookbook, Songbook, “My Day”, “Why I Love You” gift for a loved one, book for little brother or sister, and so on… It’s also a great way to use some of those “so cute” animal pictures you took at the zoo, but now don’t know what to do with. Also, you could make your own Bible story book, by letting your child illustrate their Sunday School lesson(s).
Jazz it up – it’s yours!
A couple months ago, I encountered a problem that has just been sitting on my shoulder, bugging me, and causing me to worry. I have taken measures to remedy the situation, but the outcome is ultimately in the hands of other people. While I wait for responses and try unsuccessfully to figure out a plan, I find myself just worrying.
Worrying certainly isn’t helping me at all. What IS helping me, is giving my cares to my heavenly Father. He is listening, He cares, and He sees the big picture that I can’t. The Bible is filled with words of encouragement to those facing troubles. Each time I have opened up my Bible during these past couple weeks, I have found Scriptures that hit me right where I am. They remind me of what is important and of Who’s I am. Only the peace of God can calm my spirit and help me to not worry. He is my resting place. I choose to let my faith grow stronger as I trust God.
I am expecting news this week which will address my situation, and I have no idea what that news will be. However, I DO know that no matter what happens this week or in the upcoming weeks of my battle, my God is faithful. When this is all over, I don’t want to look back and say, “Why didn’t I trust God? He was taking care of me the whole time.” Instead, I want to be able to look back and say, “I trusted and praised God during that time when I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Here are a few Scriptures that have been encouraging me: Psalm 1:1-3; Psalm 1:6; Psalm 34:1; Psalm 55:16,17; Psalm 55:23; Proverbs 3:1-10, Matthew 6:25-34.
This isn’t a very original idea, but it’s nice for a change from the coloring book. Ava’s little friend, Sofia, was coming over for some play time so I drew on a poster board so they could color on the floor together and use stickers. After Sofia and her mom left, I put the poster away, but at some point each day since then, Ava has been retrieving the poster and adding to it. I call that a success.
From FRC Action Alert:
At a press conference in Turkey, President Obama asserted that the United States is not a Judeo-Christian nation.
“One of the great strengths of the United States,” the President said, “is … we have a very large Christian population — we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation.”
Our nation’s Founders in 1776 recognized the importance of faith in the founding of our nation when they approved the Declaration of Independence with its four direct religious acknowledgments of God as the Creator (“All people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”), the Lawgiver (“the laws of nature and nature’s God”), the Judge (“appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world”), and the Protector (“with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence”) of the new nation. In fact throughout the American Founding, Congress frequently appropriated money for missionaries and for religious instruction, a practice that Congress repeated for decades after the passage of the Constitution and the First Amendment.
Please stand with our nation’s Founders, past Presidents from each political party, and other Americans who believe that the United States is a Judeo-Christian nation by birth.
We are expecting guests over Easter, so we made these Bunny Baskets filled with candy for our guests to enjoy in their room during their visit. The baskets are obviously cut paper sacks (doubled for extra stability) and decorated with bunny faces. We made the carrots out of construction paper and filled them with candy, too. It’s wonderful what you can create with paper sacks, construction paper, crayons, scissors…. and candy!