I have been HORRIBLE about posting the Bible Quests this quarter in a timely fashion. I am so very sorry!!! If you look for them, and I haven’t posted them, please feel free to shoot me an email and bug me about it!
With that said, the Bible Quest database is now up to date. In fact it’s better than up to date. It has next week’s up already! It’s a database FROM THE FUTURE!
Have a fabulous weekend, and enjoy!
Hello friends!
It’s my favorite time of year again! Advent – preparing our hearts and homes for the coming of the Baby Jesus. Jesus, Emmanuel – God with us! There are so many awesome things about Jesus coming to earth as a human child… it’s hard to choose what to focus on!
Right now, our church is going through a series on restoration. Last week, we learned about how Jesus came to bring us salvation. So, this year, during Advent, we are celebrating Jesus, our salvation!
Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Although we often treat salvation as a one-time deal — our ticket to heaven — the word here for save, “sozo”, is much more. It includes deliverance, restoration, protection, preservation, healing and being made whole. This year we hope to celebrate Jesus, who came to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). We will celebrate:
Jesus the Healer — He came to heal us from our sickness and death and from the effects of sin in our lives.
Jesus the Deliverer — He came to deliver us from bondage to sin and temptation.
Jesus the Protector — He came to protect us from the evil one and to be the very armor we wear in battle.
Jesus the Restorer — He came to restore us back to our original design, authority and intimacy with God.
You can download our Advent Calendar (click here), or you can pick up a copy at church in the Children’s Hallway. There are lots of fun activities to do as a family to get ready for Christmas. We encourage you to do as many as your family can manage during this often busy season. We hope that you will make sure to carve out time each day to prioritize family and to prepare your hearts and homes for welcoming the Christ-child this Christmas.
There are two traditions you can use with this calendar. The first is to just simply do the activities on the calendar. You can combine it with a fun Advent calendar or Christmas countdown you have at home or just cross off the days on this calendar until you get to Christmas. The second way is along with an Advent wreath. The wreath does not have to be fancy: there are 4 candles in the wreath (usually 3 purple and 1 pink) and 1 candle in the center of the wreath that is white. Each day at home the candles are lit, perhaps before the evening meal — one candle the first week, and then another each following week until December 25th. The pink candle is usually lit on the third Sunday of Advent. As the candles are lit, refer to this calendar for devotionals or activities to do when you light your wreath each night. All candles, including the white candle, are lit on Christmas Eve. The white candle signifies the birth of Christ.
Let us celebrate the Baby who is God’s salvation wrapped in a human body. Jesus – our Salvation.
(Advent starts this Sunday, Nov 27th!)
As a church, we’re really only one full week into our Season of Seeking Him, but those of you doing the study and Bible Quest before you hear the sermon will be looking for Week 3 starting tomorrow. So, here it is!
I know God is at work in our church – I can see it in our leadership and the people I interact with. I know He is at work in me – to be honest, there were times this week I was feeling emotionally winded from all the things God is working with me on. I also have great desire to see God at work in our kids… in my kids!
How do we keep track of the spiritual state of our kids’ hearts? Weekly (or daily) evaluation of their behavior? Their willingness to pray at dinner or bedtime? Making sure they have the right answers on their Bible Quest? Pushing them to have the most verses memorized? Conversations about what Christ is doing in my life and theirs? If you’re wondering when I’m going to give you the right answer, it’s not going to happen.
I can in no way for sure know the state of my daughter’s heart, but I can see the fruit and the work of the Holy Spirit. He is moving in my daughter and speaking to her heart and it is amazing! More and more these days I find myself asking, “What am I teaching her?” In words to her, to myself, to my husband, to God, to the annoying driver in front of me…I am teaching her. In my actions towards her, my husband, others… I am teaching her.
This week my 7-year-old said something that floored me – and she said it twice! Sunday morning in church, she was trying to figure out what to do during our time of worship and personal reflection. I suggested to her that she should do what the adults were doing and listen to what God had to say to her. The whiny, defiant response back was, “But, Mom, I’m just a kid!” Ack! Where did she learn that? I took that moment to tell her the same Jesus that lives in my heart lives in hers, too, and she can hear Him. She came away from that service with some very awesome notes of encouragement written to friends as well as some truths about her and God written and drawn in pictures. These were things not said from the pulpit or by the worship leader. I haven’t told her this yet, but I am convinced that was the Lord speaking to her heart.
Later in the week, we were trying to work through some hurt feelings she had, but there was so much fit throwing, it was hard to get anywhere. I again encouraged her to ask God to search her heart (Psalm 139) and He would show her what was going on. Again, she reacted harshly with the words, “But, Mom, I can’t! I’m just a kid!” I again said, “No! God can speak to you.” There was a continuation of the emotional upheaval she had been displaying and then it just stopped. She said in a calm voice, “Oh Mom, I didn’t know what it was before, but now I do. I am angry because I haven’t forgiven those kids.” I don’t know if I could count on one hand the number of adults I’ve heard say something like that. WOW! I was stunned, amazed, thankful, in shock, speechless, crying, … you get the picture. We prayed later that night to forgive those who had hurt her. Then she prayed and asked Jesus forgiveness for yelling at me in anger (her words, not mine). Now I was asking, where did she learn this stuff?? And how do I encourage it? I’m not sure. I know I don’t remember teaching it. But, I do know one thing for sure:
My daughter, who is “just a kid”, was spoken to by the living God.
I don’t know where she got the lie that because she’s a kid, she can’t hear from God. But, we’re breaking through that with truth!
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. ~ 1 Timothy 4:12
I am now praying that God would give me a heart of forgiveness like He has given my daughter. I’m praying that for our whole church. And this is just the first week! I can’t wait to see what God has in store for our church and our families! I’m holding onto His promise that those who seek will find!
Tomorrow, our pastor will be preaching on the first week of our Season of Seeking Him study.
In our family, we are choosing to do the study during the week in preparation for Sunday’s sermon and Sunday school classes.
So this week, my husband and I did the studies each morning from the first chapter of the book (Revival), and our 7-year-old worked on her Bible Quest. I’m anticipating the Lord using this in our lives to unify us as a family and draw us closer to Him. It’s not like He’s hiding from us as we seek Him. He wants to be found! The Bible promises that those who seek will find. So, we’re counting on our faithful God who keeps His promises.
As we have been preparing for this series, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to do the fasting as a family. My husband and I have talked about what we want to do personally, but I think it will be important to prep our kids for what’s ahead.
I’ve been thinking in particular of the electronic media fast that coming up the first week of September. Considering we are a family who tend to fill our days with e-mail, youtube, facebook, xBox, Netflix, Wii, blogging, computer games, smart phones, etc., etc., etc….. it’s probably safe to bet cutting out all of that will be a huge shock for my kids (not to mention me!). I know that it will be important for them to understand this is a time to look for God, not sit and pout because we can’t play Lego Star Wars. Have any of you had success with this? What has worked? What hasn’t?
Join me in praying for the Lord to not only reveal Himself to us during the next 3 months, but also to our kids!
Here is the kids’ study for Week 2 – Seeking Him.
Our church is about to embark on a 12 week journey towards personal revival.
We feel that it is so important for families to do this together. So, while the adults and teens in our church will be going through the workbook Seeking Him by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Tim Grissom, our Faith Quest team has written a weekly study for kids (aimed at grades 2-6, but anyone can do it!).
This is the first installment. Look for a new one each week!
Each week’s study will also be available on our Bible Quest page. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for each of us, our families and our church.
Looking for something to do with your kids to spice up your regular Easter routine? Try these (click on the titles for the links):
Resurrection Eggs (PreK-2nd Grade)
You can treat this activity like an advent calendar for Easter or go through the whole thing on Easter or from Good Friday through Easter morning.
Road to Easter (2nd-6th Grade)
This is a cut and paste timeline activity for the events that happened between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. You can have your kids hunt through the scriptures to check their work. Check Matthew 21, 26-28; Mark 11-16; Luke 19-24; and John 12-20. (Those are a lot of passages, but to help your younger kids along you can glance through your section headings in your Bible and get a good idea of where to specifically send them.)
Jelly Beans Easter Poem
Try putting this into your kids Easter baskets or just as a little gift for them. Put jelly beans into a bag and attach this poem:
RED is for the blood He gave.
GREEN is for the grass He made.
YELLOW is for the sun so bright.
ORANGE is for the edge of night.
BLACK is for the sins we made.
WHITE is for the grace he gave.
PURPLE is for His hour of sorrow.
PINK is for our new tomorrow.
A bag full of jelly beans colorful and sweet,
Is a prayer, is a promise, is a special treat.
I pray that you have a blessed time celebrating Jesus’s victory over sin and death! Jesus is risen!
He is risen, indeed!!
I came across a neat resource while wandering the internet this last week. It’s called Splink and is put out by D6 Family.
They offer short, creative family devotional starters and activities for family time. You can search their database online for activities based on topic or date published, or you can sign up to receive weekly emails from Splink with a week’s worth of activities right there in your inbox. To sign up for their weekly emails go here.
Hope you enjoy browsing around Splink, and also the D6 website. They have a lot to offer for families who are wanting to take up their God-given responsibility of discipling their children.
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and 6-year-old daughter and I went with a group from our church to Juarez, Mexico. In two days, we built a house for a family that had none before we got there. This was the 9th year our family has participated in a build like this.
It is a great experience for young and old alike, and I am thrilled to give my daughter a way to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a hands-on way. She loves going each year (this was her third build) and is constantly thinking up ways to raise money for the organization, Casas por Cristo.
Casas recently put together a video that I think does a great job of showing what they do and why they do it.
If you are interested in going, I recommend contacting Casas por Cristo.
Casas por Cristo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CasasporCristo
Casas por Cristo online at http://www.casasporcristo.org/
Casas por Cristo on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/casasporcristo
You can also send me a quick email and I’ll be happy to chat with you about it. We’ll be going again next January!
Well, once all the excitement and ready-made ideas of Advent and Christmas were finished, I got writer’s block (blogger’s block?). Not because I didn’t have any ideas or things were not happening in my family or at our church… but because I’m a perfectionist. I am the first born of 6 children, and I bleed first-born responsibility and perfectionism issues. Usually I deal with that by faking my way through and getting as close to perfect as I possibly can. (Maybe then you all won’t realize my glaring imperfections.) In recent months, I’ve taken to apologizing for my imperfections (my failures) by telling people I really was trying to appear perfect and have now gone and messed it all up. Tongue-in-cheek, but really I’m hoping they are amused enough to not notice how I’ve messed up and in turn hate me for it.
So, I started this blog with great aspirations of it being a resource for parents in our church, and promptly realized I have little-to-nothing to offer. I’m limping along attempting to parent my 6 and 3 year old daughters the best that I can, shepherding their hearts and teaching them to love Jesus and love others. (It would be nice if they also learned to read, write and do arithmetic, make their beds, clean their rooms, wipe their own bottoms, make their own sandwiches, pour milk without spilling, be contributing members of society, etc, etc… but I could be asking too much.)
Each time in the last month I wanted to blog, I couldn’t do it. I was afraid of rambling about nothing helpful, and being wrong or appearing foolish or *gasp* imperfect. As the children’s director at our church, I should have all my stuff together, my parenting should be perfect, and I should have all the answers to every problem, right? The truth is that I am a hack at just about everything God has called me to do. The only reason anything I attempt succeeds is because God with His gift of grace has called me, empowered me, guided me and cleaned up the mess that I would have made of things. PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS GRACE!
I don’t really get into the whole new year’s resolutions thing, but I do try to listen to what God wants to work with me on. This year it’s faithfulness. Let me be clear: I know nothing about faithfulness. I am the least diligent person I know. (Seriously, just come to my house unannounced… you’ll see.) I’m pretty sure the only reason I finish anything is my issues with perfection. Praise God that He has spent 2 years working with me on obedience; I can now see His desire for my faithfulness in that obedience. But, because God is just that awesome, it’s not just my faithfulness He wants. He is revealing His faithfulness to me, as well.
I’m not usually one for bearing my soul on the internet, but yesterday a friend challenged me on pretending like everything is okay. So, today, I am trusting in God’s faithfulness and this is what you are getting. I’m also trying to follow through on what I think God is calling me to do. Faithfulness.
I have recently been reading in Philippians. I am claiming this passage, praying it and praising God for it. Phil 3:12-14.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Today, I was searching the internet for biblical parenting blogs and twitter accounts and resources for you and for me. I came across two articles that spoke to my heart.
This article by Chris Spradlin lists 10 ways to connect with your kids’ hearts. For me, I think connecting with my daughters’ hearts is my primary role. Behavior modification and consequences will only get me to adolescence if I’m lucky. But making my girls’ hearts the top priority will last forever. (You can check out more of Sprad’s parenting journey at his blog, epicparent.tv.)
After a year of sad circumstances and difficult decisions, I also found this article by Mark Merrill of Family First helpful. It is about helping your kids grieve. I appreciate that although divorce and death are two of the hardest things to explain to our kids, they are not the only things kids grieve about. It is so important to give our kids the space and also the guidance to work through their feelings about everything including a friend moving away or a failed test at school. Listening to our kids is the key to this, I believe. And not just listening to their words, but also the heart that is behind those words. Helping our children identify and name the feelings will give them more tools to deal with them as they grow up.
Okay, this is the last thing. I need your help. Do any of you have any parenting or family websites, blogs, twitter feeds, facebook pages that help you out? Or at least entertain you as you walk along each day muddling through parenthood? The internet is huge, and my ability to use it well is limited at best. So, if we all pool our resources, I think we could come up with a pretty extensive list of helpful sites. So, can you comment here with where to find the sites you like?
Today, I am praying for you – that you are blessed with God’s grace in a tangible way.
Well, today officially marks the end of the Christmas season. (Although, this coming Sunday is still Epiphany Sunday, so I say stretch it out as long as you can!) Today is the 12th day of Christmas, or Epiphany.
I didn’t get a chance to put up any devotionals for you during this Christmas season (the 12 days following Christmas), but I did find this cute way to turn the words of the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, into something meaningful. Click here for the link.
The word epiphany means appearance or manifestation. This is the day we also celebrate the wise men finally arriving to worship Jesus and the revelation of who Jesus really was… the Messiah!
Read Matthew 2:1-12 and Luke 2:25-32.
The wise men (or Magi) brought gifts to Jesus that showed his royalty. Simeon received a fulfilled promise from God (that he would see the Messiah) and he prophesied Jesus’ ultimate purpose: salvation for both the Gentiles and Israel.
Let’s meditate on these things of God today: He keeps His promises; He is worthy of our everything (not just what we don’t want); He loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for us; He reveals Himself to us in all sorts of ways and wants us to worship and glorify Him with all that we are.
Praise Him for all these things! He is good!
