We might not be in South Africa, but we can still change the world.

I LOVE talking to our kids about missions. It's so much fun to see their eyes opening to a world beyond our front door, and how they can consistently shine the light of Jesus wherever they go. Here are some resources to engage your kids in the world God has created that is so desperate for Him.

Also, please keep our South Africa team in your prayers this upcoming week as they travel into the adventure God has planned for them to reach kids that need to know the love of Christ.

Mission songs for kids that I'm loving right now:

Mission APPS for kids that I'm loving right now...

View The Story APP
 Check out THE STORY, told for kids to understand.


Jesus Film APP

 You can get The Jesus Film in any language, no matter where you are.
They also have The Story of Jesus for children.

JP Unreached APP
This APP gives you a specific group of unreached people to pray for.



Resources to help give a mission-mindset that I'm loving right now....

Growing Up Wild
by Wild Brother Productions


Children's Atlas of God's World
by Craig Froman
 

The Mission-Minded Family
by Ann Dunagan
 

Around the World in 60 Days

I am seriously so excited about the Focus on the Family Thriving Family's FREE Around the World in 60 Days Calendar. This is such an excellent calendar that provides daily activities that will get your kids to learn and pray for other countries in such a creative way! 

From their website: 
Have you ever wondered what life is like in other countries? This summer, Thriving Family invites you to join us on a trip around the world! Over the next 60 days, you'll have the opportunity to explore 27 different countries on six continents. For each day of the trip, we've packed a short biblical lesson and an activity that will give your family a glimpse into another culture. We've provided a map for you to use during your travels. Post the map to your refrigerator and track your progress with a magnet or put it up on a living room wall and circle each country you stop at. 

If you get the free Thriving Family magazine, then the map and calendar is in the centerfold. If you don't get the magazine, you can get it on-line. When you click on this link, it will take you to the website where you can print out a map, passport and itinerary. The calendar starts on June 2nd so download it soon!! First stop....is Oceania the region of the pacific ocean that includes Australia and several island nations. See you there :)

The Bible Doodle Book

Just wanted to share with you one of my favorite gifts my son Isaac got for Christmas from his Uncle and Aunt... THE BIBLE DOODLE BOOK. {They also have a "pocket" edition) This thing is so great! It's just like those doodle books you see everywhere, but this one helps you focus on Bible stories and challenges you to complete the pictures. I look through it all the time and smile. It's great for road-trips, quiet-time and even LifeGroups! {It also makes an AMAZING gift for the kids in your life!}

Family Friendly Apps Part 2

I have finally entered the world of smart phones (Yes, I am a late bloomer). Pastor Lori's recent post about this app sparked an interest in me to find more family friendly apps. 

#1 FOCUS ON THE FAMILY APP

I am a BIG fan of focus on the family so I was thrilled when I found they have a free app. This APP is A*MAZ*ING! It has 3 parts - focus on marriage - focus on parenting - and - focus on kids. 

Focus on Marriage has conversation starters, encouragement & tips, insights, and date night ideas. They also give you an option to send the article or tip to your spouse after you are done reading it ;)

Focus on Parenting has spiritual growth for kids articles, age appropriate insights & guidance, family activities (for example, during family tv night, press the mute button and make up your own dialogue... the wackier the better) and dinner table conversation starters...spin the spoon and whoever the spoon lands on has the answer the question that pops up! (LOVE!)

Focus on Kids has audios of adventures in odyssey to listen to, a clubhouse and clubhouse jr brush you spin to get a craft or activity, and jelly telly videos.

#2 PLUGGED IN APP

This FREE app is also by Focus on the Family. It provides the following:

• Watch or read Christian movie, music, TV and game reviews
• Use their Family Friendliness Rating and member ratings to quickly find the best movies for your family
• Watch movie trailers and Plugged In video reviews
• Find nearby theaters playing your movie and purchase movie tickets 

This app is great in finding an appropriate and family friendly movie. It makes it really easy to find out if a movie contains something specific you want to avoid. If you find a movie you like, you can go right to your local movie theater and look up times it is playing. It also allows you to add tv shows or movies you find to your netflix queue! This is a great app since Tommy and I tend to be last minute movie goers and are always quickly trying to find out if its appropriate to watch. Happy watching!!!

$1.99 of pure genius.

I purchased my 1st app today.

Yes... I am a "free app" kind-of girl.

This was worth giving up my daily Biggby drive-thru today!

Check it out: Parent CUE
 

There are weekly ideas for BED-TIME, MEAL-TIME, DRIVE-TIME and HANG-TIME... plus some extras for PARENT-TIME

Here's the 411 taken right from their mouths:

What’s a CUE? It’s a prompt. A nudge to talk about God, faith, life or to just have fun together.

It’s a way to incorporate conversations about God and His big story into everyday moments—during mealtime, while playing a game outside, and in the car.

These CUEs will help parents do three things:

Connect to God’s story. Uncover something about life.
Experience something together.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 says: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Gifts that Give...

 

 

It's the "Most Wonderful Time of Year"!!!

 

 Among the hustle and bustle of decorating, all day shopping, midnight-shopping, deal-snagging, truffle-making, cookie-baking, santa-sleighing, reindeer-playing, popcorn-stringing, carol-singing, must-do's, must-go's and must-HAVE's...

 

There are a few treasures that I have come across that help celebrate God's love throughout the season and beyond.  While my kids love all things Lego, Batman, Hello Kitty and My Little Pony (and I do too:) there a couple of things that I am ecspecially excited for them to be receiving this year...

Veggie Tales 'All About Me' book...a place to record all about her life and faith, including her favorite things, and even a special spot for her prayers...can't wait to fill it out together!!!

 

Armor of God for my little warrior...because what child doesn't like to dress - up and what better way to teach than during play-time???!!!

 

 

and my ALL-TIME FAVORITE...

 

Hearts4hearts...These dolls represent girls from different countries, and each one comes with accessories and a story about who they are and how they use what they have to reach out to their communities and share love...even better, the manufactuer is partnered with WorldVision and a fraction of money from purchases will help real children with real needs.

 

you can read more HERE...

 

 

 

 

 

...and lastly, this one is for the family.  After a conversation with a dear friend about giving, I remembered seeing this book last year and look forward to seeing what kinds of ideas are in store...

 

 

 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 



scripture scraps

I needed a solution for all of the wonderful papers my kids bring home from church. I'm not as sentimental as most, so I have no problem purging myself of things I don't feel any attachment to. I keep the things that I love and discard the things that I don't. Recently though, I have been having a hard time getting rid of the stuff that comes from church, because it is saturated with things that we are discussing throughout the week in our family time and in our LifeGroups. I wanted a way to hang on to it so the kids could reference it, without having it clutter my kitchen counter or refrigerator. I decided to purchase composition notebooks for each of the kids (only $.50 right now at Target) all in different colors.

I started to take each of the things the kids brought home, cut it to size and place it inside the notebooks. It doesn't look pretty, but the kids love seeing what is new in their book and start telling me the lesson that goes with the page. It's not only a way to organize, but a wonderful way for the kids to review what they are learning each week.

I got this great idea from lowercase letters and you can check the original out here. As with most things I try, mine is so amateur compare to hers, plus she used some TLC and made scriptures by herself for her kids. Whichever way you choose to go, it's a great way to continue to surround your children with the Word of God.

love notes.

This past 2 weeks our church was a part of Champions For Life Kids' Camp, a camp for foster kids in our area. One of the focus' of the week is a "love note" station, where kids and adults can come and write notes of love and encouragement to one another. It may seem like a simple thing, but some of these kids have never received mail for themselves, and a lot of them keep them for years.

Seeing the love note station while I was up there really challenged my heart about the amount of time and effort I put into making my own kids feel loved and special. Sure, I try to meet their every need and I am constantly grabbing them for kisses and hugs... but there is something different about a handwritten note... something you can keep.... something that took an extra effort.

I found these super cute lunch notes at Michaels today for $.20 (I love a good clearance section!) I quickly scooped them up. You don't have to have pre-made notes, even writing on a napkin will do. Just think of ways you can constantly remind your kids of the love you have for them. I know of kids that even have a journal with their parents that they pass back and forth and write to each other... just simple ways to love constantly. I even have notes saved in my memory box from my parents growing up... and they mean so much because it's in their handwriting! Hide them under their pillow. Sneak one by their seat in the car. Put one in their backpack, their Bible, or even send one in the mail!
You can download some fun free printable lunch notes HERE.

Summer Reach

Well, it's that time of year.

The time where you figure out all the fun things you are going to do for the summer.

Vacations. Water Parks. Garage Sales. Pool Parties.

The kids and I were making our list of things to do over the summer, when one of them asked if we could clean up at the park like we did last week. (Our church helps clean up the city one Sunday out of the year).

It got me thinking.

What other things could we do to make our summer count.

And the ideas just started to roll in.

Here's the challenge:
What can your family do this summer to make an impact? To reach out?

You might even have a family team meeting to come up with a larger project you can all work on together... or it might just be some simpler things here and there.

I don't want to teach my kids to share... I want them to be generous.

I don't want them to be kind... I want them to love.

To quote my lovely sister, "they do what they see."

What can you have your kids SEE and DO this summer that will change their worldview?

Any other fun Summer Reach ideas you have thought of? Post them here!
Here is one of my favorite blogs to get some more ideas.

El Roi

There is a name for God, El Roi, which means "the God who sees me."

It's only mentioned once in the Bible by a women named Hagar.

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her:
“You are the God who sees me” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me."

{Genesis 16:13} 

I've been really studying this name of God out and the more I search, the more in awe of God I am. He sees me.... that's powerful. I wanted to use something simple to show my kids that the Lord is constantly watching them... that He always sees them- not to evoke fear of messing up, but to build confidence in a Creator who loves.

We took some painters tape  and made a road on the ground. Then we took all of the stuff we had around the house and made a little city (bridges from our train table, picnic table from our dollhouse, Animals from our jungle, etc). It was so much fun finding stuff to put in our city... we had a zoo, a construction site, a Monster Truck show... all sorts of stuff. After we were playing for awhile, I had the kids get up on the couch and look down at the city. 

Do you see everything?

Do you know what's going on?

They came to the conclusion that since they were big and because they made the city themselves, they knew everything that was happening. I loved the tie in with our Heavenly Father! Such a successful hands-on Bible story... one that challenged me as well! 

The kids LOVE playing with our city and there are even talks of adding a hospital, a castle and a real-live ant farm! Here are some links to some more awesome ideas for your El Roi playtime.... here, here and here

Or you could make it super easy on yourself and get this.

If you are nervous about the inside... just use chalk outside on a nice day.

...and we sang for joy

We did a fun and simple experiment today to talk about the joy of the Lord.

We made Jugs of Joy

The kids got so excited when they saw the bubbles start to come from the bottom of the jug. We talked about how God wants to give us joy in every situation and all the things the Lord has done for us to give us joy.

Here was the scripture we focused on:

Psalm 126:2

We were filled with laughter,
      and we sang for joy.
   And the other nations said,
      “What amazing things the LORD has done for them.” 

Here is what you need to make your own Jugs of Joy:

Empty plastic bottle

Water

Cooking Oil

Food Coloring

Fizzy Tablet (alka-selzer/airbornes)

Fill your bottle 1/4 of the way with water. Fill the rest with oil. Let it settle. Put in 10 drops of food coloring. Drop in 1/2 tablet. Watch the bubbles form!

To watch a video of how it works, click here.

Fruit: Some Yummy, Some Not...

Our church recently participated in a 21 day fast as an entire church body. If you have ever fasted before, you will know that God tends to reveal areas of your life that need some improvement. Well, He showed me that there were some character issues that were in desperate need of some serious work.

Matthew 7:18-20 were received as a challenge, a sober challenge yet exciting too. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore they will be known by their fruit."

Yikes! That puts a new perspective on things in a blink. So if I want to be a good tree growing good fruit what does that look like? In a nut shell- Walking by the Spirit will produce...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control ( Galations 6:22-23).

I thought it might me a good time to actively and purposefully teach this to our children while I am learning too. Things are much easier to walk out when you are expecting others (ages 1 & 3) to do the same.

So a difficult process to live out has become a fun, new adventure when the kids are brought into it. Each week, we are picking one or two "fruits" to learn and work on. Wintertime puts a bit more difficulty into finding a variety of fruit but so far we are doing ok.

We began with Loving Lemon...


Kate LOVED the lemon with a face and throughout the week, if she made poor choices, we brought the conversation around to what Loving Lemon would choose to do instead. Kate totally got the concept...not that it was always the way she chose, but it certainly helped.

Loving Lemon was quickly joined by Obedient Orange (our version of self control) since Joseph was getting mighty jealous that his big sister was walking around the house with a cute piece of fruit.


They both are enjoying the fun invovled, plus they learning foundational principles that can be carried out through their lives. And it is super fun to think of all the crafts, delicious recipes, etc that can be incorporated into learning about Peaceful Pear, Kind Kiwi, Good Grape and the like!

remembering God's love for us....

Are you looking for a fun, easy craft for Valentines Day? Right before Valentines Day last year I found a fun recipe for Homemade Gel Paints. The kids had a blast painting old cardboard with the paints, and then I cut them into hearts. I hid the hearts around the house and throughout the month of February the kids had to find them and bring them to me. I plan on doing the same thing this year, except I want to attach a scripture verse on love to each heart. When the kids bring it to me I want to read the verse to them and then display them throughout the house. Just an easy way to remind the kids of the love of God!

Scriptures on God's Love to get you started:

• {1 John 4:10}This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 
• {Romans 5:8} But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
• {Romans 8:38-39}For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
• {1 John 3:1} See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 
• {Psalm 36:5} Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies.

Recipe for homemade gel paints:

Over a stovetop, heat 1/2 cup of cornstarch and 2 1/4 cups of water.
Wisk until gel forms. Once cooled slightly, pour into heat safe containers.
Mix with food coloring (about 10-12 drops) and stir.
Make sure the kids don't use them until they have cooled off enough.

 

 

Fun Family Printables

One question I get a lot from parents is how to keep up on the extra-curricular activities their children do throughout the week, so that they can get a better handle on what their kids are exposed to.... things like internet, TV, video games, hanging out with friends, etc. One website I use a lot is imom.com. There are a lot of printables for families to use in their home with their kids. I've linked some of my favorites, but there are a lot more to choose from... anything from lunch notes, kid coupons, chore charts, etc. These printables may work perfectly for your family, or they may just spark conversation between each of you on what is expected in your family.

Family Internet Contract

This is a great contract to fill out to make sure that your entire family is on board when it comes to the computer rules of the house.

Screen Time Tracker

This is another great resource for parents needing something to help them know how much screen time their kids are getting.... TV, movies, computer, etc. 

Conversation Starters for Kids #1

Conversation Starters for Kids #2

These are wonderful questions to ask during meal time to get everyone talking. You would be surprised how these simple questions get the conversation going. You could even have the kids come up with their own 

questions to ask at the next meal time.

Family Meeting Worksheet

This little guide will help you when your family needs to sit down and make a decision.

*** Find all of the imom.com printables HERE ***

Prayer Charts, Piggy Banks, & Bedrooms...

If you are anything like me - you may enjoy finding new ways & ideas to teach the kids (whether your own or in the classroom) about the things of God in a way that gets their attention.  For me, it's an added bonus when said "new idea" is in chart-form...it's the little things that make me happy!!!  Tonight, during prayer, the kids came home with this prayer chart.  I don't know who was more excited - me or the kids!!!  It is simple, fun, and obviously purposeful...the kids couldn't wait to hang them on their bedroom walls and get started.  Thank you, Pastor Pat!!!  

Since we're talking about the Lord, the kids, new ideas & fun stuff...

I came across this 'Globe Piggy Bank' at Target today.  I love it!!! I had recently placed cups on the kid's dressers that are labeled 'Tithes', 'Giving', and 'Saving'.  In keeping with that same idea, I thought this bank would be a fun place to put the money for 'giving' while talking about and praying for the needs of those around the world - whether in our own community or across the globe.   

and finally, since we're talking about the needs of those around the world...

I want to share one more thing that I came across recently.  I came upon the following book while reading an article on Yahoo...

The author, James Mollison, embarked on a 2 year journey around the world to photograph children and their bedrooms.  As stated in the synopsis, 

... with the support of Save the Children, the book is written and presented for an audience of 7-11 year olds setting out to interest and engage children in the details of the lives of other children around the world, and the social issues affecting them, while also being a serious photographic essay for an adult audience.

I personally was drawn to these photos and enjoyed Saturday morning devotions with my family as we read the article, looked at the photos and prayed.  Our kids (ages 3 & 5) were very interested and surprised when they saw that other children's bedrooms were very different than their own. 

Click HERE to read the article and see a few photos from the book.

Well, that is all for now.  I am exhausted from all this excitement!!!