what if we....

i am fasting from the blogging and facebook world for a while unless it is GPPD related. So i leave you with this video to ponder and inspire.

baby love

i am passed the half way mark now. i feel this little surprise gift from God swirling around in me all of the time. over all i am feeling great....like the with the boys no nausea, morning sickness, or any of the other popular pregnancy woes.

Deeply... my heart has been aching a lot since we got the news that we had to put the adoption on hold while pregnant. At first i thought it was just pregnancy hormones along with the greif from postponing our adoption. i have been really seeking God to see why my heart aches so.... it is not like they said we can never adopt. Yet at times i find myself in pieces over all of it.

He has been showing me that all of these feeling encompasses much. i have wanted to go somewhere in the world and show His love to people who are in desperate need since i was a little girl. God loves and values everyone not just the people in our reach... all people need to see God's endless love for them. i rejoice in opportunities to show love here...but there is something that i think He put in my heart for the people/children that are out of reach of anyone to show them His great love.

i think a part of the excitement over adopting was that if i could not go and show love to many children in desperate need. i would get to show love to at least one fatherless child that needed to see the endless love that God gives them and how He adores and values them.

When this opportunity was taken away... i felt lost... heartbroken. i still don't know what God is up to but i am seeking Him fervently.

Something that He has been revealing to me (it is a simple lesson that i seem to have to relearn a lot) ... He doesn't need me to do anything. He has a plan to rescue the fatherless. As i put Him first and am in communion with Him then i will know what and how He wants me involved in His plan. He will do the rescuing... i just loving follow and obey and enjoy the experience of communion with Him.

i know there is so much of me that i need to surrender to confess and to run away from...so much ugly sin... i know He will show me day by day how to fully walk and dwell in Him. i wish it would happen quickly but God doesn't work on our time schedule and my sin is too much to overcome in a day or a lifetime for that matter.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33

God is Powerful

do we really fear God today? i have been asking myself that question a lot recently... and as i was teaching this part [God is Powerful] of the "God is" study these past two weeks i realized that often i forget how powerful the almighty God is....sometimes i even live like or speak like He is not the creator God who has and is the most powerful being in the universe... how could i lose sight of such an obvious truth... i think those are the times when my prideful self is focused on me..and somehow i think i am big... which all seems ridiculous now when i am looking at truth.... looking at God.

Below is just a few of glimpses of what we did. Each day we read God's word particularly passages about His all powerfulness and did an activity or art project that reenforced the passages.

BIBLE STUDY: Luke 5: 1-11 (Jesus make's Simons boat overflow with fish), Mark 6:30-34 (Jesus feeding thousands of people with just few fish)

ART PROJECT: THE BIG CATCH

You will need: white coffee fliters, markers, water, paint brushes, aluminum foil, glue stick, and paper clips - to make fishing pole you will need a magnet tied to a string tied to a stick.

Flatten coffee filter, color with marker randomly with different colors. Paint water onto filter and watch the colors spread as it absorbs water. Let dry. When dry cut out in the shape of a fish. With a marker mark the eye. Glue scraps of aluminium as shinny scales. Attach paper clip and throw in basket. Have the children fish in one place with out fish and then talk about how Jesus showed his power to Simon by making fish were they seemed to be no fish.

SNACK: Make a Berry Blue Jell-O in a clear glass bowl. Refrigerate for an hour. push some swedish fish in the bowl. Yummy and fun.

(we even had a guest join us for this fun!)

ART PROJECT: Bean Art (God sending fire on the alter - based on our Bible study on 1 Kings 18:1-40)

You will need: small paint brush, pencil, board (card board, etc), a variety of beans (different color – I even used rice), ruler or straight edge.

1. Start by drawing the simple picture in pencil on your board. Number were you want a color/bean (number-by-color).

2. "Paint" a thin layer of glue in one area of your pattern, and sprinkle the area with colorful beans. Use a single color in each area.

3. Use the ruler to clean up the edges of the beans before moving on to the next area.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until the board is covered. Let dry for a few hours.

now this next one was Jeriah's... it is a sun... no theme... just something simpler for the two year old... and yes we had a lot of beans to sweep up afterwards!

BIBLE STUDY: GOD OPENS THE RED SEA Exodus 14-15:21

ACTIVITY:

Parting Water

To help your child understand how powerful God is, fill a bucket with water. Try to part the water. Try with other things (sticks, etc). Have child put their hands in the water to see if they can part it. Once it becomes clear that the water cannot be parted, talk to your children about how only God had the power to part the Red Sea. Thank God for being so powerful. (i snagged this idea from some random sunday school material online... sorry i don't have the original source to list) verse: Fear of the Lord is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death. Proverbs 14:27

ACTIVITY: God is powerful

You will need: a large magnet, plastic (see through) container with lid, lots of random metal that fits in container (paper clips, nails, screws, etc.)

Put metal in container and close lid tightly. Talk about the magnet (we even read books about how they work). And have them test the power of the magnet by placing it on the container and watching the stuff stick. Discuss how God made the the stuff that makes up a magnet and that He is all powerful. verse: Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all other gods. Psalm 96:4

ART PROJECT: Mountian melt like wax (based on our Bible study on Psalm 29 and 97)

You will need: crayons with paper removed, grader, 2 10x10 inch wax papers, 2 hand towels, iron (hot - keep out of reach of the children), ruler or straight edge, marker, tape, and one sheet of construction paper.

We read Psalm 29, then you tubed how crayons are made - to watch wax melt, we you tubed volcanoes (mountains melting), thunder and lightening, hurricanes, and tornadoes as well to show what the verses were describing. We talked about how powerful God is.

Place one hand towel on table. Make sure iron is on but out of reach of children. Place one wax paper on the hand towel. With the grader shave different color crayons on to the wax paper. When covered at least half way, with a ruler make the shape of a mountain or triangle. Place other wax paper on top then place hand towel on top of that. Press hot iron firmly over the hand towel checking to see if crayon shaving have melted. Once complete, cut a matching mountain shaped hole in construction paper and tape wax paper to back side and write the verse: Psalm 97:5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

(sorry no picture... still hanging in our window will try to get a picture)

One of the songs we sang....

MY GOD IS SO BIG

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

He made the trees

He made the seas

He made the elephants too

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my God cannot do

I will leave you with this... after 2 weeks of studying the power of God and watching the hurricanes swirl up trees with Elijah on youtube... this song stands out in my heart... and i am left overwhelmed by my AMAZING POWERFUL GOD!!!

Lord, help me to be in awe of you constantly!

the coolest school ever...

at least in Eljiah's eyes...

So we completed our first two weeks of home pre-school!! Yay... THANK YOU JESUS!

Elijah is really giddy about it and i am too! it is so fun to be a part of His education!

His schooling includes....

Bible - What we have been doing through this past year where we study most of the scripture on a specific subject and have activities and art projects that correspond. See the following post "God is POWERFUL" it is the second part of what i have been teaching the kids.. "Who is God?" (first part was "God is CREATOR"-previously blogged)

Reading - We are doing this book...

which i like so far. i did have one day where my patience ended but after i realized it is okay if we don't get through the 20 minute lesson everything will all be just fine.. then things seemed to work better for the both of us. On Friday Elijah read his first two words by sounding them out. He is also learning to write letters! Mommy's so proud!

Science - We are reading books and Youtubing videos. The past two weeks we looked at things that God created that are powerful and discussed how much more powerful He was than His creation we also looked more at the human anatomy in which Elijah is fascinated with.

World - Which includes some great books (a few below). This month we are focusing on the whole world. In the following months we will be talking about specific areas of the world.

We talked about the shape of the world and read books on mapping.

And made this cool paper machette world...

Art Project: God made the WORLD with His great POWER (Paper Mache world)

Remember when God created everything... He started with the world. We are going to make a world...

Things you will need: newspapers, 1 ballon, flour, water, spoon to mix glue, old container to mix glue in, paint brushes, pencil, paint

1. Make papier mache glue by combining 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of water. Boil 4 cups of water in a pot on the stove and stir the glue mixture into the boiling water. Simmer it for about 3 minutes and let it cool.

2. Tear or cut the newspapers into strips approximately 1-inch wide. Dip the strips of newspaper, one at a time, in the glue, or apply the glue to the paper with a brush. Inflate the balloon and cover it with newspaper strips, about 3 layers deep. If you have time, allow the papier mache globe to dry between each layer, but if not, be sure it has several days to dry after it is completely covered.

3. Poke the balloon with a needle to pop.

4. Draw a pencil outline of the contents on it.

6. Paint the water blue and the continents green or whatever color you wish.

(we made these out of old maps and sea shells and pistachio shells.)

We talked about land and water and the variety God has made. Which went right along with the Bible truths we were discussing. We even went on a field trip in the rain to a near by river to discuss what a river looked like and get a visual of a smaller version of the overflowing Jordan River in Joshua 3 of the Bible where God held up the water so people could pass through.

We talked about where nations began (tower of babel - Genesis 11:1-9) and what they are.

One of the art projects we did below to represent the different people around the world....

Art Project: God filled the world people (bubble wrap painting)

You will need: cut out big circle from cardboard (old box), paint, paint brush, paint shirts, wet paper towels, bubble wrap.

Have them paint the bubble wrap with different colors then stamp the painted bubble wrap on the board. Discuss how God made so many people with different languages, cultures(ways they live), and different ways they look - these different groups of people are called: nations. Pray over the nations of the world.

A great matching game with different faces from around the world...

One of the biggest thoughts that stuck with Elijah were the stories and pictures of the street children around world. Page 36-37 of this book (one of my favs).

Each day we go to our map and pray over the world. He prayed so sincerely for the "children that sleep on the streets" and has every day since mentioned them in his prayers.... i already see God giving Him His compassion for the people of the world.

i really love teaching my boys. i guess we are teaching them all of the time whether it is proactive or not... they are such sponges and are watching everything we say and do...really makes you evaluate yourself...... hmmmm.... scary. :)

(where we post his work from the different subjects He is studying)