Happy St. Patricks Day!

What does this holiday really signify?



With so much talk of leprechauns and pots o' gold going on at school, I thought we better bring things back to what's truly meaningful about this holiday.


Inspired by fishmama's beautiful post, I hurriedly put my plan together in the few minutes before we picked up our oldest from kindergarten.

With their bellies full of yummy shamrock shakes, we sat down to make 3 leaf clovers, just like the ones Patrick used to tell people about the Holy Trinity. Since we had three shamrock to make, we also looked up names of Jesus and put 3 names along with the scripture on the other two.



As I wrote it out, the kids told me the three persons of God, how cool is that? Thank-you, Jesus for giving my beloved children ears to hear. Then we talked about all the different names of Jesus. As I wrote a name on the shamrock, my oldest looked up the scripture and read it to us. I love how he refers to the gospel of John as "Plain John" and first John as "One John".




Then we strung our beautiful creations on a string of shamrock beads and adorned our chandelier. What a lovely reminder of Patrick's wish, to point one and all to Jesus Christ.

May the Lord richly bless you and yours on this St. Patrick's Day.

Morning Devotions

I dearly love our morning devotions. My children love them, too. Here is an excerpt from this morning:






Me: Let's talk about how to pray. God would love us to make a habit of talking to Him everyday. Can you tell me what a habit is?

Them: Something you do all the time!

It's going well, huh?


Me: I have a habit of talking to God the very first thing when I wake up and then I keep talking to him all day long. How about you all? Do you have a habit of talking to God?

Them: Well, what if you can't think of any good stuff to ask for?

Me: Well, then you can thank Him for good things you already have, or ask Him for help if you need it.

Them:What if God gets into a battle with a big giant that is bigger than God?

Me: Nothing is bigger than our God.

Them: What if the giant stomps on my head?

Me:That would hurt.

Them: What if a monkey jumped on your head?....Yeah, like those cavemen!"

Me:
What kind of cavemen? The kind of people that live in areas where there are caves to live in or the silly monkey men you see on TV?

Them: Giggles all around and lots of ooh-ohh-aah-aah's, the silly monkey men!! Like when there were dinasaurs on the land! More giggles...

Me: Well those aren't real. Some people think we came from monkeys. Isn't that silly?

Them: More giggles and monkey noises...

Me: Did God create us as monkeys first?

Them: NO!

Me: Who were the 1st people?

Them: Adam and Eve!

Me: Not monkeys?

Them: NO! giggles...

Me: If anyone ever tries to tell you that we evolved from monkeys, even if they are an authority, they are not correct. They think they are, but they just don't know the truth. You know the truth. We find all truth in here, God's word, the bible. If you ever have a question, you will find the answers in here.

Them: Like the answer to a really hard math problem?

Me: Um....let's pray.

Go to Diaper Diaries for more Things I Love Thursdays.

Rise & Shine and Give God the Glory, Glory!!

Good morning!

The Lord work me up early this morning....

...and I tried to talk with Him a little while laying in my nice comfy bed,...

...but He had more for me today,...

...and I am so glad I listened.

Thank-you, Lord Jesus.

I am still in my 31-Day Challenge with Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I actually had to stop for a little over a week, waiting for new printer ink, but whether it takes 31 or 301 days, God is really using these teachings to show me where I have work to do.

I had the pleasure of reading 2 lessons this morning and I want to share my prayer for the day, taken from Nancy's:

Lord, I pray for Your wisdom and discernment and good judgment to know how to live the kind of life that will make Jesus attractive to my children and my husband.

I pray that You'd show me issues or areas of my life where what I'm saying and what I'm doing are two different things, and that I may be honest and humble enough to agree with You, to repent, and to let You change me so that my life can reflect the beauty and the wonder and the goodness of Your will. I pray this in Jesus' precious name, Amen.

Amazingly, after such a wonderful time with Him, my household was still sleeping. Wow, God! What else do you have for me today?

I must admit, I took some time to throw in a load of laundry, make myself some coffee, set the breakfast table....and still, a sleeping household!

So over to the computer I came, checked email, then opened my blog and THIS is what I read.

Good is Good, y'all! May the Lord richly bless you today as you go about loving your on family!

On Becoming a True Woman after God's Own Heart

I can't tell you how many times I have read Proverbs 31.  At least once every month that has 31 days, not to mention the times that the Lord leads me there.  I've been in Sunday school lessons and bible studies about this most impressive woman, I have participated in many discussions about her.  Yet, I have never really connected her example to my real life.  I haven't been able to get to know her as God wants me to know her, to learn from her and emulate her properly.

I long to be a woman after God's own heart, just as our Proverbs woman is, but how?  Well, thanks to
Lindsay's post I was totally intrigued by The True Woman's Makeover, an in depth study of Proverbs 31.  So, I am taking the 31 Day Challenge and immersing myself verse by verse with the help of email teachings by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (LOVE her!).  I would love company along my journey, want to come along?    

1 Corinthians 13 for Mothers

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,

but have not love,

I am a housekeeper  not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,

but have not love,

my children learn cleanliness  not godliness.

If I scream at my children for every infraction,

and fault them for every mess they make,

but have not love,

my children become people-pleasers  not obedient children.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child’s laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love accepts the fact that I am the ever-present “mommy,”

the taxi-driver to every childhood event,

the counsellor when my children fail or are hurt.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, and runs with the child,

then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.

Now I glory in God’s perfection of my child.

All the projections I had for my house and my children

have faded away into insignificance,

And what remain are the memories of my kids.

Now there abides in my home scratches on most of the furniture,

dishes with missing place settings,

and bedroom walls full of stickers, posters and markings,

But the greatest of all is the Love

that permeates my relationships with my children.

(Adapted from an anonymous source by Jim Fowler)

Thank-you Crystal