Weighty Matters

I did it.  I bit the bullet and joined weight watchers.   Yesterday was day one, and I am both excited and nervous about the journey ahead!   I have struggled with my weight since I was little...like 2nd or 3rd grade!  I've had many successes and many failures in this journey.   In the 18 months before we decided to have children, I lost 56 pounds "on my own" after a diagnosis of pre-diabetes and threats from the dr. if I were to get pregnant before getting below a certain weight.   In a way, my daughter saved my life, because the thought of having children kept me motivated and focused on my weight loss goals.   After I had her, I quickly dropped back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I could go no farther.   Since that time, I've gained about 20 of those 56 pounds back, and I hit a weight I swore I'd never reach again.  I have a great support group of other women struggling with the same issue, but for some reason I just couldn't do it on my own this time.  So, when my mom mentioned that she wanted to return to Weight Watchers, where she'd had great success a few years ago, I jumped at the chance.   Normally I don't "go public" with information like this, but I want my sisters in Christ to be praying for me as I tackle this difficult issue in my life.   As I find good recipes and tips, I'll try to share them on here for others who might struggle with this as well.   Wish me luck!


First News Flash:  A small can of tuna (the whole can!!!) is only 2 points, and it packs a whopping 20 grams of protein!  Protein is key to keeping my blood sugar from spiking, so this is good news!  Time to stock up on tuna! :)

More Bible Notebooking: Noah's Ark, Tabernacle, Babel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob & Esau

Noah's Ark

For this one, I had my little one cut out brown "boards" and glue them on, as well as animals. Then I found a really cool font called "trace" online, and it made dotted lines for him to trace!  :)  Worked great.  I couldn't believe how hard he worked on this! Here is his example.

Tabernacle Preschool  
There are multiple online sites where you can make your own word searches.  I just typed in the words I wanted and selected the difficulty level, and it created it for me!

Tabernacle Elementary

My older one wanted a page for this as well, so she had the harder one.  She put it away somewhere before I got to scan it, so I'll put it on here when she finds it. :)

Tower of Babel 

Jacob and Esau
An easy crossword puzzle I created on puzzlemaker.com

Ezra

The kids in class made a mosaic out of the heart by gluing on small colorful pieces of paper.  We talked about how, when we have God's word in our heart, our heart is beautiful!  Then, they could trace the dotted words.


Abraham's promise
He traced the words and then painted the stars yellow.  After that, we squirted some gold glitter glue on the stars and smeared it around.

Abraham and Isaac

No link here because I just copied a reproducible coloring page and let him color it. 

Bible Class Josiah

Last week, we studied Josiah in my kindergarten Bible class.  I like teaching this story to little ones because they are always amazed that there was a king who was 8 years old!   Most of the time at least one of my class members has an older brother or sister who is 8 or 9, and they find it so amusing that a kid that age could be king!  They are also always impressed when he tears his clothes because he's so sad.  (We DO remind them not to try that when THEY are sad!). 

This week, we introduce the memory verse 2 Tim 3:16.  We only use the first part, though.  ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD.  Starting out, I give them about a month to do a memory verse. Our focus for this lesson is that the Bible is God's word and we should listen to what it says.

Before class, I hide small pictures of Bibles around the room.  When we get to the part where Josiah's friends find the Law, I let the kids run around the room and find the paper Bibles.

We start the lesson with me telling the story using some cheesy popsicle puppets I made.  

When we get to the part about the men finding God's law, we point out the scroll that Shaphan is holding and talk about how they didn't all used to have their own copies of God's word, which made it even more special!  We also talk about how silly it was that God's law was in the house of the Lord and no one knew it. We talk about Josiah tearing his clothes and reading the law to the people and everyone being sad when they realized they were not following God.   I try to make application the best I can to 5 year olds that, anytime we realize we aren't doing what the Bible says, we should be sad and try to fix it.

Following the story, the kids make crowns.   I just made a basic crown template.

The kids decorate it however they want, with markers, crayons, rhinestones, and sometimes glitter if I have a calm bunch. :)  Then, I cut a strip of posterboard and make the part that goes around their heads and staple it to the crown.  Instant kings!

And here is the scrapbook page for Josiah!

Josiah Scrapbook Page

"Unanswered" Prayers

Have you ever had one of "those" prayers?  You know the kind I mean.  The one that you pray over and over and over, and no matter how often you pray it, you just feel like it's not being answered?   Have you ever been guilty of questioning why He doesn't see fit to answer it?  I have, very recently.   When I realized that the prayer had, indeed, been answered more abundantly than I could have imagined, I was humbled.  And grateful.  And awed.  

I put the title in quotes, because I know with all my heart that there are no unanswered prayers for a child of God living right in His sight.  The reason we call them unanswered is often because the answer wasn't the one we wanted to hear.  Right?   You can nod in agreement...no one will know. :)

Recently, I prayed very hard about a situation my daughter was facing with a new school year.   I took to heart the verse that exhorts us to pray without ceasing.   Several times I was brought to tears begging God to answer the prayer.  I prayed fervently for His will to be done, not mine, and for me to accept that will, but deep down I had hopes for a certain answer to be His will.  I know I'm not the only one who has done that!

Needless to say (but I will anyway!), God did not answer the prayer the way I, with my feeble understanding of things, thought He should have.   I confess that I was scared and almost angry at the results, but I remembered a similar situation last year that turned out to be best, even though I hated it at the time.  When my daughter became aware of it, she even asked why God did things the way He did.   I had no answer other than, "Because He knows best."  Even as I spoke the words, I worried.  Did He really make the right choice?  Did I interpret His choice correctly?  Had I messed up His plan?  Would it work out for the best?   Should I "take it back" upon myself instead of letting it go?   I wavered in my confidence and spent more than one sleepless night.

Today, I had a meeting at school that I feared would cement my opinion of the situation.  I tossed and turned all night as I worried about the meeting and rehearsed my part of it.  I stressed and prayed and had myself in knots.  I was desperate for reassurance that this would work out for the best.

I walked into the meeting incredibly nervous and scared.  I was going to have to share private family details with a stranger and hope for the best.   Would it be well received?  Would it work out?  Could I do it alone??

The answer, in short, is that I didn't HAVE to do it alone.  God had prepared the way for me.  He had already taken care of the details.   He had answered my prayer in ways I couldn't have imagined.  Within a few minutes of beginning the meeting, I knew that He was taking care of me and of my daughter.   The other person in the meeting was very accepting and welcoming, and she quickly assured me that she had our best interests in mind and would help us with the difficulties we faced.  The fears I had were unwarranted.   My worries were a waste of time and energy and sleep.  (Aren't they always?)

I am not naive enough to think that there will be no bumps along the road this school year, but I am so thankful that, during this first full week, God has reminded me of His constant presence.  

So, the next time you feel like your prayers are going unanswered, do two things for me:

1.)  Make sure you are in a right relationship with God.  If you have questions about this, please ask me or check out the tab at the top of the page about salvation for verses to study.

2.)  Stop worrying if you can, and know that there are NO "Unanswered" prayers with God.  If you feel like it has been unanswered, take a good, hard look at things and see if maybe the answer just isn't the one YOU thought was best.

3.)  Don't give up praying.  Keep praying until you are confident you know God's answer.   Even then, keep praying.  Thank Him for answering your prayer.  Trust Him to make it all work out for good!

Bible Notebooking Adventure

In my Sunday morning Bible school class and in my home studies with my littler one, we have started making Bible notebooks.  I've seen a lot of blogs and sites that do this for homeschooling, but I thought it could be applied to Bible lessons and Sunday school as well.  I have kids in my class from time to time who need a little help with retaining the lessons we teach, and I thought something visual that the kids created themselves might work well.  My son also needs to learn to stay focused on the task at hand and to complete work given without running off to do something else!  So, these pages will, hopefully, serve multiple purposes.   If you've done one of these kinds of notebooks before, feel free to share any tips!!

To start, I got a basic 3-ring hardback binder for each child and put names on the covers. In each binder, I put some empty clear page protectors.  From there, all I have to do is create a page for the kids to complete with each lesson!  Here are a few I have started.  If you like them, feel free to use them and share them. The ones for my little one have handwriting lines on them so that he can do the letters correctly.  I write the words and let him trace or copy them.  At home, we are doing some review with my 4 year old.  In class, we are studying different stories that stress the importance of the Bible.

Bible Notebooking Page ADAM AND EVE

Bible Notebooking Page ARK OF THE COVENANT

Bible Notebooking Page JOSIAH


Here is my little man's first attempt, Adam and Eve.

And here is his ark of the covenant. :)

God Made Me Special

My first lesson with a new group that has just promoted into my class is always "God Made Me Special."

We start by reading Genesis 1:26-27 and talk about how God made man special and in His image.

Next, we read this book:

Here is a link to it on Amazon.  http://www.amazon.com/Designed-Must-Special-Caucasian-Version/dp/096152796X

I spent WAY too much money on this book at a fancy boutique one time.  It was going out of business and I had a gift card I had to spend, so I made an impulse buy.  I have never regretted it.  It's drawn in "childish" style, but I've used it even with pre-teens and early teenagers.  It's charming.

Anyway...we read that book and talk about all the ways God made us special.  We thank God after each page for making our eyes, ears, Spirit, etc.

Next, we use a mini book from here:

The mini book is called "Little Me."

I go ahead and prepare the small page pockets.

Each page has a separate "body part" made out of paper that the kids can decorate to look like themselves.  Then, they can lay the pieces out to make a "whole" body and position it however they want.   We talk about how God made each part of us.  When they are finished, each piece slides down in the little pocket on each page, so they can keep them.   The kids always love this project!

At the end of class #1, I send home an "all about me" survey for the parents to complete with the kids asking some of their favorites so that I can get to know them a little better. 

This year, I'm trying something new.  We are making a "scrapbook" for each child of our lessons.  I'll post more about that as I figure out exactly what we're doing with it.

Flooded with Blessings

Last night, as we prepared for worship, a huge storm started.  I mean HUGE.  I'm not sure I have ever seen rain like that.  Instantly, the roads were flooded, neighbors' yards looked like ponds, rivers, and streams, and we had to go 30 mph or less on what was normally a 45 mph road, because visibility was horrible.  We thought it would just last a short time because of the severity of it, but it rained for quite a while!  As we worshiped, we could hear the wind and downpouring rain outside.  People came into the building soaked to the bone, shivering, and thankful to be safe!  We praised God and thanked Him for showing His power and for protecting us.  As we departed, we all waded through puddles to our cars and headed home slowly.

When we got home, my husband asked me to get the kids headed towards bed while he investigated the basement "just in case."  Immediately, he raced back upstairs, changed out of his worship clothes, and told me to meet him downstairs after the kids were in bed.   Nervously, I rushed the kids to bed, changed my own clothes, and headed down to the basement, thinking he'd need my help wiping up a few puddles. In the meantime, we found a leak in my daughter's room/ceiling.  I had no idea what was to come!

At first, I just saw our "canning" room, which floods occasionally with a few puddles.  It was an inch deep in there, and all the boxes and stuff stored on the floor were ruined.  I quickly started tossing trash to make room for the "good" stuff while my husband shop-vac-ed the floor.  He asked me to check the next room (my craft/scrapbook room), and I noticed huge puddles all over the floor.   Moving to the playroom, the same thing.  The laundry room?  More than an inch deep in the entire room.   Snapping into action, I ran upstairs to call my parents, who immediately headed this way with large trash bags and a shop vac.  By the time they got here, I had filled 6 large bags with trash, ruined items, and nasty, muddy stuff (including a dead mouse, who must not like to swim!!).  They jumped into action, helped clear out our playroom, pull up the floor (foam tiles), and get everything else ready to shop-vac.  My sweet husband vacuumed for over 3 hours, and my dad was on his hands and knees on cement to salvage what we could.  I made a trip to the store for fans (of course one didn't work!) and storage containers to get what we could off the floor. 

Normally, things like this flip me out.  And, I'd had very little sleep the night before and was fighting a migraine.  And yet, the whole time, I felt an unbelievable sense of calm as I tossed clutter and cleaned messes.  My basement has been a "thorn in my side" for a long time, as I struggle to find the time to organize it, purge us of unnecessary things, etc.  It becomes a "dumping place" for anything upstairs that we don't have time to deal with, and no matter what, it never seems to get organized!  It constantly taunts me with my failure as a housekeeper, and I've started even dreading going down there.  Not to mention the mice that call it home as well!!!  I had planned to call my mom later this week to see if she'd come help me tackle it, yet I just hadn't "gotten around to it" yet.   As we vacuumed, mopped, wiped, and tossed last night, I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off of me.  All this "stuff" was just "stuff!"   My children were safe, my husband was safe and able to work hard, my parents came to our aid, and our house survived.  Nothing of great value was destroyed.  I could almost hear God cheering our efforts as we worked as a team and knocked Satan back a few steps.  Clutter strangles me sometimes, and I allow it to get in the way of so many other things.  Last night, I felt "flooded" with blessings, despite the mess and chaos.  This morning, I am so thankful for the opportunity to wake in a warm, safe house with my family intact and with blessings of God abundantly filling my "cup." 

Much work is still to come, and I am sure I will face some frustration and discouragement as we contemplate what can and can't be salvaged, but right now, I am simply thankful.  Thankful for a chance to tackle this "thorn," thankful for a family who sticks together and works together, and thankful for all God blesses me with.  I am thankful also for the reminder that it is not I who is in control, but God.