To Fool or Not to Fool

This morning as my husband and I talked about April Fool's Day and the last epic prank I pulled on him, we again made our yearly pact, no April Fool's jokes today.  We laughed as we agreed there is no way he will ever top my April Fool's joke but here is a deeper reason we have a agreed not to prank each other. 

When we returned to the states from Germany we got Mason a cat. He named her Mickey and she was a such a loving and sweet cat!  She gave us several batches of beautiful kittens and I'm sure she would have given us many more if we wouldn't have taken her and got her spade. She was so upset after that as she loved being a momma and having babies. She found a small stuffed ball that was covered with fake fur and that furry ball became her baby.  She would carry it around and cry to it, lay the ball by her stomach as if it nurse it and cuddle and clean it. This went on for years and years!

One April Fools Day I had a brilliant idea!  I called my husband at work and told him Mickey was acting weird. I told him she was crying and biting at her stomach like she was in pain. He told me to watch her and if she got worse he said to take her to the vet. I let an hour go by and called him a little more hysterical saying how I was so worried about Mickey because she was getting worse and I didn't know what was wrong!  He then told me to take her to the vet. Smiling, I hung up the phone and then called our vet and asked them if they would help me with my April Fools joke. 

Our vet was absolutely awesome as I told her my plan and laughed as she told me they would love helping me out. I waited another hour and an half and I called my husband back. I excitedly told him that Mickey had given birth to one little miraculous kitten!  I told him that the vet said this was a very rare occurrence but one in a million cats have kittens after being spade. I told him I wanted to name our precious new kitten "Miracle"!  I then asked him to pick up Mickey and her baby on his way home from work. He hardly agreed and was so excited to see our little "Miracle".

My husband said that when he got to the vet and told them he was there to pick up our cat and kitten, the receptionist smiled at him strangely and went to the back and got several of the people that work there.  They all told him April Fools and told him there was no way a spade cat can get pregnant and laughed at how good I had gotten him.  He came home and said that was the best April Fools joke ever and he had fallen for it hook, line and sinker.  That was over ten years ago and we have never pulled an April Fools joke on each other since.

As it think back now, I can see this was really a mean and terrible thing to do to my husband.  Although he laughs about it now, I think about how demeaning it must have felt to go into the vets office and have everyone laugh at him.  I made my husband the brunt of a joke and it really hurts my heart to have caused him any pain or humiliation.

In society today it is normal to make fun of our husbands and make them the brunt of the joke, to belittle them to other people and make them feel small in who they are as men.  Sadly I have done this to my husband too many times.  You see, my husband is an amazing man created in the image of God, but when I don't uplift him and encourage him but rather tear him down and belittle him, I am breaking the incredible gift God has given me in him. God is molding him into the man He needs him to be, the man I need him to be, and the man that can change world but I can so easily hinder what God is doing in his life by my words and actions.  How can my husband live a life to the potential God has made him for, if I am tearing him down in anyway.  I have to constantly be aware of my words, actions and attitude so I do not say anything that would tear him down, embarrass him in front of others or make him feel less of the amazing man God created him to be.

I truly am so thankful for, and love the gift God has given me in my husband!  So this year I choose not to fool or make a fool of my husband but this year I choose to give him a small gift to let him know how much I love him and what a treasure he is to me!

I Love you Chep Day and I'm so thankful for the love you show me each ad everyday! Happy April Fool's Day!

Purple Day

 

Yesterday we did Purple day at church and we had so much fun!  For the kids I told the story of Lydia and her conversion and we also learned why purple cloth was so expensive and how they made it. 

 

 

For our Bible review game we cut pieces of paper that said candy or purple on them and stuck them in balloons and blew them up.  If the kids answered a question correctly they received a balloon and got to pop it and receive either a piece of candy or an item off the purple table.  They loved this and it was quite hilarious watching them try to pop the balloons.  In all the fun, frenzy and mayhem of popping the balloons I didn't get any pictures of the game! 

 

 

Everyone was so creative for our purple fellowship.  These sweet potatoes were so purple!  We had purple cakes, purple coleslaw, purple jello, purple deviled eggs, purple rolls, purple meatballs and so much more.  It was all sooooo good!

 

This month we gave a purple basket filled with purple things to the person who brought the most people to church for the month of March and a teenager won it!  She was so excited to win this basket of goodies!

 

Of course everyone in the church dressed up in purple and everyone looked so nice!  This was favorite picture of my favorite little people.  Baby girl is my MiniMe in so many ways.  Not only does she look exactly like my baby pics but she is so serious!  I really think she is gong to be just like me and silly crazy people are going to drive her nuts!

 

April is Blessing Month and we are excited for everything we have planned for it, as we testify of all the blessings God has showered on us and also find ways to bless the people in our church and those around us! 

You Can't Leave Us Hanging!

First I have to post a good picture of Keith and the girls.  In yesterday's post I posted a picture of Keith pouting and crying and although it fit with what the point I was trying to get across, I love pictures of my babies smiling and showing their personalities!  Aren't they all adorable!

Our Wednesday night story board of Jonah is growing!  Every night we review what we have learned up to this point and the kids love shouting the answers out as we go over each verse and each point.  Tonight we finished Jonah 3:9 and talked about how the King hoped if they repented to God, that God might not destroy Nineveh and they might not perish as Jonah had gone through the city preaching.  We then talked about John 3:16 and how God promises us that if we believe in Jesus and His sacrifice we also will not perish, which led us to talk about repenting and salvation.

As I was finished putting the pictures on the story board and was getting ready to end our story time, one of the girls said, "Come on Mrs. Amy, we can't be done for the night!'.  I asked her what she meant and she said, "Every night you tell us more of the story and then you get to an epic point and then you stop and tell us we have to come back next week to hear the rest!  You can't do that!"

I smiled at her and asked her what I couldn't do.  She said "Leave us hanging!"  I laughed and told her we were not quite down with the story yet tonight.  We continued to talk about salvation and I then looked at the girl and smiled and said' "You want to hear what happens next?"  All the kids yell, "Yes!!!"  Still smiling I told them..... "You have to come back next week!"  Groans came from around the room as the kids exclaimed it wasn't fair, they didn't want to stop, they knew I was going to say that!  I love that even though we are going so slowly through the book of Jonah, that they are hanging on every verse and wanting to hear more and more of God's Word.  Truly there is nothing better than teaching these precious kids God's Word and seeing a thirst and desire as they learn who God truly is and what He can do in our lives when we follow and submit to His will and way.

Another Day in the Ministry to teach, to love, to give, to help, to encourage and fellowship with God's people!  I absolutely love my life!

We Need to Call Sin What It Is

It all started a couple Sundays ago when Keith got a piece of candy for answering a Bible review question.  He was not happy with the candy he got and wanted to trade it for something different.  Neither his mom or I let him trade so he went and sat down, crying and pouting and threw the candy he did get on the floor.  After class I took him aside and was explaining to him that being discontented with what he was given was a sin and then he also sinned by sitting and throwing a fit because he didn't get his own way.  One of the older ladies heard me and came up and said, "Awww.... he is so cute.  You know he's only four, you can't tell a four year old he's sinning.  You should just let him have the candy he wants.  He is such a sweet little boy!" 

 Sadly this is the thought process of the world today. We cannot confront our children with sin because they are too young, because we don't want to hurt their feelings and they are just too cute.  If we don't start training them now to see sin in their lives, will they be able to recognize sin in their lives as they grow and become teens and adults? Have we ourselves, been so sheltered from the sin in our lives that we do not see and recognize it, let alone repent of it?  Is this why we see sin running rampant in the lives of people who proclaim they are Christians but are living like the world?

I recently was reading about Amy Carmichael and her work rescuing temple children and teaching them of the love of God and their need for a Savior.  One young girl who was living with and being taught by Amy, came up to her and started naming the sins she had committed that day on her fingers.  One - she had been cross with the other kids twice that morning, two - because she was cross she broke up the unity of the game the kids were playing,  three - she had not done her morning work well, and four - she chewed on her pencil lead that she had been told not to chew on. 

What struck me about this story was that as a child, this little girl who was only seven years old, was conscious of her sins and knew she needed to confess and repent.  Why was she so conscious of her sin at such a young age?  Because Amy Carmichael was not afraid to call sin what it is, sin.

Every week I teach the kids about sin and every week when I ask the kids to tell me a sin they yell out, hitting your brother, saying bad words, lying, disobeying your parents, killing.  These are the ones they know are a sin and they shouldn't do but what about the more common sins.  Do we teach our kids to acknowledge selfishness, pride, being mad or upset, discontentment, and other sins of the heart and mind in their lives daily?  Are we calling sin what it is in our children's lives or do we let a lot of things slide because they are so little, so cute, cause we don't want to hurt their growing personalities?  

If we are going to raise children who are strong in their faith, strong in their desire to live a godly life, following the one who loved them and died for their sins, then we have to call sin what it is, sin.  At the same time, we as parents need to make sure that we are also acknowledging the sin in our lives.  Pride, selfishness, greed, lustful, hateful thoughts, being angry, discontented, or dishonest are just a few of the sins of the heart and mind that affect each of us daily.  If our kids see us doing these things and not acknowledging them and not repenting, we are setting our kids up for a life of being trapped in these very same sins.  Every sin that we have in our lives and we do not acknowledge or repent of, gives room in our lives for even more sins.  Sadly today we see so many Christians involved in sexual immoarilty, drunkedness, witchcraft, brawling, and so many other wicked imaginations and I believe it all starts because we are not calling sin what it is, sin in our own lives, let alone in in the lives of our young children.

So if you come to our church and you see me hunkered down on eye level with my four year old grandson, explaining to him what he is doing wrong, how it is a sin and how God hates when we sin, please know, it is not because I'm trying to squash his personality or that I'm a mean grandma.  It's because I'm trying to help raise a young man who will live a life that pleases God, who serves God with all his heart and one who will be able to see sin in his life and stop it before it gets out of hand.   I love my grandchildren with all my heart and because I love them so much, when I see them sinning and doing wrong I must call sin what it is, sin.

1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.





My New Candy Machine - AKA Behavor Motivator

For years I used this gumball machine for a behavior motivator and it worked so well.  The kids would sit up extra straight and tall and would listen very carefully so they could win a chance at getting a gumball!   Several years ago someone tipped it over and it broke!  It was at a time when I was no longer teaching Jr. Church so I never replaced it.  This year I am again helping teach in Jr. Church and after a rough class last week of disruptive kids I decided we needed to implement this again.

 

I looked online at gumball machines, but they wanted over a hundred dollars for one that was the size I wanted and wasn't plastic.  I told my husband I would just have to come up with another idea for a behavior motivator when he asked me why I didn't just use our boys old one.

 

 

When my boys were teenagers, their Aunt Carol tried to help them to become entrepreneurs and make their own money by giving each boy their own candy machine.  For several years they had these machines in their dad's workplace and made a little bit of change.  When we moved to Wyoming and one boy went to college, the machines went into our storage shed and have been sitting there for years.  My husband got one of the machines out and I washed it up and took it into my Jr. Church room.

 

I filled the three candy containers with Mike and Ike's, Skittles, and Reese's Pieces.

 

I then took a bag of peanut M&M's and separated the colors.

 

I put the green M&M's in the Reese's Pieces, the blue ones in the skittles and the yellow ones in the Mike and Ike's and then mixed the M&M's into the candy.

 

Every Sunday I'll give a quarter to the best behaved girl and boy in the class.  (I'm a softie and if the whole class is being good, the whole class will get quarters!)

 

If they just get candy and no M&M, the simply get to eat their handful of candy.

 

But if they get a special M&M in their handful of candy, they then get to pick a prize out of the Treasure Chest.

 

 

I got this foot locker years ago from a thrift store for a dollar.  I spent some time cleaning it up and painting it and I have used it in my Bible Adventure Club and my Jr. Church for many years.

 

Inside are all kinds of fun things I have found on clearance.  Small stuffed animals, cars, puzzles, jump ropes, ect.  The kids just love picking out of the treasure box!  

 

Looking forward to Sunday and using our new behavior motivatior!

 





Apple Bible Review Game

 

The Apple review is one of our kids favorite Bible review games.  First I printed out 24 apples and cut them out.

 

On the back of each apple I put a number (1-10) or a worm.  I put at least one worm on every three to four cards.  The apples can then be put on a table or hung on the wall.  We put the apples on our giant dry erase board.

 

Each child gets a Bible review question and if they answer the question correctly they get to pick an apple.  If the apple has a number on it the child gets that point amount for their team. 

 

We usually play girls against boys as the competition always gets fierce!   As long as the child picks an apple with a number on the back, they then have the choice whether to pick another apple or not.  Their team yells at them encouraging them to either pick another apple or to stop and keep the points they have.  They can keep picking apples until they want to stop or they pick a apple with a worm on it.

 

 

If they pick an apple with a worm on it, they lose ALL their teams points and their turn ends!  The kids really have to think if they are going to chance the points their team have or hope to win their team more points.  This game can get really loud as they shout out encouragement and advice to their teammates.  The winning team gets a small treat, IF there is a winning team.  Yesterday the kids kept picking apples and eventually both teams lost all their points by picking wormy apples! 

 

As the kids pick the apples, I carefully put them back on the board as the child sits down.  This way we don't run out of apples to choose from and the kids are so excited they don't notice me actually putting them back up!  After the game, stow the apples in a bag for quick access.  If you're kids love this as much as ours do, you're going to want to keep this one in your rotation of review games! 



I Want You To Know.....

My dear friend, I want you to know I understand, I've been there too.  I have been in the grocery store, going down the aisle looking for a box of Kashi and a can of corn when I suddenly see her.  The one that I used to be such good friends with, the one I laughed and cried with, the one who encouraged me in God and helped me to grow spiritually and emotionally.  She was truly a great friend and then.......I don't know what happened.  Our worlds that were so connected in friendship were no longer aligned.  Something harsh was said and then a few ugly things were said and we stopped talking and started avoiding each other.  Seeing her in the store I'm not sure what I felt.  A little panic, a little fear, a lot of uncomfortableness......so what do I do?  I suddenly become very interested in the box of oatmeal that's on the shelf right by me, reading the label and praying she doesn't see me and walks right past.

This scenario has played out many times in our life and ministry.   I have known and been friends with so many people but when the friendship moves on or they choose to move their family to a different church, you are left heartbroken and often confused as to what happened.  It's painful to run into them, I mean what do you say?  Do you confront them and ask why they said such and such thing about you, it wasn't true and hurt you deeply.  Why did they leave and go to a new church without telling you and your husband, let alone telling you why they actually left?  Ask them what happened to your friendship, what happened to make you drift apart?  Those questions or a thousand others could be asked, but in essence you don't want to know the answer as it would probably just hurt you more.

For years I will admit, I would hurry and hide behind the bread display and peek around the corner until they were gone in order to avoid them.  I would breath a sigh of relief but the near run in would be in my thoughts for days as I thought about and mulled over the hurt that I thought I had finally gotten over.  One morning as I was praying over a near run in with someone that made me hyperventilate and want to hid, (yes my past experience with this lady was that bad!!!)  God told me something very specific.  There are no coincidences.  Did I truly believe that God was in control of my life and was leading and guiding me in every moment?  If so, then in my life, there are no coincidences.  Only God ordained instances.

Meaning, when I run into someone in the store that I want to avoid, God was directing their feet and my feet to that very specific place at that very specific time.  It wasn't just accidental or a coincidence, it was God moving in my life to restore me to the place where I need to be.  As God works in my life to mature me in Him, sometimes I need to face difficult situations in order to deal with them even when all I want to do is run from them.  Even when I think I'm okay and the situation is done and over, God truly knows my heart.  God can not use me to the fullest extent when I have any sinful emotions in my heart such as unforgiveness, strife or discord and if I'm avoiding someone I know I am having one or more of those emotions!   

So with this in mind, I have chosen no longer to hide behind the bread display.  When God ordains a meeting with someone I might have unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment or even a little anger toward, I walk up to them and speak to them.  I speak to them and make small chit chat and let them see the love of Christ in me.  Sometimes my heart is beating a mile a minute, sometimes my knees are knocking or sometimes I can barely breath but I want to live the moments that God gives me.  The moments He gives me to love when I don't want to love and forgive when I don't want to forgive.  When I walk away, my heart is still beating a mile a minute and my knees are still knocking  but I feel so much better knowing that I loved as God wants to me to love and I have worked on an issue that deep down has been holding my heart back from totally following Him.

With those thoughts, my dear friend who hid behind the canned chicken today, I want you to know I understand.  I love you and am praying for you to embrace and live each moment God gives you as He continues to lead you and guide you in the path He has for you.  Stand tall and strong, walk with courage, and speak with boldness knowing that He is standing behind you, holding you up with His right hand.  This life is a journey of living, growing and changing into a beautiful vessel He can use in every situation, while being a witness to every person.  He is using you to touch hearts and lives now and I am excited to see what he does as you keep your heart open to Him and His God ordained instances.

Love and Prayers ~Amy