Your name was written on His palm

Did you know, while our King was on the cross,

Your face was in his eyes,

Your life was in his mind,

Your sin was on his back,

Love of you, was in his heart,

for beloved, your name was written on his palm.

Before the girls head out on Friday morning, I will stamp thier hands in red and write thier names across thier palm, that they will remember Christ's death was not a generic salvation plan for all - it was for them. May you too remember that Christ died for you - specifically, wonderfully for you. You are his beloved.

Holy Week Devotions

I have posted the daily family devotions for Holy Week (Monday-Sunday) up on my website. I hope they are a blessing to your family as you walk through this week of remembering Christ's sacrifice for us.
I am looking at my week ahead and looking for ways to make it quieter. As a family we will say no to a number of things this week; playdates, workouts, errands, and TV time are going to be set aside this week. In its place we're going to attend a family Maundy Thursday service, do our daily devotions and spend some more time together as a family.
I wish your family a wonderful week.

Week 6 Family Devotion

It is hard to believe that Easter is almost here. Palm Sunday is my favorite church service of the year. This year both girls are singing in the service, which will make it extra special. There is something about remembering Jesus' arrival. This one last truimphant welcome he recieved before such a dark week. This year both girls are singing in service, which will make it extra special for Pete and I. (of course that is if we don't get socked with the big blizzard they are predicting for this weekend). Next week I will be posting daily devotions for your family starting on Monday.


Week 6: Life through the Son

Introduction: Last week we looked at Jesus’ teachings about our relationships with other people, but what about our relationship with God? What did Jesus teach us about that? This week we will look at two readings about how to have an eternal relationship with God.

Readings: John 5: 24 (Discuss question 1 before the second reading)
John 14: 1-7


Discussion Questions:
1. Reread verse 24. There are a lot of big things in this one small verse. Talk as a family about what it means to: hear Jesus’ word and believe, have eternal life, to not be condemned, and cross over from death to life.
2. John 14: 1-7 is one of Jesus’ last teachings before he was arrested, tried and crucified. He had been telling the disciples that he would be leaving them soon. They were scared, sad and confused. They did not understand where he was going but they knew that they did not want to be separated from him. Thomas asks two questions, “where are you going Jesus?” and “how can we get there?” Answer Thomas questions.
3. In today’s second reading Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you come to God through His son and gained eternal life? Take some time tonight to discuss with each family member where they stand on these important questions. For those accepting Jesus Christ for the first time see the following section and prayer. For those who have previously accepted Jesus, take time to recommit your life to Him.

Prayer: Close your devotional time in prayer. For example:
Dear Heavenly Father,We thank you for this time together to learn about your son Jesus Christ. Thank you for sending him to die for our sins. We thank and praise you Lord for the gift of eternal life through your Jesus. In his name we pray, amen.

And March's winner is...

Do you hear a little drumroll in your head? ..... The winner is Meredith. Congrats. Meredith is my bloggy friend, who I really need to get my act together and drive down south and meet her for coffee one of these days. She is a gifted writer, very creative mom and a great sister in the Lord, so if you don't read her blog - go check it out.

Oh how nice plans go astray

Last week I blogged all my lovely St. Patrick’s Day plans. Well, there should be a saying about the well meant plans of mothers. Those lovely plans do have a tendency to go south pretty darn quick don’t they?
Last Monday, the girls came home excited to make the St. Patrick’s Day cookies that we made last year. They donned their cute little aprons from Auntie Fara and we set to work. Well, half way through, Sarah decided they really should be green cookies with white frosting this year instead of the other way around. I thought I shouldn’t be a control freak – after all, it is about the experience of cooking together not the end product right? Well, no. A few moments into Sarah squirting a LOT of food coloring into our dough, I realized, it wasn’t. As much as I want to be that calm “who cares what the cookies that we bring to Grandma’s St. Patties dinner look like,” kind of mom. I am just not really that mom. Deep down (actually not that deep) I wanted pretty cookies. Now the dough had way too much coloring and was overly mushy but I decided to just plop them on the baking sheet and throw them in the oven. By this point I was getting testy, and so were the girls. When the first batch came out of the oven, it was all over. The mushy dough had just sort of spread all over the cookie sheet instead of turning into cookies. I tried to be funny and said we had made leprechaun poop. (that’s funny, right?) Sarah was distraught that her cookies were ugly, and Emily wisely wandered off. End of happy bonding time.
An hour or so later, I emerged from a cleaned up kitchen, I had salvaged some of the dough and made some respectable cookies, but our happy afternoon was gone. Sure, I was frustrated with the cookies, but I was mostly frustrated with my loss of good time with the girls. Time with the girls seems to be in shorter and shorter supply these days, I hate to waste it. Looking back I realize that going into our baking adventure, I was rushed for time and stressed out from work. Sarah wisely said that evening, “Mommy I wish we could have just played a game together.” That’s exactly what we should have done, instead of trying to shove creating cute cookies into our busy calendar.
So friends, I really think there needs to be a saying about how the well meant plans of moms go astray, to help remind me when to throw my plans out the window, and also to make me laugh.

Making cookies when there’s too much to do, results in sticky leprechaun poo…
Or ... I don't know, what do you think? Send me your mommy saying ideas.

Week 5 Devotion

Here is the devotion for this week. I pray it is a blessing to your family.

Introduction: In the last two weeks, we have read about Jesus’ disciples and the miracles he performed. But what was Jesus saying when he was preaching? What was he teaching? This week we will look at two readings about how Jesus wanted us to treat others.

Readings: Luke 6:27-36 Love for our enemies (Discuss questions 1 and 2 before the second reading)
Matthew 7:1-5 Judging others
Discussion Questions:
1. There are many people in our lives who we love, such as our families and friends. But what about our enemies? The kid at school who always has something hurtful to say. The co-worker who makes the office difficult to face at times, do we love them? “Of course not,” you say? What does Jesus call us to do?

2. In today’s reading, Jesus names several things we can do for our enemies. Bless them, pray for them, love them, give to them, and show them mercy. Do you have any enemies, or people you just don’t particularly like? If so which of these things can you do for them?

3. Have you ever been judged by someone else? How did that make you feel?

4. Re read Matthew 7: 1 Jesus teaches that we will be measured by the same measure that we use against other people. If we judge others, we too will be judged! Discuss as a family ways in which you have judged people in the past and how you can grow to stop judging others.

My little Wednesday date

Wednesday are Emily and I's day. Monday and Tuesday morning she goes to school and Thursday she is at grandma's all day, so Wednesdays are our day to hang out and for me to get a big Emmie fix. She is growing up so fast I can't stand it. She is already such a big girl, which makes me sad at times, but I love our new adventures. For the last few months our Wednesday morning routine has been to drop off Sarah at school then head to Starbucks. Emmie gets milk and a donut and I get a grande Pike Place. The Denver Post has a kid page on Wednesdays in the Food Section. Last week, she loved it as it was talking about the Iditarod. She carried her paper around all morning. After Starbucks we head to the library for story time and to pick out our week's worth of magazines, books and movies. We normally end up at the library for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Then it is home to play, have lunch and take a nap - together. I tell myself she's more likely to take a nap with me, but frankly I love to cuddle up with Emmie and share our new library books - and on a good day some zzz's.

Lent Week 4 Family Devotion and Activity

Introduction: Last week we looked at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and how he called many people to follow him. During Jesus’ life he performed many wondrous miracles that included healing the sick and blind, walking on water, calming storms, and raising the dead. Today we are going to read about two of Jesus’ miracles. We will read about how Jesus fed 5,000 people from the small offering of a young boy and how Jesus healed ten men with leprosy.

Readings: John 6: 1-13 Jesus feeds 5,000
Luke 17: 11-19 Ten Healed with Leprosy


Discussion Questions:
1. “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6: 9. The problems of this world are many. There are many who go hungry each day, many who are homeless, many who are unloved. It is easy to get overwhelmed and think, “What difference can I make?” In this story we see that Jesus took the small offering of a generous boy and turned it into a feast to feed 5,000 people – with leftovers too! God can do the same with your offering. It may be an offering of time to help someone in need, an offering of money to feed the hungry or an offering of praying regularly for those in need. God can do great things through you! Is your family doing a Lenten giving project? There are still several weeks until Easter. You have plenty of time to make a miracle happen through your family’s project. You could bring food to a local food bank, visit with residents of a local nursing home or invite people at your church who will be alone on Easter, to join in your family celebrations. Discuss something your family may want to do for others this Easter season.

2. The gift of healing was the lepers greatest wish come true, yet only one of them came back to thank Jesus. It is easy to think, “I would have been the one to thank him! How rude of those men!” Yet, Jesus has given us all an even greater gift than healing – the gift of eternal life through him. Ye how often do we stop and thank him for that? In ways great and small, God blesses our lives each day. We have so much to be thankful for. As a family, take some time to write down the things you are grateful for. You can also create a gratitude basket as described below.

Prayer: Close your devotional time with a prayer. For example:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this time together to learn about your son Jesus. Thank you for all the many gifts you have given us. Help us to always remember Lord to thank you for your abundant goodness. Lord we ask for your guidance and assistance as we go forward with our Lenten giving project. We ask for a special blessing on those who will be benefiting from it. May you receive the glory of our efforts. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Activity: Gratitude Baskets

Introduction: Baskets are everywhere at Easter time. Some families decorate their houses with baskets for the Easter season. Many children receive baskets full of candies and gifts on Easter morning. Today we are going to make a special basket. Instead of filling this basket with candies or new toys, this basket will be filled with things that we have already received from God. This will be our Gratitude Basket. This basket can sit out throughout the Easter season and continue to be filled with our thanksgiving and gratitude toward God.
In the fourth devotion we read about Jesus healing ten men who had leprosy. Only one of them came back to thank Jesus. We don’t want to be like one of the nine who just walked away. We want to follow the example of the one who came back to thank Jesus for what he had done. Throughout the bible, we learn that it is right to thank God for our many blessings. Ephesians 5:20 says that we should be “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Materials Needed:
· One medium size basket or a small basket for each member of the family
· Decorations such as ribbons, paint, glitter glue, silk flowers – whatever your family likes *
· Paper – either cut 9 x 11 paper into squares or use a small pad of paper.
· Pen/pencils/crayons

Directions:
1. Decorate your basket/baskets
2. Write down things that you are grateful for and put them in the basket. Encourage younger children to draw pictures of things they are grateful for or write down their responses for them.
3. Set your basket out with a pen/pencil and extra paper. Encourage family members to continue to add things to the basket between now and Easter.
4. Pick a time either on or after Easter to take everything out of the basket and read them out loud. This could be a great activity to do over dessert at Easter dinner.

** Attention Parents : When choosing decorations for your gratitude baskets, try to avoid commercial Easter images such as rabbits and eggs. This will draw a distinction between this basket and a traditional “Easter basket.” Many craft stores these days carry a line of religious Easter decorations which may include crosses, lilies, or lambs.

Celebrating St. Pattys

I love St. Patrick's Day. I think it is such a great time to pass on to my girls some love of their Irish heritage (now we just need a Scottish and Norwegian holiday) It makes me sad that St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in America as a drunken fest, giving most Americans the association of the Irish people and drunkenness.

There are so many beautiful aspects of the Irish culture, these are the ways we try to honor them this week.

Faith - St. Patrick is celebrated for bringing the Christian faith to Ireland. He used the clover leaf to teach about the trinity. The three leaves represented the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We started making clover leaf cookies last year, to use to talk about the trinity as St. Patrick did.

Music and dance - this year we are going again to the Denver Brass, Bagpipes and Co. It is a wonderful showcase of Celtic dance and music. Emily is going for the first time this year. I can't wait to see her reaction to the show.

Food - We make Irish soda bread each year. The same as my mom does.

Literature and Legends- when we were in Ireland a few years ago, we bought some wonderful children's books of Irish legends. The girls especially love the legends of Aoife and Finn McCool.

The last thing we do, but not this week, is travel. We want the girls to know the countries their family came from. The above picture is Sarah in Ireland at about 20 mos old. How does your family pass on Irish or other national heritages to your children?

Irish Soda Bread

This weekend the girls and I will bake a few loafs of Irish Soda bread. My grandmother's family came from Ireland, and my mom always made a few loafs of this bread in the days leading up to St. Patrick's Day. It is a great bread to have with a cup of tea. I like it toasted with butter for breakfast. Yum!

Here is my mom's recipe. It makes two loafs.

4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 cups raisins or currents
1 egg
1 3/4 cups buttermilk (I buy dry buttermilk powder that you can keep in the fridge)

Combine first 5 ingredients, add butter, add raisins, beat egg and add to mixture.

Divide dough into two halves. On a floured surface, form dough into a rounded loaf. Cut a cross into the top of the loaf. Bake loaves on a cookie sheet at 375 for 35-40 mins.

Family Lent Devotion - Week 3

Week 3: Jesus’ ministry begins

Introduction: Can you imagine getting up right now, leaving everything, and walking out your front door to follow Jesus? Sounds crazy right? But that is just what many people did when Jesus was alive. They heard Jesus speak or saw Him perform a miracle, and they instantly left their lives behind to follow him. Last week we learned about Jesus’ baptism. Soon after his baptism, Jesus began his ministry. As his ministry began to grow, he was not alone. He was calling men to be his followers. Jesus had followers from all walks of life. In today’s reading, we will read about Levi the tax collector, better known as the apostle Matthew.
Reading: Luke 5: 27-32 The calling of Levi

Discussion Questions:
1. Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to follow him. In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were not popular people. In fact, most people hated them! But, Levi sets a great example. He got up, left everything and followed Jesus. Levi even holds a banquet so that his friends can come and meet Jesus. God wants us to help our friends to meet Jesus too. If you could host a banquet celebrating Jesus, who would you invite to it and what would you share with them about Jesus?
2. It’s easy to think that there are people more qualified than us to teach people about Jesus. What about pastors, elders, teachers, they all know more right? What can we learn from the example of Jesus picking a tax collector to be one of his followers and later an apostle?
3. Reread verses 31 -32. What type of person did Jesus want to follow him? Do we need to be perfect to follow him?

Prayer: Close your devotional time in a prayer. For example:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this time together to learn about your son Jesus. Thank you for the example Matthew gives us. Help us to remember to share Jesus with our friends, co-workers and classmates, just like Matthew shared Jesus with his fellow tax collectors. Thank you Jesus, for coming to save everyone, not just people who are perfect or righteous. Thank you for coming for us. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Pete's chocolate cake

Pete loves chocolate cake. Really super, chocolatey cake. The last few years I have made this cake for Pete from The Cake Doctor cookbook. It is such a great cake, I thought I would share it with you all.

Darn Good Chocolate Cake

1 devil food cake mix

1 (3.9) package of chocolate pudding

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup oil (or apple sauce)

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Mix all together, bake in a greased Bundt pan at 350 for 45-50 mins

Pan Frosting:

1 stick butter

4 tbls unsweetened cocoa

1/3 cup whole milk

4 cups confectioners sugar

melt butter in med saucepan. Add cocoa and milk, bring to a boil, remove from heat and stir in sugar until frosting is thick and smooth. Frost while warm onto a cool cake. Serve cake with raspberries and vanilla ice cream.

Hope your family enjoys it as much as we do!

Lent Family Devotion - Week 2

John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus
Introduction: John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin. God had a special job for John. His job was to prepare people for the Savior’s coming. John taught people to prepare themselves by repenting of their sins. He baptized them in the Jordon River as a sign of their repentance.

Reading: Matthew 3: 1-6 and 13-17 John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus

Discussion Questions:
1. Imagine yourself as John, how would you have felt having Jesus come to you to be baptized? Would you have felt honored, nervous, or maybe that you wanted Jesus to be the one to baptize you instead?
2. Now imagine that you were standing on the bank of the Jordon River watching Jesus’ baptism. You would not have known who Jesus was. What would you have thought when you saw God’s response to Jesus’ baptism? What would you have told people about this man named Jesus?
3. John taught people to repent of their sins for the Savior was coming. Lent is a good time for us to remember that Jesus is coming again, and we need to repent for our sins too. Take some quiet time as a family to pray for forgiveness for any sins that may be on your heart.

Prayer: Close your devotional time with a prayer. For example:
Dear Heavenly Father,
We thank you for this time together. We thank you for the lessons we have learned tonight through your word. Help us to remember John’s message that we need to prepare our hearts, as you are indeed coming again. Help us to turn away from our sins, Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

February's winner and March's drawing announcement

This is so fun. The winner for February is ... my mom! Isn't that fun! It gave me such a big smile when I pulled her name. Of course I called her right away to tell her. So as soon as I can get with Joanne to have her autograph the book, mom, you will be getting a copy of Misplacing God. I know you will love it as much as I did.

I am so excited about March's drawing. The drawing is for a Disciple's Candle set. The Disciple's Candle is a devotion tool/Easter decoration that our family uses to mark the time between Jesus' death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Read more about it here. The prize will include a glass hurricane, pillar candle, crown of thorns, and silk flowers. I am so excited to share this beautiful Easter tradition with you. So leave comments during the month of March and I will draw one as the winner.

The unmodern things I hope to teach my girls

This morning Emily (3) found a pair of scissors and cut holes in her pants, "to find her knees." They are a great pair of pants that have a very cute top and jacket that match, so out came my sewing kit and I patched them up. It was interesting to watch Emily's reaction to me sewing. She asked if I was going to throw away the pants. I told her to wait - viola - mama is a magician - no more holes, and she is back into her little pants.

As I was fixing the pants, I was thinking that I hope my girls will know how to fix a hole instead of just throwing the pants away. I thought of a whole list of very unmodern things I hope to teach my girls. Some of them, frankly, I don't even know how to do, but I want to learn. (I put a star by them)

Here is my list:

1. Darn a hole


2. Sew on a button


3. Knit - with Irish blood I think this is a must :)


4. Use a sewing machine to make something to wear*


5. Bake bread from scratch


6. Make spaghetti sauce, soup and stews from scratch


7. Grow a garden


8. Can what she grows *


9. Do embroidery work (my grandmother was amazing at this!)


10. Make a variety of dinners without a cookbook

Pretty unmodern huh? Of course I want my girls to go to college and have careers that fill their souls - but I also hope they learn the traditional things that their grandmothers and great grandmothers did before them. What about you? What traditional things are you teaching your girls - or hope to?

Family Devotion for the first week of Lent

Happy Ash Wednesday everyone. Okay I really thought about how to say that. Ash Wednesday isn't really about "happy," but personally I always am happy to start the Lenten season as it brings my family together to study the life of Christ and prepare for Easter - so that is happy, right? Below is the devotion for this week.

I still have a few sets of the bracelet and banner set, if you would like one. A few people thought I was selling them, but I am just giving them to you if you would like one. So let me know.

Note: You will need paper and pens/pencils for today's devotion.

Introduction: The Christmas tree and decorations may have been put away for a while now, but the story of Jesus' birth is something to celebrate and think about all year round. Before reading on, have one of the children in your family recount the story of Jesus' birth.

After the visit from the Magi, Joseph is visited by an angel in a dream, telling him to get up and move his family to Egypt for Jesus' safety. The family stayed in Egypt until after the death of Herod, and then they moved to Nazareth, where Jesus would grow up. There Jesus grew and learned like any other child, but he was far from being just an average little boy. In today's reading, we will read about Jesus' visit to the temple when he was 12 years old.

Reading: Luke 2: 41-52 Boy Jesus at the Temple

Discussion Questions:

1. Jesus replies to his worried mother, "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house." Luke 2: 49. But nobody understood what he meant. What did Jesus mean?
   
2. Verse 52 gives us our last glimpse of Jesus as a child. The next time we see Jesus, he is a grown man. Reread verse 52. Isn't it amazing to think that the perfect son of God was taking time to grow in wisdom, and statue and in favor with God and men? What does it mean to grow in each one of these areas?
   
3. Jesus gives us a wonderful example of four areas in which we can grow. We are still at the beginning of a new year. Next December wouldn't it be great to look back and say that you have followed Christ's example and grown in the same four areas? Make a list for each family member of ways that they would like to grow in the coming year. Put your list in a place where it can be seen to serve as a reminder in the coming months.
   

   
   

   Here are some examples: I would like to grow in wisdom by joining a bible study. I would like to grow in favor with men by learning to control my temper.
   

Prayer: Close your devotional time with a prayer. For example:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank you for this time together. We thank you for your Word and the opportunity to learn more about Jesus' life. Help us Lord, to learn to grow as Jesus did, so that with each passing day, we learn to walk more in your ways. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Reagan is our Joy

This is the first time that I have called on all you wonderful prayer warriors out there. Tonight, I am asking each of you to join me in praying for the Glavach family. Our dearest friends Manya and Landy Glavach with their family welcomed their niece Reagan Joy Glavach to this world yesterday. Reagan had been diagnosed with Trisomy 18, several months ago.
Reagan's parents Dan and Marceline have spent the last few months celebrating Reagan's life and preparing for her time here with them. I encourage you to visit their blog- Reagan Is Our Joy - to read about their journey and see their beautiful family pictures. You can also leave Dan and Marceline a message of encouragement.
Today, shortly after her one day birthday, Reagan returned to her heavenly home. Will you join me in praying for this family tonight and in the coming days as they face celebrating the all too brief life of their precious daughter, grand daughter, niece, cousin and little sister.
In talking with Manya about this over the last few months, and reading Dan and Marceline's blog, I am just blown away by their strength, their honesty and their unwavering faith in God's love.
This was posted on thier website this evening.

If just for a day
If for just today we got to hold her, and love on her with all our might and strength and soul, then we did, and it was wonderful. She was perfect, a treasure, a little tiny joy from heaven that was ours. Thank you Reagan for spending this day with us.

36 hours of quiet

This weekend did not turn out as planned. Pete and I had plans to spend the weekend in Breckenridge to celebrate Pete’s birthday with friends from Florida. Well Thursday night (right on cue) Emily woke up throwing up. Friday morning both girls and I had high fevers, sore throats, and hacking coughs. We spent Friday on the couch watching lots of Noggin and High School Musical 3. By that afternoon, the girls had bounced back, but I was still sick. Saturday, the girls were fine. Me? Not so much.
Pete and I talked about it, and decided he should go ahead with our plans and head up to the mountains. My parents offered to still take the girls so I could get some rest. So Saturday afternoon everyone left, I looked around the house and realized that for the first time, maybe ever, I was looking at 36 hours in my house alone. Yes, I was still sick, but part of me was also pretty excited. Saturday I watched 2 girly movies that Pete would never watch. I headed to bed early. Sunday morning, I woke up with a whole empty quiet day in front of me. It was such a huge gift. I feel like my schedule has been pretty crazy lately. Between the girls, the house, Pete, and work – my normal life is full, fast paced and really really loud. It is the loud part that really gets to me. A friend once told me that she only has a certain amount of words she can say each day – then she is done. I can add to that, that there are only a certain about of words I can listen to each day, then my brain just overflows. One of my fantasy vacations is going to a monastery and taking a vow of silence for a week. Since I don’t think a monastery would take a 3 or 6 year old, I decided to grab my opportunity today.
So all day there was no TV, no radio, no talking… just quiet, lots and lots of quiet. I sat in the sun in my living room and read (a lot). I drank a whole pot of coffee (while it was still hot). I took a really long shower. I made two loafs of bread. I sewed some flower brooches. I soaked in a lot of silence. It was beautiful.
Thanks mom and dad – have I told you lately how much I appreciate you!

Crafts for Lent

Each year I pick a craft that the girls can make during Lent. They add a part each week when we do our devotion, until it is finished during Holy Week. I am trying to replace our family's secular Easter decorations of bunnies and eggs with decorations that remind us of the reason for Easter. Last year, the girls made decoupaged crosses. I intended them to be decorations that I brought out each spring, but I noticed last night that they are still hanging in the kitchen. They turned out beautiful, so they have just stayed.

This year, I wanted to create something that could hang somewhere in the house and would be a visual reminder of the stories we read. I was flipping through Oriental Trading (I would like to state that I really normally do not care for the stuff they sell) and I found these banners. I also found these bracelet kits. Happily there are 7 icons or charms to add - this will work out great as there are 7 devotions for Lent. So I have a dozen of each of these kits on their way to me.

I have 10 extra sets of each craft. Would your family like to join ours in making these during Lent? If you live near me, leave me a comment and I will happily get one to you. Please let me know which set you want - the banner or bracelet and how many you want. I think it would be so fun to have many of our kids making these same things - and wearing their new bracelets to church on Easter Sunday. I should have them next week.

Thinking about Lent ...

Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent. The last two years our family has done Lenten devotions and some sort of craft during the season to mark the approach of Easter. We have done the same devotions the last two years, and I was thinking that maybe we should do different ones this year to keep it fresh. But after reading through the Old Testament for the last 40 days, I have come to see the benefit of repeating stories each year as a teaching tool especially for children. Over and over you see the command to read or tell the stories of what God has done - from freeing the Israelites from Egypt retold at Passover to reading aloud the book of Ester each year at Purim.
So this year we are going to do the same devotions again. They are devotions I wrote two years ago. I posted them last year to do with your family, and I will post them again each week this year. The devotions track the life of Jesus, from his birth to his resurrection. They are stories I want my children (and Pete and I) to not only know by heart - but to hold in our hearts. I hope they will be a blessing to your family this spring as well.

** If you attend CCPC with me, Children's Ministry will be handing out copies of the devotions this Wed at the Ash Wed service and on Sunday.

Bible in 90 Days

This winter our church is offering a bible study called The Bible in 90 days. Yes, you guessed it, you read the bible in 90 days. Straight through. Cover to cover, in 90 days. As of this week, we have reached the halfway point. It has been an amazing experience so far. I had never read the entire bible before, so this has truly been a big learning experience for me. Chapter by chapter I feel like I am putting together the pieces of a giant puzzle. The bible stories I have known since I was a child are finding their place, smushed in between stories and entire books that were completely foreign to me before this year. Suddenly the big picture of God's Word is becoming so much clearer than ever before to me.

I am not the only one being amazed by the program. Over 600 people are taking the class at our church. Yes, 600! Isn't that incredible. (In case you are wondering how big our church is - we have about 1000 members) The church is offering classes almost every day of the week, so people can do their reading at home each day and then participate in a class once a week that works best for them. The great thing about being part of such a large group of people is that every where I go, I see someone else who is reading roughly the same pages of the bible that I read that day. I find myself talking about the bible with people at the grocery store, moms at kindergarten pick up, and with members of my church who I had never met before. If you walk by the copy room at church you are more likely to hear people talking about David and Bathsheba than Survivor. It has been so much fun.

The Denver Post recently ran a very nice article about our church's experience with the class. You can read it here.

What to do with all those little Valentines

Is your house overflowing with little Valentines? My girls both brought home bags of Valentines from their classmates this week. Of course they are very special and the girls want to keep them forever. I have been wondering what I can do with them and thought I would do the same thing that I did with our Christmas cards this year.

In January, I had Emily (3) paint one of the clementine wooden boxes we have piling up from the grocery store. We put all of our Christmas cards in it and each night the girls pick one out and we pray for that family. It has been a great lesson for our girls to learn and practice praying for their friends and our extended family members. This past week the girls have selected a few Christmas cards of their school friends, and I thought why not add their Valentines to the box too. I look forward to hearing the girls pray for friends and foes alike.

(I am going to put Emily's class picture in the bottom of the box to help Emily identify her classmates.)

Do you have ways that you are helping teach your children to regularly pray for thier friends or classmates? If so please share them.

I love you mail

Last year at MOPS we made little metal mailboxes for Valentine's Day. I loved them so much, that I bought three more and made one for each member of my family. We put the boxes out for the week of Valentine's Day and surprised one another with little notes or treats throughout the week. It was so fun.

Yesterday we got out the mailboxes and the mail has started already. It is so neat to see how the girls have changed since last February. Last year, Emily was just two and did not really participate in the giving side. This weekend she has been filling our boxes with her little treasures. Pete received a yellow lipstick ring, Sarah received a jewel and I have gotten stickers. Sarah's mail has also changed, from little treasures, to actual mail. Now that she can write more than her name, it is so fun getting little letters. The girls have been checking their mail boxes constantly as well. I have a few little inexpensive surprises for them this week including pink headbands, valentine socks and funny Pez dispensers. Each of them will get letters from me each day too. I have to admit that I have never really enjoyed Valentine's Day - but I am really looking forward to a week full of I Love you mail!

I'll let you know what turns up in my mailbox - I keep telling Pete that jewelry would fit nicely! :)

February's Drawing

Okay, so it has been brought to my attention that my last several posts have been big downers. Since I have another post coming that may be seen as a downer too, I thought I would break it up by announcing a drawing for the month. Hooray free things!

My dear friend Joanne Heim has a new book titled, Misplacing God: And Finding Him Again. My copy is on its way and I just can't wait to read it. Joanne is a gifted writer, a terrific mother and wife, and an amazingly dedicated Christian women. I was so blessed by her book The Simple Wife, I just can't wait to receive this new book. I will be talking more about the book later in the month - but for now, leave me a comment. Every comment you leave this month, will get you an entry into the drawing. I will draw the lucky winner on Feb 28th. Good Luck!

The almighty me

This week I am posting about loving our brothers and sisters in the name of Christ. If you missed the first post on this, stroll down and read it first, as this post will not make any sense. In my last post, I wrote about our family friend Phil and the loving care he received from his church family during his final days with us. His day time nurse, Mrs. Beckels and I struck up a little friendship during my visits to see Phil. One day she asked if I would mind getting her some lunch as she could not leave Phil. I went back to my apartment and made her some lunch. For the next few days I brought her lunch when I visited Phil. On Christmas Day I made up a plate for Mrs. Beckels and my daughter Sarah and I went down to see Phil. I’ll admit that if I hadn’t told Mrs. Beckels that I would bring her lunch, I probably would not have gone to see Phil on Christmas. To be pitifully honest, it was just too depressing to me. On the way to his apartment, I tried to think of anything happy to talk about that would not be awkward being that it was Christmas. I took a deep breath as I knocked on Phil’s door, expecting a depressing scene inside.
To my surprise, a man I had never seen before opened the door. As he welcomed us in, I was taken back, Phil’s apartment was packed. Members of his church, festively dressed, occupied every seat in the place, laughing, chatting and joyfully visiting. Room was made for Sarah and I to sit next to Phil. I was speechless as I was introduced around the room. “What are all these people doing here on Christmas?” I thought to myself. Sarah took center stage as everyone wanted to know if Santa had brought presents. With the naivety (or maybe stunning wisdom) of a child, she excitedly told everyone about her gifts, completely oblivious to the fact that there is a dying man in the center of the room. The room filled once again with chatter and laughter, and I was able to sit and take in this unexpected Christmas gathering. A few minutes after we arrived, there was another knock at the door, in came another group of visitors, led by Phil’s pastor (a bishop on the island). I quickly gave the bishop my seat of honor next to Phil. The love, happiness and joy that filled that room was too much for me, I made Sarah and I’s excuses and we left.
After I brought Sarah back home, I started to cry. I cried for joy for Phil that he was so greatly loved. I cried for joy for myself for getting to be part of a true Christmas gathering. One marked by the love of the very Savior we are celebrating, yet most of the time forget. But a big part of me also cried out of sadness for my own church at home. Would that picture be repeated in Denver? Probably not. You see we all have so very much to do don’t we? There are Christmas concerts, and meals and gatherings to attend. Beautiful large homes to deck and make picture perfect. There was never a dying man in a smelly apartment in the glossy pictures of Martha Stewart, was there?
So what were all those people doing there with Phil? It would be easy to say there had nowhere else to go. But that isn’t the case. Most of them had come from church services and several were discussing family dinners that they were hosting that evening. It was a choice to spend part of their day with Phil. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what brought those people there that day, and what keeps many of us (me) from doing that for our church family. I think the answer lies in a simple word – ME. The almighty ME. We are a self absorbed generation, living in a self absorbed land. So that I don’t offend anyone too much., I’ll speak personally here. I spend so much of my life with blinders on. Focused on my own little world. Trying to make that little world function to some artificial standard that I never really meet. In my world, which is ruled by ME, there never seems to be time to go visit with the elderly, there’s no time to have coffee with a friend in need, and there is even sometimes no room to love those that need so desperately to be loved. My little world is just so darn busy. But in reality there is no difference in how much time I have in my life compared to Mrs. Beckels and her church family. The only difference is who’s ruling our lives. They are brothers and sisters in Christ who are not ruled by “the almighty me”, they are ruled by the Almighty, and that makes all the difference

To love a brother …

My family spends roughly a month each winter in the Bahamas. My grandmother has spent her winter's there for nearly 30 years and our family has created a community of wonderful friends. This year our stay was been bitter sweet as a dear family friend was in his final days after a long fight with cancer. Phil has no biological family on the island. He needed 24 hour care on an island with limited health care options. Sounds like a recipe for disaster huh? We can all take a guess at what his last days looked like, right? Poor Phil, alone in a second or third rate hospital, just waiting to die. If you have any experience with hospitals in second world countries, you know it's not a pretty picture. And this would indeed have been Phil's destiny if it were not for Christian brotherly love.

You see on our beautiful little island, the concept of the church family is deeply rooted in the culture. Your church is not somewhere you go for an hour on Sunday morning. Your church is who you are. It is your community, your friends, your home and your family. So thanks to the love of his church family, Phil did not die alone in a hospital. He was at home, cared for 24 hours a day by registered nurses whom his Pastor found to care for him. Phil's day time nurse was a lovely woman by the name of Mrs. Beckels. Mrs Beckels works the night shift at the hospital, and for the last month of Phil's life she took care of him from 8 -4, seven days a week. She bathed and feed Phil, and kept him company when he was coherent. She also put up with a lot. Phil was not a sweet little old man, appreciative for her help. He was a tough Englishman with the manners and mouth from his former days as a sailor. He just as frequently cursed Mrs. Beckels as he thanks her.

So far, you're probably thinking, what's so amazing about a nurse taking on a little side job and putting up with a grumpy old man? Well the thing is, this was not a job for Mrs. Beckels. She didn't take a dime from Phil. She said it was her honor to love a brother in his final hours. The even more amazing thing was that she didn't really know Phil while he was well. They went to the same church, but they were not friends. Mrs. Beckels' faith called her to love this grumpy dying man just as Christ loved us. It was beautiful to see. What was even more beautiful, was that Mrs. Beckels was not alone, there were other volunteers who took on eight hour blocks every day of the week or who just came to sit and visit with Phil.

Several of my Jewish and un-churched friends, who were on the island for the holidays, asked me if this was "normal". Was this what churches do? I desperately wanted to answer "yes!" For the Scriptures teaches, that you will know us by our love. But of course I had to answer a sad, "not really." I have the privilege to worship and work at a large suburban church. We have funding and members coming out of our ears. We build schools and clinics in Africa, we plant churches around Denver, we have programs and classes offered every day of the week. We do many great things as a church, but as a people, we don't love each other the way Phil's church does. We don't even come close. Why in a community that has so much, do we as a people give each other so little? I have been thinking a lot about this over the past few weeks. In a time in our country, when people are so desperately hurting; losing their jobs, their marriages and their health, I think it's really important to think about how we love people in Christ's name. So for the next week, I am going to share some thoughts about this. I hope that you too, will post a comment and share your ideas with everyone about how your family, or church, is caring for those around you.

Celebrating America at home

Just in case any of you have found yourself in the shocking situation of not being invited to one of Tuesday's ten inaugeral balls in Washington, I thought I would share what Pete and I are doing with the girls on Tuesday night. (Yes, I admit, that somehow we were not invited either.) Irregardless of how you voted back in November, Tuesday is a wonderful teaching opportunity to share with our children. After nearly two years of campaigning, debating and fighting, we have selected our next President and he will peacefully take office this week. We are blessed with our democratic process - it is something worth celebrating.

Monday, the girls will recieve invitations for our own inaugeral celebrations. They will be invited to don thier fanciest ball gowns for Tuesday's dinner. We will have a red, white and blue dinner of spagetti and meatballs with star shaped garlic bread and blue milk to drink (is there anything funner than blue milk!) For dessert we are having apple pie. Then we'll watch some of the inaugeration ceremony and parade from that morning. Last, we will turn into ABC's coverage of the Neighborhood Ball and the girls can dance thier little hearts out in the family room. I hope it will plant a memory in thier minds of this very historic day, as well as seeds of patriotism that I hope will grow throughout thier lives.

God Bless America!

Traveling tots ...

Happy New Year everyone. I apologize for the unplanned time away from blogging. Our family has been on our annual trip to the Bahamas for the holidays. Normally I stay connected and blog while we are away, but this year, I truly checked out for three weeks.

We came home on Friday. The girls are sporting cornrow braids and we all have some healthy tans, earning us a lot of questions about where we have been. When I tell people we have been in the Bahamas for three weeks, I get a lot of questions about traveling with the kids for so long.

Pete and I love to travel, there was frankly never a question about not traveling once the girls came along. In Sarah's first year of life she was on 26 flights. In her second year she visited seven countries. As I said, we love to travel.

Pete and I talked a lot this past trip about positive things we see the girls gaining from our trips. We appreciate that the girls learn to:

1. Be flexible - schedules and routine are great for kids, but the ability to be flexible is critical in life.

2. Make friends quickly - wherever we go, our girls make friends. This year in the Bahamas the girls had five friends that they had met last year and they also made a new friend, Mya, by walking up and asking her to play.

3. Experience different cultures - we love to take our girls to celebrate Junkanoo each year. To have them eat foods like Johnny cake and peas n rice and to make friends of all colors, shades and creeds.

4. Learn about the world - when we travel, the girls get to do things that we just can't do at home. This year we swam with dolphins and went deep sea fishing.

4. Rely on one another - I in large part credit my girls close relationship to the fact that Pete and I drag them around the country 5-7 weeks a year. They have to play with one another and hang out together when we travel. While traveling there is no school, no activities or play dates to get away from each other. We have family time 24-7!

5. Most importantly our kids learn that no matter where we are, who we are never changes. Mommy and Daddy are always there for them. God is everywhere we go and we can worship Him in all sorts of settings. Our family is the same, even if our setting isn't.