Seeking Him Week 8 - Clear Conscience

"You cannot be right with God, and not be right with your fellow man."

The order of each week's study just hit home...(I think Amber hinted at this on her blog but here is my thinking.)

We must be humble in order to be honest about our sin. When we are honest we can repent and that repentance brings grace. It is that grace that allows us to live a holy life. When we are living holy we are obedient to His word. This all allows us to live with a clear conscience.

Our relationship with others depends on our relationship with God. If we are not living humbly, honestly, and obedient with God it only lends to hypocrisy.

Seeking Him Week 7 - Obedience

"Obedience requires a daily, if not moment by moment, surrender." p 127 Why is it so hard to do the right thing?

I have a slogan in my classroom (it's not my original idea, I saw it in a classroom I visited in college)..."Slow obedience is no obedience." Think about it...if I am slow to obey am I truly obeying? Slow obedience or even partial obedience is not showing respect or honor to the person who has authority over us. We know God has our best in mind so why don't we obey completely and right away?

This lesson really brought to light, again, just how selfish I can be.

Seeking Him Week 6 - Holiness

Playing catch up here...

When you hear the word "Holy" do you think of not being able to measure up? We are not expected to be perfect but rather live humbly in obedience to God. Whew...

Food for thought: (p. 121-122)

~Holy people are concerned about pleasing God - inside and out.

~Holy people have a heart to love and serve others, regardless of their status.

~With God's grace we can put on the new self (Ephesians 4:22-24) p. 116

Hello Real Quick

I haven't really been motivated to post much lately. Our computer died and we've been using Xavier's temperamental laptop. It's slow and just shuts down when it gets tired. Oh, and you can't wiggle the power cord or it will shut off. It gets the job done, most of the time, but it makes browsing the net a painful thing. We'll be getting a new one soon so I will be back with an update of what we've been up to.

Seeking Him Together Week 5 - Grace

Grace - it's that free gift of salvation from God that pardons us from the wrath we deserve. Until now I never thought about it beyond that. I know I can't live the Christian life alone by my own effort or ability but I never thought about God's daily guidance and provision as His grace being bestowed on me. I guess you could say I never categorized those things as "grace." Fact is, I can't do anything apart from God's grace.

I like how it was put on page 90 and 91: "It is God's grace that convicts us when we sin and gives us the ability and desire to confess and forsake our sin. It gives us both the desire and the power to obey God."

Hebrews 4:15-16 says "approach the throne of grace with confidence." It's like going to a friend with our problems and knowing they will listen without judgment or criticism. We can talk to God because he's been there...he is forgiving, gracious, and merciful.

Top Picture Books

The Bookworm's Booklist posted the top 30 picture books according to School Library Journal. I decided to post them here and I've highlighted the one's we have read. (Guess I need to get busy!) My desire this summer is to establish a better read aloud routine.

#1: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963)

#2: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (1947)

#3: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1979)

#4: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (1962)

#5: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems (2003)

#6: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (1941)

#7: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (1955)

#8: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (1939)

#9: Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag (1928)

#10: Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems (2004)

#11: The Story of Ferdinand by Monroe Leaf, ill. Robert Lawson (1936)

#12: Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann (1994)

#13: Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (1948)

#14: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, ill. Lane Smith(1989)

#15: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes (1996)

#16: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (1987)

#17: Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (1947)

#18: In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (1970)

#19: Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (1982)

#20: George and Martha by James Marshall (1972)

#21: Bark, George by Jules Feiffer (1999)

#22: The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone, ill. by Mike Smollin (1971)

#23: Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban (1964)

#24: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, ill. Lois Ehlert (1989)

#25: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (1942)

#26: Corduroy by Donald Freeman (1976)

#27: The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (1902)

#28: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, ill. Ray Cruz(1972)

#29: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (1969)

#30: Brown, Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin Jr., ill. Eric Carle (1967)

Here are the {top 100} if you're interested. I think I might print the list and see how many we can get through this summer. Let me know if you're up for the challenge too!

Here's some more book lists for you:

Almost Can't-Miss Sure Shot Books for Boys

Almost Can't-Miss Sure Shot Books for Girls

Here's a little {blurb} by {Jon Scieszka} about why it can be hard to get boys to read. He's the author of {The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Fairy Tales}. {Guys Read} is his site with lists of books for guys (young and old). Boys often like books written in comic book style like Diary of a Wimpy Kid for example. They also like non fiction, things that make them giggle, and gross stuff. If a child is struggling to enjoy reading then it can be ok to let them read these non classic books. Of course I don't believe in anything goes just b/c you are trying to get them to enjoy reading...there are still limits and appropriateness.

Happy Reading!!

Seeking Him Together Week 4 - Repentance

This week's study really gave me a clear picture of what repentance is. As with the previous weeks I can say I knew what the word (revival, humility, honesty) meant but I am beginning to realize I just had a vague understanding of each of those.

Repentance is turning from our sin and following God in obedience. Sin separates us from God so we cannot find revival if there is something standing in our way. I will always remember an illustration a former pastor used (Donnie Preslar for those who know him!). Whenever his message included the topic of sin and how it separated us from God he would pull out his wallet and hold it horizontally between his hands. His wallet represented sin and as long as it was there the two hands could not join, it was in the way. A simple illustration yet it always sticks with me.

When God brings conviction of sin to my heart it allows me to experience His love and mercy. He doesn't want me to stay on that path of destruction. How fortunate am I to have that opportunity? Who would want to turn that down? I think when I let sin enter my life and I don't take care of it from the beginning (temptation) then I put aside His desires for my life.

"Before sin becomes an act, it is a thought. We call that being tempted. If we don't call out for God's help in these moments or allow ourselves to indulge in it we will likely commit the sin eventually." (p. 67) So many times I push those thoughts aside thinking I'll deal with it later or it's no big deal. I don't want to become numb or out of tune to the conviction the Holy Spirit brings.

"Create in me a clean heart,
O God, and renew a right spirit
within me."
Psalm 51:10

Kid Tip

If your young child has trouble holding scissors correctly you may want to see if you can find these by Fiskars. Elliya's teacher let her use them at the beginning of the school and it really helped.

Apple of Our Eye

I just love this moment I captured. Elliya was done with her apple so she gave it to Evie. We all laughed because Evie was taking little bites like a rat. Too cute! She got sooooooo incredibly made when we had to take it away.

I was playing around on Picnik and edited the picture. It is so easy and best of all FREE!

Before:Using crop, exposure, contrast, and color. Don't ask me what those numbers mean. If there was "auto fix" I used it or else I just slide the bars until I liked the looks of the pictures! My brother would probably cringe - he's the professional.


Some fun feature that I can't remember the name of.


Poloroid

Clean & Simple Makeover

The clean & simple challenge at SCS this week was to make over a card in our own gallery.

Before:

After:
(I kept the colors the same and used the same stamp set.)