My Little Lamb October 12, 2009

The Letter L week was a fun one for me and my son! We read The Little Lamb, which isn’t part of our Before Five in a Row curriculum exactly…the same author/photographer wrote The Little Bunny, which is on the list but since I don’t have the bunny book and just the lamb one, I decided to do lessons for my son about The Little Lamb. We also read My “l” Book in our ABC series and that included lambs in it so it worked out well.

The Little Lamb takes readers to the Weatherbee farm where new lambs have been born. One lamb, Timothy, wanders from the flock into the arms of a young girl who is allowed to care for him for a short time. My son loved reading the story and looking at the photographs, which we discussed have been different than the illustrated pictures in his other books. He has a white Beanie Baby lamb that we kept with us while reading the story and we named him Timothy.

We had a fun time acting out the scene in the book where Timothy knocked down a bushel of apples that went tumbling down the steps. I blew up balloons and we pretended they were apples. We put them in a laundry basket and my son knocked it over. He loves balloons! We also have a wooden birthday cake that we made a mess of to act out the scene where Timothy knocks over  a table at a birthday party and spills the cake.

We also began talking about Jesus being the Lamb of God and started memorizing John 1:29, which says, “The next day John saw Jesus coming and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” We put it to song and my son has mostly all of it memorized. We made a cute lamb craft out of white buttons.

We also practiced letters and numbers this week, and talked about other animals that start with the letter L including lizards! It was a fun science lesson to watch lizards stuck to the outside of our bathroom window as they waited quietly for moths! The light from our window would attract the moths, which were gobbled up by the lizards! We’ve seen this several times and my son thinks it’s so fun…probably not for the moths! You can see three lizards below:

Most of all, this week’s lesson has reminded me that I am called to care for my son, my little lamb! Jesus asks Peter in John 21 to feed His sheep, care for His sheep – His people. The Lord is my son’s Shepherd and mine too, and for the time being I am responsible for caring for my son, and my baby girl, too. I pray that God gives me the strength to do this most awesome job!

A Child’s Prayer September 27, 2009

The next book on our Before Five in a Row list was Prayer for a Child, a sweet story about a little girl’s prayer before bedtime. I wasn’t sure that my son was going to relate to the story since a little girl is the narrator but he liked it and focused more on the items prayed for rather than the one praying. He liked looking at the page that includes a picture of children from around the world illustrating the little girl’s prayer for other children.

We traced my son’s hands and made a set of “praying hands” out of construction paper. Inside, we wrote people to pray for and my son added some stickers. He’s already prayed a few times on his own, mostly before meals and he sounds really cute! I pray with him throughout the day while we’re together – I want him to know he can pray anytime for any reason and it’s definitely a reminder for me.

The most amazing thing was that while we were out in the backyard one day we found a praying mantis hanging on to our patio table! I took several pictures but only a few turned out well. I told my son it was “the coolest bug” and he kept saying, “I want to see the coolest bug!” We confirmed with my husband that it was a praying mantis after he saw the pictures (the bug is upside down in the pic below.) God sent us the bug to see up close and personal during our lesson on prayer!

This week was also our Letter J week so we talked about how Jesus prayed and the Lord’s Prayer. My son has most of it memorized. We read the story of Joseph, which my son really enjoys. We talked about how Joseph was probably afraid while in jail but God was with Him. We talked about how Joseph probably prayed to God, just like the little girl in our story did, and just like we do and can. We also read about Joshua and the story of Jericho.

Other J lessons included J animals – jaguar, jackal, jellyfish – and we did some jungle pictures. We also made a rain stick using rice and paper towel roll but my son wasn’t too interested in that. He preferred looking at the jungle book we checked out from the library. In it, we discovered that a Central American lizard is known as the Jesus Christ lizard for its ability to glide across water making it appear that it’s walking on water. Learning has been so much fun for us! Next week is Letter K and Katy No-Pocket!

Follow that Bunny! September 19, 2009

Reading together has been such a joy for me and my son! And we especially enjoyed The Runaway Bunny, a classic that shows the love of a mama bunny as she follows her baby bunny wherever he decides to run away to. It’s a sweet story full of fun pictures.

The story itself has a message that is easy to share with my son – wherever he decides to go I will go with him! At least that’s the case at this young age. I know one day he will be on his own. But I did share with him how Psalm 139 in the Bible tells us something similar – that we cannot escape from God. If we go up into the heavens, He is there. If we make our way to the remotest part of the sea, He is there still. Psalm 139 has always been a favorite of mine and I’m glad to share it with my son.

Some of our activities this week focused on talking about the pictures in the book and looking at how some pages are black and white while others are in color. We searched for carrots in the book following up on our Carrot Seed lessons last week. This led to lessons about 3D shapes including cone, sphere, cylinder and cube. My son learned hands-on the shapes with candles, carrots, balls and and cheese cubes at home. We’ll continue to reinforce these but he does know them if asked. We played a number game of count the bunnies – he had match the number with the bunnies and he recognized the numbers 5 – 9.

The other fun thing we did (that took a little bit longer) was make a 3D box garden! There’s a page in the book that tells of the bunny becoming a crocus in the garden so we made a little garden with construction paper, felt, real rocks and acorns and other props. My son did a lot of the gluing while I did most of the cutting and placing. He was proud of it.

This week also focused on the Letter I so we talked about insects, instruments and iguanas. He has a fun book called Manana Iguana and we read that together. We spent time outside looking for insects and he was fascinated with using the word ‘insect’ rather than bug. It’s fun to watch him learn!

Find a Friend in Corduroy August 23, 2009

The first week of using the preschool curriculum Before Five in a Row proved to be a great one for my son. We spent the week reading Corduroy, a sweet story about a lovable bear who spends a night in a department store searching for his missing button and in the end finds a friend. My son and I also focused on the letter F this week as we chug along in our weekly ABC lessons so the letter F tied in perfectly with Corduroy as we discussed friends!

Some of our activities this week that centered around the book included counting buttons since Corduroy has a missing button on his overalls that he desperately wants to find. We bought a cheap pack of multicolored buttons at the store and my son was ecstatic to count them and put them in piles. At 3 years old, he was able to count the buttons individually up to 20. We named the colors in English and Spanish and he knew them all.

We also covered Corduroy in buttons! We made an image of Corduroy out of construction paper with green cardstock overalls and my son glued on all the buttons he wanted. So Corduroy would never be without buttons again. Here’s his handiwork below:

The other great thing about the Before Five in a Row curriculum is that it gives a Bible verse that corresponds with each story. So for Corduroy, we memorized the first part of Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loves at all times.” And my son has memorized it. We talked about friends, how they treat each other, the names of my son’s friends, how Corduroy now had a friend too.

When we were out and about, we were able to talk about lessons we learned in the story as they related to everyday life. In the story, the young girl, Lisa, uses kind words and obeys her mother. These were great lessons to discuss with my son, showing him how life works best. And when my son choose to disobey this week, we went back to Corduroy and talked about how Lisa obeyed her mother in the store and how God wants us to obey. Our obedience to God and His commands in the Bible show that we love Him.

Next week’s book is Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? Should be fun!

Homeschooling begins…or has it always been? August 21, 2009

Well, here we go! This past week, I started my first “official” week of homeschooling my 3-year-old son. He’s attending the Little Lamb Preschool and he’s the No. 1 student! I say that we’ve started the official week because I’m now documenting what we’re doing but since my son has been born I’ve been homeschooling him, in a sense. I’ve been teaching him all he needs to know at this age. At 2 years old, I took it a step further and introduced him to “school time” where we would spend time learning colors, shapes, numbers and his ABC’s. Our main focus has been reading a book focused on one letter of the alphabet and spending our week doing crafts, activities and games on that letter. We’re still doing that but we’ve added more to our “curriculum.”

What we’ve started is a program called Before Five in a Row which is so simple for preschoolers. We read one book per week for five days in a row, hence the name, and do crafts, activities and games focused on that book. Our first week, Aug. 17-21, was all about the book “Corduroy.” My son loves it! I’ll post some pictures of the activities in a separate blog post soon.

Overall, it’s been fun and easy to sit down and read with my son. He loves books. And the added benefit is that his baby sister, who will be 3 months old next week, listens in too! So, she’ll definitely be ready when it’s her turn. However, that’s where my homeschool hesitation comes in. Can I truly homeschool my son beyond the preschool years? And then continue with my daughter when they will be three years apart? I believe I’m looking too far into the future when I need to focus on my reasons for homeschooling now. And I have reasons, actually more of a desire that I believe is from God to educate my children at home.

Since my son was a baby and I was introduced to people who homeschooled, I became intrigued by the idea of teaching at home. I love to teach and what better students than your own children? I’ve blogged previously about my reasons for wanting to homeschool so I won’t go into much detail here but my No. 1 reason is to be able to incorporate Biblical lessons into my children’s education. How great for them to be able to start the day, continue the day and end the day with prayer? To be able to learn about their world from God’s worldview.

How much fun will it be to “do school” for a couple hours a day and then enjoy other activities whether it’s playing outside, playing instruments or sports, going on nature hikes, visiting with grandparents, etc. that will enhance their learning? Of course, they’ll have more time for these activities since they won’t be bogged down with homework.

Most of all, I’m looking forward to creating in them a desire to want to learn and to love learning in all aspects of life. Reciting our ABCs while playing in the sandbox, counting buttons on the floor, learning about fractions while measuring flour for cookies, understanding weather patterns by being in them and enjoying God’s creation by admiring the world around them.

So, we will embark upon this adventure at home and I hope to document most of our journey here at my blog (which I’ve neglected for some months after giving birth to baby #2!). Our successes, sometimes failures, joys and challenges will be included so others can learn and see that they too can succeed in teaching their children at home if that’s the desire God has placed in their hearts. Thanks for joining us!

What God created us for March 4, 2009

As I’m beginning to read through John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life, I thought it would be only necessary to highlight poignant passages in the book such as this one:

God created me – and you – to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion – namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. Enjoying and displaying are both crucial. If we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy his excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is to overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others. The wasted life is the life without passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

Are you living a wasted life?

From earthly pilgrims to heavenly princes February 17, 2009

If you ask my son what he did this weekend, he’ll quickly tell you that he went to a princess party. Hmmm, you might wonder, what exactly is this 3-year-old talking about? Of course, my husband or I would expound by saying that he went a princess-themed birthday party for one of his friends who is a girl. Flowing gowns and shiny tiaras (not to mention a pink castle moonwalk) were all the rage at this birthday bash and my son quickly picked up on princess theme. Thankfully, he was much more interested in bouncing in the moonwalk than attempting to play the role of Prince Charming.

But for a little while, the birthday girl was treated as royalty since it was her day to shine. Turning 3 is a big deal and you should be able to don a Cinderella gown and glass slippers if only for a little while. You go from pre-schooler to princess in a matter of minutes and all the attention is on you. Even if all you want are the presents.

I was reminded of this weekend’s party while continuing to read The Pilgrim’s Progress and came upon an interesting paragraph that clearly describes Jesus Christ. At this point, the main character, Christian, has had his burden removed by leaving it in a grave at the foot of the cross and has been saved by his Savior. He must continue on his journey of faith along the straight and narrow path despite discouragement and doubt. However, he receives some refuge in what is called Palace Beautiful where he learns more about the Lord of the Hill, Jesus, who is described as…

“a brave warrior, who, at great cost to himself, fought and killed the one who had the power of death…He stripped himself of his glory in order to give eternal riches to the poor and humble, and to make heavenly princes out of earthly pilgrims.”

How beautifully John Bunyan (translated into modern English) described the Prince of Peace, the King of Glory. He exchanged all the riches He knew for us, in order to save us, to turn us into royalty. The Bible clearly describes this in Philippians 2:5-11:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And what was the outcome of His humility and obedience for us, the earthly pilgrims? First Peter 2:9-10 says is succinctly:

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, a royal PRIESTHOOD, a HOLY NATION, a PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

Those who believe Jesus Christ died for their sins and rose from the grave, those who claim Jesus as Lord, are chosen, are royalty, are holy. We are set apart for Him! We are truly heavenly princes (and princesses!) who have received eternal riches because of God’s great love and mercy. We are heavenly princes for more than just a day – for eternity! And because of that we are to proclaim the excellencies of our Lord and Savior, to tell other earthly pilgrims that they too can become heavenly princes because of what Christ has done on the cross and because He overcame death. At a great cost to Himself and a great benefit to us.

My burdern acquired…my burden removed February 6, 2009

While recently reading The Pilgrim’s Progress again (since I didn’t get past the Slough of Despond the first time around), I read this bit of dialogue between the weary traveler, Christian, and a seemingly wise friend, Worldly Wiseman:

“This is a dangerous route,” Worldly Wiseman tells Christian, “You have already encountered the Slough of Despond; if you continue on this road, you will face weariness and pain, dragons and darkness, death and many other dangers.”

“But my burden is worse than any of the things you’ve mentioned,” insisted Christian.

“And how did you acquire your burden in the first place?” asks Worldly Wiseman.

“By reading this book,” Christian responds.

The book that Christian is referring to is the Bible, the book he is found reading at the beginning of The Pilgrim’s Progress. The book that tells him he is headed to a eternity of destruction if he is not saved. And how shall he be saved, he wonders? Upon meeting a friend named Evangelist, he learns of the Way of salvation and begins upon his journey.

In a sense, I, too, began upon a journey of faith after “acquiring” my burden of sin from reading “the book.” Growing up without a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ, God led me to read a Catholic Bible I had in my room when I was 22 years old. As I lived a life I felt had no purpose or specific direction (I was not, though, suicidal), the Bible would offer me some guidance, I figured. Rather, I met my Savior and learned of my need for Him after being shown by the Spirit that I was destined for an eternity of destruction due to my sinful ways. My burden of sin overtook me, as it did Christian. But praise be to God – He removed my burden through His grace, mercy and love. After that initial meeting, I began reading the Bible voraciously and God led me to a small Christian church where I was baptized into the faith.

It’s been almost 8 years since my conversion and through Scripture, God has shown me my life before and after Christ…

Before Christ, I knew God but did not honor Him as God or give thanks but became futile in my speculations and my foolish heart was darkened (Romans 1:21). I was cursed, for cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law (Galatians 3:10). Like all sheep have gone astray, I had turned to my own way (Isaiah 53:6). For I knew my transgressions and my sin was ever before me, and against God only had I sinned and did what was evil in His sight (Psalm 51:3-4). For there is none righteous, not even one and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10, 23).

But God being rich in mercy and because of His great love for me made me alive together with Christ even while I was dead in my transgressions (Ephesians 2:4). God demonstrated His own love for me that while I was yet a sinner Christ died for me (Romans 5: 8). In my trouble, I cried to the Lord and He answered me (Psalm 120:1). I confessed my sin and He was faithful and righteous to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). I confessed with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believed in my heart that God raised Him from the dead and I was saved! (Romans 10:9)

For it was by grace I was saved through faith, which is the gift of God, not anything that was of myself so that I may not boast (Ephesians 2:8). Christ redeemed me from the curse of the Law having become a curse for me (Galatians 3:13). For while I was still helpless at the right time Christ died for me, the ungodly (Romans 5:6) and as far as the east is from the west God has removed my transgressions from me (Psalm 103:12). He has rescued me from the dominion of darkness and transferred me into the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom I have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13).

Therefore, I have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father so I too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20). I have been bought at a price and I must glorify God in my body (1 Corinthians 6:20). And if I am in Christ I am a new creature – the old things have passed away and new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Spirit Himself testifies with my spirit that I am a child of God and if a child, an heir also, an heir of God and fellow heir of Christ (Romans 8:16-17). I am a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a person for God’s own possession so that I may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called me out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). And if God is for me, who is against me? (Romans 8:31). For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

Humble beginnings lead to fond memories January 26, 2009

It was never meant to happen this way. I never intended to be in an apartment when my first child was born. Nope – it was not my plan. But then again nothing ever goes as planned. Or perhaps Proverbs 16:9 phrases it much more succinctly – The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.

However, it did happen that way. When my firstborn arrived, my husband and I were living in a one-bedroom apartment. One that we liked sometimes and one that we hated most of the time. But it was home.

When my son was about 11 months old and our lease was up, my husband and I attempted to find a house to rent but nothing safe was within our budget. And buying a house was not in the plan at the time. So, we moved into another apartment – a two-bedroom, third-floor apartment. In the same complex. Its only redeeming quality was the lake-front view. But oh those ducks could be quite loud in the morning.

Spending time in an apartment, on the third floor, with a rambunctious 1-year-old isn’t ideal but it was what we could afford. Of course being a stay-at-home mom I made the best of it. We colored, read books, played games, watched the ducks from the balcony, spent time outside on the balcony, filled up a baby pool with water on the balcony (don’t recommend that) and tried to not make too much noise for our neighbors below. Naturally, an early-rising toddler has no concept of how fast he’s running or how loud he’s stomping, and that your “neighbors” are still sleeping at 6 a.m. Oh and did I mention that carrying groceries up three flights of stairs isn’t all that fun either? (well it was mostly my husband’s job but it was still hard work!)

With enough prayer and faith in God, my small family eventually moved out of that apartment into our very own home. Our first house! Being almost 2 years old, my son would now have his own backyard and more space in his room to collect more toys that he really doesn’t need but that’s a different story. We loved our new house! It was and is a gift from God! I would change nothing about it.

It’s been more than a year in our new home, yet, most recently, I’ve found myself reminiscing about our old stomping grounds, our third-floor stomping grounds. Perhaps it’s because we now drive by that apartment everyday taking my husband to his bus stop and my son recognizes his first home and says, “Aparmen!” very happily. He asks me repeatedly to go there but I kindly remind him of our new home.

But looking back upon those “tough times” often being cooped up in the apartment, I think about the fun times we had when my son was small. His first bath in the real tub, his first birthday, his first steps, the way his room smelled like baby powder, how he loved watching the ducks, rocking him to sleep while humming, ‘It is well with my soul,’ and the fun games we attempted to play on our small balcony. Not to mention the constant prayers of faith asking God to one day provide us with a home to use for His glory. It’s so strange to think now that something so confining at one time could be the catalyst for fond memories at this time.

Those were our humble beginnings and even though our living situation has improved, we still face difficulties as we make sacrifices living on a limited income. But would I ever exchange the memories made in that apartment with my little baby over a larger, more secure income? Most assuredly not. I think in a way it was God refining me to force me to lean upon Him even more, to trust Him daily, with all my needs. For what need do we have for God, the Ultimate Provider, if we have no needs at all?

Dear God,
I pray to lean on you all the more as I find myself in hopeless and difficult situations. As I look around me and see trials and tests, I pray that my faith will increase as I remember that I am standing on solid ground, on the rock that is My Savior and Your Son Jesus Christ. Help me to remember from where You have brought me, a life of death and destruction, to where I am now, a new creation in You, and where You are taking me. Help me to remember that is You who is carrying me, as a Shepherd carries his young lamb on His shoulders. In Christ’s Name.

Is your debt paid? August 25, 2008

Similar to many Americans, I am in the midst of paying down credit card debt. Foolish decisions upon foolish decisions have caused an avalanche of interest-laden debt that is slowing being reduced. Oh, how I long for financial literacy and planning in my childhood years! I believe it should be a required class in school – rather than health! Financial health seems so much more useful – don’t you think?

At times, it seems the situation is hopeless. Pay a little, reduce a little, pay a little, reduce a little. At the rate we’re going, it will take several years to get this monkey off our backs. I do however take full responsibility for my actions and am doing my part now. But paying off this debt leads to an even more difficult decision – have a second child and ensure I will pay off the debt even slower, or continue at the rate we’re going with an only child? Wisdom is needed. But also included among our monthly debts are school loans and a mortgage that I’ve been told are “good debts” or “good credit.” Good in the sense that I now have a college degree and a house – yay for me!

But as I think about my burden of credit card debt and how many, many months it will take to pay off, I am reminded of an even greater debt that I once owed. A debt that I could do nothing about – no amount of money or possessions or anything could have paid off this debt. This debt actually did lead to hopelessness – I was hopeless to do anything about it. Only the sacrifice of a sinless Man cleared the debt I owed. Colossians 2:13-14 explains it well:

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, Christ made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Have you ever nailed something to a wall or nailed boards together? They stay there. You bring the pieces there separately but once they are nailed together or to the wall, they aren’t going anywhere. They are no longer returning with you. This is what Christ did with our sin – our sinful state that separates us from our Holy God. By living lives of sin, we created a debt that could not be paid off by any amount of prayer, penitence or payment of our own. Our Creditor demanded a just payment – and His Own Son became that payment. By willingly dying on the cross, Jesus Christ canceled our certificate of debt once and for all. He has taken it out of the way – for those who believe by faith and for those who profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

To me, this is even greater news than having my thousands of dollars in credit card debt paid off in one fell swoop. Through Christ, I am reconciled to my loving Father and Creator. I can freely approach the Almighty. I am a new creature – the old has gone, the new has come! I can overwhelmingly conquer all things through Christ! Because of one selfless act of love on an old rugged cross, I am free from the burden of sin, the burden of debt, that was held against me. And as an old hymn aptly states it,

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.