What is the world?

We have been studying about creation lately and last week it occurred to me…WHAT IS THE “WORLD” to a TODDLER? a very DIFFICULT concept!

A little help from GOOGLE EARTH!

We made paper mache with paper strips and glue made from simply flour and water! June did not like getting her hands dirty but Shelby LOVED it! She did the whole thing mostly alone! I was truly amazed! She would dip and stick, and then I would smooth them on the balloon!

It didn’t take but a few hours to dry outside in the BLAZING HEAT!!

June painted the oceans blue and clouds white. Then we put ModPodge to make it shiny!

While we waited for the world to dry, June used the leftover paint and some felt and glitter to make this picture of the world!

Psalm 89:11
The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.

 

It has the four points that we talked about today on it…

God made the World, God made Junie, God LOVES the world, and so God loves Junie!

and our verse “For God so loved the world”… John 3:16 a

Shelby still likes to eat paint so we tend to stick with mostly nontoxic markers…which she still eats…sigh

My prayer is that my girls will see the world as God sees it. That they will burden for those who do not know Christ. And that one day they will know God, and tell others of His gospel.

Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Mark 16:15
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Isaiah 12:5
Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the

world

Matthew 5:14
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

John 3:17

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:19
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life

 

Creation!!

Today we learned that God made the world…and June and Shelby live in the world!! God loves the world so that means that God loves Junie!! And God LOVES Shelby!! We read and memorized John 3:16a “For God so loved the world..”

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God called the darkness “Night” and the light “Day” the first day

Then God made the SKY! second day

 

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
¹¹ Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs

to mark sacred times, and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that

they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,

,
in the image of God he created them;

   male and female he created them.

While June and I painted, Shelby had a creation box to plant the trees and play with the animals and creatures of God’s creation in rice!! next time I would like to make the people out of photos of June, Shelby, Mommy, and Daddy! For this time we just used our Adam and Eve from the other day!

I think it should make for an interesting diaper tonight!

Thank you Lord for your wonderful creation!!!

Teach them….

Ok this blog post is going to be a journal entry of what the Lord has placed on my heart lately. I have thoroughly enjoyed my summer with the girls. One thing I have been thinking about is how I can use my gifts and talents to bring glory to God and my primary ministry which is to my family. I got the awesome experience and privilege to paint  with my dear friend Melissa during an amazing sermon at church a few weeks ago and it was such confirmation that God has created me this way for a reason. 

So after this experience, my prayers have become specifically focused on showing me how God wants me to use my love of art and teaching to glorify Him. Melissa encouraged me to use art as a way to serve my own family. She is the sweetest friend, and always using her creative ideas to serve others and her own family. Weather its making an adorable bouquet of flowers from the yard and setting the table with handpainted name tags and personal notes on napkins, or decorating bags of home made cookies for random acts of kindness care packages for friends and family members….this girl has got it down!

A few months ago God hit me with a very clear reality…my first ministry is to my own family..

It says in 1 Tim 5: 8   If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

More important than teaching the kids at Buffalo Creek Elementary, or anyone else are my own kids. Ministry is about relationships and who do I interact with the most, but my own family! My prayer is that I can teach them the scriptures, continue to pray for them, and teach them how to overcome the temptations of sin, and ultimately know how to have a loving and intimate relationship with their creator God. Making them happy is my least important job, but making them content in the Lord and able to put on their armor and have faith to get through the hardships that WILL come their way would make me the most successful teacher and mother I could be! I want to leave a spiritual legacy for my children to pass on to their children and so on.

In the old testament it says In Deuteronomy 11:19,  to teach children about God's law "when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." In Deuteronomy 11:20, the Bible even says to write God's laws "on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Proverbs 22:6 says Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

In the New Testament it says in Ephesians 6:4: "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."  The manner in which we treat children is a powerful lesson in itself.

The Results..

Teaching a child the Bible can lead to the best results of all - the salvation of your child’s soul. 2 Timothy 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Monday we had an awesome time visiting with our new Pastor, Jonathan Williams and his wife Jessica. Jessica was telling me that during the day she has bible lessons with her 16 month old daughter. They are currently going through creation. They learned that God created light and they ran around the house with flashlights! I LOVED this idea. Kids learn through play. So, yesterday I read the story of Noah’s ark to the girls and we talked about how Noah loved God and was obedient. We talked about how God wants Shelby and June to be obedient too. Then we made it rain with spray bottles and acted like animals and ran inside the tent “ark” to get out of the “rain”! Then we painted a large painting of the ark and Noah and the animals!  June loved it and after our lesson, she was able to answer questions about the story and even tell Jimmy about it when he got home! 

Today we learned about Adam and Eve. First I read them the story out of the Bible and summarized it. We talked about the garden and how Adam and Eve got to name all the animals and walk with God in the beautiful garden. We talked about how God gave them one rule not to eat the fruit from one tree. We talked  about being obedient again and how God still loved Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God and ate the fruit. June totally understood because she likes to climb up on the table and get fruit out of the fruit bowl and take one bite out of it and get in trouble. I always tell her I have to give you the fruit. Then we drew and cut out Adam and Eve from cardboard and the girls painted them. June said, “don’t forget to make the snake mommy!”

First they painted the grass..

June was sooooo focused,,,I was very impressed. We sang the song, “trust and obey” while we painted.

Then they painted the snake together

At this point Shelby went down for a nap and Junie finished up the grass with some stamped flowers while I glued it all together.

Then we took a basket around the yard and cut some roses and other flowers to make the beautiful garden!

June was so excited about making the garden!! She was so careful and meaningful with placing every flower in the garden.

My prayer is that in the business of life; work, cleaning, caring for two toddlers, constantly working at maintaining a  loving and successful relationship with my husband, and of course my own personal walk with the Lord, that I would be able to constantly be nurturing my children’s spiritual growth, preparing them for the future, and teaching them about God’s word. I want them to be ready to fight off the “serpants” of this world when temptations come along to try to pull them away.  I pray that I will be consistant. I am so thankful that God gives us second chances; that He loves us when we fail just like he loves Adam and Eve after they disobeyed Him. I am so thankful that he gave me these precious two girls and actually entrusted me with leading them and teaching them about His AWESOMENESS!!