The Big Picture.

Every night after dinner our family has "Bible Time." We have gone through many children's bibles over the past few years but we recently receive by far our Favorite. It is called "The Big Picture Story Bible" It goes through the whole bible, Old and New Testament as one continuous story. It allows the kids to hear the Bible on their level WITHOUT watering it down. I love what the back of the book says, "The Bible is a big book, about a big God, who keeps a big promise!"
This particular children's bible shows you not a moralistic view on popular Bible figures but shows you how those figures or stories point to Christ.
Our copy came with a CD of the author reading through the book with signals for you to turn the page and our daughter has listened to it several times alone.
This book was a precious gift to us from dear friends for the birth of our second son and it has been a blessing to us already. Thanks M & B!!

Up from the ground He arose.

Just thought I would share a cute Easter Story. My kids have been watching the animated version of "The Passion" for the last week. It is a constant question, "can we watch the Jesus movie." I have indulged partly because I want them to know the story inside and out, but also I have zero energy being 9 months preggers.
While I was cooking dinner a few nights ago I could hear my kids playing in the living room. G and J were acting out the movie. I peeked in and saw G laying prostrate and weeping saying "Sir, if you took His body, just tell me where you have laid Him." Then she instructed J to say, "Mary it is I"
I love them and I love that they are learning the story and I long for the day that it is not just head knowledge but heart knowledge!
I hope you all had a blessed Resurrection Sunday!j
(P.S. My Easter dress was thrifted for $6.00 and it is Vera Wang for Target. It isn't maternity but it worked!)

Good Friday.

Last night my G girl got VERY upset before bed. I had a hard time claming her enough to find out what the problem was. My mind always jumps to something terrible. I fear someone has hurt her or she has done something she is very sorry for. Once she was calmed enough to speak she expressed her fears. She said, "I wish I didn't have brothers, so that you could love just me."
Of course my first comment was to inform her that that was her sinful, black heart that felt that way. That her brother J is her best friend and she would be so very sad without him. Then I got to share with her the wonderful gift God has given mothers. The ability to love another child without taking any love away from the others.
As my due date comes closer I am flooded with memories of fears I had right before I had J boy. I remember desperately holding onto G the nights before his arrival and thinking "She wouldn't be my baby anymore." I remember thinking "I don't want this new baby to take the place she holds in my heart."
However, these fears and lies that I was feeding myself were washed away completely. God has truly given us the ablility to love our children equally and unconditionally.
Having children has taught me more about the Father's love for us. How much Him giving us His son was truly sacrifical. How I would be unwilling to give my children for a righteous man much less my enemy. How He doesn't love me less when I fail him daily. He just looks at me and sees the image of His Beloved Son in whom He is well pleased.
I understand G's fears. She if feeling better today. She is assured of my love and she understands greater that my love is unconditional just as God's love is when we place faith in Jesus' finished work on the cross.
I am so thankful for the Cross!

Resurrection Rolls

I once made a pan of brownies that I thought marshmallows would be yummy in. So I mixed them in the batter and threw them in the oven. When the brownies were done they were full of holes where marshmallows once were. That is when I discovered that if you bake them they will...disappear!
I have read this idea somewhere else, so it is not original to me but I love using this idea of disappearing marshmallows to demonstrate to a child that the Tomb was empty on Easter morning!
We will be making Resurrection Rolls this Easter:

Ingredients:
One can of crescent roll dough
8 large marshmallows (or one for each roll you’ll be making)
Melted butter
Cinnamon sugar
Bible or Easter storybook

Assemble rolls and read the story:
1. Read John 19, spend the week before reading John 12-18 with your kids.
2. Unroll the crescent rolls. Explain that this is like the cloth they wrapped Jesus in.
3. Give your child a marshmallow and explain that it represents Jesus's body… all white and pure because He was without sin.
4. Roll the marshmallows in the melted butter. This symbolizes the embalming oils.
5. Roll the marshmallows in the cinnamon sugar. This is like the spices used to prepare his body for burial.
6. Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll cloth, pinching the dough together securely. Don’t worry about the shape so much, they’ll taste the same no matter how you roll or bundle them. This represents how they would have wrapped Jesus’ body in burial clothes. I like to brush them with more melted butter, but it’s not necessary.
7. Put the rolls in the oven (symbolizing the tomb) and bake for the amount of time specified on the crescent roll package.
8. While the rolls are baking, read John 20:1-18.
9. Open the tomb (oven) and remove the rolls. When they’re cool enough to handle, break one open and discover what happened to the marshmallow. Jesus is risen!

My Hubby!!

I am my husbands #1 fan. However, I am also one of his sheep. I am blessed to be able to sit under his preaching and teaching at Grace Baptist Church. In the last 8 years I have learned more about Christ and His finished work on the Cross than I did in all the years of Sunday School and Church and youth group and conferences combined. I know you think I am biased but he is a WONDERFUL preacher. He is truly been gifted with the spiritual gift of teaching. Now you can see for yourself. He has put his sermons on the Internet and you can be blessed by them too.
Go to http://www.sermon.net/. In the little search area type Andrew Smith or Grace Baptist Church.

Resurrection Cake

I am getting my ideas together to make our annual Resurrection Cake.
We will be making it a little different than last year but my kids are very excited about this project. In the past we have done a two dimensional cake but this year we are planning on making it 3D. We will have to get some yummy candies and cookies to decorate with but this is always a fun project that gets my family talking about Christ and his FINISHED work on the cross.
What do you do with your family to celebrate our Savior raising from the dead?

HE IS FREE!

Danny Pye has been realeased! God hears the cries of His people! God is so good! You can read about it here.

Pray

How blessed we are to be in the USA! We think that just because we are not suffering in physical ways for the Gospel that no one else is. Out of sight out of mind. However, our missionaries are SUFFERING FOR THE GOSPEL! Please pray for Danny Pye and his family. Here is his story.

4D UltraAWESOMEsound

I had my 32 week ultrasound yesterday and the technician did some of the photos in 4D. It was absolutely amazing! I am in awe at the mind God has given us to be able to invent a machine that lets us peek into the womb and see our unborn children. It is overwhelming looking at the life inside of me and being able to say, "He looks like his siblings." I see how fearfully and wonderfully made he is.
I told my hubby last night that no matter how uncomfortable I am and how "ready" I am for this to be over I know there is a prize waiting for me at the end of this 9 month process. I am anxious to hold my prize in my hands and see what God's hands have made secretly inside of me.

Another musical post

We have a channel on our TV that allows you to listen to Christian music. Saturday night we were listening and I heard a song from a group I had never heard of. Not that they aren't popular or haven't been around it is just that we mostly listen to CD's of our favorite groups or listen to CD's of catachisms set to music. The group was called Sanctus Real. Lead Me was the songs name. Mainstream Christian music doesn't always have a message worth listening to. Sometimes it can even be played enterchangably on secular stations so I was impressed by this songs lyrics. It was about A husbands cry to lead his wife, a fathers cry to lead his children, a mans cry to be lead by God to lead them the way God has called him to. WOW something real! Something worth crying out to our Heavenly Father for.
Side note, I love there name Sanctus, it is Latin for "to be holy". I even asked hubby if he like the name for a middle name for new arrival. I like the meaning but it may be a bit to out there. What do you think?

Love is a verb.

Boom! Burn! Bip! Yeah! Pow! Hey, ha ha.
Down with the dc Talk, d- d- down with the dc Talk
Are you down with the dc Talk, d- d- down with the dc Talk

Pullin' out my big black book
Cause when I need a word defined that's where I look
So I move to the L's quick, fast, in a hurry
Threw on my specs, thought my vision was blurry
I looked again but to my dismay
It was black and white with no room for grey
Ya see, a big "V" stood beyond my word
And yo that's when it hit me, that luv is a verb

(chorus 1)
Words come easy but don't mean much
When the words they're sayin' we can't put trust in
We're talkin' 'bout love in a different light
And if we all learn to love it would be just right

(chorus 2)
Hey, tell me haven't ya heard?
Luv, is a serious word
Hey, I think it's time ya learned
I don't care what they say
I don't care care what ya heard
The word luv, luv is a verb

Down with the dc Talk, d- d- down with the dc Talk
Are you down with the dc Talk, d- d- down with the dc Talk

Thinkin' of a way to explain-o
Cause ya' know when I'm flowin' like a bottle of Drain-o
Simple and plain, L-O-V-E
Ain't all that junk that ya see on TV
Put soaps on a rope cause they ain't worth copin' with
It's a myth that there ain't no hope and
Luv is enough if it's unconditionally
Givin' now you're living out the Great Commission

(repeat choruses 1 and 2)

Back in the day there was a man
Who stepped out of Heaven and he walked the land
He delivered to the people an eternal choice
With a heart full of luv and the truth in His voice
Gave up His life so that we may live
How much more luv could the Son of God give?
Here is the example that we oughtta be matchin'
Cause luv is a word that requires some action

Not sure how many of you like/liked DC Talk but this song is in my head right now. I am just surrounded by a multitude of situations where this word love is so misunderstood. It is so abused. It is just meaningless. I have a heavy heart for many of my loved ones because they haven't experienced this VERB. They don't know how to "do" this LOVE.
I have an uncle who is in hospice care dying with brain cancer who doesn't know the love of Christ.
I have an aunt who is suffering with terminal cancer and is antagonistic toward the free gift of love and forgiveness Christ offers us.
I have a family member who thinks love is selfish and unkind and self seeking.

I am broken for these situations. I just want to shake someone and say, it isn't about what others can do for you. It isn't about mushy gushy feelings. It is about SERVING, SACRIFICE, and a willingness to FORGIVE when the other is unforgivable.
Lord, let me LOVE the way Christ loved the church. Let me DO love!

Link to Cardboard Testimony

Still crying! What a beautiful way to worship! I am not known for making my sin public or my stuggles known. I usually keep them to myself but this is such a beautiful way to bring our Savior GLORY for His Grace and Mercy.

What does God say about that?

In my pursuit of a teaching my children God's word and writing it on their hearts, I wondered if G knew what God said about what we are to do with certain parts of our bodies. I wondered if she knew we were to use our hands to serve others. I wondered if she knew that God had things to say about our eyes, ears, and mouth. So, here is my idea. I wanted to draw a picture of what a "Godly Girl" looked like. I didn't have a large sheet of papers so I taped up a few in the shape of G's body to the back of her door. I then traced her outline onto the paper. Next, we drew her features and her clothes. Now for the fun part. We went on a "hunt" in God's word to see what He had to say about our bodies. We took a looked at 2 verses today. One on the HEART and one on HANDS. We wrote in the verses on the picture of G and discussed how she could "do" these things that God commanded us to do. This is hopefully going to become a daily activity, until we can't fit anythings else on our "Godly Girl". I will do one with J too, but he was napping during our project.

Girls day out.

Saturday morning I got up, got ready and told G to get ready too. She wanted to watch cartoons but I had plans for us. We jumped in the car and headed down the road to the local nail salon. When we pulled in I told G that WE were going to get our nails done together. She was excited but was instantly nervous when we walked in and she didn't understand a word that was being said to her. Let's just say it is owned by sweet folks that English is their second language. However, she was soon involved in choosing the color she wanted to paint her nails with (purple with silver glitter) and giving advice to me about the color I should choose (pink). We sat together and just enjoyed one another doing something fun and fancy. I can tell she felt big. She felt loved. She felt special. Mission accomplished! I know this isn't an instant fix to having a good relationship but it is my start. Spending time with her, encouraging her in the Lord, making HER feel like she is a priority in my life even more than the dishes and laundry. Showing her that I love her unconditionally.
I shared with my Sunday School class that I was feeling discouraged and asked for their prayers. I can honestly say, I feel God moving and changing my heart. I feel the comfort only He can give. In the last week I have made a concentrated effort to praise G (and J) when I see something positive. I have also slowed down my reactions to disobedience. I want to be slow to become angry and I am working on that. I am reminding myself that they are children and they are going to be disobedient. THEY ARE NOT PERFECT THEY ARE SINNERS JUST LIKE ME!
I am so blessed to have them! They have changed me and my view of God's love for me. They have truly shown me what a true sacrifice it was for God to send His ONLY son for SINNERS such as me. I wouldn't be willing to give my children for a righteous man much less someone who doesn't deserve anything. But thankfully I serve a Merciful God who gives Grace freely to all who believe and trust in the sacrifice of His only son Jesus Christ. What Love! That is the love I want to show G and J. I want to adorn the Gospel and make Jesus attractive.
Thank you all for your prayers in my days of discouragement. I am encouraged and I know this is a lifetime process and I am going to ENJOY the ride!! I am going to ENJOY the giggles, stories, songs, dances, games, pictures, and all of the hugs and lovings. They are not perfect kids but they are MY kids. I am not a perfect parent but I am the parent God chose for them. God be merciful to me a sinner.

My girl "G"

I don't know about other girls mom's but mine is the best! She is smart, fun, beautiful, loves the Lord, giving, caring, assertive, and she Loves me unconditionally. Growing up it was my hearts desire to be with my Mom and to make her pleased with me. Now that i am grown she is my best friend and I Love her so dearly. It scares me sometimes how much we are like one another.
As a mother myself now I have growing fears that my relationship with "G" will not turn out as my mother's and mine. I fear that she won't want to spend time with me when she is grown. That she just sees me as a strict Mom who fusses at her and doesn't let her do what she wants. I have been very convicted about this as of late. I feel like I need to take steps now to assure that we have a healthy Mother/Daughter relationship.
I was kept up all night Tuesday by an incident that had happened late that evening with G. She said something that was very troubling and I made her explain it to me so that I knew why she had said it. In getting this info from her I made her cry. It wasn't my goal but I NEEDED to know. It was a very serious matter and I needed the truth. But all night I thought, "she is scared of me, she doesn't feel safe with telling me things, I have failed". So in the morning I crawled into the bed with her and snuggled with her and assured her of my love and that she had not done anything wrong. That it was just Mommy's job to make sure she was safe and that was what I was doing. She seemed to understand and not think much of what had happened the night before at all.
I spoke with Hubby about my concerns and we decided I needed to do more with G one on one. To make more Mommy/Daughter time. Time where there was no room to be cleaned or brother to nag or task that Mommy had to tend to.
So I am taking G to get our nails done on Saturday. Nothing fancy, just a little time away just us girls to giggle and be ladies and bond. She is such a treasure to me and I want to communicate that to her without sounding like "lets be friends", because at this point she doesn't need a friend but a Mother. I am OPEN to all ideas and Godly advice to grow that special bond with her. I know the bond between Mother and Daughter is like NO other and I want to cultivate mine with G to make ours strong now and in the years to come. I ultimately know God is gracious and merciful and He hears my cries to Him and my plea's to be a Godly mother and to lead them in the way that brings Him the most glory. Because Ultimately that is all that matters.
Sorry for the venting session but my heart has been so heavy. Again I would love tips!

Beth Moore

Today was Day 1 of my new book "Jesus, 90 Days with the One and Only" by Beth Moore. A dear young lady from our church got it for me to participate in the group study some of her college friends and her are doing. I can't review the book just yet because i have only read the introduction and done the work for Day 1 but I did enjoy it very much. I must confess it might take me more than 90 days because I don't always find that precious moment to sit with my Savior as I should, but hopefully this book will give me more of an excuse to take that time that I should. One thought that was particularly profound to me today was...(not a direct quote but paraphrase) That when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to give her the news of her going to carry the Son of God and told her to name him Jesus. That was the first time that the Son of Gods name had been told to humanity. The first time that we as the human race had a personal name for our savior. I just thought that that was a special thought to cherish and hold on to.

Isn't this cute.

I know Christmas is over but I just found this AWESOME homemade felt Nativity on Blue Eyed Freckle. It is too cute. I am not sure they sell such cute felt in Pikeville Ky but I bet this is something easy G and J would like to help me with for next year.

Traditions to Treasure

A few years ago I enjoyed reading Noel Piper's book "Treasuring God In Our Traditions". This gave way to a new focus in our home. Hubby and I try to bring the Gospel into everything we do in our home. Of course we are not always successful but we try. We do Bible time and Catechism questions every night with the kids. We do an Advent Calendar in December to count down the days to our Saviors birthday. Easter has us baking a resurrection cake on Easter that the kids love to decorate with an empty tomb. Reformation Day better known as Halloween we love to watch "Luther". These are just a few of the traditions we are trying to create in our home.
Hubby's Aunt has a really neat Tradition in her home. She has a Miniature case full of various items. Each item represents a time in their families lives where God has shown His lovingkindess, and grace to them. When someone notices the items and asks about them, that gives them the opportunity to share Christ. I just think that that is a wonderful reminder to always be looking for the ways God moves in our lives. Since I saw hers I have been on the hunt for a miniature shelf of my own.
I would love to hear your traditions NOT just holiday traditions.

I think I am addicted to spitting in a cup now.

Well, I have been spitting in a cup everyday since Friday. My spit still does the gross "hanging thing" mentioned in the last post. I guess this Thrush has a huge hold on me and doesn't want to let go.
I updated my status on my Facebook page a little while ago. I had an old friend from high school comment on my status unexpectedly. I had mentioned I was going to a dentist tomorrow because I have completed all of the meds from the previous Dr. (guy who tried to kill me) and still have symptoms (hanging spit). She is in the dental field and wanted me to call her. So I did. She deals with Thrush a lot and had some great advice for me when I go to the Dentist tomorrow. She was super encouraging, and reafirmed in me that I am not crazy. I am suffering with a real condition. Isn't sad that I feel crazy from this sickness. Who would have thought being on an antibiotic, which is susposed to make you better when you are sick, is the very thing that has made me so sick. I feel crazy because I have been to 3 Dr's now and none of them have been sure about what I have. They agree my throat looks inflamed....but not sure what that means. I have been denied insurance over this "throat" issue. Thats right I was denied medical coverage because I was on previcid when the ENT thought it was reflux. I had to jump through many many many hoops to be accepted including riders on my policy to not cover me for reflux related issues. AND IT WASN"T EVEN REFLUX!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!! ok better now.
Are Dr's not taught the cool spit trick in medical school? I am just wondering why none of them put the pieces together like being on anitbiotic, feeling better after taking the thrush meds the first time, previcid not helping. I mean a sweet lady from my church diagnosed me for crying out loud.
Ok, I am really off my soap box this time. I was simply going to say I feel so prepared for my dental appointment tomorrow because this sweet friend of mine took the time to talk to me. I am so thankful the Lord has put these people in my path to take me in the right direction. I am not sure where I would be had he not set that lunch date and I would probly get the run around tomorrow had I not had my friend talk to me tonight.
My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty there's nothing my God can not do...
Elshadi=Almighty God

Great Read!

I just finished this great book by Francine Rivers. A Lineage of Grace. I love almost all of her books and this one was one of my favorites. It is a compilation of 5 shorter books into one. It is about the women in the lineage of Christ. Some of the women I had heard of but not given much thought and this book shed new light on them. They also opened my eyes to the way God used sinners and the least of us to accomplish His good work. The story of Tamar was my favorite.