love to paint

I received this in the mail today and my kids were so excited to see what it was like. I was curious too. I've read The Message Translation for adults, but not any of the Message for kids. It might seem like this would be a good set for 3-5 year olds, but I think it would be better for 4-7 year olds and mostly for 5-7 year olds. I was surprised at how many details were included. Autumn got a lot more from it than Sami. I do like this set. My kids love it. I gave it 5 stars on Amazon because of that. Autumn asked me, "When are you going to order the other ones, Mommy?" One reviewer on Amazon made a comment about the blood on Jesus on the cross and that she wasn't so crazy about that for her 3 year old. I can understand that. But, my girls are 4 and 6 and they didn't make any comments to me about being concerned about the crucifixion. The blood is depicted on Jesus' body while he is on the cross. I looked up my other children's Bibles to see what ...

Great is thy faithfulness. Oh, God, my father. Your mercies are new every morning... ...and every evening...and every moment. It's been a doozy of a two day stretch. It all began yesterday morning when I was sitting writing my blog entry for my making things stretch blog. I had a feeling that I was going to be needing to trust God very soon. Little did I know. I found water in my basement. A good size portion of my carpet was soaked. And so the journey began. I called the waterproofing company that did the job and someone is coming out Monday afternoon. I began the task of moving 3 huge IKEA bookcases and pulling up the carpet and the pad underneath. Then, I set about figuring out how to help it dry and putting fans out. Then I went to Lowe's and bought a sump pump for outside. I went to my friend Kim's house for dinner--which was a huge blessing. I was exhausted. I came home and did our taxes and then shot an email to one of the elders of the church we attend ...

It is so dear to me to see my children attempt to write and spell. The girls were not speaking nicely this afternoon to each other. Sami's voice was snappy at Autumn and Autumn gave her quite the look with her face. So, I told them they had to write apology notes to each other (and in Sami's case draw a picture for Autumn since she can't write). Well, Sami proved me wrong. She brought me a paper with this written on it... I A sre. = I am sorry. She realized she had forgotten the am when she sounded it out to me.

A few more thoughts about books... It has been really interesting this past month as I've considered many of the books I read and what is beneficial for me to read and what isn't. The past two weeks, I've had the option to review several books that I've opted not to. What I review is a choice on my part. In the past, I've chosen to review a lot of books that I've been iffy about, but after last month, my mind has changed a lot about that. I guess this is what I'm trying to say is...if I review a book and give it a not so positive review, it will be because I've had high hopes that it will be a good book--otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to review it. I also am choosing not to review books that I know outright that I will disagree with, unless I feel a strong impulse that I should read it. And there have been times that that has happened to me. But, I think that if I'm not the person who would be inclined to buy and read that book, then I d...

These are the things Sami asked me to pray for tonight... --that my chin wouldn't bump into my nose and --that my nose wouldn't bump into my head =) Silly girls!

Sometimes being alone is hard. It can also be the best place to be. My mom always told me that when you're alone, you can't run away from yourself. You have to face what's in your own heart and head. I've always believed that she's right and I've reminded myself of what she told me many times. Tonight is turning out to be one of those times.

God is continuing to knock on my heart about love and what it looks like to love others well. Sometimes these lessons come from the absence of love's expression to make me see what it looks like and other times it comes from the presence of its expression to see it. I will try to explain more tomorrow when my tears have stopped falling. But, for now... Tomorrow, my goal is to tell someone something that I think they do really well and tell them a strength that I see in them. Would you want to join me in this? My hope is that we will share God's love and lighten each other's steps! =)