14 Days of Homeschool

INDOOR FISHING

Each day I read a devotional story to my little Stinky Face and then there is an activity to do on the next page. Today's story was about being prepared for when Jesus comes again. I have to admit that I was kind of shocked by this lesson. I've never told my 5 year old that Jesus is coming back some day. The more I thought this over, the more thankful I became of this devotional lesson. It is something that we should be teaching our children, because it is a part of God's Word. 

It used a story of a little boy who wanted to play and eat until the very last minute, when his dad had told him to be out in the van, ready to go to preschool. This lesson taught my son that the little boy wanted to do other things first and put off getting ready. In the same way, many people put off getting ready for when Jesus comes. We need to be living our lives the way Jesus wants us to so that we'll be ready when He comes again no matter when that is.

Then it was time for our activity. The directions said that this is an activity that we need to be ready for before we could start. We had to gather all of our materials and then construct a fishing pole and some fish. My son had a blast! I drew a couple of fish for him and then he did the rest of the drawings and cutting them out all on his own. Then we put paper clips on them.

Then it was time to make the "fishing pole". All I did was tie some string around the end of a yard stick and tie it in a knot. Then we took two magnetic rocks that we had and clipped them onto the end of the string. 

 

















Now we were ready to go fishing. When the hook (magnet) of the fishing pole touched the mouth (paper clip) of the fish, he caught fish! He thought it was so awesome and really enjoyed it when he caught more than one at a time.

A LESSON FROM HANNAH

I'm now in the book of 1 Samuel and I just read about how Hannah was mistreated by her husband's other wife, Peninnah. You see, Hannah was barren and in the Old Testament times, that was a disgrace. Peninnah who had sons and daughters, made Hannah miserable, provoking her to the point of grief and pain. Yet in the midst of Hannah's suffering, she became a woman of prayer and praise. When the situation was unbearable, Hannah turned in prayer to God, not to someone or something else. In spite of her bitterness, Hannah in fervent prayer focused on the Person of God as Lord of the hosts of heaven and earth.

Wow! Isn't it funny how God puts a word right out in front of your face when  you need it the most? You see, lately I've been dealing (once again) with looking to other people and other things to make me happy. Oh how I struggle in that area. I know it's wrong and I also know that the Lord wants me to rely on Him for all things. I'm a very sensitive person who desires strong friendships. While being sensitive can be a good quality, lately it's been getting me into trouble. I'm easily hurt when other people seem to have forgotten about me. I'm easily hurt when someone says they will call and then they don't. I get angry when I see my friends posting pictures on Facebook of them hanging out with other friends. Why? Because I'm jealous. Don't tell me you've never been there before. We all struggle with something and it seems like as soon as I conquer one mountain, another one pops up right in front of me.

 But God has a reason for the mountains. He wants us to never forget that we are to depend on Him. Just like Hannah, we need to turn to Him in fervent prayer and focus on Him, not the mountains. As we do this, the mountains shrink. As I do this (along with changing my settings on Facebook so that I don't see as much as I used to), my mountain has become a hill. I am drawing closer to God, just the way He intended. And I know that He will bless my efforts, just like He did for Hannah.He blessed her with children! She dedicated her first son, Samuel, to God. She then went on to have three sons and two daughters.

So what are you struggling with today? Poverty? Loneliness? Depression? Jealousy? Guilt? Anger? No matter what it is, God wants you to take your focus off of the problem. Don't go to someone else looking for the answers. Go to His Word! Go to Him in prayer! Maybe you need to take a break from Facebook or other social media. Maybe you need to spend some time away from others to get alone with God. He's calling you back to Him. He has all the answers you'll ever need. You just have to go to him and ask. Then trust Him. Be patient. He will work it all out. Keep your eyes on Him. Your breakthrough (and mine) are just around the corner!!!

Be blessed my friends!

Thanksgiving Day Crafts

My oldest son felt like he was too old to make a turkey out of his handprints, so instead he made a dog. He did use his hand though to outline the dog's head. Here is what he said he is thankful for: 

My family, my friends, food on the table, a good house, the good people in te world pets the world's beauty, music, power, that Jesus died for us, games, fun that dogs don't die on Thanksgiving.

This is the turkey that I helped Stinky Face make. We first traced two circles. I used a cd case for the bigger circle and an actual cd for the smaller circle. Then we traced his hands to use as the feathers. My oldest son came up with the idea of adding the hat and I really liked it, so we cut that out and glued it on. It was a very simple, yet fun thing to do with the kids. Our neighbors came over and made their own turkeys too.

Be blessed my friends!

Thanksgiving 2013

I love this picture that my oldest son took of me, him, and the baby. This was taken on Thanksgiving Day. We were all dressed up to go have dinner at Cracker Barrel. This has become our family tradition for Thanksgiving because our relatives don't live nearby and my husband has to get up very early to go to work the next day for Black Friday. I really miss our big family gatherings that we used to have, but I love making new traditions for the 5 of us, and not having to cook for hours or have any dishes to clean up is a huge bonus! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Be blessed my friends!