Reading Jars (a way to re-use all the little toys cluttering your house and motivate reading!)

Here comes summer! I needed a way to motivate my 7 year old girls in their reading. They just were not all that willing to sit and read very often, and needed to practice. I got an idea when looking at all the little random things shoved in the corners of the schoolroom. 

Quickly I grabbed two mason jars from the cupboard, one wide mouth for little hands to reach in and the other regular mouth. Next I took a sharpie and wrote on the regular mouth jar, "Reading Jar!" with stars and happy faces, covering it with random stickers from the sticker drawer. Next, I scoured my house for little bits. You know the bits: games pieces without the game, pretty buttons, little shells, broken hair clips, a domino or two, beads,dice and more. I found enough to almost fill the wide mouth jar by looking in our junk drawer, schoolroom and corners of my kids bedrooms. Next I told them the rules. "Whenever you read a book to someone (even the dog!) or when someone reads to you (Mom, Dad, Grandma, brother etc. . .) you get to reach into the jar and pick out whatever you want to go into the reading jar. When the reading jar is all filled up there is going to be a big surprise!" 

I'm saving the Groupons I got for a local kiddie amusement park for that special day! To my surprise and delight they already filled up half their jar! We have been doing a lot of reading! They have fun reaching in and searching for their little choice for the jar. 

Worshipful

Beautiful! So creative and worshipful.

 

wor·ship·ful

[ˈwərSHəpfəl]

ADJECTIVE

 

1. feeling or showing reverence and adoration:

   "her voice was full of worshipful admiration"

Now Word from Scripture- Isaiah 55

I feel like God is highlighting this scripture for this season. Blessings to you!
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
         Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
         So are My ways higher than your ways
         And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
         And do not return there without watering the earth
         And making it bear and sprout,
         And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
         It will not return to Me empty,
         Without accomplishing what I desire,
         And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. “For you will go out with joy
         And be led forth with peace;
         The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
         And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. “Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,
         And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,
         And it will be a memorial to the LORD,
         For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”
Isaiah 55:8-13

My painting to represent 2016!

My painting to represent 2016!

  "I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground." Isaiah 41:18
"For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland." Isaiah 43:18
Have an amazing New Year!

Turn STEM into STEAMM- ART and MUSIC is important to Education

Whenever I see the tag word STEM I have always thought something was missing. Doesn't science, technology, engineering and mathematics walk hand in hand with the creativity and brain development art and music training provides? There is a strong connection between music instruction and math ability that is well known. (google it- there are too many references to post here!) I have seen with my own eyes, as an art teacher, children light up when they are doing art. Often, their confidence and creative skills greatly improve. Also many children find healing from trauma and decrease in stress as a result of doing art.  Isn't that what we need in our society? I hope this generation of children find love in art and music and use these God given gifts to worship Him and serve others. Whether they use it in a traditional sense, or in science and technology, it will be a benefit to many and enhance their lives.
#turnSTEMintoSTEAMM #creativitymatters #bringbackartandmusic

My son writing his own music
#turnSTEMintoSTEAMM

How I Fed My Family of 6 Tonight For Less Then $3

Tonight we had a delicious and nutritious dinner for less then $3 that fed 6! I want to share to inspire you that food doesn't have to always be so expensive if you plan ahead and grow some yourself. What was on the menu? Giant baked potatoes (grown in the garden from leftover organic sprouted potatoes from the grocery store), sour cream and cheese from Costco (I am guessing what we ate tonight of that is about $1.75 worth), topped with stir fried broccoli and tomatoes (both fresh from the garden) and black bean soup. The black bean soup is super easy and delicious and costs about $1.19 depending on where you buy a bag of dried black beans. I rinse them well and put them in the slow cooker and high in the late morning and check a few times to make sure there is plenty of water. I add a little oil, salt, and garlic powder. That's it! By dinner time the beans are soft, falling apart and delicious.  You can top the black bean soup with cheese too if desired. The approximate total out of pocket for this dinner was $2.94. I understand that food grown in the garden isn't completely free- but it is close!

Spider Webs: Making Invisible Traps Visible

I was watering my garden this morning. The sun was shining, the insects were buzzing and fluttering all around. It was so pretty out, but I kept hitting invisible snares: icky spider webs. This late in the summer the spiders are really coming out- they are everywhere! I got a big one crawling on my leg when I was mowing last evening- ick.. . . ! And the casualties are evident, mummified mason bees stuck in webs scattered about. As I hit another lead wire web between my shrubs and my rose buses and wondered what was attached to it; the Lord spoke to my heart. I sprayed all around me with the midst setting of my hose, and suddenly what was invisible, or barely discernible, became completely visible. The water outlined the webs so brightly in the sun.

"to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. . . ." Ephesians 5:26

"But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." John 4:14

This short but meaningful experience was a reminder that if we stay close to Jesus, letting him wash us with the water of His Word, and drinking the fresh Water of communion with Him, He will highlight the traps in our path. What was invisible becomes visible and we can avoid traps that would ensnare us and lead us in the wrong direction.

Unity in Jesus Christ

It's time for the body of Christ around the world, across denominations, to come together in unity! Lets put aside what doesn't matter and embrace what really matters. Jesus prayed this over His people: "I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me." John 17:23 NLT
What really matters?
"Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12



"For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." Romans 10:13