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

Photography Competition Exposure 2015

I entered Exposure 2015, an international photo competition. It is really exciting because if I get 100 comments and 100 votes I get to be a part of a digital show at the Louvre!  A dream come true! Please visit the site and leave a comment to help me out (I'm almost there! I have enough votes, but not enough comments yet)

https://chelseacarbonell.see.me/exposure2015

Mind be Renewed!

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2 NIV

Science is confirming what the Bible teaches us. Negative thoughts hurt our mind. I painted this painting thinking of trees and ocean, life, and thoughts. God showed me, and many other people who have viewed it that it represents our thoughts being renewed in His glory and presence. The tree-like design are the dendrites in our brains that grow or shrink depending on our choices and environment. When we have positive thoughts our dendrites can look like healthy lush trees.

"They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do." Psalms 1:3 NLT

When we have negative thoughts like hatred, unforgiveness, ungratefulness, etc. . The dendrites in our brain can wither and look like dead trees.  We need Christ's presences day to day to renew our minds and bring life, creativity, and joy! Be filled with joy and peace as you seek the Lord and His creativity and life abundant.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10 ESV

See the painting and some of my other artwork here. 

What Was Jesus' Name?

Lately I have heard many people refer to Jesus by His Hebrew name, Yeshua. I wanted to do some digging about why we call Him Jesus in Christian tradition. I am not an expert by any means, but I am going to do a little digging from the New Testament.
I looked up Matthew 1:1 in the Hebrew Lexicon (see link here ). Matthew 1:1 is simply "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:". Jesus the Messiah in this verse is "Iesous  (ee-ay-sooce) Christos" in the Greek. Hmm.... Iesous sounds a lot like Jesus! I want to look up more. In Luke 1:31 we read of the angel Gabriel announcing the name Mary should call her son. The name that is written in the Greek is Iesous. Interesting!
Now I want to know, what does Paul and James call Our Lord in the New Testament?
Romans 1 starts out with "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. . ." Christ Jesus in this verse is "iēsou christou" translated, iēsou: "the Anointed One, Messiah, Christ". And christou is translated "Jesus or Joshua, the name of the Messiah, also three other Israelites". (See here ). Now I want to look at what James the brother of Jesus called Him. Surely if anyone knew His true name it would be his own brother right? James 1:1 is written: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings." In this verse,  "Lord Jesus Christ" is "kuriou iēsou christou". Kuriou is translated: "Lord or master."
I am convinced by just this little bit of study that Jesus is a valid and true name for our Lord based on the Greek writings in the New Testament.


"Acension" by Chelsea Carbonell

This is mostly for my benefit as I have read some confusing things posted by people on Facebook and also implied in other ways about His wonderful Name. Its true, God has given Himself many names in scripture and it is obvious to me just by a few minutes of research that "Jesus" is a translation of the Greek word Iesous used prolifically in the New Testament. Even if we don't have His name exactly the way He says it in heaven, He still hears us and answers when we call on Him!

Kids Craft for October 31st

On a day when most folks are celebrating dark and scary things in the U.S. on Halloween we like to focus on the light even more. During our homeschool day today we read and talked about Philippians 2:14-15 and John 1:4 and made a simple, fun craft to show the light shining through the darkness. All my kids enjoyed it from 10 years old down to 5. 

  

^" Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky." Philippians 2:14-15

 ^"In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."  John 1:4

 

 

Be Filled with Holy Spirit

A really great 11 minute teaching on being filled with the Holy Spirit and how to understand what that means is located here.
Nisa really explains the concept in a way that is simple to understand and also shares some of her own experience.
Often people are confused, scared, or just never taught on this subject, but it is so important. Taking this step will add so much to your faith, and life as a follower of Christ Jesus. He never meant for us to live life figuring life out of our own. Instead He desires for us to rely constantly on His great power, profound wisdom, and supernatural guidance, warnings and love. Being filled with Holy Spirit is not only a one time event, but every day we can ask for a fresh infilling and great dependence and measure of His love and faith.
Be blessed!
http://www.xpmedia.com/video/10683/be-filled-with-holy-spirit

A Light Has Come

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Isaiah 60:1-2 NIV

When you look and see darkness all around, even
thick darkness, look up and trust in this promise.
It is then that the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
His glory will even appear over you.

See another translation:
Arise, shine; for thy light is come,
and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee.
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
 and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee,
and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isaiah 60:1-2 ASV

I believe wherever we go, if we are filled with Jesus,
His light and glory can shine through us and even be
seen on us. People who need hope, who need help,
who are wallowing in gross, thick darkness, are
brought into our path.
Choose to shine, draw close to
Christ, He will heal people through you.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden."
 Matthew 5:14 NIV

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
1 Corinthians 12:27

Nourishing Lemon Scone Cookies

I was searching online for a lemon cookie that used fresh lemon juice and had wholesome ingredients. I couldn't find anything that was right. I have a whole container of beautiful meyer lemons from Costco and I had to use some, tonight!
I came up with this recipe using only ingredients that I feel good about feeding my kids- wholesome and nourishing! They are kind of a cross between snickerdoodles and a scone. Not too sweet, full of lemon flavor, and nice texture.

1 cup melted extra virgin coconut oil
1 cup raw honey
1 cup shredded coconut
3 cups whole grain kamut flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tarter
2 organic eggs
Juice of 2 meyer lemons
(optional 1/2 cup course raw sugar- this can be mixed in at the end- it adds a nice crunch to the outside of the cookies and a good amount of sweet. This makes it more like a tea cookie.)

I mixed all the ingredients in my mixer and baked at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. It made 42 cookies.



Cookies going into oven

Finished Cookies

Crazy Creatures! Assignment that Ties Bible, Art & Creative Writing

This is the assignment I gave my 8 and 6 year old boys this morning and they did great!
1. Read Job 41:1-34 out loud. (This is the passage in the Bible that describes in detail the mysterious Leviathan that many believe could be a dinasaur or even a dragon. It is described as fire-breathing!)
2. Look at pages 32-33 in A Child's Book of Play in Art. to get an idea of what other artists ides of crazy creatures looked like.

 

 

3. Create your own crazy creature on paper. Remember to make a background, different colors, and details.

4. Create a name for your creature and write it on your paper.

C. Age 6 "Cale Cat"

 B. age 8 "Bad Boy"

 

5. Write a story together about both of your creatures (or for one child one creature.)

 



Geography and Creative Writing Prompt Idea

Prompt:
Choose two cities on the globe. Write about an adventure going from one city to another. Include landmarks, cities, and towns you go through, bodies of water, and types of people and animals you see. The cities you choose must be on two different continents.

See how creative your kids can get with this one!

Yummy Maple Caramel Popcorn in Less then 10 Minutes

This is the easiest, healthiest and yummiest caramel popcorn ever! I made it up by accident one day and my family is a huge fan. It is what I make for our October 31st family movie night tradition. I also make it other times as well, usually in the Fall.

Ingredients:
Organic Popcorn
Coconut Oil
Real maple syrup
Butter ( I use organic)

First heat up a stock pot on high for a couple minutes.
Add 1/3 cup coconut oil or enough to cover the bottom thinly when melted.
Once coconut oil is melted and hot add 1/3 to 1/2 cup popcorn . Do not bring it to smoking. Popcorn should cover bottom with one layer.
Cover but leave the back side of your lid cracked to let out steam. If you shut the lid all the way your popcorn will be chewy and not light and fluffy.
Shake it back and forth a couple times to move the kernels around.
Listen for when popping slows and dump into a large bowl.
Wipe out kernel pieces carefully from bottom of hot pot while holding pan over the sink using paper towel.
Immediately return pot to burner and add a half a stick of butter and about a 1/3 cup maple syrup (or more of both if you like a lot of caramel). Butter will melt quickly and maple syrup will caramelize within a few seconds on the really hot surface. Pour hot caramel over popcorn, add real-salt or sea salt and toss.
Serve warm!

Our "Not So Halloween" Tradition

Our family isn't a big fan of Halloween. We don't like scary decorations, or themes that are based in the occult or other fear based subjects. I don't believe this honors God or is beneficial to my children.

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5

So what to do, as a family, to be honoring to God and have fun together?

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Philippians 4:8

I want to share our family tradition that we have done the past two years (this will be the third!). We live in a neighborhood with lots of kids which means lots of trick-or-treaters, but strangely is also is a neighborhood with lots of scary Halloween decorations ( really scary ) demons coming out of the ground, body parts, etc. . . Not good for little ones! (Or anyone). So we put a BIG bowl of treats and tiny Bibles, and small toys outside with a cute sign, "Take One Please!" and leave our porch light on. When I say treats I mean granola bars, real fruit snacks, vitamin C lollipops, and other better choices. (who thought of giving kids so much refined sugar and other junk right at the beginning of cold and flu season? What a dumb idea.). Anyways. . . .Then I make homemade maple caramel popcorn (its done in less then 10 minutes, recipe here.) And all six of us cuddle on the couch with hot cocoa or cider and popcorn and watch the old Disney Swiss Family Robinson from the 1960's. My 6 and 8 year old remember this tradition and they are so excited for it again. I asked them if they wanted to change the movie this year and they said no. They love the movie and it makes it so special to watch it once a year as a family.

Most important I am teaching my kids something different.

Here are a couple of the many verses in the Bible concerning witchcraft. Consider what your children read, see, and engage in. Is it flirting with what God detests? Is this going to lead them closer to Jesus, closer to love, to light, or farther away?

"I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no longer cast spells." Micah 5:12
"Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 18:10

Next post: Yummy Maple Caramel Popcorn!