Teach Me While My Heart is Tender...

What is the most important thing we as parents teach our children? To be full of knowledge? To be safe and healthy? Should we focus mostly on having them be “good”…respectful, honest, and kind? Or perhaps train them to be successful in society? While these are all necessary parts of child-rearing, the single most important thing we must teach them is about God and His Word.

“You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:7

That is why, even though Jonah is only 12 months old, he has been learning the very first catechism questions (“Who made you, Jonah? 'GOD!'”), and he is listening to songs like, “My God is so Great”. That is why we are reading the Bible to him and teaching him how to pray. Why it is so critical that we teach him how to obey with a cheerful heart, control his anger, and respect when Daddy and Mommy tell him something. It is why we are teaching him the difference between right and wrong in this wicked world.

Why are we doing this? Is it because this is “our religion”? Is it because our church requires these things? Is it so that we can check the right things off a list of what “good parents” teach their children?

No, it is because we are seeking to train his mind and heart to obey and follow Jesus. We are told in the Bible that every person is born a sinner, deserving eternal punishment. We want to point little Jonah's mind and heart the direction of Christ, the only One who can save his sins and grant him eternal life in heaven!

We as parents are helpless to DO anything to secure our children a place in heaven and save them from their sins. So we must diligently train and teach, and most importantly we must PRAY that God will be pleased to give them repentance and faith to trust in His death on the cross for their sins and cause them to LOVE Him with all their heart! That is why my mom recently told me that she prays daily for my husband and I as we raise Jonah. And it is why my husband and I pray daily for Jonah's never-dying soul.

The most important issue in his life, and in the life of every child, is that they come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. May God be pleased to answer prayers to that end and give all of us as parents wisdom to teach them the ways and Word of God!

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works...” Ephesians 2:8

Can I Have a Quiet Minute?

It was the end of a long day.

Toys all over the floor, baby teething, Mama tired.

I needed to go use the bathroom...

Shut the door, and sighed for a moment of quiet solitude.

Then...

Bang bang.

In a split second, there he was,

banging on the door with baby fists,

jabbering for Mama.

And as I put my head in my hands,

I couldn't help but say,
"Thank you, God!"

I waited all my life to be a mommy,

to have a little person who needed me.

And that sweet day has come!

God Gave Us So Much...

God Gave Us So Much is a "limited-edition three book treasury" by Lisa Tawn Bergren. Once again, WaterBrook Press has given us a beautifully bound and illustrated hardcover children's book. The three tales in this treasury, through the eyes of a polar bear family, extol the goodness of God in giving us our world, love, and heaven. In each story there is a good mix of animal science facts, fun elements, as well as biblical truths.

The first book, God Gave Us the World, is definitely my favorite. The polar bears explore their polar bear zoo, and discuss the diversity God has created, and why God has given us our wonderful world. It would be very easy to draw parallels between the story, and human life. In the second book, God Gave Us Love, the polar bear cub and his daddy discuss human and divine love, and how God's love helps US to love even when it's hard. This book seemed a little "surfacey" to me, so it was my least favorite.
I love that the third book, God Gave Us Heaven, helps kids see that heaven will be indescribably better than things on this earth that they love and find comfort from. There is a good bit of the story that touches on biblical concepts, but there are a couple instances that I do not believe are biblically accurate and/or incomplete (related to who goes to heaven, and the gospel message). But if you use the story to help your kids get excited about heaven, and use the Bible to correct the errors/incompleteness, then it is a sweet story.

There is ALOT of dialogue in the stories, and sometimes you can't tell who is talking. I do not like that she used the exclamation "shoot". The wording is simple, fun, and engaging, and yet they throw in vocabulary words like "capable", "faith", and "reunion", which is great! Not only do the stories help children to worship God because of His goodness, but they also teach other godly traits like kindness, selflessness, stewardship, love, and wisdom.

I would recommend the book "God Gave Us the World." You can find the treasury or the individual books on amazon.com. They make great gifts!

*I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

You Don't Want to Miss This Contest!

http://multnomahemails.com/wbmlt/Emails/dragonanturtle-safari.html


The link above is for a REALLY fun contest corresponding with the Dragon and the Turtle books (My last book review entitled "Dragon and Turtle Friendship" on January 11th).

You don't want to miss this one....the prize is one any child would be thrilled to receive!

A Healthy Bite...for both of us!

In a renewed effort towards greater frugality,

I am trying to do better using up food in the fridge

especially things like

hummus

and

pita bread

that usually go stale or moldy after a while.

SO,

for lunch today Jonah and I had

Cheesy hummus pitas!

Spread a medium-thick layer of hummus (I used TJ's sweet roasted red pepper hummus)

on the inside of a pita, and sprinkle with cheese (cheddar is our favorite!)

Close the pita, and pop into the toaster oven until heated through and a little crisp on the outside.

Remove from toaster, and place baby spinach leaves inside.

Enjoy!

Get your chocolate fix the healthy way!

Here is a very yummy recipe I just found and made today. So healthy, delicious, and great for kids and adults alike!

Chocolate Coconut Haystacks
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup honey
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. sea salt

2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Melt the coconut oil over low heat in a saucepan. Stir in peanut butter, honey, vanilla and salt. Remove from heat; add coconut and cocoa powder...mix. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet (or one lined with parchment paper). Refrigerate until firm. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

I found this recipe here: http://carriedonthewind.blogspot.com/

Dragon and Turtle Friendship...

The Dragon and the Turtle, by Donita Paul and Evangeline Denmark, is a fairy-tale story of godly friendship. The cover photo is a cute picture of the main characters that excites you to open the book and read. Inside you'll find soft but engaging pictures illustrating the story line. In the story, Padraig the dragon goes searching for "creeping bugs" to eat, but instead finds a forlorn turtle who cannot find his home. Instead of pleasing his hungry stomach, Padraig decides to help, and flies away to search for Roger the turtle's description of his home. Each time, it is the wrong house, and Roger tells Padraig a new sensory description of his house to help him find it (i.e. "it smells like cookies and feels like the beach"). There is alot of good repetition of story elements and phrases, as well as those that build on one another (like the descriptions of Roger's house). I was a bit disappointed with the ending to the story. It is a long story, and builds to the point where you imagine a nice twist at the end, but the ending is fairly logical. However, the characters do set forth a nice example of selflessness, friendship, and kindness. The end of the book also has some nice extension activities and discussion, which is very nice.

*I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.