Tales from a Mother

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Wisdom God Gives - Colossians 3:16, Day 3

Colossians 3:16 -- "Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts."

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God gives you wisdom. My working definition of wisdom is "to know the right way to go and go that way." Pretty simple right? But you'd be surprised at how complicated we make it.

The first step is knowing which way to go. This is where you have to know God. Because God's direction is the right direction. If you don't know God, how can you possibly know His direction? To know God you must seek Him in prayer and in His Word. you can communicate with God by pouring your heart out to Him and then listening for an answer. When you spend time with God, He will press into your heart which way is the right way, which way is His way.

The next step is actually going the right way, God's way. Knowing which way is the right way is hard enough, but actually going that way takes a choice -- are you going to go the way that looks easy or luxurious or are you going to submit and trust God that He makes everything for good.

This is a very important decision, which marks the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowing the way to go is good, but it takes wisdom to see that the right way is not always the most inviting, but it will bring you peace and joy because you are aligned with God's plan and purpose.

There are more Devotionals where this one came from!

Study God's Word and be Blessed!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Homeschool Week 6

Homeschool Preschool 4-K

Week 6

We divide our homeschool curriculum into 4 basic parts: Bible, Letters and Numbers, Book of the Week and Other Skills. It is geared toward age 4, though many of the activities are good for children of all ages. I write this to give an overview of lessons and projects that we do to give you ideas to teach and do crafts with kids. We have a very casual preschool approach, but it is always fun to be creative and learn together!

Bible

Our Bible story this week comes from 2 Kings chapters 22-23. We are learning about the story of Little King Josiah. This story is found in The Beginner's Bible on pages 235-239, which is our primary Bible reading source. We are working on the character trait of attentiveness which means listening by keeping your hands in your lap, mouth closed, ears listening, eyes watching; focused; not being distracted or daydreaming. From this story we learn how God wants us to be attentive to what He wants us to do.

Little Josiah Coloring Page [Printable]

Our Weekly Memory Verse:

Proverbs 19:20 - "Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise."

Scroll Craft

First, we cut a brown paper bag into a rectangle. Then we scrunched up the paper to make it look old and worn. We then folded it back out and pushed it flat again. We then each end around a pencil to make the scroll effect. Depending on the size you could also use paper towel or toilet paper rolls. We then wrote Proverbs 19:20 on it, our memory verse, to practice.

Letters and Numbers

Our letters this week are "V" and "W"

"V" Poster [Printable]

Coloring Page "V" is for Vegetable [Printable]

"W" Poster [Printable]

Coloring Page "W" is for Whale [Printable]

Book of the Week

Harold and the Purple Crayon

by Crockett Johnson

Coloring Sheet [Printable]

Other Skills

Learning Last Name

This week we are working on how to recognize and write our last name. I first write the name over and over and then encourage Zoey to write each letter with me. I then write the whole name on a tracer paper with a highlighter so she can copy the whole thing. It is a slow process, but she has taken a great interest in learning her name so we have had success with the practice.

Lace Activity

Coordination

Even simple activities like hitting a ball with a bat and jumping over rope are ways to increase coordination. We do many of these types of activities during our week that I don't really record in the way to link to worksheets and craft ideas. However, it is an important part of the preschool day for us, and it continues all day and all week.

Thank you to ABC Jesus Love Me for so many of the ideas and the confidence to teach my child biblical and developmental ideas.

There are lots more ideas where these came from,

click to enjoy more of our homeschooling adventures!

Wordless Wednesday Linky Baseball Finale

This Labor Day held the last night of our minor league baseball team the Charleston Riverdog's last game of the season. The game was slow, there was only one run in the entire game that happened in the bottom of the 9th allowing us to win - Go Riverdogs! But the night was fun! Zoey loves just watching baseball, but she also got a purple ladybug balloon animal that she wanted and to see Charlie the Riverdog mascot. And to top the night off there were fireworks. We all had such a great time!

Tales From A Mother - Wordless Wednesday

Link up and Join me in the Wordless Wednesday Fun!

Teach Each Other - Colossians 3:16, Day 2

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We were never meant to be alone. Right from the beginning when God created the world He didn't mean for us to be alone.

Genesis 2:18 -- "Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him."

So why do we think we have to do everything on our own? God meant for us to have fellowship. He created the church so we could teach and support each other. The church did not begin as the institution we now know it as. The first century church, the ones who knew Jesus personally, were simply men and women who would gather together in homes to pray, contemplate scriptures, teach, counsel and lift each other up. They were not the social cliche bible study, they were were fighting persecution from the Roman government and the Jews.

John 15:19 -- "The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you."

You may not believe you have anything to teach others, but I bet God has a different opinion. He created us all unique with different stories and different struggles all to help each other through this difficult journey we call life. We can lean on each other, draw strength from each other and teach each other lessons we have already learned.

There are more Devotionals where this one came from!

Study God's Word and be Blessed!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Let Christ Fill Your Lives - Colossians 3:16, Day 1

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The message about Jesus Christ is not just some message, it is The Message. It is the Good News. It is what the Great Commission is all about.

Matthew 28:19-20 -- "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

These men and women gave up the life they knew to walk with Christ. When He died, I cannot even imagine what they felt. Christ was the Teacher, the Holy One, the Son of God. he was whom they had built their hope and trust on for the future.

Thankfully, Christ's death is not the end of the story, only the beginning. Because Jesus, a sinless man and a pure sacrifice, gave His life we can all be saved. We are no longer stuck in a cycle away from the Father, but we may approach Him in confidence, communicate with Him and expect an answer. We are not without hope, but rescued and given eternal life with the Father.

John 3:16 -- "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

Let this message of salvation and hope and love fill your lives. You have purpose, you have joy and peace in you and you are loved!

You see this is no ordinary message, it is The Message. It is the message of life, love and eternity spent with the Father.