Faith and Trust

The story I am about to tell involves the 7 year old that I babysit. He was playing with his sister's Leprechaun trap at the kitchen table. Technically, he should be the one pictured above, but we all know that little boys do not have time for pictures. They have superheros to play with, and Trio sets waiting to be built. One cannot simply sit still for a few minutes. ;)

We had just finished playing a homemade dice game with some plastic turtles - four to be exact. No one caught a leprechaun at school, and Gabriel thought something needed to go inside the trap. Aha! Turtles would get the job done. They were green after all! Moments before he had gotten his finger pinched inside the trap, and it really surprised me that he continued to play with it. Boys learn to be tough at a young age.

With a mischievous smirk on his face he turned to me and said, "Angela, close your eyes and stick your hand into this box!"

Hmm, I started to wonder what his intentions were. We had a casual conversation before I dared to expose my hand to any danger.

Me: You want me to do what? Ohhh no! I know what you are going to do. You're going to snap the box shut the second I put my hand inside.

G: No, I won't I promise!

Me: Then why are you smiling like that?

G: Just close your eyes.

Me: Okay, I trust you, but if you end up doing it...you're going straight to a time out. I know you understand how much that hurts. It just happened to you.

At this point my hand still hadn't left my side. If I really trusted him I would have put that trust to action. So, I closed my eyes extra tight, lifted my hand, and guess what?

He was telling the truth.

I always find it fascinating that God can use little things throughout the day to teach me important lessons. I just have to be ready to hear them.

"But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6

When we have faith in the Lord, we can trust Him. Faith starts in believing that He is. 

Faith - A settled conviction concerning the veracity (complete truthfulness) of God.

The attributes of God are endless! We can have faith that He speaks the truth. Our faith and trust need to be put to action. A lot of times that is easier said than done, but those who diligently seek Him will be rewarded for their faith.

Tutu for a Cause

I had some extra tulle left over from making a tutu for my cousin's second birthday. I felt odd packing it away in our basement. Could there be another little princess that needed some poofy joy? Just then the Lord put Taylor Hall on my heart. Tutu number two needed to match the giraffe t-shirts that were designed for her prayer warriors. Thanks to Hobby Lobby, I found some coordinating ribbon that reminded me of her prayer bracelets. It was absolutely perfect!

I had to get a picture of the box that was all ready to go. I would have loved to climb inside with everything. I felt so blessed by the end of this. The whole project only took a few hours to put together, and I knew she would love it. On Sunday I read a devotional about Generosity based on Acts 20:35. It truly is better to give than to receive! Sometimes to get a blessing, we have to be a blessing. :)

Tay was cheesing it up after being at the doctor this morning. There are only three more visits to go and Radiation will be HISTORY!!

Everything she is going through makes me want to cry. The machines look like big monsters, but this amazing girl knows the routine. She even searches for her tube when the Anesthesiologist needs to administer the medicine. To quote one of her doctors, "She has an unusually good disposition for a child her age." What an answer to prayer!

"She's really cute when she crawls in it, it's a big poofy ball like a peacock tail!" 

-Julie Hall

Hopefully, Taylor will be encouraged to start walking soon. It would be wonderful to see her running around with her siblings! The Halls are taking this cancer journey one step at a time, and we're walking alongside them.

You are not alone baby girl! Jesus loves you.

Saint Patrick's Day!

The kids and I celebrated Saint Patrick's Day on Friday! We read Leprechaun's Gold by Pamela Duncan Edwards, The Night Before St. Patrick's Day by Natasha Wing, and Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley.

I threw together a quick Leprechaun craft with the help of Pinterest! (Noah's finished piece is pictured above)

 Lucy went wild when she added the freckles! It made me giggle, and she couldn't figure out why.

Gabriel's leprechaun was super silly. He loves to make his artwork stand out from the rest. He told me that it was wearing Groucho Marx glasses. He also tried his best to draw a tie, but he didn't like how it looked. Who knew sole patches could hide mistakes?

I tried to get a picture of all three leprechauns in one shot. This was the result. Lol!

Here's the Leprechaun collage that we made on Monday!

Even though the kids already heard The Leprechaun's Gold at school, they still enjoyed finding all 16 four leave clovers hidden within the book. It was a nice surprise! I had fun seeing them working as a team. What a perfect way to end the week.

A Pleasing Letter for Him

What if I told you that you are a letter? Say whaaat? A piece of paper with flawed strokes that carries a message with it? Yes! 2 Corinthians 3:3 makes this wonderful announcement to us. We are not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God! Take a moment to look at the world around us. I think it's safe to say that we want to get our message out. As I read this passage God revealed another truth to me. Blink and you might miss it.

I read verse five a couple times, and then it hit me. We are not Hikanos (enough or sufficient) of ourselves, but God is our Hikanotes (ability or competency to do something).

In Christ you can be a substantial letter. God wants to use you. In fact, you might be the only letter from God that some people will ever read. He chose to use fleshly tables of the heart instead of tables of stone. I believe that we often learn from the people we can relate to. We are not cold, lifeless objects.

I meditated on these verses and began wonder what my life proclaims. Does my letter show that I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, and might? That I am fearfully and wonderfully made? That I have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb? Does it tell others that I trust Him fully? It's an interesting concept to think about. I don't want my letter to be full of empty words.

There is encouragement in knowing that I'm not in this alone. God gives me the ability to be a pleasing letter for Him. It is my prayer that my heart would be tuned to the Author of my life.

"Peg And The Whale" Craft

Peg And The Whale by Kenneth Oppel was really fun! I was searching for a story about a whale at our library. I found this book on the shelf and put back all my other choices.

I loved the detail on each page - we attempted to recreate these pages (otherwise known as a spread)

The kids enjoyed using the dry brushing technique with a few of our stencil brushes. Tapping brushes against paper is stress relieving for all ages. :)

After finishing our orange sky, each child used some crayons to add waves to their blue paper. Then, we got started on our puffy, pink clouds.

The end results were pretty awesome!

The bright colors felt refreshing in the middle of winter. I was happy to use a lot of my Elmer's construction paper. It never seems to stick together all the way. I'll be happy when it's gone!

 I painted 3 coffee filters with black tempera paint before hand. It gave the whales a wrinkly look. I'm glad I did this step ahead of time. Our final touch was adding Peg to the top of her whale!