by Kimberly | Nov 7, 2012 | photo shoot, Snail Mail Happies
Hey folks.
As I am in a new season of life, i would like to use my photography skills for means of blessing other people.
So, please take a look at my photos – whether here or on Facebook – and let me know what I can do for you.
I can print notecards – they come in a pack of 24 for $25 and that comes with pretty packaging. They can be personalized on front or back with scripture, name, or anything else you may want. If you don’t want them personalized they can come in smaller quantities, again with prices varying. Check out some ideas under the tab Snail Mail Happies
You can order a print which will be varying in prices depending on what you want (canvas, size, etc).
These make great holiday gifts or hostess gifts.
If you are in Little Rock and would like to do a photo shot – maybe for your holiday cards or for Christmas presents for family members: it is $50 a session and you get the CD and rites to all the photographs.
There you have it! Now, I just need to get an Etsy page going and a FB page going!
by Kimberly | Nov 6, 2012 | Bible, James
I am sure every one of you reading this has received and given many gifts. Some have probably been small and insignificant (every white elephant Christmas gathering you’ve ever attended) and some have probably been costly and important. Let me share a few of my favorite gifts with you that I’ve received.
I’m looking at two of my favorite gifts as I am writing this chapter. One is a water color painting of the skyline in St. Augustine, Florida drawn from the viewpoint of the Bridge of Lions. I studied at Flagler College in that beautiful north Florida coastal town and for the last two years daily drove over this bridge and got stuck at the drawbridge. I loved this town and all that it brought into my life: a wonderful church, mentors, and friends. My mentors gave me this as I graduated from college. I loved it and have always wanted to have a home to display it in. We have it in our apartment on the mantel as a gorgeous reminder of home and friendship.
Another favorite gift I’ve received is my engagement ring. When a girl has waited so long for something to important – it better be good! Most typical girls I know have searched the websites and looked in jewelry stores picking out their ideal engagement ring; I was no different. I didn’t want a solitaire because I was afraid it would get caught in my hair or messed up with food as a I was cooking. I wanted the main stone to be flat and round. I, like any smart girl, told both of my best friends what I desired in a ring. My smart boyfriend asked them what I liked. He then picked out the ring himself. When my best friend saw it weeks before he proposed, she knew I would LOVE it. And believe me, I did. Even now, I sit and stare at it as the light bounces off the shiny stones and reflects its warmth. It is a sign of my husband’s love for me, not because it is shiny and pretty, but because he thought of me when he was buying it.
These two gifts are reflective of the love and relationship of the people who gave it to me. My mentors and my husband are definitely 2 of the most important earthly relationships that I have. These gifts are earthly – one will collect dust and the other will need to be cleaned to keep its sparkle.
What is a gift? A gift is something undeserved. Did I deserve an engagement ring? No. Did I deserve a beautiful painting? No. If I had, these would not be gifts, but more like paychecks. They wouldn’t mean as much either. But, because both parties desired to give me something just to show their love for me, these gifts meant so much more. Thankfully, they gave, because I didn’t deserve either one of them. God demonstrates Himself to be a gracious giver to us time after time in Scripture. This giving demeanor is still true in our lives today. Let’s take a look at James 1 and see what this little book says about God’s giving nature.
James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
by Kimberly | Nov 4, 2012 | Bible, James
Finishing off from James 1:12
Psalm 73:25 : Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.”
So, how does this command to desire nothing line up with the awaiting a crown? I understood this a little better after a conversation with my husband over dinner. The crown will be given by God Himself, and therefore my desiring of the crown, is a good thing because it is a gift from God. Here is an example:
My husband comes home one night bringing me 7 fresh-picked yellow roses for our 7 month anniversary. He says “Thank you for being my friend.” What would happen to our friendship if I took the roses and threw them in the garbage? I am positive that would not be the reaction that he wanted. But instead, I did what any grateful wife would do: I hugged and kissed him, told him thank you, then placed the sunshine-filled vase in a place where everyone could see – and even posted a picture and put on social media exclaiming what a great husband I had.
The same idea applies for our heavenly crown. Would we want to be handed a dingy crown when we got to heaven? Certainly not. We want a crown reflective of the One who will give it to us. We want to work for the praise of God. And when God gives it to us, we will be thankful because we will fully understand then that our good works were not for our glory but for His (Matthew 5).
When we say we desire a crown, or we work and are faithful to receive the “crown of life” – we desire God’s praise. This is something we should desire. All of life should lead toward hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
by Kimberly | Nov 3, 2012 | James
Taken from James 1:12:
There was a Saturday each September when I was growing up that was special to my Mom and me. Most Saturdays in September were spent watching Gator football with my entire family, but on one Saturday night the television when to an entirely different type of competition: the Miss America Pageant. We would get out some paper and pens and make our secret lists of who we thought would be in the top ten, then then top five, and then finally who we thought would take the night. My mom and I continued this through my college years and beyond. Then they switched it to January and put it on cable and it just didn’t seem to be as good anymore. I remember two things mostly about those nights: spending time with my Mom and about 2 minutes after the crowning of the new Miss, I would alway start a new diet.
The end of each pageant there was a moment all the contestants and viewers awaited: the crowning. There was a song and flowers and applauding, but most importantly there was the dipping of the head to allow the crown to be safety-pinned on to secure it on the head of the winner. There were tears. There were flashes of cameras. There were scholarships and cars. But, every girl who walked on that stage just wanted one thing: the crown.
A crown has been given to the winner of this pageant since it began in 1921. For over 90 years, women have wanted to win to earn scholarship many and wear a crown. The current crown has over 700 jewels on it; a crown which each winner gets to keep at the end of her year’s reign. The crown has had many changes in designers over the years, but it is always beautiful, shiny, and coveted.
For Christians, we should covet another crown, not the one of earthly mold, but one given to us for completing the race that God has set out for us to run (Eph 2.10)
by Kimberly | Nov 3, 2012 | Books, parenting, Uncategorized
Do you ever hear the term “Family Worship” and think how in the world am I as a parent supposed to do this? I ask myself this as I have a newborn – only 6 weeks old. For me, right now, it looks like praying with him while I’m feeding him or talking to him about patience when he is screaming for food or for his diaper to be changed. But, I know as he gets older, my husband and I have the primary responsibility to lead this little treasure to Christ and to help him grow to be a man of God and to have a heart for God.
Timothy Smith’s new book, 52 Creative Family Time Experiences, helps parents succeed in their role as their child’s primary Christian influence. This book is a great jumping off point for parents who really need help and direction with leading Family Worship.
Here are some great points about this new tool you can use:
1. It is adaptable. If you have kids of varying ages, you can use this book with all of them. It gives you ideas to make the lesson more applicable to older children and younger ones alike!
2. It is organized. Everything from the opening activity to the closing prayer, this book gives you 52 weeks of creative ways to teach the Bible to your children.
3. The main point is there. Smith definitely gets that it is the parent’s role to be their child’s main discipler. It is not the church’s. I’m thankful that he gets it! I wish every writer writing for families and for youth/children would get that main point. That is clearly what the Bible teaches.
4. It is varied. Smith understands that all children (and adults) do not learn the same way. He has examples and activities that hit in every learning style: auditory, smell, vision, touch, doing, etc. This helps when all of your children learn different ways.
My only hesitation for this book is that it is not gospel-centered enough for me. I would want to teach the explicit Gospel of Jesus in every lesson. Take just one lesson – the one for Thanksgiving. It says we need to thank God because He is good and blesses us. We need to be thankful. It doesn’t mention that we need to be thankful for the cross of Christ because it is the only way our sins are forgiven. There are some that teach that and have it written in the lesson, but not all of them.
All in all, this is a “get book” – especially for parents who are striving to teach their children about the Bible and have no clue where to start!
