by Kimberly | Apr 12, 2017 | parenting, Shepherding Children
A few years back a sweet friend started displaying these gorgeous flowers in her social media feeds. I had really never seen them before, or at least didn’t have a category for them. These wild, round, ever going flowers with lettuce leaves just struck me as the perfect spring flower.
Ranunculus are wild. They sprout and twig all over the place. You can try to force it to go in the direction you want it to, but most likely it will just go right back to what it is doing and do its own thing. If you force it to much, it will break right off of its light green stem.
They can stand alone or be fine in a group. I went to a brunch recently for a great ministry and one of the attendees has designed beautiful tablescapes just with ranunculus. They were simple and elegant and fun and stunning.
The past few years I have gotten in the habit of going in to Trader Joes and waiting eagerly for them to arrive in the front of the store. For their little round faces to be smiling at me, begging me to take them home to adorn my table or bathroom counter. And every time I walk in the house I see them, and smile. And think of my friend. And think of my boys.
Now, what in the world do ranunculus have to do with raising children? Something I ask my boys: “Who made ranunculus?” God did they will respond. And you know what, God did make them. He made everything to be its perfectly designed self. He made elephants to have long trunks. He made giraffes to have long necks. He made ants to be small and strong. He made clouds to float along in the sky and carry buckets of rain and snow. He is a perfect Creator.
He made ranunculus to be their sprouty, wild, crazy, perfectly perfect selves.
And that is how he made both of my boys. He made them perfect in his image. He made them to each have a perfect path designed for them that will encounter many different things along the way. They will be different in their perfect unique ways. They will have their own journey and path to God. They will learn differently. They will respond to the world differently. They have different paths but ones that I pray will end at Jesus.
I can’t force them to be who I want them to be. I can tell them to obey and expect obedience, but I can’t choose their path for them. I can train them up in the way of the Lord, but ultimately their life with Jesus has been chosen by Jesus.
As I was designing some ranunculus pictures the other day, I was telling my boys about how God made them so unique and I was glad I get to have them for a little while. They were exploring the different colors, its scent, and even kissing it. I love having different ways of teaching my boys God’s truth and even good morals.
As they learn to explore more, watch shows that have good morals, I love to bring in the natural world and good wholesome shows like the ones I can find on PureFlix . As long as you are intentional about teaching your kids, the natural world, books, movies, television shows can all be great tools to teach your children about who they are and who God is.
by Kimberly | Jun 23, 2016 | Shepherding Children, Uncategorized, Worship
We have started to see some exciting things in our boys! They are not only able to learn the Word, but they are eager to do it!
When we moved into our new rental home, we started making a concerted effort to teach our kids the Word. We knew this would not only help us but also help them. We started with “When I am afraid I will trust in you.” Then we have been working on Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need.” It is so cute to hear them say it, to say it at random times, and to want to say it all by themselves.
Another great way to teach kids Scripture is through music. And Seeds Worship has some great music that teaches kids the Word of God. It is a joy to hear them singing in the backseat as we drive to donut day, to church, or to the park.
One of my favorites right now by Seeds is their Praise CD. Has some great verses on it for kids (and adults) about trusting, our words, and the Word of God. I love singing along to it – and even getting my littles to “dance” in the car with me – so when others look in from the outside they won’t think I’m the only strange one. The songs Sing for Joy and Mighty to Save are two of my personal faves that I just SING LOUD on! I want to teach my children to sing for everything they have – sing with abandon to the God who created them.
If you would like to win the Praise CD from Seeds, just tell me what songs you and your children love to sing. And I’ll pick a winner soon.
Seeds sent me these CDs to listen to and love, but all opinions are my own!
by Kimberly | Apr 22, 2016 | Bible, Books, Shepherding Children
Thank you to Crossway for sending me this Bible to review. All opinions are my own.
I am in the thick of parenting. I have a preschooler and a toddler. I always have thoughts, prayers, questions, emotions – all about being a mommy. Being a mommy is by far the toughest job I’ve ever had. So, I’m always curious about what the Bible – my source for ALL TRUTH when it comes to any thing I need to know about parenting.
If I have a question about my heart when it comes to parenting, or disciplining, or raising two young boys to be men of God – I go to the Bible. When I have a question about my kids and what their heart should be, how they should pursue God, what I should be praying for their future – I go to the Bible.
And, the new Writer’s Edition Journaling Bible is perfect for writers. I can keep all my parenting thoughts in one place. I write devotions for other mommas and want to keep my thought altogether. So, how I’m using it is by color-coordinating my thoughts. If I am writing something about being a mom – I will use a certain color ink. Then I will use a color ink for each of my boys. That way, over the years, I can fill it with thoughts and prayers for myself, but also for each of them.
Crossway puts out quality Bibles, and this one is no different. There are two inches of lined space at the bottom of each page making it perfect to write in paragraph form to journal one’s thoughts. There is a ribbon especially helpful if you are praying through a book of the Bible. The pages are cream and thicker which is great to help lessen bleed through with certain pens. I personally use Micron pens 01 for writing in my Bible mostly.
If you need other ideas about journaling, you can check out Donald Whitney who has written a great book on praying the Bible – which would be a great asset to you as you pray for yourself as a momma and for your children.
by Kimberly | Apr 1, 2016 | Books, Shepherding Children
One of the most important things in any relationship is trust. Once that trust is broken, it is hard to get back. And one of the most important things in training your children to love and know God is to teach them what God says about Himself.
I was so excited to get this new book from Tommy Nelson because I’m going through the Bible this year pulling out what truths God shows me about Himself. I want to know everything about who God is so I can be like Him (1 Peter tells us that).
I also want my boys to know God as well. And so, as they get older (this book is perfect for grade school kids), I will get to use this in teaching them during family worship time who God says He is and how they can trust Him.
Diane Stortz goes through 40 reasons why kids can trust God. Illustrated so kids will be pulled the pages, and written so they might know the Word and the truth that God wants to teach them.
She includes some of the Hebrew names so kids can learn (includes pronunciation), Scripture readings, questions to ask, and application.
I hope you like this little book as much as I do. You can win one for yourself (your child of course) by answering this question: what is the attribute of God you love the best. Mine right now: that he welcomes me into his presence through Christ! He is the ultimate host!
by Kimberly | Feb 29, 2016 | Bible, Books, Shepherding Children, Uncategorized
We have so many kids’ books in our home. We have them in our cars, in our living room, in the toy box, upstairs in both of their rooms, in our master bedroom on our nightstands, and in the hallway outside their rooms just in case they need to find one on their way to the stairs. And we get more every month. Yes, I give some away, some to other moms, some to our church nursery rooms, and some to goodwill. If the books are very well worn, then they just go in the recycle bin.
However, out of all the books we have, the only one that has authority, power to change their little hearts, and shape their souls and hearts and actions is the Bible. It is the belief of “sola scriptura”. One of the five solas of the Reformation. Basically, (taken from wikipedia) it is : the Christian doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice. Sola scriptura does not deny that other authorities govern Christian life and devotion, but sees them all as subordinate to and corrected by the written word of God.
And that is one of the reasons I love Crossway and the ESV Bible. They publish books that are so full of Scripture and are such a good help to their readers. They also design great Bibles, for adults, and children. I personally have used their Journaling Bibles for almost 10 years now and LOVE them. And one of their new ones is a hardcover ESV Children’s Bible. Think back to the 70s and those picture Bibles: Now, erase that memory from your mind’s eye and picture realistic pictures, larger print, maps to help your children get a heart for the world that God so loves, and a concordance to help studying the word easier for little minds.
Here’s a simple way you can ease in to family worship if you don’t already do anything. Using this Bible:
- Start in the Gospel of Mark, one of Paul’s letters to the churches, the Psalms, or even Proverbs (especially if you have older children).
- Read a short passage. Have them read it if they can read.
- Talk to them about who God is, who Jesus is, what the passage says about man, and what it says about the gospel.
- Pick one verse the passage to help your children memorize. You may stick to that one verse all week, or depending on how old your children are, you may do a few a week. Kids can memorize the Word of God!
- Pray with them. Pray the Scriptures you just read. It will help them understand them. Pray the Spirit would give them a new heart that loves the Word of God and loves the Jesus who died for them.
Family Worship doesn’t have to be long and hard and have a lesson plan written out. It can, or you can just read the Bible with your kids, talk about it, and pray. And believe me, the Spirit will be molding your heart as well. His Word is good like that.
Thank you Crossway for this Bible. All opinions are my own.
by Kimberly | Feb 20, 2016 | Bible, Books, Kids r Readers 2, Shepherding Children
There are many sounds to motherhood. If you have been a mom for any length of time, you are quite familiar with them, and you know that they quickly change depending on your child’s age. Here are a few of mine:
- Apple chewing. Yes, I love to hear my two boys ask for a “big apple”, ask for mommy to “tut it”, and then chomp down on it. That means that are craving healthy foods and I give them enough sweets to balance it out 🙂
- Crying. We just took our younger son to the eye doctor for the first time. Come to find out he is extremely near sighted and will need glasses (just like his older brother). He is really clumsy even though he is a daredevil. (His eyesight probably has something to do with his clumsiness.) So, I know that when he falls and cries, than he is actually hurt. He has busted his gums and caused his two front teeth to be completely gray now (because they are dead with damaged nerves), yesterday he was playing instead of napping and tipped over a wooden chair in his room and almost punctured his eye. Thankful it was just the corner of his eye, and black eyes heal. He has scraped the top of his head from spinning circles on the back porch, getting dizzy, and falling over. He just loves to be crazy, but he knows when he cries mommy or daddy will come running – and usually his older brother will show great compassion on him.
- Mommy. Honestly, some times this gets old because they’ve said it 20 times in a row, whining for something they really don’t need. Any other mom our there know what I’m talking about? But today, as I was reading to my boys in the car while we ate lunch (waiting for a showing on our house to be finished), my younger said Mommy. Yes, he has said it plenty of times, but something just caught my attention this time when he said it. I’m there Mommy. I’m the one who loves them most in this world (with their daddy), and will be there for them, and play with them, and tuck them into bed at night. I pray that through my imperfect love they will come to see the perfect love for their Abba.
- Singing. Both of my boys have grown fond of singing. The two songs we know perfectly are the ABCs (finally, it was delayed in our home), and Jesus Loves Me. I’m glad the boys are learning that one in their SS class at our church. We sing it all the time. As my younger was awake at 6am this morning he was singing this. As I was getting ready to head out the door, I saw his little fingers sticking out at the bottom of the door, and heard his little voice singing.
My favorite line of Jesus Loves Me is “for the Bible tells me so.” Especially as I parent, and make mistakes, and don’t know what to do half the time, or how to balance everything that I need to balance, it is good to know that I have the perfect Word of God.
And Judah and Chelsea Smith just put out a great story book Bible for your kids (think grade school). It is more storybook (like Jesus Story Book Bible), but it tends to be more concrete and practical, making it somewhat easier for younger kids to grasp and know how to implement. This is an easy to use Bible, especially helpful to parents in leading Family Worship time in their home. Remember, as a parent, it is your responsibility to teach your kids about God, and the church’s job is to come along side you and partner together.
If you would like to win this Bible (and believe me, you do), just leave me a comment on one of the verses you are teaching to your children or one of the songs that your children are learning right now. Thanks Tommy Nelson Mommies for the Bible and the opportunity to pass it along to someone else!
