God Is My Delight

Notes From My Bible Class

2012-02-13T21:43:00.001-08:00

Here's our teen helper for February, leading a fill-in-the-blank game. Someone was just about to guess it - "DAVID WAS FOCUSED ON GOD." This was at the beginning of class. We reviewed what we've learned about King David so far and discussed why he was a successful king. The Bible also tells us of a serious mistake that he made. I knew that on the previous Wednesday night they had learned about this mistake. This is another one of those lessons that I find a bit tricky to teach. So, I just asked them what this mistake was, so that I could hear it from their perspective. One of the boys answered by saying that David stole another man's wife and she became pregnant. And then one of the girls added David had the husband put on the front lines of the next battle, where he was killed. So I felt like that covered enough details of that story so that we could move on into our lesson for the day, which was from 2 Samuel 12. This is where the prophet, Nathan, comes and tells David a story about a rich man who steals a dearly loved lamb from a poor man. When David becomes furious about the rich man's actions, Nathan says to David, "YOU are the man!" David realizes that he has sinned before God. And then we took a close look at how David handled this whole situation. We turned in our Bibles to Psalm 51, which David wrote after Nathan confronted him. First, we noticed that he humbly confessed his sin before God. Then, he asked for God to forgive him. Finally, he told of his desire to "declare God's praise" (Psa. 51:15). I think that one of the best lessons we can learn from this story is that we don't have to stay stuck on our sins. David grieved over what he had done but after asking for God to forgive him, he went right back to PRAISING GOD! Which is what the book of Psalms is all about. I was thrilled that everyone brought their Bible to class! Not only that, but they also were turning to the lesson text BEFORE I even told them too! This student above had been waiting for several weeks to receive her Bible in the mail. This was her first Sunday to have it in class, and it was a joy to see her finding the scriptures and pointing them out to her cousin, who was visiting. Would you join me in praying for each of these kids, that each one will grow in their knowledge of God's word and in their understanding of God's amazing love for us?

Notes From My Bible Class

2012-02-06T20:28:00.001-08:00

We began our class this week by writing thank you notes to Michaela, our teen helper in January.

Next, we went through some review questions about David. Chocolate chips and hazelnuts were given for each correct answer; and ALL questions were answered correctly! The main thing that I want the kids to remember about David, is that he was FOCUSED on God. The lesson this week was from 2 Samuel 10 (also 1 Chronicles 19). We learned what happened David sent a delegation of men to express his sympathy to the king of the Ammonites. He was accused of wanting to spy on the city and overthrow it. The Ammonites humiliated the Israelite men (read the chapter for details!) and eventually this led to battle. My favorite verse in this chapter is v. 12. This is Joab, the commander of the Israelite army speaking to the soldiers before the fighting began. He said, "Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is right in His sight." This demonstrates a noble and humble attitude, that is not often found among fighting men. It was a short battle; the enemy fled and God continued keeping His promise in giving His people the land of Israel.

Then we opened our notebooks and the kids added their "astro-note" for the week. We learned that the full moon for February is called the Snow Moon, which seems appropriate as the snow keeps piling higher & higher!

We have all of the planets up on our wall now. Just from looking at this photo you can tell how God created each of them different from each other. We discussed the reasons for these differences and God created perfect balance in space so that we, God's children, can have comfortable living conditions on Earth. The best part of the class, I thought, was hearing the kids enthusiastically sing a song I had just taught them about the planets! Finally we recited our current memory verse from Psalm 148:1-5. This passage is all about praising God! We can define "praise" as saying "good job". When we look at the things God has placed in the sky (the sun, the full moon, the planets (Venus & Jupiter are currently very visible), we can say, "Wow, good job God!"

Notes From My Bible Class

2012-01-30T22:33:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday's lesson was entitled "David's Victories" from 2 Samuel 8 & 1 Chronicles 18 (which are nearly identical). We learned that the Israelites faced enemies in every direction. David and his army was able to successfully win each battle. Both chapters say that "The Lord gave David victory wherever he went." We had an interesting discussion about why it was okay for the Israelites to put to death so many thousands of people. One reason is because God had earlier promised Abraham that He would give this land to his descendants, as shown in the map above. Our God has always been faithful to keep His promises!

For our astronomy segment, we talked about Venus. Last week we had learned that Venus has been very easy to spot over the last week or so. A couple of the kids were excited to tell me that they had seen it shining brightly during the week. I thought it would be good to learn more about the planet that has been so very visible, so that when we see it, we can know some interesting facts about it. Such as: 1) the temperatures on Venus are nearly 900 degrees, 2) It is covered with volcanoes, 3) It rotates on its axis in the opposite direction than Earth does, 4) It spins at a much slower rate than Earth. It takes 243 Earth days for Venus to make one complete rotation, whereas it only takes Earth 24 hours to make a complete rotation. We talked about how awesome it is that God created all of the planets to be so different from each other! The photo above shows a portion of our planet wall; we're not quite finished with it!

Each week, the students record in their notebooks one thing they've learned from the lesson.

We were glad to have Michaela as our teen helper for the month of January - she did a fantastic job!

Notes From My Bible Class

2012-01-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

Our lesson text for last Sunday's lesson was 1 Chronicles 11 - 16. Since it was such a lengthy passage, we looked at the highlights of chapters 11-15 and then focused on chapter 16. Here is a quick summary: Chapter 11 - a listing of David's "Mighty Men" (a group of 30 soldiers who followed David & served him loyally for many years). Chapter 12 - a listing of the number of men from each tribe who volunteered to fight for Israel against neighboring enemies. The kids were surprised when I told them the total number of soldiers. It was more than 300,000; which is more than the population of Anchorage! That is especially big, considering that Israel is such a small country. Chapter 13 - David's first attempt to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. This account ends tragically because they didn't follow God's instructions about how it was to be carried. Chapter 14 - After consulting God, David succeeds in a battle against the Philistines. Chapter 15 - David's second attempt to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. We looked at the detailed instructions that David gave to the Levites and also the joyous celebration that took place when it was brought into Jerusalem. Chapter 16 - The high point of our lesson - David gives praise to God in a psalm of thanks. We remembered that the word "psalm" means "praise". Just as in last week's lesson, regardless of what was happening, David was focused on God. He credited God for all of the blessings the Israelites were enjoying and acknowledged that the Lord reigns over all creation. We took turns reading verses of praise in that last chapter and finally read what the people said at the end - "Amen" and "Praise the Lord."

We briefly talked about the conjuntion of Venus and the Moon which will be this Thursday, January 26. This means that they will be at their closest distance to each other. Actually, the above photo shows what has been in the sky for the last week or so. Venus & the moon are gradually moving closer to each other. The bright light next to the moon is Venus. These two objects have been appearing in the western sky just after sunset, before any stars appear. If the sky is clear, you can't miss it! An interesting fact that I forgot to mention to the kids is that Venus is the third brightest object in the sky, after the Sun and Moon.

As we go through the days of this seemingly long winter, may we seek to praise the Lord for the victories He has given us and for the beauty & movement of the lights He has placed in the sky!

Notes From My Bible Class

2012-01-16T22:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it was quite a challenge to come up with a good way to teach last week's lesson. The title of it - "Joab Murdered Abner" from 2 Samuel 3-4. Not a lesson that I would necessarily choose to teach - but there it was, right on the schedule of lessons that I was given. We are just a couple of weeks into our unit on David and I knew there are many instances of battles & killing that take place. So, how do you present those lessons to children? (I would really be interested in knowing how other teachers handle these kinds of lessons!) I spent nearly the whole week, thinking & praying for some ideas. Finally, the day before the lesson, I came up with a couple of ideas that I could use. First of all, I found this website, www.bricktestament.com. that illustrates, in great detail, a large number of stories (even those obscure ones) using lego blocks. I knew that would catch the attention of the kids and help them keep the characters straight. After reviewing and introducing this week's lesson, I showed them the lesson on my laptop. Just as I thought, the kids were captivated by the illustrations. It is rather interesting to see how the legos are used! But a word of caution --- there are many Bible stories illustrated on this site that you probably would not want to show to kids. Even from the text our lesson came from, I didn't show every illustration. So, how did I explain all of the killing that takes place? I read through the chapters, and the preceding ones, several times during the week, and what I began noticing was David's reaction to these deaths. He was saddened, even though the people that were killed were considered his enemies. And he was angry over the injustice that was practiced. Also, we noticed how the other men in the story were focused on themselves; they either were seeking revenge or were trying to make themselves look good. David, however, was focused on God. He was constantly seeking guidance from God and trying to do things the way God wanted them done. We noticed that in almost all of the words David spoke in these chapters, he mentions God! As this lesson finally started coming together in my mind, I realized that this is what I want the kids to remember about David - that he was focused on God.

This fits in perfectly with our memory verse for our unit on David. We talked about the book of Psalms. We learned that the word "psalm" is the Hebrew word for "praise" and that these psalms were written to be used in worship. We know that at least 73 out of the 150 psalms were written by David. This shows his focus on God! King David realized that God is our Almighty King, and we are like sheep before Him. No matter what men may accomplish, we can do nothing with Him. He is worthy of ALL of our praise! We looked at some random chapters in Psalms and noticed how often the phrase "Praise the Lord" is used. The poster above shows our new memory verse. Notice that it mentions the sun, the moon, & the stars. All creation praises God, simply by doing what God created them to do!

Notes From My Bible Class

2012-01-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

The list of names above is the names of the generations of two of my students in our class - Elic & Georgia. So, Dawn is their mother, Ramona is Dawn's mother, etc. It just so happens that Elic & Georgea are named for their great-great grandfather & grandfather, respectively. (That's pretty neat, I think!)

Here is another family "tree" chart. It starts at the top with Abraham and of course, the big star at the bottom is Jesus. We've talked at length about Abraham being the father of the Israelite nation and that God's promises to Abraham were based on His plan to send Jesus into the world. The Sunday before Christmas we read the geneology of Jesus from the first chapter of Matthew. It begins with Abraham and lists the name of each generation, right through to Christ. This is a great example of how God fulfilled his promise, after 2000 years!

Our lesson this past Sunday was a "transistion lesson". Starting next Sunday, we will be looking at lessons from the life of David. So, to help the kids make the connection between Abraham & David, we again looked at the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1. This time, we just read the generations from Abraham to David, and placed stars on the chart for each name.

We also looked at Psalm 105 and saw how the writer of this Psalm wanted to remind the Jewish people of God's faithfulness in fulfilling His promises.

"He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded for

a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant. " (v. 8-10)

The chapter recounts the history of the Israelites, telling how Joseph was sent to Egypt, and eventually the nation of Israel was enslaved in Egypt. And then it tells the story of how God rescued the people from slavery and brought them out and back into the land that had been promised to them, generations before.

"For he remembered his holy promise, given to his servant Abraham.

He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts

of joy." (v. 42)

God has not changed since that time. He has made promises to us, his chosen people, and we can trust him to carry out his purposes for our lives.

Finally, with it being January 1, we talked about calendars, and how important dates are. We talked about how nearly EVERYTHING we do is based on the location and/or movement of the sun, moon, and earth. Just stop and think about it for a minute - how would we function if we didn't have a system of keeping track of days or times? And the amazing thing is that God set it all PERFECTLY in motion and keeps it all running, so that we can have order in our daily lives. That is only one example of how he provides for us, his beloved children.

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-12-07T11:03:00.001-08:00

These two boys were the only kids in my class this past Sunday! I suspect that icy roads and nasty germs kept the rest of the kids home. I was glad that Adam (on the right) was there, because we celebrated his birthday! He is turning 10 years old this week.

Our lesson was from Genesis 26, where we learn how Isaac dealt with King Abimelach and the Philistines. God blessed Isaac for his obedience. He became very wealthy and the Philistines were jealous of him, so they mistreated him. But God was with Isaac and reassured him by reminding him of the same promise he had made to his father, Abraham - "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants."

Here are our "astronomy notes" for the week. First of all, the full moon of December, which is called the "cold moon". We thought that seemed appropriate! And then we learned about a great event that will occur in the sky before sunrise this Saturday, December 10. Ahanu (my teen helper for the month) and I demonstrated what happens when the sun, earth, and moon line up. Since the full moon occurs in conjunction with the timing of the alignment, there will be a full lunar eclipse. I hope that the kids will want to wake up early enough to witness this spectacular sight! Here in Alaska, the eclipse will begin at 3:46 a.m. and last until 7:18 a.m. The time of total eclipse is 5:32-5:57 a.m. Here are some links that will tell you more:

http://earthsky.org/tonight/lunar-eclipse-for-north-america-before-sunrise-december-10,

http://www.classicalastronomy.com/news/anmviewer.asp?a=49&z=20

http://www.eyesonthesky.com/ (video)

http://whoknew.news.yahoo.com/who-knew/lunar-eclipse-27509751.html (video)

Science has never been my most favorite subject, but I am finding all of these astronomy "tidbits" that I'm teaching the kids very fascinating! More and more I see that "the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (Psalm 19:1).

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-11-21T11:01:00.001-08:00

The teenager in this photo, Nistor, was my helper during the month of November. He did a fabulous job! He eagerly did everything I asked him to do, plus he did many things to help, without me even asking. The kids enjoyed having him in our classroom as well. Thank you, Nistor!

We've been studying our way thru the life of Abraham; seeing how he kept trusting in God's promises and obeying God, even when things didn't make sense.

The kids are hard at work making their memory verse cards.

We love how this verse fits perfectly into our astronomy theme! What great advice - for Abraham & for us. The sky is full of God's glory . . .

We're hoping for some clear nights so we can all see the Big Dipper.

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-11-14T21:26:00.001-08:00

"How many stars are in the sky?" was our question of the day. We learned that in our galaxy (the Milky Way) there are over 100 billion stars. Add that to the billions of stars from the billions of other galaxies - and you'll soon realize that it is impossible for us to number the stars! And astronomers are discovering new stars and galaxies all the time! Only our God knows how many stars there are, since He created them. We looked at this verse from Psalm 147:4 ---He (God) determines the number of stars and calls them each by name. So when God told Abraham to ". . .look up at the heavens and count the stars," He knew that there was no way that Abraham actually could. Just as it is impossible for us to fully realize all of the ways that God blesses each one of us. So, even though it's not possible for us to literally count the stars, it is an effective way for us to meditate on how great and powerful our Father is! And unless we have poor eyesight, it's something EVERYONE can do! Our lesson text was from Genesis 18, where three visitors from God came to Abraham and assured him & Sarah that God had not forgotten his promise to them. They were told that in one years' time, they would be the parents of a baby boy!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-11-08T10:26:00.001-08:00

Ever since I had decided to use astronomy as this year's theme in our class, I've been looking forward to teaching this lesson! Our new memory verse is:

God took Abraham outside and said,

"Look up at the heavens

and count the stars -

if indeed you can count them."

(Genesis 15:5)

We talked about what this instruction meant to Abraham. This was God's response to his trying to understand how a great nation would come from him, since he reached an old age and still had no children. I keep thinking about how this is a valuable instruction for everyone today. How often do we find ourselves not able to understand how God is working in our lives? We have faith that God is taking care of us, but we still wonder how He is working out the details. And sometimes we may even find ourselves wondering if He is working. So, here's what we can do ---we can do exactly what God told Abraham to do. Go outside, look up at the heavens, and count the stars. By looking at the stars, we can see the power and wisdom of God. If God can create countless numbers of stars (only He knows the number of stars, according to Psalm 147:4), we can be certain that he can work in our lives.

We talked about the full moon which occurs this Thursday, Nov. 10. The kids seem to enjoy learning about the names and legends behind them. Also, I reminded the kids that Jupiter is still shining brightly just to the lower left of the moon. And when they look up at it, they can think about the fact that it is a thousand times bigger than the earth! It is amazing what God has placed in the sky! And finally, we wrote thank-you messages to Kayla, our teen helper from last month. During November, we have Nistor helping us. Thanks Nistor, for taking these photos!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-10-31T10:47:00.001-07:00

We began our study of the life of Abram (who would later be named Abraham). Since our lessons so far had been about Jesus and then the early church, I spent a good bit of time making a connection between the time of the Jesus and the apostles and the early days of the Old Testament. We talked about the fact that Jesus and most of the apostles were Jews and lived in Israel. We talked about the amazing fact that God has always loved the people he created even when they choose not to follow him and from the very beginning had a plan to bring all people back to him. That plan was JESUS! So, if Jesus was born as a Jew, there had to be a beginning of the Jewish nation. That takes us back over 2000 years from the actual time that Christ was born to the time of Abram. God obviously works on a different schedule than the rest of us!

The ziggurat, pictured above, is a structure that was often used in ancient times as places of worship to false gods. Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a ziggurat in Ur, Abram's hometown. We also know from history that in Ur, most people worshipped a moon god named Nanna. An interesting fact, which I learned in preparing for this lesson, was that Abram in his early life worshipped other gods, most likely Nanna the moon god. (See Joshua 24:13) We read from Genesis 12 about how God called Abram to leave his country and to go to a new land. We traced his journey on a map and read that when he arrived in Canaan, God promised that one day He would give this land to Abraham's descendants. (By the way, at this point Abram is 75 years old and has NO children). We noticed from the scripture that Abram stopped at two places in Canaan and built altars to God. Yay, Abram stopped worshipping false gods!

Then it was time for our astronomy segment. According to our Night Sky calendar, Oct 28 marked the date when Jupiter was closer to Earth than it normally is. ("Close" being 369 million miles away!) It will be about 12 years before it comes this close again. Jupiter is very easy to see on a clear night; I've been observing it for the last couple of weeks. If you'd like to take a look, just look up to the east. It looks like an extremely bright star, but it is in fact Jupiter. In the photo above, Madison (on the right) is holding Jupiter. Bryan is holding Earth. We talked about how BIG Jupiter is - it is so big that the Earth could fit into it over 1000 times! Obviously, the paper models they are holding aren't quite to scale! Do you see that red spot on the lower left side of Jupiter? That's the size of 2 Earths and it indicates where a giant storm has been raging for over 300 years! We also learned how God created Jupiter so that it protects Earth. God gave Jupiter an incredible mass and a strong gravitational pull, so that any comets or astroids that are floating around in space are pulled into the magnetic field of Jupiter and crash into it instead of Earth. Wasn't that thoughtful of our Father?!

Finally, we ended our class by thanking Kayla, our teen helper during October. (She's the pretty brunette seated above.) She did a great job of doing anything I asked her to do, plus she directed a few of the students in a skit last week. There's no way I could do all that I do in our class without HELP! Thank you, Kayla!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-10-10T10:27:00.001-07:00

We're continuing our study in the book of Acts . . . learning about the "acts" of the apostles. I am emphasizing that this book tells us about when the church was just beginning. The apostles were doing exactly what Jesus told them to do before he went back to heaven . . . they were sharing the gospel with everyone that they could, so that eventually it would spread to the whole world. Our lesson this week was from chapter 5. We learned about Ananias & Sappphira and the deadly mistake they made (a story that never fails to impress). And then we saw how the apostles were thrown into jail for what they were teaching and then were released by an angel. The angel told them to go back into the temple courts and "tell the people the full message of this new life (v.20). Then they were called to appear before the Sanhedrin (the high court of the Jews). We saw how Peter used this opportunity to "be light" before these men who were in darkness and spoke to them of Jesus (v. 30-32). The chapter ends with the apostles being flogged and then released. The last verse reads, "Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." NOTHING could stop these men!

After the lesson, we turned off the overhead lights and used a flashlight to find the words of our memory verse and then put them in order.

And finally we learned a little about the full moon that will appear this Wednesday, Oct 12. Our God was very wise as he created our world and caused there to be light and seasons. He takes care of ALL of our needs!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-10-03T10:16:00.001-07:00

This is our new memory verse. The kids made these cards to go into their memory verse albums. I asked the kids, "Who is the light of the world, according to this verse?" They correctly answered, "We are." Then we looked at our last memory verse (Jesus said, "I am the light of the world . . .") from John 8:12. So I asked them again, "Who is the light of the world, according to this verse?" And of course they answered "Jesus!" So how can that be? How can WE be the light of the world, if Jesus said HE is the light of the world? We found our answer by looking at our Bible lesson, from Acts 3. Here it tells how Peter & John, two of Jesus' disciples healed a crippled man at the temple in Jerusalem. This attracted much attention from all the people who were there, so Peter & John used that opportunity to share with them the good news of Jesus. We talked about how Peter & John had spent three years with Jesus; they knew Jesus and they knew that He was the light of the world. Now that Jesus was no longer with them, they knew that it was their job to share the good news of Jesus. Through their words and actions, they were letting their light shine. The people at the temple that day were in darkness; they did not understand who Jesus was. Peter & John reflected the love of God to the people that were there. As a result, the people saw God through Peter & John. Now they had LIGHT! This is the paper they glued into the astronomy section of their notebooks. We talked about how the moon doesn't have it's own light. It only looks bright because it reflects the light from the sun. This is a great illustration of God's light!

The MOON reflects light from the SUN.

CHRISTIANS reflect light from the SON.

We did a quick little illustration of this principle. I held up a small mirror and we turned out the lights. We noticed that the mirror did not give off any light. No one could see the mirror. But then we turned on a flashlight. I turned the mirror so that it could reflect the light from the flashlight. So using this analogy, we saw how the flashlight represented the sun and the mirror represented the moon. In our Bible lesson, the flashlight represented Jesus and the mirror represented Peter & John. And in real life, the flashlight represents Jesus and the mirror represents us. WE are the light of the world; we can let our lights shine brightly for Jesus!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-09-26T09:52:00.001-07:00

We began our class by celebrating Elic's birthday. All of the kids wrote down on star-shaped sticky notes something they liked about him and we put them all in a card for him to take home. We also ate banana cupcakes because his favorite food is bananas.

We reviewed what we had learned so far about the end of Jesus' life on earth and what his last instructions were for his apostles (to go into all the world and make disciples), found at the end of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Then we transitioned into the book of Acts. We talked about whose "acts" this book tells about (the acts of the apostles). We looked at a few verses from chapter 1. We read in verse 8 of one more account of Jesus telling his apostles that they would be "witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." We talked about how Jesus & these men had lived and worked only in Israel, but Jesus told them that they would have a part in spreading the news of his love to the whole world! We also saw how they followed his instructions to wait in Jerusalem, even though they didn't understand why. And while they waited, they met with other believers and prayed constantly (v. 13-14). That is exactly what we should be doing when we are confused and uncertain of the future!

We reviewed our memory verse from John 8:12, where Jesus says he is the light of the world (not just the light of Israel, or the light of Alaska, but the whole world). And then we played a game which involved throwing a globe/ball back & forth as we recited the verse. Fun!

And finally, we did some work in our notebooks. We wrote down one thing we had learned from the lesson and then we added some clippings in the astronomy section. It was a great class; the kids were very attentive and worked hard!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-09-19T10:31:00.001-07:00

As we looked at our "Night Sky" calendar for this week, we noticed that the autumn equinox falls on this Friday, Sept. 23. God causes the earth to rotate around the sun at just the right speed to give us four seasons. We thanked God for giving us this beautiful time of year.

For our Bible lesson, our focus was on the world. We looked at the scriptures from the end of Matthew, Mark, & Luke. These are some of Jesus' last instructions to his disciples and we noticed that all of them emphasized that Jesus intended for the gospel (literally, the good news) to be spread to the whole world.

Then we looked at our memory verse in John 8:12 and talked about how Jesus is the light of the world; not just the light of Israel, or the light of Alaska, or the light of the United States. God loves all people, in all places, and he desires for all of them to know the truth of who He is.

Sharing Some Mexican Culture

2011-09-16T21:21:00.001-07:00

Pete and I are spending two nights each week in a Spanish class at a local college. The photo above shows our professora. On the table in front of her is a beautiful pitcher given to us by a new friend in Mexico (Gracias, Gaby!). The pitcher contains horchata, a very popular beverage in Latin American countries. Today is Independence Day in Mexico and I thought that sharing some horchata with our classmates would be a fun (& tasty) way of learning and celebrating their culture.

Horchata is a milky white, sweet beverage that originated in Spain. Every country has their own version of it. I am sharing the version of it that is found in Mexico. We've enjoyed it many times during our trips. It can be found in most restaurants, mixed up in a huge barrel, sitting on a counter, and is ladled out for the customers. It provides a nice cooling contrast to the commonly eaten spicy spicy food. It's very sweet; kind of like a milkshake.

After drinking it for the first time in Mexico, I came home and wanted to try making it myself. An online search provided tons of various recipes. Most of them involved soaking grains of rice overnight and grinding them in a blender. However, there's an easier way! I was glad to find the following recipe, using rice flour in an issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

4 cups whole milk
1 cinnamon stick (or more, if desired)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup rice or almond flour (I used brown rice flour from Bob's Red Mill, found in the natural food section at my grocery store)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
ground cinnamon & cinnamon sticks for garnish (optional)

Bring whole milk & cinnamon stick to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, and transfer to a bowl. Whisk in condensed milk, flour, and vanilla. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Strain mixture through a fine sieve. Serve over ice (I prefer no ice) and garnish with ground cinnamon & cinnamon sticks.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled. It would be a nice thing to enjoy the next time you make tacos or some other Mexican food.

To get a better idea of how Mexicans celebrate on their Independence Day, visit my son's blog (www.bakersinleon.blogspot.com). Viva Mexico!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-09-12T10:25:00.001-07:00

We began our class by making memory verse cards. The kids were excited to write with white gel pens and stick on shiny foil stars!

Our lesson was from Luke 24, when two men were walking and discussing the recent events in Jerusalem, that Jesus had been crucified, but they had hoped that he would be the one who would free them from the Roman government. Also, they had heard that Jesus was now alive. So these two men were sad and confused. They were "walking in darkness". But Jesus came and walked along with them, although they didn't recognize him. He graciously "explained to the men what was said in the Scriptures concerning himself" (Lk. 24:27).

I gave the kids a chance to "walk in darkness". I paired them up with a partner and gave each team a flashlight. As they walked in the darkness, they had to find the pieces of paper containing the scripture (shown in the photo above) that tells the truth of who Jesus is.

We ended the class by talking about calendars and how they are based on the movement of the sun & moon. We read this fascinating scripture from Genesis 1:14 - And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years." I showed them a "Night Sky" calendar that I had found to use in our class room. We noticed that the full moon for September is due on Sept. 12 (that's TONIGHT)! We didn't have time to discuss why the moon changes appearance, but I encouraged them to look for the full moon and thank God for the way he provides beauty and order and light for us.

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-09-05T08:57:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a day I had been looking forward to all summer - it was the first day of our fall Sunday school quarter. Once again I am teaching the 4th-5th grade class. Most of the students are 5th graders that I had last year, but there are a few new ones that are 4th graders. The kids seemed excited about our theme - Discovering Light. Throughout the coming months, we will be learning about the light God has given us - the lights he has placed in the sky, as well as the light of His son. There are so many lessons about light!

The first lesson from our curriculum was on the crucifixion of Jesus - a pretty heavy topic to start out with. To set the background, we first read this verse from John 1:9 - The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. We discussed how Jesus was a light to the world, showing people the truth of who God is and how he wants people to live. Next we read what Jesus said about himself in John 8:12 - I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. What a wonderful promise for each of us! Finally, we looked at something that happened while Jesus was dying on the cross. We read these verses in Luke 23:44-45 - It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. The light that God had sent into the world was going out, and the earth became dark. Next week, we will be learning about what happened next (the Son/sun rises!).

This is our first memory verse.

Happy Birthday . . .

2011-08-31T09:55:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday . . .

to my wonderful daughter-in-law,

Jazmin!

She's a loving wife to our son, Ben,

and blends into our whole family

just perfectly.

Plus, she's the mother-to-be of

our next grandchild!

We're so thankful for her

and wish her a day full of fun

& a year full of blessings.

To get a peek into Ben & Jazmin's life

in Mexico,

visit their blog, www.bakersinleon.blogspot.com.

God's Fellow Workers

2011-08-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

(Leon Mission Trip 2011)

Pete & I recently returned from our annual mission trip to Leon Mexico, where our son and daughter-in-law work as missionaries. This year our friends, Lisa & Kayla Sutton went with us. From beginning to end, God blessed us abundantly! Pete is in the process of preparing a slide show for our congregation, as a means of reporting all that we experienced. What a privilege it is to be "God's fellow workers"!

the first day of school . . .

2011-08-17T11:07:00.001-07:00

(Ben and Caitlin on their first day of kindergarten)

The first day of school was always a day of mixed emotions for me, as it is for most moms.

As the kids here start back to school today, I remember the excitement that was in the air.

Sending kids off to school these days seems a bit scarier than it used to be.

May God bless all the kids going back to school this year, as well as their moms.

God's Opinion

2011-07-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Jacob Thomas Williams

Born July 5, 2011

My granddaughter, Delia Morgan Weaver

Born June 17, 2011

A baby is God's opinion that life should go on.

Never will a time come when the most marvelous recent invention

is as marvelous as a newborn baby.

The finest of our precision watches,

the most supercolossal of our supercargo planes,

don't compare with a newborn baby

in the number & ingenuity of coils & springs,

in the flow & change of chemical solutions,

in timing devices & interrelated parts that are irreplaceable.

~Carl Sandburg

Fresh Lettuce

2011-06-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

Lately, I've been enjoying being able to step out on my deck

and pick some fresh lettuce.

Way cheaper & fresher than store-bought.

It makes it much more convenient to "eat more veggies"!

And is there anything easier to grow than lettuce?

The salad in the photo above

is my new favorite combination-

mixed lettuce, pears, raspberries,

toasted walnuts, blue cheese, & balsamic vinegar dressing.

I'm thinking that some leftover chicken

would be good added to this . . .

Quilt for Delia

2011-06-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

I enjoy sewing, but I'm not

an experienced quilter.

But, Caitlin found this quilt,

and I was able to make it

in only a few hours.

Crib-size definitely makes it easier

and I consider this practice

for when I have time

to make a full-size quilt.

I recommend using this pattern

if you've never made a quilt before,

but would like to give it a try.

Baby Delia Is Here

2011-06-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

Delia Morgan Weaver arrived

Friday, June 17, 1:21 pm.

Caitlin and Stu did a wonderful job,

with God's help

of bringing Delia into this world!

teeny tiny toes Mollie, the proud big sister

me, the proud Grammie

Strawberries & Cream Mini Muffins

2011-06-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

On a recent rainy afternoon,

I took these little goodies

to share with some friends

as we did some rubber-stamping.

(I found the recipe here.)

1 cup strawberries, diced into 1/4" pieces

1 squeeze of lemon juice

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

1 tsp powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 24-cup mini muffin tin with paper baking cups.
Put diced strawberries into a bowl, spritz lemon juice on them & stir gently to combine.
In a medium-size bowl, stir together flour, sugar, & baking powder.
In a small bowl, beat together oil, sour cream, vanilla & egg. Pour mixture over dry ingredients, stirring to combine with a wooden spoon. Fold in strawberries.
Divide evenly among the paper cups in the mini-muffin tin. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Place tin on a wire rack & leave for 5 minutes. Take out the muffins & continue cooling them in the paper cups on the wire rack. When the muffins are completely cool, dust with powdered sugar.

In My Backyard

2011-06-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

We don't have a huge variety of

backyard birds here in Alaska,

so I was thrilled to spot a new bird

in my backyard -

a yellow-rumped warbler.

He sings a sweet song,

and is always on the go.

~~~~~

"Hope" is the thing with feathers

that perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words

and never stops - at all.

~Emily Dickinson

babies

2011-06-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

This little girl

will soon have a new baby sister,

sometime this month

(we think) . . .

and sometime next March,

a new baby cousin!

Ben & Jazmin called us last Saturday to tell us

that our third grandchild is on the way!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-05-30T22:04:00.001-07:00

This was the last Sunday of the spring quarter for our Bible classes, which means that it was my last class until September. For our last class, we had a party to celebrate the wonderful year we had and we invited the parents/grandparents to join us. It was great having so many people crowding into our room and sharing with them some of the things we learned!

We had light refreshments, since most of us had eaten at our church's weekly potluck lunch. The tree cupcakes were fun to make! I placed photos of all the kids along the wall. I was able to squeeze in one last lesson about trees, by sharing with them where chocolate comes from! Throughout the year, we had tracked the kids' height. I wrote the measurements on the back of the pictures. This was part of our tree theme; growing in stature, just as trees do.

These are the notebooks the kids worked in throughout the year. They finally got to take them home!

I personalized John 3:16 for each of the kids as little keepsakes for them. This is the most important thing I want them to remember from our year together. I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to work with these kids!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-05-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

I began our class yesterday by asking the kids what they ate for breakfast. We made a list on the board and I included my breakfast (oatmeal with walnuts, raisins, & cinnamon) as well. We looked at our list and noticed how many of the foods came from plants or trees. Then I told them that something from my breakfast actually came from the bark of a tree - and they guessed correctly that it was the cinnamon! We spent several minutes talking about the purpose of bark and the many different products that come from bark. Then we took a closer look at cinnamon. I actually gave them each a cinnamon stick. Did you know that cinnamon is the actual bark of a cinnamon tree? When it dries, it rolls into tubular quills. Not only does cinnamon smell and taste good, it has many nutritous benefits. It is a good source of iron and manganese. It contains chemicals that help reduce unnecessary clotting of blood platelets. It also appears to reduce the growth of bacteria and fungi. And it seems to slow the rate at which the stomach digests food, which helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. Don't we have an awesome Creator, who came up with something as wonderful as cinnamon?! Could something as good as cinnamon have just happened by accident? This is just another example of Genesis 2:9: And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. So sprinkle on the cinnamon and thank God for it! For our Bible lesson, we continued our study of Jesus' last night on this earth. We noticed that Jesus knew that he would die on the cross the following day and he felt the need to pray to his Father. We read his touching prayer in John 17. He prayed:

for himself - that God would glorify him, in order that he would glorify God.
for his disciples - that they would be protected from the evil one.
for all believers - that we would be in unity with the Father so that the world will know that God sent Jesus and that God loves them.

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-05-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

In class yesterday we learned more about the last night of Jesus' life. We talked about how Jesus knew it was his last night and he spent that night telling his apostles the things that he knew were most important for them to remember. Our text for this week's lesson was from John 15. I chose to focus on what Jesus said about love. Along with the love verses from chapter 15, I also read to them verses from chapters 13 & 14. I found that by pulling these verses out and reading them separately, it really shows how love is the supreme thing in the life of a Christian. I encourage you to take the time to read these verses: John 13:34-35; 14:21,23,24; 15:9-17. You will see how clear it is: God loved us, therefore we love one another. It all starts with God's love for us. This is the thing I want the kids I teach to remember: GOD LOVES PEOPLE! We also talked about John and how he spent the rest of his life sharing the good news of Jesus. He was the last apostle to die and spent the last years of his life in Ephesus. According to the ancient historian, Irenaeus, when John became too weak to walk, he was carried to church meetings. He would whisper again and again to the Christians, "Little children, love one another." Along with the verses listed above, you can also read these verses from one of the letters that John wrote: 1 John 3:1,11,16-24; 4:7-12, 16. John never forgot that last night with Jesus and the words that were so important.

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-05-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks our 4th-5th grade class has been studying the last week of Jesus' life. Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John have a lot to say about this important week! I was thrilled to find a tree verse to go along with our tree theme! This is a poster I made for the class on Easter Sunday. We talked about how amazing it is that God can bring new life after death. It's true in nature, in the life of Jesus, and in our lives as believers. Quite a miraculous concept that only our God could come up with! Each day of this new season is a beautiful reminder of His love and power.

James Bible Study

2011-04-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

The James Bible Study I've been doing since the middle of January ended last Friday. I would love to hear from any of you that participated! Specifically, how did you like the SOAP method of study? Do you think you might use it again to study another book of the Bible? If you're wondering what the SOAP method is - the letters stand for:

Scripture - you copy the scripture word for word

Observation - you write down anything you observe from the text

Application - you write down how this passage applies to you ("I need to . . .") Prayer - you write out a prayer, giving God your praise and requests

If you keep a notebook with all of these lessons, you'll have a self-written commentary when you finish! I really liked this method and I plan to use it again (I keep thinking about the book of Ephesians). Taking it only a few verses at a time forced me to slow down and get all of the meaning I could out of it. As I've written before, I felt like I was really "chewing" on the word, and getting all the nutrients out of it!

The book of James is full of practical applications, but as I finish the study I am reminded of the exhortation given in 1:25:

But the man who looks intently

into the perfect law that gives freedom,and continues to do this,

not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it -

he will be blessed in what he does.

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-03-30T08:04:00.001-07:00

This week we began a new unit of study. We fast-forwarded from the book of Joshua nearly 1400 years to the life of Jesus. I thought it was important to show the kids how both time periods fit together. An obvious way to do that was by looking at the timeline that goes around all four walls of our classroom. Another visual aid I used here was maps of Israel from each time period. When we were going through our studies of the Israelites taking over the land of Canaan, we referred to our map quite often. I put up a map of Israel in Jesus' time right next to it, so they could compare the two. We also looked at a poster that's been on the wall from several months ago when we studied God's promise to Abraham. Now that we're in the New Testament, we see how God kept this amazing promise. So that brought us to a discussion of the word "gospel", which means "good news"; the good news of God sending Jesus into the world. We talked about how the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John tell the stories of Jesus' life on earth. I showed them how some of the stories are told in just one of these books, some of the stories are told in two or three of the books, and just a very few are told in all four of the books.

And then for a "tree lesson", we learned about maple trees. This is the time of year for "maple sugaring" and I taught them how maple sap is collected from maple trees and made into delicious maple syrup. I read to them a chapter from Little House In The Big Woods, which gives the details of how Laura's grandfather did this. We talked about how this is another example of Genesis 2:9 - "And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food." As they left class,I gave them each a couple of pieces of maple candy. It was a "sweet" class; we had a full class of nine kids and every single one of them paid excellent attention throughout the whole class period.

James Bible Study

2011-03-25T08:30:00.001-07:00

Although I've been slacking on my blog lately, I have kept up with my Bible study in James. I'm already to chapter 5 - the last chapter. Now that I'm used to this slower method of Bible study, I'm really enjoying it. And the Good Morning Girls website has some good teaching to go along with my own study. This letter from James covers so many topics and it seems they all apply to my daily life. But the one topic that seems to come up more than anything else is our speech. It doesn't get more "daily" than that! Our words are more powerful than we realize and they can be used to build up or tear down. Perhaps the most convicting passage is this one:

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father,

and with it we curse men,

who have been made in God's likeness.

Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.

My brothers, this should not be.

Can both fresh water & salt water

flow from the same spring?

My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives,

or a grapevine bear figs?

Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

(James 3:9-12)

One of the themes of this letter is putting our faith into action, so I need to do this with my words. Do the words that I speak show my faith? What are my words producing - praise or cursing?

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-03-24T08:38:00.001-07:00

I apologize for the unintended break in my blog. No excuses, just some extra activity in my life over the past month. Including a trip to Leon, Mexico, to visit my son & daughter-in-law. While we were there, I made a point of taking photos of cacti and made a poster to illustrate one of our key tree verses:

And the Lord God made all kinds of trees

grow out of the ground-

trees that were pleasing to the eye

& good for food.

(Genesis 2:9)

We talked about how there are many beautiful varieties of cacti, and YES, you can eat them! I began our whole cactus discussion by passing around a bowl of cactus, but I didn't tell them it was cactus. I just said it was a food that is commonly eaten in Mexico and asked if anyone wanted to try some. Only one person volunteered, and none of the kids knew what it was. We discussed some of the ways that God designed cacti to make them a unique tree for us to enjoy. In Mexico, you can buy fresh cactus to eat. Here in Alaska, I found cactus sold in jars at WalMart (it's called "nopalitos"), in the aisle that has Mexican food.

We finished up our study of Joshua last week by reading Joshua's farewell address in Joshua 24. I summed up Joshua's speech by writing this on the board:

God has kept his promises.

God has taken care of you.

Now . . .

choose whom you will serve.

We talked about what this meant for the Israelites, and what it means for us. I told them how God allows us to choose for ourselves if we will serve him or if we will choose to serve other "gods". We talked about what other "gods" in our lives could be.

And then we found a tree in our lesson (verse 26)! We read in verses 25-27 that Joshua placed a stone under an oak tree to remind them of their choice to serve God. As a reminder of this lesson, the kids wrote the word "CHOOSE" on stones to take home. That is my prayer for these kids - that they will see how good God is, how much he loves them, and that they will all choose to serve him. That is why I teach this class!

James Bible Study

2011-02-18T16:52:00.001-08:00

The heading in my Bible for the section of this week's study from James is "Faith and Deeds". I find these to be thought-provoking and challenging verses. Not that they are difficult to understand; I think James clearly made his point that if we have true faith in God then we will show it by our deeds. If our faith doesn't move us to act, it is "dead" (2:17). It is useless, worthless. No, those words are direct and to the point. It's just that sometimes it's easy to separate our faith from our actions (to have one without the other). I'm challenged when I look at the example of Abraham that James mentions. The scripture says that Abraham was considered righteous. Why? He believed God, so what did he do? He was willing to sacrifice his son (something that God himself did). His faith caused him to do something that was seemingly impossible. I'm encouraged by Abraham's example, as well, because he was called "God's friend." Here are a few of the questions I'm pondering:

I believe God; what do I need to sacrifice (give completely to God)?
Am I just a believer, or am I a do-er?
Or am I a do-er and not a believer?
What can I do today to actually show my faith, rather than just talking about it?
Any time I do a "good deed", am I doing it because of my faith in God, or is it because subconsciously I'm thinking this will cause God to love me more?
Could I be called God's "friend"?

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-02-15T10:47:00.001-08:00

A favorite story today from the book of Joshua - the battle of Jericho. We looked at the battle plan that God gave to Joshua in Joshua 6 and then saw how the Israelites followed the plan and the walls of Jericho fell. We talked about the fact that the plan God gave them really didn't make sense to them, but they remembered all of the things God had done for them in the past and that helped them to trust and obey God as they went into battle. Also, we talked about that Joshua might have been afraid as he led them, but he could remember what God had told him (our memory verse - Joshua 1:9): "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Of course, that applies to us today. There are situations when we will feel afraid, but we can have courage knowing that God is with us.

The day before Valentine's Day made a great opportunity to review our first memory verse - John 3:16! We talked about how we can show love to our family and friends because God loved us first.

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-02-07T17:35:00.001-08:00

Our study of the Israelites continues in the book of Joshua. We have a new memory verse, which you can see in the photo above. This is from Joshua 1:9. We talked about the context of this verse; why this was an important exhortation from Joshua to the Israelites. Our lesson today began with the Israelites standing on the banks of the Jordan River, wondering how they would get across it (Joshua 4). We learned that the Jordan River was not very wide, but was very deep. In fact, the name Jordan means "to descend" or "to go down". Here was an instance when they needed to remember to "be strong and courageous"! God was with them and he had a plan to get them across safely. In fact it was very similar to the crossing of the Red Sea, which happened about 40 years earlier. God again stopped the water from flowing. This crossing began with the Levite priests standing in the middle of the Jordan River. While they stood there, all the Israelites (there were around 2 million of them!) walked across on dry ground. Then God wanted 12 men, one from each tribe, to go to the middle where the priests stood and each man was to pick up a stone and carry it to the place where they would camp that night. The stones would be set up as a memorial for generations to come. We looked closely at the verses at the end of the chapter 4:

In the future when your descendants ask their fathers,

'What do these stones mean?'

tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.'

He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know

that the hand of the Lord is powerful

and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.

James Bible Study

2011-02-04T13:39:00.001-08:00

I think what I most appreciate about this letter in the Bible that James wrote, is that it is so simple and direct; it's not hard to figure out what he's trying to say! And it amazingly applies to our everyday lives, just as much as it did to the lives of the Christians in the first century - anger (v.19-20), moral filth (v.21), worthless religion (v.26). If I had to sum up the verses we looked at this week, I would say, "Just do it!" Just do what the Word says! James was writing to Christians; people who already knew the Lord as their Savior. It seems that they, as they were "scattered among the nations" (1:1), found it difficult to live out the truths they had learned. Perhaps they were distracted by their trials. Is that not like us?! We too are scattered out in this world. Also, we are to just get rid of the moral filth, and just humbly accept God's word, that's been planted in us (v. 21). I noticed today that James uses the word "deceive" three times in the first chapter (v. 16, 22, 26). It's so easy for us to be deceived, isn't it; to fall for the lies that Satan throws at us. So, don't be deceived by Satan into thinking that you're pleasing to God, if you're not doing what he tells us to in his word! That's why James is encouraging the readers to look intently into the Word and to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. I think the verse that stood out the most to me was v. 25:

But the man who looks intently

(with eagerness and concentration, poring over it)

into the perfect law that gives freedom,

and continues to do this,

not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it -

he will be blessed (prospered spiritually) in what he does.

The phrases in parentheses are from Wuest's Expanded Translation. I think what this is saying is that more than just a casual reading of God's word is necessary. And it must be done on a continual basis (not just for a short while). And the result? Spiritual blessings!

So, those are my thoughts from this week's study. Would you care to share your thoughts below in the comments?

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-01-31T10:41:00.001-08:00

Our class was blessed to have Ashley, one of the middle-school girls, as a helper in our classroom during the month of January. She did a fabulous job! Not only did she eagerly do whatever I asked her to do, she also set a great example for the kids in paying close attention to the lesson and participating in the discussion each week. Yesterday, she presented part of the lesson AND she gave up playing in a hockey game in order to do so! I really appreciate her commitment. We've been following the Israelites through the desert for forty years now, and finally have gotten to the edge of the Promised Land! We are studying the book of Joshua now and our lesson was from Joshua 2. As we began our lesson, Ashley talked to the kids about "superheroes" and how one thing they all have in common is "courage". This tied in perfectly with my part of the lesson. I asked the kids what gives someone courage, and the answer is "faith". In the Bible we read about many people who showed courage because they had faith in what God had said. I had them turn in their Bibles to Hebrews 11 and asked them to name some of the people listed there who did things "by faith". One of the "unlikely" names listed there is Rahab. We then turned back in our Bibles to Joshua and learned who Rahab was and about the faith and courage that she displayed. In case you're wondering, I didn't talk about her line of work; I simply said she was someone who didn't know God. But we looked closely at the verses that talked about the little bit she knew about God (verses 9-11); she knew that the God of the Israelites was "the God in heaven above and on the earth below". She, along with the people who lived in Canaan, had heard of the mighty things God had done for the Israelites. And that was enough to give her faith, that God was going to lead the Israelites in victory as they would soon overtake her city of Jericho, which we will learn about in a few more lessons.

So, do you know the really AMAZING thing about Rahab? This was fun to share with the kids because they didn't know. Rahab was part of the ancestry of Christ! At some point, she married an Israelite named Salmon. They had a son named Boaz and it was through this line that Christ would come hundreds of years later (Matthew 1:5). This goes all the way back to the promise that God made to Abraham - that he would be the father of a great nation, all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him, and that blessing would be CHRIST. I feel like the kids are starting to see how HISTORY is indeed HIS STORY!

James Bible Study

2011-01-28T10:58:00.000-08:00

How are you doing with the James Bible Study? I posted the photo above so those of you who haven't begun the study can see (well, sort of see; I couldn't get a very clear picture) what the study looks like. Just tiny little bite-size nuggets of scripture (pieces of bread) each day. Just right for meditating on ("chewing on") throughout the day! Three days this week, we only looked at one verse. If you haven't started the study yet, it's not too late! See some of my previous posts to see how to get started.

I want to share with you the scripture that stood out to me the most this week:

Don't be deceived, my dear brothers.

Every good & perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows.

(James 1:16-17)

Here are my "observations" that I wrote down in my notebook:

We have a Father that gives "good & perfect gifts". He knows and gives exactly what we need and what suits us.
We have a Father who does not change. He doesn't have good days & bad days; he's not moody. He's dependable. His love & compassion towards us is constant.
We are admonished not to be "deceived". I now see how this passage connects with the previous passages about our how desires (cravings) can lead us to sin. One of our (okay, one of my) deepest desires is to have someone in my life that has the two qualities I listed above (giving me perfect gifts and is dependable). When I don't seem to have someone like this, I am tempted to feel sorry for myself and say things that are hurtful (SIN). These feelings are not from God; they are from the lies that Satan wants me to believe. He wants me to believe that I am entitled to having this kind of perfect love from someone and that it's okay to become upset when I don't. So, James is saying, "Don't be deceived! You have a Father that gives perfect gifts and doesn't change!"

For the "application" I wrote:

I need to remind myself every day (throughout the day) of God's perfect love for me, instead of seeking it or wishing it came from any other source.

I found myself thinking on this scripture throughout the day. And that's the whole purpose of studying the Bible - getting God's word into our hearts and minds, so that we can live out God's purpose for our lives.

So what hit you this week from our study? Please feel free to share a comment . . .

For Serious Chocolate-Lovers . . .

2011-01-26T17:09:00.001-08:00

This is the last piece of an extremely delicious dessert that I made last week. I had been wanting to try making a flourless chocolate cake for awhile, and decided on this recipe. I only changed up two things: 1) I used pure orange extract instead of vanilla and 2) I baked it in a springform pan. I sprinkled powdered sugar on top and served it with whipped cream. Can you say yum-m-m-m-m?

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-01-24T11:49:00.000-08:00

As the kids came into class, I had these memory verse blocks set up on a table for them to make into a tower. This is the verse we've been focusing on throughout our study of the Israelites as they are being led out of Egypt and are on their way to the Promise Land.

The salvation of the righteous

comes from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.

~Psalm 37:39-40

Of course, the verses had to be in the correct order, and it took them a couple of tries to get it exactly right. They did a great job of working together.

Our lesson was from Exodus 20 - the ten commandments. I began by asking them to share with the class some of the rules in their homes. We talked about the reason for rules and how parents make rules for their children because they love them (not just to be mean or make their kids' lives difficult!). I told them that this was the exact same reason God gave the Israelites a set of rules. He loved them so much and had a special plan for them. He knew what was best for them and knew that by following these commandments, it would enable them to be the holy nation they needed to be in order to accomplish his purposes. We also talked about how God gave them many more rules besides the ten commandments. This was our last lesson from the book of Exodus, so I briefly went through the events of the rest of the book, with them following along in their Bibles. We'll be picking up the story of the Israelites in Joshua, next Sunday.

James Bible Study

2011-01-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

If you are doing the James Bible study with me, I hope it has been a blessing to your week! And if you're not, it's not too late to start! Just scroll down a few posts to see what it's all about . . . This is a much slower-paced study than I am used to (only a couple of verses a day), and I'll admit that it took a couple of days to adjust. But what I'm finding is that I feel like I'm "digesting" more nutrients! When you chew your food more slowly, you can really savor it and get the full flavor, right? The theme of these first few verses in James is "handling the trials of life". Are you facing a trial in your life right now? Some trials are bigger than others (verse 2 mentions trials "of many kinds"). On Monday as I sat down to study, I thought of what I consider to be a trial in my life right now, but later in the day I learned of someone else's trial that, in comparison, made my trial seems so small. But it doesn't really matter - God is present in each of our lives. The main thing is - are we seeking God's wisdom in our particular situation ? If we are putting our complete trust in God, he WILL give us wisdom (v.5). And I love the fact that he gives it "generously"! I'm inviting each of you to comment below. Just pretend we are sitting together at my table and share one thing that you learned from your study this week. It doesn't have to be any big insight; just something that stood out to you. This is a great way for us to encourage and exhort each other! Also, remember you can click on the Good Morning Girls website on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for more insights. The video that Courtney posted today was very convicting!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-01-17T22:38:00.001-08:00

First of all, I have to say that I have an AWESOME group of 4th-5th graders! I had a terrible headache during Bible class and actually was dreading teaching class. But the kids were so well-behaved during class; they sat quietly and participated so well. Plus, we had a potential teacher who was visiting our class and I know they made a great impression on her. I am so proud of them!!!

Our lesson was from Exodus 18, when Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, comes to visit Moses in the desert. He is bringing back his daughter (Moses' wife), Zipporah, and their two sons. We took a close look at verse 8, where it tells us that "Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharoah and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them."

This is exactly what we can be doing in our everyday lives - telling people we know and meet how the Lord has helped us in hard situations and how he has saved us! What a clear picture of sharing with other the goodness of God! This really doesn't require any special knowledge or training, it's simply sharing the good news of Jesus.

Look at Jethro's response in the following verses: "Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said, "Praise be to the Lord, who has rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly." They proceeded to worship God right after that. This is exactly what God wants us to be doing today - bringing glory and honor to him, so that other's will know of his love.

Join Me In James

2011-01-15T23:12:00.000-08:00

Several days ago I posted about an online Bible study that I read about here on one of my favorite blogs. It is a study on the book of James in the New Testament, one of the most practical books in the Bible, showing Christians how to really put their faith into action. This study begins this Monday, January 17 and ends April 15. It involves reading usually only 2 verses a day, Monday - Friday and will probably only take you about 10 minutes. I've heard from a couple of other people so far that want to do it with me. If you are looking for a structured Bible study plan, I invite you to join us! Rather than hook up with a Good Morning Girls group, I plan to have a simple discussion here on my blog each Friday. If you are interested, here's what you do:

Click here and download the daily Bible readings, as well as a cover sheet for a notebook.
Follow the reading plan for each day.
Write in your notebook, according to the SOAP method. (Scriptures, Observations, Applications, Prayer). Click here for a brief explanation and click here to see an example.
For extra insight, you can go to www.goodmorninggirls.org on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays.
On Fridays visit my blog, where I'll write a little bit about what I gained from the week's study and you can add your comments as well.

I've got my notebook all ready to go and I'm looking forward to digging into the book of James!

God's Power

2011-01-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

Some things in this life are simply beyond our comprehension. The windy weather we've been having here the last few days has reminded me of this verse . . . As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

~Ecclesiastes 11:5

Hot Chocolate Recipe

2011-01-12T15:07:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about winter is drinking hot chocolate. I've used the same mix recipe for many years, but this year I wanted to try a "healthier" mix. I searched & searched online, and this is the best one I could find. I specifically wanted to find one without creamer and chocolate milk mix. I like the fact that this one has only 3 ingredients!

1 cup nonfat dry milk
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa

I put 4 heaping spoonfuls into a big mug and add hot water. And I always added whipped cream!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-01-09T16:49:00.001-08:00

As our class is journeying thru the book of Exodus, we have been talking about how it was a bit like going on a long camping trip with about 2 million other people. Our lesson today was from Exodus 16, when the Israelites began complaining because they were hungry. What's a camping trip without food?! We read how God graciously provided meat (quail) and bread (manna) for his people. We read the descriptions of what manna was like and the special instructions God gave them for gathering it. Just for fun, at the end of our class, I shared with them a pomegranate that I recently bought at the grocery store. I told them the information that I had recently read about pomegranates in my Bible dictionary, as well as a brochure that I had picked up when I bought the pomegranate.

Pomegranates were a symbol of fruitfulness in Canaan, where the Israelites were headed. I don't know if pomegranates grew in Egypt, from where they had just come, but this would definitely be something they would enjoy once they made it to Canaan.
Pomegranates were a popular decorative motif in Israel. The design of the fruit was woven into the high priest's garments and also hammered into brass work in Solomon's Temple.
Pomegranates are a hugely nutritious fruit. They contain powerful antioxidents, which aid in protecting the body against heart disease and cancer, as well as being very high in vitamin C (which can reduce the length and severity of colds) and vitamin K (which helps our blood to coagulate properly).
Pomegranates contain tannin, which was used in ancient times in tanning leather.

Pomegranates are an unusual fruit, so it was fun to cut this one open and see the hundreds of tiny seeds on the inside. All of the kids tried it and seemed to enjoy the tart taste! We realized that creating pomegranates is just another one of God's ways of caring for us, just as he provided food for the Israelites as they were crossing the desert.

An Invitation

2011-01-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

So, did you make any New Year's resolutions? It seems that this year, more than any other year, I keep hearing about more and more people wanting to spend some time every day reading the Bible. This is great! It's such an amazing thought that the Creator of the universe has spoken to us through the Bible! Everyone I know has access to a Bible; most of us have more than one copy. A lot of people have the desire to know God more through daily Bible reading, but for various reasons struggle with making it a daily habit.

I want to share with you a Bible study that I found on a blog that I regularly read. This is an online study on the book of James. It will begin next Monday, Jan. 17 and end on April 15. All that's needed are a Bible, notebook, and pen. It involves spending about 10 minutes a day, on only 2 verses at a time. Click here to see the details. When I first read this, I thought it seemed very "do-able". What helps me stay consistent in my daily Bible reading is having a some kind of structure. I've never used this SOAP method that is mentioned here, but I think it sounds really good.

I am looking forward to doing this study, and if you would like to do it too, please let me know. We could do something like a discussion group each week, either on my blog or on Facebook. I love studying the Bible with a group, and studying online together in the warmth and comfort of our own homes seems to be a nice option during these cold winter months!

Notes From My Bible Class

2011-01-02T22:10:00.001-08:00

Well, I think I owe a big catch-up to anyone who is still reading this blog! Here we go . . .

This is what I gave each of the kids for Christmas. We couldn't let Christmas go by without talking about trees! We discussed evergreen trees and why they are used at Christmas time. Green signifies life, and God has given us all eternal life by sending Jesus to the world.

Here, on the right, is Kayla. She was my helper for the month of December. She was a big help to me each Sunday and even presented one lesson herself. She did a great job and the kids enjoyed having her in our classroom.

As we've been studying about the Hebrews being slaves in Egypt, we learned a lot about the culture of ancient Egypt and specifically about pyramids. I brought in several library books that showed pictures of how the pyramids were built and what was placed inside them. We invited James and Andrea to come share their photos and experiences from when they visited the pyramids. The kids were very interested and asked lots of questions!

This is the memory verse I have chosen as we are studying about God leading the Hebrews out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. They needed to be delivered from the wicked Pharoah and from their bondage; they needed salvation! And it could only come from God. We've contrasted the one, true God to the many false gods of the Egyptians. We've talked about how all the things the Egyptians believed would keep them safe and their belief that they could take their treasures with them after they died were meaningless. God is our only stronghold, he keeps us safe, and delivers us from sin. As I am preparing these lessons, I am continually struck at how everything God did for his people then, is the same thing he is doing for us today!

Finally, these last two pictures show what we made in class to illustrate our memory verse and to help us memorize it! Before we made these, we discussed towers and how they were used in Bible times. We contrasted towers and pyramids and saw how God is our only refuge. The kids' favorite part of this project was putting the last phrase of the verse inside (" . . . because they take refuge in him").

The holidays are over and I am a little less occupied with other projects, so maybe I will post more regularly. But, I'm not making any promises! Thanks for reading, though! Blessings to everyone in this new year.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T10:49:00.001-08:00

It is good to be children sometimes,

and never better than at Christmas

when its mighty Founder

was a child Himself.

~Charles Dickens

Adoring Baby Jesus

2010-12-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

O Come Let Us Adore Him!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-12-07T20:33:00.001-08:00

This is Elic, one of the boys in my class. Back in September, I measured the height of each student. My plan is to re-measure the kids every few months. I was surprised that every single kid had grown at least 1/4 inch! This is all in keeping with our theme of trees and growing - "growing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). We spent quite awhile reviewing what we've learned so far from Exodus. I really want them to understand the background and I was pleased that the kids seemed to remember just about everything. Here are a few of our review questions:

What book in the Bible tells us of God rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt?
What does the word "exodus" mean?
What are some names for God's chosen people in the Old Testament?
The nation of Israel was God's chosen people. What were they chosen for?
God told ____________ that his descendants would be slaves for 400 years in another country.
What does Moses have to do with Abraham?

Our lesson for this week was from Exodus 5, when Moses and Aaron went before Pharoah and told him that God said, "Let my people go." Of course, Pharoah wasn't about to let his work force leave the country. In fact, he made their lives even harder. Now they had to find their own straw for making bricks, but still had to make the same number of bricks each day.

I brought in some library books that had some great pictures and lots of information about how bricks were made and how they were used. Also, we discussed pyramids and the kids had lots & lots of questions! We will be talking more next week about pyramids and the kids will get to make their own pyramids to take home.

I have a new girl helping me during the month of December. Kayla is eager and willing and plans to teach part of a lesson later this month. I'm really thankful to have her in there with me!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-11-28T18:57:00.001-08:00

This was our second lesson from the book of Exodus. We began our class with a fill-in-the-blank activity from last week's lesson, which you can see in the photo above. I wanted the kids to remember that the Hebrews, God's chosen people were in a desperate situation and needed to be rescued. We also reviewed why the Hebrews were in Egypt. We went back and read Genesis 15:13-14, where God told Abraham, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions." Then we went thru Exodus 2 and talked about Moses, growing up in Pharoah's house and then running away from Egypt when he was grown. We learned about his "new life" as a shepherd, which helped prepare him for leading God's "flock". Then on to Exodus 3 - "Moses and the Burning Bush." I had already set up a "burning bush" in a corner of our classroom, but the kids had not even noticed. I sat down by the bush and had the kids join me as I read the important message God had for Moses. "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo. 3:7-8)." We looked again at our sentence on the board - The Hebrews were helpless, trapped, and miserable. They needed to be rescued. Although I didn't know if the kids would be able to comprehend it or not, I went ahead and explained how all of us are like the Hebrews. All of us are slaves - to sin. We are helpless, trapped, and miserable. And we need to be rescued. Thankfully, God has seen our misery, and heard our crying. He is concerned about our suffering and has rescued us, by sending his son, Jesus, to deliver us from our bondage to sin. I am only just now beginning to understand this amazing truth, so I don't expect these kids to get it at this point. But I wanted to at least plant these seeds of truth in their minds, and let God water them in his own time. We've had Shaye, a middle-schooler, helping in our class for the month of November. That is her sitting in the chair in the photo above. She's done a great job and I appreciate her work with the kids! I told the kids that we will be seeing the mighty hand of God at work in our lessons to come over the next couple of months as he leads his children out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. I'm excited about these lessons and look forward to sharing more about how God rescues the people he loves.

Giving Thanks

2010-11-24T16:40:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I read this blog post, written by a young lady from our congregation, who is spending a couple of years in Scotland as a missionary. She made a list of ten things she is thankful for and it inspired me to do something similar on my blog. All I have to do is browse thru the photos I've stored on my computer, and I realized how good God has been to me! Everyday I get to sit down and read what the Creator of the universe has to say to me! And I can talk to him whenever I want and know that he hears me!

God has given me a great church family to serve, to learn, and to grow with.

God has given me this sweet cat, Oliver, to keep me company when I'm at home. (Our other cat, Felix, became sick a few months ago and we had to have him put down.)

I am so blessed to have my friend, Melanie in my life! We were friends in college over 20 years ago, and for many years only kept in touch at Christmas. But for the past three years, we've become closer than we ever dreamed possible, even though we're separated by thousands of miles. And this past spring, God made it possible for me to spend a few days with her. Every day I have peace and joy, knowing that Melanie is praying for me. We email each other every few days and she is so sweet to send me beautiful cards in the mail. What I love most about her is that she continually points me to Jesus. She is a treasure; I could not ask for a better friend.

This past September, my son, Ben & his wife, Jazmin who live in Mexico got to travel to Tennessee. Ben was able to speak to congregations about the work that he & Jazmin do with the church there and Jazmin got to meet Ben's side of the family. I have always been thankful for my family in Tennessee, and I especially am grateful for how they made Jazmin feel so welcome while we were there.

Pete and I travelled to Mexico last June, and while we were there, Jazmin's mom was baptized. It was thrilling to be there! I kept thinking how God has worked in Ben's life - sending him to Mexico, meeting & marrying Jazmin, giving him a big, wonderful family of in-laws, and using Ben to help the church there grow bigger and stronger.

We also took three people from our congregation here in Alaska with us to Mexico. It was nice to be able to share the joy of the work with the church there with people from here. We have found the Mexican people to be friendly and the church members are very hospitable. We are looking forward to our next trip!

This is one of my favorite photos of Ben and Jazmin. It was taken when we were there and it happened to be their first anniversary. I am so thankful that God put Ben and Jazmin together. It is obvious to us that they are very much in love with each other and very devoted to God.

Our little grandaughter, Mollie. What a joy! She is so fun to be around! She is constantly learning new things and figuring things out. She is talking more and more and is able to express her love for us in such sweet little ways.

We love Mollie's parents too! Caitlin is a devoted mom and Stu works hard up on the north slope of Alaska and is gone for about three weeks at a time. It's not easy for any of them, but they make the best of it, and I'm really proud of them!

God has blessed me abundantly; he's given me more blessings than I can count! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-11-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

This week we began studying the book of Exodus. In order to put it in context, I went back into the book of Genesis and talked about God's promise to Abraham, that he would become the father of a great nation. I read to them what God promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-14 ---"Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions." I explained to the kids that this promise is fulfilled in the book of Exodus and that's what we'll be studying for the next couple of months. God's chosen people were enslaved and needed to be rescued. And because he loved them, he enacted his wondrous plan to save them.

Stuffed Pumpkins

2010-11-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

I made this for supper last Saturday night and decided this would be a perfect dish to have on Thanksgiving. You can see the actual recipe here but you really don't need to follow a recipe at all. I bought a "pie pumpkin" (around 3 lbs), cut off the top and scooped out the seeds and stringy part. Then I made a stuffing out of bread cubes, bacon, mozzerella cheese, asparagus, onions, thyme, salt, and pepper. I poured some heavy cream over all of that; not a lot, just enough to moisten it. I stuffed the pumpkin, put the top back on it, and baked it for about 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. For each serving, I scooped out part of the inside of the pumpkin, along with the stuffing. It was amazing! You can stuff the pumpkin with just about anything. Next time, I want to use brown rice/wild rice with some nuts and dried fruit. And maybe some sausage. This is one dish that you can't mess up!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-11-15T10:30:00.001-08:00

Although I feel that the kids in my class understood the main points of this week's lesson, it was one of those times where I know I gained a lot more than the students! The text was Job 3-42 and I spent quite a bit of time reading thru the book of Job during the week. I've read thru Job several times before, but this time I was hit with some deeper truths than I knew I could convey to my class of 4th-5th graders, especially in a 45-minute class period! For that matter, I don't know if I can re-cap our class very well in this blog post, but I'm going to try! It's hard to know what to teach 4th-5th graders about pain and suffering, but these were the main points we discussed:

1. Sometimes, God allows bad things to happen to good people.

2. It's okay to wonder "why".

3. Remember what Job said: "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him . . ." (Job 13:15)

"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27)

4. Friends may try to give explanations and advice, but it's best to listen to God. Job 4-37 tells of the mostly fruitless conversations between Job and his friends.

5. God speaks directly to Job in chapters 38-41. These verses contain fascinating facts about nature! God never revealed to Job the reason he allowed him to undergo this period of suffering, but he did reveal to him his power and wisdom in creation. This is something we can do too in times of suffering - we can see the wonder of God's creation and know that he is in control of everything.

6. Above all, remember what the Bible is all about --- God loves people!

As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (James 5:11)

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-11-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

This is a watercolor project that we began in class and will finish up next week. We'll be adding our new memory verse to it:

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease.

Genesis 8:22

We have moved on from Genesis to the book of Job. The first thing we did was learn how to pronounce "Job"! We talked about how even though the book of Job is found much later in the Old Testament, it actually probably took place sometime during the time of the patriarchs in Genesis. I had the kids find the book of Job in their Bibles; only about 4 kids (out of 8) had their Bibles. We read thru most of the first chapter. The kids were amazed at how wealthy Job was and how quickly he lost nearly all of his possessions. The most important point was that "in all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing" (Job 1:22). I told them to come back next week to learn how things go from bad to worse for Job.

WIVES: Please watch!

2010-11-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.10millionmiles.com/2010/11/02/what-is-a-wife/ I don't know about you, but I've often wondered what it means in the Bible in Genesis 2:18, where it says that women were created to be "helpmeets" for their husbands. "Helpmeet" is not a term we use often. Does it simply mean "helper" or is there more to it than that? I found the answer in this short little video from a blog that I recently discovered. Watch it and see what you think! This has given me a whole different understanding of what God wants me to be for Pete. It goes way beyond cooking meals, doing laundry, and keeping a clean house! God has given women a unique and powerful position in the lives of their husbands. May we continually seek to please God and fulfill the role he has given us as "helpmeets" for our husbands.

Quick Cards

2010-11-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

These two cards may be the easiest quickest cards I've made in my 15 years of stamping! I simply cut pieces of patterned paper to fit right over the front of a card. I love patterned paper because #1) it's inexpensive and #2)it's already got a "pattern" to it, so it doesn't need a lot added to it. I know it looks like I used a couple of different papers and made the scallop strip on each of these cards, but the paper came that way! In the card on the left, all I did was stamp the words in the bottom corner. In the card on the right, I stamped the words and layered them on a small piece of cardstock, because the button pattern was kind of "busy". This just helped the words stand out a little better. So easy, so quick, and I think they're so cute! (You can do this too! Making cards doesn't have to be complicated.)

Our church had an awesome harvest party last weekend. Everyone was asked to bring something to share with others. The cards in the picture above were my contribution. I spent 2 evenings last week making these cards; there are 48 of them (6 cards of each design). Since I knew I needed to make a lot, I kept them fairly simple. These cards were set out on a table for people to write to our college-age kids who are in AIM (a missionary training program).

I can't wait to get started on my Christmas cards!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-11-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great class yesterday, learning about what happened after the Flood. We began by doing a "fill-in-the-blank" activity -- God causes S E A S O N S to C H A N G E. We then read thru Genesis 8. We talked about the huge amount of water on the earth's surface and that it took quite some time for the waters to recede. The kids were particularly interested in Noah's process of sending out the raven and then the dove to see if the waters had gone down. We took note of the fact that the first thing Noah did after coming off the ark was to worship God by building an altar and sacrificing some of the animals that had been on the ark. We looked closely at Gen. 8:22, which is the new memory verse we are learning:

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease.

This is a beautiful proclamation that God made! He has promised that the seasons will never stop changing. This verse shows his power over creation and his provision for us to always have the food that we need. Only God can sustain the earth in this way! And, amazingly, he chooses to continue to do this, inspite of our sinful nature.

This verse was a perfect segue into our "tree" segment! The poster in the photo above shows the photos that I took of the trees in my front yard every week for the past two months. Every Friday morning I stood in the same spot on my deck and snapped a picture. I printed and posted the photos each week on this poster so we could see the gradual change in the trees. And this past week, we got our first "real" snow, so this poster shows perfectly how God causes S E A S O N S to C H A N G E!

Finally, I ended the class by answering the question on the poster: "Why do leaves change colors?" Science has never been my strong suit, but I did some research online and was able to give a fairly simple answer to the question. Leaves change colors because of the chemicals that God put in the leaves. The chemical changes that take place in leaves are because of a process known as photosynthesis, which means "to put together with light". As we start to have shorter hours of daylight, the chemicals in the leaves change and make the leaves turn vibrant colors. God is behind it all! He does so much more than just make things work; He makes things look good too!

not afraid of the snow

2010-10-28T11:02:00.001-07:00

She is not afraid of the snow for her household,

For all her household are clothed with scarlet.

~Proverbs 31:21

Snow is in the forecast here in southcentral Alaska. Maybe a couple of inches today and more tomorrow. People here always wonder when the first real snow will be; the one that will usher in our winter season and stay until the spring. We'll see if this is the one or not . . . With that in mind, I'm getting our winter gear ready; this morning I am washing and freshening up our coats, gloves, scarves, and hats. The first snow is always beautiful and it's nice to be ready for it!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-10-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Our lesson was probably one of the most familiar stories in the whole Bible - the story of Noah building the ark. Before I even told the kids what the story was, I told them that we were going to do an activity where it was very important that they follow my directions. And we made these neat little origami boats! We did each fold (there were 10 of them) together, and the whole process took longer than I thought it would. Some of the boats turned out better than others, but at least all of the kids ended up with some sort of folded creation! Then I told them that our lesson was about someone who was told to make a boat, and that it was very important that they followed directions. Of course, they all knew it was Noah. The verse we focused on (and wrote on the little flags) was Genesis 6:22 - "Noah did everything just as God commanded." We talked about the importance of trusting God and obeying him, even when the directions don't make sense. And the reason we can trust him, is because he loves us and knows what is best for us.

For our tree segment, I showed them a tree that I had just cross-stitched this week, and I also showed them the directions that I had to follow in order for it to turn out right. Then I shared a poem with them that my mom had written out for me, entitled Trees, by Joyce Kilmer. I made a poster out of it and hung it up on our tree wall. The poem likens a tree to a person, with "leafy arms" and "robins in her hair". The last stanza of the poem says, "Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree." I told them that anybody can cross-stitch a tree, or draw a tree, or reproduce the image of a tree, but only God can create an actual tree.

Psalm 119

2010-10-22T08:10:00.001-07:00

I am currently hosting a ladies Bible study on Monday nights. We are all reading the book, Stepping Heavenward (you can learn more about it here), and working through a study guide that goes with it (more about that one here). One of the homework assignments this week has been to read Psalm 119. This happens to be the longest chapter in the Bible, with 176 verses! If you've never read this chapter, or if it's been awhile since you've read it, let me encourage you to take the time to read it today. It is beautifully written, with words that are simple to understand yet so very rich in meaning.

Some of my favorite verses from this psalm:

Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart (v.111).
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple (v.130).
Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true. Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight. Your statutes are forever right; give me understanding that I may live (v.142-144).

Salmon Patties

2010-10-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, we live in Alaska, where most people we know go salmon fishing every summer. But we don't. I've never been fishing in my life. I don't know that I'll ever will. Why not, you ask? Well, I suppose just the lack of time and lack of money for the license, equipment, etc. Plus, someone has to clean those fish, right? So, for now, I'm content to leave the fishing to someone else. Who knows? If I ever try fishing, I might get "hooked" on it! But although I don't fish for salmon, I do love to eat it! It's full of those great Omega-3 fatty acids that are supposed to be so good for you. Occasionally, a generous friend will give us some salmon they caught themselves. But more often I buy it at the grocery store. At the meat counter if it's on sale. But usually in a can, right next to the tuna fish. It's certainly not the same as fresh salmon, but it tastes okay and still has the Omega-3s. Here is the recipe I use to make salmon patties.

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-10-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today's lesson was from Genesis 4, when Cain kills his brother, Abel. I always find it difficult to think of a good way to present the violent lessons found in scripture. Usually the kids are so captivated by the violence, that it can be hard to get them to see how the lesson can apply to them. Of course, with Cain & Abel, there's the issue of "sibling rivalry", which all kids can relate to. So we did talk about that. But I wanted to go beyond that and see how the story of Cain & Abel fits in to God's big picture. I asked them one of our frequent questions , "What is the Bible all about?" And yay, all of them answered, "God loves people!" (That's the one thing I want them to remember for the rest of their lives.) So, then I asked them "How does this story show God's love for people?" We saw two answers here: 1) God loved Abel, so it hurt him to know that Cain killed him. He loves each person he created and it hurts him to see people being mistreated. 2) God showed his love for Cain by putting a mark on him so that no one would kill him. God loves us even when we make wrong choices, but he never quits caring for us and protecting us. Another interesting thing I was able to share with the kids was the fact that although the story Cain & Abel is found in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, they are also mentioned in the New Testament. We read and discussed the verses found in Hebrew 11:4 and also 1 John 3:12. God's love is simply amazing!

A Few Cards

2010-10-15T23:25:00.001-07:00

I spent an hour or so the other afternoon making a few cards using the supplies shown above. I love the Word Window punch from Stampin Up! The patterned paper came from a pack that I've had for quite awhile. Some of the paper had a "strip" across it that made a perfect place for the sentiment. I enjoyed seeing how many cards I could create using just these few supplies!

Pumpkin Bars

2010-10-14T10:23:00.001-07:00

Have you baked any pumpkin goodies this autumn? I made these pumpkin bars a few nights ago and they were so moist and delicious. Caitlin came over a couple of nights later and brought some pumpkin bars she had baked that were really good too! My recipe came from www.cooks.com and hers came from the Better Homes & Garden cookbook, and we tried to figure out if they were the same. But really, anything with pumpkin is so good!

2 cups flour (I used 1 c. unbleached white and 1 c. wholewheat)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 16 oz can pumpkin
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl.
Beat next 4 ingredients in large bowl.
Add flour mixture and mix well.
Stir in pecans.
Spread in 13 x 9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
When completely cooled, top with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting - Mix 1 3 oz pkg cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, & 1 tsp vanilla. Add 2 cups powdered sugar.

something to think about . . .

2010-10-13T08:54:00.000-07:00

"Oh if we could only begin to conceive how much He loves us, what different creatures we should be!"

Ladies Retreat

2010-10-12T09:17:00.001-07:00

Our church's annual ladies retreat was held last weekend. It was a wonderful time of encouragement, instruction, and fellowship. Our scripture focus was Titus 2:3-4 ( . . . teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God). Aprons were used as decorations and to symbolize part of our role as women in keeping our homes. Those are aprons hanging behind us in the picture. Each woman got to choose an apron to take home - a useful keepsake from our weekend! I loved the fact that there were women ranging in age from young teenagers to ladies in their 80's.

There was lots of craftiness!

The ladies at this table were making recipe card holders (that could also be used to hold memory verses).

One of the most popular crafts - stamped washer necklaces. Caitlin did a great job of showing how to make these!

Another craft by Caitlin - doily baskets. (The ones here are drying upside down.)

The tables were beautifully decorated with items reminiscent of the past. When I walked into the dining room for breakfast on Saturday morning, I was greeted by the aroma of woodsmoke (there was a fireplace) and sausage frying. I felt like I was walking in my grandparent's home!

I am thankful for weekends like this; precious time with my Christian sisters, encouraging each other to live our lives in such a way that will glorify God.

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-10-10T22:29:00.001-07:00

Pete taught my class of 4th-5th graders last Sunday, when I was in Juneau. He enjoyed it so much, he agreed to help me this week! It's nice to have an extra pair of hands in the classroom. (That's why there's more pictures than usual in today's post!)

Our lesson today perfectly fit into our tree theme that we're doing this year. It was all about the garden of Eden, from Genesis 2. "Now the Lord God planted a garden". Did you know that the Bible actually says that? I knew he "created" a garden, but Genesis 2:8 says that he "planted" a garden. To me, that implies that he put thought and planning into this garden. He intentionally made it beautiful, and he did this for the first two people he created - Adam & Eve, because of his love for them.

And we have a banner hanging in our classroom with Gen. 2:9 written on it - "And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food."

After reading some verses in Genesis 2, I showed the class some pictures of trees that I took while I was in Juneau. It is a much wetter climate there than the part of Alaska where we live, so the trees there look quite a bit different. A lot of them are bigger and a lot of them are covered with moss. Different kinds of mosses. I hiked thru one area where the trees grew very straight and tall, and were so dense, the sun could barely shine through, and it was like a dark forest.

At the end of class, we played a game to review our memory verse, which is John 3:16. I had printed words from the verse on artificial leaves. We divided the class into 2 teams. Each team had to gather the fallen leaves and place them in the correct order.

We had a great class. The kids were very attentive and worked well together in the game. They are interested in all the teaching about trees and it is wonderful to be able to point out God's power and love in something that is all around us!

A Pretty Pumpkin

2010-10-08T09:17:00.001-07:00

Barley Risotto with Corn & Basil

2010-10-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe I tried recently when I was trying to come up with something for supper with ingredients that I already had on hand. This picture doesn't do it justice; I'm not very good at "food-styling". But trust me, this was delicious! This comes from the September 2005 issue of Everyday Food magazine. I subscribed to that magazine for about 3 years. I keep all the back issues on a shelf in my kitchen. When I'm making out my menus and grocery list each week, I often take down the issues for whatever month it is. One thing I like about Everyday Food is that it features recipes with whatever food is in season; often using them in ways that I would not have thought of myself. Have you tried barley? Risotto is usually made with rice, but pearl barley is a good substitute because it has much more fiber. I think this dish qualifies as "comfort food"; which is really nice on a chilly evening.

2 cans (14.5 oz each) reduced sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
coarse salt & ground pepper
1 cup pearl barley
1 package (10 oz) frozen corn kernels
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

In a medium saucepan, bring broth and 4 cups water just to a simmer.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 4-5 minutes. Add barley; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.
Add 2 cups hot broth mixture; simmer, stirring occasionally, until almost absorbed, 10-12 minutes. Continue adding broth mixture in this manner until barley is tender & mixture is creamy, 40-50 minutes (you may not have to use all the broth). Add corn; cook just to heat through, 4-5 minutes.
Stir in basil and Parmesan; season with salt & pepper. Serve immediately, with extra cheese.

The next time I make this, I want to add some mushrooms to it; sauteeing it with the onion. I added the chopped tomatoes on the side, for some freshness and color; as well as added nutrition.

Juneau

2010-10-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

My sister, Amanda, took me to some beautiful places around Juneau. This photo was taken at Auke Bay, along a rocky beach where we found an abundance of blue seashells.

Juneau is known for it's rainy weather, but the sun came out one day during my stay. This is my 2-year old niece, Marie and me admiring this large tree. We don't have trees this big in the area of Alaska where I live. This was taken on the grounds near the Shrine to St. Therese (patron saint of Alaska).

My whole reason for travelling to Juneau was to speak to the ladies at my sister's congregation. The theme was "Chosen To Be Princesses". I felt so blessed to spend time meeting these sweet ladies. I really appreciated their desire to know more of God's word. They were so attentive; I didn't catch one person nodding off to sleep!

Here are some of the ladies decorating votive candleholders with glass stones. The church has a nice area for events like this. Ladies who love Bible study and crafts - these are my kind of people!

This photo was taken at the Sunday night service. Each Sunday night they call all of the little ones up to the front for some songs and an object lesson. There are lots of kids here, and lots of adults who love kids!

This is one of my new friends, Lorraine. Would you believe she is 95 years old? She is full of enthusiasm and love for the Lord. She told me how she came to know Christ as her Savior when she was 54. Three generations of her family are workers in the church there. By the way, her 73-year old daughter looks amazing, too!

This is another new friend, Maggie. She moved to Juneau a few months ago from Ketchikan. We had some good conversations together; she challenged me with some thought-provoking questions. She has been a Christian a long time, but she is eager to know more and to share the good news of Jesus.

This is Maurice Long, who is 90-something; 93, I think. He was one of the first members of this church when it started back around 1945. He and his brother, Nelo, raised their families here. One of the sweetest things he said to me was, "I wish you could have met my wife, Angie." That gave me some insight into his character. He lost his wife only about 2 years ago. So there are 4 generations of his family that work and worship here now. Maurice has such a sweet and humble heart. I am inspired by his years of faithfulness to the Lord and his church, even during difficult circumstances in his life.

This is my brother-in-law Bill with Bea Long, who is Maurice's sister-in-law. She lost her husband, Nelo, a few years ago. She is 80 years old and has a cheerleader personality! She knows how to encourage everyone. Obviously she and Bill are enjoying their ice cream. She met us for lunch, after having gone to exercise at Curves, an appointment with a chiropractor, and some shopping. She was leaving this morning for a trip to visit some family in California. It seems that people in Juneau have some anti-aging secrets; I'm going to have to visit more often to see if I can learn what they are! Maybe it's their love for the Lord that keeps them going. This trip was such a blessing to me; I look forward to another visit there someday.

Away For A Few Days

2010-09-30T06:01:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving in just a few minutes for the airport, where I'll be headed to Juneau for a few days. This is my first visit there, and I'm excited! I'll get to visit with my sister Amanda and her family, and I'll get to be a part of the "Ladies' Day" at their church. I'm looking forward a great few days there!

Buttermilk Biscuits

2010-09-28T09:08:00.001-07:00

I'm posting this recipe in honor of someone I don't even know. Her name is Margaret Heaven, who lives here in Wasilla. I heard earlier this morning that she and her husband were involved in a car accident yesterday , on the Alaska Hwy, near the Canadian border. Sadly, this accident took the life of her husband, LeRoi. She's 74 and he was 79. I've never met this couple, but I talked with both of them one time over the phone. A few years ago, I found this recipe in the monthly newsletter from our electric co-op. I think what caught my eye was the name of the reader who submitted it - Margaret Heaven. "Wow, what a great name", I thought. Also, I enjoy a good biscuit, so I tried the recipe and loved it! Some months later, we were having company for supper and I wanted to make biscuits, but couldn't find my recipe. I looked everywhere I thought it could be, but could not find it. Finally, out of desparation, I decided to call up Margaret Heaven. (Any other biscuit recipe simply would not do!) Well, it was easy enough to find that name in the phone book. I dialed the number and her husband answered. She wasn't at home, but I had a nice little chat with him. I admit though that I did feel a little awkward explaining to him who I was and why I was calling! He took my name and phone number and said he would give her the message. Just a short while later, she called me. She kind of laughed and then gladly gave me the recipe. Another little connection I had with them, was when my son, Ben, had a newspaper route a couple of years ago. And the Heavens were on his route. Pete and I ran the route a few times and I liked seeing their house, in the middle of the night. I had read previously in this newspaper article about where the Heaven's live and his background. He was obviously very tied to this community. A really interesting story! You don't come across many people here who have been here as long as he had been. So, although I haven't met this couple, I'm sure a lot of people around here know them well. And those people, especially Margaret, will be mourning the loss of this good man. I'm thinking about making these biscuits to go with some beef stew tonight. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Margaret, and may God comfort you in the days ahead . . .

2 c. unsifted flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 c. butter
3/4 c. buttermilk (or sour milk)

Combine all dry ingredients and sift into mixing bowl. Add the butter and blend in. Stir in the buttermilk and blend until dough holds together. Turn out on a lightly floured board and flour the top of the dough slightly. Knead about 3 minutes and pat or roll out in a circle about 1/2-inch thick. Cut the biscuits any size you like, dip in melted butter and arrange on a baking sheet or pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-09-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we spent the first several minutes of our class talking about the hike that didn't happen! Our weather here became extremely windy in the latter part of last week. I was hoping by Saturday the winds would have died down enough for us to still go on our hike. That morning, after talking with one of the parents who lives closer to where the trail begins, we decided it probably would be comfortable enough for hiking. She reported "just a gentle breeze" at her house. Oh my! As soon as I arrived at the trailhead, I knew it was much too windy to have the kids out there. Only a couple of kids had shown up, and they didn't stick around long! But I was still wanting to walk on the trail just for a little while. It seemed a shame to waste the beautiful sunshine, plus I was wearing a warm jacket and gloves. So I took off on the path and almost immediately was joined by a sweet black dog! He (or she?) was very friendly and stayed right with me the entire time I was out there. So we had a great little hike together, just the two of us, enjoying the beautiful scenery. We saw many signs of fall, as well as evidences of the high winds that had blown the leaves off the trees and even brought down a few trees. It was particularly beautiful down by the river, but that's where the wind was really whipping and I had to turn around and head back. My new canine friend followed me all the way back to my car, and sat with the saddest puppy dog eyes as I drove away. I'm sure he belonged to someone who lived nearby; he didn't appear to have missed any meals. I was grateful, though, for his companionship!

The kids were interested in hearing about my little adventure and seeing the pictures, as well as examining some little seedpods I had picked up along the trail. We talked briefly about the concept of "seeds" from last week. We talked about God had been showing us his power in nature, not just through the changing seasons and wind, but also the through earthquakes that were felt in our area in the past few days. Then I passed out the bags of trail mix I had brought for them to have on the hike and poured apple cider for everyone and we settled in for our Bible lesson for the day.

Our lesson was from Mark 2:1-12, when Jesus healed the paralyzed man that had been brought to Jesus by his four friends, who lowered him through the roof. We tied this lesson in with our memory verse (John 3:16), by identifying who the people were who believed in Jesus in this story, and who were the ones who didn't believe. The kids paid excellent attention throughout the lesson and I was thrilled that almost every student brought their Bible! I am really enjoying getting to know these kids. At the end of our class, I asked the kids what they wanted to pray about. The first request was that we pray for the dog on the trail, that he would soon find his owner. I love these kids!

The Difference A Day Makes

2010-09-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

The view from my deck yesterday . . .

The view from my deck today.

2010-09-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

We had gone to bed in summer;

and we woke in autumn;

for summer passes into autumn in

some imaginable point of time,

like the turning of a leaf.

~Henry David Thoreau

Remembering Times With Laurie

2010-09-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

(my sister & me, with our dog King, around 1976) Today would have been my sister Laurie's 41st birthday. So I'm thinking about her today and remembering the fun that we had when we were kids. I'm thankful for so many great memories, including:

playing outside (on the swingset singing "church songs", making playhouses in the woods, running thru the sprinkler)
playing with Barbie dolls, her Easy Bake oven, the game of Monopoly
spending hours (it seemed) poring over the pages of the Sears & JCPenney catalogs
watching TV (The Brady Bunch, Leave It To Beaver, The Addams Family, The Waltons, Little House On The Prairie)
singing, giggling, eating candy, etc.

Apple Butter

2010-09-21T10:20:00.001-07:00

Each year at this time I enjoy making apple butter. This year I wanted to try to find a recipe that contained less or even no sugar. I found several recipes online that were all similar. The one I decided to try wasn't really a recipe at all. It basically said to:

Put some sliced apples in a slow-cooker. (I peeled mine. They were Granny Smiths.)
Cover with some apple cider (unsweetened).
Cook on high setting until they are soft. Mash them to make a sauce.
Add cinnamon and cloves to taste. Cook uncovered until they are the consistency you like.
For preserving, ladle into warm, sterilized jars. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Unprocessed jars will keep refrigerated for about a month.

So easy, and so delicious. I didn't even miss the sugar!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-09-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

We had a great class yesterday. These kids are enthusiastic, which makes it so fun to teach! I asked them if they remembered what's the big deal about trees, why are we using it as our theme for this school year. Most of them remembered! Our lesson was from Luke 5:1-11, where we read about Jesus calling his first disciples. Our main point was that Jesus uses people to help spread the news of God's love. We learned that each of his first disciples brought more people to Jesus, then those people brought more people to Jesus, then those people brought more people to Jesus , and on and on it goes . . . !

Then we switched over to talking about trees; apple trees to be exact. I read them this awesome verse from Genesis 1:29, where we learn that God gave us trees that have fruit with seeds inside. I cut an apple in half so that the kids could see the seeds, as well as the neat little star shape that God put in there. We talked about how each seed can produce another tree, which will produce more apples with seeds. Then those seeds can produce another tree, which will produce more apples with seeds, and on and on it goes. . . !

You can see my simple illustration above. The smiley faces on the left side of the board represent people who are learning about God's love. We started with one face (Jesus), added four more for the fisherman disciples, then eight more for the rest of the disciples, and then some more. On the right side, I drew little apple seeds, beginning with one and gradually adding more. I was curious to see how the kids would fill in the sentence at the bottom. They all had some good words to go in the blank ("good", "beautiful", "for us", etc), but I was glad when one student chose the word "grow"!

We ended the class by making apple prints around the verse on the apple poster and also enjoying a snack of sourdough bread with apple butter. We are looking forward to our autumn hike, which will be next Saturday. Parents, I'm emailing you with the details!

My Favorite Frugal Healthy Recipe

2010-09-17T10:37:00.001-07:00

This is been one of my favorite recipes for a couple of years. I almost always have the ingredients on hand and it's a quick recipe for a busy day.

Lentil-Brown Rice Tacos

Blend together in a casserole dish:

3/4 cup uncooked lentils

1/2 cup uncooked long-grain brown rice

1/4 chopped onion

3 cups water or chicken broth

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Cover and bake for 2-2 1/2 hours at 300 degrees.
During last 20 minutes of baking, top with 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese.
Spoon on tortillas and add your favorite toppings. We like fresh salsa, sour cream, cilantro. With chopped avocado on the side.

On My Nightstand

2010-09-16T10:57:00.001-07:00

This is what I'm currently reading. Gladys Taber (1899-1980) is one of my all-time favorite authors. She wrote for more than 30 years as a columnist for Ladies Home Journal and Family Circle magazines. She lived most of her adult life at Stillmeadow, a 1690 farmhouse in Connecticut and she wrote about a lot of the things I love (cats, dogs, nature, cooking, reading, family, friends, etc). Most of her books are written like journals, going thru the seasons of the year. She wrote in a very direct style and made interesting observations on people and life in general. I'll always remember when I first learned of her. We were browsing in a used-book store about 15 years ago and I stumbled upon her book Stillmeadow Daybook. What a treasure! And then to find out she had written more than 50 books! I've read all of the ones I've found in public libraries and have acquired some through e-bay purchases. And I have re-read all of them many times. Sometimes at the beginning of a season, I like to take one off of my shelf, to help get me inspired for the months ahead. This one here, Harvest of Yesterdays, is a memoir of her childhood and early adulthood years, before she moved to Stillmeadow. What I appreciate most about her books is how she celebrates the simple, little things of life. Just to give you a taste of her writing - - - "My celebration begins in the morning with a small cat jumping up and down on top of me to suggest she is hungry. The gentle sounds of the old house herself are sweet and I imagine the ghosts of long ago have come to greet me and wish me well. If the sun is shining, it casts lilac shadows under the great maples and the snow is patterned with tracks from our wildlife friends. Chickadees, nuthatches, bluejays fill the yard with wings." She goes on to talk about making a breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup . . . She published a few cookbooks too, by the way.

An Easy Solution

2010-09-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

This is so easy; I can't believe I didn't think of it myself! In my quest to be both frugal and healthy, I've been trying to think of efficient ways to store leftover food. When I was visiting my mom recently, I asked her what her mom (we called her Maw) did with leftovers. Well, with 5 kids at home, it was not likely there would be any leftover food. But if she needed to save something, my mom said she would simply put it in a bowl and put a saucer over it. No plastic storage containers or plastic wrap needed! Before I would have wrapped up that biscuit in plastic wrap and then later eaten it, trying to ignore the faint taste of plastic that had leached into it. This works for plates too. A few nights ago, I put a few slices of leftover pizza on a plate and inverted another plate on top of it. This works great if you need to stack things in your fridge. For all these years, I've been buying un-necessary products that were taking up space in my cupboards and drawers and also were not healthy for my family or the environment. There's a lot we can learn from our grandmothers!

Early Autumn Blessings

2010-09-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

This morning I'm feeling thankful for the blessings of this past weekend; specifically the sunshine that we enjoyed! After a rainy dismal summer, the sunshine feels so good! A special treat was having my sister Amanda, her husband Bill, and their 2 yr-old daughter Marie here with us on Friday night and Saturday. They were on their way back to Juneau after a trip down South. It felt like old times; Georgia football and eating chili. It was especially fun having two little girls at the table with us! On Sunday afternoon, I took my stamping supplies outside and made some cards to send this month. The sun is still shining today, so I plan to spend some time out at my table this afternoon working on some lessons for an upcoming ladies retreat. I hope all of you are being blessed by some autumn sunshine wherever you are!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-09-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day that I got to teach my new class of 4th-5th graders. And what a great class it was! It was an all-boy class, and I had a lot of fun with them. (I think there might be one or two girls joining us later.) They showed their enthusiasm over the activities we did, and they also paid exceptional attention! I thought it was especially nice that a couple of them commented on the classroom decorations as they came in (something I don't expect from boys)! I really couldn't ask for a better class!

Our theme this year is "growing" and we are using "trees" as our motif. Our key verse is from Luke 2:52 - "And Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and men." We talked about how they, too, are growing in these ways. I took a photo of each boy and also measured their height. We will be tracking their height throughout the year to see how much they grow.

I'm very excited over all of the things we'll be studying and doing pertaining to trees! We are using one whole wall as a bulletin board and I invited them to bring in anything (magazine pictures, articles, photos, cards, etc.) they find on trees to add to it. One poster on the wall will give us a clear demonstration of the changes that occur throughout autumn. I stood on my deck last Friday morning and snapped a photo of some trees in our front yard. Next Friday morning (and the next several Friday mornings) I'll stand in the same spot and take a photo and add these to the poster each week. Also, I announced to the kids that we'll be observing nature up-close and in person by going on a hike. This will be on Saturday, Sept. 25. I'm not sure where we'll be hiking yet, but I'm checking out a few trails this week.

I gave each student a binder that they will be adding to each week. Our first few lessons are about Jesus. We learned where we can read about Jesus' life on earth (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). I think only 2 of the 6 boys brought their Bibles to class; hopefully I'll see more Bibles next week! Our lesson was about Nicodemus, from John 3. Since Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, we turned off the lights and read this story by flashlight. We learned about how God loves us and sent Jesus to live on earth so that we can have eternal life. We talked about what it means to be born again. Our first memory verse is a very familiar one: John 3 :16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." We will be talking more about this verse during the next few weeks.

At the end of our class, we celebrated the beginning of our year together with a special snack, which they seemed to enjoy! We made trees using pretzel rods as tree trunks, pretzel twists for the branches, and green frosting with orange, yellow, & red M&M's for the leaves.

I think we're off to a great start! I'm thankful for these kids and pray that each one of them will grow this school year in their knowledge of God's love and his will for their lives.

Photos From Our Trip

2010-09-10T09:20:00.001-07:00

The main reason for this trip was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pete's parents. It was a nice gathering of family and friends. Everyone enjoyed reminiscing and honoring Wayne & Linda.

My son, Ben, and his wife, Jazmin, from Mexico, are at the far left in this photo. This was Jazmin's first trip to the US and we had fun introducing her to lots of new faces and places! This is a group from the church in Damascus, Virginia where Pete's dad preaches. They help support Ben & Jazmin in their work with the church in Mexico. We enjoyed worshipping and fellowshipping over pizza on the Sunday night that we were there.

A trip to Damascus is not complete without an excursion to Backbone Rock. We had a picnic lunch, hiked to the top of the Rock, and skipped rocks in the river.

Pete's parents treated us to a day at Dollywood. The weather wasn't too hot and it wasn't crowded since kids are back in school.

This is in McEwen (my hometown) at my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dike's house. I love family get-togethers!

This is my mom and Jazmin enjoying a nice chat on my mom's charming front porch. It was so nice for everyone to finally get acquainted with Jazmin.

Here we are sitting on the little wall by my mom's driveway. I like how the sun is setting in the background and how Ben is busy taking photos with his new "old" camera.

This photo captures the essence of my mom's house. We were just getting ready to enjoy a meal together. My sister, Amanda, and her husband and 2-year old daughter from Juneau were there and we laughed and laughed about Marie's excitement over seeing the cuckoo bird!

Lots of time was spent in my mom's kitchen! Here we are preparing an authentic Mexican meal, under Jazmin's direction. I am mashing avocados for guacamole. We enjoyed beef fajitas with fresh salsa, and a delicious pitcher of horchata. We invited Janelle, a special family friend, over to eat with us since we knew how fond she is of Mexican food.

We loved watching the ruby-throated hummingbirds at my mom's house. Ben spent lots of time getting some great shots of them. I love how they seem to flash like jewels! These are just a few of the blessings that we enjoyed from our trip. We'll treasure these memories, until our next trip!

Changing Seasons

2010-09-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Pete and I just returned from a trip down to Tennessee to visit with family and friends. This long-awaited trip was the culmination of our summer activities. Now that we're home, the reality has set in that the summer has gone and autumn is here. The photo above is what I see when I look down while standing on my deck.

I've always enjoyed a change of seasons. I have several things to look forward to this fall, including:

settling in to our new "old" home (lots of sewing projects to do!)
teaching a new group of kids in my Sunday School class
hosting a ladies Bible study on the book Stepping Heavenward
traveling to Juneau, spending time with my sister and speaking at a Ladies Day

hopefully, more blogging!

What are you looking forward to this fall?

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-08-09T10:59:00.001-07:00

Like a city whose walls are broken down

is a man who lacks self-control.

(Proverbs 25:28)

This was an extra-fun lesson. I'm sure it was because of the blocks! I put them out on a side table in our classroom before class time. Naturally the kids wanted to play with them; even some of the kids from the middle school class across the hall wanted to play with them. It's great how such a simple toy can bring so much enjoyment. And the blocks peaked their curiosity about the lesson.

The character trait we looked at was self-control. The blocks were a perfect way to demonstrate the proverb that I chose: Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control (Prov.25:28).

We had a good discussion about self-control. We defined it simply as controlling your self. And then we talked about areas where it's very important to practice self-control. At first the kids talked about anger and emotions, but then we saw how it applies to all sorts of other areas (eating, sleeping, how much time we spend watching TV/playing video games, etc).

In discussing the verse, we remembered a lesson that we studied several months ago, about Nehemiah leading the Jews in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. We talked about why it was important for cities in ancient times to have a strong wall around them. Mainly it was to keep enemies from attacking. If the walls were broken down, it was nearly impossible to keep enemies from coming right in! The analogy is obvious: if we don't put up some walls or boundaries in our daily lives, then our enemy (Satan) will take advantage of the open places and come right in to destroy us. This was one of those lessons that I felt that I needed as much, if not more, than the kids!

We went back to the blocks at the end of the lesson. I had put words of the verse on the blocks for them to put in order. It was a race to see which team could finish first. In building their walls/tower, they saw that it was necessary to practice self-control (they had to control their excitement and make slow, careful movements) in order to keep the blocks from falling. All in all, this was a great lesson!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-08-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

In our continuing quest to gain wisdom, we studied "responsibility" last Sunday. In looking thru the book of Proverbs for a verse on responsibility, I came across this verse: He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored. (Proverbs 27:18) Well, fig newton cookies are a favorite at our house, so I really liked this verse! I began the class by having the kids make a list of their responsibilites. We each read our lists and talked about how responsibilities are things that are expected from us. The kids listed as their responsibilities things like cleaning their rooms and caring for their pets, but it was interesting to me that they also mentioned things like being responsible for their words and actions. (See, they really are a wise bunch of owls!) We talked a little about fig trees and I shared with them some information that I had read. I learned that fig trees are not difficult to take care of, but they do require some tending. We talked about how all of us have things to tend and look after. And our verse tells us that there are rewards when we fulfill our responsibilities. We ended our class by snacking on fig newtons, of course.

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-07-27T08:45:00.001-07:00

The character trait we studied this past Sunday was "obedience", which is a simple, straightforward concept the kids are able to understand. But it's hard to do sometimes! We talked about the "who, what, when, where, why, & how" of obedience. Our verse from Proverbs was 19:16:

He who obeys instructions guards his life,

but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die.

I showed them several examples of "instructions" - instructions for games, a cross-stitch embroidery pattern, a recipe, etc. We talked about the consequences of not following instructions.

And if you're wondering about the photo of Abraham Lincoln, I read them a true story about how he demonstrated obedience in his early life in an incident that led to the rescue of 3 men who were in danger of drowning. Also, I shared a tragic situation that occured in just over a week ago in which someone drowned because of not wearing a life jacket. Hopefully, the kids were able to see that God has given us rules and asks us to obey because he loves us and wants the very best for us.

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-07-19T10:06:00.001-07:00

We had a small class yesterday - only 2 students. But we had what I would consider a "productive" class. The character trait we studied was "honor". "Honor" in the sense of honoring other people. You can see our proverb at the top of the board. "Humility comes before honor." Proverbs 15:33 and 18:12. We talked about how humility means thinking of ourselves less and honor means thinking of others more. Lowering ourselves and lifting others up. We talked about how Jesus set a perfect example of that and read that wonderful scripture in Philippians 2:3-11. When he lived on earth, he humbled himself and honored others. Look at the lists we made of who to honor and how to honor. They kept coming up with more and more ideas, right up until the bell rang! A wise class of owls, they are!

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

2010-07-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Very interesting - and certainly not a coincidence - after spending some time reading the Bible this morning, looking at some scriptures on hope and meditating on Job 19:25 - "I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth," I got out my hymnbook, actually wanting to look at a different song (My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less) and it fell open to this page . . . These are different versions of the song that we often sing in our church. I was curious to know what the tunes were, so I played them both on the piano. I especially liked both the tune and the words of the lower one. Then I decided to look up the hymnwriter (Samuel Medley) online and this is what I found. And if you click here, you can read all of the lyrics and hear it yourself. The words are very personal and comforting. Also, there was more information on Samuel Medley here. This was one of those times when I felt like God was leading me through his word and in worship. I felt greatly encouraged and just wanted to pass it along, hoping that it blesses you too!

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-07-14T10:42:00.001-07:00

Our 4th-5th graders are continuing to learn character traits from the book of Proverbs. This week, we learned about gentleness. In order to demonstrate gentleness, we played a game of Jenga. If you've played Jenga, you know it requires you to make gentle movements, in order to keep the tower from crashing. The kids did a great job, considering a couple of them were really excited about heading to Bible camp right after class! Our proverb came from Proverbs 15:1 - A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. We talked about why it is wise to choose gentle words and discussed several scenarios where gentleness could be practiced. We spent the last part of our class time making cards to send to Amanda Beam, a young lady from our church who recently left to serve a long-term mission in Scotland. I read parts of Amanda's recent newsletter to them, which they found interesting. Who knows? Maybe in a few years, one of them will choose to participate in the Adventures In Missions (AIM) program that Amanda and several other of our young adults have done.

Tuna Casserole

2010-07-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted a recipe, or anything other than my Sunday school notes. This is what I made for our supper last night and thought it would be a good thing to share. I consider this recipe a "no-brainer"; something to fix when you don't have much time or energy. Or money! It only has 4 ingredients (tuna, cream of mushroom soup, peas - I use frozen, and chow mein noodles). Mix the first three things together in a casserole dish and add the noodles on top. Heat in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or so. That's all there is to it! I added the tomatoes and cucumbers on the side, just to have something fresh. This is a recipe from my childhood. My mom saw it on a TV show and I think she only fixed it for us a few times. But I thought it was delicious and it was something I made for Pete and me a lot when we were first married, when we were poor college students and I didn't know how to cook much. I only fix it occasionally for us now. It's great "comfort food" for us and a reminder of our simpler days.

Notes From My Bible Class

2010-07-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Our character trait for this past Sunday was forgiveness and the verse from Proverbs I chose was 19:11 - A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense. I used the photo above to illustrate the verse. I asked the question, "Look at this picture and tell me what you see." And the answer I received was, "There's a big scribble over some of the people." No one noticed what was good about the picture. And that's the point - it's easy for us to notice the "offensive" things. But if we want to be wise, we will "overlook an offense". That means we will overlook the wrongs that are done against us.

This photo is an object lesson that illustrates the difference between "holding a grudge" and "forgiveness". Both of these cups appear to have lemonade in them, right? I handed the cup on the left to one of the girls to taste. She immediately made a face and said it was sour. (It was actually lemon juice concentrate.) Then I gave her the cup on the right. She said it was much sweeter. (It contained actual lemonade.) It can be hard to tell just by looking at someone if they are a forgiving person or not. If they are holding a grudge, they will have a "sour" attitude. But if they have a forgiving nature, they will know the sweetness that comes from "overlooking offenses."