I will not be around for the next 7 days as our family are off to Sunday school camp. Each year our church head off to camp and my kids can’t wait! A week worth of fun, Jesus and friends!
So I am sure I will have plenty to write about on my return. In the meantime feel free to check out last years posts on our last camp!
See you soon,
Collette x
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Matthew 6:25 NLT.
How many of us have heard the above verse and related passages? How many of us read it and think, yes, I will apply this to my life, I need to and will no longer worry.
Then several hours later, there I am sitting down, furrowed brow, worrying about the kids, or something at Church, or money, or anything!
How difficult is it not to worry? Is it a female thing?
Recently our Church studied Philippians.
God gives us an answer of how to deal with worry here too.
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NLT.
We are to pray and petition. We are to be thankful. And God will give us PEACE. Yes PEACE which guards our hearts and minds. If we believe these verses then surely it makes sense that these promises will be fulfilled.
So I am going to try and think on these verses today. I need to! I have spent the last few weeks worrying about everything. The children, school, nursery, sickness, holidays, life in general! This is not what God wants for me. So join me in claiming these promises from the Lord and share with me how you combat worry.
While Colin watched the England vs. USA football match on Saturday night I decided to try making a quilting star from a tutorial at V and Co. I am very pleased with the way it turned out and it wasn’t really that hard!
I have also been trying to keep my hands busy when the kids are playing or I am just watching TV by hand sewing these cute little hexagons. I honestly cannot remember the blog that inspired them so apologies to the person who inspired me. I have found a link at Sew Mama Sew with an explanation from someone else. The only thing I don’t do is glue the fabric to the hexagon. I manage fine without doing this.
I find them therapeutic and when you can’t get the sewing machine out they are ideal to keep yourself busy while watching the kids at the same time!
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Ecclesiastes 11:6. NIV.
I also urge you to have a look at this blog. Like a warm cup of coffee. Sarah Mae is taking a look at some huge questions about our obedience and walk with God. Something I have been seriously thinking about lately. Some of the topics she is going to discuss are;
How does a sin-saturated world affect all of the above topics?
I urge us all to have a look at what is said and pray about this in our own lives.
Poor Jacob! He has the chicken pox and quite badly compared to Emma. Last night he couldn’t sleep for the itch and ended up in a bath and then covered in calamine cream. This gave him enough relief to enable him to fall asleep.
This morning he woke up feeling sick. At the moment he is lying on the couch with a quilt and nurse Emma to tend to him! I still haven’t decided if that is good or bad!! He watched some Tom and Jerry this morning and the belly laughs were funny. It is so good to hear him laugh.
I found a great little tutorial on how to make ohio star blocks for patchwork. I fully intend to give this a go when all the sickness is over at our house.
I discovered this cd by Songs for Saplings at Sarah Mae’s blog, Like a warm cup of coffee. This is an excellent resource for answering all those tricky questions little ones ask you about God! You know the ones; Where is God? Can you see God? and such like. The answers are biblical and beautifully put to songs which kids enjoy. I am planning on purchasing these for my kids.
So far we have studied the topics of Christ's death as Sacrifice, Substitution and Reconciliation. Our studies are challenging, stimulating and at times heated debate takes place!
What struck me last night was the gracious way in which we all respect each others opinions. We all have opinions on how to lead our lives, to parent, to spread the Gospel, and what we hear from the Bible but we still respect each other.
There is unity.
Lately I have been reading a blog or two in which one post can orchestrate a huge debate on topics very close to peoples' hearts. Comments are usually sensitive but some are not at times.
It saddens me that women get so caught up in these debates and defensive and condemning. It isn't always explicit and sometimes a subtle message. We can be so passionate and enthusiastic about the path we have chosen for our lives or our children that we don't think about our readers or friends or approach things in a balanced way.
I am so thankful to God for Grace. God has laid out a way for us to lead our lives in His book and we can do so. However, we need to mindful of becoming legalistic about the truths in the Bible.
For example, the woman who has to work outside the home. The Bible seems to suggest women are to stay at home (although it doesn't out and out say this, it is all interpretation in my opinion). So will God not bless the woman who goes to work and loves the Lord with all her heart? It could so easily be the case that a woman staying at home could not be right with her walk with the Lord.
In my humble opinion it isn't the outward actions it is our hearts that matter to the Lord. It doesn't mean we have free reign to disobey the Lord and sin. But God has given us, through Jesus, the gift of Grace. God wants our hearts to be obedient to him and then our actions and life will follow suit.
Terri Lynne at Pleasing to you has written an excellent post on idolatry among Christians. Please have a look and be challenged! I know I have been!
Yesterday was a funny old day! Emma fell off her very safe 3 wheeled scooter on our way to our Church Toddlers group. She banged her head on a wall and took a very small gouge out of it.
It became clear later that day that treatment at home wouldn't work so her Gran and I took her to A and E at hospital to get her checked out. Well she was a brave little girl and was very interested in the whole business of course.
The doctor used some steri strips which are like paper stitches to help close the small wound. She said it should heal fine and advised a helmet to an embarrassed mum :( .
Thank the Lord it wasn't worse and she suffered no concussion!!!!
Last night I had the privilege of hearing my son read God's word from his own easy reader Bible! Together we chose the story of Jonah. What an absolute blessing to hear him read this!
There is something very special about hearing your child reading but even more so for it to be God's word.
The little Bible has excellent questions at the end of each section which really gets discussion going with him. We are having many issues with Jacob at the moment over sleep and behaviour. I pray that this time with him and in prayer will resolve these.
Matthew 21:15-17
But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, " Hosanna to the Son of David, " they were indignant.
"Do you hear what these children are saying ?" they asked him.
"Yes", replied Jesus, "have you never read ,"'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?".
And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Today I am trying something new! I am linking up my latest make with Whatever goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts. This is an excellent source of ideas and way to share our makes with each other.
