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My Faith

5 minute Friday — NEAR

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What is near?

It is a calendar date?  24 days until Christmas…Christmas is near!

2 months until my birthday…my birthday is near!

But that type of nearness is relative.  Near could be a day away.  A week away.  A year away.  You get the picture.

But to be near is also “nearness of presence.”  Nearness of proximity or physicality.  Your house is near mine because we are neighbors.  Another example, “Put the couch near the bookshelf.”

So what about the verse in James 4:8, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

That gets my attention.  Especially when you consider that one of God’s attributes is his omnipresence.  He is everywhere present.

Not to get too deep, but is there a nearness that is nearer than being near? Don’t laugh. 🙂 Stick with me.

I think what I mean is a nearness of relationship that is deeper than a nearness of proximity.  God is always near.  But, is there something more that happens when we make an effort to draw near to God through reading our Bible, journaling, prayer, and being still before him and listening?

“Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

I think that could be what the verse is talking about.  I know that I long for God to draw near to me.  I want a nearness of relationship with the Savior of the world.

He promises that when we seek him we will find him.  

I’m going to take him up on that promise!

Book Review and Author Interviews, Writing tips

Mentor Text for Rhyme–MAMA MAMA MISSES LLAMA by Anna Dewdney

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Just finished reading this book.
Wow is all I can say. I am in awe.
If you want to know how to do rhyme…LOOK AT THIS MENTOR TEXT!

Three things that stood out to me

1. Perfect rhyme scheme.–No near rhymes at all.  Every line 7 syllables except for 4 lines (that were together) of 8 syllables.  Now that is magic!

2. Low word count--just under 350 words  Parents do not want long, drawn out stories, and pre-schoolers would not listen to it anyway.  (Reminding myself of this, too!)

3. She writes perfectly for the target audience.  Any pre-schooler or kindergartner will relate to EVERY PAGE of this book. She writes what they experience. Down to the last detail.

Here is a brief outline of the story arc.

1.  Waking up and going to school for the first time
2.  Getting dressed, brushing teeth, breakfast, running late
3.  Driving, meeting teacher and new faces
4.  Hanging up coat and saying goodbye
5.  Feeling shy, being asked by teacher what he wants to do
6.  Different activities at pre-school or kindergarten–blocks, train
7.  Story time
8.  Lunch time
9.  Missing mama
10.  Going outside for recess and play–tag, slide, hide and seek
11.  Drawing time
12.  Mama comes back–
13.  Showing mama the slide, saying good-bye
14.  He loves being with mom and school
So in summary, there is a reason that this book is so popular.  Nice work, Anna Dewdney!
My Faith

5 Minute Friday –FAMILIAR

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We love the familiar.

I’m famous for that at restaurants. 
Not really wanting to try a new restaurant.  
And even at a familiar restaurant, only ordering the same old thing instead of trying a new entrée. Why do I do that?  Two words.  It’s safe.
I only shop at one grocery store.  Why?
I know where everything is and I’m comfortable there.
It seems faster and easier than going somewhere else, even if they have the same stuff, just in a different place.
Ever been overseas and found a familiar brand or restaurant? Why is that so thrilling?
When I lived in Spain, everything I did, every place I went, everything I ate, was a cross-cultural experience.  After a while, I was starved for the familiar.  Even to the point of having my mom mail me a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. (I am being vulnerable here because honestly Kraft mac and cheese is pretty disgusting—how could thatbe the thing I craved?  But it was!)  I remember when it came in the mail and the Señora fixed it for my roommate and I.  You would have thought we had died and gone to heaven.  All for that familiar cheese sauce that is really not that good.  But it was a taste of home. 
Most of us like the familiar.  
Because, let’s face it, it is “the known.”  The comfortable.  The safe. 
We have to be careful, though.  
The familiar can become an enemy of stepping out and following God’s call.  
-Think if Abraham and Sarah had never left Ur.  
-Or if David had never fought Goliath. 
-Or if the disciples had never followed Jesus.  
You can fill in pretty much any Bible character.  
They had to take a risk to receive God’s blessing and experience his adventure. 
In my experience, God does not call us to the familiar.  
Instead, he calls us out of our habits, out of our comforts, and out of our normal into the unknown. 
But that’s where he can reveal his provision, his power, and his faithfulness.
The choice is ours.

Fun for kids, Kid Ministry

TURKEY OF THANKS–fun idea for your family at Thanksgiving

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Looking for a fun Thanksgiving tradition for your family?  
Make a TURKEY OF THANKS! 

 (Baker Family Turkey of Thanks 2009) 

1. On a posterboard, piece of butcher paper, draw a body of a turkey. Add eyes, beak and gobbler. Or print off a fancy cut-out from the Internet on colorful paper.

2. From colorful construction paper, cut out multiple feathers.  I like to make 5 feathers per family member or guest on Thanksgiving Day.

3. Each family member/guest writes something that he/she is thankful for on a feather.

4. Everyone takes turns sharing what they have written on their feathers, and then they tape them to the poster.

5.  Explain that we are thankful to God for all of these wonderful things that he has blessed us with.

6. Once everyone has their feathers taped onto the poster, it creates a colorful TURKEY OF THANKS!

OPTION:
–Do one or two feathers per night for several nights before Thanksgiving.  Try to memorize the Scripture verse(s) together as a family.

–Look up Psalm 100 in the Bible and read it aloud together as a family.  Notice verse four. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”

–Pray together as a family in short sentence prayers thanking God for the things that you wrote on the feathers.

Sample:  Lord, I thank you for our family.
               Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for our home.
               Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross for our sins.
               I thank you, God, for our dog, Buddy.

My kids (Throwback from 2009)

GOBBLE!🦃 GOBBLE!

My Faith

5 Minute Friday–EXCUSE

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I’m a teacher so when I hear the word excuse, I think immediately of:
        
    -Excuses why your homework wasn’t done.
If you don’t have an excuse, there is a consequence.
or
            -Excused and unexcused absences
(Meaning if you have a good reason or someone like a parent to vouch for you, your absence is not counted against you.  If not, it is “unexcused,” and you are penalized.)
or
            -Being tardy without an excuse…
If you come into my class late without an excuse, I mark you tardy.  After 3 unexcused tardies, you receive a detention from the Dean.

(Don’t you miss high school and all of its rules?)

As a teacher, when someone is absent, tardy, or without his homework, I want to know “What is your excuse?”

The Bible says in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

In my opinion, this means that God’s Creation and his eternal and invisible qualities are enough to show all of us that he exists.  Those who choose not to believe in him are without excuse. 

So what happens if you are unexcused with God?  The Bible is clear that just like a “late” student without a pass/excuse deserves detention, “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23a
Thank God there is more to that verse.

“but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23b

He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sin.   He paid it to “excuse” or pardon our sin by having Jesus die on the cross in our place. By placing our faith in what Jesus did on the cross, we receive forgiveness (our excuse) and eternal life.

Thanks be to God!