Matthew 24:42-44

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour do not expect.

Matthew 24:42-44 (ESV)

Cookie Baking Night 08/29/11

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Ethan, Carissa. We made peanut butter cookies (with a twist).

First we unwrapped several peanut butter cup candies (which in kid-world is an entire activity in and of itself).

Then we made the peanut butter cookie dough.

Next, we wrapped the cookie dough around the peanut butter cup and baked them per the usual instructions. It makes quite a tasty cookie, and it gives the kids plenty to do in the baking process.

Tonight we read lesson 53 titled "God's Children Love Him" from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. Ethan read John 12:1-3 for us from the Bible.

We also worked on our parachute project for The Voice of the Martyrs ministry. Tonight we glued the ribbons on the parachutes and wrote Spanish words on them: Dios es Amor = God is Love. We have now completed two parachutes.

As usual, a fun time was had by all.

At the end of the evening, a Cookie Baking Night alumni paid us a visit, our 19-year-old nephew (Emily's brother), Joe. It was fun to see him and visit with them.

Funny note from the evening:

For supper this evening, I made mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, and drop biscuits. Emily thought the biscuits looked like shortcake and asked if we were having strawberry shortcake. I told her they were biscuits, and she could put gravy over them if she would like. She immediately responded: "Mmmmm. Chicken shortcake. Sounds good!" All through supper she referred to the meal as "chicken shortcake" (I didn't see that one coming, but it definitely cracked me up).

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People

Why do bad things happen to good people? Hmmm, who hasn't heard that question bantered around while out and about rubbing shoulders with the world? Many people have asked it themselves. A young seminary student in our church (love seminary students--they thing about evverrrythiing-deeply) did a pretty good job tackling that question about a month ago in a Thursday evening service at our church. Click here to listen to the message or download it. It's worth your time.

Niece Musings

I thought in the absence of Cookie Baking Night (it's next week), I would share a short story about the kids.

A couple weeks ago, Kylie (my 11-year-old niece) and Emily (my 10-year-old niece) spent the night at our house. Due to distance and family dynamics, we don't see Kylie that much, and she hasn't spent that much time in our home. Emily, however, is a frequent visitor to our home. Feeling like our home is her home, Emily took on the job of tour guide. I was in the hallway when she was giving Kylie a tour of the guest bedroom (which she considers to be her room). I chuckled to myself as I overheard this conversation:

Emily said to Kylie:

"You can put your bag over there.

This is the bed.

This is the guest basket. You can choose one item from it since you're spending the night (Emily's favorite part).

And that's the Gospel of John (pointing to a small copy I had given her with a girl-friendly cover on it).

This is the closet ...."

And on it went. I was surprised and pleased to hear the Gospel of John given a prominent mention in the tour of the guest room.

The little ones are watching and listening, my friends, let us use our time with them wisely.

Words of Grace

Several months ago I was searching the Internet on the topic of Biblical Counseling, and my search brought me by a blog called Words of Grace (written by a pastor in Texas). The tagline at the top of the blog reads: Devotional thoughts and Biblical resources to shepherd Christ's church into a greater dependence on and delight in His grace. And I have found it to be just that. I commend it to your reading.

Cookie Baking Night 08/15/11

Tonight was Cookie Baking Night. In attendance this evening: Emily, Carissa, Ethan. We made s'mores.

First, we put chocolate and mini marshmallows on a graham cracker.

Then, we broiled them in the oven for 1 minute. (Next time, I would put the chocolate on after we broiled the marshmallows!)

Then, we put the other graham cracker on top. They were quite yummy!

We also continued work on our parachute project for Voice of the Martyrs. Tonight we measured out the strings for the parachutes and glued them on.

We read lesson 52 from Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. Lesson 52 was titled "God's Children are New Creatures." Emily read John 15:1-5 from the Bible for us.

And we finished or evening with a walk (or should I say, run). As usual, a fun time was had by all.

Time With the Nieces

Last night Emily and Kylie, our nieces (cousins, not sisters), spent the night at our house. We took them to a family reunion today. The family reunion included an auction with "play money" we earned by bringing items for the auction, bringing food for the potluck, setting up, cleaning up, etc. So, we spent our evening preparing our auction items and food items. (There was a kid auction and an adult auction, so there was plenty for which to prepare).

First, the girls made fudge ("chocolate peanut butter fudge" and "candy bar fudge"--very tasty)

Next, they decorated boxes to hold the fudge which they had just made. (Side note: All night they were very giggly, as 10 and 11 year old girls tend to be, but while they were "creating" their projects---complete silence and concentration. It was lovely).

Then they decorated a pair of flip flops to put in the auction and added a little "bling" to the flip flops they currently own.

Blow up that air mattress! It's time for bed! We're exhausted! (okay, I was exhausted, anyway).