Happy 2021! Here are a few of our highlights from the first days of 2021. I hope you had yours have had a nice ease in to the new year also. Fireworks Our neighbors did not disappoint. We didn't even have to go outside to see fireworks and could stay warm and cozy inside the house and enjoy the show. Bible Reading Plan I started my new Bible reading plan this weekend. While I enjoyed the one I did last year I didn't finish it as it was written. So I decided this year I needed to go with something not as structured. I am doing The Legacy Plan this year. This plan allows you to read at your own pace and each month lists what books of the Bible to read. For January I am reading Genesis and Exodus, 1 chapter of Proverbs daily, and 3 chapters of Psalms a week. PS...I am loving these nail polish strips from Dashing Diva. I have had these on since before Christmas and they are still going strong. Walks and Talks Josh worked on New Years Eve and had a super … [Read more...]
Summer Learning For Preschoolers & Early Elementary Students
For reference my older kids are 6 and 4 and my two littles are under 3. This post contains affiliate links. Two years ago I shared a very detailed post on how we do preschool at home in the summer. When our family started fostering last year I began looking for inexpensive summer learning activity books. I knew I wasn't going to have time to put together binders for each child like I had the year before. What I purchased worked out so great and I am planning to use the same products again this summer. Here is a roundup of what we are going to be using this year plus purchases from last year that we loved! Workbooks & Reading Programs These Summer Brain Quest Between Grades books are fantastic! Fun enough that your kids will ask to keep working through the book but still educational. We had to limit the number of pages done each day so we didn't finish the book in the middle of summer. We love Curious George in our house. So this Curious George Sight Words … [Read more...]
Does God Speak To People As Clearly Today As He Did In Biblical Times?
My husband and I are currently facilitating a discipleship class at our church. We have taken this class before almost two years ago. One of the questions in the homework material caused me to we write a super long response and I decided to turn it into a blog post. Does God speak to people as clearly today as he did in biblical times? My answer to this question was basically the same as the first time we took this class but this time I was able to expand on my answer more throughly. When I look at the Old Testament I see that God only spoke to a select few. The majority of people in scripture weren't hearing God's voice or able to be in direct contact with him. He spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden, warned Noah about the flood, called Abraham to be the father of a nation, and gave Moses the Ten Commandments. These are just several of the examples of who God spoke with directly. God reached out first and desired a relationship with his chosen people. I have personally never … [Read more...]
3 Tips For Reading The Bible In 2019
I received a copy of this book from Crossway to review. All opinions are my own. The Bible is an epic story that tells us how God made the world and why we are here. He tells us that his son Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead and for this reason we can live with him in heaven forever. God is always good, all the time and his written Word is truthful and worthy of our complete confidence. Here are 3 tips that I hope will encourage you to start a Bible reading plan on of your own. I am also sharing this to keep myself accountable in 2019! And remember, it is never too late to start reading :). Don't Stress, Just Read Don't stress so much about what plan you are reading just make sure you are reading. It can be easy to get hung up on finding the perfect reading plan but really at the end of the day what is most important isn't what plan you used to read your Bible but that you actually read it. It might be easier to start in the Gospel's or maybe … [Read more...]
What I Learned from Reading the Bible
This year marks my third year reading through the Bible and I picked Reading God's Story: A Daily Chronological Bible which uses a six day a week reading plan to read through the entire Bible in 365 days. Two years ago I started in the Matthew and read to Revelation and then made my way to Genesis through Malachi. I didn't follow a reading plan but read at my own pace. And last year I read from Genesis to Revelation and used The Bible Project Reading Plan. Without further delay here is a brief synopsis of what I have learned from reading the Bible in 2018! Read The Bible To Know God I have discovered that reading the Bible is different each year. To date, this year has been the hardest for me to get into the Bible. I still kept up with my reading plan, and was even able to read ahead, but boy, this year has been tough. There were several times this year when I just wanted to cry because of how challenging it was for me to dig into the Bible. And I think I felt that way … [Read more...]
The Mama Confessionals: What No One Tells You About Motherhood
I can remember the summer before our oldest went to preschool. I continued to second guess myself in the weeks leading up to his first day of the twice weekly class he would be going to for a combined 5 hours a week. Were we making the right choice? Would he be ok? Would I be ok? And many more anxiety filled questions that were very similar. And here is a little spoiler alert for all you parents with little babies. These questions, at least in my experience, continue to happen for each new milestone. I don't think you can really understand this emotional roller coaster if you aren't a parent. At the time I was just 6 months out of counseling for postpartum depression and anxiety after the birth to our daughter. During the second week of preschool, I entered a room of 30 women+ women who I had never met to attend a weekly bible study that was held at the church where my child attended school. Clutching my Bible, I felt scared, my anxiety was choking me, but I knew I needed to be … [Read more...]
