A Sermon Notebook for Children
For my birthday, I asked for a binding machine. An odd request, I know, but I’m known for that. (Last year, I’d asked for a laminator.)
One of the projects I had in mind for my new toy was a sermon notebook for my five-year-old. And I must say, I’m absolutely thrilled with the final product, and so is my son.
The notebook has three sections to it, labeled Listening, Notes, and Prayers. I chose the activities first for variety and second to provide some activities for him to grow into.
The first section is probably my favorite. These “listening pages” were the inspiration for the whole idea. I love them! And my son has done really well with them in church, too. Each page has a few key words for your child to listen for during the sermon. When he hears those words, he gets to fill in the shape and trace the word. (Some “listening pages” for older children has them keep tally marks next to the key word, noting each time the child hears it during the sermon.)
The next section is a “draw and caption” activity. Because we will be doing a lot of this during our read-aloud time next year in school, I thought it would be an awesome opportunity to carry that approach into his sermon notes. With these pages, he’ll be learning to listen to the sermon for an idea, sketch a picture about the sermon or story, and write a sentence as a caption for his picture. These pages were part of a set of Bible journal pages for all ages, with several different covers to choose from that would be appropriate for little kids to teenagers. The idea of the set was actually to encourage devotions, and as the kids get a little older, I will probably definitely use these pages for that. But they also work well for the purpose of note-taking as well.
The last section is a copywork activity that I have included just for variety. The set of pages provides a number of prayers, some from Scripture and some from tradition, with a coloring page and copywork pages (for beginning and more advanced writers, cursive and manuscript) for each prayers. Because the particular binder that I chose has spines that can be reopened, my plan is to periodically replace these pages with other copywork pages of other Scripture passages.
My son loves his new notebook, and I love having something customized for his attention span. It’s been such a hit, that my three-year-old can’t wait to leave nursery so that she can have her own notebook as well.
That I May Know Him
It’s 4:30 in the morning and my third time to be up during the night with my little one. He’s gassy and fussy and hungry. And there have definitely been moments when I have nothing left.
Now, in my weakness and utter emptiness, the Holy Spirit brings a Scripture to mind. “That I may know him…” And in the tentative quiet, as I slip back to my bed for another attempt at sleep, I thank God for the opportunity to know Him as the selfless servant, willingly and graciously sacrificing to redeem a better—an eternal—life for me. I’m thankful to know His perfect love, not flawed with weakness and selfishness as mine is, but perfectly compassionate and long-suffering.
I’m thankful, not just for a sweet settled infant and a brief respite, but for the lesson in self-denial and selfless love, thankful that I can know the joy of His fellowship in sleepless nights.
Fueling Her Need to Nurture
One of the most powerful characteristics of woman, as God has created her, is her desire to nurture. A woman has a craving to cultivate life: in the home, in the garden, in nature. However the characteristic is displayed, God receives the glory when that role is fulfilled. Continue reading…
Baby Love
Here’s our newest addition, a beautiful baby boy—born March 8 at 1:15 A.M. He weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and measured 22 inches long. Oh, we love him so!
Meditating on the Mount
A couple of weeks ago I started memorizing the Sermon on the Mount with the free printables from Ann Voskamp’s blog. She has the verses of Matthew 5-7 divided into a couple a week throughout the year. I started a little late, so I had some catching up to do initially, memorizing Matthew 5: 1-9 over these last two weeks. But it helped that the verses were very familiar.
I was so excited to start this. Some of my best devotional times during college were when I was memorizing Scripture during my quiet time. I’d memorized Phillipians and Romans 5 way back then. But since motherhood, I haven’t had much success with that method. For one, I was trying to do too much, relying on the same schedule I used during college. Reading about Ann Voskamp’s plan helped me realize that I could tackle memorizing complete Scripture passages, just in smaller chunks and over a more extended time. So, greatly encouraged, I launched into this memory plan.
What I have loved most about it so far is the way it focuses my week on a particular passage, allowing me to meditate all through the week. Here are some of the beatitudes that have helped me to focus recently.
Blessed are the poor in spirit…focusing on utter dependence upon God.
Blessed are the merciful…focusing on mercy in my parenting and interactions with others.
Blessed are the peacemakers…focusing on bringing peace, especially to my family.
This week’s verse has had me meditating on becoming a peacemaker, and particularly with my children. As I’ve prayed over this passage in regard to my parenting, I was challenged on several levels. The first and obvious application was in how I parent my children’s daily conflicts, training them to reconcile with each other rather than strictly disciplining the quarrels. I have found that the regular quarrels are much less irritating to me when I have a strategy in place to train peacemaking.
But on a deeper level, I’ve really been moved by my greater responsibility as a parent to reconcile my children to God. It is so easy to lose a salvation-focus in the midst of the day-to-day. After all, it seems that I endlessly teach the same lessons every day, discipline the same actions, clean the same messes. But as I prayed about becoming a peacemaker to my children, the big picture came into focus more often, helping me to really reach for their hearts, getting to the root issue of their actions instead of merely discipling behavior.
Overall, it has provided the thoughtful focus I’ve resolved to have each week and brought back the beauty of memorizing and meditating that I thought I’d had to sacrifice to motherhood.
Tasting Words Twice
Have you ever heard something you’ve said echoed in the mouth of your child—and cringed at the acrid flavor? Somehow the words we felt so justified in spewing forth sound much differently coming from the mouths of our babes. You can’t take back the words you’ve spoken, but you certainly can taste them more than once.
Occasionally, I’ve seen snippets from the Super Nanny shows where a family is struggling with their children and calls in the help of an “expert.” And before I cast judgement on the family and their problems, a chill runs up my spine as I think, what would it be like to watch an entire day of my life and my interactions with my kids? Of course, some days would be awesome; but then, there are “those days.” Yet, it is “those days” that will teach my daughter most. Continue reading…
