Doing Something Right

One of the inevitabilities of parenting is feeling like a failure at least 10 times a week (day?). Or questioning if anything you're doing is having any impact. I have wondered aloud, on more than one occasion, if a cardboard cut-out of myself would be as effective a parent as the actual me. But then...every once in a while...something happens to encourage you on your journey and help you believe that you might be doing something right.

Last week our family vacation included a trip to waterpark. While Connor was certainly tall enough to ride several slides, I questioned whether or not they may be too fast or scary. Standing at the bottom of a slide, I asked a life guard, "Is this one really fast?" "It is called 'Extreme Rush'," he responded. Still, Connor wanted to try. We climbed the steps to the top and got him situated stomach-down on his mat, when he started to nervously whine. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to," I told him. "It's perfectly fine to get off." No, no, he wanted to try. Off he went down "Extreme Rush" as I raced down to meet him at the bottom. Smiling ebulliently, he bounded off the slide. "Mom! You know how I did the slide? God was in my heart, and he helped me!"

The past week began our August theme of "Many Names." Thursday morning I told the boys we needed to read our story for the week before we ran errands. "Mom," Brady asked, "could we read the story about Joshua and the walls? I want to read that one!" How could I say no to a request? Happily changing the lesson plan, I flipped to the story about Joshua leading the Isrealites to Jericho, settling in the promised land, and ending with our revised verse for the week, Joshua 24:15, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

May it be so.

Baptismal promises...

Sharing the story of Jesus' basptism and remembering our baptisms...

Elizabeth, Molly and Jen, 2003

Ed and Jane (Godparents), Brady, Molly and Craig, 2005

Elizabeth, Brett, James and Jen, 2005

**I can't seem to find a picture from Sarah's baptism, so draw a mental picture: cute baby, cute mommy Jen, fat pregnant Godmother Molly, 2007

Pastor Angie and Connor, 2008

"We receive these children as new people in Christ. We offer understanding and support as they explore life. We enfold them in our love, seeking together to grow in favor with God and in love with all people. We join together with these parents in acting out the gospel in our midst so that these children may live with us for Christ, showing forth God's love for all." - UCC baptismal promise



Barefoot on Holy Ground

In discussing the story of Moses and the burning bush this week, we ended up focusing less on the fire and more on the idea of holy ground. How to explain "holy ground" to concrete thinkers? I settled on the idea that a place of holy ground is somewhere that you feel loved and special. The list of places we generated had some hits (the bed where we cuddle to read bedtime stories, the field where they play baseball with Daddy) and misses (our TV), but I tried not to pass judgement and instead model with my own contributions.

One spot I suggested was the park within easy walking distance of our house. In the summer it boasts a beautifully manicured rose garden. In the fall the mature oaks blaze red and orange. I have many memories of pushing a stroller, pulling a wagon, helping balance a precarious 2-wheeler, taking family photos, and outdoor meals on blankets in this space. We took advantage of the not-too-steamy weather this week, put the dog on her leash and packed a picnic lunch for our special park.

"Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." -Exodus 3:5

In my own thinking about this story of Moses, I was drawn to the image of bare feet. Why does God call  Moses to take off his shoes? To the Kindermusik teacher in me, the answer is clear. In our music and movement classes with young children, we always encourage children to be barefoot, because "the sensory input from the bottoms of the feet send information directly to the brain about texture, temperature, and contour of the surface. When barefoot, the child doesn't need to use his or her eyes to look at the surface under his feet creating an unnatural posture, but rather can sense where the floor is and make adjustments with appropriate posture. Their bare feet give them the proprioceptive sensory feedback that allows them to learn balance and a stable base of support" (Kindermusik). Playing barefoot, especially outside, connects our brains to our bodies and our bodies to the earth. We are grounded. We more fully sense creation--God's creation--as it is literally underfoot. The lesson: connect with yourself and connect to God with some good barefoot play and experience Holy Ground!

Isaiah 43: Two Images

Image One- The view from our Colorado Springs home is beautiful- every morning I get the privilege of looking west at Pike's Peak, large and looming in the not so distance. Horrifying then to see smoke to it's north recently, and then flames. Horrifying to know those flames were homes burning. And then to watch as the fires moved closer to our own home. The wedding album was first to go in a laundry basket, followed by the baptism dress I wore along with the girls. We packed the fire box of papers, the hard drive of photos, the girls' baby blankets. The girls watched as my husband carried the basket to the car, and together we prayed Isaiah 43. We were not evacuated that night, and over the coming days the fire has slowly become more and more contained. Image Two- Away for a week of Family Camp at our beloved Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp, I sit on the porch of our cabin listening to the pouring of rain; disappointed faces take in the realization that sand candle making and water games will be cancelled, that Daddy is midway through a 10-mile hike and isn't due back until dinner time. We pray our verse again, and laugh. Thank you Creator God for showing us You are mighty and good and with us.

Fire and Water

Fire and water. Both are necessary to survival, but both have significant power with the ability to take life as easily as they sustain it. We hold in our hearts those affected by forest fires and flooding. At the same time, we give heartfelt thanks to a God who promises in Isaiah 43 to walk with us through the water and fire. What an amazing lesson to teach our children: no matter what trials life throws at us, our God loves us and walks before us and within us. Amen.

Still, small voice; retold

We took a few liberties from the biblical text in our dramatic retelling of Elijah's encounter with God on Mt. Sinai:

Three times

My girls have a well-established flair for the dramatic (I know you're curious where that may have come from?) and this week's study of the call of Samuel was fodder for great material. Perhaps taking her cue from Darth Vader, Sarah cupped her hands around her mouth and dropped her voice as low as she possibly could, yelling out "Samuel! Samuel!" In each of our role playing I of course played the role of Eli, allowing me the briefest of naptimes on the couch during each of the three intervals. (This Home School VBS thing has its perks!) We have sinced giggled through the week at calling one another in the deepest voice we can, culminating in a phone call to our friends Brady and Connor. (Three calls in fact, as Samuel was called three times!)

The story inspired other dramatic moments as well, like when the girls and I joined hands to pray about listening to God's call and mid-prayer Sarah slaps Elizabeth in the arm. Stopping to ask what happened, it became clear big sister no longer wanted to hold hands with little sister, leading to the discussion "Is God calling us to hurt each other or love each other?!?" And later, "Is God calling us to be rude or kind?" And finally a discussion with myself, "Is God calling you to bang their heads together or merely send them to their rooms?"

Thankfully God's voice continued to call out to Samuel as he continues to call to us. May God's voice of love be loud and clear to you this week!

~Jen

"Samuel, Samuel..."

This week has been busy for us with tennis lessons, baseball practices, and the oldest at an all-day camp, so we're talking about our memory verse at the table and squeezing our lesson into our nightly story time. First we read the story from one of our picture Bibles. The next night I read it from the "real" Bible. When we got to 3:9, my oldest says, "Hey! That's our verse!" (What an AMAZING coincidence!)

Today I let the younger one watch the YouTube "movie" link that Jen posted under this week's lesson. Another *amazing*  coincidence- "Mom! We read that story!"

In our outdoor play, we practiced taking turns as the Lord and Samuel. The Lord would whisper a mission to Samuel ("Go down the slide and jump off the end"). Samuel would get only one change to listen then had to complete the mission.

To track our progress and add incentive this year, we are talking about God's Treasure. Learning God's Word and God's stories gives us treasure in our hearts. For each week that we do a lesson, each child will also get some tangible treasure (a coin) taped to their chart. At the end of the summer, some of the money will be to keep, and some of it will be to share with God. (How we will split that up, I'm not sure. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.)

Here we go...again!

It would be reaaaaalllly easy to let the summer slide by without much intentional parenting. We love unscheduled mornings of pajamas, late breakfasts, and more Nickelodeon than we care to publicly admit. That's one reason why it's great to have a circle of friends to join us along the motherhood journey-- to laugh with, to vent with, and to help hold us accountable. (So when our kids write their "What I Did This Summer" essays in the fall it's not just plot summaries of The Fairly Odd Parents.)

We are excited for another summer of growing together in faith with our children as we bring Vacation Bible School into our own homes each week. We organized things a little differently this year with the hope of adding more context and discussion to our memorization of Bible verses. Each month has a theme and within each theme are memory verses, Bible stories and songs. We continue our Say it!/Play it!/Pray it! method, so each week still has its own reading, play activities, and prayer suggestions.

As we partner together in at-home Christian education, we hope you will consider joining us. Or, at least, we hope you will check in on us once in a while to make sure we haven't sunk into a summer of Bubble Guppies. Thanks for being a part of our circle! ~ Molly & Jen

In the world...

I will admit, in my First Day of School emotion, to having fleeting thoughts of, "I could home school! We could go on field trips all the time! We could set our own schedule! It would be amazing and wonderful!" Then I called Jen to talk me off the proverbial ledge of idealism. Not that there is anything wrong with homeschooling as a choice. It's just not the right choice for me.

How lucky I am to live in a place where there are so many options when it comes to school. Neighborhood public school, neighborhood private school, traditional calendar, extended calendar, Montessori, projects-based, home school, home school co-op, Christian school, foreign language learning, etc, etc.  And further, how fortunate that I am part of a family that has the financial and emotional resources to understand and take advantage of any of those options.

It's scary to send your baby off into the Great Unknown for 7 hours of the day. Will he pick the right friends? Will he be learning the things that I think are important? Will he ever eat a fruit or vegetable without my encouraging (read: bribing) presence? He's only 6! What if someone else tells him about sex, or swear words, or the Tea Party? (just a joke- sorry, TP friends, I couldn't resist. ;) ) It's not wrong of me to want to shelter him just a little longer.

Jen and I have had many conversations about this, and we always come back to the idea that we feel called to have our children "in the world." There are plenty of ways that we continue to shelter them-- we monitor their play dates, we set up their after-school activities, we choose their church. But as long as my neighborhood school offers a safe environment with caring, committed teachers and quality learning, I will trust my child to mingle with the masses, so to speak.

Now, I would never say never. I don't believe that any choice is one-size-fits-all. If circumstances change, if my child's needs change, I have to be open to finding the best learning option for him and for our family. But for now--even as I miss him and mourn the passing of summer's freedom--this choice feels good. And, because I don't want him to be "of the world," I can still sneak my influence into his school day in small ways. I pack his lunch, after all.

Be Still- better late than never!

I had intentions to post this last week, but didn't get to it until now. :)

It's always good to have reminders to Be Still, but they seem especially pertinent at the times of year when things are a little bit crazy.  In this season of transition as summer winds down and school-year activities wind up it is important that we, as parents, model how to take time for quiet and calm. And let's be real-- if I wasn't being intentional to try and model it, I probably wouldn't do it at all, no matter how much I actually need it.

So I challenge you: model 1 minute (or more! is it even possible?!) of stillness for your children. 

I don't remember exactly where I learned this (I think it was from my pastor, Angie), but this is one of my favorite ways to pray Psalm 46:10...First, breathe deeply and say the whole verse in your mind, "Be still and know that I am God."  On the next breath, say it again, except remove the last word, "Be still and know that I am..."  On each successive breath, remove another word, "Be still and know that I..."  By the end, you are left with this command: be.  Just be.  Amen.

1 John 3:18

Thanks to our friend Natalie's mom, Jan, for giving us this cd-- G.T. & the Halo Express!  Great for learning Bible verses!!

Dear children, let us not love/ let us not love with words or tongue/ but with actions and in truth/ but with actions and in truth.

Fruits of the Spirit

Thanks to Jenny for sharing this great idea related to the fruits of the Spirit:

"We 'studied' that and did activities with it this past school year, and I'd read a cute idea on another blog and copied it.  Depends if you let your kids have candy or not I guess :o) but I took an empty glass jar and filled it with runts candy (from the dollar tree).  Whenever I spot the girls using a fruit of the spirit they get a fruit shaped candy from the jar.  They love it, and it's good for me to recognize and point them out to them."

Fruit snacks would work for this, too. Or actual fruit, I suppose, if you have amazing children who consider fruit to be a treat. (And if you do, please tell me what it's like...sigh...)

James 1:19-20

Tales from a Recovering Perfectionist

"He's perfect!" pronounced the pediatrician.  Fresh from his first examination, our first-born squirmed a little in his isolette as the doctor snuggled him back into the hospital's stiff flannel blanket.  Perfect.  10 fingers, 10 toes, his momma's lips and daddy's hairline.  A sense of reassurance washed over my swirling new-mother anxiety and hormones.  He's perfect.

"His respiration rate is still high.  We need to get that under control.  I would like to increase the C-PAP pressure to 60 and give him some phenobarbital to help him relax.  He's a sick little boy."  This was not how things were supposed to turn out.  I was not supposed to have a November baby.  My due date was still 4 weeks away.  My toddler, as a newly-minted big brother, was supposed to bring flowers to my hospital bed and seranade the new baby with the lullaby we'd practiced.  Instead, our baby was attached to monitors, an IV pumping drugs through his fragile veins, a tube down his throat delivering whatever I could pump.  No pronouncements of perfection.  In an act that almost felt like defiance, I penned a message on the whiteboard on his NICU wall: "We praise you for Connor is wonderfully made."  I wanted everyone to know--and needed the reminder, myself--that this baby was God's handiwork.  God knit him together in my womb.  God made him, and he was wonderful.

And he is wonderful.  And healthy.  And funny.  And naughty.  And all the things that God made him to be.  There's actually no reassurance in perfection, because it's not realistic.  God didn't create us to be perfect.  God's love formed us from the start and continues to hold us and shape us, while God's abundant grace smoothes over all our rough edges.  And isn't that wonderful?

Rejoice! Be patient! Pray!

It's been a busy week at our house...3 different people doing 3 different day camps and 2 doing swimming lessons.  I decided to shorten our verse for this week to just Romans 12:12.  To me, the important points are that God wants us to rejoice, God wants us to be patient, and God wants us to pray.  We had a discussion at the lunch table about those three things.  What causes us to rejoice?  When is a time that we've had to practice patience?  What are some things we have prayed about?  The list is unfiltered and a good glimpse into the minds of my boys:

Deut. 6:5 Prayer (Or how Jimmy Choo leads us to the Lord)

While returning a pair of so-cute-but-so-uncomfortable sandals at Nordstrom yesterday my back was turned to my children. Clearly my love of quality footwear has been passed to my 3-year-old, because when I turned around she was carrying a pair of pumps complete with what were probably real diamond sequins and squealing "Oh, Mommy, you have to get these!!" The lovely salesman behind the register almost yelped, I kid you not. I gently pried away the bedazzled beauties to discover they were in fact $695 Jimmy Choos. And they were exceptionally beautiful.
Upon finishing my transaction (with said-preschooler safely hoisted up to sit on counter) the girls and I sat down to discuss the Choo shoes. It went down something like this, right there in Nordstrom shoes.
Me: "Those shoes you found were very pretty, weren't they?"
Girls, even less-girlie big sister: "YES! Wow! And the sparkles and the heel, etc."
Me: "Do you remember our verse this week?"
Girls: "Huh?"
Me, disappointed, sings "Love Round" very quietly. Big sister is annoyed, Little sister starts singing loudly. We left singing, hopefully quieter, and I prayed while we walked out what I now call The Mall Prayer:
"Lord, your love is even more beautiful than Jimmy Choos.
Help me love you with all my heart."

Play it! with placemats

The boys colored these, then we had them laminated at Kinko's. I'm sure others could be much more fancy with graphic design, but if you'd like a copy of my quick-and-dirty version, just email us at homeschoolvbs@gmail.com .

What activities are going well at your house? Let us know! Post a comment or email us a note or picture!!

Heart, Soul and Might!

Sing along with Elizabeth and Sarah as they share "Love Round (Deut. 6:5)" a song sung at our favorite church camp, Rainbow Trail. (Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp was recently spared during forest fire- yay God!)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might and
Love all humankind as you would love yourself...
We've got Christian lives to live
We've got Jesus' love to give
We've got nothing to hide
Because in Him we abide in Love

Seek ye first...

If you've browsed through our 12 weeks of verses, you may have noticed the variety of Bible translations we have used. The Bible translation I prefer is the NRSV, but some verses are just more familiar to us in other translations. Like this week: for those of you who grew up listening to Psalty and Kids' Praise, here's a walk down memory lane!

Here are some pics of my boys enjoying an indoor treasure hunt on a rainy day. Brady got written clues, Connor got picture clues (he still needed a lot of assistance). One highlight of this activity was the 20 minutes I got by myself in my room with the door closed while I wrote the clues! :)