wonder

Friday December 10 - 'wonder' It's a Wonderful life and we're going to tent it! We're camping out tonight by the Christmas tree!

Picture: Wheat
Scripture: Ruth 1: 15-2: 3
Reading: Ruth and Naomi had lost all the people they loved. Naomi's two sons--one of them was Ruth's husband--had died, and Naomi's husband had died too. Naomi had been living in Ruth's country, far from her family, and so Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem. Ruth could have stayed in her own country with her own family, but she chose to go to Bethlehem with Naomi.
Naomi was so sad that she thought that God had forgotten her. In the days of the Bible, most women couldn't get jobs, so women would go the fields and take the grain that the farmers left behind. Ruth went to the field to gather grain, and there she met Boaz, a relative of Naomi's, who took care of them. Boaz and Ruth married and had a son, and Naomi was happy. She knew that God had not forgotten them, even when she had been sad.
Talk about: When did you feel really sad? What can make you happy?
Prayer: Holy God, thank you for being with us always.

falalalala

Thursday, December 9 - 'falalalala' - let's crank the Christmas music. Pick your favourite Christmas song and dance while we do our clean up. As a bonus tell mom one new song each to download from itunes.

Picture: rope
Scripture: Joshua 2: 1-21
Reading: The Israelites were ready to enter the land that God had promised them. They sent two men into the land to find out more about the land. It was very dangerous to go into the land; if the people who ruled the land had found the two Israelites they would have been killed.
Rahab saved the lives of two of God's people. She hid the two men in her house and then helped them to escape. She knew that God had promised the city of Jericho to Joshua and the Israelites, and she believed that God is a powerful God.
Brave Rahab honored God because she believed in God's power. In return, the Israelites protected Rahab and her family. Rahab hung a red rope from the window in her house so that the Israelites would remember to protect her. And God remembered Rahab and took care of her for the rest of her life.
Talk about: Tell about a time when God gave you courage to help someone.
Prayer: Dear God, give us courage to help others.

delight

December 8 - 'delight' - Grab your hot chocolate! We are leaving for play practice a little early so that we can look at the Christmas lights. What colours are your favourite?

Picture: tablets
Scripture: Deuteronomy 5: 1-22
Reading: God wants us to be good to each other. God wants us to treat others the way that we want to be treated. To help us to understand how to care for each other, many years ago God gave Moses the ten best rules for living. These rules are called the Ten Commandments, and they are still good rules for us today.
Not everybody likes to follow the rules. They think rules keep them from having fun. But God gave us the rules not as a punishment, but as a way of helping us to show God that we are thankful for what God has done for us. God wants us to do good, and will help us to do the right thing by guiding us to the right path.
Talk about: What rules help your family to live together and be happy?
Prayer: Righteous God, thank you for giving us rules to guide us.

Glory

Tuesday, December 7 – 'glory' - Give glory to God for our many blessings. Find 5 toys each that we can pass on to others

Picture: coat
Scripture: Genesis 37: 1-36; 50: 15-21
Reading: Sometimes even love cannot protect us from bad things. Joseph was loved very much by his father, Israel (Jacob), but Joseph's brothers hated him. And so they sold him to a man who made him a servant and even put him in prison.
But God had given Joseph a special gift of understanding dreams, and Joseph was able to use his special gift to help others. He was rewarded for his help by being given a very important job. While he was doing this job, he again met his brothers, who did not recognize him. Even though Joseph could have been mean to his brothers, he chose to help them. He knew that even though he had gone through some terrible times, God had been with him through everything, and God still expected him to do good things.
Talk about: Who can you be kind to today?
Prayer: God of forgiveness, help us to be kind even to people who make us angry.

twinkle

Monday December 6 - 'twinkle'
Our decorations are missing something. We'll decorate the mantle today and have a special Christmas story (read on) by the fireplace. Don't forget the stockings! Today is also Saint Nicholas Day. Read the history of Saint Nicholas. Tonight before you go to bed, put out your shoes with some carrots and apples in the them. See if there is a surprise in the morning.

Picture: ladder
Scripture: Genesis 28: 10-22
Reading:Jacob had not always been a good person. He had done some unkind things, but instead of saying he was sorry, Jacob ran away. He lived away from his family for many years, but now it was time to meet with his brother. He had to face up to the things he had done wrong many years before.
When Jacob ran away from his family, he may have thought that he was running away from God, too. The night before he was going to see his brother, God spoke to Jacob in a dream. God reminded Jacob of promises God had made to Jacob's father and grandfather, and that those promises were meant for Jacob, too.
Jacob thought that he had run away from God, but God was always with him.
Talk about: How do you know that God is always with you?
Prayer: Remind us each day, God, that you are with us.

festive

Sunday, December 5, 'festive'
Let's make this place a little more festive! What do we need to do that? Figure out the clues and find 5 pieces to get you started in the family room.

They are colourful and can sometimes twinkle. It rhymes with plight. _ _ _ _ _ _
Some are big and some are small. Some are short and some are tall.
Some stand alone and some in a group.
Some inside and some on the stoop. D _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
We need this to hang the balls. We use it to fish with.
Deck the halls with boughs of holly falalalalalalalalalalala. We need some greenery!
Ring ring ring your _ _ _ _ _ ring them loud and clear!

Picture: ram
Scripture: Genesis 22: 1-14
Reading: Isaac was a special boy, and his father, Abraham, loved him very much. But Abraham loved God even more than he loved Isaac. One day God asked Abraham to take Isaac on a journey. Abraham obeyed. God also asked Abraham to kill Isaac as a sacrifice, as a way of showing how much Abraham loved God.
Abraham was sad, but he knew that he had to obey God. He trusted that even though he was being asked to do something terrible, God would make everything right. As he was getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, God sent an angel to stop Abraham and save Isaac's life. Then Abraham sacrificed a sheep as a way of honoring God, and to thank him for saving Isaac's life.
Talk about: When did you feel protected by God?
Prayer: Protect us, dear God, when we have to do things that make us sad

family

Saturday, December 4 - 'family'
Unscramble the word to see where we are going to dinner tonight. God has given us so many wonderful people to fellowship with - people that we can in fact call family. Tell mom or dad the names of at least 5 different families that we fellowship with regularly.



We went to church for the annual Christmas dinner. It was an awesome roast beef and chicken dinner with broccoili, salads and potatoes. There was cake and apple crisp for dessert. The kdis did really well for an hour and then, well, they didn't. It is amazing how well they can get along with each other and then totally not. At this point they were not getting along and were well, a little rough with each other.

Picture: cradle
Scripture: Genesis 21: 1-7
Reading: Have you ever wanted something so much that you thought you would die if you didn't get it? It's so hard to be happy when we focus on the things we don't have, instead of the things we do have.
Sarah wanted a baby more than anything, but even though she prayed a lot and tried everything she could think of, she didn't have a baby. As she got older she finally decided that God would not give her a child. But then God gave Sarah a son, and she named him Isaac. Sarah was very happy and grateful to God for giving her a wonderful son when she had given up on her dream.
Talk about: How has God answered your prayers?
Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for answering our prayers.

service

Friday, December 3 - 'service'
"Ring-ring-ring your bells ring them loud and clear! To tell the people everywhere that Christmas time is here". Tonight we head to Walmart to man the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle .
What a night. It was a really good experience. We certainly learned a few things though. 3 hours is too long for the little guys. Drew was dreading Walmart but thank goodness it was there and not Zehrs because there was a MacDonald's which killed 45 minutes for them. Cierra and I started while Drew had dinner with the kids. Drew then took a turn while I had dinner and got some photos developed. Drew then walked around with the kids while Cierra and I manned the bell. He came back after 1/2 hour exasperated with them so I took over while he and Cierra continued on. I have to say that Cierra was truly amazing. She was there the longest out of all of us. She didn't complain at all and I think she boosted the givings by at least 30%. She said Merry Christmas to just about everyone - and just about everyone responded - positively. And many came back to donate I'm sure because of her. I was so impressed. We went back afterwards to buy a magazine to thank her. This is definitely something that she and I will come back to do again - and I think she could do an additional sitting with her 1:1 worker. I think we might wait another year or two for the other guys although I am still glad we did it and that we were all able to do it as a family. (Btw Mitchell was amazing too. Drew had him for the first bit and then I had him in the sling at the door for about 45 minutes. Not a squawk).

Picture: tent and camel

Scripture: Genesis 12: 1-7
Reading: Sometimes God asks us to do things that are hard to do. God asks us to be good when it would be so much easier--and sometimes more fun--to be naughty. God asks us to go places and do things we'd rather not do.
God asked Abram to take a long trip, and to leave behind the place that Abram called home. But in return, God made promises to Abram. God promised that Abram would be blessed by God. Abram still had problems and struggles, especially when he forgot to listen to God's directions, but God kept all of the promises made to Abram. Most importantly, God was Abram's friend forever.
Talk about: Name some ways that God shows you what God wants you to do.
Prayer: Holy God, help us to obey you and do the things that you want us to do.

goodwill

Thursday December 2 - 'goodwill'
Help us help others by putting out all of our items that are no longer needed for pick up today. Take a moment to thank God for all of our blessings and pray that these goods will in turn, bless others.

Picture: rainbow and ark

Scripture: Genesis 6: 11-14; 7: 17-8: 3; 9: 8-13
Reading: When people sin, or do wrong things, God is sad. There came a time when there was so much sin in the world that God had to find a way to remove sin from the world. So he asked Noah to build the ark and to save his own family, as well as the animals, because Noah and his family remembered God. Then God sent rain and the world flooded, and God destroyed all the people and animals that were not on the ark.
When the flood was over and Noah and his family were safely on dry ground, God made a covenant, or a promise, with Noah. God promised not to send another flood that would destroy the world. As a sign of this promise, God put a rainbow in the sky. Even in a sinful world, God still loves us and keeps his promises.
Talk about: Can you name a promise that God has kept?
Prayer: Thank you, Almighty God, for keeping your promises.

'december'

Wed Dec 1. 'December' -
2 clues to read for DAILY DECEMBER.

1)Backtrack a few days to get the full story.
it explains what we're doing in all its glory.
As we begin the month of December,
there are a few things we need to remember.
We're keeping the reason clear in our sight
But chocolate candy still has it's own right.
To go along daily, you each need to find.
Your own special calendar - a one of a kind.
Go back to your beds and have a good look.
Under beds, amongst clothes or with a good book. Good luck!
[chocolate advent calendars hidden in each of their rooms]

Wait don't stop - There's more to find.
A 4-letter word ~ a toy comes to mind.
Look high. Look low; with things that "go".
Another treasure each day, wrapped with a bow. [lego advent calendar - in toy car]

The kids loved the scavenger hunt to find their chocolate calendars. Of course they had to have them before school. Cierra didn't have enough time to find it before school but I got a good shriek after school when she found it. The Lego advent calendar looks like it is going to be a big hit too. Marlee gets to open the even days (because she is 6) and Matt gets to do the odd days (because he is 7).

Picture: serpent and apple

Scripture: Genesis 3: 1-19
Reading: Yesterday we read about the perfect world that God created, including perfect people. Today we read in the Bible about Adam and Eve, and how they disobeyed God. God had given them everything, and had only asked that they not eat the fruit of one special tree. But Eve and Adam did eat the fruit. The fruit made them understand certain things, but eating it brought sin into the world.
God still loved Adam and Eve, but he had to punish them for disobeying him. God sent them out of the beautiful garden, and they had to work for their food. God also made a promise to Adam and Eve: that God would always love them.
Talk about: What kinds of things do we do that make God unhappy?
Prayer: Mighty God, keep us from doing things that make you unhappy.

Gratitude and advent

Advent started on Sunday and we are setting up for the countdown to Christmas. I put up mom's fabric 'calendar' with pockets and got a number of our daily readings ready. I'm combining the Jesse tree format along with a daily activity and treat. This really helps to keep the reason for the season in focus. I reworked my own version of Ali Edward's Advent Action tags to suit our activities and am writing these out daily. These activities will vary from service oriented activities to just fun family activities. They will be rhymes, word scrambles, cryptograms and scavenger hunts. Lots of fun!

December Daily and Journal Your Christmas all start on December first but I think I am going to focus on documenting our advent activities this year. Hopefully I can use some of the prompts for the whole family. Journal Your Christmas has offered 4x6 templates to make an album and I think that might suit my needs. As my past experience has shown me, my follow through isn't that great. It would be really nice to have a paper/ book record to show us how this year passed by. We will see.
The Jesse Tree daily reading starts with a scripture, a reading, a talk about and then a prayer.
We weren't 'together' enough to start on Sunday so it works that we can use last years materials (Written by Christina Van Eyl. Illustrations by Helen Phillips except for the lion which was drawn by Jeff Brown - site unknown). There are all sorts of activities when I googled it this year. One site has a colouring paper for each day if I want to add that in some day.

In the meantime, I hope to post our daily advent activities. It is still one form of scrapbooking isn't it?

Monday November 29 - 'gratitude'
What is another word for gratitude? Unscramble the words for a clue of our activity today. ... As we clear away our thanksgiving and fall decorations, let us take a minute to add any final thoughts to our give thanks board. As a family we are truly blessed.

Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-2
Reading: God has a plan for everything. Long before Jesus was born lived a man named Jesse. Jesse had seven sons; the youngest was named David. When David grew up, he became a great king of Israel. God had a plan for Jesse and for his son David, even before they were born.
Jesus was also part of Jesse and David's family tree, born many, many years after David. People waited a long time for the birth of the savior. The season of Advent is a season of waiting for us, too. We wait for Christmas, the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
It is hard to be patient, especially when we are waiting for something wonderful like Christmas! But it is important to learn to be patient, and to trust that God has a plan for us, too.

Talk about: Why is waiting so hard?
It was interesting that our sermon on Sunday talked about waiting. The topic was then fresh in our minds as we talked with the kids about patience and how it is important to learn to wait even though in many cases we are able to get a lot of things immediately.

Prayer: Dear God, we thank you that you have a plan for each of us. Help us to be patient as we wait for Jesus' birthday.

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Tuesday November 30 - 'advent'
Advent has begun! Help set up the advent wreath and the Jesse tree. Colour the ornament for today and read the story.

Scripture: Genesis 1: 26-31
Reading: God is the creator of all things. God made the world and everything in it: the air and the water, the plants and the fish, the animals and the people. When God finished creating the world, it was perfect. When God first created people, even they were perfect. They did not sin or do anything to make God unhappy.
Even though there is now sin and sadness in the world, God still cares for us. We have been given a beautiful world in which to live, and God has asked us to take care of it. We can care for the world by showing kindness to all living things.
The world is God's gift to us. God wants us to enjoy this gift, but God also wants us to treat it with care.

Talk about: What are some ways that you can take good care of plants, animals, birds, rivers, people, and everything else in the world that God made?
The kids came up with some good ways to do this. We talked primarily about reduce/reuse/recycle which led to the discussion of a lot of our family's practices. Things like buying used clothing to reduce manufacturing, buying in bulk to reduce packaging and freight costs, using cloth diapers [did you know that a baby uses 6,000 diapers in the first 2 years of life?], growing our own food, baking foods from scratch instead of buying from the store. We hope that they will start to see this lifestyle as not only environmentally friendly but also the will of Christ.

Prayer: Thank you, Creator God, for making our wonderful world.