Thursday, March 23, 2017

The Bliss of Living A "Bottom of the Coffee Pot" Kind of Life

We are a "bottom of the coffee pot" kind of family.  

Photo by Jim Lost At Sea via FreeImages
Doesn't really sound like the kind of label anyone would want to wear, but I'm especially proud of this one...

Every Wednesday night, my family and I rush across town to our church.  It's group night there, and all of our activities begin promptly at 6:30.

I've seriously tried everything I can think of to get us there on time (including dinner in the car!), but no matter what I do, we are always late.  For the last 2 months, each and every Wednesday, my family and I arrive after everything has already started.  Week after week, without fail, we sheepishly check in our younger two while my eyes dart around, quickly scoping out the scene to see whether there could possibly be another family arriving after us.

A little camaraderie, perhaps?
Usually, there is not.  
It's just us.  

Last night, we were especially late.

After hurrying to get the kids to their rooms, my husband and I dashed to the coffee table, hoping for a little caffeine to keep our minds alert and our eyes open after putting in a hard day's work.

Once again, I held our cups while my husband tipped the coffee urn forward, each of us hoping for enough to fill our containers!  While laughing at the fact that here we are, once again, tipping that pot, hoping for the parts of the coffee that no one really wants, it dawned on me:

This is where I want to be, tipping the pot with my husband.  
We work so hard.  
We try our best.  
We're giving this life everything we've got for our King.  

Right now, it's true, we're a "bottom of the coffee pot" kind of family, but I know that neither of us would trade it in for the world.  Some day, when our kids are grown and life slows down, I'm sure we'll be receiving first fruits from that coffee pot, while some other family comes lagging behind for their burnt drops of coffee, but I'm in absolutely no hurry for it.

I drink in full my burnt coffee, knowing that I have got the best of it all...with my life and heart for my God, and my mission and purpose for Him and my family.

Thank You, Lord, for the bottom of the pot coffee that my husband and I drink from on the regular.  I pray, Oh Lord, that we will always be grateful for these cups You have us drink from, and that we never ever forget the precious reasons we drink from this particular part of the well.  Thank You for our blessings, Lord.  They are worth every precious bit of burnt coffee we pour into our cups...because of You, that burnt coffee tastes like the sweetest, richest flavor of all.  Praise You, my King.  I love You with all that I am.  
In Jesus'  Precious Name, Amen.

Photo by AA via FreeImages

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Doing the Bible With Play Dough: Jonah

I know, I know...When I first started this series, I swore I'd post a new play dough story each week, and already, I have not.  Unforeseen circumstances with my back and three sick kids sort of rewrote that story, but we're here now, so let's get started!

Materials:

Play dough - Like last time, you can buy it, or make your own.  Whichever works best for you!  We seem to have a lifetime supply of the stuff and won't be making ours anytime soon, but I'd love to know how that recipe works out for you, if you try it!



Bible - This week's story comes from Jonah.  This one is four chapters long.  Now, before you go cringing at the thought, let me assure you that these chapters are short, and this story is so fun to visualize, which makes it easy to keep their attention the whole time!

All I basically said was that God wanted Jonah to go to Ninevah but Jonah said no.

Yes, we're using the Jedi men again...this likely won't be the last you see of them!
We used the mold for Jonah and two other guys for the boat!

He gets on a ship heading in the opposite direction.  (For this, we just used any container that mildly represented a boat and put all three of our play dough men inside.)

A huge storm comes. (Here, I let my daughter rock the boat all around.)
Jonah knows that the storm is his fault.

He tells the people to throw him overboard to calm the storm.
See...nothing extravagant here...just enough to get the point across.
Their imaginations will take care of the rest!
The storm immediately calms.  (Depending on your child's attention span, an important tidbit you can add here is that, when the storm calms, the remaining men on the boat realize how powerful God is and turn their lives to Him.)

Jonah sinks.

But a GIANT fish comes along and swallows him up.


I'm assuming Jonah's was a little more intimidating...

He stays there for 3 days.


Once he prays and tells God that he is sorry, God has the giant fish swim to shore and spit him up.
God tells Jonah to go to Ninevah and this time Jonah says yes.
The people in Ninevah hear what Jonah has to say, change their ways and ask God to forgive them.

I skipped the very last part for my daughter.  You know, the part where Jonah gets really mad that God had compassion on them.  I didn't want the first part of the story to get lost over the confusion she'd likely have with Jonah's reaction, so I just left it for when she is a little older.  

So that's it!  I think the most important thing to remember when you are doing these with your own child is to keep it simple (for the both of you):  The creations do not have to be extravagant and the story should be as short and to the point as possible.  You, of course, know your child better than I, but I find over here at this house, the shorter and to the point I am, the better she retains what I'm saying!

Oh, also...and this is a BIG one for us.  Make sure to have some fun making other creations as well!  Before our Jonah reenactment began, I let my daughter have a free-for-all with the play dough.  
Then we paused for the Jonah story and then picked back up with the free-for-all once again!



So, I hope you guys have so much fun with this one!  If you take any pictures of your Jonah story (or other play dough creations), send them my way, and I'll be sure to add them to my post!

Missed the first play dough story?  You can catch it here!

Saturday, March 11, 2017

He Will Leave You Not Alone


I'm not going to write very much today...I just don't have it in me to, really. 

Today was hard. Brutal hard. My back, after months without severe injury or pain, took a "revisit" to a most agonizing place. 

I'd like to think I've handled it better than in times past, and in many ways, I think I have...but I know in so many other ways still, I've many miles yet to complete in what God is trying to form within me. 

One thing before I go:  As I realized with dread what had happened, I immediately began to pray...but I did not pray very well.  It was rushed, my words were all jumbled together, and I'm pretty sure I just said the same thing over again. 

Once the shock of my situation had settled, I remember thinking, "Man, I wish I had gone to God better."  I was disappointed...but just as quickly as I had begun to dwell on it, this came to mind:

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
Romans 8:26 NIV

See, I really didn't do it wrong. God wants us to trust Him...to go to Him. 

I did that today, even though I likely spoke gibberish. I went to Him and, in response, He took care of the rest. 

What have you been waiting to go to God about?  Are you worried you won't find the right words?  

Just like me, if you go to Him, He will most certainly take care of the rest. 

Praise You, Lord, for Your everlasting kindness. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for praying on my behalf when I just did not know how to. I love You, Father. Thank You for working Your good through an otherwise intolerable situation. In Jesus' most precious name. Amen.