by Joey
Men, let’s face it. Being the spiritual leader of our families is a daunting task… and it should be. For most of us, there is no higher calling, so feeling a little overwhelmed is only natural. It is a good thing because it shows we understand the significance of the task. But we can also be intimidated for some other, not so good reasons. Not the least of these reasons is a feeling of personal, spiritual inadequacy. Don’t worry. You are in good company when it comes to feelings of inadequacy. Remember that your sufficiency comes from Christ. My hope is to encourage and equip as I share some of my experiences and provide some tools that I have found useful. I’ve learned a lot about babies since becoming a father. Granted, I had a lot to learn. Looking back, I think that the number of diapers that I had changed amounted to a grand total of two before El was born, and I might have bottle fed a baby here and there. Of the prior 28 years and 2 months of my life, I maybe had spent 24 hours total in direct contact with an infant. Needless to say, everything about having a baby was new for me, and being a dad was a wonderful opportunity for growth. Here are some things that I have learned about babies:
1) Babies can smell fear. They are born with an awareness of your innate fear of dropping and breaking them. They will exploit this at every opportunity and will repeatedly attempt to wriggle free from your grasp and have been known to even roll/dive off the changing table when you let your guard down. Read the rest of this entry »
Christian Parenting Fatherhood Fridays Life
by withalljoy
Grace notes is the portion of this blog where I get to share a little about my week. Just as much as I need to be reminded of joy in my daily duties, I also need to be constantly reminded of the grace that is extended to me every day. It is so easy to get caught up in the small occurrences or dwell on misspoken words of the day or week. My God loves me and forgives me – I need to constantly remember this and extend myself that same grace when I mess up.
Last {Week}
Five days until Christmas! Are you ready? In staff meeting last week we were asked what our Christmas preparedness was on a scale of 1-10. A week ago I was around a 2 or 3. I hadn’t thought about the Christmas Eve children’s sermon, the tree was naked, my sister’s scarf was a total of five rows in length, etc. But now I’m around an 8 or 9, yay! The tree is finally decorated, I have thought about the sermon, I got some gifts wrapped, and I did a few extra things. Did you check out the outfit I made for El? She’s supposed to be a lamb for the Christmas pageant, but she looks a little more like a bunny. Read the rest of this entry »
Grace Notes Life
by withalljoy
Pinterest Tuesdays is way late because I spent all day on this:
El is supposed to be a lamb for the Christmas pageant, and I just had to go all out! I think I did pretty well for my first garment-sewing project (I have otherwise only made curtains and shams.). I didn’t use a pattern; I just used a set of her 12-month footie pajamas and a hoodie as templates and went from there! The only thing I wish I had done differently was to buy some different fabric to line the hoodie. And then the ears…I messed around with them a few times but this was the closest I got. There is a fine line between bunny ears and lamb ears. :)
Pinterest Tuesdays
by withalljoy
This is the last post of the Becoming A Woman Who Loves online study series for the year of 2012! We will pick up with Chapter 4 – Bearing Fruit on Monday, January 7, 2013. Take the time to catch up, dive in deeper, or complete the study! Thank you so much for being a part of this community.
The Source of Love
The springs of love are in God, not in use. It is absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts naturally; it is only there when it has been shed abroad in our heats by the Holy Spirit.
-Oswald Chambers
I felt a little overwhelmed last week learning about the new commandment to love like Jesus. How is that even possible? Even when I try to put all of my effort into serving and loving selflessly, I find myself gripping about something else or tearing down my husband or friends in my heart. And how am I supposed to love everyone like Jesus if I cannot even extend that same grace to my husband and family? Fortunately for us, Scripture has answers for us and Cynthia Heald helps us find these verses that may change our outlook (and particular efforts) in our pursuit of loving like Jesus. Read the rest of this entry »
Bible study Life
by withalljoy
Theme: Mary Sunday and making our lives a song dedicated to God
Scripture: Luke 1:26-56
Materials: A simplified translation of the story of Mary, pictures or a slide show to pair with the reading, paper and coloring/writing supplies
Opening: Have children sit in a circle. Introduce yourself. Light three candles in the Advent wreath (including the pink one) and say, “We can’t see God, but we can see his light in the world. These candles remind us that God is here with us and remind us to prepare for the birth of Christ! We are lighting the pink candle today because today is the Sunday when we remember Mary.” Say a quick opening prayer for your time together and lead the Lord’s Prayer.
Lesson: I would like everyone to think of their favorite song and share it with the rest of us. Why is it your favorite song? One of my favorite songs is called “I Get to Be the One” by J.J. Heller. It is about a mother singing to her new baby and telling the new baby all of the things they get to do together. Can anyone guess why that is one of my favorite songs? That’s correct – I just had a baby and I sing that song to her all of the time! Read the rest of this entry »
Bible study Children's sermons Lectionary Year C
