31 Virtues for Our Kids ~ Hope

HOPE

Over the next few months we will be praying for 31 Virtues for our Kids maybe even for ourselves too!

Romans 15:13 (New Living Translation)
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

(I love this translation!)

"Confident Hope" is what I want for me and my kids! Hope is not something unattainable or far off in a world with such little hope. I want to pray that God will give us hope. Romans 15:13 is an "if - then" verse and it is a verse with a promise. I love these kinds of verses; they are clear, give us direction and full of promise.

"IF" - If I trust in Him!

God always requires some action on our part in order to receive His promises. His promises are always available to us but we have to actively choose to experience them. Trust means to fully rely on God. We must give Him all of us and hold nothing back which can be very hard to do.

"Then" - God (source of hope) will fill me completely!

Always remember that God keeps all His promises. When we trust in Him then He will fill us completely. I love that we can tap into the very source of hope. This part reminds me of a spring. We use to live in Petoskey, MI and a nearby town, Harbor Springs, is known for it spring water. There are various places where you can go and fill jugs with pure, wonderful, fresh spring water. You don't have to go to the store and purchase it...you can go right to the source and it is free. Wow, that will preach right there LOL. We can go to the source of ALL Hope....and it's free! We just have to trust and then He will fill us.

What will he fill me up with?

1. Joy (a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment)

Well, you can probably tell this word really excited me when I saw it here in this verse! I love it that God fills us with joy. Oh, how we all need joy in our lives everyday. But, I love that joy is more than just happiness it is also contentment.

2. Peace (reconciled with God)

It is more than peace with others; it is being reconciled with God almighty. We are made right with Him. He has paid our debt and we can have a personal relationship with our creator. There are no other religions that permit you to have a relationship with their god. In Christ he has made a way for us to have a relationship with God. He has reconciled us to Him. We can find perfect peace in Him!

"The Promise"

I will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit! Not only does He fill us with joy and peace, as a result he fills us to overflowing. It doesn't surprise me that God gives us more than what we need. He wants to give us good things...

Luke 11

9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

What is more amazing here is that we find that it is not confident hope that is the gift...it is the power of the Holy Spirit! It is Holy Spirit that then gives us confident hope. I have learned over my life not to miss what the true gift is ...it is God, Himself! Yes, confident hope is wonderful but it is useless with out God! Thank you Lord that you give us the power of your Holy Spirit in our lives!

*"May the God of hope grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit"

*by Bob Hostetler, it is excerpted from Pray! magazine issue #4, 31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids

.....Tip Me Over and Pour Me Out!

I love girls ministries and we just recently had our annual sleepover at our church. We had a really cute tea party theme. We had so much fun. Our schedule was

7:00 pm High Tea

7:30-9:00 pm Games & Activities

(every kid went through a rotation of making braclets, paper dolls, tea games, Tea Room & Dress up Boutique)

9:00 pm Worship & Devotions (our kids gave over $100.00 to the Coins for Kids Project...Awesome! And even more AWESOME I got to lead more than 7 kids through a first time salvation or rededication prayer...YEAH!)

10:30 Bed, PJ's & Movie (Mary Poppins because of the hilarious tea scene)

I got a lot of ideas from our Assemblies of God National Office and here is what we did with those ideas....

We had really yummy, kid friendly, cute food!

Snack Buffet Menu: crackers with heart shaped cheese, pink & white cupcakes, ham & cream cheese rolls, mixed fruit, (my interpretation of cucumber sandwiches) cucumbers with cream cheese and cherry tomato on top (herb flavored), PB & J tea sandwiches, tea pot shaped sugar cookies, marshmallow petitours (marshmallow topped with frosting and sprinkles), mint chocolate dipped cookies ( mint chocolate and vanilla waffers), Fruit/angel food cake/ marshmallow kabobs, little smokies, little pickles & Donated 6 Hungry Howies thin crust pizza cute into small squares. Trust me, I think every kid loved this! : )

Watermelon Tea Cup

Making friendship bracelets...

Relay races...they did really well!

Making paper dolls!

Playing dress up in our Dress Up Boutique!

Playing with a real tea set and eating sugar cubes in our Tea Room.

This is our annual group pic....

Way too much fun had by all!

Wednesday's Walk ~ Cause I Just Want To Remember!

Have you ever had a moment with your child you could just lock into your memory forever?

I have been sick for the past two weeks. Yesterday was the breaking point; I just had to go to the doctor. After I loaded up the kids and dropped two off at the school, my 2 year old boy and I headed over to the doctor.

I laid on the bed and watched my son. He was so good. We waited in that room for at least an hour. No TV, no toys, no entertainment....just his snack and me. I had no energy, no nothing to help him as we waited. So I laid there and we sang, we copied body movements, went through the alphabet, colored on the paper napkins and he just explored the room. My favorite was when we were copying movements. He was sitting in the chair and I was sitting on the bed. I mimicked his leg movements. He loved it and laughed so much. During that hour, he didn't cry once..... I was sure that he would.

It was just a simple time together but it was just a sweet moment with my son....I just want to remember it. So......This is where my memory will go, here in my blog to never be forgotten even when I am old and gray. I guess that is the point of Wednesday's Walk! : )

I just want to thank the Lord for the simple moments with our children that bring us joy even when we are not feeling well.

Oh, my dear friend wrote about me today...so sweet! I wrote about her awhile ago here : ) ! Love ya, Jen!

Jenilee at The Goodwin Family is hosting Wednesday's Walk.

Wednesday Walk ~ My 100 Year Old Church

My church turned 100 years old this month. So needless to say I have been very busy doing various things to help with the celebration. We also started remodeling the sanctuary for this historic event. Here is the before picture! This picture was taken in the 70's and up till this past May that is what it still looked like....sad I know.

Here is the after picture. We had a wonderful team called MAPS RVers come and remodel the sanctuary, foyer and bathrooms. The work they did was stunning.

Our 100 year celebration was a weekend event. Saturday night we looked back at the past 100 years. The Mayor came and proclaimed Sept. 19th as Gladwin Assembly of God day.

We honored past Pastor's of our church. It was a very moving time and our district superintendent, Bill Leach, shared a wonderful sermon.

Here is my hubby leading us in worship.

On Sunday, Assemblies of God general treasure, Doug Clay, preached a fantastic sermon challenging us to throw a "Catchable Pass" to our young people as we look forward to what God has in store for us.

My beautiful family!

This is a picture of the Assemblies of God MAPS RVers who remodeled our sanctuary. They did such a beautiful job and became good friends.

Sunday afternoon was our church picnic! We had a pig roast, tons of food, carnival games, bean bag game tournament and inflatable's. It was a blast. I was in charge of the kids activities and my hubby was in charge of the bean bag tournament. Everyone had a fantastic time.

Here is the bean bag tournament. I am sure there is an actual name for this game. hahaha

Enjoying the bounce house myself...well I don't know if "enjoy: is the right word. I felt a little weird after, I think I bounced my brain right out of my head. LOL

One very exhausted girl...I am not joking... I could have fallen asleep right there. One very large event finally over for this girl...now on to the next one...this weekend is my Girl's Ministries Sleepover. Now there is never a dull or slow moment for this pastor's wife.

Jenilee at The Goodwin Family is hosting Wednesday's Walk.

My Boy Turns 2!

Decorations all set!

(Thanks mom and Jen)

Beautiful cake already for the big day!

(Thanks mom)

Getting ready to eat his birthday dinner!

Making cute faces for everyone!

Playing with his cars is a must!

Opening presents is always fun!

Blowing out the candles or at least trying..too cute!

Driving to Detroit= boring

Making a cake= time consuming

Presents= pricey

Watching my boy love his day = Totally Worth It!

Wednesday's Walk ~ Hokey Pokey Aunt

I love, love, love being an aunt. It is one of the many special "joys" in my life. You get to have all the fun and send them home when you are done! It is like having a child of your own only when you feel like it LOL hahahaha! What terrible statements, but they are oh so true.

Here are some pictures of one of my favorite times with my favorite nieces, Ashley & Alyssa. We were at a resort a very long time ago. Ashley and I are doing the Hokey Pokey! These beautiful girls are all grown up now; but I love them just as dearly...if not more!

You put your left hand in, (other hand dear)

You put your left hand out;

You put your left hand in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey-Pokey,

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about!

Being a Hokey Pokey Aunt really helps me....

Jenilee at The Goodwin Family is hosting Wednesday's Walk.

Napkin Notes!

Today as I was packing their lunches for the new school season, I got out my marker and wrote them a note. I have written many notes on their napkins for their lunches over the years. It was something my mom use to do for me and my sister when we were school, even in high school.

I will have to honestly tell you were nice to get! Those little messages always reminded me that my mom was thinking about me and praying for me. The simple words of love would always bring a smile to my heart and remind me of the warm comforts of home.

My little note went with a prayer that they would know that they are loved. I want them to know that if the day was not going that great that it will be ok. I love these girls and I always want them to know it...

even in the littlest of ways...like napkin notes!