Where has Summer gone?

Well, here we are almost to July and I can't figure out where Summer has gone. We are getting ready to send Grandma back home after her long stay, she was suppose to be here about a month, but then decided that she needed to stay until her grandson's birthday (she got here April 11), so we are sending her off the day after.

Where have we been? Well we spent an incredible week at a Joni & Friends camp with our son's birthfamily, spent 4 days visiting with some friends out of state, attended my 30 year junior high class reunion, spent a few days in Chicago visiting friends, went to 6 Flags Great America, placed in the
4-H food show and 4-H food demonstration contest and took our son to a few days of technology day camp. To say that I am ready to fall to the ground, would be an understatement.......lol. But we are having fun.

Our son met a little girl at the Joni & Friends camp, so they plan on writing to each other. She lives in another state so the pen pal thing should be fun. I need to get our pictures developed so he can send them to her, but silly me, I used a disposable camera instead of my digital, so I have to mail these off to get them developed. Pray for this little girl and her family, they are being raised by grandparents and two of her siblings have special needs. Her brother is in a wheelchair with Cerebral Palsy and her sister has a seizure disorder. So life is not easy for this family, but they are relying on the Lord.

Had a few tough things to deal with like EATING! lol......everything at the Joni & Friends camp revolved around FOOD! I got terribly sick 2 nights because they were popping corn, and for those who don't know, I'm allergic to corn and that includes popcorn!! lol. The hardest part of all this traveling was getting food that I could eat. I did eat at Chipotle Mexican Grill twice and did fine. I just had the rice and chicken. All gluten free, dairy free and corn free. Just had to make sure that they change gloves before making my food since they do serve corn tortillas. Most of our hotels had kitchenettes in them and I was able to do some cooking while at our friends home. I even brought along one of our farm fresh chickens to eat and a few dozen farm fresh brown eggs. YUM!

In getting back to life in the real world, my home is totally trashed! LOL. To say the least, we have been dropping and running, so next week we will be getting things back in order and up and running. I came across this great website and wanted to share it with you. Homemaking: The List of Must dos.
It was a real eye opener to me. I know, I only have 1 child, but laundry does still pile up and I still have tons of dishes to do from cooking from scratch each day. Take a look at the link and tell me what you think.

Have a great rest of the summer and plan NOW for your upcoming school year. Relax outside while the kids play and have your planner book out and jot down some ideas, ask the kids what they would like to accomplish this school year and go from there. It's not too late to hit a convention, just Google and find one near you.

Moe

Book review: Children In Church

I have had the privilege of receiving a pre-publication review copy of Children In Church Nurturing hearts of worship by Curt and Sandra Lovelace. This is a quick read for parents and even our 11 year old has read and gleaned from the pages of this book. You will be left with lots to ponder and prayerfully consider after reading Children In Church.

I highly recommend this book for couples before deciding to have children so that they can get on the same page, but it’s not too late to read the book with children already in the home. The scripture used throughout the book is immensely encouraging and backs up the authors views: a great reminder of how faithful our God is to His children, the Lord sees us through to the end when we follow His leading and direction.

The Lovelaces share the truth of how “others” may see us and how we may be viewed for having our children in church with us. The authors are very adept at using scripture, they do not rely on opinions or feelings, but on the inerrant word of God.

It’s REFRESHING to read a parenting book that is not full of emotional and self-esteem fluff, spiritual parenting is hard work in today‘s world. When we parent our children using God‘s Word, it may bring discomfort through conviction and the authors address how to handle this with prayer and discussion.

The Lovelaces provide advice on bring your children into church services, they share practical, tried and true tips to guide your family in enjoying worship together.

Must read pages..........

Page 29
“Are those without children beside them willing to grant charity to parents who are in the process of training their children? Are parents with children willing to grant compassion to those who need quieter surroundings?” Something to really ponder in the scope of this topic of children in the church.

Page 35 “Parents who are serious before the Lord about worshipping together in the corporate setting must understand that moving toward that goal will entail commitment, diligence, wisdom, strength, courage, determination, discipline, effort, energy, and so much more.” The authors emulate the essence of the challenges you may face stay the course and you reap the harvest.

Page 49 “Their primary goal was to present the character of Christ in this new setting…..” How to prepare kids for different social situations.

Page 61 Chapter on preparations, I’m not even going to share a quote from this chapter because you need to get the book and read it for yourself! WOW! I found that I was very lacking in this area and was very convicted of things that I do in my own life that are keeping me from being prepared for worship on Sunday mornings. An example from my own life is that we tend to stay up late on Saturday night as a family and then we are tired and grumpy on Sunday mornings as we get ready for church. If you could only read a single chapter in Children in Church, it should be chapter 5, it will transform your entire families view of worship.

Page 73
The chapter on supplies is invaluable!!

Page 113The chapter on conflicts has wonderful encouragement for when the going gets tough, we have to remember that Satan does not want our kids to grow spiritually and he will fight us tooth and nail in raising our children for the Lord. Once again Lovelace points us to God’s word for answers and guidance. Praise the Lord for an author of a modern day parenting book that uses scripture to enlighten us in our parenting journey.

Page 120 “Thus, parents who are making their way along this journey will do well to go before the Lord to see what He might reveal to them about their own attitudes, actions, expectations, and judgments.”

Children in Church
has it all folks, guidance for every step of the way in bring your children together with you as a family to worship. I highly recommend reading through the book with a highlighter and marking up the pages, because you will want to refer back to the timeless biblical truths contained within its pages.

I know from personal experience that prayer is the number one need in the area of Children in Church. We began praying about this several years ago, just my husband and I, never once mentioned it to our child. One day a few years ago our son told us that he wanted to come to worship service to hear pastor preach, we told him to pray about it and we would revisit the topic again. He came to us again and said he was ready, we reminded him that there would be no going back and forth to children’s church for the fun stuff: parties, outings, etc. He said that he was ready. We survived the looks, comments, the whispers and phone calls that we and our son received regarding our not following the rules. We are a couple of years out now and have never looked back. The conversations that we have after church regarding pastors preaching are so enlightening, before we would ask, “What did you do in class today?” We would get a one or two word answer, now we get a commentary. Needless to say having our child in church has blessed us beyond measure.

This book is a must read for lay people as well as pastors and church workers. All I can say is WOW! Children in Church has a powerful question for parents, “Why are we separating out the children from the main worship service?” Is this separation hindering spiritual growth in our families?

Head on over to http://childreninchurch.com/order/ and order a copy, get one for your pastor and your best friend at church. This is a must read.