Wise Guys

Those Wise Guys have been keeping us busy:

Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah - Revelation 5:5. The Wise Men were waiting for is this morning with a clip to listen to from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. We heard Mr. Beaver tell the Children about Aslan. We found out he may not be safe but he is good. Jesus is powerful but he always uses his power for good and we might be nervous about meeting him but we needn't be because He loves us.

Jesus is the Bread of Life - John 6:48-51. We caught the Wise Men making toast. They taught us that just as we need to nourish our physical body with food we need to nourish our spirits. Jesus is the only one who can satisfy our spiritual hunger.

Jesus is The Rock - 1 Corinthians 10:1-4. The Wise Men had the boys stand on soda cans and pillows. Soda cans crush and pillows are soft and go flat. Then we stood on the tile floor and talked about the strong and sturdy foundation we were standing on. Jesus is our strong and sturdy foundation and he allows us to see the world through his eyes (biblical worldview). He is our rock.

Jesus is our Mediator - 1 Timothy 2:5-6. This morning the Wise Men used Skype to teach us that when they are in separate places they can connect to each other through Skype. We are separated from God because of our sins and with Jesus as our mediator we can connected to God.

Jesus is our friend - John 15:15. Today the Wise Men are going to teach the boys that Jesus is our friend. Just like we play with our friends and share with them Jesus shares his life with us and his plans with us.

Jesus is the Lamb of God - John 1:29. The Wise Men are going to show the boys how to make hand print lambs. In the OT when people sinned God accepted a perfect lamb as a sacrifice for their sins. God sent Jesus to be our perfect lamb. Jesus died so we can be forgiven. His sacrifices covers all sin for all times.

Jesus is the Great High Priest - Hebrews 4:14. The Wise Men had the boys try and walk a tight rope with a book on their heads. When they made a mistake and the book fell off we talked about how we couldn't be perfect and we make mistakes called sin. We need a High Priest who can talk to God for us and atone for our sin. Jesus who lived a perfect life without sin talks to God for us. He is our Great High Priest.

Jesus is the Way - John 14:6. The Wise Men left a trail of arrows throughout the house that lead to a map. Maps help find our way and get us to where we want to go. Jesus is the only way to God, he is like a map that shows us the way (or perhaps GPS that talks to us ;) to God.

The Tree!

Somehow I missed these pictures when I was choosing pictures of our decorations. So enjoy our method of decoration - no pants and bungee cords!

Naughty or Nice?

I have a problem with our Santa Claus today. I grew up loving Santa Claus. I don't feel like I would be deceiving my kids if Santa is a part of Christmas. I don't think Santa has to upstage Jesus, because according to Buck Denver on What's in the Bible (and lots of other sources)  the tradition of Santa Claus was started based on St. Nicholas who gave gifts and money to kids and families in need - watch it here.

So what's my problem with Santa? It boils down to this idea that Santa is watching to see who is naughty or nice and only the nice boys and girls will get presents. I didn't realize how big of a problem this is until the other day while we were driving Jude said, "Mommy I have to be nice so that I can earn my presents from Santa because he only gives presents to good boys." Did you catch that, my 4 year old picked up on the fact that he must "earn" a gift. A gift is or should be freely given thats what makes it a gift.

We have been teaching Jude that the reason we give gifts at Christmas is to celebrate the Jesus' birth the greatest gift ever given. God gave his Son. And guess what, we had not been nice. Oh no we were very naughty indeed. Yet God gave us his Son because we had been naughty and it was the only way he could reconcile us to himself. Thank God that we do not have to earn the gift of Jesus and the gift of salvation because it is a gift.

I am so thankful that God uses my kids to teach me awesome lessons!

So I told Jude that the world has created a nasty lie (one that we tell withou even realizing the implications) that Santa only gives presents to nice girls and boys. I explained to him that the real St. Nicholas was a man who loved Jesus and gave gifts to those in need because of the love of God in him. I told him that he would receive gifts from Mommy and Daddy wether he is good or bad as a way to show him what God's love is like and how God gave us a gift (though he may not get to enjoy his gifts if he is being naughty...) and to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

So really my issue is not with Santa - it's with an unbiblical worldview that teaches us we must earn gifts.

A Night in Bethlehem

Sunday night we journeyed very far...all the way to Messiah Lutheran Church off Telge and Cypress North Houston for their "Night in Bethlehem." It was very cool. We really enjoyed it.

Upon our arrival in Bethlehem, we were told that we needed to register for the census. So we did. We got our passports and off we went to explore Bethlehem.

Our first stop was the Story Telling tent. We had fun looking at the Jewish prayer shawl and trying to read and pronounce the Hebrew. We were quite rusty. Hmm if only I had the time to brush up....

After the story telling tent we stopped by the local weavers and felt the various furs avaliable: alpaca, dog, sheep, silk, etc.

Chad and Jude helped the weavers.

Next we stooped to make coin bags and the boys got two gold coins.

Shiloh was pleasantly surprised and gratified by the little boy handing out cookies...I tried to capture his dance.

And because Shiloh loves daddy he shared his cookie. Who knew they had oatmeal raisin cookies back when Jesus was born?

I didn't manage to get any good pictures at the passport inspection table where the boys picked out new Hebrew names nor did I get any good ones at the carpenters work place. But I managed to get a good one of Shiloh grinding herbs.

The boys really thought the incense rising was awesome.

Shiloh was thrilled with the candle stick he found in the inn at Bethlehem but we couldn't stay the night there was no room. And that pitcher looks just like one my mom had when I was little...

Chad tried to convince the boys to lay down but they would not.

Jude enjoyed his apple cider (again who knew they drank this?) while getting out his comb...why did he bring his comb? I have no clue.

After our apple cider we stopped and made clay pots (crayola molding clay) with fancy gems to put inside.

I wish I had a good picture of Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the Angel, and the Shepherds but I don't. I also missed getting a good one of the camel. Maybe next year. And maybe next year Jude will want to visit King Herod instead of bursting into tears...

All in all it was a great visit to Bethlehem. Thanks Messiah Lutheran.

Orange

Orange. Ninja Orange. Last week Jude tested for his Ninja Orange Belt. Now as a mom I wanted him to do well. As a 5th Degree Blackbelt who has been doing taekwondo for roughly 18 years (this is ridiculous but true...I added it up at least 3 times...I started when I was 11 and I'm almost 29) I wanted him to do more than well (ok almost perfect). So I tried to get him to practice. He would not. So I got creative. Whenever I work out in the living room (yes I actually do this at least twice a week which to me is not all that impressive and makes me feel blah because it is not 6 or 7 days a week but whatever its what I can accomplish at this time so yeah...) the boys if they are not attacking me when they think I'm vulnerable (ab work) or staring at me like I've lost my mind (probably the suicides aka updowns), they like to join in. Knowing this I cleverly added Jude's tkd curriculum to my workout. Squat, knife hand guarding block, lunge, knife strike, round kick, round kick, punch and so on. It worked. He totally joined me. But little Mr. Orange belt was not satisfied with practicing he had to inform me that I was doing knife hand guarding blocks wrong (and he was not referring to the "broken" wrist effect my block has). "Mommy, you have to do your hands like this," he said. Hmmm.

Well done Jude!

Jude with Mimi and Pops (I mean Master Lieder).

The Beginning of Advent

I absolutely adore the Christmas Season. The lights, the music, the decorations - EVERYTHING!

My most favorite thing about the season is ADVENT! Advent is a Latin word and the meaning is to do with the arrival or coming of a notable person, thing or event. Traditionally Advent marks the beginning of the Church year and we celebrate the 1st Coming of Christ in the weeks leading up to Christmas and at the same time look forward to the 2nd Coming of Christ! I love that we can celebrate this!

This year we are doing a Jesse Tree and we are using the Jesus Storybook Bible for our readings. Each night we light a candle on our Advent Wreath, read a story, pray and then hang and ornament on the tree. Each story we read helps us to see Jesus in the whole Bible - not just the New Testament!

In addition of our Jesse Tree, I took it upon myself to combine some ideas from different people and the internet to create excitement and take advantage of a discipleship opportunity with the boys. A mom (she had college and teenagers) I knew from church told me that every year she hid the Wise Men from her Nativity and the kids had to find them every morning and they had a journey to the manger. I was led to a mommy blog that talked about Elf on the Shelf Jesus Style and I loved the idea of the kids receiving a letter and then being taught a lesson about the true meaning of Christmas every day. And finally about 2 years ago we did Advent Readings from ThrivingFamily.Com and I loved the focus of learning the names of Jesus. So I combined all these things to come up with our Journey with the Wise Men!

So Far so Good.

 Our first Advent reading.

Hanging the first ornament on the Jesse Tree.

December 1: Letter from the Wise Men.

December 2: Jesus is "I Am" - John 8:58. Not the easiest concept to teach a 4 year old...

December 3: Jesus is The Word - John 1:1-4. The Wise Men provided us with these balloons (from the Connection School) and we blew them around and learned that things such as our breath and words aren't seen, but they can make things happen. God's words are powerful. God spoke and the world was created. Part of the reason Jesus is called the "word' is that he existed before the world was created and God made all things through the Word, who is Jesus. 

December 4: Jesus is the Son of David - Matthew 1:1. We caught the Wise Men looking at picture albums and we discussed how Jesus was descended from King David and how God had promised that the savior of the world would come from David's family.

December 5: Jesus is the True Vine - John 15:1. The kids woke up to a yarn spread throughout the house. We traced the yarn back to the source, those Wise Men. The taught us that the yarn is like a vine. A vine connects leaves to its roots, just as Jesus connects us to God, who is our source of life.

Decorations!

Yay! We pulled out the Christmas decorations Friday morning. I am one of those who like to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate...ok if we are honest I wanted to decorate days before but Chad held me off...

We turned on RadioU Christmas Channel!!!! And the decorating commenced!

Here are some of our decorations:

Lights on the outside of our house!

 Countdown wreath made with pool noodles. As Jude explains, "Mommy made this so I will stop asking her if it is Christmas Day." Notice the beautiful green crayon drawing...suggestions?

Jesse Tree

$20 Christmas Tree from BigLots that Chad and I bought when we were first married. Still using the glass (as a young married you don't factor in that your future children will be drawn like magnets to glass ornaments for the sole purpose of breaking them) ornaments 3PO bought for our wedding gift (the lights are now on the house - outside). We took some advise and put the tree on a table out of reach (mostly) of Asher. We secured the tree with bungee cords.

Stockings and Nativity!

Look Mom.

1 foot. 2 foot. 

Ready.