Our memory verse for November is found in Lamentations 2:22-23: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh every morning.” It seems appropriate that this month it would be a verse that focuses on abundance. That as we count our blessings, we would intentionally dwell in the abundance of God’s love and mercy. I find encouragement in the reminder of mercies anew each day because on the days that are hard and discouraging, it’s a welcome reminder of God’s ability to break the cycle of darkness and replace it with light. We carry around a lot of expectations…
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Color Play with Plastic Bottles
We’ve been on a color kick lately. And since I cleaned out the refrigerator in the garage today and found a collection of plastic bottles in need of recycling, I felt inspired to transform them into a set of colorful, rainbow bowling pins. I thought it would be a free, fun, new to us learning through play activity, where I could casually narrate our play and name the colors as we made them and knocked them down, etc. But things don’t always go as we plan. Graham very much enjoyed the process of making them and the magic of color theory basics. He enjoyed setting them up, however when I…
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8 Playlists for Children (That Are Equally Pleasant for Adults)
I’m frequently searching for ways to better practice presence in each moment. One of the most helpful tools for me has been intentionally creating ambience. Ambience is about completely enveloping. It’s about creating backdrops for desired experiences. The ambience I often strive to create is one of calm and beauty that allows me to recognize the sacredness of ordinary moments. Music can serve us by ushering us deeper into these moments. It’s all rather magical. And also useful for someone who struggles to get out of their own head. Now—I have some feelings surrounding music for children. I can appreciate a proper dose of nonsense for the fun of it,…
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John 1:16 | Memory Verse Collection
Since we desire to raise Graham as one who seeks hard after the good, the true, and the beautiful, I wanted to begin intentionally introducing him to truths that have enriched my own life. I find the memorization of scripture a helpful anchor to remember who we’re called and created to be. In my own life, I’ve been feeling prompted to be more intentional about extending grace. I’m grateful for the refreshing presence of a few friends in my life who embody grace for me, who inspire me to be the sort of person who is quick to assume the best of others, rather than the worst. Around them, it…
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Wooden Alphabet Blocks
I love using wood for learning materials because of their durability, their aesthetic, their versatility, but it can get costly very quickly. So I started making various learning materials out of these inexpensive tumbling blocks and have been so pleased with them. MATERIALS Jenga Blocks/Generic Wooden Tumbling Blocks Sheet of Adhesive Mailbox Letters INSTRUCTIONS Though it hardly seems necessary… Peel and stick. (If the sticker adhesive begins to fade I plan to seal these with a coat of Mod Podge, but so far they’ve held up just fine without it.) I began with just one sticker per block, but have since gone back and added a second letter to the…
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20 Questions for Connection
As a society, we exist in an age of paradox where we simultaneously experience both greater connection and greater disconnection than ever before. And since a sense of belonging is one of our fundamental needs as humans, it’s important for us to be aware of where we fall on the connection spectrum and that we be equipped with tools to connect in more fulfilling ways. There’s certainly some complexity involved, because fulfilling our need for connection is somewhat dependent on the reciprocation of others. There’s an element to our connection that is beyond our control. Nevertheless, our intention and initiative can open up opportunities for deeper relationship for ourselves and…
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Free Alphabet Flashcards
Learning through play has become my preferred style of teaching for young ones and so at first the use of flashcards might seem a bit contrary. However, I don’t think that learning through play has to mean the exclusion of flashcards. There are plenty of ways incorporate flashcards to allow the learning to remain playful. During my time as a nanny and now as a mother, I was finding myself writing and rewriting letters on repeat for letter recognition activities, which don’t get me wrong, gets the job done just the same. But I was wearying from doing it over and over. In addition to that, I am always in…
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Love Never Ends
Though this short string of words could mean several things, there are two predominant ways that it’s teaching me in this season. It’s reminding me of the abundance of love and that the call to love is never completed. The Abundance of Love The first truth I’m reminded of today: Love doesn’t run out. It doesn’t follow the regular logic that applies to most resources. Giving it away doesn’t result in depleted stores when we’re sourcing our love properly. In a world where scarcity is proclaimed loudly and often, it’s tempting to hoard our love. But much like manna, it is intentionally created with a short shelf life. When we…
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Love Bears All Things
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13 I’ve been meditating on this sentence for the past month, conflicted by what I’ve always thought it to mean, what I want it to mean, and where it intersects with a messy world. I’ve longed for clarity, or rather to be able to neatly package an understanding of unconditional love. But I’m just not sure if such a package exists. The appeal of hard and fast, absolute rules makes sense. I appreciate the black and white simplicity of that path and the independence that that would permit us rather than the complicated work of…
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Love is Transparency
Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13 As demonstrated in this portion, love is a matter of right relationship. Where I’ve misunderstood this in the past is that I’ve taken right relatedness to mean the equivalent of flawlessness. But relationship is banter. It’s back and forth. And it’s this back and forth that renders us more loving than before. Rather than an invitation to spend a lifetime striving towards a standard we can never meet, the sort of relationship we are called to is about honest connection with God about who we are today. And…
