Create a Jesus Loves Me Cross With Your Kids

Easter is such a fun time of the year. We are all so ready to put those heavy dark wraps in the back of the closet and bust out our spring colors. And who doesn't like dying eggs with vibrant transparent plaids, polka dots and swirls! Once the eggs are completed and sprinkled across a brunch table filled with fresh tulips, egg strata and pastel coconut macaroons, it is swoon worthy. Ah, I can't wait!

But, the joy of Easter can not be truly felt until we process the sacrifice and suffering that God's only Son, Jesus, endured as he died on the cross for us. He was perfect, blameless, and without sin. And yet, he took on our sins and the sins of the world. Jesus's power over death with his resurrection three days later provides us the joy, hope and assurance in his promise that whoever believes in him will have eternal life.

In keeping with my quest to create things that are Simple, Fun & Meaningful, I decided to design a 3D Easter Cross project that incorporates all three. It is my hope that you are able to use it to teach your kids to celebrate all the fresh, happy, hopeful feelings of Easter but more importantly, teach them why we are celebrating.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Click here for the link to print out the 3D cross project. I printed mine on card stock. I'll keep the link in place until Easter. Here are a few process photos to help you and your kiddos.

P.S. I think they would make nice place holders for each of your guest at your pretty Easter table!

Jesus Loves You. This I know!

Smiles and Happy Easter,

Wendy

True Love Notes

This week your kids probably started talking about their classroom Valentine’s party. Kindness and love will be marketed in store and window displays urging you to purchase, chocolates, candy, flowers, cards and stuffed animals.

While all of these are nice ways of sharing love with each other, it doesn’t compare with the way God shares his love with us. As Christian parents and grandparents, it is important for us to help our little ones know about God’s great love.

Know God’s Love 

I’ve included some love passages from God below that can be found in the Bible. 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God” 1 John 3:1

“Dear friends, let us love one another, since love comes from God.” 1 John 4:7

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

Remember God’s Love

Read them to your child and let them pick out their favorite. You can enhance their learning experience by helping them:

1). Cut out their verse.

2). Memorize it. 

3). Put it in an envelope. 

Address the envelope-

To: Your Child’s Name

From: God

Craft God’s Love

Let you kids have a great time “crafting” those beautiful envelopes with heart stickers, markers, stamps, paint, collage, etc.

Embrace God’s Love

Now that their Valentine from God is complete, let each child put their beautiful works of art in their Valentine box. Consider it a mini “love note from God!” Need a Valentine box idea? Here is a fun one from Plaid, if you have an empty cereal box. 

I also wanted to mention this beautiful new picture book on the market titled, “Easter Love Letters from God by Glenys Nellist and illustrated by Sophie Allsopp, published by Zonderkidz. It is the perfect book to read now and start the discussion of God’s great love for us as we transition into the Lenten season.

Share God’s Love

Lastly, I want to help you give your child a love note from God in the form of an illustrated bookmark.  We can only start to understand love because God first loved us. You can read that blog post here. Click to download the pdf and print out the bookmark on cardstock from your computer. I will leave the link in place until Valentine’s Day.

Let me know which one of the verses your child chose!

Happy Valentine’s Day,

Smiles,

Wendy

A Mighty Fortress

October 31st marks the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation of the Church. For Lutherans, the day holds special meaning as Martin Luther was the man who nailed the Ninety Five Theses to the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517 setting the Reformation in motion. The Ninety Five Theses was Luther’s way of disputing the current church practice of paying for indulgences which absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation. With the Gutenberg press available, the latin version of the theses was quickly translated into German and printed making it available to the commoners in their language thus sparking the viral spread.

One of the best documentaries about Martin Luther can be found in a three part YouTube series produced by Lutheran Hour Ministries in 2015 titled A Man Named Martin Luther - In this playlist, Luther's life and times are examined through history, religion and theology. It has all the suspense and intrigue and gives us a picture of the life of one man. 

You can watch the three part Luther playlist here. (Note Part 1: The Man has 5 sessions for Bible Study purposes)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

This exceprt is taken from the YouTube synopsis: The influence and impact of Luther's life is the stuff of serious study. As a forlorn sinner feeling lost and desperate before a stern and exacting Judge, Luther desponded of all hope for eternity. But as one who came to cling to the Spirit-delivered truths of justification by faith and the liberty believers experience by God's grace, he rebounded to become a triumphant ambassador for the Gospel.

I hope you watch the series. It is so interesting! The courage, strength and persistence Martin Luther had is amazing. The Reformation of the church started with the power of God working through one man and one scrap of paper.

A lasting symbol of the Reformation is Luther's seal (shown at the top of this post). You can read Luther's explanation of his seal here. If you were to design a logo representing your beliefs, what would it look like?

Happy Reformation Day!

Smiles,

Wendy

Focus On The Right Light

It's loggerhead sea turtle nesting season here in Wilmington. If you are visiting one of our beautiful beaches, you will likely come upon a nest. Local volunteers have done their best to mark them so you and the turtle eggs won't get hurt.

Here are four things to teach your kids about loggerhead sea turtles-

1. The common name is Loggerhead because their heads are so large! Like a log!
2. Adult loggerheads weigh 155-375 lbs.
3. They have powerful jaws that allow them to maintain their diet of shellfish that live on the bottom of the ocean. They also like crabs, clams and mussels.
4. Every 2-4 years they lay their nests with 3-5 nest per season. Each nest has about 120 eggs. The eggs take 60 days to hatch.

Now, here is the tricky part. When the little turtles hatch at night, they must stay focused on the light of the moon's reflection on the ocean and swim towards the water to stay alive or else they will die. But as the beach is more populated and active during the summer, there are lots of lights. Unfortunately, those other lights, even though pretty, are distracting and can throw the little turtles off course to their death.

Local volunteers know this and have taken it upon themselves to stay with the nests during the night to make sure when those little ones hatch, they stay focused and swim towards the light, the correct light.

As Christian parents, this scenario is a good reminder to us that just like the sea turtle volunteers, we need to stay watchful and vigilant because our little ones need us to make sure they are getting steered in the right direction. We need to help them stay focused so they can follow the direction of the correct light-God's light. Just like the pretty beach lights, there are lots of distractions to throw them off course. God wants you to keep pointing them to the living water of His word. 

Here are four things you can do to point them to God's light.

1. Go to church as a family. Be their role model every week.
2. Have a morning devotion with your kids at the breakfast table. 
3. Say prayers together as a family. Breakfast, dinner and bedtime is a good start.
4. Steer them in the direction of good quality friends who are also following God's light. It is easier to swim with like minded friends.
5. Mentor them, listen to them and stay watchful.

Lastly, I started this blog post to help you do a little summer beach craft with your kids. God made the animals of the sea (including awesome loggerhead sea turtles) on the 5th day. Need a reminder of what God made the other days of the week. Open up your Bible and check out Genesis 1:1-2:3.

This is fun, your kids will love it and you can start to share some of God's light with them while you are painting.

You will need some green paint, ( I also had some white, blue and yellow) a glass of water to clean your brushes, sturdy paper, a plate to mix your paint, a paper towel, a pencil, a marker and a can to use as a circle template, scissors and a stapler.

Place the can on your paper. (I used Strathmore Mixed Media paper) and draw around the can to create the turtle body. Freehand his head and flippers as shown.

Paint your turtle!

While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I made a template on a blank sheet to make sure my idea was going to work. :0)

After the paint dries cut your turtle out.

Draw a line to the center of his shell and cut on the line. Overlap the paper and staple in place. (Note, when I did this, his tail gets hidden under his leg). 

Aren't they cute! FYI-If you want to make the wave in the background, I used construction paper and a blue pastel.

I hope you and your kids get to enjoy some of God's wonderful creations at the beach this summer.

Smiles,

Wendy

Happy 4th of July

My July wallpaper holds an important reminder. As we celebrate Independence Day, let us be mindful of our complete dependence on God and in faith trust his plan as our country moves forward. Enjoy your family time this week!

Smiles,

Wendy

Easter Picture Books for Children

I wanted to share this blog post with you today as I’m sure many of you will be out this weekend doing some eggs-tra-special shopping.

Creating Easter baskets filled with cute lambs, jelly beans, coloring books, crayons, stickers, garden seeds and beautiful hand dyed eggs is so much fun. The designer in me is always ready to try something new. One year, I even made hand painted bunny dolls. I will have to share that with you on a future blog post.

When we create Easter baskets, we have an amazing opportunity to share the gift of the Easter story with our children and grandchildren. For example, as the gift giver, the items in your kid’s baskets cost you something. You paid a price. A price was paid and something was redeemed. 

In a much greater sense, God did the same thing for you by having his son, Jesus, die on the cross for you. Jesus paid the price for your sins. God redeemed you and it cost you nothing because your heavenly Father knew you could not pay the price. It was too great for you to bear. Easter is the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection and his power over death. The joy we experience at Easter represents our new eternal life with Christ….and it costs us nothing….because Christ has already bought us with his blood.  All we have to do is believe.

Here are 6 of my favorite Easter picture books to help you share the Easter message with your little ones. Make a trip to the library this week and look them up. I’ve also included the Amazon link if you want to place an order today. 

1. My Easter Basket and the True Story of Easter by Mary Manz Simon

2. The Parable of the Lily by Liz Curtis Higgs illustrated by Nancy Munger

3. The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story written by Jan and Mike Berenstain

4. God Gave Us Easter by Lisa Tawn Bergren illustrated by Laura J. Bryant

5. The Beginner's Bible The Very First Easter 

6. The Donkey Who Carried a King by R.C. Sprout illustrated by Chuck Groenink

Smiles and Happy Easter,

Wendy

We Love Because.....Valentines

I wanted to share a Simple, Fun and Meaningful Valentine's Day craft with you that you can make with your little ones. It's loaded with happy colors and will provide fun memories with your favorite little crafters. Go ahead, invite the neighbor kids over too. The clean up is easy!

To make We Love Because....Valentines, you will need the following items:

• White tissue paper.
• Red, orange, and pink acrylic paint (available at any craft store)
• Tray for mixing paint
• Flat paint brush 
• Stiff white paper (I used mixed media paper)
• Mod Podge (waterbase sealer, glue)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Permanent marker
• Paper hole punch
• Ribbon

How to Make We Love Because...Valentines

Pour a teaspoon of paint on the mixing tray and add a few drops of water.

Paint a few brushstrokes on the tissue paper.  FYI, the more transparent, the better the outcome because some layers of color will overlap.

Let dry. (Give the kids a snack and read Eric Carle's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, while you wait. Did you know, Eric Carle creates his picture book illustrations with painted tissue paper too!)

Once the paint is dry, make a heart template.

Use the template to outline the shape of the heart on the mixed media paper.

Using the flat brush, brush on a thin layer of Mod Podge on the heart.

Tear off a few pieces of the painted tissue paper and lay them down on the thin layer of Mod Podge.

Brush on a little more Mod Podge on top to seal the tissue pieces in place.

Repeat the last two steps until your heart is full of color! 

Let your tissue paper hearts dry overnight.

Cut each heart out.

Use a paper hole punch at the top of each heart and run a piece of ribbon through to hang.

You can vary the look by using a big section of painted tissue paper rather than tearing off pieces. *Note-typically the bigger pieces get more wrinkles in them when the glue is brushed on. You can also mix your own colors and draw your heart shape freehand.

Are you wondering why they are called We Love Because... Valentines? Because of God's incredible love for us, we are able to love others. 

We Love Because He First Loved Us.  1 John 4:19

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day,

Smiles,

Wendy