Crafty Monday: Dinosaurs & Purim February 25, 2013

In this Post: Several Purim crafts, dinosaur crafts, cinnamon germs, a bird journal, and math with fruit loops & goldfish etc…

Hello friends, as you know we’ve started majoring in one or two subjects each day along with our every day book work. So I will break up our projects in that way. Last week, we continued learning about the Biblical story of Queen Esther and the celebration of Purim. We also studied dinosaurs. Enjoy the pics and my Pinterest link will be at the end :).

By the way, here is our Purim post from last year. Funny, we studied dinosaurs then too…

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/crafty-monday-dinosaurs-purim-the-best-burgers-ever/

Artsy Monday–  Michael made these toilet paper tube crowns.

This hand print Peacock.

Haman ears or hats out of paper plates and tissue paper.

I made this royal scepter with a wooden dowel and a golden egg (both from Michael’s craft store).

Puppet theater out of a file folder and scrapbook paper. Michael colored and cut out the characters (Esther, Mordecai, the King, Haman, & Jews praying).

There’s a pocket inside to hold the puppets. We simply pasted the puppets onto Popsicle sticks.

Cooking is on Mondays but rarely happens then. I actually decided to do cooking on Saturday so I could teach Michael how to make Haman ears. You can see the finished project Sunday on my complete Purim post ;).

Typing and Science Tuesdays–  Michael studied fossils in his science book and we did a couple of dinosaur crafts.

We read a book on http://www.wegivebooks.org about a greedy dinosaur called the Mine-o-saur.

I got the craft ideas from thatartistwoman.org

Dinosaur silhouette

Pastel resist T-rex fossil

Math & Music Wednesday

We made noise makers for Purim. I forgot to take a pic.

Math ideas found here: http://www.lessonplandiva.com/2012/02/freebies-ideas-and-science-activities.html?ref=nf

Then we played greater than and less than with an alligator and goldfish.

Michael practiced estimation with fruit loops.

Geography/social studies/history Thursday

Michael found Persia (now Iran) on the globe

We watched the video below on Purim. Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the links.

I used the dinosaur land form idea from: http://www.msjennifers2ndgradeclass.blogspot.com/2011/10/landforms.html

I drew it with blank labels and made a copy for Michael. Then I labeled and colored mine so he could copy it.  What a great way to remember what a peninsula looks like!

Nature studies/language arts/ health Fridays

Cinnamon germs–  http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2009/02/handwashing-and-germs-experiment.html

Look what happens when we touch the door. Germs (cinnamon) gets all over it. Michael learned it takes at least thirty seconds to properly wash his hands.

Bird Journal– Michael cut out bird pictures from a magazine to put on the cover of his journal.

I printed off twenty Bird of the Day papers for the inside. Link here: http://www.spelloutloud.com/2013/02/learning-about-birds.html

Voila! Now we’re ready to go bird watching!

Purim Pinterest link:

Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

A Late My Family Rocks! Sunday: Father Son Project & A Nice Surprise

In this post: The guys make a cat jungle for way cheaper than buying one, Chester & Cinderella meet, and a lovely day trip surprise :).

Hello dear ones! I hope you had a lovely weekend. Mine was interesting. I was in the ER late Saturday night/ Sunday morning for chest pain which thankfully turned out to be a pinched nerve in my neck. But Purim went on as planned Sunday and the weekend was good besides getting blood drawn etc. I’ll post Purim pics next week or so.

Last week, Chris and little man put together a cat jungle thing. These things sell for a hundred to a hundred fifty. My very handy hubby made this one for only fifty bucks!  The kitty will climb on it to eat food but he’s yet to understand the concept of where and where not to scratch. Honestly, I think he was brain damaged when he got neutered. Chester has been NUTS and completely bipolar since his surgery!

Here’s our crazy cat watching Cinderella, the mouse…

“What is this strange force field guarding the rodent? I must investigate!” ~Chester

I got lost a couple of weeks ago while driving back from a friends nearby. I love how God interrupts our lives with little surprises. I had no clue that this super kewl waterfall thing was in my neighborhood (I’ve been here over six years). I had seen the lake at what seemed to be a mundane park. Had I not got lost then I would have never seen where the lake became a water fall and the really beautiful place at the bottom.

We finished book work early last week and I surprised Michael with a picnic at the falls. Granted this place isn’t well kept but I believe there is beauty in wild things too.

There was an old run down pavilion up the hill. We decided to explore. It was covered with graffiti and vines. It reminded me of a witch’s cottage.  I can find “magic” anywhere lol. That’s what comes with an overactive imagination…

The gazebo and the lake

Ready for a picnic 🙂

My Mom and Step-Dad Kim instilled a love for exploring, in me. When I was a kid we would stop at random places and find hidden trails etc. Sometimes it felt like living in a story book. My Mom and I moved a lot.  We mainly lived in trailers, small apartments, or old houses. It wasn’t the Ritz but if I could find a secret spot just for me then it was okay…maybe it would be a small hole in the wall that I hid things etc… Because of my experience I’ve learned to see beauty and adventure in the smallest of things. I pray Michael will learn this as well. I can’t imagine how boring things would be if Birds and butterflies (sometimes even snails) didn’t amuse me. Yeah, we have “pet” snails that come to live on our door when it rains. I’d catch them but after a smelly experience with a salamander I figure muddy creatures should stay outside.

Anywho, thanks Mom and Kim for the wisdom and memories. Thanks to my Dad (who is with Jesus) for also teaching me to let music take me places.

Now, back to you my readers…. I hope all of you can go out this week and find wonder in the small treasures….whether it be ladybug or rainbow. If so, please leave me a comment of your experience or past experiences. When you turn on a song, close your eyes, and let it take you somewhere. Imagination and creativity is such a special gift from God. We are made in His image after all and Father God is the greatest creator and artist. May we take our eyes off  of the bad news on the t.v. and look at what’s still innocent in the world…..then savor it. See the Lover of our soul, Jesus Christ, through the beauty of life.

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Virtual Friday: Star Trek Museum February 22, 2013

Hello dear ones! 🙂 This will be short and sweet. There is a nifty Star Trek museum in Second Life and I took a gander. Enjoy the pics & the link is below if you want to visit for yourself.

God bless & remember the High King lives!~Amber Dover

Visit New Eridani (215, 238, 3)

Too many tribbles

Hear the Writer Roar! Tuesday: Reblog from Kristen Lamb/ Writer’s Conference February 19, 2013

Well my first reblog didn’t work. So here is the link: http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/be-the-watchdog-save-the-world/

There’s a writer’s conference this weekend. I hope you can check it out. I’m not sure I can afford to….if so probably only one day. She’s got a ton of speakers etc…

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Crafty Monday:France Country Study, Valentine’s, & Snow Day

In this post: Our homeschool group has a Valentine’s party/country study of France, I made a Valentine Heart Luminary, a legal site where you can read kid’s books for free, several crafts & science experiments, and a pretend snow day! Also a recipe for madeleines!

Hello dear ones!

In homeschool last week we continued our love memory verses. We also began a study of Queen Esther in our Bob Jones devotional. I guess we got a head start on Purim. Here is a link to last week’s post with the heart memory verses:

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/crafty-monday-gods-love-hearts-galore-plus-mardi-gras-celebration/

This week we continued the heart theme in our crafts. We made this heart magnet with scrapbook paper, conversation hearts, and magnets. You can find this on my Valentine’s Pinterest. I’ll put the link at the end.

We played a conversation’s hearts game that was simply for the fun of eating them. My friend Rachel had a neat math game over at her blog (using the conversation hearts). Link here: http://homeschoolingmom2mags.blogspot.com/2013/02/valentine-math.html

Valentine’s Luminary

Very simple: a mason jar, tissue paper, ribbon, and modge podge.

Michael and I read several books for free at http://www.wegivebooks.org/books

We are members now (also free). We read several snow books for Friday, our “Snow day”. I really enjoyed this book called “See a Heart. Share a Heart”. Michael has been finding “hearts” everywhere since then.

http://www.wegivebooks.org/books/see-a-heart-share-a-heart/reader

Our homeschool schedule has changed a bit since February. Back in January I think I told you I wanted to simplify. Well, I’m not sure I’ve simplified but I have organized. Instead of majoring in every subject and doing crafts every single day I made each day different. Every day there is devotionals, spelling, math, and reading but we specialize in certain areas each day. Here is our game plan (Lord willing):

Monday- Crafts and cooking

Tuesday- typing and science projects

Wednesday- Math & Music

Thursday- homeschool group time and/or geography and social studies/ history

Friday- Language arts, nature, and/or health

So for instance it’s Wednesday. We would do something special for math…like a game or even a math craft. Thankfully we can be flexible because cooking has happened on every day but Monday lol. It’ll probably happen this Saturday since we’re making hamentaschen (Haman ears)  for Purim.

So for cooking last week, I taught Michael how to make mac n’ cheese. Every kid needs to know how to do that, right!

He made us a lovely candlelit supper. He lit a match for the first time. He was super excited!

He set the table and we had a lovely simple dinner. Good job, buddy!

For science we did a few things. First we did an experiment with carnations. I remember doing this in school. You just put food coloring in the water. If you want the flower to have two colors in it then you have to split the stem and put it into both jars.

It took way longer than expected for this to work. The blue was nice but I noticed when the red finally got color that it was orange! Later, I found out that the hubby had added more red but first accidentally used yellow….hence, the rusty orange color. I was going for pink…oh well.

We finally tried out our Discovery Kids tornado machine. Then Michael watched a show about tornado chasers.

For music we used conversation hearts to put the notes on the staff paper (meaning the candies were the notes). Honestly, we had not looked at the piano book since December (*shame*).  So rather than jump right into playing, we just looked at the music and figured out the notes. Maybe he will play the song this week.  Little fingers get rusty when they haven’t played in awhile. Please check out my music section on Pinterest. I found a ton of great resources for teaching the basic elements of music.

Our homeschool group is awesome :). Our country study of France happened to come on Valentine’s Day. Okay, it was planned. Still, they went perfect together. We learned about the city of love while learning the origins of Valentine’s.

Everyone brought french food. I made lemon madeleines drizzled with chocolate and powdered sugar.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/12/humpy-madeleine/

I was happy how they turned out because the first time I made them I burnt the edges :(. Anywho, I ditched the glaze and just put the lemon juice in the cookies. Then as I said, I drizzled them with chocolate and powdered sugar. Voila!

Mmmmmm, you know you want to make some! The kiddos really liked them. I made the batter the night before and baked them that morning because they get soggy if you don’t eat them right away.

We taped “God’s Conversation Hearts” onto the candy boxes and gave them to each family.

The table full of books about France.

All the yummy food 🙂 We even had goat cheese, which I tried for the first time. See the mini Eiffel Tower?

Hannah talked to the kids about France and read them a story about a french kitty.

Here’s Rachel sporting her stylish french hat while eating a madeleine 🙂

I brought a book about St. Valentine to teach the kids the meaning behind the holiday. After eating and sitting thru stories they needed to stretch before they were ready to listen.

So we stretched….

and got out all the wiggles…..yep, it reminded me of my time at an Early Learning Center.

And that’s also where I learned about listening ears…I never got it out of my system. I came up with the special “listening eyes” though….sounds silly but it just means to look at the person who you’re listening too.

I had the kids answer questions along and along and even make the soldiers’ footsteps by pounding the floor. We had to stop half way and get the wiggles out some more. That seemed to help and I think they heard most of the story! ;P

Michael and his buddy Liam

Then the kiddos decorated Valentine’s mailboxes. Hannah’s son, Liam, had a very kewl monster box.

We were simple this time. I thought our tissue box looked nice enough so Michael just stuck foam heart stickers on it.

Eric made an alien box.

Maggie, Rachel’s daughter, made a sweet robot box.

Olivia, Hannah’s daughter,  made a mermaid themed box.

Then passports were stamped. We keep forgetting ours so I just had a paper stamped.

Michael with his good buddy Olivia.

Michael and Maggie

The kids then went around and delivered their valentine’s. I’m so glad we have a group because I did love the parties in public school. It’s nice we can homeschool but come together for fun events.

So we never made an ash cross on our arm or forehead. We just didn’t get to it. I tried to put together the Lent centerpiece I told you about. It’s not as pretty but it kinda reminds me of the desert. We got our Lenten tree devotional book at the end of the week and our Lent Calendar. It’s very weird having all these holidays at once but somehow it’ll work…

Friday for our Nature study we had a snow day! 🙂 We have yet to see any real snow but maybe…

Anywho, we started out with a  sugar cube igloo craft. I would be lying if I said it was easy. I didn’t follow the directions to a tee so…

We outlined a shape on paper then glued sugar cubes around it. We kept adding layers but it wanted to fall. So I had to put cardboard in the middle to keep everything up. I ended up finishing it because we were both so frustrated.

The next “craft” was simple….sigh. Michael made snow sculptures using marshmallows.

We then had hot chocolate with marshmallows. Like I said before, we read a few snow books on wegivebooks.org

My sister got us this wonderful fake snow for Christmas. Look at it before we add water….a small pile.

We added water and it GREW! It’s also cold and doesn’t melt! I think we should buy a ton and fill the back yard! LOL

Well, it’s not safe to eat etc…so it’s probably best we keep it in a container. Add a few toy penguins and we have a snow box! Voila!

Gumby ended up holding the igloo up. I threw it away later because I figured the sugar would attract bugs. Oh well…

Well, God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Ps: Tune in next week for Purim crafts. If you want ideas for this Purim season check out my Purim section on Pinterest. By the way, here are my Pinterest links for these projects. Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the links.

Purim

Valentine’s

Music

Science

My Family Rocks! Sunday: Date Night Ideas & Valentine’s Goodness February 18, 2013

In this Post: Several date night ideas and a link to the best site for date tips (these are for the married), a simple but sweet Valentine’s, and easy recipes for a romantic Filet Mignon meal.

Hello dear ones and I pray you’ve had a wonderful weekend. The hubby hasn’t been feeling well so keep him in your prayers. My family and I have been trying to get back to our old routine of date nights, between me & the hubby and also each parent having one with our lil man, Michael. So we decided that every other week would be a Mommy & Daddy date night and that we would alternate planning it. We have an old popcorn bucket that I put date ideas in. Some of them I came up with but most came from the absolutely best dating site for married people:

The Dating Divas

http://www.thedatingdivas.com/date-night/at-home/

I especially like the list found at the link above. They have tons of movie themed date ideas. For my first special date night I planned to do my own movie theme & to incorporate some of their other ideas like the date in the bag (Love on the Run). I filled a gift bag with the goodies we needed for the night: food & games :).

I chose the movie “The Lake House” because it’s sweet and rated PG. You are welcome to use my sweet & simple idea. Here’s a synopsis: two people from two different times fall in love via letters sent thru a special mailbox. The girl, in the future, is able to help the guy with the future & the guy, in the past, is able to change her past. There’s a sneaky twist near the end. Will they ever meet in the present?

Sounds cheesy but it was romantic. My idea was to have us each write a note to our teen selves before we became a couple and give reasons why we should choose each other. My maiden name is “Way” so you can see the envelope is addressed to Amber Way from “my future husband”. Chris begged me to choose him again and told of our life together and our wonderful little boy. He even tried to convince me to vote a certain way in the future. My letter gave Chris hints to who I was (nerd with baggy Christian t-shirts, girl who had staring contests with him etc…). I told him of how he would grow to love me and made promises of the happy future he’d have with me. The rest is personal but it was a beautiful idea and I’m glad we did it.

Chris saw the date bag that morning with the “His” gift tag on it. Later that night I took out the snacks and set up. We played the Sudoku race idea (from Dating Divas) half way between our movie. It was a nice pause. I’m sure we could use other games for the race….like crossword puzzles and word searches.

I set the mood with candlelight and romantic music. I made a simple meal of Chicken Alfredo and pumpernickel bread. We used flute glasses from our bridal shower. There’s more to this date but that’s personal. I don’t think our date nights will ever be the same since we found Dating Divas. Goodbye typical night!

Valentine’s was on the way. Here’s a pic of Tessa snuggling with her stuffed puppy.

I planned Valentine’s since it was an in between week and Chris had already taken Michael to a movie for their father-son time. We took a trip to the Dollar Tree days before and I told the guys to go find gifts. Of course the guys both got chocolate :). I wanted to be a bit different so I got Michael a game and Chris a coffee cup. I took a red Sharpie and wrote the reasons why I love and respect him on it.

I also found a cheap pink shirt and ironed on “I (heart) my husband”. I wore this on Valentine’s.

After our Valentine bash with the homeschool group, Michael and I headed to Chris’ office. We brought a monkey balloon, goodies, and a gift bag. On the way I stopped by Waffle House to get Chris’ favorite coffee and poured it into the special cup. Thankfully Chris wasn’t embarrassed by my shirt and his co-workers were happy to sample the goodies. I’ve ruined his poor boss’ diet 😦 oops.

Michael took a pic of the momentous occasion. I can tell Chris is thinking “Here we go again…this woman and her blog!”

So the house was cleaned just in time despite it’s appearances. You have no idea….. Hey, don’t judge me. They say a messy house means happy kids. Obviously that’s not always true but it works for me! lol ;P

Candlelight covers a multitude of sins dirt. Look at that ambiance. I covered our paint splattered breakfast tables with a plastic table cloth. I found the lovely mini colored bottles at Michael’s craft store. They were on sale :). I put Carnations inside them and lit some candles. The plastic heart glasses came from the Dollar Tree. Michael joined us for part of the time. We watched “A Charlie Brown Valentine’s” then Michael was sent to his room while the hubby and I watched a romantic comedy.

I decided to make a restaurant worthy meal. I had never made these before but it turned out yummy:

Easy Yet Romantic Filet Mignon– http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-yet-romantic-filet-mignon/

Asparagus Parmesan– http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asparagus-parmesan/detail.aspx

Stuffed Artichoke Hearts (actually bottoms)– http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Stuffed-Artichoke-Hearts/Detail.aspx

and garlic bread.

Now, you may be wondering what the pan of gook is. Please read carefully…the title was wrong. The recipe calls for artichoke bottoms. Hearts can not be stuffed! Now calm down… since the title misled me, all I had was hearts. I ended up mixing everything together to form a casserole of sorts. We put it on top of our garlic bread.

I used Dating Divas Couple’s Menu. The idea is to charge hugs and kisses for the food and to write a bill.

My first dealing with asparagus….sorry Junior!

It was really dark in there but this pic was taken with flash.

Michael is drinking cream soda I promise! lol

Voila! Parmesan asparagus!

Non-stuffed artichoke “dip” on top of garlic bread.

Praise God the meal was a success!

Do you have any date night ideas? Please leave me some comment love. I hope you are able to use these ideas and recipes. Please check out Dating Divas. Marriage doesn’t just fall together. It takes work…especially when you’ve been married awhile. Sometimes you have to plan the magic.

Check out my pinterest for more date ideas:

Remember email subscribers to come to my blog to see the links.

God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Keep up with all my Date posts: 

Inspirational Wednesday: Ash Wednesday & Valentine’s Message February 13, 2013

Hello dear ones, I have a couple awesome videos posted but please check out the message too. I know it will encourage you in your Christian walk! Remember email subscribers to come to my actual blog site to see videos and links.

This is my first time celebrating Ash Wednesday and I’m excited to dig into God’s word about Jesus’ time in the wilderness. I found this neat decoration idea here:

http://thedickensonfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/ash-wednesday.html

I’m not sure how I feel about the whole ashes on the forehead. Since I’m not sure we may just do it on our arm. Sounds trivial I know but that’s just me. I celebrate many things including Biblical feasts. This year everything is running together. While I’m prepping for Valentine’s I’m also gearing up for Purim & Lent. Then comes St. Patrick’s Day, Passover, and Easter.  Wheww!

I love the fun of all the holiday traditions, food, and games but mainly I love learning about the Bible through these holidays. I’m not one to do things just for tradition sake. In fact, for many years I didn’t celebrate certain holidays because I thought they were pagan. Since digging deeper into the true history (not propaganda) I’ve changed my mind and have really began to enjoy the rich Biblical heritage of many holidays. I pray whether this is your first time celebrating Lent or you’re millionth time that the message of God’s word will fall fresh on you. There is nothing wrong with tradition as long as we don’t worship the tradition. Even devotion time and prayer can become rote and meaningless without the power of the Holy Spirit.  Holidays whether Biblical or secular can not save you or put you on a different level with God. Only God’s grace through Jesus Christ can do that. May we abide in Jesus today, dear ones.

First…..

Ash Wednesday:

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent (40 days leading up to Easter). Why 40 days? Well, it goes along with Jesus’ time of prayer and fasting in the wilderness when He was also tempted by Satan. In Biblical times, people would heap ashes on their heads as a sign of mourning and repentance before God. Thus, the ash cross on the forehead. Some people choose to give something up for Lent or to take on something new. I have friends who give up chocolate the whole month. It is also a time of focusing on service and giving.

I believe fasting (giving up food) and sabbaticals (giving up things or activities) should be a personal matter between you and God. Our church is having a Valentine’s banquet so I won’t be fasting. I’m anemic anyways. I do like the idea of giving up things because I’m doing this Bible study by Kelly Minter called “No Other Gods”. I’ve realized that I have many functional idols….a day away from my laptop may be as excruciating as not eating lol. Again….traditions will not make you holy before God. Jesus Christ is our righteousness…not our works.  I believe just as the Sabbath was made for man’s benefit that these traditions should benefit us.

God’s Word….

You can read the story of Jesus’ temptation here: http://bibleresources.org/bible/KJV/Matthew-4

This is my brief summary:

Jesus fasts for 40 days and 40 nights.

Verse 2 says afterwards he was hungry. Sorry I just have to stop and say what an understatement lol. Yes, I think I would be hungry too after that long ;).

The devil tempts Jesus three times and each time Jesus uses scripture to take Satan down. The Bible says God’s word is like a sword. I could so see a Star Wars thing happening but way better. Anywho, that’s just my overactive imagination.

I’ve always been taught how to use God’s word to make Satan flee but today while reading I noticed something. I want to talk to you about how Satan tempted Jesus. He used three methods and he still uses these today.

First off, the last time Satan tempts Jesus, the Lord tells Satan to go then uses scripture. I believe it is very possible that had Jesus told Satan to go the first time then he would have. but everything the Lord did was for our benefit. He knew we needed an example. So I want to put forward that the word of God is our greatest weapon in each of these temptations.

^3″And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

⁴But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:3-4

• Satan tempted Jesus during a time of weakness. Whenever we are hungry, tired, or even mentally drained we are open for attack. Lions attack their prey in times of weakness. A shark is drawn to a bleeding animal/fish. Satan  known as the roaring lion, (1 Peter 5:8) is no different. So dear ones, you must be especially on guard during times of weakness. Do not give the enemy the upper hand. Avoid even the appearance of evil.

Example: When my Hubby was deployed to Iraq I was very lonely. I knew that I missed his affection. I knew I was vulnerable. For my own sake, I decided not to hug people of the opposite sex..even pastors etc…unless they were family. I also did not allow myself to be alone with a man if possible. I’m still very careful about avoiding even the appearance of evil. But I was super careful during my time of weakness.

^6″And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

⁷Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”   Matthew 4:6-7

• Satan twisted scripture to tempt Jesus. We learn a lot about how to use God’s word to fight Satan but we often forget that Satan also knows God’s word. Sadly, he knows the word better than us because he’s lived through it. Satan is a master at twisting the Bible and bringing confusion. We must not only know scripture, we must also know it’s context.

Here is a great principle for protecting yourself against false teaching. Never build your theology on just one verse. If it is mean’t to be a foundational belief then it will be supported by several verses in both the old and new testaments. A lot of people (and I’ve been one of them) get into spiritual deception because they take one verse out of context. A close study of the culture, the original language, and the context (in the book/ letter and also the Bible as a whole) will often remedy any confusion.

I’ll admit that this is the hardest temptation for me. Too often I am unprepared when a person takes a verse out of context and shoots it my way. Sometimes this happens with believers and sometimes with unbelievers. Verses out of context can be used for all kinds of crazy beliefs. We must be ready and we must know our Bible. Another thing to note is that Jesus didn’t argue with Satan. He simply stated the truth in context.

^9″And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

¹⁰Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”   Matthew 4:9-10

• Satan tempted Jesus with worldly possessions. Now this is different for everyone. That’s why each believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling inside them. In the past, the Holy Spirit chose to dwell with only certain people so the majority had to rely on a prophet to speak God’s words. Now we have the immense privilege of going before the Father ourselves because Jesus is our High Priest. We have this beautiful personal relationship with Father God. The Holy Spirit himself teaches us God’s word and he brings conviction. The Holy Spirit knows us best and He helps us with those grey areas.

Maybe you can’t drink alcohol because you have a prior addiction. Or maybe you feel it’s permissible to drink because you don’t have a prior addiction and you never get drunk. In these last days we are to rely on Jesus for every area in our lives. If we rely on man instead of God, to tell us how to live then we are worshiping idols. We are to surrender to Jesus and to follow His words alone. So please don’t let anyone (even/ especially me) try to be your Holy Spirit. Wise counsel is good but Jesus gets the final say.

We are all tempted by different lusts whether it be candy bar or clothes. You know the area you struggle in. May God’s word bring conviction and remember the Word will give you the strength to overcome.  Who is the Word? Jesus himself is the embodiment of God’s word! How awesome!

So dear ones I hope you’ve learned how to counter Satan’s attacks with God’s word.

Valentines…

remember to go to my blog to see vids that don’t show up in email 😉

• Loving our spouse

Marriage Promise Video by Onetime Blind

• loving others

Help by Onetime Blind vid

sometimes God answers our prayers in ways we don’t expect & with people we may not accept

• God’s love for us

Little Things- Onetime Blind vid

seeing God work in the little things

Trash- Onetime Blind

Let God carry your trash. He does it because he loves you. Let it go 🙂

• Loving God

Wash my Feet- Onetime Blind vid

ever try to one up people on your service? A humbling reminder about humility 😉

Lord Lord- Onetime Blind vid

Do you call him Lord but not treat Him as Lord?

A great sermon by Francis Chan on recognizing false teaching

Love to you all! God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

Brain fart February 11, 2013

LOL ladies and gentlemen, I got so excited about posting J.S.’ post for a reblog that I thought it was Hear the Writer Roar! Tuesday! Man, I’m backwards today ;P

~Amber D.

So true J.S! Enjoy the reblog gang :). Not only does this message help us with daily living…it also helps us with writing. This is something to think about when you are creating characters for your book. God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover

J.S. Park: Hospital Chaplain, Skeptical Christian

No one is the one-dimensional, black-and-white, evil caricature that we so wish them to be. No one is the version of a person you worship on a pedestal.
It is easier to hate a cartoon-parody idea; to denigrate a hologram; to blast an artificial; to praise the effigy.
If you and I could sit down for coffee: we would discover multiple dimensions, a mess of motives, hidden layers, two profoundly broken people hanging on.
We are wildly struggling, conflicted, complex.
We are not wholly evil nor holy good.
Let go of heroic prejudice and villainous archetypes. There was only one hero, crushed at a cross; and one villain, who was defeated there too.
So we blood-stained sinners are stripped of pretension and cling to the true good; us sinners saved by an undeserved grace.
The sooner we get there, the sooner we are known and truly know.

— J.S.

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Crafty Monday: God’s Love & Hearts Galore! Plus Mardi Gras Celebration…

In this Post: Heart crafts, learning about God’s love, my “Jesus is my home” painting, & Mardi Gras celebration with homeschool group. At the end: helpful links and crafts from Valentine’s past.

Hello there! I pray you have a beautiful morning. It’s been nice to have a simpler study since we finished our Time Machine Study in home school. We are focusing on God’s love this month and later Purim (from the book of Esther).

First I want to show you a painting I did. I was inspired to do this “Jesus is my Home” painting while watching Beth Moore for my Bible study in Deuteronomy. I may put this picture on t-shirts on my Zazzle account (Doverette’s Bazaar- link on the right side of blog).

John 15:4 talks about abiding in Christ. He is where I choose to dwell and that is only by God’s grace. Jesus gives me the strength I need to walk in His ways. I can do nothing apart from God’s grace. This world is passing but Jesus will always be my home.

Michael used a new devotional just for last week. It is a book on John 3:16 for kids by Max Lucado. This week we will be getting back to the Bob Jones Devo to study Queen Esther and Daniel. We’ve also started using “Teaching Children to Pray”.

I also decided to give each day of the week a theme or two main subjects that we will focus on. For instance, Tuesday was Typing and Science. We did our normal activities but did extra in Science.

We began the week by talking about God’s love for us. We ended the week talking about how we show God’s love to others.

Surprisingly Michael mentioned free will as one of the ways that God shows his love for us. It’s so true. I’m glad God didn’t make us robots.

We talked about how God is the perfect Father and how he comforts us like a mother bird comforts her chicks. We talked about how Father God is the perfect parent and how human parents make mistakes.

The prayer book had some neat printables. These are light switch covers that remind us of God’s love and faithfulness.

Michael wrote his memory verse on this one and used Valentine’s stamps to decorate.

Michael drew his hand onto this hand print that represents Jesus’ hand. The pic says “My hand will always be in Jesus’ hand”.

Heart Mapping- Michael wrote the names of special people and places in this heart. Then he drew shapes around the words and color coded them.

I love these hearts with Bible verses on them. Every time Michael memorizes a verse he puts it in the envelope. We learned last week:

1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.” and 1 Corinthians 13: 4 “Love is Patient; Love is Kind.”

This sweet coloring page talks about how God loves us always…even when we are angry etc… the kids in the corners have the sayings written underneath them.

The Max Lucado book got in depth behind each part of John 3:16. It has puzzles and even the entire book of John with commentary.

Heart Science experiment with baking soda and vinegar

So this experiment didn’t go as well as we’d hoped. First we froze vinegar and water mixtures then baking soda and water mixtures. We added food coloring to make red hearts.

Then we put the hearts into a baking soda and water mixture with blue dye. The mixture barely fizzed. Maybe we did it wrong.

I even tried pouring baking soda on it but it just became a black purplish mess.

So Mondays are art and cooking now. I taught Michael how to boil eggs and also how to scramble eggs.

Michael scrambling his eggs.

Michael eating the fruit of his labor 😉

Tuesdays as I said is typing time. I have this neat typing game for pc. It shows Michael where to put his fingers and it times him. It’s called “Typing Instructor for kids”.

Our homeschool group celebrated Mardi Gras and was hosted by Rachel. You can find her blog here:

http://homeschoolingmom2mags.blogspot.com/

Rachel and her daughter Maggie always do neat things so check them out :).

Rachel made sure we knew that Mardi Gras actually began in Mobile, Al, where she’s from. She came all dressed up to teach the kids. The table was decked out in Mardi Gras theme. Rachel read us a book and explained the meaning behind the colors and customs of Mardi Gras. Purple, gold, & green represent the Wise men.

Michael and I wore our beads and hats. I had a tiara.

Rachel made a yummy meal: beans, sausage, & rice. We also had corn muffins.

Rachel made a timeline to show how the different holidays line up and she explained that Mardi Gras happens before Lent. Michael went up to draw a crown on the time line.

Rachel had two crafts but we were rushed by another group wanting to use our room. So we only got to one craft and I’ve yet to do the bead craft at home.  Michael keeps reminding me. The kids did make some neat masks.

The Mom’s put on the kids’ masks and were given beads, Moon Pies, & coins to throw to the children while we paraded around the room to jazz music. It was such a fun idea!

Rachel baked two lovely King cakes and her daughter Maggie found the baby Jesus figure inside her slice. I didn’t know much of anything about the holiday until Rachel hosted. I have a better view of Mardi Gras now and look forward to it next year! Thanks Rachel for such an amazing time! 🙂

Now here are some links to go with this month of love…..

What we’ve done in the past:

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/crafty-monday-valentines-showcase/

https://amberdover.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/crafty-monday-new-use-for-that-recalled-crib-pom-pom-sundaes-homemade-welcome-rugs/

I’ve done several of the Valentine’s projects here: http://www.thatartistwoman.org/p/winter-projects.html

Here are some pictures of the projects we did from thatartistwoman:

Hey Penny reviews this neat book:

http://www.meetpenny.com/2013/02/how-to-have-a-heart-for-your-kids-by-rachael-carman-giveaway/

My Pinterest for Valentines’ cooking & crafting (come to blog to see links):

God bless & remember the High King lives & He loves you! ~Amber Dover