Free Printable: Scripture Memory Cards {52 Weeks of Family Bible Memorization}
Do you memorize scripture as a family? Is it one of your goals for this year?
These printable Scripture memory cards are designed to help you do just that!
Instead of individual verses, I've chosen longer passages to work on over the course of a month.
Here's the best way I've found to memorize long passages (works for both kids and adults!)
1. Print each month's card and post it in a prominent place in the house.
2. Read the passage aloud 3 times in the morning and 3 times in the evening. (If you want to print a separate copy for each person, that may be helpful.)
3. After 3 days, begin trying to recite the verses aloud without looking, glancing at the passage as needed.
4. Repeat every day. Soon you will find you and your children reciting the entire passage from memory effortlessly!
5. Continue for one month, then print out the next month's card and repeat the process.
At the end of the year, you and your children will know 12 long passages of scripture by heart!
What a wonderful way to spend your time this year — hiding God's Word in your heart and in your children's hearts!
All Scripture is from the King James Version of the Bible.
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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR VERSE CARDS!
Learning Through Play: Ice Activity for Kids
It's been cold, and we're all stuck inside feeling a little bored. I decided to liven things up a bit by planning a fun ice activity for the kids.
Shh…don't tell them we were learning too!
I got a foil pan for each of them and had them gather up small toys from around the house. We filled each pan with water enough to submerge the items.
We had to wait until the next day before the pans of water were fully frozen.
When we pulled the pans out of the freezer, I told the kids they needed to figure out the best way to get their toys out of the ice.
“Oh, I know! We'll pry them out with a butter knife!”
But they soon discovered that wasn't very effective.
I began to try to help them think about what was necessary for the toys to be freed from the ice.
“Let's try putting water on it!” One said. They were getting somewhere, but they still weren't understanding that ice is hard because it is past the freezing point and to get it turned back to liquid they need to bring the temperature above freezing.
“Cold or warm?” I asked?
“Let's try cold!” they said.
I added a little cold water to each of their pans. The ice began to crack.
But it still did not help them pry their toys loose.
“Let's try hot water!”
The hot water melted the ice enough for them to dig out some of the items with effort, but the items still had hunks of ice stuck to them.
I made the suggestion to run the individual item under the hot water and see what happens.
They were amazed to watch the ice melt away.
Two of the kids immediately decided to put their entire pan under the hot water.
One child was still having too much fun excavating…
The kids had such a good time playing in the ice…I mean, learning about the freezing point and melting point of ice!
They kept telling me that I was the best mommy ever and that this was the “funnest” day they've ever had!
We will be doing more fun activities, kiddos.
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Motivate Your Child to Do Right
I'm reading a new book this month called Motivate Your Child: A Christian Parent's Guide to Raising Kids Who Do What They Need to Do Without Being Told. I haven't gotten very far yet, but the little bit I've read so far has been great! I've already been mulling over some things I read — and that was just the introduction!
In spite of being raised in a great Christian home, growing up in a church where there was much teaching on the home, and even taking college courses on the Christian home, there is always something more that I can learn — and I have!
About the book:
God's Word gives us a better way to parent, one that builds strong internal motivation in children. When parents change the way they parent, kids change the way they live. Motivate Your Child is a practical book that explores a theology of internal motivation and then gives parents real-life solutions to equip their kids for life.
In order to motivate parents to Pre-Order the book, the National Center for Biblical Parenting is offering a $150 package of resources for FREE! There are video, audio and print items that can be used on a variety of devices. You can learn more on the Book Website.
Pre-Order the book now from any retailer, and then follow the instructions below.
INSTRUCTIONS: Purchase the book. Email the receipt to gift@biblicalparenting.org. The NCBP will send you the link and a special code to access these downloadable products. This offer is good until January 31, 2015.
Wet Oatmeal Kisses
I came across this poem in a book and it was such a powerful reminder not to wish the years away!
Know a mom who needs some encouragement? Feel free to share!
Find more mom-to-mom encouragement on Facebook:
Why I’m Okay With a Messy House
Let me fill you in on a dirty little secret.
My house stays a mess.
Like a really big mess.
Like if you come over unannounced I'll be really embarrassed mess.
But here's why I'm okay with my messy house:
1. I have a messy personality.
I'm not saying that personality is an excuse to be lazy and undisciplined. And I'm not saying it's a reason not to try to be more organized either.
But as long as I'm trying my best — working at keeping the mess cleaned up, learning better ways to keep things clean, and just generally giving it my best effort, then at the end of the day I have nothing to be ashamed of. Stressing over it and wishing things are different isn't going to change the fact that being organized isn't my strong point. (Ahem. I just smelled something strange and found a pot of rice burning on the stove that I'd completely forgotten about! But hey, at least I was trying to make dinner for my family right? There's no guilt in that!)
2. The mess means we live here.
The dishes mean I've been cooking up something for my family to eat. The craft supplies laying out mean the kids have been ultra-creative today. (We're still working on teaching them to clean up after themselves!) The shreds of ripped-up tissues (unused!) mean I have a curious little baby who gets into everything, and that's okay! She's developing into a healthy, active little girl. There's so much loud, lively chaos going on at all times of the day (and sometimes night!) that I cannot stay on top of it all. I'm just so thankful for this family God has given me!
3. I'm investing my time in teaching the kids how to clean.
I'm honestly trying to focus more of my time on teaching the kids how to clean than I am actually doing the cleaning. I'm hopeful that the time investment will pay off in the long run, and I think it will. When my 3 year old wants to help unload the dishwasher, I let him help me, even though it takes 5 times as long. When my 5 year old wants to learn how to put the dirty dishes in, I teach her how, even though it is a slow process (and even though previously mentioned baby is destroying who-knows-what while we do it.) Am I the only one who can't stand the dishwasher to be loaded the “wrong” way??
But guess who knows how to unload the dishwasher all by himself now? Or sweep the floor? Or take out the trash? Yes – my oldest who started slowing me down as soon as he started walking. But since I've taken the time to teach him these things, he can now do them – and do them properly – without any help. His younger siblings are not too far behind, although that doesn't necessarily mean they comply when asked to do a chore.
Which brings me to my final, and most important point…
4. I'm focusing my time on the eternal as opposed to the temporary.
As I've already mentioned, I am not the most organized person in the world. While some mothers are able to manage to keep their houses clean while also finding the necessary time to train their children in the things of the Lord, I – to put it simply – am not.
I've been told that my children are unusually willful. Whether or not that is true, I don't know, but I do know that their training has been immeasurably more difficult than I ever could have imagined.
Hours upon hours have been spent behind closed doors instructing my children in the way of righteousness. Sometimes I wonder if they're deaf. There are many — no, I honestly think most – days where the only thing I manage to get done is to go in and out of the bedroom correcting, teaching, and praying over children, many times disciplining for the same offense over and over and over again. (I'm told their father was rather hard-headed as a child. I'd sure be grateful if they turn out like him, but in the meantime, well – it's just flat out difficult.)
I'm unwilling to give up the fight. If I lose my children, I've lost everything. And if that means I have to give up a clean house to teach them that a life surrendered to the Lord is the only life worth living, it's a price I'm willing to pay.
I used to feel very guilty and stressed out about the constant mess (and I still do sometimes.) But for the most part, I've found joy in this place. The place of knowing that I'm fulfilling my most important calling as a mother. The calling to raise up a generation of people who love the Lord with all their heart.
Do I need to work hard to try to do both (keep things clean and spend time training my children)? Absolutely.
But if it comes down to one or the other, I'm choosing to be okay with a messy house.
(See also: Letting Go of Homemaker's Guilt)
How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Do you ever actually keep them?
I enjoy making goals at the beginning of each new year. They really help me focus my time on what's most important.
But it's very easy to make resolutions that you'll never keep if you're not careful. Here are some tips to help you create goals that you can actually reach!
1. Be specific.
New Year's Resolutions are often nebulous ideas like “lose weight”, “exercise”, “eat more healthy”, “be a better wife, mom, friend, etc.”
How can you stick to something that's not even clear? A better idea would be to create a goal to lose x pounds this year or to eat one salad every day. Make a goal to write a love note to your husband or bake his favorite treat once a week. Make it your goal to spend 15 minutes of one-on-one time with each of your children every day.
2. Don't wait to start.
If you shouldn't be eating junk food on Jan. 1, you shouldn't be eating junk food on December 31st either. If you should be exercising on January 1, you should be exercising Dec. 31st too. Whatever it is that you know you should be doing — you should start right now! If you're not going to discipline yourself to start now, you're not going to discipline yourself to keep at it either. Developing good habits is a daily choice you have to make, and if you're not willing to make that choice today, you're definitely not willing to make it for a whole year.
3. Break your goals down.
If you make a goal to spend more one-on-one time with your kids, figure out how and when you are going to do that. You can't keep a commitment if you don't have a plan for actually seeing it through!
4. Re-evaluate Periodically
Go through next year's calendar and pencil in dates with yourself to do this (once a month is good) so that you don't forget! Have your good intentions of writing a love note to your husband turned into reality? If not, why? What do you need to change so that you actually accomplish your goal? Is your goal something you need to cross off your list altogether?
5. Get an accountability partner
Give your spouse, friend, blog readers(?) a list of your goals so they can check up on you periodically. If you've determined to only eat one dessert a month, your hubby can hold you to it when he sees you sneaking treats out of the freezer or pantry. 🙂
(Speaking of accountability partners — this is totally random, but I just remembered because of the terminology. If you sign up for Covenant Eyes before December 31, you'll get 2 months free. Our family uses and loves Covenant Eyes for protecting ourselves and our children from internet pornography. It's a price we're more than willing to pay. If you'd like to give it a try, sign up here and use the coupon ONLINESAFETY to get the 2 free months.)
What other tips do you have for keeping your New Year's Resolutions?