My God is an Awesome God

Last week I started teaching my Sunday school some characteristics of God. I asked them to tell me what they think of when they think of God. They gave me some very interesting descriptions...some slightly accurate, but mostly not accurate at all. Shane suggested that I teach them what the Bible says about how God looks. I started studying it, reading verses about what God looks like and it is so amazing. I got the descriptions from the Bible then googled images for those specific descriptions. So I have a lot of photos to show the kids along with the description. For example, in Revelation it says that God has the appearance of jasper and sardine stone. So I googled jasper and sardine stone and got images for those things to show the kids. I did that with each description I found. It is a very neat thing to study and I am very glad I did it. I encourage you to go read about God and what He looks like. It makes me just a little more excited to get to heaven :-)

Here are a couple verses to get you started:
Genesis 1:27
Revelation 19:11-16
Revelation 1:12-15
Revelation 4:3

Quiet Books

Has anyone ever made a quiet book? I have been pinning a ton of quiet book page ideas on pinterest along with making some of my own. Shane bought me some felt last night so I do believe I now have nothing stopping me from starting a quiet book for the kids! I will start with one for William. If it is extremely stressful and not so much fun I will stop there and the two of them can share it. BUT if I really enjoy (which I think I will) then I will make one for Jenn, too. I am hoping to have them done for our trip in January...maybe let them open them up on the plane or something. We will see :-) I will post pictures as I finish pages so you all can see the progress. And if anyone has ever done one before and wants to share some advice, please do so!!

Pennsylvania

I am very happy to announce that I will be in Pennsylvania on January 11, 2014! I fly out of Inuvik on the 10th, and over night in Edmonton. Either my mom or one of my sisters will meet me there then we will all fly to PA on the 11th. I will be travelling with William and Jenna. This will be William's 3rd time making the trip and Jenna's first. William LOVED it last time and did great and since Jenna is complete opposite of him I am preparing for the worst. Haha. No, I think she will do fine. I am just thankful I will have help for the hard part of the trip. 

I will be in PA until February 13 so if anyone is interested in getting together during that time please let me know! I would love to see as many of my friends as possible while I am down there. Shane will be arriving on February 2 to spend the last 10 days of the trip with us.

I am just so thankful the Lord worked this trip out for us and I really want to praise him for it. It is an expensive trip. We have to pay for all but Jenna's tickets (since she is under 2). It would cost over $6,000 for all of us but since we had points I don't think Shane paid more than $900 total!

Anyway, so I am very excited. 

Spring Time

I think it is spring...it is hard to tell sometimes. I saw a quote the other day that would describe our weather very well, "What a nice winter we are having this spring." That about covers it. Earlier this week we had lovely weather even rising above freezing for a couple hours! But then yesterday a blizzard blew in and today is no different. STRONG winds and some snow. It is so cold outside! But, it can't stay cold forever can it? I just keep thinking one day we will go outside to play in the warm sunshine! One day! But all in all I can't complain. Things are going very well here and my children are growing and learning so fast. 

I haven't put up any photos for a while. Here are two photos that were taken a couple weeks ago at the Muskrat Jamboree.

An Encouraging Afternoon

I just wanted to share these encouraging verses. It is not always easy to wait on the Lord but it is always worth it :-)

Proverbs 13:12- Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Lamentations 3:24-26- The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

Psalm 27:14- Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Proverbs 1:4-5---To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear , and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

Subtilty means "explanation". If I am going to be able to give explanation to my children I need to proceed to verse 5: hear, increase learning, attain unto wise counsels.
                 1. Hear the whole story before disciplining
                 2. Hear the truth, not just what I want to hear
                 3. Increase learning through: personal devotions and Bible studies, preaching, reading books    about the Bible and about teaching
                 4. Attain unto wise counsels: my husband, my preacher, godly mothers and women

My study started out with instruction to me. If I plan on doing it right, doing it God's way, I have to follow this guideline. Hear, increase learning, and attain unto wise counsels. The Lord doesn't want us to take our children and just "wing it" as we try to raise them. He has given us help through His Word and other Christians to do it the right way. Praise the Lord!

Child Training from Proverbs

While my mom was here last month I was bombarding her with questions about handling situations with William. I was trying to get as much "been there, done that" advice that I could. Before she left she told me that I should take a look through Proverbs and the notes she had put in her Bible over the years about child training. (She gave me her Bible when I moved to the North in 2009). Anyway, the day after she left I got a pen and a notebook and started reading through Proverbs and writing down anything that I should be teaching William. I couldn't believe how much stuff I could be, should be teaching him. Things about lying, stealing, temper control, attitude, working hard, obeying...basically every thing and situation he will ever face in life the Lord teaches how to handle it in Proverbs. I am only in chapter 13 and I already have over 60 things I should be teaching William! I will share some of my study as the weeks go on, but for now I challenge you (especially you mothers) to go to the Bible and see for yourself what the Lord expects us to teach our children. You know how a coach gives his team a good pep talk before a game? Well, that's sort of how I feel every morning after reading from Proverbs. It's a "here, this is what you need to do- now go do it!" sort of thing. And it's a great reminder and challenge for myself because for me to teach William those things he HAS to see it in my life. Things like working hard, giving to others, holding my tongue...how will he learn these things if I am not doing it myself?

Ok, go get into Proverbs!