Archive: July 2012
What’s in the Bible? Supports Carnival of Courage
Today’s guest post is from Rachel Wojnarowski. You can check out more of her writing at rachelwojo.com.
I’ll never forget two specific days in the life of my daughter’s journey with her disease. The first was the day we received Taylor’s diagnosis of MPS. After seeing over twenty-some doctors and relentlessly searching for an answer to her difficulties since birth, at four years of age, the test results were positive for the rare metabolic disorder of MPS, mucopolysaccharidosis.
The second day I’ll never forget was six months later when the doctor’s office called and told us they just diagnosed another patient and would our family like to meet theirs? Would we ever! The ins and outs of dealing with rare disorders, such as MPS, is tough. Eleven years ago, it was even tougher. Social media hardly existed. Facebook and Twitter weren’t options of connection like they are today. We felt…alone.
Until another family came alongside us, their precious daughter affected in the same ways as our Taylor girl. To listen to each other and discuss and chat was more valuable than gold. To be able to pick up the phone and call someone who understood was priceless. To laugh and cry and pray together …spending time making memories and taking pictures of the girls together brought so much JOY.
What if we could give this gift to other families affected by MPS?
So God called our family to give others this opportunity. We began an annual gathering of families who have children affected by MPS, a rare disease for which the average life span is 10-15 years. The goal was to host a one-day event that would be a light of encouragement to those suffering from this rare disorder. To let them know how much we understood as a family affected by the same disease and to be an inspiration of living life to the fullest each and every day, thanking God for them. The first year, we had to mail all the invitations by snail mail. Twenty-four people were in attendance. But the number didn’t matter. Lives were touched and relationships began to form.
This year the “Carnival of Courage,” our 11th season of hosting families whose lives are affected by MPS, brought 21 terminally ill children together, with over 200 family members and event workers to support them. Our little gathering has evolved into a safe haven of love and laughter in the midst of dealing with degenerative disease. While Heaven has gained some of our precious MPS friends along the years of our journey, the footprints of their lives are stamped all over our hearts.
This year we would like to give a special thanks to What’s In The Bible? for their wonderful support of this endeavor. We truly appreciate the messages and fun found in What’s in the Bible? and feel so blessed to be able to share it with the wonderful families who are affected by MPS. There is no source of comfort and encouragement greater than God’s Word and for that reason, we extend many thanks and appreciate the heart and ministry of What’s In The Bible?.
How to Help Our Family Members Deal With Stress, Worry and Fear
Stress, worry, fear. All of these emotions can be debilitating.
Are you the husband and father who feels the pressure of financially providing for your family, and fearful of the way the economy is heading? What if you lose your job?
Are you are already unemployed and fearful of what today will bring?
Are you a single mother, who is wondering how to break herself into the many roles she needs to play for her family, and still provide for them? Or the parent who sees your child is struggling with worry and fear about friends, school, or being accepted?
Maybe if we just escape…
For some of us, summer is the time when we try to escape from our everyday routine and take a few days off for vacation. We all need a break from the busyness of life – the stress that makes us lose sleep or the fears which hold us captive. The thing is when we walk back in the front door, after a week “off”, all those worries come flooding back into our heads and hearts. Escaping may seem like a quick fix, but we Christians are called to live life differently. We need to be reminded that we can call on the Lord during times of stress, worry, and fear.
God’s word will comfort us, shield us, and restore real peace. God is there, and He wants us to empty our hearts unto Him.
Words of Jesus:
Mark 6:31 “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
Peace:
Isaiah 57:1-2 “The righteous man perishes,and no one lays it to heart;devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.”
He restores our soul:
Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
He is with us:
Exodus 33:14 “And he said, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’”
Give your burdens to Jesus:
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
No fear:
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
God rested:
Hebrews 4:9-11 “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.”
About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a weekly contributing writer to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly. She works freelance in Christian Media, specializing in writing, promotions and marketing. Lisa lives with her husband and their two sons in Nashville, TN. Follow her personal blog: www.talkinglikeagirl.blogspot.com
Volume 9 Coloring Page
Mark your calendars: on August 14th our next DVD, Volume 9 – God Speaks!, will be available. Download the coloring page for this new DVD below.
Download the Volume 9 Coloring Page Here
How to Talk to Your Kids About Their Strengths and Weaknesses
Back in 1976, my cousin Michael and I were both 9 years old and about to enter the 4th grade. This was the summer that we both had to memorize our multiplication tables. At some point before school started, Michael’s dad (my uncle) sat us down in his den and started a game with us, asking us random multiplication facts. I did ok, but as soon as I got asked what was 8×7, I froze. Was it 54 or 56? Michael jumped in and answered correctly, and won the game. To this day I still have to pause just a mili-second longer when working a multiplication problem that involves the 8’s or 9’s!
Michael and I weren’t part of the generation that was taught, “Everyone’s a winner and takes home a trophy”. Instead we were taught that sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and the importance of how to be a good sport in each circumstance. The math competition with my cousin inspired me to study harder, and by the time 4th grade started, I knew my multiplication facts, yes, even my 8’s and 9’s! But it became clear as the years clicked by that math was never my natural strength. And my parents were okay with that, although they made it crystal clear that I still had to do my best, even if that meant I had to work a little harder than other kids who naturally gravitated to the more analytical subjects.
We parents know that each of our children have unique strengths and weaknesses. It’s how God wired each of us for His purpose. How do we encourage those strengths and yet at the same time encourage perseverance in the things that don’t come naturally easy?
One way we’ve instilled perseverance in our kids is by using goal-setting strategies. We’re not expecting perfection or A’s in every subject; instead, we start small. Children often will underestimate what it will take to meet a goal, so parents need to help them plan out realistic strategies to meet a reachable goal.
If reading is something that your child struggles with, maybe encourage them to read for 20 minutes a day, sitting beside them and taking turns reading a paragraph, page or chapter. If science is the area in which they struggle, maybe the goal could be an “honorable mention” in the class science fair. Of course, this would require parents teaching the child the steps to achieving this goal – from how to research the topic, to documentation of the experiment, to the final application of the results.
Goal-setting doesn’t always have to involve school subjects, either. We’ve utilized these strategies for behavioral issues, even for learning how to ride a bike! It’s a step by step process that kids seem to respond well to.
Positive reinforcement works wonders!! Applaud their efforts! Achieving small goals in areas which don’t necessarily come easy for us really instills a sense of accomplishment, and then a desire to keep going in our efforts to improve.
We prayerfully speak to each child’s strengths and weaknesses, understanding and all the while reassuring them that God created them wonderfully and individually! He has a plan for their lives. Instill in them confidence in who they are in God’s Kingdom.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a weekly contributing writer to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly. She works freelance in Christian Media, specializing in writing, promotions and marketing. Lisa lives with her husband and their two sons in Nashville, TN. Follow her personal blog: www.talkinglikeagirl.blogspot.com
Introducing Race to the Finish! Old Testament Blog Tour & Giveaway
Introducing the Race to the Finish! Old Testament Blog Tour & Giveaway!
Here at What’s in the Bible?, we can’t quite believe we’re almost done with the Old Testament! We’re really excited to be gearing up for the August release of Volume 9 – God Speaks! (Isaiah, Jeremiah & The Prophets).
Starting today, we’re launching a 4 week blog tour with some of favorite children’s ministry bloggers about the 9 volumes ofWhat’s in the Bible? curriculum that will go all the way through the Old Testament in 9 months. We’re also giving away a grand prize of all 9 volumes plus a new DVD player!
Learn more about the giveaway and follow along with the bloggers each week HERE.
Catch up with the first review from Lemon Lime Kids here.
How To Talk to Your Kids About Independence Day
We Americans love a reason to celebrate! Is there any other national holiday that is quite as exciting as the 4th of July? Close your eyes and think about the many Independence Days which you have celebrated. What comes to mind? Barbecues, sunshine, lemonade, the feeling of grass beneath your feet, horseshoes, pie eating contests, hot dogs, swimming, fireworks. What a great celebration most of us look forward to on July 4th!
It’s a great time to share with our children why we celebrate our Independence and what philosophies our Founding Fathers used as they set out to create this great nation.
Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 24 of them held seminary degrees! Their belief in God and their Christian faith became the foundation of this nation, as well as informed the way in which our government was formed. As you look up, ahhing and ooohing at the grandeur of the fireworks displayed in the night sky, remember that this nation was built on the Word of God. Then, take a moment and remember to give God praise and thanks for our great nation. Happy Birthday United States of America!!
Here are some writings from a few of our Founding Fathers to give you and your kids a better insight to what their personal beliefs about God, faith and liberty were.
John Adams, 2nd President and signer of Declaration of Independence:
“Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God … What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be.”
–Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 9.
“Now I will avow, that I then believe, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God; and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System.”
–Adams wrote this on June 28, 1813, excerpt from a letter to Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson, 2nd President and signer of Declaration of Independence:
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event.”
Roger Sherman, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution:
“I do declare to the whole world that we believe the Scriptures to contain a declaration of the mind and will of God in and to those ages in which they were written; being given forth by the Holy Ghost moving in the hearts of holy men of God; that they ought also to be read, believed, and fulfilled in our day; being used for reproof and instruction, that the man of God may be perfect. They are a declaration and testimony of heavenly things themselves, and, as such, we carry a high respect for them. We accept them as the words of God Himself.”
–Treatise of the Religion of the Quakers p. 355.
Patrick Henry, ratifier of the U.S. Constitution:
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”
–The Trumpet Voice of Freedom: Patrick Henry of Virginia, p. iii.
“The Bible … is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed.”
–Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry, p. 402.
About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a weekly contributing writer to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly. She works freelance in Christian media, specializing in writing, promotions and marketing. Lisa lives with her husband and their two sons in Nashville, TN.
