How do I disciple? (Guest Author)

I (Hollie) have asked my friend Sarah Rogers to be a guest author for this week on Discipleship. I met Sarah and her husband Matt while in Seminary at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. They graduated and moved to SC in 2007.  The Lord has reconnected us and our families are in ministry together at our church plant, Renewal Church in Greenville, SC. Sarah and I both recently taught/spoke to the women at the Multiplying Disciples Summit that Renewal Church hosted a few weeks ago.  Sarah has such a passion for discipleship, and I knew we could glean from her wisdom and obedience in this area. 

As a believer in high school, growing up in the South, discipleship to me was a class that our youth group participated in to learn about spiritual disciplines.  We read through Survival Kit (an old beginners guide to “how to live like a Christian”), walked through the discussion questions, and then went on with our merry lives.  Not until later did it dawn on me that there was so much I didn’t know how to do as a Christian woman and that God had much bigger plans for me than pats on the back for having the right answers in Bible study classes.  He planned to take my life experiences (good and bad), wisdom and knowledge, and use them for His glory to draw the lost to Himself.  Paul Tripp encourages us in this thought when he says,

“Your life is much bigger than a good job, an understanding spouse and non-delinquent kids. It is bigger than beautiful gardens, nice vacations, and fashionable clothes. In reality, you are part of something immense, something that began before you were born and will continue after you die. God is rescuing fallen humanity, transporting them into His kingdom, and progressively shaping them into His likeness—and He wants you to be part of it.” (Paul Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, 20)

How can we join God as He “rescues fallen humanity, transports them into His kingdom, and progressively shapes them into His likeness”?  Through one-on-one discipleship.  I say one-on-one because the larger the group (as in a class setting), the less likely you are to get to the heart of those you are discipling.  We are after more than behavior change, we are looking for lasting change in our words, choices, and actions.  To accomplish that type of lasting change, we must target the heart in discipleship. (Matt. 23:25-26)  So how do you do this as you disciple the “younger” woman God has placed in your life?

1)      Loving her –In 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 Paul describes his discipleship relationship as “gentle…like a nursing mother caring for her children…affectionately desirous…very dear.”  In this type of relationship you love her enough to spur her on to look more and more like Jesus.  This may mean there are times where hard conversations must be had but your relationship, built on love, trust, and mutual respect is already established so those times will produce good fruit that will last.

2)      Know her – Many times we assume we know people based on what we know of their behaviors, hear in their conversations, or hear from the perspectives of others.  But truly knowing a person means knowing their heart – What does she believe?  What are her goals?  What are her hopes, dreams, values and desires?  Knowing means being able to predict what she thinks and feels in a given situation.  Only when you truly know her can you guide her to the root of her sin, help her look ahead in situations where she may be tempted to sin, and ask critical questions to get at her heart instead of questions that stay at the surface.

3)      Speak truth to her–Paul didn’t love the Thessalonians in a conceptual way, but he loved them enough to speak truth into their lives: “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” (1 Thess. 2:11-12)  To target the heart of the woman God has placed in your life you MUST speak truth to her!  Bring God’s truth to bear on her heartaches, successes, and every other aspect of her life.  Let her see herself in the mirror of God’s Word so that lasting change will take place!  In Titus 2, Paul actually commands us to “be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, or slaves to much wine…to teach what is good, and so train the younger women…”  In order to teach and train, you must open your mouth and speak hard truths, encouraging words, and your own life experiences so that she will learn how to “love her husband and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to her own husband.” (Titus 2:3-5)

4)      “Do” with her– Lastly you must help her DO what she has learned by applying the insights God has given her to her daily life and relationships.  Model and encourage:

a.        Repentance – turning from both behavioral sin and heart sin and turning to God

b.      Belief – in the promises of God through Scripture concerning our past, present, and future

c.       Obedience – by putting off sin and putting on righteousness in specific ways (Eph. 4)

Our goal in discipleship is to be more like Jesus, but also to draw a watching world to Jesus.  Paul encourages discipleship to teach and train the younger women “so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us…so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior”.

“The world is desperately seeking someone to follow. That they will follow someone is certain, but will that person be one who knows the way of Christ, or will he or she be one like themselves leading them only on into greater darkness?  This is the decisive question of our plan of life. The relevance of all that we do waits on its verdict, and in turn, the destiny of the multitudes hangs in the balance” (Robert Coleman, Master Plan of Evangelism, 108)

Much of this was adapted from Amy Chasteen’s notes “Why Discipleship”

A Paul, A Barnabas & A Timothy

I'm not sure if all of you caught the comment Jen left on Hollie's last post, so I wanted to repost it here with a few of my own thoughts on the subject.

Jen wrote...
Great post Hollie. This is definitely my passion as well. The couple my husband and I would consider our mentors early in our adult lives, put it this way: "You should always have at least one Paul, one Barnabas, and one Timothy in your life."

Paul being a more mature believer mentoring you. Barnabas, being a like-minded believer walking in similar circumstances for mutual encouragement and accountability. And Timothy, being a younger believer for you to pour into (mentor/disciple).

I have found that to be a reasonable goal—"at least one". That analogy has helped me to keep a balance — although there are seasons where you have more Pauls or more Timothys — I am not only soaking up wisdom from others, but also sharing. Nor am I going around only encouraging and speaking with people in the same "plane" spiritually as me. I am being challenged to grow and to share. Keeps the balance we all need in perspective.

I was taught this same addage (by the same lovely mentor woman!) and think it is such a wise word.

So, who is my Paul? How did I connect with this person? I have had a few "Pauls" over the years, depending on where I was living. The key to each of these relationships was that I put myself in their path. Today, there are a few women I look to as an example of godly living and that I go to with questions/problems. One would be my pastor's wife, Ann, and another would be a mom in our church family named Ellen, who has three grown children. I purposely look for ways to insert myself in their lives because they have godly, grown children, they are active in our church family, and they have sweet spirits. I invite myself over to their house. I sit with them at group functions. I do all of this because I'm not sure if one of them would sporadically choose to start doing all of that with me. I make it clear that I am open for a relationship and for their wisdom in my life so that they don't shy away from sharing it. For example, I approached Ann about 3 months ago and asked her if she'd be willing to meet with me once or twice to discuss a problem I was having. I told her point blank that I was looking for her to be hard on me and not sympathize with me. I was really struggling with respecting my husband and loving him the way I should. She and I went out for coffee, I explained the situation, and she told me in no uncertain terms that I was sinning and that I needed to love and respect my husband above all else. She really poured into me for that hour, and I know she has been praying for me over the past 3 months. She has approached me once since then to check in and make sure that things were better. I think it can be really helpful to have someone in our lives to speak truth without compromise, and often that is best coming from someone who is older than us.

Who is my Barnabas?I think this one might be easiest for young moms because we are often surrounded by other moms in similar situations to ours. BUT, here's the tough part...are we speaking truth into each other's lives? When we get together, do we encourage and build one another up IN GOD'S WORD? And how do we/would we receive it if a friend spoke truth to us, even truth that's hard to hear. I have two sets of "Barnabases" these days. One would be the POH authors. We often e-mail around to each other with different issues we are facing or what's going on in our lives. And we have opportunity to speak truth to one another. Just a few weeks ago Margaret had opportunity to speak a tough word to me through e-mail. It was hard for her to do it, but it was so good for me to hear it. We are often timid to approach a peer because we don't want to offend. But sometimes we need to offend! Sin can be offensive! :) I need to make sure that my heart is open to hear it when a sister gathers the nerve to talk to me. My other group of "Barnabases" would be the 3 closest friends I have through my church family. I purposely choose to spend time with these ladies throughout my week. I learn from their parenting, I learn from their relationships with their husbands. I want our talk and the way we relate to be Christ-centered and different than the next set of girlfriends down the street. We are more than girlfriends - we are sisters in Christ. So I try to love them, serve them, encourage them, and talk about the Word with them.

Who is my Timothy?You all! :) When I try to answer this question, I start to understand the problem a lot of us face when it comes to discipleship. We all desire to be mentored by an older woman. We all can think of how we relate to and encourage our peers. But then it's hard to think of ourselves as being a mentor to someone else. For me anyhow, it makes it sound like I think I am beyond someone else or teaching them from my vast wisdom. And so I think we often tend to shirk from this relationship. Just like I keep wondering why an older woman doesn't just approach me and ask me if she can mentor me, I probably do the same thing. I think, oh surely no one wants me to mentor them. They will think I'm stupid or arrogant if I say anything. And so I hesitate when I answer this question. I suppose in my mind I see POH as a way of mentoring other moms. And I see myself trying to underhandedly mentor other moms who have just had their first babies. I say underhandedly because I want to be a "mentor" to them, but I don't want them to think I think I know it all and I don't want them to laugh at me for thinking I could mentor them. :) (Do you hear the craziness that goes on in my head sometimes?).

So that is my LONG response to this idea. Any thoughts from you all to share?

Wordless Wednesday

Mentoring Moms

This week we are expounding upon discipleship and hoping to shed some light on how to find a good mentor, looking at what the book of Titus (in the Bible) has to model for us, and the importance of learning from a wiser woman.

My husband and I are planting a church, Renewal Church, in South Carolina, and at Renewal, we are really trying to cultivate a rich discipleship lifestyle where discipling others is the norm.  Last month we had a “Multiplying Disciples Summit” where we, as a church, were challenged to take discipleship seriously.  In the end, the leaders were challenged to start discipling at least one other person for 12 weeks using the book of Colossians, and we were given some “bare bones” to help guide us through these 12 weeks. The goal is to really get the discipleship ball rolling in our church body and making the necessary changes in our lives to make discipleship a normal part of our Christian walk, not ending after 12 weeks.

I’m sure you’d agree that finding someone you want to emulate in the faith and learn from, who is willing to take time out of their schedule weekly to invest in you, is difficult to find. When I became a believer when I was 13 years old, I CRAVED this so badly, having so many unanswered questions and could have really used a solid believer to pour into me the foundations of the faith, teaching me how to feed myself with the Word of the God daily. What does the Word have to say about discipleship? Are we as believers really supposed to be doing this?

 Titus 2:1-5 

“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.  Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”  

The Word is definitely clear that discipleship MUST be a part of our daily lives, commanding us as believers to TEACH the Word of God.  Are YOU teaching? Maybe you want to, but you don’t know how to make it happen? Maybe you feel ill-equipped, because nobody really taught you how to feed yourself in the Word of God and mature spiritually going from milk to meat and you need to be taught (1 Peter 2:2-3, Hebrews 5:12-14). Maybe the desire isn’t there at all, and you don’t want to give up the little bit of free time you have. Maybe you’re wondering how in the WORLD you would have even a second of your day to dedicate to this. First, realize that the Lord is all about His glory and making disciples to the glory of God PLEASES Him! Recognize that as believers, this is a responsibility we have as the church and in helping grow/educate/meet the needs of the church.  Confess to the Lord that you realize this is something you need to be doing as a believer, so as to be obedient to His Word.  Ask Him to help you find a way to make this happen, either by changing how you feel about this as you obey, or  by moving the elements of your life around to help assist you in making discipleship happen to the glory of God. 

This week we want to dig deeper into putting feet on how to make discipleship a reality in our lives.  How do you disciple? Who do you ask to disciple you? If time is an issue, are there creative ways to invest in those younger in the faith (not necessarily age)? Ideally, it would be great if someone was investing in you and you in others.  We sure would love your input on this topic, so if you have any questions, leave them in the comments section. If you have any advice coming from personal experience in discipleship, we’d love to hear from you! We are excited about this week!


In the meantime, feel free to listen online to the Multiplying Disciples Summit  (MDS) by Matt Rogers, our lead pastor, as well as our weekly sermons, falling under “The Disciple Experiment.” 

Leah P's Bible Reading

There are a few different things I've been reading as part of different groups. Let me share with you what's stuck out the most to me recently.

Our Small Group: The Minor Prophets
Hosea 1:5 - For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, "I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink."
Hosea 1:8 - And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who laished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal."

I was really challenged by this passage to consider where I think all of the things in my life come from. And do I chase after things that I think bring me pleasure when really those things are a gift from God.

Hosea 11:8 - How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.

The compassion and the forbearance of the Lord is awesome.

Bible Study Fellowship: Isaiah
Isaiah chapter 5 is a song that Isaiah sings about God planting a vineyard and all of the care He put into it, and it only yields wild fruit. It challenges me to think about all the time, love, attention and care God is pouring into me and what fruit I yield for Him. The BSF study had us jump to John 15 where Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches and that we must abide in him to bear fruit. This lesson was SO good for me. I MUST remain connected to God through His Word and through His Spirit to bear fruit.

Our Moms Group: Parenting is Heart Work by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller
1 Samuel 16:7 - For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
I had always considered this verse from the standpoint of not judging a person by their outward appearance because it's the heart that matters to God. But looking at it from the perspective of a parent and how to raise my child, I totally had my eyes opened. I am always struggling with pride and wanting others to think I'm such a great mom and my kids are so well behaved - TOTALLY concerned with man looking at the outward appearance. But I need to be more concerned with getting at my children's hearts, where the Lord is looking.

Personal: Proverbs 31
I'm stuck here in this chapter. I have been for months and months. Whenever I sit down to randomly open my Bible, I turn here. I can't help myself. I'm just SO challenged by verses 26 and 27.
Proverbs 31:26-27 - She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Will there ever come a day where I feel like I can put a checkmark next to these verses? Seriously, I am not a mom or a wife or a friend who consistently opens my mouth with wisdom and has the teaching of kindness on my tongue. I SOO desire to be that. And I so often find myself eating the bread of idleness instead of looking well after the ways of my household. I thank God all the time for these verses because they take me straight to the foot of the cross and have me call Mercy! I give up! I can't do this on my own!

How about any of you? Anything you've been reading lately that has been impactful on your life?

In God's Word this week

Confession time-since I have gotten pregnant with Finnling #3, my time in God’s word and prayer has been inconsistent. Okay, bare naked honesty—it’s been practically nonexistent. My best time for quiet time with the Lord is first thing in the morning, before the children wake up, and so many mornings I just cannot get out of bed before they do (my kids wake up at 7 every morning). Several weeks ago I had a two or three week period where I woke up between 6-6:15 every day, had a shower and read my Bible before the kiddos began to stir. Those were great weeks, because I spent quality time in the word of God and because my mood was better because the kids weren’t waking me up—I was dictating my wake time! But then something happened, and my good habit died, and so my Bible study has been sporadic.

The Lord gives grace to his children, and I am so thankful for the time in the word that I have! Over the past few months I have been reading through the Old Testament. In the summer, I set this grand goal to read through at least the OT before baby #3 comes along, and now I will be doing well to finish the Pentateuch. I am in the book of Numbers right now, specifically Numbers 6.

[Aaron's Blessing]
[22 ] The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [23 ] “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
[24 ] The LORD bless you and keep you;
[25 ] the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
[26 ] the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
[27 ] “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
(Numbers 6:22-27 ESV)

This beautiful, familiar blessing falls right in the middle of passages about the Nazirite vow, and offerings for the tabernacle, and indicates God’s blessing on all of his people (not just the Nazirites, who had been referenced immediately before this passage). The notes on the ESV Study Bible state that the word “Peace” does not indicate simply the English meaning of “lack of war”, but “total well-being”. How wonderful to seek and serve a Lord who gives us peace!

My pastor, Andy Davis, is currently preaching through the book of Hebrews, and I love that I am reading the Old Testament while he is preaching through this New Testament book (you can listen to his great sermons here, scroll down to find all of the Hebrews messages). Hebrews focuses on the supremacy of Jesus Christ over the angels, Moses, Mosaic Law, Melchizedek, and the tabernacle—what a perfect accompaniment to a study of the Pentateuch! As I have been reading through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, I am continually reminded of my sinful nature, my inability to meet ‘God’s standards’, and the fact that I must daily rely on Christ, who died a perfect atoning death and was raised to a glorious resurrection-for His glory and for my salvation!

So that’s where I am! May I recommend a good study Bible as you read God’s word? I love the ESV Study Bible, and Broadman & Holman recently released the Holman Christian Standard Study Bible, which is also a good resource. As one last note in my rambling thoughts, I recently read the book, A Sweet & Bitter Providence by John Piper. This small, easy to read book walks through the book of Ruth with the Bible passages included in the text of the book itself. Though it is not a ‘typical’ Bible study with blank lines for you to respond to questions, it is wonderful way to study this Old Testament book that has a lot to teach us about sex, race and the sovereignty of God.

So what are you reading in God’s word? What has the Lord been teaching you about Him through your Bible reading?

Making time for dates!

One of my awesome friends, Lauren, decided to take the 52 dates challenge and has done an amazing job blogging about it and sharing great date ideas! She she has a young baby and a three year old and is still managing to make time for her husband -- such an inspiration to me! I asked her to share a little about her experience, as well as some links for creative date ideas. I hope her ideas will inspire you as they did me to make more time for my husband!

Quality time with my husband? Let me think… I think we were in the same room last night when we were bathing the kids. We definitely ate dinner at the same time on Thursday night, but I'm not sure that counts since I had to get up to put our toddler in time out, and my husband was bouncing our youngest baby in his arms. Nah, that probably isn't considered quality time.

These were my thoughts back in May of this year. Do they sound familiar? We needed to regroup. We needed quality time. Conversations in the car over the clamor of kids praise songs and toddler chatter were not enough. We needed to date again.

I scoured the internet for ideas, took a few from here, there, and everywhere, and combined them for a 52 date challenge. I excitedly pitched the idea to my husband who was a little overwhelmed at first, but then readily agreed to the challenge. I called it a challenge, because, well, when you are busy and have young children, dating is a challenge (Oh, what did we do with all of that free time before our children?)! You can read the guidelines we created here.

So far, we've been on 17 dates, and we are having the best time doing it! It has really helped our marriage grow. Marriage can be hard, and while I adore my sweet girls, having young children definitely complicates things. I sometimes refer to our household as "happy chaos." That being said, we realized that we really needed to take time out for just us again. And I encourage you to do the same thing. Satan is scary-smart and he hates marriage… he wants you to be too busy to spend time with your man. So, you have to take charge and make time.

It has made a huge difference in our lives. We have found that we really look forward to date nights. We spend a lot more time talking, laughing, and loving without all of the distractions and demands of crazy young life. We've done cheap dates, not-so-cheap dates, outdoor dates, and indoor dates. We've had laid-back nights and fun nights. And we've also failed… we've had plans fall through, sick kids, and babysitter cancellations. We have had to be creative… and sometimes have a date at home! But, the important thing is that we have tried to make dating, and quality time, a priority. And we've had a lot of fun doing it! I can't wait to finish our challenge…and hopefully start all over again next year!

I hope you try a weekly date, even if its just an evening without distractions after you tuck the kiddos in bed. What can you lose? You know that pile of laundry will still be there tomorrow (although it would be nice if it disappeared!), the dishes will wait, and no lives are hanging in the balance if you don't update your Facebook status tonight. Your darling babies will enjoy a sitter (or grandma!) for an evening. Turn off the computer, kiss your babies goodnight, and quit answering the phone. Take up the challenge. Ask your hubby out on a date…and have fun living, laughing, and loving together again.

Project 52

The one word that comes to mind when I think about ministering to my husband is intentionality! You have to be intentional about doing it.

It doesn't always come easy! Things don't always go as planned. Sometimes there are times where you wish you were the one being ministered to. It sometimes takes pure intention!

Last April, I stumbled upon an idea on a blog that I instantly fell in love with! It had a "Julie & Julia" twist of doing something for an entire year but instead of doing it every day, you do it once a week. So the title of "Project 52" was created. The project is something I thought would be great to do in our home because like this "Simply Modern Mom" (the creator of the project), it is something that easily gets neglected with the busyness of life!

Project 52 is all about creating date nights in your marriage! Nights to get to know your spouse better, create memories, learn and try new things, be creative and have some fun. We are at the 6 year marriage mark and although we are more in love today than the day we met, we definitely neglect consistent date nights. We use many excuses and don't even realize it--kids, we don’t want to pay for a babysitter every week, too busy, finances don't allow multiple or big date nights out, plan other things on the calendar, put others before ourselves, and the excuses go on.

I was determined to be intentional and change the way we had intimate time together as a couple. And so when I saw this, I had a "ah-ha" moment of this is something we should do that would be fun, different, and create special time each week for just the two of us. Each week I plan a date night usually around a theme.

On the first week (we are now on week 24), I sent Andy a gift basket to his work (You can read about that here) to introduce him to the idea with the following:

Project 52

The following criteria was created for our weekly date night--
1. Date nights will typically be home-based fun and will cost less than $5 or fall into categories already established in the general budget
2. We can't do the same thing twice in one month
3. Date nights can be planned by either person
4. No children allowed (if applicable)
5. Must create a date like atmosphere. No frumpy clothes or pajamas unless otherwise stated that they are acceptable for the particular evening activities. Make it a special event. Mind the details. But most of all, keep it simple.
6. Date nights cannot be cancelled unless an emergency inhibits the night from occurring. Nights can be switched if needed.

Simply Modern Mom and her husband signed on to the project together and split planning the date nights. I decided to make it something I would do to minister to my husband and I would plan the weekly dates. Andy does plan one every so often and loves showing me how much he loves this as well. Each week, I try (I have missed a few) to blog about it and link our date nights up to Simply Modern Mom! Other couples link their date nights too and it is a great way to get ideas for future date nights!

What has "Project 52" done for our marriage? WOW! I can't even begin to tell you how much we love this night and look forward to it every week! It has created a whole new level of intimacy, a new level on the way we communicate, a new level of enjoying one another's company.

You can read the majority of our date nights on our family blog, http://www.apkweber.blogspot.com/. The direct link for the "Project 52" date nights can be found here. Be sure to scroll back to the oldest post first to read them in order.

Here's a little view of "Weber Style Project 52 Date Nights":

The BEST way to minister to your husband...

sex.

How to make Wooden Spoon Dolls

**Pictures now uploaded**

As I was looking through a book at Hobby Lobby, in search for some crafts I can do with Laney, I came across this project: making wooden spoon dolls.  I wanted a craft that Laney could really participate in, a craft that wouldn't cost a ton, one that would hold her attention (quick start to finish) and lastly, one that she would play with after it was all said and done.

Here's what you need:

• Wooden Spoons (set of 4 at the Dollar Tree)
• Felt Markers
• Scrap Fabric
• Yarn
• Embroidery Thread
• Embroidery Needle
• Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
• Scissors
• Optional: buttons, ribbon, pinking shears, etc..

I had Laney rummage through my scrap fabric and pick out which clothes her wooden spoon family wear. She really enjoyed this, and I enjoyed putting to use some of those scraps!
1.) Cut a small rectangle of your fabric. I used around 12" x 5". All four of my spoons were different sizes, perfect for creating a family of four, so your fabric might be larger for the bigger spoon and smaller for the smaller spoon.

2.) Thread your embroidery thread and hand sew a running stitch around the longer side of your fabric rectangle. I used this time teach Laney what a running stitch was and wanted to use the correct sewing lingo so I could slowly teach her the basics of sewing. Pull the needle through in the end, gather the fabric together tightly, wrap around "neck" of your doll and tie it closed. Laney enjoyed pulling the needle through, and learned from Mommy's outcries that the needle tip is sharp. Feel free to put a dab of your hot glue to keep it in place. I tied my and it seems fine. If you want to make several outfits for your wooden spoon doll/puppet, I would recommend not hot gluing it.




3.) Draw a face on your doll. When Laney drew her face on her doll, it really didn't look like a happy doll, but that was her little creation, and I wanted her to know I was pleased with her drawing. I helped her draw lips and showed her how to put eye lashes on the eyes.


4.) Hot Glue the hair on with either yarn or embroidery floss. Yarn is better, but I didn't have any on hand, so I used embroidery floss since I had a wide selection of colors.

5.) Laney picked out three of her favorite buttons to put on her doll, and I sewed them on for her. I think she was her favorite part!

6.) Then she ran and showed Daddy and Mattie her Wooden Spoon Laney doll!!

She wanted to make a Mattie doll next and kept saying "Mattie" was cold and needed some clothes. Unfortunately, it was late and time to get ready for bed, but we will make the rest of the wooden spoon family this week. Let me know if you try this with your kids!

How to make a super easy hair streamer!

I love this simple way to make a pony tail festive! Honestly, it is so simple that I was almost embarrassed to post it :) But my girls and I love them so much that I couldn't resist!

Materials needed:
1 regular or child's size hair rubber band (whatever color you choose)
5 thin pieces of ribbon cut into foot long strips

(In case you were wondering, Karis' streamer has five different colored ribbons with varying pink patterns and shades, but you could do just one or two different colored ribbons if you wanted it to be less expensive and it is still cute!)

Directions: Simply tie a knot in the middle of each ribbon around the pony tail so that you have ten ribbons hanging down. So simple!

How to Make a Book Page Canvas

Okay, so this is cheating a little bit. I am not giving you a tutorial myself, but I am going to send you to this page to find the tutorial for a Book Page Canvas. While you are on this site, you should definitely check out the tutorials she has available. They are simple and elegant, and have many different adaptations. I used her Book Page Canvas tutorial to make a set of sheet music wall hangings for my bathroom. Now, I haven't hung them yet, so you will have to make do with pictures of the finished product:


If you have older children, they can definitely help you with the Mod Podge and gluing, and younger children always enjoy using glitter. I just love the various ways you can adapt it for different rooms or people, just as Margaret did with her Book Page Wreath. I made a small canvas for my daughter Georgia just using music that had "Georgia" in the title. I will try to take a picture and post it later :-) I hope you are all enjoying our crafting ideas. Please share some of your favorites with us!

How to Make Sparkly Fall Decorations

Last fall, I came up with an easy fun fall decor. Georgia had just turned three, and like most other girls her age (and much older:-), she loved glitter! I was walking into Target, and found two bags of miniature pumpkins for a very cheap price. I think I paid $1 for each bag. I bought them and brought them home thinking I would decorate with them. And decorate we did!




The process was very simple. I washed off each pumpkin, and covered my dining room table with old towels to protect it. Then Georgia and I decorated the pumpkins with paint and glitter and glue. I had thought we would paint more, but I didn't like the way it turned out, so we switched to glue and glitter. More often than not, I would decorate the pumpkins with the glue, and Georgia would (liberally) apply the glitter. She LOVED it! (Note: the fancier patterns were my handiwork, and I had just as much fun as Georgia)



After letting the pumpkins dry, I put them on an accent tray for a touch of fall 'sparkle' in our dining area.


Georgia also got to take decorated pumpkins to the secretaries in Nathan's building as a Fall "Thinking of You" gift. Those ladies gushed over the pumpkins and proudly displayed them on their desks. I try to give my children opportunities to do things for others, and even something small like this can begin to teach them the importance of generosity.

Now, in case you cannot tell, my pictures are from last year--G was so little then! I have been looking for mini pumpkins this fall, and they haven't come down in price enough yet for me to purchase them. I loved decorating them last year (and Baxter would participate this year), so I know we will be doing it again very soon. I would love to hear about your fall craft ideas!

How to Make a Pinata

Samuel's friend Sophia has been begging me to make pinatas at our house. When Christina e-mailed the POH authors and said that one of our topics would be Fun Playdate Ideas, I thought I'd bite the bullet and make the pinatas. As you'll notice, this week's topic is not Fun Playdate Ideas. Because, well, this didn't turn out to be a fun playdate idea! But it is an excellent craft! The reason the playdate was a flop is because Samuel HATES to get messy. I should have factored this in. I don't know what I was thinking! He dipped one strip in the goo and he was done! So Sophia, Sophia's mom and I finished the pinatas. But everyone did get in on the decorating part. Sophia (who's 4.5) loved every step of this project. Just be warned that this may not be the project for you if you have a little one who doesn't like to get messy.

Supplies:
Balloon
Newspaper (torn into strips ~2"x4")
Flour
Paint
Duct Tape
String

Step 1:
Blow up your balloon. Mix 1 part flour to 2 parts water. For example, I mixed 1 cup of flour into 2 cups of water. Dip your newspaper strip into the goo, smooth off the extra goo by running the strip between your index and middle finger, and then apply to the balloon. Continue until your whole balloon is covered (except for a 2" hole where the balloon is tied. Let this dry for at least 1 day. (Now, I will say here that the instructions I was following said to repeat this step 2 or 3 more times. We didn't. I figured I had 2 2yos and 2 4yos who were going to be breaking these things and they didn't need to be that strong. 1 layer was just fine for us).

Step 2:
Decorate. I just poured a bunch of paints on plates and let the kids go. Some people glue crepe paper to the outside. It's up to you. Let this dry - ours took about 2 hours.

Step 3:
Stuff. First you have to pop your balloon and pull it out. Then crumple up some newspaper and stuff it in. Then some candy. Alternate between newspaper and candy. Or, if you have crepe paper, you could use that instead. This will help prevent all the candy from sinking to the bottom.

Step 4:
Hang. Since the pinata was only one layer thick, I decided to reinforce the top with a layer of duct tape. Then I poked a hole in each side and strung some yarn through. I didn't want the yarn to rip out when they were hitting the pinata. The duct tape did the trick.

Step 5:
Swing away! Each of the kids took turns whacking the pinata with a wooden sword. The pinata was strong enough that each of them got quite a few hits in before it finally broke open. I was glad I didn't do more layers because they have such short attention spans. They thought it was a lot of fun!

How to Make...

A very cheap, very simple book wreath! I love home decorations, but we live overseas right now and I can't accumulate any possessions that we can't leave behind when we move back to the US in a few years. So the book wreath is the answer to my decorating dilemma right now. I purchased a book for £1 and tore the pages out. My book had enough pages to make three wreaths, so I could hang a few in my house or share them with friends. This one is a fairy tale book, but I've also seen them made from sheet music too. Then I cut out a wreath frame from an old cardboard box and hot glued cones made from the paper. My son has beat this one up a little, but otherwise it looks great (and it is very easy to fix when I have the time)! This is also perfect for rental houses such as ours. We are technically not supposed to use nails in the walls. This wreath is so light that I was able to hang it with a thumb tack. Voila! A great decoration that fills a lot of wall space!

Encouraging words on sibling rivalry

I cannot begin to describe how encouraged and convicted I have felt reading the articles on sibling rivalry this week. My kids struggle with this, naturally, and too many times I snap at the them to stop, or discipline the main 'instigator', instead of getting to the heart of the matter. I appreciate the encouragement to treat the heart condition as much as the actions.

Recently I posed a question on Facebook about a sibling rivalry issue I was having, and I was greatly encouraged by the thoughtful, Scriptural responses I received from friends. I have copied the online 'dialogue' below, as perhaps it will encourage another mom who is reading this.

My question on Facebook--How do you teach your children that taunting ("Hey, look, I have your toy!") is wrong? it is a concept my child does not seem to grasp yet.

* Friend #1* I know, we have the same problem and it is not like she is trying to be mean. Karis loves to say to Karlie, "this is mine and it is not for you!" She just wants Karlie to know not to touch it. I do think they just don't grasp it, yet, but we always reprimand her and tell her it is not "kind" to tell Karlie what she cannot have.We have two main themes with our training right now, telling her that she needs to "obey" and be "kind" :)

*My response* G is also not trying to be REALLY mean, but she does like B to know when she has something of his, even if he is not playing with it (yesterday, when he was not paying attention, she said "look Baxter I'm sitting in your chair", which just made him scream). We have talked about it being mean and unkind, but I think we need to focus on that more. Thanks for the tips! Keep them coming!

*Friend #2* My boys especially struggle with this often. We have taught them the verse that says, "As much as it depends on me, live in peace with all men." So when it happens we ask them what they are doing to promote living in peace with each other. Since they obviously aren't we talk about ways they can promote peace with each other. It has been pretty helpful for us although they have to be reminded often :)

*Friend #3* We stress obeying and being respectful and being kind from your heart. So even if it's not something that's she's been expressly forbidden to do (like take toy X from the babies) I ask, are you being kind in your heart? When the answer is no, it's Eph 4:32 time! I know she does not fully get it now, but we talk about God's kindness and forgiveness to us and how we spread that to others. I'm hoping to plant seeds that grow in time!

*Friend #4* Sounds like someone trying to start a fight... to stir something up, whether she quite realizes it or not. It's definitely the beginning of a battle. I pull out Prov. 6:16-19 - 7 things God hates. The first six are totally understandable to most people (pride, lying, murder, etc). The last is “one who stirs up discord among brethren.” Some translations say brothers instead of brethren, making it even more effective in our home. Definitely reminds my boys that God hates this type of behavior and they should have no part in it. When your #3 arrives, it will be even more applicable!

*Friend #5* I have just started making my kids "redo" situations -- for instance after "I have your toy" I'd correct her and make her say "thank you for sharing your toy." I have found with my kids that just telling them to be respectful or kind isn't quite enough--I am trying to help them to know how to follow through. And of course, add scripture, character training, etc. etc. I am sure you're doing all that too!

*Friend #6* What a great list of Biblical wisdom! Praise God! I'll add the verses that we like to use which seem to apply to the heart issue here. We like to use 1 Cor. 13... Love does not envy, love does not boast. And talk about how love means seeking the (true) joy of another, that we are made to share one another's joy, not to be happy because our neighbor does not have what we have, etc.... I like [the above] addendum also - engage in the "redo"!

Praise the Lord for friends who encourage us, and spur us on to godliness!