Never Too Little to Love

 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; I Corinthians 13:4 NKJV

Go figure, a little mouse and a very tall giraffe can teach us so many things. In Never Too Little to Love a little mouse loves a giraffe and wants to give the giraffe a kiss, but he's too small. He doesn't call up to her. He tries to reach her on his own. He tries to make himself tall enough stacking all kinds of things on top of one another to reach her until it all comes crashing down. That's when the giraffe reaches down and kisses him. 

Sound familiar? Here we are trying to prove to God that we love him by saying we are a good person. We deserve His love. We give money. We try to be kind to other people. We go to church and put in our time until our world comes crashing down. When we realize it's not us who can figure it all out, but only Jesus who reaches down with His love that can change our lives. 

Such a short little children's book. It probably wasn't written with that intent, but it can carry a big message for all of us. 

There's another blessing this little book can offer to parents and children. I see so many moms online frantically looking for homeschool curriculum for their preschoolers. I want to say, 

"Mama Chill!" 

With this one little picture book and others like them you have all the preschool curriculum you need without spending useless dollars on worksheets that make your child hate learning. Let's see what this book can do for your preschooler.

• Humorous, engaging text (it's funny, love reading)
• Large text (little eyes can see the words)
• Letter sounds (depending on the age of the child, 4 or 5, or 6 or 7)
• Demonstrates sequencing small to large (it's also engineering)
• Counting (counts the things as they are stacked)
• Opposites (small/tall, little/big)
• Genders (boy loves girl)
• P.S. this book is at libraries, Amazon and Thriftbook.com

Let's let our children be little, teaching them that Jesus loves them and learning can and should be a fun and loving experience. 

Lord Jesus, help us take a deep breath and gently lead our children to you. Help us not to build our own towers but let you show us your way. In your name we pray. Amen

The Rocks Cry Out

 

 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” ~Luke19:40 (NKJV)

There are hearts all around us, in the stores, in classrooms, magazines, everywhere I look I see hearts. Love is in the air with Valentine's Day upon us. Jesus tells us to "love one another." February is a good time to check up and see if we truly love; love like Jesus loved. In Luke the people were praising Jesus as he entered the city of Jerusalem, just a few days later he would be crucified. The people seemed to love him, but in a few days they would cry out, "crucify him."

What is love? Is it a feeling, a temporary emotion, or is it something that endures? The people were praising Jesus because they thought he would overthrow the Romans. Their love, for the most part, was temporary. But true love is lasting, deep, even unto death. 

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. ~John 15:13(KJV)

When the Pharisees told Jesus to make the people stop praising, Jesus answered that if they didn't praise him, the stones would immediately cry out. God's creation praises him even if and when we don't. The picture of the heart stones is from If Rocks Could Sing a discovered alphabet by Leslie McGuirk. Rocks, stones all sizes demonstrating love. Their size doesn't matter. The place they were found doesn't matter. They all say love just by the way they are shaped. They cry out love. Their shape will stay the same as long as the world stands unless they are broken in some way. Jesus's heart was broken when he sweated great drops of blood as he prayed in the garden. His heart was broken when he hung on the cross, dying for our sins. But his love for us remains the same. There is no greater love than Jesus's love for us. He gave his life that we may have eternal life. 

Many of us say we love Jesus. Is it temporary like the crowd on Palm Sunday or has he worked a love in our hearts that is eternal? Have we allowed Him to give us the gift of eternal life or are we still trying to work for our salvation? The thief on the cross next to Jesus couldn't do good works and neither can we. Like the thief on the cross, we have to cry out to Jesus in repentance of our sins. You can cry out today. My prayer today is just an example of what you may want to tell Jesus.

Dear Lord Jesus, I have sinned.  Thank you for loving me and dying for me. Please forgive me and save me. Thank you for your gift of salvation.  In Your name, I pray. Amen. 

Hey Kids: 

Do you like to collect rocks? What can you do with a pocket full of rocks? In Leslie McGuirk's book If Rocks Could Sing, she collects rocks that look like letters and then adds other rocks that look like things the letters could stand for — like V is for Valentine, E is for Elephant, and my favorite J is for Joy and she has little rocks that look like happy fish. They remind me of Nemo. 

Other books about rocks that you might enjoy are by Patti Rokus. She uses rocks to tell Bible stories. One is A Savior is Born: Rocks Tell the Story of Christmas. The other is He is Risen: Rocks Tell the Story of Easter.  My grandchildren loved collecting and retelling the stories with their own rocks after reading these books. 

Isn't it amazing how even the rocks praise our Lord and Savior? 

An Egg is an Egg Until

 

photo courtesy of Pixabay

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ~Psalms 139:14 KJV

A friend of mine posted a picture this week of a swan walking around Lake Junaluska, NC. Its majestic swagger was evident even in a still photo. I wondered if he was looking for a mate or a place to show her for a nest. 

I follow the Wonderfilled Days blog, though I no longer teach or homeschool or even have children at home, I love reading her explorations and connections to children's literature. The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White was a literature connection recently. She brought to the reader's attention that at the end of most chapters, Sam posed a question, a thought provoking question. 

    "I don't know of anything in the entire world more wonderful to look at than a nest with eggs in it. An egg, because it contains life, is the most perfect thing there is. It is beautiful and mysterious. An egg is a finer thing than a tennis ball or a cake of soap. A tennis ball will always be just a tennis ball. A cake of soap will always be just a cake of soap until it gets so small nobody wants it and they throw it away, an egg will someday be a living creature."

~The Trumpet of the Swan

We value so many things, our grandmother's china cabinet, or our dad's '67 Mustang. We value the homerun baseball signed by our favorite player and the concert tickets from that special night, but how valuable is a life? Tennis balls, fragrant soap, china, cars, signed balls, and tickets are just stuff; even those with memories attached are still just stuff, but an egg, any egg, is life itself. It will grow and transform into that beautiful cygnet, a bluebird, a salamander, or a platypus. Watching a mother robin tend her nest and seeing the newly hatched chicks is one of my favorite childhood memories. But these are not the only eggs that contain life. 

We may not be able to see the horse's egg or our dog's egg, or even a goat's egg, but they all originate as an egg. Neither can we see the human egg inside the mother's womb, but it is there growing with God forming the little person's every detail. He creates each human with love and a purpose. Whether there is only one child or twenty, whether the child is born into a family or adopted, a child is still created with purpose and loved by God. 

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. ~Psalms 128:3-5

So much is happening to destroy the lives of our children physically, mentally, and spiritually. The swan builds a nest six feet wide to lay her eggs and protect her cygnets. The cob (male swan) swims close by, guarding her and the young. Like swans, we need strong homes with watchful fathers and mothers who "fuss" over our families.  I pray we watch carefully over our children from conception to their flight from our nests. 

Father, give us a new heart for children and families. Help us guard them against Satan's entanglements and create a home where the wonders of the Lord and His salvation are shared daily. In Jesus's name. Amen. 

Hey Kids: 

Have you read The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White? Perhaps you have had it read to you. 

Did you notice the questions Sam thought of each night? 

He wrote them in a journal by his bed and pondered them as he went to sleep each night.

When he wondered about eggs, he also wondered how the bird knew how to build a nest. 

Take some time to go outside and watch as spring brings new life. Watch as the birds, insects, and other animals prepare homes for new life. 

Create a journal for your observations and questions. Ask for help finding literature about your questions. Add quotes from the literature or Bible verses that support your observations and questions.

Wonder at the wonderful world God has created for us to enjoy and to teach us of His great love.