Teaching your kids to GIVE at Christmas

(I have taken 2 weeks off from my regularly scheduled posts due to holidays)

We have so much.  Even before Christmas... we have so much.  I kept wondering what we could do this Christmas to TEACH the girls experientially how to GIVE and not just GET at Christmas.

So one night the week before Christmas I started talking to them about kids in other countries that don't have a lot of food, and some of them can't even attend school b/c their family is so poor.  We watched some of the videos at World Vision to see how the gift of chickens, ducks, and other farm animals can actually become a huge year long blessing to that family.  They provide eggs that give the family immediate food, and then the extras can be sold to provide money for the family.

Now, instead of just deciding what we were going to do, getting out my debit card, and getting it "done"... I decided to get them INVOLVED.  I asked them what they wanted to do (they decided chickens or ducks)... and I told them to go gather THEIR money from their banks and that me and daddy would give some money too.  (Even though I knew we would be making the purchase with our debit card - this became a tangible lesson for them.)  We then counted our pooled money and decided what to do.  I was so proud of Macy.  She had $10 in her bank - and she said she had been saving it to help us go to Spain (sniff....), but that she wanted to give it ALL to help kids that didn't have anything.

We then put all of our pooled "cash" into an envelope to "deposit" at the bank and then used our debit card to complete the transaction.  Macy and Mia were so EXCITED that they were going to be helping making a difference in the life of a family this Christmas.
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Maybe you would like to encourage your kids to do the same on this week after Christmas....with blessings abounding all around your home in the post-Christmas haze...

I have an idea for you!!!!  One of our good friends we made in China (they adopted a little girl from Mia's orphanage at the same time we were there) - are taking a HUGE step and adopting a 13 year old girl from an orphanage in China.

If Piper is not adopted before she turns 14 she loses the chance to ever be adopted.  Our friends Josh and Teri have fallen in love with their new daughter and have completed all of the paperwork to bring her home.  However, they are still lacking the funds they need to get her here.

 If you would like get your kids involved in GIVING...  and help bring an orphaned teenager into a family - here's how!

Go to:  Teri's Blog.   Then click on the "chip in" button.  We were recently blessed by God and made a donation here.  I just set up a paypal account (it was really easy), and had made a donation in less than 10 minutes.  It automatically drafted like any other purchase on my debit card.

I for one know the JOY of bringing home a child that God has placed in your heart.  Will you help them bring Piper home?  If you have any other questions about this - please let me know!  I will do whatever I can to help!

Photo Books

Tuesdays Technology Tip

Have you ever wanted to have a book of just your favorite photos?  Or maybe photos from a special event?

One really quick and easy way to make a photo book is at Walmart.com.  Just log on to their website, click on "Photo" Department, then click on "Photo Books".  Select the type of book you want to make and then get started!  When it asks you to upload pictures for your book you can just select them from the location you have them stored on your computer.

If you are picky like me - it will still take you a couple of hours to get the photos laid out on the pages just like you want them.  I usually choose the "magic layout" instead of the preset layouts...that way I can add as many pictures as I want on each page without having to come up with a text for each picture.

When you are done you can just pay for it and have it sent to your local Wal-Mart or your home.  In about a week you can have your very own professional book of your favorite photos!  Awesome!

Wrestling

Mondays with Macy and Mia

You would think we had a couple of boys if you could have heard all of the scuffling at our house this week.  Every time I turned around the girls were in the floor wrestling, pushing, rolling, and thankfully giggling.  Even though there was pulled hair and almost carpet burns - they just kept huffing, puffing, and laughing.  I was afraid it would get too rough and there would be an eruption of tears.  However, they seemed to just enjoy it!

I captured a "sweet" boxing match in front of the tree.  One of the most beautiful sounds in the world is that of my children's belly laugh.  It's like music.

Ignite a Fire

Wednesdays in the Word

I love how The Message puts this verse in Matthew 3:

[Jesus] will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.

That's what I want.   He lit a fire within me when He radically touched my life 20 years ago.  But I want that fire to stay fresh...and I want to be continually changed from the inside out.

Lord, please ignite a fresh fire within all of us.  Holy Spirit, fill us anew.  And please, change us from the inside out, that we may be more like You.  Less of ME, more of YOU.

Edit those Pictures!

Technology Tip Tuesdays

For those of you that have iPhones...

My favorite app is "Adobe Photoshop Express".

You can quickly edit any picture you have taken with your iPhone.

Steps after downloading the app: (it's FREE!)

Open the Photo Shop App.  Select a picture from your library that you want to edit.  I usually crop it, then adjust the exposure to be a little bit brighter, and then adjust the saturation to make the colors a little brighter.  Then I add a frame.  The torn paper one is my favorite.  Then I save it to my phone.

If I want to post my new snazzy picture on Facebook - I then open Facebook, click on the "camera" icon in the status update, and select the picture from my library.

Just something simple today for those of you who don't know about this!  I LOVE it!

Gum that Melts

Mondays with Macy & Mia

Yesterday during our usual Sunday afternoon trip between churches, Mia went to sleep in the back seat with gum in her mouth.  I took it out of her mouth and threw it away so that it wouldn't mysteriously end up in her hair... again...

When she woke up - with a voice of TOTAL amazement, she proclaimed, "My gum MELTED!"  :)

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Reading has come alive for Macy this year since she discovered Junie B. Jones.  She devoured a book yesterday while we were driving, and then finished it at the restaurant while we were eating with the pastors last night!  I am so THRILLED to see her finally finding the joy in reading!  Yay!!!

Your Source

Wednesday in the Word...

Do we look to others to meet our needs?  Do we look to our job?  Or do we look to God?

Phillipians 4:19 says, "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

What is our source?  Sometimes I have been guilty of thinking if I can just think hard enough to come up with the best financial plan that everything will work.  I am learning to trust God with every day.  It's not up to me to figure it out.  It's up to me to be faithful...and to trust Him.