Gone fishin!

"Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19. I have to say that today was a great day back in Jr. Church for several reasons.
 1) God is starting to answer a prayer with Jr. Church. You see, the age group is 3-9. And if you know anything about children, that is a HUGE age range to service. So I have been praying that someone would be willing to step up and lead Jr. Jr. church. Today was a great surprise to see that another lady from church had a lesson ready to go.
2) With the smaller children in another classroom, (learning a great lesson of their own) we had a fantastic time in Jr. Church. We sang songs with gusto, the children listened well to the story, were very creative with their shiny fish craft and for the first time we had many kids recite back our memory verse!
3) Although no one was saved this morning, I feel that a couple of visiting children that we had will really want to come back.


So what does all this have to do with Matt 4:19 you ask? Well, all of these things are ways to be fishers of men, which was our lesson this morning. It is quite easy to do. So I challenge you to the same things as the children this morning.


1) Learn some scripture to share with your friends. As fishers of men, our "bait" is the Word of God. By knowing His truths we can share them with our friends and family.
2) Invite someone to church. After talking with your friend about how much fun you have at church, give them an invitation to come. They will have a great time learning more about Jesus.


So rather than going to the local lake this weekend for hours of fishing (and maybe only catching a few fish), be a fisher of men and talk to someone about my amazing Lord and Savior!


So what is it that you are fishing for?

It's easy to learn!

It's amazing to think how the mind works. As a teacher, I am constantly teaching children things they need to know. Multiplication, division, reading skills are all things that will help us to be successful in life. As we learn these basic skills, we can then build upon them to become anything we want and apply this knowledge to all aspects of our lives. However, as focused as we are on education (or lack thereof in some parts of the world), how much studying do we do in our daily lives for Christ? We study for the graduation exams, SAT's, college finals and then we even study for our jobs. DAILY! But how much time is spent in the word? It seems to me that so many people are turned off by the Bible simply because they don't understand it. If you think about how our brains work, God designed them to acquire new information. If He didn't want us learning, he would have made it so. But He didn't.


It makes me think about Devan and any child learning to read. I tell my students that they need to read at least 20 minutes per night to become a better reader. And, of course with any other new skill, it takes time and practice to get good at it. The more you read the Bible, the more the language becomes easier to understand and then it becomes like second nature to pick up the book and read. I encourage you to spend at least 20 minutes a night in the Bible. See what God shows you and where He leads you. I think you will be quite surprised by what you find.


So to help encourage you in your journey of reading, here is a clip of Devan reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."

Devan is 3!!

Wow! It is hard to imagine that 3 years ago I had my first baby boy. The Lord has been so good to me to give me the best little boy in the world. He amazes me each and every day with all the knowledge he is learning. But oh the joys of parenthood! There truly is no other testimony of God's love for us all than to experience the world of being a parent. The last three years have been a journey of ups and downs and a test to my marriage as well. I am happy to know that God is just a prayer away when I am frustrated, upset, concerned, or simply dumbfounded as to what to do as a parent. Although I know that there are many more  challenges up ahead (the boys being teenagers, learning to drive, dating, etc.), I can stand strong knowing that I am raising my boys in the Lord and giving them a strong foundation to make good choices. We chose to spend Devan's birthday at the zoo. This was his first time to go. He ooohed and aahhed at each animal we saw. A small reminder that we should be doing that with every one of God's creatures. 

Our first stop were the flamingos. He really liked them.

Grady was not impressed with the flamingos.

 

One of the main reasons we went to the zoo was because Devan is in his dinosaur phase. The FW Zoo now has lots of animotronic dinosaurs around the park. He really liked them. They even made noise, but he wasn't scared!

Devan's impression of a monkey!

Grady liked the monkey house!

Me and the birthday boy!

Grady and Grammy walking around.

The whole family

So cute sitting on a turtle!

The inspiration for the trip!

He wasn't too sure what to think when it looked right at him and roared!

Grady was ready to go. He was sleepy.

Me and Grady bear.

The trip was complete with a train ride. All aboard!

After the zoo we went across the street to have a picnic lunch and celebrate with dinosaur cupcakes!

Easter fun

Easter has really become a great holiday for our family. I love how much it brings both sides of our families together and all the blessings it helps for me to reflect on. Just wanted to share some more fun pictures from Easter!

Grady has the best smile!

Of course what is a holiday without Devan playing ball?

The big boys played a game of b-ball while waiting for lunch.

Devan and Nana

Waiting for the Easter eggs to be hidden! 

Having a ball while waiting to hunt eggs!

And their off!

  I was impressed with how quickly Grady picked up on putting the eggs in the basket!

Devan had a blast finding the eggs!

He was so excited!

So big!

They couldn't wait to see what all they got!

Happy Easter!