Moms, Compassion Starts With Us

Compassion, n: sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.

So, I will make a confession here. There have been times my children have cried for this or that and I have not felt sorry for them because I did not feel like it was a valid reason to cry. I am not talking about the times when they are crying because they are in trouble over something. I am talking about when they are really tired, hungry or just needing me. While I would put them to bed, feed them or hold them as soon as I could, I felt no compassion. In fact, I felt annoyance. Annoyance that they were whining over the littlest things.

Here's the thing though, what seems little to us, may be a huge thing for a young child. I need to keep that thought in check when my children are whiny and crying.

 Compassion needs to be extended to our children, no matter the situation. What if Jesus hadn't felt compassion on the woman at the well? She was not the best woman in the world, yet He had compassion for her and went there to change her life. Our children may be acting selfish or misbehaving, but we still have the choice to extend compassion.

It doesn't mean you do not discipline. It just means to discipline with a compassionate heart, just like our Lord does with us.

What about our husbands? Do we show compassion towards them? Our children are watching us and if they see us not showing compassion for our spouses, then they will pick that up. So the next time your husband leaves his shoes on the floor or doesn't take out the trash, show compassion and do it for him. With a smile :) I know that can be hard sometimes (and yes, I am speaking from experience!).

What are some other ways we can act out compassion in our homes? I would love hearing your answers!

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Compassion Campaign

Another Easter has come and gone. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! What was the one thing you and your family did that stood out to you the most this Easter?

What stood out the most to me was that my two year old son told me that we celebrate Easter because Jesus died on the cross. I then asked him what happened after He died on the cross and was placed in the tomb. He looked at me and said, "Jesus, He is gone!" I love that my children know the real meaning of Easter!

Now that Easter is over with, I have been thinking on compassion a lot lately. I look around me and I see so much selfishness. Even I am selfish at times. People do not want to go the extra mile for anyone anymore and we want what we want, when we want it.

I read Matthew 15:32 tonight and what really stood out to me is that Jesus had compassion. He felt sorry for the people because they were hungry and hadn't ate. I love that the Bible states Jesus had compassion. It shows me that Jesus is not an angry Savior, trying to get back at us for the wrong we do or have done. It shows me that Jesus is loving, caring and compassionate and He wants to help us!

Starting today, April 1st, I will be spending the entire month of April on compassion. I am calling it the Compassion Campaign. I am here to promote compassion!

Here is how the series will play out-

April 1st-5th- Compassion Starts With Us
I know this blog is for children. But I believe if we want our children to learn something, it needs to start with us. I know I need to be more compassionate, so I am looking forward to what the Lord will teach me through this study.

April 8th-12th- Jesus, A Compassionate Savior
We will introduce the concept of compassion to our children and we will take a look at some of the times Jesus showed compassion unto others.

April 15th-19th- Teaching Our Children Compassion
We will start looking through ways to help our child(ren) be compassionate one to another.

April 22nd-26th- Compassion, Live!
This will be the week we will purposefully live out compassion.

I am really looking forward to this month long study and I hope to post three to four times per week. If you will be joining in on the Compassion Campaign, I would love for you to comment and let me know!

If you have any questions or comments on this subject, I would love to hear from you! Just comment below or post on our Facebook page!

The Easter Story

 

 

 

Easter is this Sunday! Wow, I can't believe that it is here already! I think I like Easter best in April because of the warmer weather. What about you?

 

The devotions for this week are in one download instead of multiple ones! There are only four devotions for this week.

 

I hope you find these a blessing to you and your family!

 

 

Direct Link- https://www.box.com/s/t1u6kv0httve9414k0qb

 

 



If you would like an activity or craft to do with your child this week, don't forget to check out my post, 10 Religious Easter Crafts and Activities!

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10 Religious Easter Activities For Children

Easter is almost here and I love the Easter holiday for doing fun crafts and activities with my children. It is a wonderful way to spend time together while telling them the story of the resurrection.

I have seen some super cute ideas floating around Pinterest and Facebook so I decided to write a post highlighting some of my favorite crafts and activities. These are for all ages so gather up your children for an afternoon of arts and crafts!

1. Handprint Lamb {Money Saving Michele}
So, I think this is super adorable! Who doesn't love sweet little lambs? The Bible refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God. If you would like to read some scripture while your children are working on this craft, read John 1:29-36.

2. Easter Sun Catchers {Mommyapolis}
Kids, contact paper and tissue paper = a quick, mess free craft that is perfect for little toddlers! Little hands can build there fine motor skills while you read THIS story to them. It is a great story for little children and goes into just enough details.

3. He is Risen Paper Plate Tomb Craft {Free Fun Easter}
This is a great craft for older children. I think I will be doing this craft with my Sunday School class Easter Sunday. While they are coloring the angel and Jesus, I will read them the whole story of the death and resurrection of Jesus from the Bible.

4. Empty Tomb Treat {Free Fun Easter}
What an adorable treat, perfect for an afternoon snack or Easter party!

5. Resurrection Eggs and Easter Story Book Printable {Family
Your Way}
A dear lady in our church made my children Resurrection Eggs a couple of years back and my children loved them! I am going to get mine out tomorrow and open a couple of eggs a night and use this free Easter Story Book Printable with my children this coming Holy week.

6. The Spotless Lamb {Impress Your Kids}
This craft would be great to do at the beginning of the week because the carnations will take a few days to soak the red dye fully through them. The blogger read 1 Peter 1:18,19 with her children while doing this activity.

6. Easter Coloring Pages {Ministry To Children}
A wide variety of great quality Easter coloring pages.

7.  Resurrection Egg Printable Game {Christian Preschool Pintable's}
A cute game that goes through the story of Easter.

8. Resurrection Rolls and Easter Story Cookies {Women Living Well}
We have not made the Resurrection Rolls before, but we have made the Easter Story Cookies and my daughter loved making them! I think we will make the rolls Easter Sunday for breakfast!

9. Jelly Bean Prayer Cross {MPM School Supplies}
I have never seen this before and I think it is a fun and yummy activity to do with children (and adults!) of all ages!

10. Jesus Has Risen {Free Crafty Ideas}
This is for an Easter card, but it would make a super cute craft to hang on the fridge! Or you could frame it and pull it out as an Easter decoration every year!









I hope you find some great ideas here to do with your children this week to celebrate Easter!

For The Working Moms- Making Weekends Intentional

I am straying away from devotions today and blogging about something that I have a real passion about. I have a passion for working mothers. I know how hard it is. I have stayed at home and am now working full-time outside the home with a two year old and a Kindergartner. I can honestly say that working away from the house is the HARDEST job in the world. It leaves me past the point of exhaustion every weekend. So working mothers who want to raise Godly, responsible children are my passion.

Are you among the 64.4% of working mothers out there? As stated above, I am and honestly, I hate it. It's not that I don't want to work. I do, but in a different way. I want to work at home. I want to be a stay-at-home mom so bad. I dream about it daily. I pin homeschooling ideas on my Pinterest boards in hopes of one day being able to homeschool my children.

Unfortunately as much as I want to stay at home, it is not in the cards for me at this time. I pray if it is God's will for me to stay at home, He will make a way in His time. I know if it is meant, He will.

So how can I maximize the short two days I get with my family? Let's look at some things we can do.

1. Do not use Saturday to clean all day- Okay, so I am guilty of this one. It seems like I clean all day Saturday and even Sunday afternoon. I want to stop that. I talked to my husband today and we decided that we are going to make Thursday evenings our cleaning time. We are going to take an hour and all four of us work together. I also asked if we could clean the kitchen as a family every night because it is just too much for me to do by myself with also doing lunches, baths and laying clothes out for the next day. I am hoping these two changes will make a big difference in the way I spend my Saturdays now.

2. Plan one family activity every weekend- My husband works the weekend, but I hope to plan one thing for me to do with the kids every weekend. Things that are on my list are Children's Museum, Indoor Snowball Fight, teach my daughter to sew, play board games, play messy Twister (yes, I really want to do this!), play tag, take them to the park, or just sit on the couch all day and watch their favorite cartoons! I also have to not forget to plan family nights throughout the week for us to spend time with my husband!

3. Take time and read a full chapter from the Bible- If I get devotions in during the week, it is usually what I post here. Just a short verse or two. While I believe in short and sweet for the busy mom during the week, I don't want to forget the importance of slowing down on the weekends and reading my children full chapters from the Bible.

4. Hug your child as often as you can- I really miss my kids while working and I try to hug them on the weekends as much as I can. They eat it up, too! They love all the attention.

5. Take them to church on Sunday- Please, take your children to church. My parents made sure me and my brother were in church every Sunday, when possible. I look back and see that the influence of attending church has shaped my very being into who I am today. That consistent attendance has helped me to be faithful even when my husband has decided not to attend or I am feeling tired. It is extremely hard, sometimes. But I realize that I can impact my children's future by me being faithful to church. Now I am not saying you have to participate in every church activity. Don't feel pressured to do all the Bible studies, choirs and classes your church offers. Do what is comfortable for your family and leaves you with most of your time being spent with them.

I could go on and on with this post, but I will stop right here. This is just a short list at what I do and what I am going to work on doing to make my weekends intentional. Intentional about spending time with my children and teaching them about God!

I want to note that I know how tired you are! The bone tiredness that comes along with taking care of your family, home and working full-time. I have to push myself to get out of bed Saturday. But with God's help, we can be the intentional mother on the weekends that we want to be! I find myself repeating Philippians 4:13 under my breath several times throughout the weekend. I am so weary, but at the end of the day, when I have done God's will, I feel a peace and satisfaction like I don't feel throughout the week.

What are some ways you make your weekends intentional?

Praise Ye The Lord- Day Two

How was your Monday? Ours was pretty good. It is supposed to turn frigid temperatures tomorrow so we enjoyed the semi-enjoyable weather today!

Here is part two of the worship series. We take a look at one of the ways you can worship God, through singing. Singing is so important and is mentioned several times in the Bible as a way to worship.

Enjoy!

Direct Link: https://www.box.com/s/o5rds5hplt08i9abu3go



Lyrics to song: http://www.lyricstime.com/hillsong-here-i-am-to-worship-lyrics.html

Praise Ye The Lord

This week for devotions, I wanted to share with my kids the reason we were created. The very reason God brought us into this world. To worship Him.

We can worship God so many ways and I hope to explore that with my children this week!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and even though it is Monday, Praise Ye the Lord!

Direct link for mobile devices: https://www.box.com/s/nemlftbbntbhl1zxae83



Lyrics to song: http://www.lyricstime.com/hillsong-here-i-am-to-worship-lyrics.html