Avoiding The Millstone

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I went on a great field trip organized by our homeschool group. We spent 5 hours in the woods along the Eno River with guides from Schoolhouse of Wonder. The first part of the day was devoted to the study of the Native Americans and their ways of living. The second part centered on the ways of the colonists and how they differed from the Indian's lifestyle. Our guide was wonderful and there were lots of hands-on activities.

touching a real deer hide

throwing a spear

seeing how a small animal trap worked

Making fire the Native American Way

and the colonist's way

"churning" cream into butter

While each child shook the jar the group chanted, "Elijah (or whoever had the jar) stands at the gate, waiting for his butter cake. Churn butter, churn!"

Then the tasting!!

The camp is located by an old grist mill, the kids got to see how the water powered the wheel to turn the millstone to make the meal. They had a millstone for everyone to see.

We ended our day with an old fashioned "story telling"

The kids learned a lot and enjoyed every minute of our time at Schoolhouse of Wonder.

The teacher learned a lot too. Not necessarily about Native American and Colonists, but about how to better please God by loving children more perfectly. My mind kept going back to the site of the millstone.

For several days, I pondered the scripture:

Matthew 18:6-
"If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

I realized that it is given a couple of other times-

Mark 9:42
"If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea."
and
Luke 17:2
"It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble."

To me, that means it must have been a big deal to Jesus!

As I looked at my picture of the millstone-

The image is so clear in my mind. No one could possibly survive with that big boy tied around their neck.  (I know he was talking metaphorically. God's not going to cause a millstone to fall from the sky and attach itself to someone's neck) The point He wanted to make is that children are a big deal to our Lord, and therefore, their well being should be a big deal to us.  I started to question what does He mean by stumble?  Some other translations say, "to sin, cause downfall, fall, offend". What do those look like regarding my interactions with children, namely my own children?

Neglect-no problem there.
Abuse-no problem there.
Not loving-no problem there.

So, I must be good to go, right? Nope, the Holy Spirit prodded me to think deeper.

How about when I get irritated because they don't move as fast as I want/need them to, so I yell?--Problem!
Or when they make big messes and I get irritated, even though they are learning and exploring?--Problem!
Or when I choose to vacuum, clean or read a book instead of spending time with them?--Problem
Or their noise level is irritating so I blast them?--Problem
Or in my busyness, I miss a chance to point them to God, to lead them to see Him at work?--Problem
Or when I think that I can parent them just fine by myself and inadvertently leave God out of the equation, by worrying or stressing over their wellbeing?--Problem
Or when I miss a chance to show them how to love those who are unlovable or those in need?--Problem
Or when I exhibit selfishness or greed?-Problem

Now, I'm not guilty of all of these all of the time. But, I do recognize a few of these in myself from time to time.  Jesus didn't say, make sure you don't cause them to stumble--most of the time. There is no qualifying standard beyond perfection. I recognize that neither I nor anyone else will ever attain that standard, but God wants to help me do the best I can, to do better today than yesterday, but not as well as tomorrow.

Once again, I'm amazed at how God weaves his lessons throughout my ordinary daily activities. I'm asking the Lord to help me love my children and the other children I come into contact with as perfectly as possible.

 I certainly want to avoid that gargantuan necklace!

Elijah's birthday party

As usual, we went round and round trying to pinpoint what kind of party Elijah wanted. Finally he decided he definitely wanted a puppy party at a local park that has a cool sand thingy. The only problem was his birthday is in February. This winter has been one of the worst winters weather wise, so going to the park in February made me shiver to just think about it! We decided, or I decided and he agreed, that we would have his party the 2nd week of March, and maybe the weather would be better. Our gamble paid off! The weather was beautiful for his park/puppy birthday party.

The birthday boy with his button

 The puppy pinata and puppy goody bags

Nana and Anna ready to party!

Jamie celebrated with us

First we made the craft

Enjoyed the snacks!

 Ready for cake!

While the kids played, Mimi and Papa took Miss Layne to play in the park.

We ended with a pinata

The poor puppy didn't withstand many whacks, his head separated from his body pretty quickly.

The candy free for all

 The weather was great and the kids all had a great time…a birthday party success!!

Rainbow in a jar

First of all, I must issue a disclaimer. I did not come up with the following experiment, I read it on an online blog. But, I like to think that intelligence isn't knowing everything, but knowing where to go to find whatever you need to know. Soo, I'll take credit for being intelligent (sometimes)!

This was an experiment to demonstrate density. We talked about everything being made of molecules and the more molecules, the more dense an object is. We took honey, corn syrup, dawn dish detergent, wesson oil, water and rubbing alcohol. We used food coloring to make sure they all were different colors.

The kids made guesses (hypothesis) about which would be the densest. We then layered them each in a jar.

Voila! Our rainbow in a jar. Then we went online and found a chart that listed most of our substances and their corresponding densities. (We put them in a different order in another jar to see the heavier ones sink into the lighter ones.)

Very pretty, isn't it? By the end they could tell me all about density and which substance was the most dense and the least dense.

When Dad got home, they were excited and wanted to show him our masterpiece. Anxious to receive my, "Atta girl" from John, I started peppering the kids with questions. Of course, they both just stood there and looked at me like they had never heard any of those terms or concepts before. Eventually I was able to jog their memory and they spouted out the answers that I originally had hoped would validate me as a teacher.

Anyway, they had fun and maybe they learned something in the process. And maybe, just maybe, there was little lesson tucked in just for the teacher regarding that nasty little villain…. Pride!

They may fight like cats and dogs by day...

But at the end of the day...

They really love each other!

Two little ones need families!

These two little girls are looking for their families. Could it be you or someone you know?  They are on our agency's list and they have asked us to help get the word out that these precious little ones are waiting.

Sarah

Sarah was born in January of 2010 and has Down Syndrome. She likes to play outside and her favorite thing to play on is the slide. When indoors she loves dancing to music and looking at picture books.

Amber

Amber was also born in 2010 and diagnosed with Down Syndrome. She is very active and loves crawling and walking to find new toys to play with. She is is quite outgoing and loves to cuddle!

Both of these cuties are in China. Our agency, A Helping Hand, has their files and would love to talk to anyone who might be interested in giving either of these two a family. You can contact Hannah at
hannah@ahelpinghandadoption.org or call her at (859)263-9964.

The adoption of Abbey and Elijah has been a wonderful thing for our family. Our adoption journey has been an amazing time of growth, of seeing God work and beginning to  understand a little bit more of His heart.  I'd be more than happy to talk to anyone and answer any questions you might have about adding to your family through adoption. You can leave me a comment with your e mail address. 

I know that God desires for these children to have families. The adoption process starts with God's quiet voice speaking to your heart. Are you listening???

Meet visitors

When Evie Claire got word that her Mimi and Papa were going to be in Maryland, she decided that she just had to go! Since she can't quite drive yet, she had to bring her parents. Of course, I was ecstatic to see all three of them!

She's grown so much and is ever so much more social. I had a wonderful time "chatting" with her!

and so did Papa

Aunt Abbey was a little bit excited to hold Miss EC

While at the meet, she fell asleep in my arms and took a little nap. One of life's best feelings…a sleeping baby to cuddle with!

I'm so glad that Evie's parents made the trip from New York to Maryland so that we could see all three of them for a little while!