Listening in on kids’ conversations are always entertaining. I overhead the following conversation between my two boys recently:
7 yo: “Heaven is a very special place and you can’t get there by airplane.”
5 yo: “You need a rocket!”
Once again, my 5 yo solved the problem for all those who are wondering about heaven.
I finally made some baby leg warmers for my baby girl. It’s a refashion, meaning I took regular women’s knee high socks and converted them to leg warmers for my wee one.
Baby leg warmers run about $10 a pair. I was able to find women’s knee high socks on clearance at Target so each pair came out to be just a little over $1. I’m so happy that I can make something so cute and practical for my little girl. With these leg warmers on, it makes diaper changing lot easier.
Here is my little model:
If you’re interested in making a pair or two for your cutie, here’s a free tutorial.
I’m a proponent of learning phonics when it comes to learning how to read. However, there are words that don’t follow the rules of phonics. Instead of sounding the words out, these words have to be memorized. Such words are called “sight words.” Fortunate for us, Dr. Edward Dolch complied a list of 220 sight words, or “Dolch words,” in 1948, based on children’s books. Dolch words make up about 50-75% of words in children’s books, which means your child will know at least 50% of the words in a given book once he’s mastered the Dolch words. Exciting, isn’t it?
Even though my five-year-old is already reading and knows a lot of sight words, I’m using the Dolch words for his spelling lessons.
For those who are interested in teaching your children Dolch words, you can check out Mrs. Perkins’ Dolch Words. This website contains different forms of the Dolch words, activities, worksheets, and games. Happy learning and reading!
Have you ever looked at your fellow saints and noted to yourself the following:
I know I have. And in many cases, our perceptions are correct: very often, others in the church are in fact falling short of God’s design for the life of the church. They really are not serving with all their might. They really are poor stewards of their time or money. They really can be inhospitable. The list goes on…
Yet, as I dwelt on this, I realized that quite often, those failings which most stand out to us correspond with those areas where we least struggle. For example, how often does someone who’s poor at math point out others who are poor at math? Likely never (except perhaps in seeking sympathy). On the other hand, based on my experience, I’m a lot more likely to notice someone is poor in punctuality, if I am consistently and reliably on time. Similarly, I notice (and feel free to criticize) the person who is sloppy in theology because I’m ever so careful in mine.
And suddenly, it came to me: I’ve become the self-righteous Pharisee that Jesus spoke of in Luke 18:
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
You know, that Pharisee wasn’t a bad guy. He did, after all, fast twice a week, gave tithes. Very admirable “faithful” follower of God.
I’m betting he was punctual and hospitable too.
And then, Jesus compared this “faithful” worshipper with the very tax collector that the Pharisee looked down on, and pronounced a very different judgment than the Pharisee would have ever expected.
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Most of the time, we don’t think of ourselves as the Pharisee. But how easily we do think of ourselves like the Pharisee thought of himself.
We are not so blatant as to cast aspersions or to say, “I thank God that I am not like those others.” But we so quickly think less of others based on their weaknesses — and it’s usually in areas we are strong. Why? Most of the time, I suspect the answer is that we are the Pharisee — whose instinct is to dwell on areas we have “got things right” rather than the countless areas of our lives that are tarnished by self and sin.
Yet God justifies the one whose only assessment of himself was the only one that mattered: “the sinner.”
What then? Know your strengths. Be thankful for God’s grace in those areas. But the next time you or I start dwelling upon the flaws or shortcomings of a fellow believer (or even an unbeliever!), may we instead take careful inventory of those planks that are present in our own eyes before we attempt to (meekly, graciously, lovingly) pluck the specks out of others’ eyes. May we frequently cry out, “Thank you God for your mercy to me, a wretched sinner!” instead of comparing our so-called righteousness against another’s deeds. And may such habits result in more loving and edifying relationships, to the glory of His grace that is at work in us.
This post from Russell Moore provided me with an ever-needed reminder that I am ever in need of the gospel to draw my attention to my ever-present need for a Savior. It is both theologically and rhetorically powerful. Here’s a couple of excerpts:
I find myself often drawn more to Bible Belt morality than to the gospel. When I go without prayer, I can still recognize the goodness of a just social order, a loving marriage, a stable community. But, when that happens, I don’t see myself as a sinner and, as a result, I don’t see God in Christ. I see God in myself. Unless I see myself in Christ and him crucified, I see God as, at the core, justice, not love, as solitary, not a Trinitarian community of love. When I forget about the gospel, I imagine that God is seeing me in terms of some cosmic scale of my good deeds and sins. That leads me to pride or despair. And it’s crypto-Koranic, not Christian.
…
I don’t want to bring in the reign of God with bombs or box cutters, but I sometimes want to do it with my words, with a well-crafted rebuke, or even with my keyboard. Every time I do such, I act as though my God is a capricious, blood-thirsty idol who is sending me into the world to condemn instead of save it — instead of a loving Father who sent his Son into the world to save it instead of condemn it (Jn. 3:17).
We are Evers and Lois Ding, a married couple committed to living lives which magnify the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Find out more....
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