Ancient Hebrew letters for the word father.

I wish I knew the ancient Hebrew language. I would love to read Genesis through the language of the people who wrote it. My heart is breaking over the way people want to pick apart the Bible for perceived errors in it. I suspect the “errors” they are pointing out have more to do with understanding the language and translating it into our modern English than anything else.

The ancient Hebrew language had a much smaller vocabulary than we have today. Humor me while I make a simple comparison to illustrate my point. I found on Amazon.com a book, Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible, with this description: “All the Hebrew words of the Bible are connected to their roots and defined within their ancient cultural context and meaning.” This book has 616 pages.

I also have a fairly recent copy of the Merriam-Webster Children’s Dictionary on my bookshelf. This book has 913 pages. Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary as found in one online reference contains 2230 pages. If you have ever seen an unabridged Dictionary in a library you know that there are many more words on a page than you would find in a 600 page book you expect to pick up and read. I wish I knew the actual number of word entries for each of these books.

It should be obvious without any further crunching of numbers that the ancient Hebrews communicated with fewer words. They weren’t writing doctoral theses, nor should their writing reflect that kind of knowledge of their environment.

Does this disqualify these writings of any value? Absolutely not! Does this mean they are not inspired by God? Again, it does not. I find quite the opposite to be true. I am totally wowed over the amount of scientific understanding God was able to share with these people within the bounds of their limited language and understanding. Furthermore, archaeologists have discovered evidence of the cities, cultures, and people named in the Genesis accounts, and continue to find more supportive evidence every year.

My prayer is that Christians will become more tolerant of one another in their interpretations of the Scriptures. Let us recognize the difficulties in translating the ancient languages, and become less knit-picky over passages that are a little less than clear. If we can’t become more flexible, we will only alienate more people, including our own children and grandchildren.

There are basic truths that we must hold our ground on. God is real. He created everything in creation in a systematic way. God deserves our love and worship. Sin separates us from God. Rejecting God and his Son Jesus is the ultimate sin. We show our love for God by accepting his Son and by living according to his commands.

I am impressed with the website “Ancient Hebrew Research Center: Plowing through history from Aleph to Tav” and plan to spend more time reading it hoping to understand ancient Hebrew a little better. I encourage my readers to spend a little time reading it as well.

Grasshopper – drawing by Jonathan Huff

I would like to attempt to shed some light on a passage of scripture that gives many people an excuse to discount the accuracy of the Bible. I am not concerning myself with whether or not we should eat these insects. Rather, I am taking issue with the words “insects that walk on all fours.”

Today’s elementary children are taught that insects have six legs, and rightly so. This is how insects have been classified by scientists around the world. Yet Leviticus 11:21 refers to insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, and katydids as insects that walk on four legs.

When Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament (including Leviticus) he didn’t first graduate from one of our schools to learn the word “insect.” He spoke ancient Hebrew. In his language there was a word that meant “fly” (עוף ooph). The following quote comes from the website “Ancient Hebrew Research Center.

Fly (עוף ooph, Strong’s #5774): This verb means ‘to fly’ while the noun form, pronounced oph ^[str:5775] but spelled the same, is a ‘flyer’ and can be a bird, bat or insect, anything that flies. Hebrew commonly uses word puns, words of similar sounds together. Genesis 1:20 is a good example where it says ve’oph ye’oph which means “flyers flying.”

So when we read the word “insect” in the Bible, we must understand that Moses never intended to be this specific in his word choices. Bible translators have made their best effort to put the Hebrew words of these ancient people into our language, and when it appeared that they were talking about insects, they used the English word insect.

The specific insects spoken of in Leviticus 11:21-22 were identified by our translators as grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, and katydids. If you watch these insects move around you will notice that when they are walking they use their front four legs to get them where they want to go while the back legs must simply follow or drag along. But if they need to hop, they use their over-sized back legs. The writer of Leviticus was simply using the language of his day to describe the difference between these flying creatures and other insects, birds, and bats.

Verse 23 speaks of other flying “insects” that have four legs, but the original text likely only meant flying creatures, not “insects.” This verse could easily have referred to bats, which sound pretty detestable as a food to me.

God gave us his living Word to teach us to love him and to love one another. His Word is also a record of how people have rejected him, yet he continually found ways to restore people to himself – eventually through the sacrifice of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. But people continue to turn away from him. They continue to read his Word looking only for their perceived “loopholes” rather than for seeking to know God.

God promises in his word that if we look for him we will find him if we will seek him with all our hearts. See Jeremiah 29:13.

Here is another interesting article about “Animals in the Bible.”

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

How do we teach our children to think outside themselves in a world that tries to cater to their every self-indulgent wants and needs? What is the typical response of most children when you ask them to do their chores or help a friend with a task that requires a bit of effort on their part? I fear that all too often the requests are met with resistance – they would rather play with their cell phones or the Wii or whatever else they have become engrossed in at the moment.

Children need to learn to recognize real needs of real people around them. They need to learn to think outside themselves and to develop a caring spirit for others if they are to become well-rounded individuals and citizens.

Trying to think of an appropriate service project may overwhelm one at first. Consider the amount of time you and your child(ren) can give. Consider the talents, skills, and interests of your child. Is he artistic? He might make cards for elderly relatives or shut-ins. Here is an easy envelope template you can use to make envelopes for simple double-folded cards.

Does your child like to sing for people? Take her to visit someone who is bed-ridden or a nursing home or senior citizens center to sing. Maybe she has friends or siblings who would sing with her.

Do your children have games and/or toys they no longer play with, but are still usable? They could be given to a small church nursery, orphanage, or children’s home. Some games might be appropriate to donate to a senior citizens center – better yet, stay and play the games with the senior citizens and really lift their spirits.

I found a super source of ideas in a web page that should give you many more ideas of do-able service projects for children:
35 Service Projects for Kids

Where can you find wordsearch puzzles with your children’s names in them? Where you you look for a crossword puzzle with the names of places you plan to go on your upcoming vacation? If you are willing to spend just a few minutes, you can create your own personalized puzzles. And if you are planning a vacation, the puzzles can be given to the children on a long road trip. Well designed puzzles can serve as teaching tools that have them thinking about where they are going, and can whet their appetites to learn more once they arrive. Wordsearch puzzles can also help the names of things they are learning about stick in their minds better.

Word searches, crossword puzzles, and a variety of other word puzzles can be created on the www.puzzlemaker.com website. Making a word search is as easy as writing a list of words and thinking of an appropriate title. The web site does the rest so you can print it out along with the key in case you get stuck trying to find  some of the words. The puzzle in the picture was created instantly from this simple list of words I created. (ALLIGATORS, AQUARIUM, AUNTSUE, BEACH, CAMPING, FLIPFLOPS, NANA, OCEANLAKES, SAND, SANDPIPERS, SEAFOOD, WORSHIP.) The sky is the limit on what you can include in your puzzles – as long as there is room for all the letters to fit.

Criss-Cross puzzles are great for a review of what you saw and learned on a trip or special activity. Criss-Cross puzzles are a type of crossword puzzle that can be made on the PuzzleMaker website. To make these, enter the answer words that will go into the puzzle followed by the clue on the same line. Again, once you have completed your information for the puzzle, PuzzleMaker will create your puzzle within seconds. It is possible that there will be a word that can’t be put into the puzzle. If the word is really important, you might need to replace one of the other words or add new words that include some of the letters in the rejected word.

Jigsaw puzzles are fun too. Though these are worked on the computer, it is also possible to do them on an iPhone or other portable device that connects to the Web. You can make computer picture puzzles at www.jigzone.com/. Here is one I made from a picture I took of an osprey feeding her young chick.

There are more types of puzzles offered on www.PuzzleMaker.com than the two I mentioned, and there are other places on the Web available for making jigsaw puzzles. Some will let you send your picture and order a traditional jigsaw puzzle that will come in your mail box. I haven’t tried this yet, but think it would be a great way to memorialize a great vacation.

Put you puzzle-making thinking cap on and see what new kinds of entertainment you can create for your family this summer. If you make a jigsaw puzzle on Jigzone.com, I would love for you to share the link in the comments below.

Title: The Christian Alphabet Book

Author/Illustrator: Tracy Sands

ISBN:  978-0-9857928-0-0

USD:  $19.95 Hardcover

Rating:       

The Christian Alphabet Book: Teaching Children about Jesus, Prayer, and the Bible, by Tracy Sands is a fascinating collection of basic concepts and facts about Christianity. This book, which was awarded the Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year award, should prove useful to teachers, youth workers, and parents who are serious about reaching their children with the Christian faith.

In harmony with the concept of the Holy Spirit as our teacher, “Love, the dove from above” sheds light on each of the concepts from A to Z. The pages are filled with information, discussion questions, and activities to teach, entertain, and keep the dialog going between caregiver and child. Each page spread also concludes with a simple prayer.

The artsy alphabet letters have many symbols embedded in them. A set of pages at the back of the book revisits the alphabet letter by letter to provide a quick reference to explain and/or clarify what the symbols mean.

There is an audio CD in the back of the book with “The Bible Alphabet Song” on it. This fun song will be useful to reinforce the concepts in the book and to help the children grow in their understanding of the Christian faith.

What I like about the book: I like the wealth of concepts that are presented on a child’s level and the intriguing art work that shapes the letters.

What I dislike: This isn’t exactly a dislike, but a caution. This book will prove more useful in a teaching setting than as a stand-alone book for a child, unless the child is highly motivated to read it to the end. But even this can be a plus, as children and parents need to spend more time in dialog and a book of this type will inspire this to happen.

I rate this book five points out of a possible five.

You can order The Christian Alphabet Book from Tracy Sands website or find it on Amazon.com.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Erica watches a cicada emerging from its shell.

Are you in the part of the country that is getting plagued with the 17-year cicadas? (Check this map to see where they are.) If so, even though they may seem to be a nuisance, you also have an easy chance to watch a cicada emerge from its shell with your children or grandchildren. Even if you don’t live in this area, there should still be cicadas other than the 17-year cicadas around at some time this summer, watch for the pupae crawling on the ground just before dark.

I can still remember the time when my father brought in a cicada pupa that had crawled out of the ground and was about to hatch. What a thrill it was to see it slowly emerge from the shell, then let its wings stretch out and eventually dry.

My daughter, Joni Huff, lives in Virginia where the seventeen year cicadas are literally bursting out all over, so I’ve encouraged her to let the grandchildren stay up and watch as they take pictures of them. Even though the kids all fell asleep, she still did a fantastic job with the pictures. She tried again another night, and Erica stayed awake the longest. They all enjoyed the pictures, and Jonathan began to draw them. (Note: Click on any of these picture to see more details.)

The first picture was taken when the pupa was first captured and put on a stick. It climbed from one end to the other until Joni put it in a pitcher with a lid on it until it was nearer time to emerge.

The second picture was taken when it finally stopped climbing. Joni said,”He stopped crawling and I started seeing some liquid-y stuff, so I put him back on the big stick so we could see better. He seems to be pulling against his own legs and doing a little dance.”

She must have looked away longer than she planned, because for the third picture she said “He snuck up on me… The back is splitting open. Tried to wake the kids up but they are out cold.”

The fourth, fifth, and sixth pictures show the progression as the cicada emerges from the shell.

The seventh, eighth, and ninth pictures show how the wings look as they stretch out and start drying. The tenth picture shows what the cicada looks like when it is fully dry and ready to fly. Notice how the colors become much more brilliant when it is dry.

Here is a composite video made up of a series of short videos taken of the above cicada as it emerged and stretched its wings.

Jonathan, my artistic grandson, made the awesome drawing below of one of the cicadas. He is working on more illustrations of the various phases as they emerge. I hope to post them in a few days.

Here are three more pictures Joni took that give you an idea about how many cicadas have been hatching out in her neighborhood the past couple of weeks.

This last picture is of a cicada that couldn’t shed the last of the shell, so Erica helped to remove the shell and let it fly away.

Do you have cicadas in your neighborhood? Do you have kids around? If you answered yes to both questions, It’s time for some nature sharing fun.

Chrysalis in the making

The weather has been pulling me outdoors. My puppy, Cookie, is my kid substitute. She has motivated me to get out more. Sometimes Cookie shows me things I would otherwise overlook. Today she took to barking at a place where there was a discarded greenhouse shelf leaning against a tree stump. When I moved the shelf, a blue tailed lizard scurried away into the grass. But I also noticed another treasure I love to find outdoors. On the ground was a chrysalis in the making. I suspect the caterpillar was a brown woolly bear type caterpillar as the brown fuzz is still attached to one end of the chrysalis. I plan to keep this in a container with a little soil just in case it is designed to wiggle its way underground. Then I will wait to see what hatches out of it. I suspect it will be a fairly large moth.

Freshly emerged cicada & shell

A major breakout of cicadas has hit the part of the country where my grandchildren live. My daughter found a live cicada sill in its shell crawling up a blade of grass so she took it inside and took pictures of it as it emerged from it’s shell. She made the mistake of putting the kids to bed – with plans to wake them up when it emerged, but she couldn’t get them to wake up at the magic moment. She plans to try this again soon. I’ll post her full story in a few days – with or without the kids in the picture. But I always prefer to include the kids.

There was once a giant soldier who was over nine feet tall. He towered over the other Philistines in his army. This giant stood alone in the valley between two armies and shouted at the army of his enemies, the Israelites. Every day he shouted to the Israelites to send him one soldier who would fight him, but none of the Israelites were brave enough to take his challenge.

The Israelites worshiped God. They knew about the many miracles that God had performed for them in the past. They had eaten manna in the desert that God provided. They saw God part the waters for them to cross the Red Sea and 40 years later he parted the waters of the Jordan River for them to cross into the Promised Land. And they saw the walls of Jericho tumble down when the Israelites followed God’s instructions to march around them seven times and then shout. But King Saul and his entire army trembled in fear of this giant soldier.

David was a young shepherd boy who guarded and protected his father’s sheep. He had learned how to fight off bears and lions that came to attack the sheep. He also passed the time singing praises to God and worshiping him. One day David’s father asked him to take food to the soldiers. When he arrived in the army camp he saw the giant and heard his murderous threats.

How dare he defy the army of the Almighty God? David thought. Then he said it out loud and began asking questions. When his three older brothers heard him they made fun of him and told him to go home and take care of his few sheep. But the king heard that David wanted to fight the giant and asked the soldiers to bring David to him.

When the king put his armor on David it was much too big and heavy for him. “I can fight this big bully as easily as I fought the Lion and the Bear,” David said. Then he took off the armor and gathered five smooth stones to put in his bag.

The giant laughed at David when he saw he was only a boy, but David shouted at him, “I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel.” As the giant ran toward his young challenger, David reached into his pouch, grabbed a stone, and placed it in his slingshot. He swung it around his head and released it so that the stone sunk deep into the giant’s forehead and he fell to the ground. David then used the giant’s sword to cut off his head.

Who or what are the giants in your life? Have you ever been bullied because of your faith? How can David’s courage help you to feel stronger and braver?

This story really happened. It is usually called the story of David and Goliath, and it is recorded in the Bible in 1 Samuel 17. Read it for yourself for even better understanding.

I’m a person with big ideas… I had hoped to finish a set of illustrations and devotions for a 6-12 day mini-Advent series for children and parents to read together and post them here and/or on my Bible Quilts blog. But Christmas isn’t the time of year to try to accomplish such a major project. I completed only two of the quilt blocks so far, the second completed the day after Christmas.

Around the first of November I accepted the responsibility of directing a church choir. I’m not highly skilled, nor am I a great musical performer, but I know I have sufficient musical skills to help the choir to move to a higher level than they are at present. I am thoroughly enjoying this opportunity to minister.

Over the past three and a half weeks I’ve experienced various levels of back pain, enough to send me to a chiropractor as well as an orthopaedic specialist who signed me up for physical therapy. It seems one of my back’s worst enemies is my computer. I’m spending too many hours a day in front of my computer screen. It doesn’t help that I read at a turtle’s pace and am easily distracted.

Meanwhile I’ve written very few blog posts, most of which went on two other blogs I share with Christian children’s authors. I manage both of these blogs.

I can look at all of the above and call them excuses for myself. Or I can assess the expectations I put on myself and prayerfully consider which of these are God-assignments and which are of my own making.

As a book publisher and author, I have the responsibility of promoting my own books. I find this very difficult, especially considering I live in a very small town with no bookstores to carry and promote my books. Much of my computer time is spent on Facebook and elsewhere looking for ways to network and to promote my books – something that seems to keep me going in circles… It is very difficult… dare I say impossible to wear all the hats of writing, illustrating, publishing, and marketing my own books. On top of that, every time I think of doing my taxes, my stomach seems to get tied up in knots. My pockets are too shallow to hire people to bear part of this load, but somewhere something has to give!

I am also praying over what kinds of articles are most appropriate for my blogs. My passion is for young families to discover what a great resource we have in the Bible as a guide for daily living, and to recognize the critical need children have for affirmation and support from their parents, grandparents, and others around them.

I’m not exactly an authority on family living so I feel underqualified to write extensively on that topic. I’m leaning toward writing about Bible stories suitable for sharing with children and offering ways to apply them to daily living.

How have other authors found balance in their lives when they wear so many hats? I hope I will find some helpful words of encouragement from my readers in the comments below. Meanwhile, please pray with me for direction in my life and on my blogs.

Janice D. Green
Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC
Bible Quilts
Christian Children’s Authors
Write2Ignite! 

Here is a great family-oriented activity I found on Pinterest, and so easy to do. Find a large jar and create a label for it that says something like Blessings and Memories Jar for 2013. Then all through the year jot down blessings and memories that you want to remember and put them into the jar. Be sure and include the date or range of dates. On New Year’s Eve, dump out all of the memories and read them together as a family.

At that time you might consider copying or taping them into a scrapbook. It could be a computer-generated one or simply a three-ring binder. Through the scrapbook you can chronicle the highlights of your family’s activities, joys, and perhaps a few disappointing hurdles you had to cross, but that helped you grow into the family you are.

If you are reading this today, on Christmas Eve, you probably have more time on your hands than many who are scrambling to get everything ready for a big family get-together. Chances are you are one of many who may, for one reason or another, be separated from family members who you would like to be with at this special time of the year. I share your disappointment as my mother and siblings are 550 miles to the west of me, my daughter’s family is 450 miles north, and my husband’s family is over 800 miles to the north. Fortunately I have wonderful friends who make up my “other family” who live closeby.

Even with the wonderful friends, the absense of those family members I have known the longest still leaves a little empty place in my heart. When my mind begins to dwell on this, one of the songs in our church’s cantata comes to mind. The song is called “Blessings.” I invite you to listen to this YouTube version by clicking here.

One of the blessings of not having the busy-ness of a large gathering of people is extra time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, time to think of the Christ Child lying in the manger in a stable with his young homeless mother and father who couldn’t find a bed for the night. His visitors that night were the smelly shepherds who were the first to hear of his birth from the angels. This baby Jesus was none other than the Son of God who left his home in glory for this lowly reception into our world. Before he was two years old Mary and Joseph had to flee with Jesus to Egypt to spare his life. Jesus had moments of glory on earth, but he was also rejected by the Jewish authorities and put to death on a cruel cross because they were jealous of him.

I reflect on these as reminders because, in his suffering, he has experienced the same kinds of disappointments that we often feel. Jesus, our Emanuel (God with us), understands our hurts and pains, and is right there beside us to give us comfort. With extra time on my hands, now that the church programs and other Christmas parties are behind me, I find it easier to quiet my heart and reflect on these things.

My husband and I can listen to Christmas music, we can watch The Nativity Story, and we can count our blessings – even those that may now be in disguise.

Photo credit: © Wildman | Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos

by Janice D. Green, author (re-teller) of The First Christmas

Save $4.94 when buying both The Creation and The First Christmas as the same time.

Purchased separately they cost $24.94, but when purchased together they are only $20.00 plus shipping (and SC sales tax @ 7% if ordered from SC).

Click here to order online
Click here for a mail order form

Inventory Reduction Sale:

Save even more if purchasing The Creation in sets of 8 or 16 copies. A great offer for Christian schools, libraries, churches, ministries to children, and Grandparents with many grands to buy for.

Eight copies for $30.00 and sixteen copies for $50.00. Add shipping and if ordered from SC add 7% SC sales tax.

Click here for more information about this Inventory Reduction Sale.

Before Jesus was born, many years before Mary and Joseph were born, the Jewish nation was looking for Messiah to come. They were looking for a king. The Jewish nation had been taken over by an opressive Roman government. They levied heavy taxes which were collected by dishonest men who padded the amount they charged to include money for themselves. Roman soldiers demanded people to stop what they were doing at any time and help carry heavy equipment. The Jewish people did not like the Roman soldiers and rulers. They hoped Messiah would come soon, and as King David once did long ago, they hoped he would again make them into a strong nation who could fight off the Roman government.

Now we have the benefit of history which has been written down in the New Testament so that we can have a better idea about what the new king, Messiah, would be like. If we have read the Holy Scriptures, we know better than to look for the Christ to be our military leader. Rather, Christ told his Disciples that whoever lived by the sword would die by the sword. Then as now, Messiah was more interested in the conquest of the human heart and spirit than in political conquest.

Today we set aside four to five weeks before Christmas to celebrate Advent, the anticipation of Jesus Christ’s birth, the long awaited Messiah. These days and weeks are meant to prepare our hearts and minds to experience anew the birth of Christ, the Messiah, the Imanuel – God living with us and through us.

How are you preparing your heart to experience the birth of the Messiah, the Baby King?

Thanksgiving and Black Friday are now behind us. There are 29 days until Christmas is here. How do we decide what is important and what is not as this holy day approaches? What message will our children read between the lines as they watch us get ready for this special day – this is where they will get their clues about what is truly important to you.

If our total focus is on gift buying, festive parties, and extravagent decorations, our children will believe that is what is important about Christmas. But if we maintain a focus on the message of the Christ Child, day by day, this likewise will not escape our children’s notice.

Advent calendars can be a great tool for families to use to provide a daily focus on the true meaning of Christmas. There are a variety of advent calendars available, but choose carefully. Some are based on Scriptures about Jesus’ birth, while others will focus more on counting the days to Santa’s arrival.

Since I live in the “boonies” and don’t get to the city often, I’m not in a position to review what is available in stores. However, the Internet offers a variety of ways to look for suitable materials for advent. I have been saving ideas to my Pinterest bulletin board over the past couple of months. Here are a few of my finds:

Advent Calendar: Teach the True Story of Christmas (Tutorial)

Free downloadable Bible verse advent cards

Several Christmas traditions including a 25-day Scripture chain

Felt advent calendar with Nativity Scene – order or make your own

My Pinterest bulletin board: “The First Christmas” with many more ideas for keeping Christ in Christmas…

Perhaps you have other ideas you can share that help families keep their focus on Christ through the days of advent. If so please add them in the comments below…

Photo credit: © Welburnstuart | Stock Free Images &Dreamstime Stock Photos

The Creation – Inventory Reduction Sale

8 copies of The Creation for only $30.00* plus shipping

16 copies of The Creation for only $50.00* plus shipping

* add 7% sales tax for addresses in South Carolina

Offer good through Dec 31, 2012.

• Genesis account of the event of creation in hardcover copy
• Colorful hand appliqued quilt illustrations
• Kid-friendly language does not sacrifice story
• Emphasizes that life has meaning and purpose for today’s youth
• Discussion questions on each page – great for family or church setting
• Additional activities in back of book for family or church group
• Many wonderful reviews! Check them out here.
• More great reviews on Amazon.com

Special Inventory Reduction Sale 12-2012 Click here for downloadable form to order sets of The Creation.

Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC is a small publishing company less than two years old that exists on a shoestring budget. Its first publication, The Creation, was printed in a large quantity using off-set printing. With H.A.P.’s limited budget for marketing, most of these books are still in boxes tying up cash needed for additional publications. For this reason these books are being offered at near give-away prices. (If I gave them away I would have to pay the sales tax on them as well, which is not an option as I can’t pay to give them away.)

The First Christmas continues to be available for sale, but not at the reduced rate. This is a print-on-demand book as all H.A.P. books will be in the forseeable future. The First Christmas sells for $9.95 plus shipping. Again, SC residents must also pay SC sales tax on this book.

Use this form to order copies of either The First Christmas or The Creation if you are not ordering at least one set of eight books of The Creation.

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise.
(Psalm 95:2)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo from www.biblepicturegallery.com

The late night election returns of November 6, 2012 sent thousands of conservative Christians reeling. I was one of them. How could this have happened? Masses of Christians prayed 40 days… God does not approve of abortion or homosexuality but they appear to have won out… How could God have let this happen?

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. God commands us to give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of the Father. (See Philippians 4:4-7)

Is this just a bitter pill we have to swallow? Do we paste on an artificial smile and glibly say everything will be all right? If so, we may have missed the point.

Christians are being called on to go through the waters and the fire with Christ at their sides. It has been demonstrated over and over again that Christianity grows under persecution. The first time it happened was when the early New Testament Christians were scattered as they sought to escape persecution. They took their faith with them. Those who didn’t scatter faced the lions in the Roman arenas, and because it was common knowledge that these were martyrs who refused to renounce their faith, their demonstration of faith is among the greatest witnesses of all time,

But we Christians have been so lukewarm that we have avoided persecution by keeping quiet when we should have stood up for our faith. We were so afraid of hurting someone’s feeling that we didn’t bother to help them see where they were going against God’s will. Now, like a boomerang, all of our neglect is coming back to knock us off our feet if it can. If we couldn’t stand up to simple persecution, what will happen if it gets worse? I hope we don’t have to find out, but my better judgement fears differently.

Our government is broken – seriously broken. We can’t put our faith in politicians. Those who rose to the top had to get there by pleasing those who already got there. It takes more money than even the wealthiest individuals can provide, plus lots of back-scratching to get there. Our government was founded on Christian principles. But if Christian principles are not embraced by those in power, then deception, greed, and political control will bring it down.

America’s problem is a spiritual one. We must not allow government to take the place of God in our lives. The Bible does not tell us to look to government to take care of us. When we do that we are making an idol out of our government. I’m preaching to myself… I’m retired and my only real income is my retirement check and my Social Security. Now am I supposed to trust Government to take care of me and honor those checks, or do I really believe God can and will take care of me if the checks stop coming?

I feel the need for a growing body of believers who is ready to trust God more than the government to supply our needs. …a body of believers who is willing to read their Bibles without the pre-established blinders of religion, and who is willing to apply it to their personal faith and growth. I say this, not to point fingers at any “wrong” religions, but to say “stop letting our differences separate and divide us.” We may think we have all the right answers figured out, but we all stand to be corrected when we meet our Maker face to face one day.

We need to meet people where they are and seek to give them spiritual eyes and a hunger to know Jesus. We must learn to share God’s Word in love without compromising it. When people come together in love to worship and pray, then God will heal our land. (See 2 Chronicles 7:14) But if we as Christians continue to attack and maim each other we will never achieve the unity that is so desperately needed in the USA. God’s people pulling together can survive whatever comes their way. For Christians, just like for the United States – united we stand, divided we fall.

This Thanksgiving we must look to God with sincere thanks in our hearts that HE is still God, and that his purposes will prevail in his time. And we must pray that we will be willing vessels in his hands, willing to be who he would have us to be.

Everybody knows that Thanksgiving Day is set aside to reflect on those things we are thankful for, and everyone knows it is time to throw a great feast. But do we remember the events that lead up to the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims in 1621?

As Christians we will be wise to make the special effort to become familiar with this story and to teach it to our children. I say this because there are those who minimize this historic event declaring that there were many occasions in our nation as well as in other nations that were days of thanks-giving.

I have no problem with inclusion of thanks-giving in it’s many forms on our Thanksgiving Day. However, because the testimony of how God intervened on behalf of Pilgrims in the first successful colony is such a faith builder, we must be careful to preserve this historic event by sharing it in our homes. We can not depend on the public school system to do this for us.

Below is a list of children’s picture books that may be helpful for Christian families to share with their children on Thanksgiving Day. Some include activities for children as well. I haven’t had the opportunity to read each of these books, but I read several reviews before including any book I haven’t read for myself. Perhaps you can find them at your local library.

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas

Squanto and The First Thanksgiving by Joyce K. Kessel

If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern

This First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story by Laura Krauss Melmed

Saying Grace: A Prayer of Thanksgiving by Virginia L. Kroll, Tim Ladwig

A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting (This one is just for fun – the turkey is “invited” to come to Thanksgiving dinner… should he accept the invite?)

Alternate but good stories of thanks-giving. These are well worth sharing to broaden our perspective on thanks-giving, but need not replace the Plymouth Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving.

How Many Days to America?: A Thanksgiving Story by Eve Bunting

Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen

Readers will remember my last guest post by Crystal Bowman. I couldn’t resist sharing this poem of hers as well.

A GRANDMOTHER’S PRAYER

Lord, I come to you today
and lift my prayer to you.
Please be with my grandkids,
in everything they do.

Help their little eyes to see
only what is good.
Give them mouths that speak the truth
and say the words they should.

Give them ears to listen well;
please help them to obey.
Give them feet that follow you;
don’t let them go astray.

Help their minds to understand
the things that come from you.
Give them wisdom through your Word
to know what’s right and true.

Surround them with your angels,
and keep them in your care.
Help them, Lord, to turn to you
and talk to you in prayer.

As they grow and as they learn,
please teach them right from wrong.
And when they face temptation,
Lord, help them to be strong.

Teach them how to love and care
the way you want them to.
Help them to experience
the joy of serving you.

Lord, please bless these little ones
with blessings from above.
Give them faith and give them hope,
and fill their hearts with love. Amen.

From: My Grandma and Me-rhyming devotions for you and your grandchild, by Crystal Bowman. Tyndale House Publishers

When I told my editor at Tyndale that I was going to be a grandma, her eyes lit up like lightbulbs. “Then you have a whole new audience!” she said. And my new audience is a big one! The baby boomers are now grandparents, and they are actively involved in the lives of their grandchildren. Statistics show that today, more than ever, grandparents are helping to raise their grandchildren either part time or full time. Grandma often steps in to save on childcare costs if Mom has to work. Grandma also lends a hand to her single daughter, or the mom whose husband is in the military. Grandma attends school programs, soccer games, and piano recitals. And Grandma can also invest spiritually in the lives of her little ones.

My Grandma and Me–Rhyming Devotions for You and Your Grandchild hits the bookstores this month. Each two-page spread offers a Bible verse, a short rhyming devotion, and ends with a song or prayer. The interactive text gives Grandma the tools she needs to fill little hearts with truth from God’s Word. The book concludes with the Ten Commandments, Psalm 23, The Lord’s Prayer, and a Grandmother’s Prayer.

The introduction explains how a grandma can use this book with grandchildren who might live too far away for regular visits. Using the telephone or Skype, grandmas and grandchildren can enjoy this book even if they are miles apart.

The following is an excerpt from the book:

God Is with You

The Bible Says: I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken; for he is right beside me. Psalm 16:8

You can run and you can hide.
You can jump, and you can slide.
And no matter what you do,
God is always there with you!

You can travel on a plane,
in a car, or on a train.
On the ground or in the air—
God is with you everywhere.

This devotion ends with a short song for Grandma to sing with her grandchild.

The publisher chose a great illustrator for this book. The illustrations are adorable! Warm and sweet, they add life and joy to every page.

It is my prayer that this book will be a blessing to grandmothers and grandchild as they share precious moments together.

Crystal Bowman

Would You… Read Me To Sleep?, by George E. Edenfield and illustrated by Alyson A. Harris, is a lovely book about the lifelong relationship between a father and daughter and of their love for Bible reading at bedtime. The book is beautifully written and illustrated. It has a grandfatherly feel to it and is flooded with lots of love.

I appreciate… am crazy about… the theme of the story, the love of reading the Bible at bedtime – which is at the heart of my own writing ministry.

The problem I have with this book is that the language and the length of the story may get lost on children of today. But before I dismiss the book too quickly, I want to add that children will sit and listen to more than we often give them credit for. I believe the real problem is that most parents haven’t the patience to read to children, and rather than getting into the pictures and little side-trips with the children while reading with them they want to keep reading and turning pages until they reach “the end.” With the right combination of parent and child (or grandparent and child) this book just might work very well.

There is a lot of emphasis on “the secret of The Seven Golden Keys,” a concept I’m not familiar with. Children and their young parents need more information on this if the book is going to be meaningful to them.

I like the  concept and the book is beautiful, but I fear the effort may be lost on the children. Their parents…? …now that might be worth looking into if it will inspire in them a desire to read Bible stories at bedtime.

Would You… Read Me To Sleep? available on Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-0-9842818-0-0
Full color, unpaged

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

What do you do when you get discouraged? Throw a pity party? I’ve been in one of those moods recently and during my morning Bible reading it occurred to me I was not spending time in personal praise and worship of God. So starting with “praise and worship” as my search terms I called on YouTube to supply some sing-along praise songs to help me out. Here are a few of my finds for your listening pleasure, or better yet, sing along:

Jesus, Name Above all Names 
Jesus, Emmanuel, God is with us – we are never alone when we have Jesus in our hearts.

As the Deer Panteth for the Water 
Lord, may I seek after you as faithfully as the deer seeks streams of water.

I Love You Lord and I Lift My Voice 
This is one of my favorite love songs to Jesus.

He Knows My Name 
Wow! What a powerful expression of God’s love for me.

You Raise Me Up to More than I Can Be
This song is presented in many different ways by different musicians on YouTube, but it isn’t hard to figure out which ones were done by Christians. If we look to people to lift us up, we may set ourselves up for a let-down. Jesus lifts us up to more than we can be on our own – without the let-down.

Indescribable (You Are Amazing God) 
God is the only one who can stretch from one end of eternity to the other and make all creation possible. He is outside of the realm of probabilities because he can make it happen without accidents. If there is anyone capable of helping you through your personal troubles, it is God, the One who makes things happen.

The caterpillar of a Gulf Fritillary butterfly feeding on the leaf of a Passion Vine.

It is autumn, the best time of year for finding caterpillars – an activity that offers enough excitement to pull kids of all ages away from their cell phones and electronic gadgets and get them to go outdoors with you!

A little advance planning will increase your chances of finding caterpillars. If you know the favorite host plants for various kinds of butterflies and moths you will have a better idea about where to look for them. For instance, Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants, so look for the kinds of milkweed that grow in your area. Two common kinds of milkweed are Joe Pye Weed and Asclepias or Butterfly Weed.

Gulf Fritillary butterflies lay eggs on Passion Flower vines which can be found along the roadsides in all but the most northern states in the US. Here is a YouTube video that will help you identify the Passion Flower vines which may have flowers and/or “Maypop” fruit hanging from them.

Black Swallowtail butterflies lay their eggs on parsley and fennel so your best place to look might be in garden spots or even at a nursery where you might be able to purchase a plant complete with eggs and/or caterpillars and take it home with you. Beware of trying to keep too many caterpillars on one plant however. Here is a link to such a caterpillar story with a very sad ending.

There are many more host plants you might look for. Click this link for a long list of host plants for butterfly and moth caterpillars.

Choose your weapons carefully. A camera makes a short commitment weapon. Bring only the pictures home with you and enjoy them.

But if you are prepared for follow-through (keeping the caterpillars alive until they pupate) then carry large jars (quart or gallon size) or make a butterfly house from a box with one or more sides cut out and replaced with a sheer fabric you can see through. You can also use a net laundry hamper turned upside down over your plant and caterpillars. This might work if they are on a low growing plant in your yard.

If you bring your caterpillar finds indoors, make the commitment to keep them alive. Bring them fresh leaves from the same kind of plant that you found them on. They won’t eat just any kind of leaves, they need the same kind of food they were eating when you found them.

As a grandmother who, outside of Skype visits, seldom gets to spend time with her grandchildren, it is hard to blog about raising children. Today I came across an article on the Internet that I believe will help school mom’s to keep up with their children’s school assignments and all those school papers – the one’s to sign and return, the ones to save, and the ones to treasure forever. Check out this blog post by Kat Lee: School Papers: My Simple, Successful Solution

Photo Credit: © Derocz | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

Do you have a child who is getting ready for her first day of school? That can be an exciting or a scary time for a child depending upon their temperament and personality. Perhaps your child isn’t just beginning school for the first time, but he is going to a new school or even in a new town or city if the family has moved during the summer.

One of the first things that comes to my mind is the word RELAX. If you are uptight about the change, your child will pick up on it and will have a harder time dealing with it as well. As a former teacher, I’ve seen children of overly doting parents, and have seen situations where the parents are the cause of the problem, not the crying child.

Share the excitement of getting ready for school by letting them help choose their book bags, notebooks, pencils, clothing, and whatever other supplies they might need. Be sensitive about what clothing the child would like to wear, but don’t feel you must buy to keep up with every fad that comes along. A child’s clothing needs to be as nice as the family can afford, but it doesn’t help if the child’s sense of importance comes from extravagant clothing either.

Mark the date on the calendar and talk about how many days until school starts. Be upbeat and help them to have an “I can” mentality about the upcoming year. Be your child’s cheerleader. Plan ahead for a place to display their best school work and celebrate accomplishments.

Establish helpful routines from the very beginning. Discuss them before school starts so there won’t be surprises the first day. If these routines are started while the child is young, they will prove to be even more helpful as the child gets older.

• Have a designated place where book bags go – probably best if it is close to the door they use to come in the house.
• Recognize the need for a debriefing time when your child first comes home from school (or after-school day care if both parents work). Plan ahead and have a healthy snack ready, and take or make the time to discuss the highlights of the child’s day. Check for notes from school or papers that need to be signed and returned.
• Establish a predetermined time when the talking must stop and the child does his homework. Be aware of upcoming assignments that take longer than one afternoon to complete them. Encourage your child to set up a plan for how much should be done each day on the longer assignments.
• Keep the TV off until all homework is completed – that includes programs for parents as well as for the children. Record programs if necessary so everyone can stick to the homework plan. Even after homework is completed, limit the number of hours your children watch TV. Encourage them to be more creative with their use of time.
• Have a predetermined bedtime and develop routines for bathing, brushing teeth, and laying out the next day’s clothes before going to bed.

All of this sounds good in writing, but it doesn’t just happen. It takes discipline on everyone’s part. But the results will produce a more self-confident child who will learn to take life one day at a time, and to take on projects without stressing out over them.

Photo credit: © Sunshine_angel | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos