Celebrate New Year's Eve - Make Family Memories

A New Year

 

Happy (almost) New Year!  Holidays give us a great opportunity to have family moments together - where we can create traditions and build memories to last a lifetime.  This week, in Sunday School, we talked about ways that some people celebrate New Year's.  We even discussed the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), and ways that they celebrate!  (Side Note: we taught the kids the Hebrew phrase "L'shanah tovah" which translates to "for a good year" - so don't be surprised to hear them speaking Hebrew!)

 In my family, we stay home, invite friends over, and have a "Pancakes & Pajamas" party!  Everyone wears their PJ's, we eat pancakes, bacon, cinnamon rolls and drink OJ and coffee!  We play games, do activities, watch the ball drop on TV, and have a relaxing and fun evening together.  

Items Needed: party horns, blowers, special foods, etc. to celebrate the new year’s arrival; Board game or other family activity.

Idea #1: Play a favorite board game to see who will be the reigning champion for the year. Record the name of the champ on the lid of the box. (Repeat every New Year’s Eve to see who gets to claim bragging rights all year.)

Idea #2: Have each family member and party guest fill out a New Year's "interview" of sorts.  List high's and low's of 2013, and list what you're looking forward to in 2014.  Write down the kids' favorites: food, color, movie, song, etc.  Save the interviews in a special folder, binder or box.  Get them out each year and reflect on the past years accomplishments and stats!

Since we are beginning a new year, invite each family member (including mom and dad) to share something they would like to stop doing OR something they would like to start doing better.

Pray and ask God to help each one (it is only with His help that we could ever hope to live godly).

Happy 2014!  

I pray that you and your families have a super awesome, 

joyful, fun, successful, full-of-laughter and faith filled year!

Many Smiles,

Elisabeth

Who Do You Look Like?

Get out the baby books and/or pictures and look at them. (If your child is adopted, talk about the day he/she was accepted into your family.) Talk about how family members look like other family members—not just physical characteristics, but other characteristics as well. (Janie is friendly like Aunt Sarah; Joey is a hard worker like Grandpa.)

The gift for this week is acceptance.

Yesterday, in Sunday School, we touched on Acceptance.  We had some awesome Praise and Worship time with the band, 'You Said My Name', leading our kiddo's in a live music class.  Shout out to Teresa, Kenny and Amy for their awesome witness through music.  It was so perfect, I thought, as we observed several of the kids being very shy and reserved in their singing and willingness to participate with hand movements, etc.  It made me think about how easy it is for us be shy or worry what people think if we're singing out loud, dancing and being silly in public.  So much of the time we hold back because we are worried that we might look dumb or that we aren't a good singer or a good dancer.  

Teresa shared her story of overcoming shyness - how she used to never be able to sing/play in public.  She was too afraid.  And now she's singing with a band for audience of all ages!  She told us how once she was able to let go and realize that her praise and worship was all for God's Glory - for nobody else - just for Him...how she now can rock out all day long!  PRAISE BE TO GOD!  By the end of class, all of the kids were singing and dancing.  We stopped worrying about what others might think about our song and dance, and realized that as long as we are accepted by God, then don't have to be afraid.

When God accepts us into His family (not because we are so good, because we are all sinners and have broken God’s commandments/rules), it is because of what Jesus did. God makes us right because of Jesus’ death on the cross. Then He gives us the Holy Spirit to live inside us to help us do what is right. He will slowly change us to look more and more like our heavenly Father.

DIY Advent Calendar : Celebrate the season!!

The word advent means a coming into place, view, or being; arrival: i.e. the advent of the holiday season. The other three meanings listed on dictionary.com have a more religious meaning:

ad·vent [ad-vent] noun

1. a coming into place, view, or being; arrival: the advent of the holiday season.

2.( usually initial capital letter ) the coming of Christ into the world.

3.( initial capital letter ) the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas, observed in commemoration of the coming of Christ into the world.

4.( usually initial capital letter ) Second Coming.

And since Christmas is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, it makes sense to me that an Advent Calendar should have some meaning to it.

See my complete post and DIY instructions over here at Austin Moms Blog!

Thanksgiving Fun! A DIY Thankful Tree

Thanksgiving is upon us, and I thought it would be fun to share a tradition that we have in our family!  Thanksgiving is such a special holiday, since it gives us a set time to really reflect on the past year and give thanks for all that we have!

Check out my complete post, as seen on Austin Moms Blog!

One of my favorite verses...

Treehouse After School kicked off today - we are so excited to fellowship with our elementary aged friends after school.  We are staying in line with the lessons we are learning in Sunday School, so we continued to talk about Hannah....we also continued our discussion on how sometimes our prayers seem unanswered, or like God is not listening.  But, He always is.

God is so much bigger than any problem you may be facing.  As hard as it is, we have to just give it all up to Him and let go.  One of my favorite verses is Phillipians 4:6.  He knows your needs and He always hears you when you call out to Him - so don't worry. 

How AMAZING is that!?

Daily Dose for WEDNESDAY:

• Read 1 Samuel 1:9-11

•  What was Hannah's vow?

• Have you ever made a "deal" with God?  Was it easy to keep your promise?  Do you think it was easy or hard for Hannah to follow through with her promise? 

Have you prayed today?

Family Theme: PRAYER!

Memory Verse:  Psalm 19:14

What if your best friend went days or weeks without speaking to you?  How would you feel?  It would probably make you very sad.  It's hard to be friends with someone if you don't talk to each other.

It's the same way with Jesus.

We should talk to Him every day...tell Him our fears and worries, confess our sins, and PRAISE Him for who He is and for our many blessings!  We also need to stop and listen to what He has to say...sometimes He speaks in a small voice, other times it's loud and clear.  Either way - He is always there!

(devotion from D6 Adventure Guide)

Daily Dose for TUESDAY: 

•  Read 1 Samuel 1:5-8

•  Why was Hannah sad?

•  Have you ever wanted something really badly, but didn't get it?  How did that make you feel?  What does God want us to do?

Fall into Fall!

Happy Labor Day!  We pray that you and your family had a wonderful holiday weekend full of fun and friends! 

We had an awesome day in Sunday School yesterday and kicked off our new curriculum.  Our focus was on having a PRAYING HEART.  We made an agreement that we would all be intentional in praying every single day ~ how great is that?!!

With the beginning of the new school year, we want to make a commitment to stay in God's Word each day.  Parents - be sure to check the blog every day for suggestions on daily bible verse and devotional questions to share with your kiddos.  

Family Theme: PRAYER!

Memory Verse:  Psalm 19:14

Daily Dose for MONDAY: 

•  Read 1 Samuel 1:1-3

•  Why did Elkanah and his family go to Shiloh each year?

•  Other than church, how and where do you worship?  What is your favorite WAY to worship?  (Mine is singing!)