Guess How Much I Love You?!

So, as I write this blog each week, I like to do a couple of things to get inspiration.  Obviously, I always pray that God gives me the words and direction.  I also like to listen to music, and, my favorite thing: google image search!  A lot of times, I have an idea of what scripture to share, so I do a google image search for that particular search.  I find a lot of inspiration in that!

Right now, I'm pretty wrapped up in Love.  Loving my family, my friends, my neighbors, and loving our God.  An image popped up in a search this week, and it was the cover of one of my favorite children's books:  Guess How Much I Love You.

 

I have loved this book for a long time - so long, in fact, I gave my college boyfriend a copy of it for Valentine's Day one year.  Lucky for me, that boyfriend is now my husband and daddy to our precious boys.  :)  So yes...I love that book.

My kids have both heard it many times, and have a copy in each of their rooms.

If you haven't read the story, it's a daddy rabbit and his baby, and the baby tells him how much he loves him through a serious of wonderful descriptions - each getting bigger and bigger.  Each time, the daddy replies and "one ups" the baby bunny - basically saying, I love you more.

The daddy realizes that the baby is never going to stop, and so as baby bunny falls asleep, he and gives one more fantastic description of how much he loves daddy bunny, the daddy lets him rest.  Then, after the baby is sleeping, says (in other words), I love you more.

My son, Hudson, and I play this game regularly and have been for years.  He fills my heart so full, I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it.  The love that I have for him and so huge - and to have that reciprocated is just awesome. 

I started thinking about it this week - and the story of the daddy bunny and his baby, is such a great reflection of our relationship with God.  We can love Him, and love Him, but He will always love us more.  Even when we're feeling sad and lonely, we must always hold that in our heart - that we have an eternal Daddy who is always loving us more.

 

Happy Wednesday, friends.  Go out and love each other.

Many Smiles,

Elisabeth

February: It's All About Love

Don't you love God's perfect timing?  As we have been working our way through the Externally Focused Life series, this past Sunday, February 2nd, we focused on the theme: It's About Love.

In Sunday School, we chatted about The Good Samaritan, and continued to explore ways to help our neighbor - even those that we may not be friends with.  (More on The Good Samaritan later this week!)

The Memory Verse for the week was Luke 10:27 (Look it up!) - the Roots Troop kids are totally familiar with this verse, as it's one that I teach and talk about almost every single week.  I shared my favorite verse of all time - the one that I write on cards, sign letters with, and share with anyone who ever asks:  John 15:17.  I love it because it's so simple - but completely emcompasses the charge that Jesus has given to each of us: to love one another.

Our Heavenly Father showed us the greatest love - one that we cannot even begin to fathom: He sent is ONLY son to us...only to have him die, so that WE can be saved and have eternal life.  Even though we do not deserve it.  We deserve punishment when we break God's rules - Jesus did nothing wrong.  He showed love and compassion to everyone; He did not judge or condemn anyone.  Yet He took our punishment for us.  Wow.

At our house, we're going to focus not only on showing love to each other, and to others, but also on showing our love to God.  Not just through our actions and words EXTERNALLY, but also within our prayers and our conversations with kid. 

Pray a prayer of ADORATION to God.

I know that I give thanks in my prayers regularly, and I ask God for things all of the time - for patience, for wisdom and courage, to make me a better wife, mother, friend, and daughter.  This week - I want to focus on praising Him and really spending time adoring my Heavenly Father.  He is so awesome - and He has given us so much.  Help your kids, teens, spouse, and friends to do the same. 

Not sure what to say or where to start?  Pray the lyrics of an adoration song.  A great example is from our Kids Choir Musical - it's called "I Love You, Lord".

I love you Lord
and I lift my voice
To worship you
Oh my soul rejoice

Take joy my king
in what you hear
May it be a sweet sweet sound
in your ear 

 

Amen.

What is your favorite praise and worship song?  Tell me about in the comments, or on our facebook page - I'd love to share it on the blog!

Austin Icepocolypse 2014 - Did you survive??!!!

It's still soo cold outside, I hope you're staying warm!

In the spirit of winter and family fun time, I've got a winter themed verse/devotional, plus another fun craft to share.  :)

The Verse I want to share with you is Psalm 51:7 "

Psalm 51:7

New International Version (NIV)

⁷ ...wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

 

"When God forgives my sin, he makes my life as clean as the snow. When God looks at me, through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, He sees a soul as pure as the snow on the ground outside my front door.

When you have a snow day, take advantage of the moment to memorize Psalm 51:7 with your kids and to talk about what it means to be washed “whiter than snow.”

• Look at pictures of snowy banks and fields. Talk about how a sinless life looks like an untouched field of snow.

 

• Now look at pictures of played in, dirty snow, and, take another look at the snow. It will be churned up and dirty in places. Talk about how when we sin, our life looks like the churned up snow. Ask your kids what happens when new snow falls. The yard will look beautiful again. Jesus’ death on the cross allows God to see our lives as if they were that untouched, sinless field of snow. He forgives our sins and wipes away the dirt and holes left in our lives by that sin.

• Create a snowman with your kids. As you do, talk about how Jesus’ sacrifice cleared away our sin and made us whiter than snow. God then uses those lives to build something new, just like you’re building a snowman.

• Have a snowball fight. When you’re done and everyone is covered in snow, talk with your kids about how Jesus’ sacrifice covers us and makes us look like we’re whiter than snow (without sin) to God.
• If you live somewhere where it doesn’t snow, buy some of the fake snow, and demonstrate the same lesson with your kids.

As you enjoy your next snow day, remember to look at the time with your kids as a gift. Take advantage of the opportunity to spend some unexpected time together and use the opportunity to provide an object lesson about how God makes us “whiter than snow.”"

Devotional courtesy of Everyday Truth.

Still feeling like having some COLD fun?!  Check out this neat craft and make a BASE CAMP ICE LANTERN!  Full instructions found at D6 Kids!

Happy Wednesday, Friends!  I pray that you are having a blessed week, and that you are staying WARM. Thank you, thank you, Lord - that we may be washed and make new again.  Amen.
Many Smiles,
Elisabeth

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

We are having some CRAZY weather here in the Hill Country this past week.  Nothing like a snow ice day and 20 degree temps on Friday, 70+ degree weekend (thank you, Lord!), and now back to chilly temps on Monday.  What a roller coaster!

I hope you're all staying warm, and thought I'd share some fun recipes - with a "snowball" theme - for you to share with your family this week. In Sunday School and Treehouse, we are talking about acts of service and kindness.  This week, in particular, we focused on our ACTIONS.  Use this family time/recipe making to put our lesson into practice.  Make up a few extras and share with your friends, neighbors, or even a stranger!  This is a great way to show the love of God, through our ACTION of sharing food with someone else.  Maybe wrap up a few of the goodies, and attach a note that says "Happy Winter - Jesus loves you!!"

Pizza Puffballs

Ingredients:
2 cans Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits
5oz. package pepperoni
3-4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
1. Generously spray a muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cut each biscuit into fourths, and chop the pepperoni into small pieces.
3. Fill both your hands with pepperoni pieces, a sprinkling of cheese, and three biscuit pieces.  Pack the ingredients together (like making a snowball!) and place into one of the muffin tin openings.  Repeat this step until the entire pan is full.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown.  Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.


Cake Batter Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
10oz. mini marshmallows
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Funfetti cake mix
12 cups POPPED popcorn

Instructions:
1. Remove any unpopped kernels from the popcorn.
2. In a large pot on low heat, warm the butter, marshmallows, and salt until the butter and marshmallows are completely melted.  Stir occasionally.
3. Stir in the cake mix, little by little.
4. Remove the pot from the heat and pour in the popcorn.  Stir gently until its coated.
5. Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray and form the popcorn mixture into balls.  Set them on wax paper to cool.

Bonus: Roll the popcorn balls in white sugar sprinkles to give them a glistening snowy look!

I hope you enjoy the recipes, and find a way to share with others!  Our actions are one of the best ways to share the love of God with everyone we meet!  Let me know if you try any of these recipes.  I can't wait - they sound super yummy. :)

Many Smiles, Elisabeth

Recipes courtesy of the Winter 2013 explorer's GUIDE from D6 Magazines.

Confirmation 2014: Class now forming!

Parents,

Rolling Hills Community church is about to begin registration for their 2014 Youth Confirmation Class.  This will be my (Judy Geddes) fourth year to teach the class, and I always look forward to this time with our youth.   The five week program is designed for grades 6-8, but we will consider 5th graders provided they are “ready” for this class.  The 5-week class this year will begin Sunday, March 16 and end April 13.  The class is held at 9:30am each Sunday morning in the RHCC Fellowship Hall. 

 

 

For five Sunday’s our youth will meet to go a little deeper into their faith and at the end they will be given the opportunity to proclaim their faith and be baptized with the group.  Each Confirmand will have their own mentor, one you choose or one that is provided by the church.  This person will “follow” your youth throughout Confirmation and be present with them on Confirmation Sunday, May 4.  Your entire family will be invited to attend Confirmation Sunday for this special time of celebration. 

Each class session has a different topic, and each class is important.  Commitment is important and if they miss a class, a makeup time is required.  The makeup class is normally after school on the Wednesday following the absence. The curriculum is from the UMC program, "Claim the Name".   We begin with the Trinity and what it means and with that as our foundation we cover sin, Grace, Salvation, books of the Bible, Baptism, Communion, fruits of the spirit, and the importance of belonging to a Christian fellowship.  Along the way there are countless questions that they are encouraged to ask and we try to make sure they have all their facts straight so they can make good choices for themselves.

I would like to invite your youth to participate in the 2014 Confirmation program.  This is a decision for you to make with your youth, and I ask that each of you be aware of the commitment of your time.  The Confirmation Registration Form is available on the Youth page of the RHCC Family Life website, as well as on the main church website and in the office, for your convenience.  If you and your youth decide to make this commitment, please fill out and return the form to me or the church office by March 9.  This should give you plenty of time to pray about it and make the right decision for your family.

 

Blessings,

Judy Geddes

Kids Choir and Treehouse - TODAY!

Hi Friends!

I just wanted to let you all know that we are starting up our Kids Church Choir - for Spring!  For the past few years I have directed the Kids Choir for our Christmas musical, but I have always thought about doing Spring, SPECIFICALLY to do one of my favorite shows: "Psalty's Singalongathon, Maranatha! Marathon, Hallelujah Jubilee!"

If any of you sang in Kids Choir in the 80's, then you probably know this one!  A few of my favorite songs (that I still get stuck in my head, 20+ years later) are "Clap De Hands", "Seek Ye First", "Arky, Arky", and "I Love You Lord".  These songs were a pretty big deal for me in my "churching" as a child, so I am super excited to bring them back here!

Anyway - our Kids Choir is open to ANYONE who wants to come and sing some God songs, and participate in a church musical.  We'll also be inviting the kids to sing in a worship service or two.  :)  We have choir on Sunday afternoon, from 4:00-5:00, and then have our Treehouse Fellowship right after, from 5:00-6:00 - in Fellowship Hall.

I'd love to see some of you there!  Feel free to call/text/email me with any questions - or just stop by for a bit.  :)  You can also check our our family ministry website at rhcc4family.com and get lots of info (including weekly blog posts on ways to be intentional at home as a family!)

Many Smiles,
Elisabeth

Elisabeth Hunter

Rolling Hills Community Church                     

Family Life Ministry Coordinator        

www.rhcc4family.com                             

www.rhcc4.org                                                

Facebook: RHCC Family Life                                             

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude." - Scott Hamilton

Made Right With God

Here's a quick devotional for you, from Splink!:

 Read or tell the following story:

Andrea listened carefully as her mom explained, “You may play with this jewelry, but don’t touch the jewelry in this box.”

“Thank you, Mom!” Andrea excitedly said.

Every time Andrea’s friend, Sarah came over, they pulled out the jewelry and played dress-up. They imagined themselves in all different places going to parties and having fun. One day, Andrea was looking for something special to wear so she went into her mom’s room and borrowed a beautiful necklace from her mom’s jewelry box. Sarah oohed and aahed when Andrea put it on. What a fun time they had! When Sarah’s mom arrived to drive her home, they quickly changed out of their dress-up clothes. Andrea was hurrying and broke the clasp on her mother’s necklace.

Andrea hid the necklace under her bed and stayed in her room the rest of the day. She didn’t even want to see her mom. Mom noticed that Andrea was quiet at dinner, so she asked at bedtime, “Are you feeling okay?”

“Sure,” she answered without looking her in the face.

Why didn't Andrea want to see her mom? (Because she was guilty; because she disobeyed; etc.)

What does Andrea need to do to reconcile (be close to) her mom again? (She needs to confess, to tell her what she did, ask forgiveness, etc.)

Our sins separate us from God. How can we be close to Him? (Through Jesus’ death on the cross; through confessing our sin; etc.)

Jesus’ death reconciled (brought us close) to God.

 

 

I pray that you and your family has had a blessed week. 

As we've studied and  prayed on the topics of serving others and reconciliation,

I hope that you've been able to have some good conversation, and great family time. 

We are so, incredibly blessed that Jesus came for us. 

I am overwhelmed sometimes by His love, and even more by His grace. 

His grace is REAL.  We are forgiven.

Many Smiles,

Elisabeth