When God Calls You to Wait

Waiting.  It’s hard.  We live in a culture that is so completely full of instant gratification.  If we find that we have to wait for something, we can’t stand the thought of not having something to do while we wait.  While we’re waiting in line, we’re grabbing our phones to scroll through Facebook.  While we’re waiting for the doctor, we’re reading a magazine.  While we’re in a season of waiting, we’re busy trying to control the circumstances.  I’m stuck in this place right now.  Anyone else? 

Right now, God has called me to wait.  And goodness gracious I have fought Him on it.  Fought hard.  As women, we often feel a need to be in control over every situation and every detail.  My husband has lovingly told me that I can be “less than patient” at times.  Of course I told him that he was absolutely wrong and that I was excellent at being patient.  I have all the patience in the world because I know that God’s in control and that He’ll reveal everything when the time was right and I will be overflowing with joy at His perfect timing.  I’m obviously very patient and I can definitely wait on God because He knows details that I couldn’t even begin to plan for.  I know I’m patient because that’s what I pray for when I’m feeling stressed about my kids and the Spirit works in me to help me treat them with kindness when the moments get tense.  Of course I’m patient and excellent at waiting and my husband is 100% wrong…. right?

What about when I find myself having panic attacks for the first time in my life?  What about the fact that I can’t sleep because I’m so overcome with anxiety about not knowing what’s next?  What about my kids who see me crying every day because I’m so stressed that I can’t handle my emotions?  What about the number of times I say, “I’m fine” even though I know that I’m a wreck inside?  What about the physical pain because my body is so tense?  What about the fact that my thoughts are so completely consumed by the things I want that I’m missing what God wants? 

Friends, here’s my confession.  I have had no less than 20 tabs open on my computer at all times trying to plan every detail of this next season of life.  Of course, I easily justified it by saying that I was just trying to come up with a “back-up plan” in case God’s timing didn’t match mine.  It didn’t matter that I knew God was telling me to wait.  It didn’t matter that I knew He was telling me to relinquish control and trust Him.  It didn’t matter that I wasn’t honoring my husband when he was asking me to just wait a few more months.  It didn’t matter that none of my “plans” were working.  I was just trying to come up with a back-up plan... right?

Ladies, I was wrong.  God was asking me to wait.  Not… wait, but control made-up details in the waiting season.  Not… wait, but worry about the timing.  Not… wait, but stop functioning in the day-to-day.  He said wait and trust Him completely.  He said wait and stop worrying.  I have been so anxious about making a back-up plan to fit what I want, that I have missed the sweet intimacy with Christ that comes from complete obedience to what He wants.

I recently came across an Instagram post about viewing waiting as an act of obedience.  It was as if it had been written directly to me.  I have been doing the exact opposite of waiting in obedience.  I was acting along of the lines of a child who is trying their hardest to get away with something while pretending to be obedient… doing “just enough” to technically obey, but not really obeying in my heart. 

God has called to me to wait.  And while I’m waiting, I must trust Him.  If I shift my thinking and view waiting as obedience, I am turning away from the idea that I have to be in control.  This is a true season of refinement and learning what it means to completely surrender.  To actively wait in obedience, I have to recognize when my anxiety and worry about the situation is taking over.  I have to recognize when the enemy’s lies are creeping in.  I have to understand that my emotions don’t tell the truth.  To actively wait in obedience, I must trust that His best for me may not look like what I think it will.  I must listen to His command to not worry.  I must then actually stop worrying.  In those moments of worry, I must turn it over to Him… to draw near to Christ as I place my complete trust in Him as my Lord. 

I’ve been missing those moments of intimacy with Him because I was so consumed with my selfish wants.  And I have so needed those moments!  Isn’t it just like Him to know exactly what we need in every season?  Isn’t it just like Him to tell us exactly how to abide in Him while we wait?  And isn’t it just like us to become stubborn little children who fight every step of the way?  

To actively wait in obedience, I will draw near to Christ in this season.  I will stop worrying.  His plan may not match mine, but I know His will be better.  I know that He is preparing me for what He has already prepared for me.  These are the verses I’m praying during this season of waiting.  I pray they are an encouragement to you as well (all emphasis added).

Ruth 3:18 ~ Naomi said, “My daughter, wait until you find out how things go, for he won’t rest until he resolves this today” 

Habakkuk 2:3 ~ For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and it will not lie.  Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.

Psalm 27:14 ~ Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord. ~ Psalm 27:14

Isaiah 60:22 ~ The least will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am Yahweh; I will accomplish it quickly in its time.

Psalm 62:5 ~ Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from Him. ~ Psalm 62:5

Galatians 6:9 ~ So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.

Isaiah 40:31 ~ But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.

Psalm 37:7 ~ Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans.

Philippians 4:6-7 ~ Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:6-7 ~ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your care on Him, because he cares about you.

I'm praying for you this week, my friend.  If you are in a season of waiting right now, I pray that you will find peace in the season, and that it may be full of sweet moments with Jesus as He refines you and prepares you for what He has in store!

10 Days in the Fruit of the Spirit {Days 9 & 10 ~ Gentleness & Self-Control}

So... it's been how long????  I'm so sorry.  God has definitely let me know that I am not holding up my end of the deal here!  So here are days 9 and 10!

Remember that we started each day with the picture book and video.

Gentleness

Over lunch, we talked about eggs.  Eggs have a hard shell with an ooey-gooey center!  If you squeeze the shell all around, it won't break.  Sometimes, though, something has cracked the shell.  Sometimes things crack our shells.  Words, unkind actions, arguments, discord.  When that happens, if someone squeezes, the shell breaks... on both the egg and a person!  

We must choose our words carefully and treat each other with gentleness.

Self-Control

In life, things happen all around us.  Often times, these things are out of our control.  Little Man got a big dose of this with some bubble fun!  First, I gave him a chance to play with the bubbles and get a little crazy.  He could try to blow them, catch them, pop them...  Then, he had to sit super still in a chair.  No matter what, he couldn't touch the bubbles... not even if one landed on his nose!  It was HARD! 

The good news is that God is always with us!  He can help us to be gentle and to use self- control.  

Want to catch up on the first posts?  Start here with Day 1!

10 Days in the Fruit of the Spirit {Day 8 ~ Faithfulness}

Faithfulness can be hard.  I think sometimes we are too quick to give up on things.  I'm so thankful we serve a God who is faithful.  His love never ends and we are forever His children.  He will never stop holding us.  Such a great promise!  

Today's lesson is an ooey-gooey mess!  So messy, in fact, that Little Man wouldn't do it!  We still managed to make it through the lesson.  We were.... faithful.  ;)

FAITHFULNESS ~ I will not quit.

Psalm 89:33 ~ "But I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness."

The how-to is pretty basic.  Mix up a batch of cornstarch and water.  Play with the amounts until you reach a consistency that will hold together when squeezed, but return to liquid when you let go.  

As a teacher, I used some old classroom logic.  Let the kids play first... well before you try to teach.  I handed Little Man the bowl and he stuck approximately half a finger in before deciding it was too icky.  So for the lesson, we used my hands.  :/

I demonstrated a few times that I could squeeze the mixture and it would harden in my hand.  When I opened up my hand, it spilled out.  

"So what happens when I give up?"  It spills everywhere.  "Who never, ever, ever gives up on us?"  God.  Exactly.  We can squeeze and squeeze and squeeze and eventually our hands are going to get tired.  God never gets tired of holding us.  He is faithful.  

So when we make a big mess of everything, God will squeeze us and put us back together.  Isn't He cool like that?  The same God who holds the whole ocean in His hands holds us just as easily.  

God, thank you for loving us.  I'm sorry that I gave up when I __________.  I know that I should trust You.  I will not stop loving You.  Help me to be faithful when things are hard.  Amen.

I leave you with some of my favorite lyrics.  "Your love never fails, it never gives up, never runs out on me."

Need to catch up?  You can find the other Fruits of the Spirit posts here {Overview, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness}!  Want to make sure you never miss a post?  Follow us on Bloglovin'!

10 Days in the Fruit of the Spirit {Day 7 ~ Goodness}

It's officially fall!  I love the crisp air, the feeling of a new season.  I know many people think of spring as a season of new beginnings.  I agree, but I also think fall is too.  We're approaching a season of thanks and of giving.  Every year, I strive to be a family that spends more time focusing on the aspect of giving and service.  It's a great time for a "31 days of kindness" endeavor.  Lots of opportunities for "good deeds" around these fall and winter holidays.  

This lesson was great on so many levels.  It gave us the chance to talk about so many different topics... friends, good deeds, obedience, repentance... As always, we started out with the videos and picture book.  If you missed any of the previous posts, you can catch up here {overview, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, resources}!

GOODNESS ~ I will do what is right.

Our verse for goodness was Matthew 5:16.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven."

We started this lesson with a question.  What are some good things you can do?  The answers to this were all over the place.  What are some not good things we see people do?  Even more answers.  It amazes me how many of them involved farting and pooping.  Ugh.  I know God had a plan when He made me a boy mom, but sometimes I still wonder what He was thinking.  

"So Little Man, we need to be careful about who we surround ourselves with.  We want to be nice to everyone, but we want to make sure we are only being influenced by the good around us."  Note: the level of conversation will definitely depend on the age of your little one.  

After a little discussion, I gave him three bowls.  One had cooked pasta.  If we're completely honest, I thought I had some rotini pasta, but I was mistaken.  I broke lasagna pieces apart.  I would definitely encourage you to use some sort of small pasta pieces like rotini, bowties, penne, or macaroni.  The flat pasta was a little difficult.  I digress.  

Together, we came up with things that each of the bowls could represent.  "Little Man, what something that your friends do that you really like and makes you want to be around them?"  Church friends, kind words, friendly.  "Now what are some things kids might do that you don't want to be around?"  Lying, calling names, being mean.  We added blue food coloring to the "good" bowl and green to the "bad" bowl.  "Little Man, let's pretend that each of these pieces of pasta are one person.  What happens when they mix with the good people?"  They turn blue (good) too.  "Right, now what happens when we add them to the group of lying kids?"  They start lying too. 

We carried it a step further and I asked him to think of something to call the "clear" group.  His first comment was that they weren't bad, so we went with that.  I picked up one of the pasta pieces that had been stained green and asked him to predict what would happen if I added it to the clean group.  He quickly covered the bowl and shouted, "No, no, no, no!"  I think he got it.

At the end, I poured a little bit of bleach in a bowl.  I told him the bleach was like God's forgiveness.  I asked him to predict what would happen if I added one of the lying pasta pieces to the bowl of bleach.  It's really neat.  The bleach washes away the sin and the lies and makes it clean again.  "Little Man, God is amazing like that!  He forgives us and we are white as snow again!"

"Is it okay to be nice to everyone?"  Absolutely.  "Do we want to be good?"  Of course!  "How do we do that?"  Hang out with the good people.  Yes.  If we are going to be "colored" by the influences around us, we should make sure we are being colored in a good way.  We should absolutely be kind to everyone, but we need to make sure we are only influenced by the good.  We should make sure our friends help us to make good choices and do the right thing.  

Dear Jesus, thank You for being good and thank You for forgiving us when we are not.  I'm sorry that I wasn't making a good choice when I _______.  Please help me to be good.  Help me to be kind to everyone, but be a light for Your good.  Help me to make good choices so that other people will want to do them too.  Amen.

Couldn't we all use this lesson?  This world needs a few more lights in the darkness!

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10 Days in the Fruit of the Spirit {Day 6 ~ Kindness}

All that patience you practiced paid off!  We're continuing on this marathon of Fruits of the Spirit!  Seriously, you should see my tabs bar right now.  I can't even begin to count how many windows I have open.  Lesson learned though... next time I won't start posting the series until I have all the posts written!  :)

I know we have some newcomers to Mommy & Her Men, so here's a recap from Day 1 over how the Fruits of the Spirit study works.  First, get some breakfast.  Not going to lie... in our house, cereal seems to be the go-to.  Then, get comfy at the table and get to work!   

While we were eating, I had Little Man watch two YouTube videos.  One is a song that we watched each day.  The other is a great series by a man called Hi Hi the Bible Guy.  He is fantastic!  He does objects lessons for everything and he does them big!  I'm talking fire, explosions, power tools, all of it.  Total boy stuff.  

After the videos, we would review the page in the story for that particular fruit and give him the descriptive phrase.  I'll go into that more later.  I would then read our verse of the day.  We would talk about it and I would guide him to make the connection between the verse and the fruit.  This was just conversation over breakfast.  In all of our talks, I tried to be very intentional about relating the fruit directly to Little Man.  We talked about things he specifically did or didn't do.  I made him come up with examples of how he could demonstrate the fruit.  All in all, they were good talks.  

After we finished eating, we would do an object lesson.  He LOVED these!  After the lesson, we would go back to our verse of the day and add our final thoughts.  If you have a child that is old enough, this would be a great time to journal.  Little Man isn't quite there yet.  I'm hoping after a few more units he will be.  

As we closed our lesson, we would pray over the verse, using our names to pray it specifically for us.  Finally, as an extension, he would work on the stained glass cutouts.  These were discussed in the Day 1 post.  If you missed it, you can get caught up here.  This was the time I would usually clean up breakfast.  Sometimes, he'd let me continue the conversation.  Other times, he felt he was all talked out.  If you really want to extend it, have them watch a Veggie Tales episode while they're doing the stained glass and point out examples of the fruits in the characters.  

And that's that!  I know it sounds like a lot, but it really isn't.  Eat, video, verse, chat, object lesson, pray, extension.  Maybe 20 minutes?  

Now that we're all caught up, on to our lesson on kindness!

KINDNESS ~ I will be nice to everyone.

Our verse for kindness was Ephesians 4:32.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

One of the things we talk about in our house is making kind choices.  We expect everyone in our home to use kind words and to demonstrate kind actions.  Lately, we're working on replacing some *less than respectful* words with kind words.  Let's try that again.  How can you make sure you're saying that with kind words?

For this lesson, all you'll need is your sink and some objects of various sizes and weights.  They should be objects that you don't mind dropping in the water.  Fill your sink with water and make sure the stopper is all the way in... speaking from personal experience here.

I started by asking Little Man to drop a heavier object in the water and make some observations.  It made a big splash!  Those are big waves!  Yes.  When you dropped the rock into the water, it made a big splash and lots of waves.  It changed the water.  It wasn't smooth anymore.

We compared the different objects to acts of kindness.  I asked him to think of some really big acts of kindness.  Giving blankets to the homeless.  Collecting food from the neighborhood to take to the food bank. Then we talked about some small acts of kindness.  Letting someone else go down the slide first.  Smiling at people in the grocery store.  We found some big, heavy items to drop and some small, lighter objects.  

As we dropped them, I kept asking for observations.  He figured it out pretty quickly.  They all made the water change.  They all made waves.  Yes Little Man!  Every object made waves in the water!  Just like every act of kindness makes a change in the person who receives it.  Sometimes people need a big act of kindness and sometimes they just need a smile.  Our job is to be kind to everyone... in big ways and little ways.

Kindness is ongoing.  We still talk daily about how to choose kind words.  We still try to be intentional about finding ways to demonstrate kindness.  I firmly believe that kindness is taught in behavior and not just in words.  As parents, it's our job to model it regularly.  In the way we treat strangers.  In the way we treat our spouses.  In the way we treat our kids. 

As always, we concluded our Breakfast with the Bible time by praying over our verse (using the "ACTS" model and the words from the verse) and working on his torn paper stained glass.  

"Jesus, I praise you for showing kindness to everyone you met!  I'm sorry that I didn't show kindness when I ______.  Please forgive me.  Thank you for friends and parents that show me kindness when they______.  Please help me show kindness to everyone.  Help me to forgive others when they are unkind to me.  Amen."

Have you been following the study?  Which day has been your favorite so far?

Don't miss Day 7!  Follow us on Bloglovin'!

Come join the fun!  We're linking up at Teaching Mama, Apron Strings & Other Things, and Arabah Joy!

10 Days in the Fruit of the Spirit {Day 5 ~ Patience}

Well, goodness gracious.  I am the worst blogger ever!  In hind sight, I probably shouldn't have started this series right before school started, especially considering I'm in a new grade level this yer.  Busy, busy, busy.  Be prepared for a Fruits of the Spirit marathon, okay?  :) 

 If you need to get caught up, here's where you can find Day 1 {Overview}, Day 2 {Love}, Day 3 {Joy}, and Day 4 {Peace}.

So let's be real for a minute, patience is a struggle.  I kept seeing the marshmallow lesson all over Pinterest.  I thought it would be a great way to introduce patience to Little Man.  Well, if this was a test, he would have failed.  :(  Clearly we have some work to do in this area.  

PATIENCE ~ I will wait without complaining.

Our verse for joy was Romans 12:12.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

As a side note, I had planned on taking the picture at the end ... you know, a smiling face that earned the reward for being patient.  Didn't happen. I'm sure you all know what your little ones look like when they're struggling while they wait. 

Before we started talking, I set a marshmallow on the table in front of Little Man.  I told him that he could eat it right now and it would be fine.  BUT... if we waited patiently, without complaining, he could have three marshmallows at the end of Breakfast with the Bible.  Yeah.... he ate it.  I laughed.  

We attempted a conversation about patience.  I asked him to name some things that he is excited about or looking forward to.  We talked about how it feels to wait.  I asked him to think of things he could do while we waited.  Overall, I tried to lead him to the conclusion that he can pray.  He can spend time with God.  

Ultimately, I want him to understand that there are times we have to wait on God to answer a prayer.  We had a short talk about the ways God answers prayers.  Do you remember that lesson from Sunday School?  Yes.  No.  Wait.  That waiting part is hard, but it's something we have to do.... as kids and as adults.  Have you heard that saying, "While you're waiting on God to open a door, praise Him in the hallway"?  I want Little Man to understand that we can wait patiently for things on earth and answers to prayers.  We do the same things while we wait.  

We will revisit some lessons on patience.  I also saw a lesson about making a paper chain when you are waiting for an event.  Each day you can remove a link and write something you are thankful for in the time being.  I liked that.  I think we'll try that next.  

Just as we did with our other lessons, we ended by praying over our verse using the ACTS model.

"Jesus, it's awesome that You promise to answer every prayer.  I'm sorry for not always waiting patiently.  I get excited and I feel like I have to have it right now.  Thank you for teaching me how to wait without complaining.  Help me to be joyful while I wait, to be patient while I wait, and to pray while I wait.  Amen."

As with the other lessons, we read the book and watched the Hi Hi the Bible Guy video.   We finished up our lesson for the day with a "We'll come back to this again... and wait patiently in the meantime!"

Don't miss Day 6!  Follow us on Bloglovin'!

Come join the fun!  We're linking up at Teaching Mama, My Joy-Filled Life and 1+1+1=1!

10 Days in the Fruit of the Spirit {Day 4 ~ Peace}

Good morning!  It's an absolutely beautiful day outside!  On days like today, it's easy to have peace.  Other times, not quite so much.  Peace is an ongoing conversation at our house.  As adults, it's hard to truly rest in the peace of Christ.  As kids, it's even harder to understand.  While we talk about turning to God anytime we feel troubled, here's what we did specifically during our lesson on peace.  If you missed the other posts, you can catch up here (Overview, Love, Joy, Resources)!

This lesson is another super simple, no objects necessary, no prep required lesson! As a quick recap, we started every lesson with the Hi Hi the Bible Guy video and a Fruits of the Spirit song.  We read the page from Pups of the Spirit for the specific fruit of the day.  

PEACE ~ I won't be afraid because I trust in God. 

Our verse for peace was John 16:33.

I have told you these things, so that in me, you may have peace.  In this world, you will have trouble.  But take heart!  For I have overcome the world.

To start digging into peace, we had a quick chat about times that we felt afraid, worried, confused, or "troubled."  That was a new word and we spent a moment defining what it meant to be troubled.  Then, we talked about how we handled each of those situations.  Most of Little Man's responses were things like talking to Mommy, telling a teacher, crying, snuggles, or reading a story.  While all of these things are great, they don't offer the ultimate peace.

I apologize, but I don't have a picture of this object lesson.  I had Little Man put his hands together, prayer-style.  He rubbed them together as we listed all the things that trouble us.  Then I told him to "just stop."  "Look at your hands.  What does it look like you are doing right now?"  Praying.  

"Yes!  When we are feeling troubled, we can just stop.  We can talk to God.  We can give our worries and troubles to Him and He will ALWAYS help us."  

God doesn't completely take away our troubles, but He definitely gives us the strength to handle them and the peace to know that He's in control.  I'm taking it as a personal challenge to reinforce this in myself by trying to model it for my boys.  God has a neat way of teaching us those lessons!

Because of the nature of this lesson, it was crucial to carry it out into our day-to-day routines.  One of the things I've done is to make sure that I model what it looks like to give a worry to God.  If Little Man is feeling frustrated, I ask him if he's said his "10 Fingers" (Philippians 4:13 ~ I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.). When we pray at night, instead of keeping my worries to myself, I let him hear me pray about them (age-appropriate worries, of course).  

Just as we did with our other lessons, we ended by reciting our memory verse praying over our daily verse using the ACTS model.

"Father, I praise You for being in control of everything.  It's so good to know that I can always talk to You about things.  I'm sorry that I forget You are in control when I try to handle things myself.  I'm sorry that I didn't show that I trusted You when I worried about _____.  Please forgive me.  Thank you for taking care of me.  Thank you for helping me grow and learn.  Please help me to know that You are always with me every single minute of every single day.  Amen."

I hope you are enjoying these Fruits of the Spirit lessons!  They were fun to create and fun to do!  I've loved watching the growth in my Little Man as he has started thinking about them on a daily basis.  

Don't miss Day 5!  Follow us on Bloglovin'!

10 Days in the Fruit of the Spirit {Day 3 ~ Joy}

Hello friends!  I missed being here last week!  Lots going on at the same time!  However, that intentional time with our children is an absolute must, so here is Day 3 of our Fruits of the Spirit study!  If you need to get caught up, here's where you can find Day 1 {Overview} and Day 2 {Love}.

This lesson was one of my favorites!  The object lesson was so super simple, but it has so much potential as our kiddos start to think more deeply about these concepts.  As a quick recap, we started every lesson with the Hi Hi the Bible Guy video and a Fruits of the Spirit song.  We read the page from Pups of the Spirit for the specific fruit of the day.  For joy, the book related it to being happy and having a positive attitude.  We took it one step further. 

JOY ~ I will be okay with what I have. 

Our verse for joy was Psalm 118:24.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

For our conversation, I just jumped right into our object lesson.  For this particular lesson, you'll need a glass, enough marbles to fill it, a water dropper (or spoon, straw, whatever you want to use), and probably a plate or towel. 

I placed the empty glass on the plate and asked Little Man to start naming things that make him happy.  He said things like Minecraft, our puppies, playing Legos, pancakes, pizza, dessert, video games, etc.  Each time he said something, I poured a dropper-full of water into the glass.  "Those things can make us really happy, huh?  They're really fun!  But look at the glass.  Is it full?"  No.  The water never reached the top.  

Then I asked him to start telling me things that God gave us and things that bring us closer to Jesus.  He said things like family, the sunshine, going to church, reading our Bibles, singing songs.  Each time he said something, I dropped a marble into the water.  "Wow!  Look at how full the glass is?!  What do you think is going to happen?"

We finished the lesson by reciting our memory verse and dropping a marble as we said each word. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law."  "Look!  The water just overflowed out of the glass!  God fills us with joy just like that!  When we find our joy in Jesus, we will overflow and can spread that joy to others!"

Now, Little Man and I did not do this next part, but it could potentially be really powerful if you had a child who was old enough to comprehend it.  If you filled the glass with water with all the "happy things," it could overflow.  Let it hang out on the counter for a week or so.  The water will evaporate.  When we fill ourselves with happiness from this world, we will never be fully satisfied.  It won't last.  That happiness will evaporate just like the water and we'll have to keep refilling ourselves.  The next week, fill it with marbles.  They obviously won't evaporate.  When we fill ourselves with joy found in the Lord, it's not easily lost.

Just as we did with our love lesson, we ended by praying over our verse using the ACTS model.

"Jesus, it's so amazing that You can fill us with joy when things like video games and toys can't.  I'm sorry that I don't always choose joy.  I'm sorry that I didn't choose joy when I got upset about _____.  Please forgive me.  Thank you for waking us up today!  Thank you for giving us the sun and the rain.  Help me to remember that I can be joyful and rejoice in You even when I am sad or upset.  Amen."

I went off to clean up breakfast and he worked on his torn paper stained glass.  He would randomly think of something else that would fit into one of the two categories ... happiness or joy.  He'd mention it and we'd decide which category it fit in.  

So, I really loved the object lesson for joy.  I think there is so much potential for deep thinking and the teacher in me just loves that!  But it's also so true.  Throughout the week, I found myself asking Little Man, "Are you choosing joy right now?"  As time has gone on, I find myself more and more telling him to go add a fruit to his basket because he did such an excellent job of choosing joy even when I know he would have rather done something else.  He opened my eyes.  God's really cool like that and uses our kids to humble us regularly.  I had an incident this week that just really upset me.  I was running my mouth to my husband ("I can't believe she said that!  What kind of friend is she?") and just being pretty ugly.  Well, Little Man overheard me and very politely reminded me that I should be choosing joy.  Yes, kid, I should.  I don't need to seek approval from friends, coworkers, or anyone else on this earth.  I find my joy in Christ.  Thanks for the reminder, Little Man.

Don't miss Day 4!  Follow us on Bloglovin'!

Come join the fun!  We're linking up at Teaching Mama, My Joy-Filled Life and 1+1+1=1!

10 Days in the Fruit of the Spirit {Day 2 ~ Love}

Well hello there!  Y'all... I am amazed at the responses and feedback from Day 1 of the Fruits of the Spirit study!  Welcome to Day 2!  I'm so excited you are here!  

Before we get started, I'd love to share a little background on this study.  Little Man and I were consistently doing some Bible time at night before he went to bed.  However, what I noticed was that he was tired and cranky and it sometimes felt forced.  I want our time with God to be amazing and beautiful and wonderful!  It should never be forced or a chore.  I don't ever want our time with God to be a negative thing.  I'm sure you could agree.  Fast forward to the past few weeks.  At the beginning of the summer, I was teaching some remediation courses (I teach online from home).  I had a one hour break at 10:00.  This is when Little Man and I got to sit down and chat over breakfast.  We slowly started incorporating our devotionals from church into this time.  I had been working on putting this study together since last summer.  I couldn't seem to get my head wrapped around exactly what I wanted to do.  (Note to self: God gives you the words when you ask.  Funny how He does that...).  So with that, Breakfast with the Bible was born!  We still review our memory verses (look for a post soon on our process for that), talk, and say prayers at night, but our more in-depth studies happen at breakfast now.  I have loved it and Little Man does too.  I look forward to watching the process evolve as Baby Boy gets a little older.  I loved putting this together and look forward to doing several more.  I trust that all of you will help me stick to that!  :)

Here's how the Fruits of the Spirit study works.  First, get some breakfast.  Not going to lie... in our house, cereal seems to be the go-to.  Then, get comfy at the table and get to work!  This is a basic outline of what we did each day.  I'll go into detail about each of these in the separate posts.

While we were eating, I had Little Man watch two YouTube videos.  One is a song that we watched each day.  The other is a great series by a man called Hi Hi the Bible Guy.  He is fantastic!  He does objects lessons for everything and he does them big!  I'm talking fire, explosions, power tools, all of it.  Total boy stuff.  

After the videos, we would review the page in the story for that particular fruit and give him the descriptive phrase.  I'll go into that more later.  I would then read our verse of the day.  We would talk about it and I would guide him to make the connection between the verse and the fruit.  This was just conversation over breakfast.  In all of our talks, I tried to be very intentional about relating the fruit directly to Little Man.  We talked about things he specifically did or didn't do.  I made him come up with examples of how he could demonstrate the fruit.  All in all, they were good talks.  

After we finished eating, we would do an object lesson.  He LOVED these!  After the lesson, we would go back to our verse of the day and add our final thoughts.  If you have a child that is old enough, this would be a great time to journal.  Little Man isn't quite there yet.  I'm hoping after a few more units he will be.  

As we closed our lesson, we would pray over the verse, using our names to pray it specifically for us.  Finally, as an extension, he would work on the stained glass cutouts.  These were discussed in the Day 1 post.  If you missed it, you can get caught up here.  This was the time I would usually clean up breakfast.  Sometimes, he'd let me continue the conversation.  Other times, he felt he was all talked out.  If you really want to extend it, have them watch a Veggie Tales episode while they're doing the stained glass and point out examples of the fruits in the characters.  

And that's that!  I know it sounds like a lot, but it really isn't.  Eat, video, verse, chat, object lesson, pray, extension.  Maybe 20 minutes?  

So with all that said... here's the next lesson in our Fruits of the Spirit study!  The first fruit is love.  Honestly, this was a little tricky.  The story we read daily, Pups of the Spirit, is super cute, but it keeps love at a surface level.  Hugs and kisses and whatnot.  I wanted Little Man to know that love in the Biblical sense is deeper than that.  With every fruit, I found a short phrase that describes it in ways our little ones would understand.  

LOVE ~ I will put others first.

Our verse for love was 1 John 3:18.

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.

I asked some pretty basic questions.  How do you know Mommy loves you?  How do you show Mommy or Daddy how you love them?  How can you show your friends you love them?  I asked him about some specific situations we had recently dealt with... were you showing love then?  I read somewhere that whenever a certain mom saw her children arguing, she would stop them and ask, "Who are you showing love to right now?  Yourself, your brother, or God?  God first, then others, and then ourselves.  This is the primary point I wanted Little Man to leave with.  

We've talked about how we love others because Jesus loves us and His love overflows from us into others.  When we are filled with His love, it's much easier to put others before ourselves.  That led us to our object lesson.

For this lesson, you'll need a paper towel, a red marker, a pen, and a bowl of water.  Draw a small heart down at the bottom with the pen.  "We all have hearts that need to be filled.  When we ask Jesus to live in our hearts, he fills them with love."

We colored in the heart with the red marker.  "Jesus lives in our hearts and He loves us very, very much.  We always know that we are loved because we are His children."

Draw some tiny little hearts around the top of the red heart.  "We have Jesus' love in our hearts, but not everyone knows about His love.  They're hearts are still empty."

I asked Little Man how we could show love to those people.  He gave me answers like playing with them, being kind to them, telling them that Jesus lives in us.  "When Jesus loves us, that love can overflow into the people around us!  Because He loves us soooo much, we have lots of love to share!"  Dip the paper towel into the bowl where just the red heart touches the water.  

"Look how Jesus' love filled all those other hearts!  He loves everyone and wants their hearts to be filled too!"

Throughout the next several days, I focused on asking Little Man about showing love.  In the grocery store, a man knocked some stuff off the shelf...  "How can we show him some love right now?"  As Little Man had a *teensy* bit of an attitude with me... "Are you showing love right now or anger?"  Some friends were over and playing at our house and wanted to do something different than Little Man... "Can we show him love by choosing to play his game first?"  I'm sure you can think of a few (or more than a few) moments that these questions could be asked on a daily basis.  

To conclude our Breakfast with the Bible time, we prayed over our verse (using the "ACTS" model and the words from the verse) and Little Man began to work on his torn paper stained glass.  

"Jesus, it's awesome that You have so much love for us!  I'm sorry that I didn't show love when I ______.  Please forgive me.  Thank you for always loving us no matter what we do.  Please help me not to just tell my family I love them, but to show them with my actions.  Help me to know how to love people that aren't my friends.  Help me to show them Your love.  Amen."

So there's Day 2!  I know I talked A LOT during this post.  I wanted to give some background though. I promise not to ramble so much next time!  :)  I'd love to hear your thoughts about this study!  Is this something you could do with your little ones?  

Don't miss Day 3!  Follow us on Bloglovin'!

Come join the fun!  We're linking up at Teaching Mama, Apron Strings & Other Things, and Arabah Joy!