May the Lord bless you ...

"Don't repay evil for evil.

Don't retaliate when people say unkind things about you.

Instead, pay them back with a blessing.

That is what God wants you to do,

and he will bless you for it."

I PETER 2:9 NLT

After a very busy week, Friday was upon us once again! Our weekends are always busy, busy, busy; but the last few weekends I found particularly challenging. I think it's because the kiddos have really struggled with being kind to each other … so there are lots of little spats and … hard feelings.

So, I had prayed all week about HOW to perhaps curb these petty arguments and encourage the kiddos NOT to pick on each other so much. We had a small meeting about it and I told them that instead of retaliating when someone says something unkind, instead, pronounce a blessing on them from the Lord! (see Scripture above) AND Jesus says to do this very thing: "Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." (Luke 6:28 NLT) And I will tell you, with JOY, that our weekend was a much happier one because we actually put this into practice! 

I also tried having the kiddos play separately during some segments of our weekend, wondering perhaps if they were just a little tired of being with each other. Matthew made himself an entire ZOO in the playroom ...

The other kiddos added some various buildings to the zoo ... 

Matthew worked on several more of his homemade books . . . 

Our Bible story Friday night was The Last Supper, which included the story of Jesus being anointed in the home of Simon the Leper a few days prior to that and also Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.

We had such a nice time talking about many details of this last dinner Jesus had with his friends: about Jesus being the "bread of life," the "true bread of heaven," of Judas's betrayal, of Jesus being the Servant of all ~ and what does all of this stuff mean for US? It's times like these that I feel like I have my very own schoolroom. I love teaching the children!

The children were sleeping by 11:30 Friday night and slept in until 8:45 Saturday morning! We had our usual movie time, viewing "Groundhog Day," which the kids enjoyed. It was a little bit silly, but for the most part, it was an OK film for them to see.

Saturday, we began our day … playing, what else? And enjoying good food together too! This is the salad we enjoyed for lunch!

After lunch, we had to drive over to Arnie's Bakery to pick up a cake that I am taking to church tomorrow for a friend's farewell. I certainly couldn't take the children over to a wonderful-smelling bakery, pick up a delicious looking cake and NOT offer them any goodies. So, they each picked out a very yummy donut and enjoyed it hugely. They had eaten such a healthy lunch, so this was OK! 

 The weather is still quite COLD, so we played outside for only a short time once we returned to The Beach House. But the kids had fun digging up more ice … and finding sticks and climbing ice hills, etc.

Christopher, conqueror of the world!

Emma breaking up the ice on the driveway ...

 When we went back inside, we played a few games of "Memory" so that I could get some good mental exercise!

 I lost every single Memory game I played today … but this particular Memory game is faces of children from around the world ~ I loved watching the kids try to figure out which child was from which country.

We also read a lot of good children's books this weekend. Two of our favorites were about Helen Keller! One told of her love for her pet dog, Belle; the other gave us more history and information about the life of this remarkable woman. The books also had a great sign language chart as well as one for Braille … we spent some time learning a few of the letters together!

AND … we began reading "The Magician's Nephew" in the Narnia Series. I'm excited to actually begin reading Narnia … at the beginning! 

Our day zoomed on by. The "blessing" thing worked very well this weekend. The children really tried to be kinder, and little spats cleared up much more quickly when the offending person was being blessed instead of engaged in a fight! So thankful!

Kaity always greets us very enthusiastically when we return "home" with the kiddos … I was happy to snap these few pictures of their reunion.

"If you want a happy life and good days, keep your tongue from speaking evil, and keep your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Work hard at living in peace with others. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil." James 3:10-12  Thank you for these powerful truths, Lord! Help us to live them out in our daily lives!