Saturday, March 31: I picked up 3 out of 4 of the grandkids at 3:30. We had no particular plan in mind, although I will say, I did do my usual preparation for them to come. I never know exactly if there will be FOUR, THREE, or TWO kiddos on any given Saturday afternoon. Christopher decided to stay home, so it was everybody else ...
Most of these pictures were taken during and after our Bible time. And this special time was part of the blessing, for sure. But it started out when I arrived at the kids' house and discovered that Emma was coming over and she was SMILING.
Emma is at a difficult age, and in so many ways, she is in a difficult place. She has many trials and a lot going on in her heart that I know nothing about. But I do know this ... I have missed her intensely--her laughter, her smiles, the way our eyes will lock together and we know exactly what the other is thinking, etc. It's not that she hasn't come over lately, it's just that she has either been too tired and so has slept the entire afternoon (in my room), or she has been too annoyed with us in general to participate with any of the "activities" we do around here.
Anyway, it was so wonderful just to see Emma HAPPY. Matthew was upbeat too! And Kaity ALWAYS wants to come over (she is in that adoring phase w/me ... she will grow out of that when she realizes that I am just a regular person with failures just like everyone else).
I purchased a plastic bat for my house so that Kaity could bat balloons around. We were using my fly swatter as a bat last week and broke it right in two. Kaity likes physical activity very much.
A few years ago, a friend told me about a little visual tool called "Resurrection Eggs", and since I am always looking for ways to stimulate story time, I purchased a set for $12.99. I have gotten MORE use out of this tool in the last few years! The children (all of them) LOVE them. They help us to tell the most beautiful story ever told!
There are TWELVE eggs, each one holding an object that demonstrates part of the last week of Jesus' life on earth. I asked the children to help me open the eggs as I told the story.
Naturally, they couldn't just SIT and do nothing, so they also colored their own pictures. I LOVE it when they do this. I had printed off a few pictures from the internet so that Kaity-Girl would have even more of a visual as we did the story ...
Kaity was so excited to color her rooster ...
Emma remembered so many details of this story. I love her so much. Oh, Lord, keep her heart open to Your voice and Your ways!
Emma made some beautiful drawings of the objects inside the eggs ...
Kaity-Dear enjoys coloring very much. I'm so pleased with her growth from her Readiness-K class. She is such a little love--yes, she is a stinker too--but oh, I love her so!
One of the objects is a cup, a chalice, for the BLOOD of the covenant. I too, have a chalice from the island of Lindos. I took it down from my high shelf and let the kids look at it for awhile.
Look at Matt's beautiful drawling of the chalice, the cross, the curtain in the temple ...
Matthew is a very intense artist. I love his style and his creativity. And I love him. I love who he is. Please Lord, have mercy on this dear child, give him eyes of FAITH and a heart that follows you!
We had the most beautiful time together tonight, the children and I. It was a wonderful gift to me and I know God did this for us to demonstrate His great love for me--thank you so much, dear Jesus.
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