Chrysalis in the making

The weather has been pulling me outdoors. My puppy, Cookie, is my kid substitute. She has motivated me to get out more. Sometimes Cookie shows me things I would otherwise overlook. Today she took to barking at a place where there was a discarded greenhouse shelf leaning against a tree stump. When I moved the shelf, a blue tailed lizard scurried away into the grass. But I also noticed another treasure I love to find outdoors. On the ground was a chrysalis in the making. I suspect the caterpillar was a brown woolly bear type caterpillar as the brown fuzz is still attached to one end of the chrysalis. I plan to keep this in a container with a little soil just in case it is designed to wiggle its way underground. Then I will wait to see what hatches out of it. I suspect it will be a fairly large moth.

Freshly emerged cicada & shell

A major breakout of cicadas has hit the part of the country where my grandchildren live. My daughter found a live cicada sill in its shell crawling up a blade of grass so she took it inside and took pictures of it as it emerged from it’s shell. She made the mistake of putting the kids to bed – with plans to wake them up when it emerged, but she couldn’t get them to wake up at the magic moment. She plans to try this again soon. I’ll post her full story in a few days – with or without the kids in the picture. But I always prefer to include the kids.

Dewberry AKA “devil weed”

For starters, I will have to sheepishly say “Do as I say, not as I do,” with your garden…

As I sized up the task of preparing my flower garden for the new plants my husband and I had been growing in small containers, I dreaded the task of pulling the weeds that had once again taken over my flower bed. I can give you my excuses for not having dealt with them sooner, but suffice it to say it was a job that was long overdue.

Pulling weeds is one thing, but when it comes to pulling out the Dewberry briers, it is another matter altogether. When I first encountered these briers I didn’t know what they were, so I named them “devil weed.” They make long thick roots that go down so deep that when you pull on them, you only succeed in getting the top of the roots. The rest will quickly put up more leaves and continue to grow.

In addition to the long thick roots, Dewberries send out shoots in every direction above the ground; and every place it comes in contact with the soil, it sends down more roots. There is little incentive to tackle the rest of the weeds until you get the Dewberries out of the way, or your hands and arms will get raked with briers with every other fist full of weeds you pull.

The berries that give this brier its name look and taste like blackberries; and in the past we have made the mistake of waiting to harvest the fruit before pulling them up. But picking them is a backbreaking job because the briers only grow close to the ground. Most berries get eaten by birds and other wild animals who return all those seeds to the ground to make even more briers.

We learn from reading Genesis 3:17-19 that part of the curse caused by Adam’s fall was that the ground would bring forth thorns and thistles. There is no doubt in my mind that Dewberries lead the list of thorns in the curse. The shoots that snake across the ground remind me of the serpent.

I couldn’t help but make the parallel between this “devil weed” and the sins we allow to take root in our lives. If we aren’t diligent to keep them out, they will not only take root, but they will send out shoots to further entangle us in sin and perhaps bring others down with us.

The only way I can hope to eliminate this “devil weed” from my garden is to be as thorough as possible to remove every sprig, and follow that up by regularly digging out the new shoots that will continue to come up from the roots, hoping that one day I will gain the victory as the plant runs out of stored energy in the roots.

Just as I can’t get lazy with my garden, I can’t allow sins like laziness, self-indulgence, love of money, gossip, or neglect of prayer and Bible reading to grow in the garden of my heart. I must be diligent in every way to stay close to Jesus and to have a pure heart.

by Janice Green, author of The Creation and The First Christmas

The Creation coloring pages by Nancy Gordon

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. This is the first sentence of the first book in the Bible. It is the most important sentence in the whole creation account - God created everything, the world didn’t create itself.

Why is it important for people to recognize God as Creator? Because without God, life has little value. We become accidents with no purpose. The life of an endangered snail becomes more important than human fetuses. And masses of humanity become expendable in death prison camps.

Our children need to know that they were created by God, and that their lives have purpose and value. They need to be able to recognize God’s loving hand, even in the bumps in the road, so that disappointments that seem like life crises don’t tempt them to try suicide.

The politically correct intelligentsia of today wants to dominate our children’s thought processes. Bill Nye, the Science Guy came out with a video a few years ago that villainized parents and teachers who taught them creationism. “Creationism is not appropriate for children,” said Nye. It was OK to believe it yourselves, ”but don’t make your kids do it. Because we need them.” He seems to think that if our children don’t accept evolution they won’t be innovative, which is total nonsense. Since when has the belief that God created the heavens and earth – since when has that belief become the litmus test of innovation?

If we don’t get a handle on this; however, scientists like Nye, with the help of the liberal media, are bent on controlling the minds of our children in this and every other way.

Christians need to read the creation account carefully and not try to put things in it that aren’t really there. It was initially written to people who had no idea about much information that is common knowledge today, so it was written in a language they would understand. But the bottom line is God created everything, he had a plan, and he is still in control today.

• What is a “day.” If we get bent out of shape over 24 hours we hurt ourselves. After all, there wasn’t a sun or moon to orbit the earth until the fourth “day.” I see more sequence in the days than the technical terms to describe 24 hours.
• Light before the sun? Who says the sun originated light in the first place? There are billions of stars out there and most are bigger than the sun. God created light on the first day, not the sun.
• God rested on the seventh day. He didn’t take a permanent vacation… Numbers don’t stop with seven, and God’s days didn’t either. Perhaps he has continued to refine his creation – but not by waiting for accidents, I’m sure.

This short blog post can’t begin to say all I would share about the reasonableness of the creation account. God created a world that is ablaze with beauty – accidents don’t create, and their outcomes are not exactly beautiful. Evolution of living species requires both male and female accidents happening simultaneously – yet they take millions of years to accidentally happen??? Has anyone studied probabilities lately?

What are we doing to help our children and grandchildren understand their need to know and trust the one true loving God who created them in His image?

by Janice D. Green, author of The Creation and The First Christmas

Click here for ideas to create your own VBS or Bible study on the creation.

• Grandparenting Through Obstacles: Overcoming Family Challenges to Reach Your Chradchildren For Christ
• Written by ReneéGray-Wilburn and Dianne E. Butts
• Pix-N-Pens Publishing
• 302 pages
• ISBN 978-1-938092-17-6
• SRP: $15.99
• Reviewed by Janice D. Green
• Amazon.com link

Rating:     

Grandparenting through Obstacles by Reneé Gray-Wilburn and Dianne E. Butts is a dynamic resource for grandparents who are concerned about helping their grandchildren find a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ. Through 20 real-life stories written by grandparents in a wide variety of situations, the authors show how twenty wise grandparents found ways to influence their grandchildren’s lives in a positive way. In addition to the engaging stories, each chapter includes “Grandparents from the Bible,” “Points to Ponder,” “Steps to Take,” “Scriptures to Study,” and “One Way to Pray.” Within these headings, chapter by chapter, grandparents will find a plethora of ideas for reaching out to their grandchildren through a wide variety of circumstances.

The chapters are divided into four sections:
Part 1: The Challenge of Parents Not Walking with God
Part 2: The Challenge of Long Distance Relationships
Part 3: The Challenge of Non-Traditional Families
Part 4: The Challenge of Partnering with Parents

I was impressed with the diversity of situations represented in this book and with the depth of the grandparents’ wisdom and faith as they addressed the obstacles they had to deal with. Even though no list of 20 situations will be able to cover every situation a grandparent may face, I believe that anyone who has a heart for reaching their grandchildren (or other children – relatives or non-relatives) for Christ will find helpful suggestions between the covers of this book.

Grandparenting through Obstacles won the GRAND Magazine’s 2012 Best GRANDparents Book Award.

What I like about this book: Everything… especially the wealth of ideas and resources represented.

What I disliked about this book: Nothing. The only thing that puzzled me was the connection between the “Grandparents in the Bible” section within each chapter and the current grandparent story in each chapter. Even though they didn’t necessarily match up, I realized as I read through the chapters that they emphasized the importance of grandparents’ roles as seen in the lineage of Christ Jesus. For this reason, even though I was puzzled at first, I recognized its significance in the book and feel it added an unexpected dimension to the whole.

The authors of Grandparenting through Obstacles maintain an ongoing blog with additional resources for grandparents. The book, Grandparenting through Obstacles, can be purchased as a paperback copy or as an ebook on Amazon.com

Although I was given a free ebook copy of Grandparenting through Obstacles in return for a review, I quickly realized that I would prefer to read it in hardcopy, and since it was on a topic that is dear to my heart, I did not mind paying for it. This book is one of several I have reviewed through the BookCrash Review Program. I was free to give either a positive or negative review. The opinions expressed are my own.

There is no shortage of Happy Easter activities and supplies for celebrating the secular version of Easter. With a little searching, however, one can discover many good ideas for reinforcing the true message of Easter as well. I made a quick search on Pinterest to look for ideas I might share and found several.

Here are two simple ones:

Make an edible Crown of Thorns with pretzel sticks and melted chocolate chips. The directions can be found here.

Make Resurrection Rolls with crescent rolls, marshmallows, butter, cinnamon, and sugar. The directions can be found here. The dough is wrapped around marshmallows. When they are baked, the marshmallows melt leaving the roll empty – like the empty tomb.

There are other resources available for reinforcing the true meaning of Easter. Many Christian bookstores sell a carton of Resurrection Eggs with simple reminders of the events that happened leading up to Easter. Bible storybooks and coloring books are also available to reinforce the Easter message. Feel free to check out my Pinterest board, “Easter Activities” for more ideas.

Enjoy celebrating Easter with your children in whatever way you choose, but take intentional steps to be sure they know the real Easter story.

Sometimes it makes no difference what plans you make, they will be changed. Such has been the story of my life since the beginning of 2013.

The whole month of January and the first week of February this year my focus was totally on my back. I didn’t know it could hurt so bad. January has been poetry month for me in the previous two years, but I couldn’t bring myself to think of anything worth writing and gave up before day ten.

About the time my back got well enough for me to think about writing blog posts or anything else (February 13) I got the news that my 94-year-old uncle had passed. He was my mother’s twin brother. So I left my husband at home to take care of things and drove from our home near the coast of South Carolina to central Tennessee to meet up with my sister and continue to northern Indiana for the funeral.

A few hours before the funeral we learned that my mother was having respiratory problems so we gave up on visiting any of the places we lived in Indiana before returning to Tennessee to be with her. It turned out Mom had pneumonia and she was admitted to the hospital. When the pneumonia appeared to be cleared up Mom was moved to a rehab center and I drove back to my home in South Carolina. But even on the way home I was getting messages that Mom was not doing well. Within a week I returned to Tennessee to help my sister spend time with Mom in the hospital for the second round of pneumonia.

I arrived home today and considered where I am on my blog. All I can say is Life Happens… Sometimes we decide what we will do and then we do it. Other times, we simply do what must be done. I have no regrets for spending those days with my Mom. I feel so blessed to still have her these many years.

Spending time with Mom was surely more important than anything I might have pecked out for my blog during that time. I know God is in control of the events that take place around me so there is no need to question why. I simply trust him and move on.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The Israelites worshiped God. They knew about the many miracles that God had performed for them in the past. They had eaten manna in the desert that God provided. They saw God part the waters for them to cross the Red Sea and 40 years later he parted the waters of the Jordan River for them to cross into the Promised Land. And they saw the walls of Jericho tumble down when the Israelites followed God’s instructions to march around them seven times and then shout. But King Saul and his entire army trembled in fear of this giant soldier.

David was a young shepherd boy who guarded and protected his father’s sheep. He had learned how to fight off bears and lions that came to attack the sheep. He also passed the time singing praises to God and worshiping him. One day David’s father asked him to take food to the soldiers. When he arrived in the army camp he saw the giant and heard his murderous threats.

How dare he defy the army of the Almighty God? David thought. Then he said it out loud and began asking questions. When his three older brothers heard him they made fun of him and told him to go home and take care of his few sheep. But the king heard that David wanted to fight the giant and asked the soldiers to bring David to him.

When the king put his armor on David it was much too big and heavy for him. “I can fight this big bully as easily as I fought the Lion and the Bear,” David said. Then he took off the armor and gathered five smooth stones to put in his bag.

The giant laughed at David when he saw he was only a boy, but David shouted at him, “I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel.” As the giant ran toward his young challenger, David reached into his pouch, grabbed a stone, and placed it in his slingshot. He swung it around his head and released it so that the stone sunk deep into the giant’s forehead and he fell to the ground. David then used the giant’s sword to cut off his head.

Who or what are the giants in your life? Have you ever been bullied because of your faith? How can David’s courage help you to feel stronger and braver?

This story really happened. It is usually called the story of David and Goliath, and it is recorded in the Bible in 1 Samuel 17. Read it for yourself for even better understanding.

Around the first of November I accepted the responsibility of directing a church choir. I’m not highly skilled, nor am I a great musical performer, but I know I have sufficient musical skills to help the choir to move to a higher level than they are at present. I am thoroughly enjoying this opportunity to minister.

Over the past three and a half weeks I’ve experienced various levels of back pain, enough to send me to a chiropractor as well as an orthopaedic specialist who signed me up for physical therapy. It seems one of my back’s worst enemies is my computer. I’m spending too many hours a day in front of my computer screen. It doesn’t help that I read at a turtle’s pace and am easily distracted.

Meanwhile I’ve written very few blog posts, most of which went on two other blogs I share with Christian children’s authors. I manage both of these blogs.

I can look at all of the above and call them excuses for myself. Or I can assess the expectations I put on myself and prayerfully consider which of these are God-assignments and which are of my own making.

As a book publisher and author, I have the responsibility of promoting my own books. I find this very difficult, especially considering I live in a very small town with no bookstores to carry and promote my books. Much of my computer time is spent on Facebook and elsewhere looking for ways to network and to promote my books – something that seems to keep me going in circles… It is very difficult… dare I say impossible to wear all the hats of writing, illustrating, publishing, and marketing my own books. On top of that, every time I think of doing my taxes, my stomach seems to get tied up in knots. My pockets are too shallow to hire people to bear part of this load, but somewhere something has to give!

I am also praying over what kinds of articles are most appropriate for my blogs. My passion is for young families to discover what a great resource we have in the Bible as a guide for daily living, and to recognize the critical need children have for affirmation and support from their parents, grandparents, and others around them.

I’m not exactly an authority on family living so I feel underqualified to write extensively on that topic. I’m leaning toward writing about Bible stories suitable for sharing with children and offering ways to apply them to daily living.

How have other authors found balance in their lives when they wear so many hats? I hope I will find some helpful words of encouragement from my readers in the comments below. Meanwhile, please pray with me for direction in my life and on my blogs.

Janice D. Green
Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC
Bible Quilts
Christian Children’s Authors
Write2Ignite!