Teaching Children About Christmas...

I've started teaching my two year old about Christmas.  When he talks of Ho Ho, he mentions Jesus' name and it makes me smile.  It's amazing just what a two year old understands!  I explained to him that Santa comes on Jesus' birthday to celebrate.  So when I ask him whose birthday it is on Christmas- he says "Je Je".

I've read about Jesus to him and have shown him pictures in his bible. I've also shared with him just how much Jesus loves him.  He smiles so big when we talk about Jesus that you have to wonder- what type of relationship does a two year old have with Jesus?  My older daughter seemed to have Jesus in her heart at a very young age.  I remember her preschool teacher saying that she thinks that she is going to do great things for God and that there was something different about how she responds to learning about Jesus.

My daughters are getting older now and among their wish list of electronics and gifts galore, I do have to remind them of the true meaning of Christmas.  We talk about it daily as Christmas approaches and it helps that they are participating in our church play this year.  They have been practicing since November and have been focusing on his word and praising him weekly.

We were praying at dinner the other evening and one of my daughter's prayers was for God to help her focus on Jesus this Christmas season.  Oh how we can learn from our little ones, because this is my prayer as well.  Keeping Jesus our focus in everything that we do!

Last night we lit the lights on the house and I turned and smiled at my two year old and said "Those lights are for Jesus!"  He looked up at me smiled and cheered... "Je Je!""

"Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..."
Isaiah 9:6

Many Blessings,
Jen

Advent Box Giveaway!

Wonderful giveaway over at I Can Teach My Child!  She is giving away a set of homemade advent boxes- just in time for the Christmas Season. What a great way to focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas- Jesus! 

I Can Teach My Child

To enter- visit the link below.....
Advent Box Giveaway

Blessings,
Jen

Little Angels Review and Giveaway

God in Heaven, my Savior dear

Watch over my children and draw thou near

Send your little angels to be at their side

To light and to guard to love and to guide

 

(Shared by Roma Downey as part of her inspiration for creating the animated series Little Angels.) 

I am very pleased to have the privilege of introducing the new animated video series- Little Angels.  Little Angels comes to you from executive producer- Roma Downey(Touched by and Angel)  and writer Phil Lollar (Adventures in Odyssey).  Created for Preschoolers to teach not only ABC and 123's, but also moral lessons and biblical principals. Little man (22 months) enjoys the music and colorful characters.  Some children older than Preschoolers may enjoy the videos as well.  My 7 year old is attracted to the angel characters and pointed out to me her favorites. 

Little Alex and Zoe are blessed to have their very own angels looking over them.  The angels come to their aid when they need them the most. Imagine how comforting this would be for a Preschooler to know that  God sends helpers to watch over and take care of them.

Would you like to meet some of the Little Angels?  Here are just a few..... 

 

 

Uriel
The Angel of Creativity-

He carries a palette and

a painter.

Charmeine-A female cherubim. Angel of Harmony. She carries a harp and sings, teaching everyone to harmonize - and to get along together.

Gabriel

An archangel, second in command to Michael, blond hair, blue eyes. Gabriel is the Messenger Angel - whenever the little angels wish to announce something very important, they give the job to Gabriel.

Haley

Do you love animals? If you do, Hayley will be one of your favorite Little Angels! She knows them all.

Share Little Angles with your  little ones!
To purchase-Christianbook.com
To WIN.....
Please follow God's Shining Stars and leave a comment below. 

Luckily, I have 2 DVDs to give away on this website and 2 more to give away on my other blog- Creative and Curious Kids!

Extra entries:
(2) Blog about the Little Angel's giveaway and link back to this post.
(1) Tweet about this giveaway and link back to this post.
(1) Follow Little Angel's on Facebook.

For extra entries- be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.
Good Luck!

[This contest has ended.]

Jen

Disclosure: I wasn't given any monetary reimbursement for the above review.  I was given a DVD for my own personal use and 4 more to give away on my blogs.  The opinions above are my own and my differ from others.

The Pumpkin Patch Parable

I came across this book today on Totally Tots!  What a wonderful Christian Children's book to share at this time of the year. I haven't read it yet, but will pick it up for sure.  To find out more about this book and how she incorporated learning activities, be sure to visit Totally Tots. 

Blessings,
Jen

The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven

Just wanted to share the book I'm currently reading! It is about a child who was in a car accident and severely injured. He was in a coma for months and during this time, he shares how he spent time with Jesus in heaven.   If anyone else is in the process of reading it, I'd love to hear from you.  If not, why not join us?

Prayers for Matty!

There's a precious 2 year old little boy who needs our prayers- his name is Matthew. He is fighting leukemia and has been going through chemotherapy.  Please pray for him.  It would be greatly appreciated by his family.  I don't know them personally, but they are special to my younger sister.  My heart goes out to this family and as I pray for healing for Matty and for comfort for them, I hold on to my own children just a little bit tighter.

Blessings,
Jen

Important: Donor and Prayers Needed!

Recently I was contacted by a fellow blogger who asked me to spread the word about a young girl named Haley.  Haley has been diagnosed with a very rare disease named MDS or Myelodysplasia. This disease is recognized as a "pre-leukemia" and a bone marrow transplant is needed.

With a bone marrow transplant there is about a 80% chance of recovery. The doctors have advised her parents that a transplant is needed as soon as possible - hopefully by this June. HLA typing has determined there are no matches within the family. The preliminary search for a match within the marrow data base shows there may be one potential match. There are many more tests that need to be done to determine if in fact this potential is a match and if this person is still available.

Things that we can do to help Haley- pray,spread the word, and get tested to see if we are a match.  For more information- visit here. I couldn't imagine this being my own child and what her parents must be going through.

Bone Marrow Testing Kits Available- information here. (It's free to get tested.)

Thank you!
Jen

I'd Choose You

I found a pleasant surprise in my MOPS email this evening- a wonderful book suggestion!  I'd Choose You by Dr. John Trent is an adorable book for all ages.  When Norbert the elephant has a really bad day at school, his mother lets him know that he will always be chosen by his parents and God.  Take a sneak peek of the book below.....

Buy		Read

Blessings,
Jen

Discloser: I wasn't given a copy of the book or compensated in any way.  This is my opinion, which may differ from others.

The Fruit of The Spirit

"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."  (Galatians Chapter 5, verses 22-23)

It's Sunday and we are usually off to church- which we really look forward to, but Mommy was bad. I was lesson planning for tomorrow and lost track of time.  So I told my girls we would do a lesson at home.  I found some wonderful resources on the fruit of the spirit.  My girls really enjoyed the lesson and the activities, so I thought I would share. (Just in case other parents have been "bad" or if you need an anyday short lesson.)

Fruit of the Spirit Lesson
Fruit of the Spirit Poem
Fruit of the Spirit Crossword
Fruit Coloring pages (The kids colored the fruit and wrote- love,joy,peace, goodness, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control on them.)

We sang a song, too!!

I also told the kids that this is a good lesson for grown-ups, because we need the spirit in us to help us grow as Christians.Years ago, I did a wonderful study from Beth Moore that I'd love to revisit.
 


Enjoy your day!
Jen

Prayers Needed!

Please pray for my sister-in-law Jill who will be getting decompression brain surgery this Friday.  She has Chiari Malformation.  Please pray for the surgeons,her family, and for healing.  Thank you!  God Bless.

Jen