April Activities

How was the March activity list? Did everyone have fun with their families?? Well April should be even more exciting! Who is ready for NICE weather??? This month will be packed full of Easter crafts, Earth day activities, walks, and more! Lets gear up for SPRING!

April Activities-

April 1st- Tell Jesus 'thank you' for His sacrifice. Have an easter egg hunt.
*Bible verse of the day- Mark 15:46-47 (the importance of Easter)

April 2nd- Wear blue today for 'Autism Awareness' day.
*Bible verse of the day- Jeremiah 1:5 (He knew us before He formed us)

April 3rd- Make an umbrella out of a paper plate and construction paper. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Spring is the sign of new beginnings, so lets read some Bible verses about new beginnings. Isaiah 43:18-19

April 4th- Cut out paper rain boots and design your dream rain boots. (LINK HERE)
*Bible verse of the day- Lamentations 3:22-24 (new life in Christ)

April 5th- Make paper cup months and learn the months of the year. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Colossians 3:9-10 (new self this spring)

April 6th- Sing a song for April. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- 1 John 4:18 (perfect love from God)

April 7th- Make coffee filter Butterflies. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Romans 8:31 (God is for us)

April 8th- Learn about the parts of a plant to celebrate Spring. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Hebrews 11:1 (the benefit of faith)

April 9th- Make a rainy day window drawing. (LINK HERE)
*Bible verse of the day- Ezekiel 11:19 (a new spirit for Spring)

April 10th- Do a random act of kindness for someone today.
*Bible verse of the day- Genesis 1:12 (the beauty of Spring)

April 11th- This week we are going to learn about the letter A. Make a letter 'A' alligator today. (LINK HERE)
*Bible verse of the day- Psalms 65:11 (He gives abundantly)

April 12th- Make a letter A apple craft. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Isaiah 41:13 (Fear not)

April 13th- Watch a movie about Spring together and have cookies!
*Bible verse of the day- Nehemiah 9:6 (God made everything)

April 14th- If it is nice today, take a walk. If it isn't nice, have a tea party inside.
*Bible verse of the day- Hebrews 11:3 (Strength in the Word of God)

April 15th- Have an Earth Day Scavenger Hunt today. (LINK HERE)
*Bible verse of the day- Deuteronomy 10:14 (Bible verse about the beauty of the Earth)

April 16th- Make Earth Day dirt cups for a snack. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Genesis 1:3 (God said there should be light on the Earth)

April 17th- Make a Speak for the Trees craft. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Psalms 1:3 (the beauty of nature)

April 18th- I love the Earth craft out of construction paper. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Genesis 1:11 (the creation story)

April 19th- Make 'Earth Day' treat bags for the kids to take to school. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day-Genesis 1:7 (the Creation story)

April 20th- Make a 'We Can change the World' banner. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Genesis 1:8 (the creation story)

April 21st- Make Earth Day man out of a paper plate. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- John 4:35 (bible verse about the Earth)

April 22nd- Take a walk this afternoon and clean up any trash that we see.
*Bible verse of the day- Genesis 1:9 (The creation story)

April 23rd- We are going to learn about the letter 'B' this week. Make a letter 'B' bear craft. (LINK HERE)
*Bible verse of the day- This week, we will read Bible verses about the rain since 'April Showers bring May Flowers.' Isaiah 45:8

April 24th- 'B is for Butterfly' hand print craft. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Matthew 7:24-27 (The Wise Man)

April 25th- Have a camp out today and watch a movie or cartoon about Spring.
*Bible verse of the day- Hebrews 6:7 (the beauty of rain)

April 26th- Play a game either indoors or outdoors.
*Bible verse of the day- Jeremiah 51:16 (God's ability to bring rain)

April 27th- Play dress up and put on a play today.
*Bible verse of the day- Job 5:10 (God gives rain)

April 28th- Make a paper plate ring toss and play this game today! (LINK HERE)
*Bible verse of the day- Psalms 68:8 (the strength of God)

April 29th- Have an indoor/outdoor scavenger hunt about colors, size, etc. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Psalms 147:8 (God provides rain)

April 30th- We are going to learn about the letter 'C' this week.  Make a 'Letter C' for Cookie craft. (LINK HERE) 
*Bible verse of the day- Jeremiah 10:13 (God's strength)

Looking forward to a wonderful month with all of you!

-The Bays

What is WORSE? (March 20th)

The question today was:

Which is worse- failing or never trying?

And I'm sure it's cliche, but I definitely believe never trying is much worse.

As most of you know, I struggle with anxiety- especially going places alone... and sometimes with people. It just depends on the location, the people, how crowded it is, etc.

I have felt what it is like to TRY and go places alone (or with people) and, in my opinion fail (by having to hurry up and leave- not participating in the activity- not even able to go inside, etc.)

And I have felt what it is like to sit at home, in my room, and not even attempt to overcome my fears at all.

And the latter feels much worse.....

I often feel discouraged when I can't face my fears... like when I'm sitting outside of a small store with all three of my children telling myself I can do this.. but I turn around and go home.

But 'I feel even worse when I avoid a situation all together due to fear. Because then I feel RULED. I feel like they have power over me. I couldn't even get myself to try. Much worse than trying and having to reassure myself in the parking lot "I'll get further tomorrow."

So, I believe that never trying is much worse than failing.

Failing means YOU WON'T HAVE POWER OVER ME FOREVER.
Not trying means I'M LETTING YOU STILL HAVE POWER OVER ME.

What do you think?

AGE (March 19th)

The question for the day is:

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

Truthfully- I don't act my age.. and I doubt I ever will. If I didn't know any better, I would think I was in my early 20s. It's hard- because sometimes when I'm around individuals younger than me, I can sense my true age; however, I still look for an adult when I go places which makes me feel younger than I really am. Does age ever settle in? I have hard time grasping the fact that I'm in my 30s. Part of me still feels like a teenager. I don't feel old enough to have been married for 7 years, have 3 children, and getting ready to celebrate my 15 year reunion in 2 years! 

But like the saying goes- age is just a number. 

We get to choose what we do with it... whether we let it limit us.. or set us free! 

I choose to live in the moment and never think 'I wish I were (this age)..." I will live just being me. Whatever age I am! 

QUESTIONS (March 18th)

So, I know I already created a 'template' for blog discussion topics for this month, BUT I couldn't pass up these questions I stumbled upon... (*wink* *wink*)

I was stumbling around on http://www.stumbleupon.com/ (do it!) and I came across a page that stated:

"50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"

and I thought... HEY HEY HEY. Why not join in the fun and answer these questions on my blog?

So who's joining me??? I'd love to have some others so I can visit your page and see what you answer each day! Comment me or let me know if you're linking up to do this too!

Here are the 50 questions. Can you make it 50 days? I'm sure going to try! GOOD LUCK!

1.How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

2.Which is worse, failing or never trying?

3.If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

4.When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

5.What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world?

6.If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

7.Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

8.If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?

9.To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

10.Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

11.You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do?

12.If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be?

13.Would you break the law to save a loved one?

14.Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?

15.What’s something you know you do differently than most people?

16.How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?

17.What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?

18.Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?

19.If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why?

20.Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

21.Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton?

22.Why are you, you?

23.Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?

24.Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?

25.What are you most grateful for?

26.Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

27.Is is possible to know the truth without challenging it first?

28.Has your greatest fear ever come true?

29.Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now?

30.What is your happiest childhood memory? What makes it so special?

31.At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

32.If not now, then when?

33.If you haven’t achieved it yet, what do you have to lose?

34.Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

35.Why do religions that support love cause so many wars?

36.Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?

37.If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job?

38.Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?

39.Do you feel like you’ve lived this day a hundred times before?

40.When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?

41.If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today?

42.Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by 10 years to become extremely attractive or famous?

43.What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

44.When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?

45.If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

46.What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

47.When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?

48.What do you love? Have any of your recent actions openly expressed this love?

49.In 5 years from now, will you remember what you did yesterday? What about the day before that? Or the day before that?

50.Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

-----
Happy 365!

SALVATION (March 17th)

I wanted to continue our discussion of the book of Isaiah.

Chapter 12 begins with the discussion of mercy.

Isaiah writes, "I thank You God, You were angry, but your anger wasn't forever. You withdrew Your anger, and move in and comforted me."

God gets angry with us. Sometimes we choose not to be the best followers of Christ that we can be. And I'm sure this disappoints and hurts God-- maybe even makes Him upset. BUT, His anger does not last forever. He does withdraw it and comforts us after the fact.

My mom had a talk with me one day about God's anger... and the healing of His anger. Mom said, "You get mad at your children right?" I said, "Yes I do!" She said, "Do you let that anger continue forever?" I said, "No! As soon as I know they understand what they did wrong, I drop it." She said, "And you're a human. How much more forgiving do you think God is?" 

It hit me like a ton of bricks. 

He's forgiving. He's merciful.

Isaiah 12:2 says, "Yes, indeed- God is my salvation. I trust, I won't be afraid. God- yes God- is my strength and my song, best of all my salvation."

This tells us three things:
1. God is our salvation. Salvation is described as, "the act of saving or protecting from harm, risk, loss, destruction, etc." God protects us from harm, risk, loss, and destruction. He covers us in every situation.

2. We should trust and not be afraid. 

3. God is my strength. 

He protects us. He's our strength. We should never be afraid with Him in our life.

In Isaiah chapter 17, we read about religion.

I feel like Isaiah discusses a religion a great deal in his book.

Religion, according to the dictionary, is described as, "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a  super human agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."

Over and over again, we read that God doesn't care about religion. He cares about our hearts and how we are treating others.

In Isaiah chapter 17, Isaiah writes, "And why? Because you have forgotten God-Your-Salvation, not remembered your Rock-of-Refuge. And so, even though you are very religious, planting all sorts of bushes and herbs and trees to honor and influence your fertility gods. And even though you make them grow so well... nothing will come of them. Instead of a harvest, you'll get nothing but grief and pain, pain, pain."

God doesn't care about religion! He just wants to be remembered every day! That's all He wants from us.

In chapter 19, we read:

"On that day, there will be a place of worship to God in the center of Egypt and a monument to God at its border. It will show how the God-of-the-Angel-Armies has helped the Egyptians. When they cry out in prayer to God because of oppressors, He'll send them help. a savior who will keep them safe and take care of them. God will openly show himself to the Egyptians and they'll get to know him on that Day. They'll worship Him seriously with sacrifices and burnt offerings. They'll make vows and keep them. God will wound Egypt, first hit then heal. Egypt will come back to God and God will listen to their prayers and heal them, heal them from head to toe."

What I took from this verse is this:

Does God wound......... just to heal?

I would be curious to hear thoughts on this concept. 

Does God smite us with certain things... in order to heal us?

Would love to have a discussion on this concept.

Happy 365 Days of Blogging!

TV SHOWS. (March 16th)

The question today was: what are your top 10 tv shows to binge watch... which I'm excited to share with everyone!

1. Forensic Files: I would say this is my favorite TV show to binge watch. It's on Netflix and there are often marathons on cable as well. One of the main reasons I love this show is because I love seeing justice done for terrible crimes and I enjoy seeing how these crimes are solved. You learn so much. Some days I wish I would have went to school to be a homicide investigator- but instead, I'll live vicariously through shows like this.

2. Cold Justice: There are only 2 seasons of Cold Justice and 1 season of Cold Justice: Sex Crimes on Netflix, but I think I watched every single episode within 48 hours. Once again- I love seeing justice done for terrible crimes and even though some cold cases are not solved, I am amazed at how these investigators go back to the beginning and figure out things they couldn't solve years ago.

3. The Office: What a switch up, right? But how can you not laugh at this TV show! Michael Scott is the absolute best. He makes me laugh, without hesitation, every single episode. Toby coming back from Costa Rica is probably my favorite. If you haven't tried this TV show-- DO IT. You won't regret it. It's the perfect pick me up on a tough day.

4. Big Brother- This is probably my favorite TV show EVER. Of all time. I have CBS All Access, so I get to watch every season, whenever... and that just so happens to happen every single day. I don't think a day goes by that I don't watch Big Brother. Going to bed, hanging out around the house. It is seriously one of my favorites. I love the showmances. I love the game talk. I love it all! 

5. Supernatural- I think I could watch every single episode from season 1 and 2... over and over and over again. Dean and Sam Winchesters are two of my favorites. This show has so much mystery and comedy- it's perfect! Plus the supernatural (duh!) theme! If you haven't watched 'Supernatural' I would definitely put it on your watch list!

6. Criminal Minds- Annnnd, we are back on the criminal theme again! Love the earlier seasons SO much. It is definitely one of my favorite crime shows. It is amazing how profiling works- and every single actor/actress makes this show. It wouldn't be the same without all of them working together. 

7. Modern Family- This is another great comedy series! Phil Dunphy never ceases to make me laugh. Actually, every single person on this show makes me giggle out loud. I love Wednesday nights just for the fact that I get to watch this! It is definitely a show that can heal a rough day.

8. The Challenge/Are You the One- These are two reality TV shows on MTV and they are my favorites. Sometimes I just love trashy TV. It's a good get-a-way from reality at times LOL I love the drama (as long as it isn't in my own life!) and I love the craziness of it all! I'm even one of those people that follows all of the contestants on Instagram and Twitter. I'm sure they love having this groupie in their life! ;)

9. One Tree Hill- I swear, I can watch this TV show any time of the day! I mean, I did name all three of my babies from characters on this show (Tayler, Quinn, and Lucas) I have some of my favorite episodes- for example the episode where the gang goes to Honeygrove because mouth needs ASS-istance. Please, please.... go check this show out! It will quickly become one of your favorites as well. I promise.

10. Smallville- Smallville was on TV for 10 seasons making it (in my opinion) one of the greats.  I love superhero talk and Tom Welling is the perfect person to play the role as superman. I love Chloe... Lois.. all of the characters work together to make such a great TV show. If you didn't grow up in the early 2000s, you may not appreciate it as much, but I promise, it should become one of your favorites! 

What are some of your favorite TV shows to binge watch?

SPIRIT (March 15th)

Isaiah.

I finished the book of Isaiah last night- and I feel like there is just so much to share from this book. A book of prophecy- a book of encouragement- a book of salvation.

There are 66 chapters in the book of Isaiah, so I plan on splitting this discussion up over the next few days. I hope you enjoy this journey of Isaiah as much as I have.

One thing that immediately stuck out to me in Isaiah chapter 1 is:

"I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put up your next prayer performance, I'll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or how often you pray, I'll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you've been tearing people to pieces and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of evil doings so I don't have to look at them any longer." (Isaiah 1:14-15)

I'm sick of your religion- your performances. 

God was tired of fakeness. Of people acting like they were worshipping Him and living a good life-- and then they would turn around and hurt others. God isn't impressed with LOOKING like we are holy. He just wants holiness-- in private and public.

In these verses, He talks about what He doesn't want from us.

In the next two verses, He talks about what He DOES want from us. 

"Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless."

Be a GOOD person. Just be GOOD-- kind, compassionate, forgiving, loving, moral. He doesn't expect perfection. He doesn't want religion. He wants GOODNESS. 

In Chapter 2, Isaiah writes: "People with a big head are headed for a fall, pretentious egos brought down a peg." The one thing I took from this chapter is: don't have a big head. Get control of your pride.

Pride is the high opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority. It is dangerous to have a high opinion of oneself. Now, this isn't to say we cannot have self-esteem. It is important to treasure yourself and your worth-- pride is seeing no flaw within yourself. You can see your best qualities and nothing else. 

One verse in chapter 3 really stuck out to me. "Reassure the righteous that their good living will pay off." I know it seems hopeless sometimes. I know there are moments where you think 'Why do I even try? Why do I have morals? The people that seem to have no morals live such good lives. Where do I get being a good person?" But God assures us-- good living WILL pay off! 

It reminds us that being a good person is beneficial both in this life... and after.

Chapter 7 begins talking about prophecy- we will talk about that in a different blog.

In chapter 8, one thing discussed is: "When people tell you, 'Try out the fortunetellers. Consult the spiritualists. Why not tap into the spirit-world, get in touch with the dead?' Tell them, "No we're going to consult the Scriptures." 

We are warned to not trust fortunetellers. To not seek answers anywhere else but His precious Word. It has everything we could ever need. It truly tells us the facts: we have a hope beyond this life and He holds every situation in His hands. That's all I need to know.

One cry I found myself pleading while reading Isaiah is from Isaiah chapter 11:

"The life giving Spirit of God will hover over him. The Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding, the Spirit that gives direction and builds strength, the Spirit that instills knowledge and fear of God."

This became my prayer. To fill me up with His spirit so I could have wisdom... have understanding... have direction... have strength... have knowledge.. have the fear of God. That became my heartfelt desire and still is. 

We will continue our discussion of Isaiah tomorrow! Hope everyone is having a faith filled week!