Journaling through the Bible: Atonement

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Much of the Bible discusses the idea of atonement. What is it? Why is it important? I admit it is a topic that is difficult for me to fully understand as addressed in the Old Testament because there are so many rules and regulations.

The book of Leviticus spends a good portion discussing offerings for atonement. It explains the role of sacrifice in God's plan. There are laws for burnt offerings of livestock such as bulls, sheep, or goats, laws for what to do with the meat of the offered animals, laws for how to use birds like pigeons for burnt offerings, laws for grain offerings, laws for peace offerings, laws for sin offerings, laws for guilt offerings, and the roles of the priests in all these offerings for atonement.

So many laws to remember. It is a good thing that God chose the tribe of Levi to organize as a priesthood to help the citizens make their offerings for atonement.

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Book Club: Reviewing God Made the World

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher in return for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are my own. For more information please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy. Thank you.

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Sarah Jean Collins' God Made the World (A Tyndale Kids Title) is a wonderful board book depicting the first seven days of the world through clean, simple, and bright illustrations and a rhyming narrative. Young children are introduced to the history of creation as narrated in the the first book of the Bible - Genesis.

I think my favorite part of the book is the easy nature of the text which lends itself to reading aloud. From the very first time my children and I sat down to read God Made the World, I had no trouble reading it aloud. No stumbling over words or sentences which is a blessing for read-aloud books.

The illustrations also provide parents and Sunday School teachers with many opportunities to create crafts to go along with a reading of the book. Children could very easily create their own book to go along with Collins' God Made the World to help reinforce the story.

When I asked my children about their favorite part of the book, they each had different responses. My two-year-old daughter likes the pages with the animals the best - especially the snake. My four-year-old son likes "the part where God made the trees" the best. And this mom likes the whole book!

I recommend God Made the World by Sarah Jean Collins from Tyndale House Publishers to Christian families and Christian organizations with Sunday Schools or nurseries like schools, churches, or outreaches. I am very happy that we are able to have it on our own shelves.

Crafts: E is for Enderman

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All three of our children love Minecraft. My stepson purchased it for the Xbox 360 several years ago. Both of us still play the game, although not as regularly as we used to play.  Our four-year-old has even begun watching YouTube Let's Plays with me and playing with Minecraft toys.

For the letter E, creating an Enderman was such a simple idea for our family.

Materials 

• Black construction paper
• Purple construction paper
• Brown construction paper
• Glue sticks
• Scissors
• Crayons or markers 

Steps 

1. Gather all of your materials.

2. Glue the E onto your black construction paper.

3. Glue the Enderman's head onto the letter E at the top.

4. Glue the body of the Enderman onto the letter E (towards the middle).

5. Glue the legs of the Enderman onto the letter E (at the bottom).

6. Glue the arms of the Enderman onto the letter E (at the middle point).

7. Glue brown pieces of construction paper to represent dirt blocks onto the letter E (at the bottom). (You can also use yellow for sand or gray for gravel.)

8. Glue the eyes of the Enderman onto your project.

9. Display the Enderman in your home without making direct eye contact with him.

You might also be interested in my post about Let's Plays and Minecraft.

V is for Valiant (Blogging through the Alphabet)

Being a parent has taught me how important it is to have great determination and courage in everyday life. When I hear the word, "valiant," I will admit that I do not first think of my parenting abilities but instead think of a knight of the Middle Ages.

Knights were supposed to be: 

Gallant 

Heroic 

Courageous 

Daring

Tough

Brave

Bold

Fearless 

When I think about it, parents need to possess the majority of these skills in order to raise our children. 

Gallant - An older definition of gallant is giving special attention and respect to women. I think that this idea can be applied to the respect children should show for their parents as well as the respect parents can show their children.

Heroic - Pushing our children out of the way of danger - whether it is a car, another child running at them, or just catching them from falling off the chair we told them not to climb onto a hundred times - we need to be heroic to protect them. 

Courageous - Doing what is right, even when others think it is wrong, is one of the ways parents show their courage. Sticking to a bedtime when everyone is letting their children stay up late or not letting your son or daughter watch an R-rated movie when all of their classmates are seeing it.

Daring- Parents can be daring when they challenge the traditional thoughts of society, school, or even family. 

Tough - I find I have to be tough in the face of my children doing things that are wrong but really hilarious. How often do we need to turn around or leave the room, because we just need to laugh at the ink-stained faces of our toddlers? We also need to be tough when we see our children participating in sports or other activities where they can get seriously injured. 

Brave - When our children are injured or hurt, we must be brave to not show them how scared we are about their injury. 

Bold - We need to stand up for our children against others who may bully them or treat them unfairly. 

Fearless - It is very easy to be afraid - especially in today's world. In order to raise our children with all of the problems of today, we need to be fearless in accepting this challenge.


If we look deep enough closely, we will be able to find many of these qualities in ourselves.

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Looking to study knights with your homeschooled children? 

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Wordless Wednesday (Mostly Wordless) - Ice Hockey Championship

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My stepson when he was playing before his concussion. 

Smooth sheet of ice for the teams.

The teams lined up at center ice for the singing of the National Anthem.

My stepson wasn't playing because he was only recently given the okay after his concussion.

  

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