Teaching in the Little Years

We have been talking/teaching our kids about Bible's and giving to the Lord.  They were given their first Bible the Sunday before last.  We talked about treating it special and the need to take care of it.  Ethan really took to heart how he needed to "cherish" the Bible.  He wanted to sleep with it the next couple of nights!  The kids were also given a quarter for the offering.  I had to keep myself from laughing Sunday night because I was literally looking all over the back pew trying to find my sons quarter.  I think one of the ushers thought I had lost my mind!  Things like that are a big deal to Ethan, and I knew I needed to find that coin to help prevent an outburst of concern!  Well, I could not find it, and in the process of looking for it somehow Madison lost her quarter as well.  So when the offering plate came around neither of the kids had their money to give, and Ethan had to be taken out.  Jon found the quarters after church, and he had Maddie go up front and put them in the plate :)  Note to self:  Give the coins to the kids during the offering and not before church!

I loved talking to the kids about giving their money to Jesus.  Little lessons like that are the things I really enjoy as a mom.  When I was talking to the kids I would ask them who they were giving their money too.  Their sweet faces would light up and respond by saying "Jesus" with their best pronunciation.  It was truly precious how much they wanted to give their quarters to Jesus.  They were so happy that they could "give" something.  Before church we lined up chairs in the kitchen and practiced them giving their quarter by putting it in the bowl Jon passed to me.  I really felt that was a NEED since I wanted them to understand that they were "giving" it and NOT getting it back :)

Here are some pictures of the kids outside our church's front door.  Normally I would only post one picture, but I couldn't resist posting all five.  I laughed while I was looking through these.  Emily is looking forward in every picture except the last one.  And OF COURSE the last one is the only good picture of both Ethan and Madison with faces forward :)  Getting a good picture of all 3 children facing the camera is no easy task! I do a very loud monkey noise to get their attention and make them smile.  Unfortunately it isn't very feminine, and it really isn't something I can do in public without looking like a crazy mom!

O