John Newton's prayer and mine

John Newton’s (1725-1807) words may be 200+ years old but they speak so beautifully and powerfully into our current situation. This is my prayer for myself and you my dear friends.

“I wish we may learn from all our changes, to be sober and watchful, not to rest in grace received, in experience or comforts, but still to be pressing forward, and never think ourselves either safe or happy, but when we are beholding the glory of Christ by the light of faith in the glass of the Gospel, to view him as God manifest in the flesh, as all in all in himself, and all in all for us; this cheering, this strengthening, this makes hard things easy, and better things sweet. This includes all I can wish for my dear friends, that you may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus. To know him, is the shortest description of true grace; to know him better, is the surest mark of growth in grace; to know him perfectly, is eternal life. This is the prize of our high calling; the sum and substance of all we can desire or hope for is, to see him as he is, and to be like him: and to this honor and happiness he will surely bring all that love his name.”

Our favorite Bibles and devotionals for kids

A couple months ago some of you asked what Bible we were using when we made our resurrection rolls so I thought I'd share some of our favorite kids Bibles and devotionals. 

These 4 of our favorites. 

Long Story Short by Marty Machowski

The Gospel Story Bible by Marty Machowski

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones

*We also like The Beginners Bible by Kelly Pulley for younger kids (under 6)

The Jesus Storybook Bible and their devotional "Thoughts to Make your Heart Sing" are my personal favorites.

At least for our kids ages right now (6, 4, 3, 15 months)

Let's take a look at The Jesus Storybook Bible first.  

The pictures (by artist Jago) and the creativity in the layout of the pages is fabulous. 

I love how some of them are vertical and the perspective is unique. 

And it is really engaging and easy to read (or listen to). 

It is simple yet profound, funny and most importantly it always brings everything back to Jesus.

The publisher says that it is for kids 4 and up but our 2 year old loves reading it too. 

 We keep ours in the kids bedroom and read it to them before bed at night.

Here's a little shpeel I grabbed from their website. 

The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the Story beneath all the stories in the Bible. At the center of the Story is a baby, the child upon whom everything will depend. Every story whispers his name. A Bible like no other, The Jesus Storybook Bible invites children to join in the greatest of all adventures, to discover for themselves that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story of salvation—and at the center of their Story too.

Next up is the devotional "Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing".

I love that each devotion is relatively short (most are one page) but that they are still really good.

And thought provolking. 

We read it during breakfast and then spend some time discussing it. 

It has great info and prompts good discussion. 

The Gospel Story Bible and The Long Story Short are also a great Bible and devotional pair.    

The pages of The Gospel Story Bible are bright and the content is more in depth, detailed and lengthy. 

I love the Let's Talk about it section at the end of each story.

It helps gets you and your kids thinking about what they read and it allows you as the parent to help make sure they really "got it". 

Here's a peek at what the publisher says about the book,

"It is easy to forget Jesus in the midst of frantic schedules, family squabbles, and conflicting priorities. But the truth is that he is the hero of every story, including these ordinary ones. This is why Marty Machowski puts God's plan of salvation in Christ on continuous display in The Gospel Story Bible. The easy-to-read storybook introduces your family to many captivating people, places, and events from the Bible's Old and New Testaments, showing how each one ultimately points to Jesus. As you share these Bible Stories together, you and your family will meet Jesus and learn a new, life-changing way of recognizing Christ as the hero of every story."

Long Story Short is a great devotional. 

It shows how every story in the Old Testament points forward to God's story of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

And it has a little something to talk about with the kids five days of the week.

The publisher recommends it for ages preschool through high school.  

Oh and I should mention that it goes best with the Gospel Story Bible. 

*They also have a devotional called Old Story New that is about the New Testament 

Hopefully you guys found that helpful.

I know there are some great kids Bibles out there.

What are some of your favorites? 

Resurrection rolls

 Happy Good Friday Friends! 

As I've been pondering the cross today I am constantly in awe of God's goodness and grace to save such sinners like me. 

He is so so good. 

By his wounds we are healed. 

Crazy and awesome.

Thank you Jesus! 

One of our families favorite Easter traditions is making resurrection rolls. 

It's such a fun and hands on way to teach our kids the true meaning of Easter. 

Plus they are yummy. 

Win win. 

We always start by reading about the crucifixion and death/burial of Jesus before we make the rolls.

Then comes the fun part of actually assembling them. 

The kids get to roll the marshmallow (which symbolizes Jesus) in oil (melted butter) and them prepare his body for burial with spices (by rolling marshmallow in cinnamon/sugar). Than they get to wrap Jesus (the marshmallow) in burial linens (the crescent roll). And place them in the oven to bake.

Here’s a breakdown of the symbolism:

• Large Marshmallows – body of Jesus
• Melted Butter – oils of embalming
• Cinnamon  and Sugar Mix- spices used to anoint the body.
• Crescent Roll – the wrapping of Jesus’ body or the tomb.
• Oven – the tomb
• Cavity in bun – the empty tomb or the empty cloths

*For more details details on resurrection rolls look here or here).

As the rolls are baking we read the story of of Jesus' resurrection

and then we get to eat them!! 

The kids always love seeing how the "tomb" is empty after the rolls bake. 

Jesus has risen! 

 so cool! 

And just for fun we dyed eggs too.

pretty and tasty. 

Egg salad sandwich anyone?

What are some of your favorite Easter traditions?

Below are some of the other Easter activities we have done in the past t help teach our kids that Easter is about SO much more than just plastic eggs and yummy candy.

this felt cross

 and this activity to demonstrate the cross and resurrection 

Real life (in between the perfect Instagram pictures)

Instagram can be so deceiving. 

Don't get me wrong I love Instagram. 

I love editing and posting pics from our life and getting a peek into others 

but that's just what it is

a peek.

A tiny glimpse into one second of their day.

Sometimes these glimpses inspire or leave you in awe (like when you see a picture of a beautiful sunset or a tiny snowflake).

sometimes they make you laugh (I'm totally a fan of the new video addition)

sometimes they encourage and build you up

but sometimes (maybe a lot of the time) they leave you discouraged and disheartened. 

Feeling like you are falling short. 

Like you are not as good of a mom/friend/crafter/decorator/baker/stylist/photographer/shopper/adventurer (fill in the blank) as the person whose awesome picture you are looking at. 

That was taken for one second of their day.  

 Here's a little example.

Yesterday I took this pic of me and Wesley. 

I could have posted it with the caption

"Playing with my boy"

and you might have thought a million different things.

Maybe you would scroll right past it

or maybe you would think "that's a cute pic".

Or "that's sweet...spending time with your kids is good".

Or maybe you thought...

"She has 4 kids and still has time to spend with each of her kids. She's such a good mom. I rarely do that."

What you can't tell from this picture is the conversation that happened before it.  

 As we were in the car driving home from dropping Kenzie off from school Wesley asked if I could play with him when we got home.

My first thought was, "I don't have time to play...the house is a disaster and I have so much sewing to get done" but I told him, "Sure, baby. What do you want to play?"

He said, "No I want you to PLAY with me".

I repeated myself..."Well what do you want to play. Do you want to paint? We could do some watercolors?" Or I was thinking to myself...we (I mean you) could watch a movie. Movies are so much fun.

Wesley: "No mom. I want you to play with me. You are always doing grown up stuff."

Knife to the heart! Ok Ok I get it. I'll PLAY with you. Whatever you want. 

{Don't worry I didn't say that just thought it}

So after some discussion he decided he wanted to play stuffed animals with me. 

So we pretended his stuffed animals were in school. 

I was the teacher and he was the adult helper "Mr. Sellars". 

It was 45 minutes of work. 

Good work.

Playing (I mean really getting down on the ground and pretending and playing WITH my kids) can be hard. 

And 10 minutes of pretend play can sometimes feel like an hour.

I'm not going to lie there were a couple of times I tried to make school be over with but he clearly wasn't done (but Mom...they haven't had snack, or they haven't done their memory verse yet, etc.)

but it was a sweet time with my boy.

 A time that I need to make happen more often. 

Especially in the busy seasons where I feel like there just isn't time to do it. 

The other day I was scrolling through my Instagram profile page (where you can see all of your recent pics) and I laughed. 

Because from the outside in it looks like I have it all together (ha!).

It totally seems like I'm always taking my kids out on fun adventures, doing crafts, planning Christmas traditions, taking perfect pics with my family, and sewing for my kids. 

What you don't see are all the meltdowns in between, the dirty dishes in the sink, the 50 pictures it took to get the one of all of us smiling at the same time, the loss of patience, the sibling rivalry, the poopy diapers and everything else that goes on in daily life.

Life is hard. 

Parenting is hard.

Good but hard and messy and rarely picture perfect. 

Yesterday my friend posted this on Facebook. 

to which I replied

"Peppermint Jojo's. everyday."

This is real life people. 

We all sneak Oreos in the kitchen.

And we all need grace. 

everyday. 

On ourselves and on others. 

And thankfully Jesus gives it out freely and generously.

To me and to you. 

All we need to do is to come to Him to get it. Frequently.

So next time you see a picture on Instagram that leads you to compare or be discouraged

just remember it's only one second of time and there is always a story behind the picture. 

All I need...

print found here

Amen.

honeybees

I just stumbled upon this verse thanks to French Press Mornings awesome prints. 

It was just the verse we needed to teach the kids at this season when it seems like they are competing over everything. And not always using kind or encouraging words to each other. 

So this week (and beyond) we are going to be focusing on making and being little honeybees. 

Check out the other awesome free prints from French Press Mornings as a part of her encouraging Wednesday posts.

Perspective

Being a stay at home mom is an adventure.

Although some days (most days) are filled with the mundane

laundry. breakfast. dishes. coloring. park. lunch. diapers. playing. cleaning. dinner. dishes. repeat.

 there is always a sense of excitement

because no matter how well you plan your day you never know what will actually happen.

The other day my morning started off trying to figure out the best (or least worse) way of rescuing Easter eggs out of a toilet. filled with poo.

Every day I have to wipe down the table and sweep the floor but often I am cleaning crayon/marker off of something or someone.

 Or I'm cleaning something much worse than crayon or marker (feel free to use your imagination here or read this or this for some examples).

Yesterday Maddie got her head stuck in between the bars of our stair banister

She also discovered the joy of sliding down the banister as a slide (thanks to her big brother).

ER here we come.

Some days you open the washer and find that somehow a diaper (hopefully not a poopy one) snuck it's way in there. Always after you have already ran the wash. Count your blessings if this has never happened to you.

Some days your kids get bored with the traditional uses of play dough and start sticking it in their ears.

You get the idea.

Life as a mom is never boring.

And although the examples above are more of the challenging things that keep my day exciting there are also unexpected blessings amidst even the hardest of days.
The other day Wesley jumped into my arms, gave me a big hug and told me that he loved me SO much and that I was the best Mommy in the whole wide world.
Every morning as the kids wake up they make their way into our bed and we get to enjoy some morning cuddles.

The other day nap time was not happening (with the big kids) so we spent the afternoon playing in the sunshine instead.

And then there are those precious moments when your kids say something that reveals they have actually heard and understood an important truth you have been trying to teach them.
Or when they choose to obey. Right behind "I love you" I think the words "Yes, Mom" are some of the most beautiful words my kids can say to me (in this season of life at least).

Anyways...the other day it dawned on me.
Each day is an adventure.
Filled with the unknown.
There will be moments of good and moments of bad.
And some of the time (probably close to 50% of the time) I can't control what is going to happen but I can always control how I am going to react to whatever happens.
I can freak out and let it ruin my day and/or attitude or I can embrace the surprises of life with grace, find joy in the midst and carry on.
I want to choose the latter.
Even in the midst of fishing poopy eggs out the toilet or cleaning Vaseline off the walls.
With the Lord's help of course.

^{Galatians 5:22-23
22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control.  

Little Girls Night Out

The other night we had a little girls night out. 

A few of Mackenzie's closest friends and their Mommy's got together for a fun and fruitful evening.

We had some yummy cookies and dessert at a local restaurant and spent some time talking about what it looks like to be a good friend. 

We used verses from the Bible and a lot of examples of what "loving your neighbor as yourself" actually looks like in every day life (as a 5 year old).

The Mommy's even put on a couple skits for the kids to act out different scenarios that they might encounter at church, school, etc.  First we acted out the wrong way to handle the situation, we talked about why it was wrong and then we acted out a better way to handle it. 

The kids LOVED this!! 

They thought it was soooo funny to see us Mom's putting on a show and I think it really helped drill home all of the things we had learned.

After our heart training session was over we headed out for some fun! 

The girls rode the carousel and had so much fun just hanging out together as big girls (without any of their other siblings around).

What a great night of fun and fellowship!

I'm so thankful to have good friends in my life who I can journey through parenthood with! 

Because this raising kids stuff can be tough

and with such an important job of training and molding little hearts towards Jesus I'm so glad that I'm not in it all alone. 

Woman's Retreat

This weekend I was away with the girls at our church's Woman's Retreat.

It was amazing in so many different ways. 

First, it was amazing to be kidless.

Don't get me wrong I love.love.love. my kids but it's good to have some uninterrupted adult conversation and two free hands once a year.

Second, it was amazing to sit under Elyse Fitzpatrick's teaching.

She was hilarious, insightful, real and a powerful teacher. 

I want to know and preach the gospel like she does. 

maybe one day :)

Third, it was awesome to spend the weekend with old friends and new friends (and my mom and soon to be sister in law)! 

I'm so blessed by the people God has placed in my life. 

The body of Christ is such a cool thing. 

Forth, it was awesome to go in the hot springs. a lot

In my dreams I would have one in my backyard. Wouldn't that be nice?

(The retreat was in Murrieta Hot Springs)

And fifth it was awesome to spend some alone time with the Lord. 

Not nearly enough...just enough to make me want a whole lot more. 

Hope you guys had a great weekend too!

Oh and as promised here's a mini update on all our crazy health stuff...

-Wesley is doing great! The hole is still healing from the surgery but it looks to be infection free! Praise the Lord! 

-A nurse called me yesterday to tell me that the only thing they found out from all those vials of blood and tests are that I am ANA positive (which I already knew) and that I have low potassium. Which basically tell us nothing or at least nothing that explains why I'm having these crazy episodes. So right now I'm trying to get an appointment with the doctor to talk to him and go over the results and see what the next steps are but it's been so difficult to get a hold of anyone at the office and to get an appointment to be seen. I'll keep you guys updated as I hear things. Thanks again for all the prayers!  

Results!

Over the past couple of years I feel like God has been asking me the question,

"Do you trust me." 

And every time my initial response is "Yes. Of course I do." 

But the Lord knows my heart. 

Even more than I do.
And He cares about my heart and my holiness like any good Father would. 

And so He graciously.tenderly.lovingly 

reveals to me the parts of my heart that don't fully trust.

And then He shows me 

over and over and over and over again

 that He is good and perfect and holy

and sovereign and all powerful

and full of love for me.

And that He is trustworthy. 

He is faithful.

His plans are bigger than mine. 

This week has just been another reminder of all of that. 

And another sweet time of the Lord ministering to me. 

It's so crazy (and awesome) that during the hardest times I always feel the most loved by the Lord. 

     Like He goes out of His way to let me know that I am His and that He loves me. 

But then again I shouldn't be surprised. 

Because that's exactly the kind of God I know Him to be. 

Wesley had his surgery today. 

He was such a big, brave boy!

When they went into the wound they said it was very infected because...

this giant piece of a stick was still in his cheek!

It gives me the heebe jeebees just thinking about it.

I still haven't seen what the incision looks like under his big bandage but hopefully now that the stick is out things will be getting better.

 for real this time.   

I was supposed to hear the results from the CT scan early this morning but after waiting and waiting and pestering the nurses at my doctor's offices a bunch of times I heard nothing. 

I'm pretty sure it was part of God's whole I have a work that needs to be done in Kristin's heart that can't be accomplished any other way plan.

But after spending lots of time meditating on Psalm 62 and being sure that I was going to hear horrible news from the doctor (why else would he be waiting sooooo long to get back to me) I finally got the results. 

And praise God the CT scan showed NO tumors!!

Such an answer to prayer! 

I'm still waiting on a million other results from the blood work and to hear the details from the CT scan but I'm definitely thankful for the great news we have had today. 

And am praising the Lord for his goodness and grace! 

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and love and support!! 

I have been blown away by everyones concern and we have been spoiled with lots of yummy food and help from family and friends.