Love Week for the Lees....

This week is all about LOVE here at the Lee household. We have a whole host of activities planned. Our verse for the week is Deuteronomy 6:5 as the sign above says (it is posted on our refrigerator door and every morning we have motions to act out the verse).

Today we did a heart stamping craft. I took a potato and cut it in half, then carved the bottom of each half to look like a heart. It was the perfect stamp for little hands. Then I let the kids go to town stamping hearts on a plain white piece of paper. They covered their whole paper with hearts of all colors and enjoyed every minute of it.

We then wrote out the verse on their dried heart pictures and will hang it in their rooms, so we can work on it again right before bed! Nothing like waking up to the Word and going to bed to the Word!

Many many more heart and love themed activities to do this week! We are in for a fun-filled loving week!

a power UNDER...

First I need to say how much I respect and admire my husband. 


We live in a world that says power is everything: It says if you don't have power, you have nothing and you can do nothing; you are looked at as weak. 


On this spinning orb, power is looked at as success and humility is looked at as weakness. We are reminded daily through internet stories, the radio, conversations, and through our inner carnal nature not to give off any appearance that could be perceived as weakness.


 We serve a God who was crazy about serving others and always put others above Himself. He took a power UNDER approach and not a power OVER:

Philippians 2:5-8

⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

 ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, 

   did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 

⁷ but made himself nothing, 

   taking the very nature of a servant, 

   being made in human likeness. 

⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, 

   he humbled himself 

   and became obedient to death— 

      even death on a cross! 

I am so blessed to have a husband who is wildly in love with Jesus and in tune with the Holy Spirit. This previous week had been a trying week for my husband and he received quite a bit of feedback since last Sunday's sermon (January 22 sermon).  Preparing for a follow-up Part 2 to the sermon, which he preached on January 29, he took time to listen to the Holy Spirit and to hear and dialogue with many from the church. 


The delivery and Spirit with which the message was given was a perfect example of the sermon's main point lived out... for the Church to be a power UNDER, not a power OVER to reach the world.


Thank you, hubby, for being sensitive to the Spirit to live this very principle out in an attitude of humility as you  sought Unity in today's service. 


Praise God for Spirit-filled pastors!


p.s. on a side note: in a spirit of humility, I apologized to our 3 1/2 year old today for my over-reacting to something today. My prayer is that she will grow to be a person that sees strength in weakness and power in humility.

SUPER SPEECH and other stuff...

Yesterday we did the story of the Tower of Babel Walls of Jericho falling down (please note that I had written "Tower of Babel" because my mind is completely warped). After acting it out with laundry baskets piled high as our "city" and using choo choo train whistles as our "horns", my little munchkins watched the "Josh and the Big Wall" VeggieTale.  Then we made made our own City of Jericho with graham crackers as walls and icing as the cement to hold them together. Had I been thinking a little more clearer, I would have used peanut butter instead... I guess the kids got lucky with that one!

Here Zoe and Roman are posing with their Jericho City... note: Zoe's is perfectly intact  and Roman's  has completely fallen

Zoe wanted hers complete with a roof... notice the little graham cracker fish... they were serving as the Israelite army marching around the city!

Roman's tower didn't last more than a minute before it was completely destroyed.

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Last night at LifeGroup I worked with the children using a SuperHero theme based on 1 Timothy 4:12. Our focus for the night was on having SUPER SPEECH! 

¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

The inspiration came from www.impressyourkids.com. I've newly discovered this site and just love it! It is all about teaching bible verses to our children in a way that makes them stick! All of the crafts and ideas that I used came from there.

Here are my two superheros of the faith!

All the kids made a superhero crest that will eventually be added to a cape for them. Each week we'll focus on one of the areas of the verse (Super Speech, Fantastic Conduct, Incredible Love, Lightning Fast Faith, and Magnificent Purity).

The kids each made Superhero cuffs that they wore as part of their costume. 

We did a cool experiment based on the verse found in Matthew 12:34 (For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.)It involved two jars. One we filled with yucky stuff (vinegar, dirt, coffee grounds, old leaves) and the other we filled with yummy stuff (fruit juice, strawberry jam, honey). Then I took the yucky jar and asked the children "If we filled the gross jar with yucky stuff, what do you think is going to come out?" And they responded with "yucky stuff." The same was asked of the yummy jar and they said "good stuff" would come out. The parallel was made regarding our lives and how what we fill our heart with will be reflected in what comes out of our mouth (our speech).

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Today we continued to focus on SUPER SPEECH! I borrowed some more activities from www.impressyourkids.com (my new favorite site!). 

We had a new verse today. It was found in Ephesians 4:29: 

^"29 Don't let any evil talk come out of your mouths. Say only what will help to build others up and meet their needs. Then what you say will help those who listen."

We began by painting a large piece of poster board all red. The kids LOVED this and had a blast with the paints!

Then we let that dry and cut it out in the shape of a mouth. Then I took a large roll of paper (easel paper) and wrote the VERY long verse out on it to make it as long as I could. Then I made a slit in the mouth and taped one end to the backside of the mouth and fed the verse through. The kids then each took turns pulling the verse out of the mouth as we recited it.

After having it ripped 10 times by Roman, I decided to display it along the top of the wall, so they no longer could reach it, but would be able to see it as a constant reminder!

I also painted on each of their hands the verse and a mouth to remind them through the day. 

On an unrelated note...here are a few more photos that captured the last few days (this is for you, Grandpa and Grandma Lee:) )

Roman holding Samuel and giving him some kisses....

Roman now giving Samuel a vampire kiss

How come the 8 WEEK old looks like he is almost as tall as the near 2 year old?

This one got added for adorableness

Behind me and in front of me...

Like the air we breathe, I believe that God is always around us, nearer than we acknowledge most of the time. In fact, I believe that He is treading the path before us, next to us, and behind us. As I dwell on this thought, I think about my mundane life, the everydayness of it all.

Mornings start early with three small children (ranging from babe to kidlet).

And they are ever so hungry… breakfast characterized most mornings by impatient demands…

And I breathe.

It is a constant dance of pouring milk, grabbing vitamins, preparing oatmeal, slicing fruit, mixing up formula and feeding the baby, wiping down sticky hands and oatmeal messes gone terribly wrong.

The pile of dishes awaits and I try to grab a quick breakfast.

I pull open the blinds and let the sunlight in…. Ah! That feels nice. And I pause….

Is God in this place? Is God here? Is He here in the insanity, in the chaos? Is He here when I feel like I’m being pulled in a million directions?

Well, of course… the answer is “of course He is.”

Psalm 139:5 "You are all around me. You are behind me and in front of me. You hold me in your power."

It is this Truth that I will believe in and choose to live. Thank you, God, for being all around me today.

“I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:13

God is in this too...

Giving my best...

Another year is here and with it brings many promises and hope for starting anew. My 2012 hope for this year is to give my best to those who matter most, my family. This Christmas we had the awesome privilege to spend it with Ben's folks. One of the highlights for me was when Jenna, my mother-in-law, gave me this sign that her mother, June Rasmussen, made for her when she was pregnant with Ben. 

Littlest Salvation Army Volunteer

 Big Sis (Zoe girl) has been volunteering with her daddy to ring the Salvation Army bell at the local Buehler's on Fridays during Advent for two hours! She has been doing a super fabulous job and many who pass by just can't resist not putting some extra change in the kettle!

All smiles! 

"Merry Christmas"

Littlest volunteer ever!

Who can resist that?!?!

The gifts of our children...

I've been meeting with a neighbor friend of mine every few weeks to take time to pray for our children. As many a mother would acknowledge the necessity to pray for her children, I have found that meeting and agreeing together with another mother to pray is so powerful as scriptures tells us: 

 ¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:19-20

Recently we focused on praying for our children's spiritual gifts. And even this past week Zoe's bible memory verse was a paraphrase of Matthew 7:11 "God gives good gifts". In this season of gift-giving it only seems appropriate to thank God for the gifts he has given and pray for these gifts to be fostered in our little ones. 

Let Zoe, Roman, and Samuel use their gifts and talents for your glory. 1 Corinthians 10:31

 Show Zoe how to use her gifts and talents wisely, being faithful with the abilities you have given her. 

Matthew 25:21

 Thank you for the special gift you have given Roman.  Show him how his gift differs from the gifts you have given others, and let him be generous, diligent, and cheerful in using it. Romans 12:6-8

Let Samuel use his gifts for the common good, recognizing, how he fits into the body of Christ and using his special abilities to build up and complement others. 1 Corinthians 12:7-26

As Roman considers his gifts, cause him to lean not on his own understanding, but acknowledge you in all his ways, so that you - the One who created and gifted him - will make his paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

Give Zoe a sense of destiny, and show her that you set her apart and appointed her with gifts and talents even before she was born.  Jeremiah 1:5

Cause Samuel to be diligent in developing his gifts and talents so that he will become "skilled in his work" and "serve before kings," using his abilities to fulfill your purposes. Proverbs 22:29

Even at an early age the gifts of my children are becoming apparent:

Zoe is a loving an sensitive little girl who has a super memory and loves to sing praise songs!

Roman is very mechanical and has a sensitive spirit about him where he desires to please. He is fun-loving and  full of enthusiasm (and as his sister says, "he's full of strawberry jam!")

Samuel, our newest addition, is sweet as sugar and a content little man.  I pray that he continues to exhibit contentment through all his life:
 I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
 Philippians 4:12b-13