The Road To 60!

The Road To 60!

On June 30 of this year, I celebrated my 59th birthday. Being a realist I know that my life is more than half over and I find myself being tempted to focus on what is undone, the bucket list ( I don't have one), regrets...you get the picture. So many folks have said," well, next year is the big one"! And then I had that light bulb moment......every year should be the big one! And it should be celebrated with thankfulness and the HOPE of many more happy healthy days on this earth. 

On the day of my birthday, I came across this beautiful verse from the Psalms and a prayer that really tugged at my heart strings.

I find inspiration in so many places and I know that this Psalm and prayer was meant for me.....to do something with. To share, to create devotions around it, to use it as a way to celebrate this year with hope, peace, joy and love.

My road to 60 will be 365 days of reflecting on the Psalms. Each week I will take a verse and share whatever God inspires me to share. Each day I will try to share reflections and prayers from the weekly verse.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do". Ephesians 2:10

So "she" will wait and watch to see what the Road to 60 will bring!

Follow the daily posts on Instagram @beebeebost

Do You F.R.O.G ?: Praying the Stitches

Do You F.R.O.G ?: Praying the Stitches: Praying the Stitches My Grandmother stitched. My Mother stitched . My Grandmother made crazy quilt blankets for couples as a we...

Praying the Stitches

Praying the Stitches

My Grandmother stitched.

My Mother stitched .

My Grandmother made crazy quilt blankets for couples as a wedding gift. 

It was on her sewing machine on the kitchen table that she allowed me to try my hand at sewing rows and rows and rows of squares. I loved it. I never created anything with all of those rows, perhaps my Grandmother did, but I remember having so much fun cutting out the squares and sewing them together on many a summer day. She patiently showed me how to wind a bobbin and thread the needle and how to use the seam guide to help me sew in straight rows.

My mother sewed for living working as a sewer in a furniture manufacture plant. At home, she made many beautiful things from fabric.

When I was in high school I learned how to sew on buttons and hem jeans. In the 70's it was very cool to have some kind of embroidery on your jeans such as ...hearts , peace symbol, flowers, and your initials. I had lots of fun with my embroidered jeans. I wish I still had them! I wish I could still wear them!

So sewing and stitching is part of my childhood past.

FAST FORWARD

About 7 years ago, I think,  I stepped up to lead a small Bible Study group at our church. I choose to use the devotional "BLOOM" written by Stephanie Ackerman for Illustrates Faith...one of the first devotionals released. Wow...that has been a while ago. This was a game changer for me in many ways. It was during this time that I found myself using illustrations as a teaching tool for the devotional. It just came natural. I wanted my ladies to have something that would serve as a reminder of our study.

Together we came up with this statement as we reflected on Ephesians 2:10. I took their statement of belief and created a digital card and printed one for each one of them.

FAST FORWARD

This Summer, I will be using the same devotional, "BLOOM"  but with a different small group. It will be video based with a live Periscope feed. Hopefully!!! This format will be Kiddo friendly and I encourage 2nd graders and up to participate.

Signature Doodle Flower and Logo "BLOOM"

Which inspired this fabric stitched book mark. "BLOOM"

Which inspired this. Taking lots of small scraps to make one large piece of fabric, stitching a flower on it. "BLOOM"

Which made it necessary to purchase this... and what a game changer this has been!

AND.......the stitched fabric is the inspiration for this 3x5 Praying the Stitches Sampler.

The sampler reflects my statement of belief : I am blessed to have the love of the cross, and because of the strength and power that I receive through my faith, I am able to GROW and BLOOM into the person God created me to be.

" For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Workmanship : the Greek for this word sometimes has the connotation of a "work of art."

Next steps are creating a pdf for it and then to transfer the pattern onto a piece of muslin. 

The sampler will be stitched during my personal prayer time, then added to another piece of fabric to create a cover for a planner or Bible. Watch for it.

I find much comfort in stitching and the memories of those summer days with my Grandmother. 

You can be part of the Praying the Stitches Summer Project. 

We begin in June!

 *I will show you how to create a sampler that reflects who you are, your journey and where you are in your faith walk.

*Your sampler, your work of art, does not have to be stitched. It can be created to look like it has been stitched on paper. I will show you the process.

*I will share how to make the BLOOM fabric stitched bookmark.

*I will share how to take your sampler and add it to fabric to create a beautiful cover for your planner or Bible.

* I will share the handy dandy Sizzix machine. 

Stitching is fun to learn. It will slow you down. You will de stress. You will find peace. 

Follow me on Instagram @beebeebost and on my Facebook Blog page Do You F.R.O.G.

Get updates on the project by email. Subscribe.

Heart AND Home

Heart AND Home

You are going to see many versions of these cute little clay houses. 

Heart AND Home...let's talk about it.

I celebrate a 40th wedding anniversary this year with the man that God chose for me. We have been blessed with 2 children , a son and daughter and a grand daughter. We have owned two homes over the years and if those walls could talk...oh my! 

My husband is a thirty year veteran, retired public school educator . I have worked in the field of Early Childhood for 20 years and currently serve as a Children's Minister. Between the two of us we have seen our share of family feuds, family disfunction, divorce, custody battles, drug abuse, child abuse, physical abuse, suicide, murder, run aways..and the list could go on and on.

I am troubled and deeply concerned about the health of the family unit. 

Why do we accept ways that we know are not pleasing to God? 

I am convinced that Heart AND Home is where change can happen for families, our schools, our communities and the world. It is time to put on our armor and fight the good fight to protect our children and our families.

When the love of Jesus is part of the Heart, acceptance, forgiveness and respect becomes a way of the Home. It is how we treat one another, our neighbors and co workers.

Interesting quotes from interesting people:

"The child is largely what the home has made him." Billy Graham

"What can you do to promote world peace?" "Go home and love your family." Mother Teresa

"Make sure you are doing what God wants you to do , 

then do it with all your strength." George Washington

"It's easy to say, " It's not my child, not my community, not my world and not my problem." "Then there are are those who see the need and respond." "I consider those people my heros." Fred Rogers

"God does not need good works, but your neighbor does." Martin Luther

We have to preach, teach and model unconditional love. It must begin at home. If our children are not taught, how will they learn? Do we allow Social Media to be the influence of our G rated kids in an R-rated world.

As professional church worker I know how important Family, Youth and Children's Ministry is to families. These ministries give the church opportunity to partner with parents, grand parents and guardians, helping to nurture the faith walk of their children. We can be a presence of support and encouragement. We can walk with them in the happy times and the not so happy times. We can love and accept them just the way they are!

The church more than ever, is called to equip families to become havens where Christ's love shines.  To hear the good news that they are not alone in this fight against sin and the dark side of the world. We can seek God and find Him in what sometimes seems to be an un Godly world. 

We can help families reclaim mealtime.

Help parents to be alert to teachable moments.

Help parents just "be" with their kids. To "be"the parent, not the friend...kids have lots of friends.

Help parents realize that families don't have to be perfect.

Provide training and resources.

That parents indeed are God's design for passing along the faith for generations to come.

  All this Heart and Home thinking has inspired me to plan a few Heart and Home projects. Future Family Ministry gatherings will include making a clay house candle holder. The light can shine as a visual reminder that Jesus is the light of the world. His light will shine and direct our paths.

 Perhaps each family member paints a section of the house to look like a stain glass window, writing their name in the section they color, then displaying all of the houses as one piece of art as a reminder that we are all unique and different and that God planned it that way. Perhaps conversation could take place with family members giving thanks for one another , praying for one another.

These small wooden wooden house ornaments could become a special key chain for a new neighbor. Do we know our neighbors?

Maybe a Home and Heart symbol for each member of the family. Perhaps the wooden house could be a place where affirmations could be placed each day. Family members will paint each block a color of their choice and mark it with their name. A simple clip can be glued to to the house where daily words of encouragement or short messages can be left.

Join me and invest in our families.

Let us all put on the armor of God and fight together for our children and their future.

Pray for Family, Youth and Children's Ministries. 

Be the help. Be the change.

Do You F.R.O.G ?: Grand Mommy Love !

Do You F.R.O.G ?: Grand Mommy Love !: This precious gift from God is my Grand daughter . This past July she and her family moved from North Carolina to Florida so Dad...

Grand Mommy Love !

This precious gift from God is my Grand daughter . This past July she and her family moved from North Carolina to Florida so Dad could relocate with his job. Her Grand Daddy and I have been a part of her life everyday for the last 7 and 1/2 years so to say that this move tugged at our heart strings ...is an understatement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At our home, the sweet Grand had her own art cart complete with assorted pencils, markers , stickers , paper and an assortment of other craft supplies. If you look closely you can see her Inspire Journaling Bible on the second shelf of the art cart. 

The rest of the art cart story and her Bible is the reason for this blog post.

The art cart pretty much sat quietly in its spot for a long while after she and I put it together and stocked the shelves . Warm weather and the swings in the back yard occupied her time at our house .

One rainy afternoon after school she was playing with random toys and games and I was in the kitchen. Some time passed and the sweet Grand ask me if she could use my highlighters. That request got my attention and I walked over to see why she needed them.

There she sat working in her Inspire Bible! Now, So, So, So  many times she would see me working in this same space but did not care to join me. This my friends was a proud Grand Mommy Moment!!!!

I discreetly took a couple of photos..( she is not a fan of Kodak moments) as she decided what to put on the page.

She turned back to the inside cover pages and decided that she wanted to embellish them too.

She proudly shared her pages announcing, " Grand Mommy, I highlighted the verse , added some washi tape and put some sparkle on it!" Now these pages she chose at random, and she was really just going through the motions knowing that usually I highlight, use washi tape and some sparkle when I am illustrating a verse in my Bible. She became frustrated as she was wanting to write her Bible memory verse for the week from school in the margins and then tried to erase and then decided to stop altogether. 

Her Inspire Bible and art cart are at her new home in Florida. My prayer is that the seeds of faith that have been planted here will continue to be nourished there and as she grows her faith will grow along with her giving her the HOPE that she can find in His words! 

One day my Bible will become her Bible and hopefully she can pass on the legacy of Visual Faith to her sweet Grand!

  

Let's Connect!

Bee Mail

All Things Children's Ministry

Children's Ministry at Concordia NC

@beebeebost

Teaching about the Reformation is a rare opportunity for teachers to use historical significance (history) to connect today's students and their families back to the generations that rooted Lutheranism and to teach the very same lessons and beliefs to the generations of today.

How will you share with the non Lutheran teachers and non Lutheran families the central teaching of Salvation by Grace through Faith because of Jesus?

How will you celebrate in your church and Christian Day School?

This blog will offer many resources and ideas for education and celebration to get you started with your Reformation 500 planning!

 

 

Lutheran Hour Ministries offer many free educational resources for your school and church staff.

A wonderful video series titled a Man Named Luther is a great way to learn of the teachings and wayward traditions of the late Medieval Church that eventually sparked the Protestant Reformation.

In this 3 part series you will learn of Martin Luther as a 15th century Monk from Germany who broke ranks with the Catholic church.

In addition, viewers will see how the Reformation transformed European society and eventually left a profound impression around the globe

www.LHM.org and click on Study Resources.

 

 

 

Adult devotionals and children's story/sticker books are available from www.creativecommunications.com

Sticker books will not last long. Order soon.

 

Flat Luther is another resource from www.creativecommunications.com Flat Luther can travel much like the Flat Stanley . Send him to your churches and schools in other states with Reformation love.

 

 





 

Little Luther from Playmobile is a must have for the classroom and every church staff member desk.

In July of last year 34,000 were sold in 72 hours. Little Luther is available at www.amazon.com  for 19.99

 

 

 

Another resource comes from www.cph.com .The Reformation Walk. Purchase the CD or the digital download for $39.99. Resources to create 10 stations for families to experience a Medieval walk through time are included.  Reformation maps can be printed from the CD.

 

Reformation Walk sticker packets for the maps are available for purchase from www.cph.org. for 19.99. Each pack holds 10 sheets of stickers . Each sticker sheet has 63 of the same stickers. One pack provides stickers for 63 participants.

 

 

Save large pieces of cardboard for decorations. This entry way was created by drawing a brick pattern on large pieces of card board. Bricks can also be made using rectangle sponges and brown paint. Kiddos will love a draw bridge to walk across each day. 

 



 

Pizza and bread stick boxes make great painted stones.

 

 

 

Start planning now to tell the story. Let's celebrate! Pass this history to the next generation! Reformation 500!