Blessings of the Heart

So each night we bless our children, each one by one.  We have since this summer and being challenged by our devotional at family camp (Camp Grow).  Last week while I was blessing our daughter Kiley, God laid it on my heart to start praying every night for healing of her heart.  Why not, our God is an amazing God and can do ANYTHING!  And when I mean ANYTHING, He could say tomorrow that her heart is healed.  I believe it with everything in me.  I also believe he can say no.  But, He has challenged me to just ask.  I think part of the challenge is from studying Revelation and the magnitude of importance the prayers of the saints are to Him.
So, each night I hold my hand over her heart and pray.  Pray for healing. Pray that every single problem with her heart will go away and that it will be fully healed.

Tonight, as I prayed over her heart, she looked up at me and said, "Mom, could you add in there that He would allow me to have kids.  I really want to have kids."  She knows, that as of now, the next surgery for her will be when she is an adult.  She also has been informed that as of now the medicine she would have to go on will not allow her to have kids.  As of now.  We know that medical advances came happen at anytime, but she knows.  She also knows that we have a God who cares about our wants and wants us to depend on Him to have them.

Felt like sharing this tonight.  May He be your comfort with whatever you are going through today.  Remember that we have a God who is in control of EVERYTHING.  He cares.  He knows. And He wants us to trust and depend on Him.

Jesus Saves- Children's Church lesson

In getting ready for the new year, I am trying to come up with lessons that go along with my husband's sermons.  So, to keep them in a special place I am attaching them here.  These lessons are made for groups that are between the ages of 3-3rd grade.  They are also geared toward smaller groups for up to 10 or 12. 

So the first one of the year: 01/01/12 is on John 3:16, focusing on Jesus Saves.

CHILDREN'S CHURCH LESSON:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”

Main idea: Jesus saves us from Hell.

Materials needed:  Life preserver, Boat Maze, Life preserver coloring sheet, bed sheet

Opening: Main room; pretend saving each other onto a life saving raft (sheet) 

Focus on the feeling it is to be drowning and need someone to save you.  Read our bible passage, focusing on the fact that is what Jesus does for us.  We are swimming in sin and he saves us for the depths of hell.  Give a brief description of hell and how it is separation from God, from perfection. 

Give them the Boat Maze to do.  (http://www.printactivities.com/Mazes/Shape_Mazes/boat-maze.html)

  If need be, have them work in pairs. 

Then give them the coloring sheet to work on.  Have them color it with colors that show how they felt when they were being saved.  (I turned the coloring page into a jpeg file)

Then use the life preserver/life jacket to pass around as you work on the memory verse. 

For a snack you can have cherrios or fruit loops.