Wednesday, March 2, 2016

I did it!



I don't sew. My mother was a seamstress. I knew I didn't have to sew...because my mother was a seamstress. She tried to teach me, but I did not have the patience or the perfection gene that it takes to do a sewing project. I am in awe of people who can make beautiful clothes  and quilts. It just has not been my thing.

Because of the persistence of my mother-in-law, however, I have been able to taste the accomplishment that comes from finishing a creative task. I can definitely understand why people get the craft bug under their skin. We were called to go back to our hometown one summer for several weeks.   We stayed at my in-laws and almost immediately my mother-in-law took me to the craft closet stuffed with fleece and jeans and yarn.  She was bound and determine to help me make as many Christmas gifts as I could while I was there.   She did tell me at one point, "Okay, I got you started on the project, you know what to do so you take that home and finish it."  I had to inform her that it had to be completed while I was at her house because I know myself well enough to admit that as soon as I would walk into my own house, the project would be stuffed into the closet and there it would stay.

So I learned how to crochet a stocking and I made blankets for all the grandbabies and my sons.   Then she set me on task to do something for me, a ragged jean
I spent hours cutting out squares and then hours laying the blocks out on the floor to get just the right pattern and then weeks putting it all together. My mother-in-law loves going out on the patio first thing in the morning to sit in the sun so we would take our projects out there every morning and pin them together.   I would come back in the house and sew for an endless amount of time.   My father-in-law would approach me and ask how many needles I had broken that particular day.

I was determined to finish that quilt. Surprisingly, there were not as many tears shed through the frustrating effort as I thought there would be...until the end.   All the rows were sewed together, the backing was attached and all the ragged seams were clipped. I was told it was time to put it into the washing machine. I carried the heavy covering into the laundry room and placed it in the machine and chose the proper settings. I turned around and my mother-in-law was standing in front of me. She said, "You did it...how do you feel?" I wanted to burst into tears.   I did it! I started something AND I followed through with it. I have several projects started, but I had actually finished the whole project and it was beautiful, it was warm, it was mine...and it was worth it.

I love having people in my life that push me out of my comfort zone and that encourage and teach me along the way.  As much as I wanted her to at times, my mother-in-law never took the project over. She would talk me through the steps of changing the needles or piecing things together but would not do it for me.   I appreciated her heart to want me to experience that feeling of a finished project! How rewarding!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Many Ways to Teach!


As a Sunday School teacher, I am always trying to think of different and creative ways to help the kids remember Bible verses.  It is interesting to see what the children respond to.  For my toddlers at church, we yell out the verse or clap our hands to each word.  Our vacation Bible school last year had a great CD with verses put to music.  Music definitely stimulates the brain and attaching the verses to catchy tunes was a great hit! It didn't matter to the kids that it was just the one verse over and over...and over again. They loved the beat of the music and we would do actions to the words as well as use different dynamics in the volume.  I have gotten the comment from kids, "Miss Jo, that song was in my head all day. I couldn't stop singing it."  Good!!

I tried a new tactic a couple of weeks ago.   I had a verse that the kids had to memorize. I couldn't think of a tune to put it to and it was for the older kids so didn't think they would be interested in hopping up and down and clapping their hands to learn it.   I thought we could draw the verse out on paper and I would allow THEM to come up with the symbols that we would use.   This is what they came up with for II Timothy 1:7. Because the kids came up with the symbols and I had each of them copy it down for themselves, they have had no problem remembering the verse. They not only can do it from the symbols, but can do it from memory because they can picture the symbols in their minds.  

I love it when I see kids learning God's Word, whether it is through song, object lessons, or verse memorization! It will impact them for the rest of their lives!

Share your teaching ideas in the comments section!

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