I love holidays on Facebook. At Christmas everyone posts pictures of kids in pajamas covered in wrapping paper. Thanksgiving is usually full of updates about favorite foods. And for a few weeks in August and September, I love seeing everyone’s first day of school photos! All the parents are proud and exclaiming over how much their kids have grown while the kids look nervous, excited and neatly dressed!

Our first day of school pictures took two days as my daughter does a hybrid-homeschool where she goes to school two days a week and does homeschool three days. I love my daughter in a school uniform, but there is something about barefoot kiddos starting school that is super fun, too!

No matter how you do school, there is something important about celebrating the milestone of a new year. Kids feel their parents’ excitement. And taking pictures is a way to say, “Hey, we are excited about YOU!”

I once heard the Children’s Pastor at our church say, “If you don’t celebrate your kids, someone else will.” That has always stuck with me. I want my kids to see me (and our family) as a place that cherishes them and honors them more than anyone else does! I want my kids to turn to our family for affirmation and encouragement–not random peers!

Did you know God celebrates us, too? Zepheniah 3:17 says,

“The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”

Do you see the picture? God takes such delight in you he has to start singing it! Just as I held my newborn babies in my arms and sang made up love songs to them, God sings over me!

This school year, I am purposing in my heart to rest in God’s great delight over me. To turn to Him when I need comfort and affirmation.

I also want to follow in His example and celebrate, delight and enjoy the time I have with my children! Here are a few fun school-time celebrations to help you celebrate your kids…

Daily Scripture Love Notes: an easy way to get God’s Word in your kids’ hearts!

Lunchbox Notes via getbuttonedup.com

Hide this note & prize in your child’s backpack the day of a big test! via skiptomylou.org

How do you celebrate your kids?

 

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Amanda is a stay-at-home mom of two who blogs at OhAmanda.com and Impress Your Kids. In her former life, Amanda was a Children’s Pastor — overseeing, organizing and developing ministry for kids in nursery through middle school, but now that she is a mom, her “skills” are used up on her kids!

source: dbking

Last week, I checked out an America-themed book from the library. As I read it to my kids before bedtime, I got tears in my eyes as the book showed the statue of the soldiers pushing up the flag at Iwo Jima. It honestly puts tears in my eyes thinking about it now!

Our flag is a symbol of sacrifice, valor, protection, courage, victory and more. We recognize that the flag isn’t what we honor, but what the flag represents.

If you’ve still got some flags hanging around from Independence Day, you can use it to help your kids understand honoring and respecting God, too. Grab a flag and ask your kids, “What would you do if we were in a big room and someone brought a big flag in?” They should say, “Turn and look at it. Stop talking. Put my hand on my heart.” Or something similar.

source: ladybugbkt

Then ask, “What if we were all sitting down and someone brought a flag out. What might we do?” Hopefully they’ll say, “Stand up.” Ask a few more questions like, “What if you had a hat on?” (Take it off.) or “Do you know any songs about the flag?” (Maybe they’ll sing one for you?)

You can then talk about how we don’t do these things because the flag is so special but to honor the special things our past countrymen, founding fathers and military have done for us–protecting us, sacrificing themselves, etc.

Now ask, “Who else do we know that has protected us? Sacrificed his life for us?” (The should say Jesus!) Explain that just as we honor the flag with our actions, we can do the same for Jesus. Read the following verses and ask your kids to demonstrate and act out the action in each one:

Psalm 30:4 “Sing the praises of the LORD, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.”

Psalm 149:3 “Let them praise his name with dancing…”

Psalm 47:1 “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God;”

Psalm 63:4 “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.”

Psalm 81:2 “Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.”

Psalm 95:6 “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;”

If your kids are feeling spunky, there should be some pretty fun acting going on while you read these verses. Hopefully they can see how fun it is to worship and honor God with every part of themselves!

And maybe the next time they see an American flag, they’ll remember to honor and worship their real hero, Jesus!

Looking for a fun Bible for your kids? Check out the Young American Patriot’s Bible, a Bible that features the history of the American heroes who helped to shape our Christian nation!

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Amanda is a stay-at-home mom of two who blogs at OhAmanda.com and Impress Your Kids. In her former life, Amanda was a Children’s Pastor — overseeing, organizing and developing ministry for kids in nursery through middle school, but now that she is a mom, her “skills” are used up on her kids!

source: enigma photos

A father is tender and kind to his children. Psalm 103:13

My Daddy has given me a great example of what my Heavenly Father must be like. He is kind, tender, loving and giving to his children (that would be my brother and me!).

My husband does the same for our children. He loves, laughs and works hard for his children.

Many people have a hard time understanding how God could be a father when their own father isn’t so fabulous. It’s not that God is like our fathers. It’s that when our dads are at their best they are just a little bit like our Heavenly Father. Isn’t that a great thought? If my dad and my husband are only a tiny percent like God–wow! How much does God love me?!

Father’s Day is the perfect day to make a craft, buy a card, read a book (like this sweet Thank You God, for Daddy!) or make a meal to honor the special dads in our kids’ lives. I think it’s also a perfect opportunity to remind our children that God is our Heavenly Father. I want my kids to know that intense love for their dad and then have the same feeling toward their Heavenly Father. I want them to know that God’s great love is freely given to us so we can be his children! (1 John 3:1)

So, as we’re writing Father’s Day cards, making crafts for grandpas and whipping up a gift for the uncles, we’re going to think of Scriptures to include to thank your dads for loving us the way our Heavenly Father does…

Thank you for being faithful to our family like God is faithful to us! (Psalm 57:10)

Thank you for forgiving us when we do wrong, just like God forgives us! (Ephesians 4:32)

Thank you for always loving me! (Psalm 136:1)

Thank you for protecting our family! (Psalm 121:7-8)

Thank you for taking care of us like a loving Shepherd! (Isaiah 40:11)

Give your dads the best compliment this Father’s Day–let them know how they point you to Jesus!

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Amanda is a stay-at-home mom of two who blogs at OhAmanda.com and Impress Your Kids. In her former life, Amanda was a Children’s Pastor — overseeing, organizing and developing ministry for kids in nursery through middle school, but now that she is a mom, her “skills” are used up on her kids!

My little girl graduated from Kindergarten this week. KINDERGARTEN! I wrote here at the Tommy Nelson blog about her first day–how God led us to her school and how we were working on helping my daughter be brave on the first day. It puts tears in my eyes thinking about how important and big and real those feelings were.

And now here we are. At the end of that school year.

Rejoicing.

My daughter has grown in leaps and bounds since that first day. She’s conquered fears, stepped gingerly out of her shell, learned, grown, stretched and expanded her world with new ideas, new friends and new experiences. I am so thankful to God for the path my little girl has been traveling.

Our school is a parent-led, partial-homeschooling school so whenever there was something special at the school (parties, plays, etc.) I volunteered to help. I think I planned the Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas party. I also signed up for decorations, tshirts and food at the Graduation. (What in the world was I thinking?!!)

It ended up being a gorgeous event (if I do say so myself!) in a garden theme. There were fresh flowers donated and the moms made flower-ish food to celebrate with afterwards. Myself and two other moms spent an entire school day setting up but at the end, we were teary-eyed thinking about our littles graduating that night.

When Pomp & Circumstance began that night, with grandparents, aunts and uncles surrounding us, I could not have been more excited and proud of my little girl. She walked down the aisle, still nervous and a little shy at all the attention. But she enjoyed herself to no end. She laughed and smiled and basked in the memories and friendships around her.

The graduates sang a few songs for us (oh, you should hear their counting-by-2′s song!) and then quoted a verse. It was in perfect unison and honestly, was a little more for the parents than for the kids:

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:4

It’s true. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the Truth. I love setting up for a party, spending time crafting fun decorations and thematic elements. My daughter knew the graduation party was a party for her accomplishment. But her cap and gown was not my greatest joy. When I see her be kind to her brother, respond to discipline, ask a question about God or request her Bible for a bedtime story, I am filled with the biggest of joys.

What an inexplicable honor to lead my daughter into His truth! What a joy to see my daughter growing in her faith and love of Jesus!

Parents, as you lead your children–through kindergarten, summer time fun, High School or beyond, rejoice with them at every milestone. But let them see your greatest joy, your shining-est pride when they are walking in the truth, loving God with all their hearts and making choices to follow Him.

Looking for some insight and guidance as you raise faithful kids? Check out this awesome new family book from Thomas Nelson and author Dave Stone: Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord!

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Amanda is a stay-at-home mom of two who blogs at OhAmanda.com and Impress Your Kids. In her former life, Amanda was a Children’s Pastor — overseeing, organizing and developing ministry for kids in nursery through middle school, but now that she is a mom, her “skills” are used up on her kids!

Christmas and Easter are my most favorite times to impress my kid with God’s love and life. At Christmas we spend all month doing advent calendars and more to focus on Jesus. Easter isn’t quite the cultural phenomenon that Easter is, but I still want it to be special, exciting and “magical” for my kids!

Here are some of my favorite ways to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Not all of them require lots of supplies or big amounts of time. Today is Good Friday, so it’s the perfect time to do one of these activities with your kids!

1. Resurrection Garden

I’ve seen several Easter Gardens on Pinterest and in magazines. But I like the twist we’ve put on ours. We make a little garden in a pie pan on Good Friday (pulling weeds, twigs and moss from our backyard), then we just watch it wilt on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday morning before the kids get up, I cover the garden with fresh colorful flowers! It’s an exciting, surprising reminder of Jesus’ new life!

2. Resurrection Books

There are so many fabulous books that show the death and resurrection of Jesus in kid-friendly ways. One of my favorites isn’t even about the actual crucifixion, but a parable of Jesus’ life, death and new life. The Parable of the Lily shows a bulb transformed into life after being buried all winter! It would be fun to buy a lily to display in your house to remind you of this miracle!

3. Easter Baskets

We do Easter baskets a little bit differently. First I let my kids fill up their baskets with rocks. We look at the rocks and discuss how sin makes our hearts hard. We cover up our baskets with a big red cloth and then later on (when the kids least expect it!), the see a third basket labeled ‘”Jesus” with all their rocks inside! And in their baskets? No more rocks–it’s full of gifts that help them grow in God’s Word!

Use this season to let your kids feel and see the real excitement of the resurrection! He is risen!
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Amanda is a stay-at-home mom of two who blogs at OhAmanda.com and Impress Your Kids. In her former life, Amanda was a Children’s Pastor — overseeing, organizing and developing ministry for kids in nursery through middle school, but now that she is a mom, her “skills” are used up on her kids!