Thursday, September 29, 2016
We're a Basket Case
I asked the young guys to share a Bible story. Urban raised his hand and said "Noah and the Ark". Good answer! I received some other "stories" some from the Bible and some made-up just to give an answer. Then they asked me for a Bible story. Moses immediately came to my mind. I was surprised that many of them couldn't relate the story of Moses to me. They also seemed perplexed that a child was put into a "basket" and sent down the river alone. I quickly shared the miracle that happened to Moses being raised by his mother and then the Pharaoh's daughter. As I was telling the story, I saw some grown-up things about the Moses story I never noticed before.
We are the same "basket case" as Moses. Moses was born a commoner just like us. He was adopted by a King. We are adopted by the King of Kings! Afterwards, Moses was chosen by God to "free the people". We are chosen to share the gospel so people may be freed by the saving grace of Jesus. Romans 8:15 says "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." The children of Israel were blessed to have a boy from a basket to be their escape from bondage. We are blessed to have a boy born in a manger to be our Savior! Please read the book of Exodus and email me with how the story speaks to you.
Bible stories, as we call them, aren't just for kids anymore...
Woven by Him,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Sunday, September 18, 2016
All I Have Needed
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Monday, September 12, 2016
Trunk or Treat Idea
Disclaimer: Oriental Trading Inc. sent me these products for review. All opinions and experiences in this post are expressly my own.
Fall is in the air. Halloween is just around the corner. If you're like me, you are already googling Trunk or Treat Ideas. Decorated trunks have become a favorite at many Halloween festivities and especially churches. Kids are always excited to get candy. I'm always excited to see the elaborate trunk themes! We work long and hard on these trunks but finding the items to create them isn't hard at all with Oriental Trading as our Halloween Headquarters for decorations.
Let me share the details of Noah's "ARK"cade trunk. Everyone loves amusement parks, especially children. Most amusement parks have game arcades where you play the game and hopefully win a prize. At Noah's Arkcade, you play the game and ALWAYS win a prize! How cute are these Color Your Own Heart Bubble Bottles for a prize? These Mini Marker Sets are a must to color the hearts. You might get the chance to witness about how God's love is always "bubbling" up!
May I suggest these animal-themed games for your arcade? You can even buy two of each to make your Noah theme more realistic and easily accessible to more kids! The Inflatable Alligator Ring is fun for all ages trying to "ring" the alligators nose or tail. The Going Bananas Monkey Bean Bag Toss gives you a chance to have some fun with your little players by asking them to scratch their head and make monkey sounds before taking a turn. Don't forget extra bean bags! One of my favorite games is Pick up Ducks. Place these cute duckies in a tub of water. Take a permanent marker to place a number corresponding to a prize on each duck. Kids simply "pick up a duck" to win a prize. Use these or find many more at Oriental Trading Halloween Headquarters.
Your trunk might look something like this with your games in front of the ark and off to the sides.
Simply make this ark-like structure from cardboard and use these Jumbo Zoo Animal Cut-Outs for the animals in your boat. You might also want to add a balloon arch similar to the picture below to create an arcade-like arched entrance way.
A rainbow-colored arch is perfect for a Noah's Ark theme. Balloons are fun, pretty, add tons of color AND are super easy to decorate with. My family and I plan to dress up like different animals to add more excitement to the ARKcade! A Printed Animal Face Mask would also do the trick!
I hope this has stirred some creativity for your Trunk or Treat Idea. Whatever theme you decide on, (see my Alice in Wonderland theme from 2015 here) be sure to check out Oriental Trading for all your Halloween needs.
Happy Trunking,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
If you have a clever Trunk or Treat Idea you've done using Oriental Trading products, please share it with us in a comment. I'd love to see a picture too!
Fall is in the air. Halloween is just around the corner. If you're like me, you are already googling Trunk or Treat Ideas. Decorated trunks have become a favorite at many Halloween festivities and especially churches. Kids are always excited to get candy. I'm always excited to see the elaborate trunk themes! We work long and hard on these trunks but finding the items to create them isn't hard at all with Oriental Trading as our Halloween Headquarters for decorations.
Let me share the details of Noah's "ARK"cade trunk. Everyone loves amusement parks, especially children. Most amusement parks have game arcades where you play the game and hopefully win a prize. At Noah's Arkcade, you play the game and ALWAYS win a prize! How cute are these Color Your Own Heart Bubble Bottles for a prize? These Mini Marker Sets are a must to color the hearts. You might get the chance to witness about how God's love is always "bubbling" up!
May I suggest these animal-themed games for your arcade? You can even buy two of each to make your Noah theme more realistic and easily accessible to more kids! The Inflatable Alligator Ring is fun for all ages trying to "ring" the alligators nose or tail. The Going Bananas Monkey Bean Bag Toss gives you a chance to have some fun with your little players by asking them to scratch their head and make monkey sounds before taking a turn. Don't forget extra bean bags! One of my favorite games is Pick up Ducks. Place these cute duckies in a tub of water. Take a permanent marker to place a number corresponding to a prize on each duck. Kids simply "pick up a duck" to win a prize. Use these or find many more at Oriental Trading Halloween Headquarters.
Your trunk might look something like this with your games in front of the ark and off to the sides.
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| Photo Credit: www.celebrateitballoons.com |
I hope this has stirred some creativity for your Trunk or Treat Idea. Whatever theme you decide on, (see my Alice in Wonderland theme from 2015 here) be sure to check out Oriental Trading for all your Halloween needs.
Happy Trunking,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
If you have a clever Trunk or Treat Idea you've done using Oriental Trading products, please share it with us in a comment. I'd love to see a picture too!
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Should You Say the Word "Hell" to Your Pastor?
These boys were full of male DNA which makes them run and jump off of everything, have wiggle worms in their pants, pay attention only when they want to talk, explore all the room decorations to the point of destruction and melt a girl's heart like only a guy can. I'll admit it was rocky the first couple of evenings. The craft teachers voted me "Most Likely to Need a Xanax" and the music teacher (pictured) "blessed me" all week. When the pastor asked how it was going, I replied "I'm ready to get out of VBS hell!". My husband told me that was probably not appropriate so I'm hoping he thought I said VBS jail. His face told me otherwise. Should you say the word "hell" to your pastor?
I always, always, always receive inspiration and blessings at Vacation Bible School. Here's what I got this year:
- One little lad announced unexpectedly we should pray RIGHT NOW! He led the sweetest and most humble prayer ever that caused Sloane to say "He prays better than me!".
- Directly after the awesome prayer, a little one raised his hand and politely explained "I don't know how to pray". This touched my heart so much we devoted lesson time the next day to "How to Pray".
- An aunt of one of the boys told me how impressed his mom was with our class. He went home each day giving a detailed account of the Bible stories. I was excited to hear it because she's a school teacher!
- Lisette, my granddaughter, obviously loved the story of Zacchaeus. She keeps saying "Jesus is coming". After asking my husband several times "Do you see Jesus? He's right over there.", he got a bit unnerved.
- I wore my hair down the final evening. I actually put on some mascara too. The same boy who prayed kept looking at me and raised his hand to speak. "You look beautiful today!" he said with dreamy eyes. I said "THANK YOU!" all heart-eyes.
I'm seriously wondering should you say the word "hell" to your pastor as I did? Leave me a comment and let me know if saying "The Word" to my pastor was inappropriate....
Blessed at VBS,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap.
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