The Family Illustrated Bible Review

We received yet another great family resource from Master Books this month.  I really like this book and will surely be using it with my boys throughout the years to come.  It's in essence a Bible story book for children.  It's a bit more wordy than the typical children's Bible story book.  I like that.  It helps focus on and teach one story at a time which should help them learn and apply the Biblical principles easier.

The Family Illustrated Bible also contains background information pages that will be especially helpful in our homeschooling Biblical studies.  It's full of great illustration and offers plenty to teach and learn.

For example, among the stories taken from the book of Acts there is a page with a timeline, and explanations of the early church and the key people involved in it's foundation.  Among the stories taken from Genesis, there is information about ancient Egypt, the Pharaohs, and the Nile River.  You'll learn facts like that the Nile River flooded every year just in time to plant crops in the well watered land and that the Israelites spent 430 years in Egypt before being led out to the Promised Land by Moses.  It's the perfect way to tie Biblical study to the study of history.


My husband was especially taken with this book.  He remembers having a similar book when he was younger and reading it as a young child and continuing to read and learn from it over the years.

Join the next Twitter Party to win your copy of The Family Illustrated Bible and more:

Tuesday, August 23 at 8pm central
follow @masterbooks4u and @mamahall
use the #TeachtheTruth hashtag
and #tttrollcall – to let us know you’ve joined the party

Important Note: Our #teachthetruth events have attracted skeptics and people in need of Jesus. We are turning their involvement into an opportunity to pray for them. You will see us use “1:18 crowd” as a reminder to pray. 1:18 refers to 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” It will help us remember that they are in darkness and need a Savior.

Party Prizes include: 
The Family Illustrated Bible
My Take Along Bible
How Do We Know the Bible is True
The Answers Book for Kids Vol 3: Questions on God and the Bible
Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers

The Moms of Master Books will review the Family Illustrated Bible and provide great questions from those reviews for the party. Read their reviews and you will be super-prepared to win. Meet the Moms of Master Books reviewers below:

Eryn – MamaHall

Rebecca – Moms Mustardseeds.com

Ashley – LIFE by Ashley Pichea

Stephanie – Bowmania

Cindy – Get Along Home

Christy – DevotionMama

Stephanie – MomKaboodle.com

Gretta Johns – The Johns Family

Karen – FaithFamilyFibro

Save the date, read the blogs, and invite your friends to the #TeachtheTruth Twitter Party!

Waiting For Papi

My son’s bedtime routine is quite in depth.  It involves milk, back rubs, febreze, pillow pets, his special blanket, his stuffed dinosaur, reciting memory verses, back scratches (which he calls tickles), and several matchbox cars.  Tonight my husband was eating when my oldest was ready for his back scratch/rub from Papi.  So Samuel told him to go lay down and wait.  He’d be there in a minute.  So off went Josiah to lay down.  Two minutes passed and he was back in the kitchen telling his Papi, “Papi, I already wait!  Come, come.”  

He didn’t quite understand that wait meant wait until I come.  Or maybe his patience ran out.  

Do we run to God saying the same thing?  “Papi, I already waited!  Where’s what you promised?  Shouldn’t it be here already?  Isn’t it time yet?” 

I recently heard a pastor teach on Daniel 10.  He spoke about how Daniel’s answer had taken three weeks to arrive.  But Daniel waited.  Daniel fasted.  Daniel prayed.  

He said something that stuck with me.  “Pray until something happens.”  

My husband was on his way to put my son to bed.  God is sending the answer to your prayers.  Be patient.  Be persistent.  And wait, trusting that Papi is on His way.

"'Relax, Daniel,' he continued, 'don't be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you.  But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I'm here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people. The vision has to do with what's ahead.'

Daniel 10:12-14

Closer Than A Brother

We went to McDonald’s for lunch the other day.  There were lots of kids in the play area but my sons obviously preferred to play with each other.  In fact the times they did get separated they were quick to call out to each other.  Matthew would peek out the top of the play structure and yell, “Siah,  whe are ewe? (Josiah, where are you?)

My boys stick close to each other.  Even when we are at home they are rarely more than 4 feet from each other.  If that’s how close brothers are, what does it mean to have a friend who sticks closer than that?

That He’s always with you.

That He knows your every breath.

That He knows what you need before you do.

That He lives in you.

That He never leaves you.

That He who created you humbled Himself to become like you.

That He has given everything for you.

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24

Unfinished

I tend to have multiple unfinished projects at any given moment.  Be it a sewing project, home decor, project, cleaning project, writing project, etc. I’m sure to have more than one in process.

As I was looking at the one in the picture above it occurred to me that it just wasn’t pretty.  In fact most projects aren't very nice to look at when they are only partially finished.  I’ve seen people make things that when in process I seriously doubt they could ever be beautiful.  But when they’re finished they are a work of art.  Half way through many things appear to be be worse than before they were started.

It’s something I’m trying to remember when I look at myself.  Somedays when I look in the mirror I see a half finished project.  It’s not pretty.  I’m frustrated, lacking in skills and patience.  I’m full of faults.  I can easily loose sight of the woman God is making me to be.  I can’t see past the unfinished parts.  

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

Philippians 1:6

The Goldfish Vs. The Shark

We go back and forth between two cheesy kid crackers at our house.  Depending on where I’ve grocery shopped we either have goldfish or sharks.  Matthew asked for goldfish.  All we had were sharks.

This led to about 30 minutes of temper tantrum throwing, demanding goldfish, refusing sharks, and my trying to get him to understand that my giving him goldfish wasn’t an option.  All I had to give him were sharks.  I have to say this was one of the worst fits he’s ever thrown and I finally just left the room.  

After screaming a little longer, he shows up in the kitchen and asks me for . . . SHARKS!  So I gave him a bowl of sharks and he walked off munching contentedly.  

It was like the tantrum had never even happened.  He had been so angry.  But he got over it.  I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even remember it.  It’s just gone.

That is how I want to get over things.  That is how I want to forgive.  I want to be separated from my sins as far as the east is from the west.  I want to forgive, be forgiven, and move forward.  I don’t want to dwell on or waste time remembering my tantrums.  They’ve been forgiven.  They’ve been erased.

And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.

Psalm 103:12