Happy Halloween (this blessed my socks off)

This year, Ben decided he wanted to pull our little fire ring to the front driveway and have hot cider, brownies, and candy out front so we could connect with neighbors on Halloween.

As we were bustling around getting ready, Victor came up to me.

"Mom, I wrote a little history of Halloween with the gospel in it. Do you want to print some off and we could attach it to candy for trick-or-treaters?"

Here's what he wrote:

The origin of Halloween:

 

Halloween is considered a time when kids go around in creepy costumes and collect candy from different houses. But that is not how it originated! Halloween began as a Celtic tradition, the festival of Samhain where they would light bonfires and wear crazy costumes to ward off ghosts. It then turned into a Holiday called “All Saints Day” that happened on November 1 In honor of the dead saints. The evening before was called “All Hallows Eve,” or what we now call ,“Halloween.” The two traditions eventually combined to create a crazy day of carving pumpkins, wearing costumes, and collecting candy. Although we know ghosts are not real, it is a fun holiday. We do not need costumes to scare away ghosts, though. There is someone who is much greater than any costume or saint. He came to Earth to save us. Even if you want to think you are good, no one could ever come close to becoming perfect except for Jesus. Jesus is God’s son and he is the only one who could do what he did. God, the maker of everything, saw that no one was good and that we needed help. So God sent his son into the world as a baby whose name was Jesus. God sent Jesus to bear the punishment we deserved. His son, Jesus, the only perfect person, Died a painful death on a tree so that we would be able to live with God forever. But his death wasn’t the end of the story. He was dead. But on the third day, when all seemed lost, He was resurrected! This is not a theory. People actually saw him after his death! Although Jesus died to save our sins, we cannot be saved unless we believe in him. Believe that he died for you. If you believe in him, God will look at you and instead of seeing your sin, he will see the perfection of his son on you and He will be pleased. And you will go to Heaven with him forever.

Victor Katterson age 12

And that pretty well blessed my socks right off. So Happy Halloween, and may the grace of Jesus cover you (and many others) tonight!

Victor and Grammy Piano Duet

 

Josiah's Challenge of the Week 5

 

Week 5: Learn about and explore God's creation

Components:

• Go on a hike with friends.
  
• Fish out small organisms from a pond and try to identify them.
  
• Investigate at a nature center.
   

Bonus: Outdoor survival kit

 Memory Verses: 

...who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now, so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains him will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:4-10
(we had to investigate what on earth is "he who now restrains him"... not your typical Sunday school memory verses! 😂)

Josiah's Challenge of the Week 4

Week 4 (June 23): Learn to play chess.

Components:

• Go to Chess Club at the Shoreview Library.
  
• Practice and play chess with instructors and others.
  
• Have lunch with friends.
  
• Challenge Victor to a game of chess.
   

Bonus: Lifetime chess skills :)

 Memory Verses: 

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction...

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

Josiah's Challenge of the Week 3

Week 3 (June 16): Learn the whole laundry process.

Components:

• Sort clothes (lights and darks).
  
• Load and start washer.
• Switch load to dryer.
  
• Fold clothes and put away.
   

Bonus: Josiah and Elliot had a mall adventure with me this week (while the younger two were at a zoo and Victor was at camp). We completed an alphabet photo scavenger hunt, which was a lot of fun! And then they got to get some bouncy balls and gum at the mall vending machines. :)

 Memory Verses:

(review of 2 Thessalonians 1)

6 Years Old!

6 years old!

 

5 years old

 

4 years old

 

3 years old

 

 2 years old

18 months old

1 year old

 11 months old

10 months old

9 months old

8 months old

7 months old

6 months old

 
 5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

 2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Calvin,

Happy birthday to you! You are 6! Wow!

- You are a bundle of joy and creative ideas! Just about anytime day or night, you are bubbling over with inquisitive, imaginative, energetic fun. 

- You love examining and investigating books with lots of details and design. You also have authored a few of your own books (latest: My Things, complete with your own zoo, bike, and flying car). 

- You are also blossoming into quite an artist. You have wonderful vision for making raw materials into something cool, such as turning a cardboard box into a volcano and village, a mitten into a felt-decorated monster, and a laundry basket into a ship. You enjoy painting, sculpting, and drawing. It's so fun to see your creations! It's the image of God on display.

- You are (normally) a very patient and accommodating big brother to Jemima. You will play as her pet, help build her a fort behind her bed, and give her space to look at books alongside you. I love to see you both enjoying each other so much!

- You did great with kindergarten this year, gained good reading skills, whipped through your math book (and got a start on next year's), and prepared a very interesting science presentation on Saturn (because your big brothers were), even though the rest of your class wasn't actually tackling that. It's so great to see your good mind at work, learning and growing!

- You are doing a great job learning 2 Thessalonians with the rest of the fam (a summer project)! I love it when you get me back on track if I miss a phrase here or there...

- You are getting stronger and more capable in so many ways. You're a great bike rider and have biked along while I've run several times this summer, which is so cool! You don't complain about hills or even getting soaked in the rain! I love sharing those adventures with you, and I appreciate how it highlights not only your physical growth but also your growing maturity, flexibility, and perseverance.

- You have a great sense of humor and are very quick to pick up a pun or joke or clever idea. I pray that your joyful spirit will always be a refreshment to others as you are steadily refreshed and encouraged in the Lord. It is a joy to be your mom!

 

The new Bible study that we're walking through this summer focuses on the hope of heaven, and our first lesson asked the question, Will heaven be your home? We live in a culture that doesn't like to think about death, or that flippantly assumes things will turn out fine as long as we aren't as bad as the really bad people, but that is a pretty foolish and short-sighted way to live.

Today we walked thoughtfully through John 3:14-18:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 

We have a really big problem: we are sick with sin, and as Romans 6:23 reminds us, sin earns death. But the solution is not some elaborate list of requirements we need to do to impress God. Actually, quite the contrary. 

God seeks those who will humbly recognize that they cannot do anything to solve the problem of their own sin--and rather who will believe in the Son of God, who took our place, bearing our punishment so that we could be saved. Three times in this passage it says "whoever believes in him"... the door is wide open! How I pray that you will see and keep seeing the greatness of Christ, believe and keep believing in His all-sufficient redemption, love and keep loving Him for His immense grace and wonderful heart.

I'm thankful that you hear and understand these truths quite well, and I pray the Lord will make them the rock-solid foundation of your whole life. There is nothing better!

I love you so!

Mom