Author: theministrymama

When God Closes a Door – What do you do?

When God Closes A Door

Have you ever been in line at a store or public event to receive a special freebie they were handing out. Only to be disappointed that by the time you arrived at the front of the line, they run out? I have and it feels like  a wave of disappointment washes over you and you are left empty-handed.

Similarly, is the feeling that may occur in your life when what is perceived to be an open door of God’s perfect will for your life is closed. You may feel disappointed and left empty-handed and down-hearted.

What do you do when God closes a door?

You keep walking and you keep waiting.

  1. You keep walking with the Lord.

Don’t turn and run away from God because the door is closed. Think of the lyrics of Trust and Obey, the familiar hymn, by John H. Sammis:

When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way. When we do His good will, He abides with us still. And with all who will trust and obey.

Keep praying and talking to the Lord about your disappointments and desires.  Listen to His still small voice’s reassurance of His presence in your life as you read your Bible, He abides with you still, just trust and obey.

2. You keep waiting on His perfect timing.

The Bible has many reassuring accounts of God’s perfect timing in the lives of His people:

  • Abraham and Sarah’s waiting for Isaac
  • Christ’s perfect timing to be born after the promise of His coming hundreds of years before His birth by the prophets
  • Mary and Martha’s waiting four days for Christ to appear after the death of Lazarus to see him resurrected

God’s timing is marked throughout the entire Bible and when it is waited on and carried out it is perfect!  Your life and walk with the Lord is not any different that the examples of faith and timing that were mentioned above. God’s design is still the same, His timing will reflect a conscious plan for your life in the same way.

Watching and waiting. Two simple words that can explain a great principle of obedience in the questionable moments of life. Read Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”

 

Sermon Notes Round-Up for Kids

This week I have done a Sermon Note Round-Up for kids! Sometimes children who grow up in church can get bored with the routine sitting in church listening to long sermons scenario. Having a ready sermon note sheet for your child(ren) may help them to pay attention more to listening to the service. Many of these sheets have various activities printed on the paper besides a note-taking section. Explore the different styles and see what might work best for your child’s age and maturity.

Another idea: Make these sheets available for all the children in your church. They may help children who may be new to the concept of sitting in a regular church service as opposed to being in a regular children’s service during the worship hour, particularly those who may be guests or children who only come to church on Sunday mornings. Don’t be afraid to challenge children to better listen to and incorporate God’s Word in their lives by using a tool like this. It can help them grow spiritually and teach them to sit more attentively in the church service. I can’t promise that a sheet like this won’t be used for passing notes from time to time but I do believe that it can be a resource to direct their focus on the Lord.

Right now I am working on a set of sermon note sheets for missions conferences!! They will be available within the next week or two. I am very excited to be back involved in providing ministry and Christian parents with tools they can use for their families and in their ministries.

Sermon Notes Round-Up for Kids

Free Downloadable Sheets

Non-Readers Printable Listening Pages Mama’s Learning Corner that encourage kids to trace Bible-centered words and other activities: Regular Sunday pages, Christmas, Resurrection Sunday pages.

Amy at Raising Arrows has created Listening Pages for Readers, five different pages for regular Sundays, some different pages for holidays as well. They have a section for notes and a list of common words used in church where the kids can make tally marks when they hear it.

Monica at Living Simply for God has created My Sermon Book for her four children to use at church. She has some different types of activity pages like: Keyword Alphabet & Count, Keyword Scrabble, and Hangman.

Sermon Notes for Kids by Beth Gorden at 123 Homeschool 4 Me has four different types of printable sheets to use.

Church Focus Cards at Cornerstone Confessions are made to print on 3×5 note cards for younger elementary children. Scroll down the page to find the downloadable page.

Kim Sorgius shares the sermon sheets she uses with her children in church as well as her philosophy on why she uses note-taking pages with her children in church at Not Consumed.

Stacey at A Moment in Our World has a very simple sermon note-taking sheet available.

Do Not Depart also has a simple sheet for early elementary level note-taking with a large space to draw a picture and a place for the main idea.

Kyleigh Kite at Becoming Blameless has created four different grade-level sermon sheets for Pre-K to Kindergarten, first and second grade, and third through sixth grade, and a sheet to help make application at home through the week.

Teachers Pay Teachers Downloads

In order to download these (whether free or for purchase) you must have a Teachers Pay Teachers account. It is free and easy to sign-up.

Bible Study and Sermon Notes Bookmark (free) – this has three bookmarks per sheet that can save on paper and ink if you want a concise note-taking sheet. By: Tiffany Crawl

My Sermon Notes for both Girls (hearts) and Boys (stars) for free. By: Courtney McKurley

Sermon Notes for Kids Sheet ($1.00) for 2nd-4th graders. By: Creations by LAckert

KISS (Kids Involved in Studying Scripture) Worship Note Pages (free). 6 pages.  By: Tricks of the Trade

Sermon Notes for Purchase

Jill Connelly has created a Sermon Notes for Kids spiral book that you can find at Truth Steps Publishing. Ages 6-12, 144 pages. There is also a Teen Sermon Notes book and a Creative Sermon Notes for adults.

Integrity Graphics on Etsy has sermon notebooks for kids, both for boys and girls in a spiral notebook that is for an entire year. Cost: $14.99

Recently published is called Busy Books: Sermon Notes, created by an eighteen year old homeschooler and her mother, Madison & Darlene Schacht (The Time-Warp Wife). Cost: $9.99 There are enough pages in the book for 3 services a week throughout the entire year.

Note: This post does not contain affiliate links.

If you know of a similar resource please include the link in the comment section below!

What We’re Doing for Christmas This Year

Christmas, our family chooses to celebrate it! This year it has come to my attention that many Christian families choose not to celebrate it at all for many reasons such as it not really being the season of the year that Christ was probably born or it being a time of year that many people lust selfishly for gifts. I believe Romans 14 gives us an allowance as Christians to celebrate specific days differently than other brothers and sisters in Christ without it being wrong if we are doing it in faith-Read it! (This may be something I write about in a future post.)

We will still choose to celebrate Christ’s birth to this earth and show our children the wonderful gift of God and teach them the Biblical emphasis of gifts are to be given rather than received. It is the time of year when people are often open to the gospel and we can share the gift God gave us of His only begotten Son with more ease than other seasons of the year.

As many of you know we are living with my in-laws so our celebration is a little different from our usual “just us” routine. We will be with my husband’s family for the first time at Christmas in the eleven years we have been married. We are getting introduced to their traditions and routines while still trying to incorporate ours.

Gloria: A Christmas Hymn Study. 92-pages of history, scripture and fun!For Christmas devotions we are using the Gloria: A Christmas Hymn Study by Not Consumed. I received it as a free download and thought it would be a great addition to our school days. We are still trying to catch up on our homeschooling after our move so we are still working through our school work and having these devotions in the morning have been a blessing. We have used Not Consumed’s When I Survey Hymn Study in our Resurrection Week activities and really liked how it focuses on the words of the hymns and teaches the meanings of how scripture intertwines in the depth of the hymn writer’s lyrics.

For fun I purchased our first Little People Nativity for our daughters on eBay. Word to the wise, make sure you have all the pieces in the set that you buy because I did not even notice Jesus was not included in the one I bought. Thankfully though there was a baby Jesus listed and we finally completed our set! This keeps our girls thinking of the Christmas story during their playtime and can be something we keep until our newest addition grows up and plays with it.

I also purchased a board game called Back to Bethlehem, created by a homeschool Christian dad who wanted to make learning about the birth of the Saviour memorable with his own family. We played it for the first time when I went to watch a friend’s children one evening and it was a lot of fun! We laughed at oinking out a Christmas song, the person that was able to sit on another player’s lap, and was able to learn new things about each other while answering the campfire conversation cards.

Royal Baby Shower 2

We are going to have a Royal Baby Shower with our children on Christmas morning. We decided to choose a local church planter and their new baby church that was started in November and buy gifts for their nursery. Since their church is located in an elementary school we bought a big tub to put all of our toys in so it would be easy to move and to store. This is the part where we’re really focusing on giving to the Lord, something for use for His work. Together the kids and I wrapped the gifts and the plan is to take it to the church planter’s home and make a big deal about how special it is to give to the Lord.

Brownie mix + strawberry cake mix + vanilla icing (Black for all of our sin, covered by the blood -red, and cleansed by the Saviour - white):

We decided to work on singing a special song about Christ for our extended family gathering as a gift for them. My husband’s father will play the piano for us and we will sing with our children. The rest of the day will be spent with our family enjoying the gift of each other.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and are able to think upon the remembrance of the beautiful gift of salvation God gave to us when He sent His only begotten Son!

*The idea for the cupcakes from a pin that I found on Pinterest but the link to the original webpage is now unavailable. Click on the photo to go to the pin on Pinterest.

**This post does not contain affiliate links.