Author: theministrymama

Flat Stanley Project

Who knew that reading a little book from the library would turn into such a family craze! Flat Stanley is a cute little book written by Jeff Brown back in 1964, 2 years after my mom was born. They have updated the book covers through the years but the story is still relevant to children today. They have more books in the series but this one has been my personal favorite.

I know this really has little to do with ministry but it has been such a fun project that it has boosted our family camaraderie in so many ways. I have sent Flat Stanley to over 20 people for our original project for our Homeschool Literature Fair. They were supposed to take pictures of Flat Stanley at a local attraction or go with them and do something that they do every day. We also sent out a little Flat Pat for our daughter who is 3, we are calling her Flat Stanley’s little sister. Together they have reached 17 different states and done some pretty amazing things!

Lubbock, TX

We have looked forward to seeing the photos that people send in the mail, e-mail, and post on Facebook. My grandmother even took her Flat Pat to several states and to her Senior Center and church with her. It was pretty fun seeing my old pastor and college professor holding Flat Pat. It has united me with old friends and brought a new bond between us again. So many people have enjoyed the project so much that they have thanked ME for allowing them to come for a visit. The kids when they receive the photos look at them and ask questions. It has been educational in every way.

Pensacola, FL

My Christian friend from high school even took him to Disneyland. My college roommate took him on a Road Trip from Tennessee to Georgia to Florida to Alabama to Arkansas! Our friends that moved away showed us around cold and snowy Michigan and Minnesota. My 4th grade teacher even allowed him to come to her class and help with their reading class and talked some of the girls from my high school to take him by the Alamo during a trip they took to San Antonio, Texas.

At Alamo

Another family has taken him on deputation with them as they travel to different states. It has given their kids a project and kept our children in touch with them. I would actually suggest doing a fun type of thing like this if you were going on deputation. It might give you a purpose and connection to those following you on your journey and a little purpose for taking all of those pictures on the side of the road.

Oklahoma Sign

Some people I knew back when I served as a church secretary that brought their youth group to our church for a youth conference even took our Flat Stanley to a wildlife park in Australia where they now work as missionaries. God has really been so good to give us small blessings and connections. I even wish we could take an idea similar to this and send it out to our missionaries, by mail or by scanning the character and e-mailing it, and having them send photos in to Sunday School classes. It could create some exciting news and things for children to look forward to when going to Sunday School.

Australian Kangaroo

For our family, we have even chosen to extend the project to see if we can get a Flat Stanley or Flat Pat to all 50 United States and beyond! I highly recommend reading the book, it’s an easy day or two reader for a first grader. There are other projects you can do with the books, there is a lap book study that can be found on the internet, here.

If you are interested in following along on our Flat Stanley project follow us on our Flat Stanley 50 page on Facebook! We still have a multitude of states to add to our list, so if you’re feeling fun and adventurous then please contact us on that page. We also would love to go beyond America for all of you missionaries out there! This can be a great project for you and your children.

We are working on a separate family project going around our town and city and visiting places we have never been before with our Flat Stanley so that we can send them back to the children that have sent us pictures. It is helping us see new places we have never been, since we are still relatively new to the area, having been here 3 1/2 years.

God is so good to let us be in contact with our friends from the past and giving us some anticipation for the future. It’s the little things like a flat piece of paper with a little kid’s drawing on it that can bring a smile to your face! Thank you Lord for the little blessings!

Expecting Grace – A Special Book Review

expecting-grace-3d-spine

Expecting Grace is a great new book written by Leah A. Highfill. She is a strong woman with an encouraging ability to write about the Lord’s work in her life. She has a special blog called, Embracing Grace, where she, a pastor’s wife encourages other ladies in their walk with the Lord.

In recent months I have begun to read her blog and be encouraged with her posts myself, that is why I am pleased to present to you today a wonderful review of her book. I have also included this review on my sister site, Ministry Mamas. See the same review here. We have 2 books on our Book Review list but are looking forward to adding more.

In reading my Bible reading today I found these verses, “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever…But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.” Psalm 73:26 & 28. These verses describe Leah Highfill’s experience with a unique condition that affects 1-2% of women, Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Basically, it is a condition where the woman’s body rejects the Human Growth Hormone and she suffers from a difficult and uncomfortable battle with nausea and weakness throughout the pregnancy. She survived and declares God’s work in her life in this God-honoring testimonial.

Leah shares hear heart as she dealt with this disease throughout her first pregnancy with her son Caleb. She and her husband were newlyweds that had just made a commitment to serve the Lord in a church in Canada when she became pregnant and the long 9 month trial began.

Her journaling through these months helped her in writing her book. I felt impressed to keep better track of God’s involvement and blessings in our family’s life because of her testimony of keeping track of the blessings and provisions God made for them because she was faithful to write what He had done.

This book will teach you the value of prayer. When their prescription costs were more than the weekly salary they were making. God proved himself faithful one blessing at a time. They took the time to take the large stack of bills that were mounting around $35,000 and pray over each one of them. As you read the book you see how God works in mysterious ways and lifts their burden.

She is a Christian woman who struggled in a dark valley and came out of it with a wonderful attitude to see needs around her and help other women with Hypermesis Gravidarum. We all have difficulties and should come out of them with a heart to help others come through similar struggles. This book can help you see the needs of pregnant women. Not only do some suffer and struggle with illness, their family does also. How easy it is to forget those expecting and assume they are fine when their body and health may be struggling.

This book kept reminding me to look for the needs of:
1. Pregnant women
2. Women who are having an extremely hard time with pregnancy.
3. Women who are far from their families and need extra support.
4. People going through financial struggles.
5. Men who are supporting wives going through difficulty.
6. Women on the mission field with burdens and struggles.

If a book can increase your sensitivity and prick your heart to see the needs of others from God’s eyes, then it’s worth reading! I hope you will take the time to be blessed.

You can purchase her book on Amazon.com. I was not compensated for reading and reviewing her book but I am so grateful I did.

Decorating for Events – Not A Waste of Time

I’m sitting here tonight so wired but exhausted… our Mother Daughter Banquet is over, whew! I am relieved and so are my aching feet! We have a busy church routine throughout the year, but it’s weeks like the last 2 weeks that make me very happy that I have the opportunity to stay home with our children instead of working. Frankly, I just could not hack a 10-12 hour work week for an extended amount of time…. Any-who, here are my thoughts for tonight…

I have worked in our current church for 3 1/2 years using my “gift” in this body of Christ (every member has a job and a function or “gift” that they have been given to serve in their local church), which is decorating, writing and acting in skits, and a few other odds and ends. I have worked getting ready for many events and spent hours and days by myself and with the help of others, at times, creating elaborate decorations that just end up crumpled up an hour after the event is over and thrown into a box or the garbage can. That is depressing, because I have felt my time was chucked into the storage closet and my investment lost… or was it? Sometimes it was… other times it has not been.

I have thought recently that maybe that time really has not been completely used in vain. Decorations set the tone for the event, whether it is a Mother Daughter Banquet, a month-long Sunday School Campaign, Vacation Bible School, etc. When you set the tone of the event then people’s attention is initially captured so then when the speaker speaks they are more inclined to listen. And when the speaker speaks from the Word of God then the heart can be touched all because of the atmosphere you have created.

I am learning that you can decorate with less and still create an excellent atmosphere. You do not have to have elaborate and extravagant decorations every time that you host an event. Sometimes the simplest things can make the mind think about God… there is a difference between just piddly lame-o decorating and being thoughtfully simple. Laziness in creating an atmosphere can really distract instead of attract. It would be better to not decorate if you’re not able to put some thoughtfulness into it.

One time when I was helping decorate with two ladies in our Fellowship Hall. The tablecloths were not fitting properly on a cake table and one lady was saying “It’s fine,” and the other lady was saying, “It’s not fine, we need to do something else.” The scramble in trying to find another tablecloth in the storage room that fit the table was going on when I felt trapped between a woman content and a woman discontent. The lesson that was taught to me by the lady that was telling me that the tablecloth was not fine was this: She leaned over and told me, (when the other woman was not in the room) “What we are doing is not for people. We have to remember that what we are doing is for the Lord. We cannot be satisfied with something that does not look nice.” She was right, the tablecloth in its rumpled look and fit were not going to project the nature of the event, which was our church anniversary. The Lord established our church and has kept it going for over 30 years now, we should honor Him with our best, even if it means finding a nicer tablecloth. If God had a beautiful temple in the Old Testament times, we can create beauty in His church.

The message I hope to convey is that you give God your best in even your decorating. It is time used, not wasted. Never should we compare ourselves with the largest of churches that can afford the finest decorations, if you are a smaller church buying your supplies at a dollar store. God knows our budget, He knows our time frame, He knows our hearts and whether we are creating an atmosphere where He can walk and speak to hearts when we have special preaching, teaching, and devotional times.

People know too if you have created an atmosphere that is God-honoring. There is a difference between fake fabrication of “feeling” and a place where they can walk in and feel safe to speak to someone about their troubles because they feel at ease. Be thoughtful in your work and it will not go unnoticed by God or others.

When does our time become a waste?

We live in such a great age with being able to research and find good ideas everywhere, there really is no excuse for lame-o decorating, but do not get carried away. The gal I was working with on decorations came to a place today where we had a conversation and came to the conclusion that we would not do at least one of the big decoration ideas that we had hoped to do. We needed to stop because our kids had been at the church for two days playing and getting worn out, we were worn out, and it was not going to hurt us to leave the decoration out. It would have been a waste of time to push ourselves to extra exhaustion and tried to finish the project. And, who would have guessed that the ladies that did not know about the decoration, did not miss it!

We can make huge lists of “must-have’s” in our decorating, but sometimes we have to let go a little because maybe our eyes got bigger than our hands could perform. Sometimes you have to stop and look around and resolve that perhaps letting your kids get an afternoon nap would be better than adding or finishing that “one more thing.”

So while we want to do our best for the Lord and decorate for our special events, we also have to have balance. Your kids may not want to eat animal crackers and Cheerios, the snacks from the nursery, for several days in a row just because you do not want to stop decorating with the other ladies and give them a meal. C’mon, we have to be asking God for help in keeping balanced so we really do not waste our family’s time either.

My few thoughts about a topic have the tendency to turn into a novel, but I hope when you find yourself exhausted at the end of the day after seeing all your work thrown to the side after decorating for a big event, that you will not be discouraged. I hope you are encouraged by the testimonies of people who learned something new from the Bible, or by the smiles on the ladies’ faces as they have been laughing and speaking to each other, or just that God was honored and placed above all other things for a few hours.

We serve a great God, who is worthy to be praised! Keep a balance and keep the faith!