Activities — Proverbs For Life

Wearing Love And Faithfulness: Activity For Children

Posted by Mandi on February 21, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverb For Life - Proverbs 3:3-4 "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man." (NIV) Yesterday I wrote about the importance of the heart. If my kids learn nothing else from me this will be enough, to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. We do not love God because it is in our nature to love him. We love him because he first loved us. When we didn't deserve it. When we couldn't earn it. When we fail to remain faithful time and time again. He loves us. He is faithful to us. If we fully grasped how deep and how wide the depths of his love is, we would fall to our … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Heart/Love | Tagged:

Treasure Hunt: Activity

Posted by Mandi on February 16, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverbs 2:3-5 Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. (ESV) Proverbs 8:10-11 Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare to with her. (ESV) James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (ESV) What if I told you I had a treasure map that was guaranteed to lead you to the greatest treasure ever to be discovered? Would you accept a copy of the map if I were to offer it to you? Would you lay it on a shelf and say, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activities, Wisdom/Counsel | Tagged:

Making A Money Jar: Activity

Posted by Mandi on February 14, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverb For Life - Proverbs 21:20 "Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it." (ESV) Yesterday I wrote about how different Daniel and I are in our approach to money in the article, Do You Have Enough Money (he's the nerd; I'm the free spirit!). Even though we may be different, our goal (to teach our children to be good stewards of their money and possessions) is the same. To help them get excited about working hard and saving up what they earn, I helped them make personal money jars. (Princess L saw a similar idea in a Strawberry Shortcake craft book and wanted to try it) Before we began, we read the Proverb of the Week, Proverbs 21:20, and talked about why a wise person would save some of what he or she earned. To do this … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activities, Money | Tagged:

You’ve Got Mail: Activity

Posted by Mandi on February 9, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverb For Life - Proverbs 8:34-35 "Blessed is the one who listens to me [wisdom], watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD." (ESV) I love getting mail. Real mail. The kind that arrives by mailman. The handwritten, filled with love, required some thought, kind of mail. My kids love getting any kind of mail. They eagerly await the arrival of the mail truck so they can go check the mail and bring it in. Little Man and Big Boy insist that the circulars are their mail; I happily hand it over to them. Their excitement can hardly be contained when they receive mail with their name on it. Mail that is just for them. I saw a picture on Pinterest that inspired me to make mailboxes with my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activities, The Lord/Fear of the Lord | Tagged:

Why Do I Like You? An Activity on Friendship

Posted by Mandi on February 7, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverb For Life - Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times, a brother is born for a time of adversity." (ESV) I am so thankful for my friends. My friends who walk beside me through life, encouraging me on the hard days, laughing with me on the silly days, and dreaming with me about the future. Friends who listen. Friends who care. Friends who take time out of their day to invest in my life. Friends who go to God on my behalf. Friends who trust me with their heartaches and their happiest moments. Friends who challenge me to be the mom and wife God has called me to be. I could not say thank you enough to them for the gift of their friendship! One of my deepest desires is to be this kind of friend to them as well. It is so easy to get wrapped up in my day and my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activities, Friends/Loyalty | Tagged:

Take Care of Your Animals: Activity

Posted by Mandi on February 2, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverb For Life - Proverbs 12:10 "The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." (NIV) Sometimes teaching a principle of wisdom is simply taking advantage of the opportunities you already have while doing the activities you already do. We have a great dog. His name is Caspian after the Narnia character. We have no idea what "kind" of a dog he is. Just the kind that has four legs, a tail, and floppy ears. We got him from the pound when he was just 7 weeks old. At the time we had one 6 year old and a baby 3 weeks from being born, and we lived in an upstairs apartment. Pure genius. Potty training was not fun. Kinda cute huh? Since we adopted him he has grown into a 65lb giant! And of course we didn't realize … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activities, Diligence/Work Ethic/Laziness | Tagged:

Soda Explosion: A Demonstration of Anger

Posted by Mandi on January 31, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverb For Life - Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (ESV) Yesterday I shared with you my struggle of answering softly when I am frustrated with my kiddos. (You can read that in the article Did I Really Just Say That?.) I wanted to illustrate to my children what happens when we keep responding with harsh words. For this activity you'll need two 20 oz bottles of soda. (We used cans, but it may actually work better to use a bottle...) And you'll need to go outside! I read the verse Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Then we had Little Man yell at Princess L. Instead of her yelling back, we had her tell Little Man how much she loves him and how sorry she was that she did … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activities, Anger/Happiness | Tagged:

Building Wisdom Houses

Posted by Mandi on January 25, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverb For Life - Proverbs 24:3, 4 "By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." (ESV) There is a lot of building going on in our neighborhood right now. They are building a new subdivision and widening the street just outside the entrance to our subdivision. My kids (the boys especially) have really enjoyed seeing all the big trucks and plows. Princess L on the other hand asked all the questions as to why they were paving one layer, tearing up the old layer, digging down, adding some pavements, then moving to the other side to tear up the first layer they poured, digging again, and then making the road smooth. They have seen the same preparation to build as they watched the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Activities, Wisdom/Counsel | Tagged:

Watch Your Step!

Posted by Mandi on January 22, 2012 Leave a Comment

Proverb For Life - Proverbs 4:26 "Ponder the path of your feet: then all your ways will be sure." (ESV) Every year Daniel and I write out our goals. We have different categories and usually we pick a word that those goals center around. Last year my word was faithfulness; his was relationship. This year my word is intentional. So often I react because I haven't sat down and given thought to what I want to accomplish. I find this particularly true in the case of raising our children. I want to intentionally direct them, not just having crowd control, which can be a full-time job with 4 kiddos! This year we had our two oldest children Precious A (age 12) and Princess L (6) write out some goals for each of the categories as well. I wanted them to give some thought to … [Read more...]