Easter Holidays

It would appear that Spring has finally arrived.  Not that winter gave up its grip on Britain too easily.

We have spent a very cold week in Minehead celebrating Easter with over 5000 other Christians at Spring Harvest.  We have been looking at what it means to "Be, Say and Do"  the Gospel, that is the good news that Christ died for our sins and reconcile us with God.  We also spent the week studying 1 John in detail and reminding ourselves through the words of this book, that God loves us and therefore we should love others.

I have felt challenged to explore how we bring the message of Jesus to the children I work with during holiday club through out the year.  Currently I am talking to our congregation about how we extend our messy church service to the wider community.  I'll keep you updated!

My main craft this week has been Easter cards:

This week's Bible verse follows the theme we were looking at while at Spring Harvest and is:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, 

but Christ lives in me.  

The life I now live in the body, 

I live in the Son of God, 

who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2: 20

Our prayer as a family this week is that God's word placed on hearts over Easter will find fruition at this time of new beginnings.

With God's blessings from my family to yours,

Jo x

Crafting God's love

I can't believe I have not posted for over a month.  Life is as busy as ever in our household and it is amazing how easy you can fall into new habits.  With all the snow and cold weather we had in January and February, Sunday evenings became a time for curling up with a movie.

With the arrival of spring, (even if it is only marked by an entry on the calendar and more snow forecast!) I thought it was a good time to get back in the habit of updating the blog.

We have led a craft morning at church in half term, with the theme being God's love.

The boys and I set up four craft areas for the children and their parents to work round.

Shaker style heart hanger

Stuffed hearts

Heart picture frames

Homemade crayons (some heart shaped)

I have also led my first Messy Church service.  The reading was from John 14 and we set up a prayer labyrinth to explore the passage.

We made Holy Spirit doves to remind us God is with us every day

And we had a prayer area where we drew round our hands and wrote prayers on the cut out shape, before sticking them together to form a flame shape.

Decorating the house is coming on again now we have Christmas and birthdays celebrated and packed away.

We have nearly removed all of the wall paper from the hall.

We are preparing the walls of the lounge for the new wallpaper to go opposite the feature wall of the chimney breast.

May this Easter bring you blessings for a renewed faith in Christ who died for our sins.

With love from my family to yours,

Jo x

Snow!

Even though there is no snow on the ground this week, I haven't blogged recently as we have been curled up in the sofa on a Sunday night watching films as the snow fell outside.

snow in the garden - January 2013

Andy and Jacob decided against the traditional snowman and built an igloo this year.

Igloo building

Then Andy found a winter use for an Autumn garden tool - the leaf blower.  It cleared the snow from the path and conservatory roof, making more available for igloo building.

leaf blower becomes snow blower

Josh and I however stuck with tradition and built a snowman.  We tried the three ball approach this year, finding that as we rolled the snow we cleared right down to grass.

Snowman Vizor

We have finally tidied away the last of the Christmas items from the house and we have used one of the new lounge cupboards as an advent cupboard, meaning we can access the items for the start of December easily without having to go up to the loft to early and dig through all the decorations.

The Bible verse for this week is from Psalms:

But I will sing about your strength,

 my God, and I will celebrate because of your love. 

You are my fortress, 

 my place of protection in times of trouble. 

Psalm 59:16

Our prayer as a family this week are for those making difficult plans for the year ahead, that with God's strength they will face times of trouble knowing the God is with them as their fortress.

With God's blessing from my family to yours,

Jo x