Science Experiment Gone Bad

I had one more thing I wanted to show the kids on Sunday.
It started with the Scripture from Proverbs 3:19,20

By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;

References for Proverbs 3:19

• Cross References

• 31 3:19 - S Genesis 1:31 ; Psalms 136:5-9
• 32 3:19 - S Job 28:25-27 ; Psalms 104:24
• 33 3:19 - Proverbs 8:27-29

by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.

We read this Scripture and focused on the fact that as we look at His amazing creation: the earth, the heavens, the watery depths, we are actually catching a glimpse of God's wisdom, understanding and knowledge. 

The more we study science, the more we get to see God!

Since our topic question had to do with water, I thought I'd show an amazing thing about water that reveals God's wisdom in putting water all over the earth!

Science! I love it, and the kids love a good experiment!

So, two balloons, one filled with air, the other with a bit of water in the bottom of a blown up balloon.

What happens if you place a candle under the baloon? Well, kabang right? That's fun, especially for the boys.

So, I held the candle (actually the BBQ lighter) under the balloon with only air in it and ... Kaboom!!

Good , that worked. That one represented Mars.

I explained the difference between the surface of earth, and the surface of Mars. and that the temperature on earth is fairly moderate, but on Mars, the tempreratures go up and down wildly with it's 24 hour and 40 minute day (100 degrees C)!

Water, or lack thereof, makes a huge difference! (that and the atmosphere).

So, there I was ready now to show "earth." We got water in the balloon, blew it up, I got the BBQ lighter ready confidnet of what woudl happpen (I had done this experiment a few years ago), and...

KABOOM!!! 

SPLASH!!!

A host of wonderful kids came running to clean everything up from our poor earth that had exploded. Bad balloon.

I'll try again another day.

God's wisdom is more reliable than mine!

Q and A #2 with Sunday School Class

Q. Day 1 of Creation says God created light.
What are the waters the Spirit was hovering over in Genesis 1:2?

A. First we took a look at a couple of verses in other parts of the Bilbe to show that nothing is here that hasn't been created by God.

• John 1:1-3 clearly states all things were made by God and without God nothing has been made. 
• Hebrews 11:3  acknowledges we need faith, but that we understand that all things were made by the word of God, not by other things that already were. I think this is a great anti-evolution Scripture. Birds did not come from something that was already seen such as dinosaurs like the evolutionists believe. 
• Colossians 1:16 again clearly states ALL things whether we see them or not have been created by God We talked about what we can't see (air), but also the angels, love, joy..

 Once we established that God indeed created all things, nothing was that has not been created by God, we went through Genesis 1:1-5 (Day 1) and wrote down everything we could find that was created that day.

Here's the Scripture. What do you find?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Here's what the class found:

• heaven
• earth
• darkness
• water
• light
• day
• night
• time 

 One student wondered about words. Did He create words because He spoke?
What do you think?  

Algebra and Throwing Cutlery

If I was to describe my years of homeschooling in one phrase I would say "an endeavor in creativity."
Not creativity like art, but rather creative teaching.

For example, I fell asleep last night thinking of winding elastics around pencils to show an algebraic concept.
This morning, as I devised equations in my head as examples, I switched pencils to spoons for the demonstration. 
The spoon you see were all the same size.

So 3x - 2 = 2x +2
becomes 3 spoons (our unknown) tied together with elastics - 2 knives = 2 spoons (our unknown) tied together + 2 knives!
I can easily show taking my 2 connected spoons away by tossing them on the floor (crash) and needing to throw 2 of the three from the other side of the equation to keep the sides equal and isolate "x" to one side. Toss.Crash.
Moving the knives around then makes it quite evident that one spoon (the unknown), equals 4.

Of course our retrieving service dog wanted to help with math class by picking it all up!
I'm sure however, he wished I'd chosen  food rather than the cutlery as our unknown!

Q and A with a Sunday School Class

My Dad used to tell me that you don't really know something until you can teach it! It is so true. Teaching is the best test ever.
This is what I find by teaching Sunday School. I am constantly challenged by what I really know about God and Scripture!

We have just begun going through the Book of Genesis - with a twist.
Last week we read chapter 1. Each child had their print-out copy and as I read, they circled and marked it up with comments, questions, and observations. 
It was so much fun to hear what they came up with!

We now have 16 questions to work through. I am so excited! 
With all my heart I want these kids to have a solid foundation of God's truth. 

Question #1 which we explored yesterday: "Where did God get His power from to create?"

Answer: 

• It's eternal 
• It's an attribute of God Himself
• He is the source of power

For since the creation of the world His invisible attribute, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20

From this, we even were able to chat about worldview in movies and books, by asking the simple questions, "What is the source?"

I love to learn, but especially love to learn more about God. Stay tuned for next week's question!

A Test or a Temptation: What's the Dif'?

There are actually a lot of differences!

• Who initiates them
• The motivation for them
• The result of them

 We have this sin nature within each one of us that makes us want to open that door called temptation. We wrestle. As a born again Christian though, we are no longer slaves to those temptaions and we can say "no!"
God never ever leads us to that door and tantalizes us with sin. Yikes. He died so we could be set free! Why would He want to tempt us into death again?

Satan however, wants to draw us as far from God as possible. So he is pretty gleeful when we come across one of those doors that are out there. His goal is to steal, kill, and destroy, so Satan will use anything within us or around us to do just that.

God's goal is to strengthen our faith. 
My husband is a good example. He is keen on physical health - getting stronger and gaining physical endurance.
Because of that goal, he does some things and doesn't do other things.
He does work out with weights 4 days a week. He does ride his bike vigorously at least 4 or 5 days a week.
He does play hockey 3 days a week. He does eat healthfully.He does get up early to give himself time to focus on these exercises.
He does not eat junk food. He does not sit around watching TV. (we don't even have a TV).
Well, you get the picture.

Likewise, if we want to increase our faith muscles we need to work them. 
How can we do this?

This is where God steps in and creates a boot camp with obstacle courses, stretches, and great weight bearing exercises.
His boot camp is called tests and trials and tribulations.
But He does NOT mean them for harm.
He means them to prepare us for what He has called us for in His Kingdom. 
He puts our faith through the purifying fire so we can come out stronger and more able.

Remember that balance from a couple posts ago?
Those circumstances have God's purpose behind them. 
so if we look at them through the lens of God's goodness and purpose and actually see our faith getting stronger just like we see the long term effect of those weights and biking and hockey, we will be stronger and ready when God opens the door to opportunities He puts forth.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2

Curioius Question

How many people write blogs?
I wondered that today, so I did a quick Google search and discovered that there are around 152-173 million blogs out there as of three years ago.
And that there are over a million posts each day.

That's a lot of people who have something to say and want to be heard.

The Scale of Contentment

Sometimes I take pages to describe what I am thinking! 
Today I will use a picture to help.

There are a lot of things we can put on that scale to weigh it down.
Various circumstances come to mind. They can be pretty heavy at times. Things that cause us to be discontent.

But what is on the other side.
What can tip the scale to result in contentment?
What outweighs circumstances?

Paul in Philippians chapter 4 said he found the secret - it was Christ giving strength in all things.
The writer of Hebrews said we can be content because God will never leave or forsake us (Heb. 13:5)

The circumstances don't go away. We just tip the scales with what is on the other side.

I'm putting forth that we can rest the Character of God on the other side. The knowledge that God is our Friend. He walks with us through everything. That He is sovereign. That He is good and compassionate. That He sees more than we do and He's invested Himself in our lives.

I don't think circumstances need to make or break our contentment. We can be content despite the circumstances.
My goal is to get to know His character better, so on this journey of life,  my scales regularly have God's character outweighing circumstances.

A Better Way

I read a research study the other day. 
Two groups of people were each given some money.
Group A got to spend it on themselves any way they wanted. Group B had to give it away to anyone they wanted.
Who tested as being happier - Group A or Group B?

Today is the last day we will be parents of someone younger than a teen! 
So what is the reaction of said parents?
The Dad is giving his "Little girl" hugs at every possible occasion. "Oh, it's my 12 year old! It's the last day to give my 12 year old a hug!"
It puts a smile on her face. Especially when he said to expect him to do it at youth group tonight!
Unfortunately, we got freezing rain and youth gropu was cancelled!

The Mom? Well, she is just treasuring each precious moment. Pondering these things in her heart. Praying.

And in case you didn't guess, Scripture was correct in it's counsel. It is better to give than to receive.
Group B was happier.
So, next time someone is depressed and wants to go on a shopping therapy trip, tell them to give the money away instead.

I don't think we'll ask Anna-Lee to give her birthday gift away though just so she can be happier!