Reformed Church in Casper

For those of you who live in our area, we are excited to announce that our pastor from Laramie will be conducting a monthly Bible study in our home here in Casper.

As you may know, we became members of the Laramie Reformed Presbyterian Church during our short time living there.  We have grown to love the church, and we're excited to see how God intends to expand the work of the RPCNA here in Casper.

If you are interested in a Bible Study from a Reformed perspective, please contact me or check out the Reformed in Casper blog that we've set up.

Somber

I recently read this book:

If you can't read the caption at the top, it's the theme of the book:

"A Mom's Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline"

The idea behind the book is that we shouldn't discipline to simply change our children's behavior, but we should be working to train their hearts.

We are born with sinful hearts, and it's our job as moms to help our children understand their sinful natures and their need for a Savior.

It makes sense to me.

Tonight, at the beginning of our nightly "Family Time", we were going through catechism questions.  We've learned a lot about the sin of Adam and Eve and how that sin condemned us all.  Now, we're just starting to cover questions regarding the Covenant of Grace.

These are the questions we covered tonight:


Q: Why can't anyone be saved through the covenant of works?
A: Because all have broken it and are condemned by it.


Q: How did you break the covenant of works?
A: Adam represented all people, and so I fell with Adam in his first sin.


Q: How, then, can you be saved?
A: By the Lord Jesus Christ through the covenant of grace.


Q: How did Christ fulfill the covenant of grace?
A: Christ obeyed the whole law for his people, and then suffered the punishment due for their sins.


Q: Did Jesus ever sin?
A: No. He lived a sinless life.

Since these were relatively new questions, we talked a little bit about what they mean.

My oldest said that Jesus suffered by dying on the cross.  He said that he saw the holes in Jesus' hands and feet. (a picture in a book perhaps?)  He knew that the holes were made by nails that kept Jesus on the cross.  We talked about how Jesus was sinless but died for our sins.  My boy looked...sad.

I quickly transitioned to the singing segment of Family Time.  My boy did not sing along with the first song.

I asked him, "What's wrong?"

He said, "You told me Jesus died on the cross for my sins," and he started to cry.  A very genuine,  heart-aching cry.  I was touched.  It was so sad to see him, but it was so encouraging to see how personally he views the death of Christ.

We talked after that about how joyful it is that Jesus came back to life.

Oh, Lord...give me the heart of a child.

Sweet

We're planning a big move in the next couple months.  As a result, I'm spending much of my time and energy trying to figure out what dwelling place we will be moving into. :)

This can be very consuming (time-wise, thought-wise, energy-wise)...and today I'm trying to focus on other things, like my children and housekeeping.

I was just getting a movie set up for my 2 oldest boys.  As we were waiting to get through the previews, my oldest said, "Let's pray real quickly."

I thought he would pray about wanting the movie to start faster, or maybe that he was going to request that God give him his new favorite toy at Walmart.

Instead, this was his prayer:

"God, please give us a new house to move into."

What a sweet boy...and what a sweet reminder from my God that He is in control.

Just wanted to share...I'll try to share some pictures of the kiddos soon.

Catechism #1

I realize I've been posting frequently about our progress with the Catechism for Young Children. I'm going to start a new category for these, so if you want to read more, you can click on the link to the right.

This is another such post. :)

During our nightly family time, Daddy's been reviewing catechism questions and introducing a few new ones very slowly. Pig Tails now likes to grab the catechism book and start interrogating her brothers.

The first question in the catechism is: "Who made you?" Answer: "God did."

This is the dialogue that I caught on video.

Catechism

Yesterday:

My ferocious little lion: Mom, why is God everywhere?

His younger sibling, the mean dinosaur: Cuz God's a spirit, and he has no body as we do.

Up until recently, I wouldn't have been able to tell you what a catechism was except that the Catholic kids "do it" weekly. However, I have learned that other denominations use catechisms to teach church doctrine to their children. And, our church belongs to one such denomination.

There are different catechisms, and the one we use is based on the Westminster Confession of Faith. Basically, the catechism is a series of questions and answers that give kids (and adults) a means by which they may memorize and understand the truths of Scripture.

There is a children's version of the catechism which I prefer even for me, because it's simple...and I'm simple. :)

I bought a CD with songs written for the first 20 questions of the catechism.

WhoWhatWhyHowWhereWhen

By: Eric Gilbert

Here are the words to one of the songs:

"What is God? God is a spirit, and He has no body as we do."

repeat...

"Where is God? God is everywhere."

...and a lot more repeating.

*Note the striking resemblance between the lyrics of the song and the conversation between my two young boys (outlined at the beginning of this post).

Great music..super catchy...I love it. My baby (18 months old) is already requesting and singing along with the song "Who Made You?" every time we get in the car.

The kids love the music, and the doctrine of God seems to be staying in their minds and hearts in a deeper way than I had imagined.

I'm encouraged. :) You should try it...if you want and stuff. :)

Random Fall Stuff

Did you know that October 31st is Reformation Day? That's what we like to celebrate in the Fall. Our decorations and traditions are similar to every one else's...we just like to think of Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-five theses on the door at Wittenberg while we're carving pumpkins and dressing in costumes. :)

I love fall colors.

Two of my children were born in May, which means I suffered morning sickness during the entire fall season. As a result, I now associate all the smells, textures, and sights of fall with nausea...which is unfortunate, because I mostly love (or used to) the smells, textures, and sights of fall.

We got 3 pumpkins on our Pumpkin Patch outing: one for each kid. They each told me what they wanted carved, and I carved it. My little girl didn't so much tell me...we just all assumed what she wanted. :)

We roasted some pumpkin seeds...a first. Pretty yummy.

The pumpkins are arranged in order of the "owners' " ages. The first one is suppose to look "kinda mean", the second is a dinosaur, and the third is a butterfly.