Colors of the Gospel Lapbook

I've been homeschooling now for 2 years and it's been such a great adventure! Alrick is in his second semester of his 1st grade year. Chloe started Pre-K and so has Mara Jaden. It's been challenging for me since my teaching style and Alrick's learning style is quite different. So this semester Al and I decided that I should try a different teaching approach. This semester we're going to try Unit Studies. I did my research and found so many great sites about unit studies and lapbooking. I've added a couple of links under "Homeschooling" in the left column for you to check out.

Today was our first day attempting to lapbook. If you're unfamiliar with the term I encourage you to click check out this blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jaminacema/228122/. She's packed full of info. This is also where I got the idea for the lapbook we made today. We call it, "Colors of the Gospel". It's very similar to a "Wordless Book" (http://www.kidology.org/zones/zone_post.asp?post_id=120). Here are some pics:

The front cover. I made this as an example for the children to follow then gave it to Mara Jaden to personalize.

First thing you see when you open it up is just a black square.

Black represents OUR SIN. I've included a verse an a brief explanation for each color. For Black it reads:

Romans 3:23
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

That is the “Bad News!” Everyone is guilty of sin and must pay for their sin! Just like when someone is lost in the dark, unable to find your way. The same is true of spiritual darkness. Without God, we stumble our way through life struggling to find the Way. We need salvation!

Here's what it looks like when you open the flap.



Red represents THE BLOOD OF JESUS.

1 Corinthians 15: 3-4
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,"

He shed His blood and died to take our place, and rose again to prove His power over death! It is through faith in Jesus and through acceptance of His gift of salvation that man is saved and through nothing else. (Eph. 2:8-9) Jesus offers the salvation we need!

White represents FORGIVENESS (cleansing of salvation).

Isaiah 1:18
“...Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...”

This is the promise of God, that He will forgive us all our sins! Just like spiritual darkness on the black page, the white can be used as light, or the spiritual sight we are granted once we are saved.

Yellow represents the PROMISE OF HEAVEN.

John 14:2-3
“In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

The Bible tells us that Jesus is preparing a place for us in Heaven to be with Him. Do you believe Jesus came to save you? If yes, is there any reason why you shouldn’t receive God’s salvation through Jesus right now.

Here I've also included a sample of a prayer that someone might sayif they receive Jesus in their heart.

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and am lost without You. Please forgive me! I believe you sent Jesus to die for me, and that He rose again! I ask Jesus to come into my life and transform me into the person You want me to be. Help me to live for You! Thank You for forgiving me! In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Green represents how you GROW IN YOUR NEW LIFE.

2 Peter 3:18
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

Green reminds us of things that grow. Grass, trees and plants are green. They all grow when they are given the proper food, water and light. Well, for a Christian, his sunshine is prayer with the Son. His rain is the nourishment of God’s Word, and his soil is the healthy fellowship with other believers in the faith. All three of these must be present in the life of a believer in order for him to live a truly victorious life.

Here I included the ABC's for Salvation:

A - Admit that you're a sinner in need of God.

B - Believe that Jesus died and rose again for your sins.

C - Confess Jesus as Lord of your life.

Here I included some verses:
A - Romans 3:10-23
B - John 3:16
C - Romans 10:9


Then on the back I just traced their hands, made a label so they can sign their name, age, grade and date.



Here are the kiddies with their completed lapbooks.

Not only were these so much fun to make, it gave me an oportunity to witness to my children. To share with them the wonderful news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our 3 Hour Tour

Can you believe I spent 3 hours at Costco today? It actually was 3 1/2 hours!! Or maybe 4?! I took all 3 children with me to replace 2 of our tires on the Durango. Al's going to be driving up to Camp Alta for the Youth Ministry's Winter Camp this weekend so we needed some tires that were ready to take on the snow. Well, I anticipated that it was going to be a long wait. It's usually 2 hours or so to get new tires at Costco. The gentleman in the tire department said it'll take 2 1/2 hours. OK, so what's 30 more minutes at Costco? So to pass time I did some grocery shopping. We took our time going down each aisle but being careful not to buy things we didn't need. The children were actually doing pretty well. We were able to read some books and eat some yummy samples. The best part we were able to see some old friends. We ran into Levi, an old childhood friend of mine, Cecil and Michelle, old friends of Al's and some church family too. As the alarm on my cell phone went off to notify me that time was up, I rushed over to the tire center. It was sunset now and it started to get really cold. When I got there, they told me that my car wasn't ready yet and was going to take another 30 min (it was actually closer to 1 hour). I took a deep breath, prayed that God would give us strength and went back into Costco. I couldn't go back inside to look at stuff because I already paid for my items and there were no more seats in the food court so we made our way to the Optometry Department. The kids and I had some fun trying on some glasses and being silly. Here are some pictures I took of them. The one of Alrick looking like his Grandpa G is funny!

Now that we're home and I've had time to sit and rest, I'm so thankful that I have a merciful Savior. Without Him, I probably would have just broke down in tears. He gave grace when I needed it ("My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9), love when it was lacking in me ("Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 10:13) and strength when I was weak ("The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped." Psalm 28:7). To top it off, I was able to spend some wonderful time with my little ones. Praise God!

Grandma's Birthday Dinner

We were able to finally get together with Al's family to celebrate his mom's birthday (a.k.a. "Grandma") on Friday, January 18th. Her actual birthday is January 3rd. With everyone having their own schedules it's difficult to get together like this. But I'm glad we did. We were able to see Sean (Al's youngest brother) for a little bit before he had to head off to work. We also got to catch up with the newlyweds of the family, Walter and Kristine. Grandma and Grandpa were able to spend time with their grandchildren, which they absolutely love. And Auntie Gena was right in the middle of it all. The big surprise of the night, Auntie Gena picked up the tab! With her being the youngest, we're so used to taking care of her. Now she's all grown up. Well, it was a fun night with the Boncatos. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Bola Bola Time with Nana

My kids love to help in the kitchen whenever they can. Even though it can cause a huge mess I love sharing those precious moments with them. Here's one moment I was able to capture. My mom (a.k.a. "Nana") came over the morning of New Year's Eve to help set up for family to come over later that night. She needed help making the bola bola for the ginataan that she planned on making later on. If you're reading this and you're Filipino or you have Filipino friends, hopefully you'll know what I'm talking about. If you don't, ginataan is sort of like a dessert with the look and consistancy of soup. It's really good! And the bola bola is the soft white "balls" in the ginataan. Anyway, Nana had a special surprise for the kids. They were going to be the special bola bola makers. Here's what the scene looked like. It was so much fun!

"Passing of the torch"

"The finished product"

"The Chefs"

Jehovah Jireh

Reading today about God's provision as He instructed Abraham to offer of his only son Issac as a sacrifice of worship to the Lord (Genesis 2:1-19), I'm reminded of one of the wonderful names of God, Jehovah Jireh meaning God will provide (v. 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."). We sometimes get so caught up in thinking that our jobs or however we earn an income, that paycheck we receive is what provides for our us. Without it, how can we survive? God has taught me, Jehovah Jireh, GOD WILL PROVIDE!!!!

Our family can attest to this promise. Getting laid off over a year, Al is still waiting on the Lord to provide a full time job. He's given Al temporary jobs (which is an absolute blessing) but that like it's name, it's just temporary. But even with a temporary job God still provides for all our needs! We'll just continue to wait on Him and trust in Jehovah Jireh!

My first blog!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but some of the technology nowadays just make me go...huh? For the longest time I kept hearing about blogs. Then I finally got the courage to ask a teenager (very humbling, I might add), "What's a blog?" Boy did I feel ancient! Funny how just a few years ago I knew of all the latest technology and now I often find myself asking the question, "What's that?" Oh, well! I guess I'm not that bad since I did get to start my blog "Keeper of Her Home".

"Keeper of Her Home" is in reference to Titus 2:5 (KJV). My goal in starting this blog is to be able to keep our family and friends updated on the work that God has been doing in our lives. I started off using Facebook but then found myself being idle. Taking silly tests and quizzes, looking at other peoples photos, trying to find old high school friends and taking more silly quizzes. I had to stop! God often reminds me of Proverbs 31:27 "She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness." That's what Facebook was becoming to me, idleness, a stumbling block that kept me from accomplishing the goals I set before the Lord. So I gouged it out (Matthew 5:29 "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.").

Now my prayer is that I grow in self-discipline and not be consumed by blogging. I'll do my best to put a new blog in when I can but it'll have to wait till the kiddies are asleep. Thanks for taking the time to share my thoughts with me. Goodnight!