They all had wonderful ideas about what they could do at school, work, and extra things out in the community. Then it was my turn to say something I could do. I was really racking my brain on this one because my schedule is already so full. It takes extra effort to get out the door and plan to help someone.

Then my mind came to a story I heard about people at a drive-thru paying for the car behind them. I shared that idea with my girls, but then later I thought about how I could glorify Christ at the same time? So, I decided to make these drive-thru verse cards to give the cashier to give the person behind me at the drive thru.

How to Use Drive-Thru Verse Cards

So the next time I went to get a coffee, I gave the cashier a card and $5 to give to the person behind me. Hopefully, that planted a seed, or gave encouragement. Maybe it even convicted them. Either way, I hope it helps to further God’s kingdom.

I brought the cards to my small group next week and asked how the girls did with their challenge to impact. Some of them said that they opened the door for someone at school. Another said that they helped pack backpacks with food at the local food bank for kids who needed them on the weekends. One girl said that she texted a Bible verse to a friend who was atheist.

Some of them didn’t do anything, so I gave them the cards to slip in a locker, or give to a teacher, to pray with, or memorize.

I think that getting out and personally serving people is best, but sometimes you can’t and it’s ok. There are seasons in our lives when just doing what we are doing with the right attitude is serving God. But if you’d like to do something more, try handing these drive thru verse cards out as a simple act of kindness each week, or each month to give you perspective. It doesn’t have to be at the drive thru. This keeps your mind on serving God, no matter how hard it is to get out of the house.

Click here to download the drive-thru verse cards.

You might also like these posts and resources on teaching your children to think of others more than themselves.

Kindness for kids

 Character Curriculum Set

The post Acts of Kindness: Drive-Thru Verse Cards first appeared on True Aim.

Deuteronomy 4:10 Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Joshua 24:15 Choose this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Proverbs 8:10-11 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 23:12 Apply your heart unto instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God…and it shall be given him.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

Hebrews 2:13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God.

The post 10 Bible Verses for Your Homeschool first appeared on True Aim.

It’s not all about the food.  That’s right; family meal times can be valuable learning times.  And what’s more important than learning God’s Word?  That’s why we try to incorporate scripture memorization into each meal that we sit and eat together.

It helps us bring our focus back on what is really important and makes the Word stick.  Here are three creative ways that you can incorporate scripture memorization into your family meal.

Memorizing Scripture at the Table

1.  Hot Potato

This is my children’s favorite.  Before starting the meal, one person starts by saying their favorite Bible verse.  Then, the person to their right tries to repeat that verse and says their favorite verse.  When the person who started finishes trying to repeat a verse, then the meal can begin.  How fast can you start the meal?

2.  Game Show

You will need a list of scriptures for this one.  Choose a person to play the host.  This could be the winner from the last meal.  The host goes around asking each person to recite one of the verses on the list and if they get it right, they get a point.  If they get it wrong, it goes to the next person.  The person with the most points wins!

3.  Decorate

Visuals are much more memorable than just spoken words.  That’s why Tabletop Truths has the perfect way to bring visual representations of scripture to the table.  Their colorful placemats help turn the family meal into devotional time.

Each mat comes with thought-provoking questions, conversation starters and Scripture references to help you teach your children.  Even if you don’t have a devotional time, they are great tools to incorporate God’s Word into your daily routine.

My children loved the new mats and were eager to learn the verses on them.  As they memorize the scripture on one mat, they can trade and learn a new one.

We used to have placemats with numbers, letters, and other facts for the kids, but I want my children to know the priority in our lives is not academics.  The mats even helps me remember to talk about God during the meal.

Also, those other mats were a lot less durable that our new Bible mats.  The old ones bent, tore and water seeped in between the plastic.  The Tabletop Truths mats are very heavy duty and do not bend easily because of the thick plastic that covers the design.  I know they will last for years!

Tabletop Truths Giveaway!

The Moms behind Tabletop Truths are committed to making it easier for parents to teach their children Biblical truths.  Lisa and Sarah are generously giving away 4 placemats to one lucky reader.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How do you incorporate scripture into your daily routine?

The post Giveaway! 3 Ways to Memorize Scripture at the Table first appeared on True Aim.

To help us remember how much God loves us, we hung our hearts as a mobile at the kitchen table.  It’s festive and every time we sit to eat a meal we read one of the Bible verses on the hearts.  This is such a great way to memorize scripture, we might have to make a new mobile for each month!  Here’s what we did.

Bible Heart Craft

First I made this free heart printable to make it easy. I printed off one copy for the kids to share, but you could have each child do their own set.

 

Here are the verses I included:

• “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” ~1 Corinthians 13:4

• “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” ~1 John 4:7

• “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~Matthew 22:39

• “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” ~1 John 4:10

• “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  ~Deuteronomy 6:5

• “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” ~John 3:16

If you have a specific verse in mind, please email me and I can send you my template in a word document so you can included any verses you want.

Next, we colored the hearts with the Bible verses, being careful not to cover the words up.

With the other blank hearts, we did a little crayon resist with tissue paper.  Before we started “painting” with the tissue paper, I wrote a secret symbol in white crayon that represents God’s love.

To do this craft, the girls painted their hearts with water and then covered them with small squares of tissue paper.  Adding more water on top, the color bleeds onto the paper creating a tie-dye effect.  I first saw this tissue paper craft on one of my favorite art blogs for kids, Artchoo.

After the water dried, I had the girls remove the tissue paper to reveal God’s love.  It’s a cross, of course!

I hung our hearts above the table with fishing line.  Now, before each meal we review one of the verses to put it to memory so my girls know how much God loves them.  They’ll also know what love really looks like; sacrifice.

If you liked this heart Bible craft, you might like these activities to teach children more about God’s love.

Check out my Bible eBook set for more ways to instill God’s word in the hearts of your children!

For more Bible crafts and activities, like me on Facebook or follow me on Pinterest.  Thanks for your support!

The post Heart Bible Craft and Bible Love Verses Free Printable first appeared on True Aim.

Besides glorifying God, singing also brings joy into the home.  There are hundreds of Bible songs for kids, but these are classics –  easy to learn and fun to sing.  They’re also great for all ages; including toddlers and babies!

27 Bible Songs for Kids

1.  Jesus Loves Me

2.  God’s Not Dead

3.  Go Tell it on a Mountain

4.  Jesus Loves the Little Children

5.  I Have the Joy

6.  The Bible

7.  Adam and Eve

8.  Oh Be Careful Little Eyes

9.  Rise and Shine

10.  The B.I.B.L.E.

11.  I’ll Be Somewhere Listening For My Name

12.  He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands

13.  One, Two, Three, Four

14.  Praise Him, Praise Him

15.  There Were Twelve Disciples

16.  Rejoice in the Lord Always

17.  For God So Loved the World

18.  Creation Song

19.  The 10 Commandments

20.  Lord, I want to be a Christian in My Heart

21.  I’m Gonna Sing, I’m Gonna Shout

22.  Oh, How I Love Jesus

23.  He is Lord, He is Lord

24.  Bless the Lord, O My Soul

25.  Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam

26.  Love the Lord Your God

27.  Father Abraham

Here are some examples of the songs to help you learn the tunes, plus a few more bible songs that we love!  And stay tuned for Christmas Songs for Kids too!

To download your Free Bible Songs printable, enter your name and email below.

Then cut it out and laminate the pages to make them last.  This would be a great gift paired with a CD for a new parent!

The post 27 Bible Songs for Kids Free Printable first appeared on True Aim.

There are a lot of women complaining.  Online, at church, at the store; it seems like they are very unhappy. 

We’re tired from the laundry, the cooking and the kids – if only we could get a job.  Of course, the women with jobs are tired of the boss, the workload and skimpy paychecks – if only they could stay home. We are all stressed from bills and over commitments.  On and on we grumble, “If only, if only…”

It is true that there are things that could make our lives easier, but I have to wonder if an easy life is a happy life.  Happiness doesn’t come from having things and it doesn’t come from NOT having these things.  And yes, pleasure is pleasing, but not fulfilling.

Last month I read about a popular celebrity from the Bachelor reality tv show who committed suicide.  She had fame, money, “love”, sex, beauty, and youth – all a girl could want right?  Compare that with Mother Teresa, who was old, weak and poor.  One lived a life of luxury, the other misery – one committed suicide and the other praised the Lord all of the days of her life.

So, the next time I start feeling sorry for myself I will remember that happiness is not tied to my health, my status, my money, my family, my age, my looks, my accomplishments.  Happiness, real, true, fulling happiness, is the natural condition of those who serve the Lord.  We may suffer terribly, but the joy of the Lord is our strength! (Nehemiah 8:10)

How do you help yourself remember the joy of the Lord?   Please leave a comment!

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The post Finding Joy and Happiness first appeared on True Aim.

My dear sweet Audrey.  I cried when I learned I was pregnant with you.  I just wasn’t ready.  I wanted to be successful first.  I wanted a “Degree.”  Me, me, me, it was all about me.  How foolish was I to define my success by the titles I didn’t hold.

When my second child came along I was still at it; getting even less sleep while trying to finish my degree online.  While I mostly blame my ignorance on a 13-year indoctrination, I also blame myself.

Pride can get in the way.

Today, more and more Women trade in motherhood for an “Executive” position.  We strive for a pat on the back from a company who cares no more for us than a driver for his car.

We know how the story ends. We regret not spending more time with our children.  We are stuck.  We are tired, we are overwhelmed, we’re unhappy.

While we may think we are pursuing our “dreams”, we are only living out another’s need for worker bees.  I understand the need for some women to work, but what inhuman force put it in our minds that being a Mother couldn’t satisfy our desire for accomplishment?

What could be more rewarding than to raise up children who are better than ourselves, to glorify God?  The world says possessions, money, and power.  God says, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” Psalm 127:3

The Most Satisfying Job: Motherhood

After being a mother, I can say that the most joy I have ever felt is in hearing and seeing the laughter of my children and holding them in my arms.  Yet I still struggle with pride today.

Why do I have an overwhelming desire to prove to others that I am important?  Am I not already?  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

I say this to myself as much as I’m saying it to you.

Mother’s, God made you irrevocably important and special.  To deny that is to believe strangers over the one true God.  Don’t succumb to the pride of life and worldly desires. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” Proverbs 16:18  Don’t discount your divine calling.  You are desperately needed.  Don’t trade it in!

Photo credit: limaoscarjuliet / Foter.com / CC BY

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The post Trading in Motherhood first appeared on True Aim.