February 2nd – Valentine Window Mobile, a few fun things & Exodus 4:18-7:13

Today’s Valentine craft is easy, peasy—and so much fun for all ages!To make your own Valentine Window Mobile, you will just need crayons (pink and red), butter knife, wax paper, iron and scissors. Each child will need two long strips of wax paper (3 feet should be long enough). Give each child a bowl and a butter knife works best for making a bowl full of crayon shavings…
Put a towel on the floor or some type of protection for ironing (I used a white towel…but wished I used a dark one instead🙂 Put one sheet down of wax paper per child and let them sprinkle their shavings all over the wax paper bottom…
Put the top piece of wax paper, and with your iron on a low setting–quickly iron until the crayon is melted and spreads throughout.

Trace hearts on the paper for your child to cut out. (If you have an older one, he/she may be able to draw their own hearts.) And although it may make you cringe…allow your children to cut many of the hearts out themselves (I can be a perfectionist when it comes to crafts…so this is always a hard step for me!)

I let my kids start cutting at age 2…and they have always done such a great job! After the hearts are cut out, punch holes in top and tie strings on each heart to hang from wooden dowel (I am the queen of improvising…my wooden dowel is really a blind turner that I just took off and will put back on later;)…
Welcome your guests with a little love…OR display these at your kitchen window…

Chapter 4 – I was hard on Moses yesterday, but today I have to give him some credit. He has gone from living some where safe and comfortable for 40 years–and now he has been asked to leave…and to walk right into a dangerous situation. “Okay Lord, you want me to leave this and go tell Pharaoh what to do. Nice.” But the Lord sent encouragement Moses’s way by giving his father-in-law’s blessing, speaking promises to him, providing and allowing Aaron to partner with him, and leading his wife to obedience. This part of Zipporah has always caught me off guard and made me want to know more–so I did some research and this is what I got…

(taken form Wiersbe Bible Commentary) Moses had neglected to circumcise his second son, Eliezar, and God struck Moses down with an illness that could have taken his life. We get the impression that when Moses had circumcised Gershom, his firstborn, Zipporah had been appalled by the ceremony and therefore had resisted having Eliezar circumcised. Moses let her have her way and this displeased the Lord. Even if the Jews didn’t know it, God knew it about his disobedience, and He was greatly displeased. The servant of the Lord must be careful to “manage his own family well” if he expects to enjoy the blessings of the Lord.

My role as a wife is to submit to my husband and to trust and encourage his relationship with the Lord. I should take my opinions first to the Lord as to not wrongly influence my husband in following the Lord. Ouch. What a good lesson here. I think I could stop right here in today’s reading and that’d be enough for me to chew on all day.

Chapter 5 – It gets worse before it gets better. Don’t you hate those kinds of stories. But it seems to be part of almost every beautiful ending. It usually does get worse before it gets better—and Moses attempt to get Pharoah’s permission to go worship and make sacrifices to the Lord only brings on more harsh treatment to the Israelites. And the Israelites aren’t too happy with Moses and Aaron for what they have brought upon them in multiplied labor. How does Moses respond? He was disappointed. He was stressed. And he blamed God for their harshened treatment. “Why have you done this Lord?” As servants of the Lord, we should expect difficulty. We need to learn quickly in our journey when we experience hardship and opposition–to go back to God, get alone with Him–cry out to Him–pour our our hearts–wait on Him–and seek strength in Him.

Chapter 6 God responded to Moses’s cry with encouragement, with promises and direction. And what an honor He bestowed on Moses to give him His covenant name! God was pouring His love and encouragement on Moses. And Moses needed it. He was sure Pharoah wouldn’t listen…more sure his own people wouldn’t either…and not even sure if Aaron would be up for another visit with Pharoah either. But God continued to pour out his grace and mercy and this time spoke his instructions to Aaron too.

Chapter 7:1-7:13 – Moses and Aaron set out to Pharoah–perform the miracle with the staff…but Pharoah’s heart remains hardened. Pharaoh’s magicians imitated the miracles of God…and the court magicians are later named by Paul in Timothy when he warns agains false prophets (2 Timothy 3:8) “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth”. Satan is a good imitator of things that God also does–and the enemy wants nothing more than to fool someone to keep God’s will from happening. But rest assured–the battle has already been won–and NOTHING can thwart the Lord’s plans! NOTHING! Hold fast to Jesus and His Word—have these words written on your hearts so you may be able to know what His will is—His good, perfect and pleasing will. You have nothing to fear when you are a believer and trust the Lord as your Savior! Perfect love drives out fear! When the Lord gives you a task–you can go boldly knowing He is the one beside you and will carry you through.

Let us not give up dear friends on the reading of His Word!!!