Does it ever overwhelm you how God has given us so much?

I shared last week how I found out that I would be teaching Mystery of History next year. Even though I have taught in schools and have a teaching degree, I have never taught history in a classical way like Mystery of History does and I have never taught 11 students from 1st – 8th grade before.

Since Mystery of History: Ancient Times covers the time of Creation all the way through  the resurrection of Christ, I am also going to teach Bible at the same time. Here is how I have been overwhelmed by all that God has given us and by the goodness of God to direct our paths. I will put each link as a bullet point below so you can go to the various resources if you wish.

I had started looking at Bright Ideas website at all of the different supplemental resources they provide to go along with Mystery of History. I was debating whether or not we needed to buy the supplemental CD ($149 for a co-op license) or just buy the notebooking pages. I decided to start googling notebooking pages, when — duh — I remembered I had a lifetime subscription to NotebookingPages.com. I went over there and found tons of notebooking pages I could use.

• There are many free resources even without the subscription to NotebookingPages HERE.
• I googled some more and found an incredible set of pages at The Notebooking Nook.
• I found these awesome timeline characters from My Homeschool Printables. She has them for all 4 volumes!
• BibleStoryPrintables.com also had a whole set of notebooking pages and timeline printables that coincide with Volume 1.
• Then I went and asked to join the Yahoo group for Mistory of History, Volume 1. Holy cow! They have so much free information right in that group. I LOVED the listening guides they have for every. single. lesson!!! (And the answers — all printable!) So cool! They have supplemental files with ideas for videos and extra readings.  And there are lesson plans showing how they used Story of the World, The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, Usborne Encyclopedia of the Ancient World, Veritas Press History Cards, Victor Journey through the Bible (or David C. Cook Journey Through the Bible by V. Gilbert Beers), and more. Because I’m geeky enough, that yes, I ordered all those books (all were used books on Ebay and Amazon of course) — and more — as I want the kids to have real books to look upon and I want my 7th – 8th graders to do more reading than what MOH provides in their lesson plan. I’ll do another post with all the books I have ordered so far — and I’m going to stop looking as I have more than enough now.
• In the supplemental information, the links for some videos kept directing to the TBN website, but I couldn’t find the videos. I finally found out that the videos, Ancient Secrets of the Bible,  are now all available on Amazon Prime — yay for me as I am a Prime member! I need to watch the videos first to make sure they line up with what we believe, but they look like they might be good. You have to be a Prime member to watch these for free. You can always try Amazon Prime for a 30-Day Free Trial to see if it is worth it for you to be a Prime member. (affiliate link)
• My biggest hang-up was what was I going to have my 7th and 8th graders do for Bible that was challenging enough but yet not teacher intensive as I am just a volunteer at our little school and I still have to teach phonics to two different grade levels and get home to get stuff done for part or the day. I went to a website where a blogger was sharing her lesson plans. She had her high school kids read The Lie by Ken Ham. I thought about ordering it, but I first went to Answers In Genesis’s website. Can you believe that The Lie is online for free — and many other books and videos as well. And they have a whole kid section with printable kid devotionals and kid videos and kid books and free printable PDF’s? I knew they had videos that could be watched, but not all this other stuff! Talk about doing a happy dance and also having my brain explode with too much information!

I have too much information now! This never would have been possible 10-15 years ago. Only in this information era with the worldwide web at our disposal are we able to take advantage of all these resources. I am also so thankful for all of these bloggers who have made notebooking pages and other resources and let us download it for free! Amazing!

God has given us so much — not just in our ability to study and have quality education for our children at an affordable price. Every day as we look around us and see how much God has showered us with His blessings, our hearts should respond in praise and adoration.

What are you praising God for today?

Here were two heartfelt posts from last week:

• Divorce and Children: Get Over Yourself from Kandy Apple Mama
• To Each of My Children on Mother’s Day from Lovely Little Lives

Here are the rules for this linky:

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
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These Thoughtful Thursdays are supposed to be what I am learning each week. However, some weeks, it doesn’t feel like I’m learning much.

Last week was a great week. We had an uplifting, God-honoring Easter service on Sunday. There were many visitors at church, and we had the highest attendance we have had since we have been here. That is an answer to prayer, and we are praying that many of those visitors will continue to come and have a stronger relationship with the Lord.

We had a relaxing afternoon at home, and I was able to talk to my extended family via Skype for a couple of hours — that was wonderful.

This week, we are back in the groove of school, but I am also preparing for our missions conference that will start this Saturday! I made 7 pencil pouches for the missionary kids to go with some coloring pads, and tomorrow I am going shopping for all the food I need. It will be fun!

I told my husband that I because of my busyness, I did not know what to write for today’s post. He told me to take one of his newletters he does for our church — so I will! I always learn from his teaching, and I know you will enjoy it too. I went all the way back to the first one he wrote for our church which was from his sermon called, “Marks of a True Friend.”

What I find amazing is that we never outgrow our need of a good friend. Sometimes I think we feel that kids are the only ones who deal with peer pressure over the desire to have friends. But I have seen grown women also wanting to fit into the “in-group” and desiring a really good friend. I remember a time in my life as a young mom where I wanted a good friend. God gave me those friends — and five children so that now I don’t desire a friend as much as I’m so busy!

God has made us so that we desire companionship and good friends. But we need to make sure that we have good friends — and that we are a true friend ourselves!

Here are three marks of a true friend:

• A friend gives hearty counsel. 

Proverbs 27:9 states, “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.”   Hearty counsel is counsel that is from the heart, counsel that is earnest and full of life.  It is biblical counsel that comes from a heart of love and concern; it is offered in a state of humility and confidence.    This type of friend says “I love you and I want to help you be more effective for the Lord.”  It desires a life of spiritual fruitfulness.  We welcome and encourage that type of friendship.   A friend who gives good counsel will keep you on the right path when you have many options from which to choose.

• A friend gives good correction.

Proverbs 27:6 declares, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”  A friend who will not correct me when I am wrong is no friend at all.  Since no one is perfect and it is sometimes hard to see past our blind spots, it requires others to see our faults and shortcomings.  A friend who gives good correction will help you get back on the right path when you have strayed onto the wrong path.  Proverbs 17:7 declares, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”  We should be able to influence each other to have the character and attitudes of Jesus.

• A friend gives continual comfort.

Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”  The bumps of life need the shock absorber of true friends.  Fair-weather friends are no friends at all.  We should be there for each other in good times and bad times.  We should love each other at all times.  Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”  The truth is, our heart’s desire is also God’s desire for us.  We love Him and then we love each other.

I hope this encourages you to find and to be the right kind of friend. Share these verses with your kids so that they know what to be looking for as they look for a good friend. Friends can make or break you! Let’s choose (and be) true friends!

Here are the rules for this linky:

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
2. Link up to three posts that have not been linked up to this linky previously!
3. We would love it if you visited a couple other posts and left a comment or shared/pinned the post!
4. If you include your e-mail in the linky form below you will be added to a weekly reminder e-mail when the link party goes live. Your e-mail will not to added to any other lists or given out.
5. If you wish, please follow Creative K Kids by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on social media.

If you link up, we would love if you put this button somewhere on your blog (sidebar, post, or party page) or provide a text link so that others can also find these great posts.

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• Easter is the most important holiday of our Christian faith.

Therefore, we make a “big deal” of it in our household. It’s easy to make a big deal of it when I sing in the choir, my husband will be doing part of the readings and preaching the sermon. But we don’t want this to become a big day because it is a big day in the church. It is a big day to us personally. Christ died for me individually!

Now the kids have done 3 Easter egg hunts, will get Easter baskets, and will color Easter eggs. So to balance off the secular — because that is fun (but not the meaning of Easter), we make resurrection rolls, do devotions with Resurrection eggs, read Easter picture books such as this one, and do Easter crafts that are religious in nature (like this craft and this craft).

Last week, I shared an easy craft that could be made for Easter with the kids. I asked some other bloggers if they also had some religious crafts or fun activities that could be done for Easter, and here are just a few ideas:

1. Free Printable Celtic Cross Coloring Page from Mama Likes This
2. Resurrection Garden from The Farm Wife Crafts
3. Resurrection Eggs Craft from The Farm Wife Crafts
4. Easter family devotional to share from Adventures in Mommydom
5. Another Easter family devotional for your family and Sunday School class from Adventures in Mommydom
6. {Craft for Kids} Legend of the Dogwood from JDaniel4’s Mom
7. Empty Tomb Garden DIY Easter Decor Project from Mission: To Save
8. Easy Easter Craft for Kids for Juggling Family Life
9. Resurrection Cross Craft for Easter from Simple at Home
10. Resurrection Eggs Color Your Own Printable from  Simple at Home
11. Easter Activity: Family Easter Garden from Weaving Ideas
12. Easy Easter Cross Craft for Kids from Creative K Kids
13. DIY Easter Tissue Paper Suncatchers (cross and printables) from Creative K Kids
14. Cross and Egg craft using colored eggshells or tissue paper — free printables from Creative K Kids

A few other semi-related posts to Easter from last week:

• Free Art-Appreciation Resources for a Montessori-Style Mystery of Easter Tray from Living Montessori Now
• The Burden of this Cross from Being Woven

Here are the rules for this linky:

The thoughtful topics for your posts could be related to but not limited to the following topics:

* homemaking * homeschooling * devotional or Biblical posts * Christian in nature * family/marriage * inspirational *

1. Do NOT link up recipes, reviews, giveaways, diy, or crafts.
2. Link up to three posts that have not been linked up to this linky previously!
3. We would love it if you visited a couple other posts and left a comment or shared/pinned the post!
4. If you include your e-mail in the linky form below you will be added to a weekly reminder e-mail when the link party goes live. Your e-mail will not to added to any other lists or given out.
5. If you wish, please follow Creative K Kids by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on social media.

If you link up, we would love if you put this button somewhere on your blog (sidebar, post, or party page) or provide a text link so that others can also find these great posts.

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