Our February Book of the Month - Pass the Legacy

On my other blog - Grandmas with Heart, we have a Book of the Month. Today I am very happy to let you know of our February Book of the Month which is available to help you be a grandparent who hands down the faith - a book from one of our own Grandmas with Heart - Cathy Jacobs. PASS THE LEGACY: 7 Keys for Grandparents Making a Difference .

Is there breath in you? Then KNOW God has a plan for you! If we are over 55 or 60 years of age, our culture tells us our importance in life has diminished. Yet, God's plan is for us to run the race set before us until our final breath - and to run it well. There is no "retirement" in God's Kingdom. This is true for "grandmas" and "grandpas" as well. It is equally true for "grown-mas" and "grown-pas" who are parents with grown children. Each of us has the God-given job of passing a legacy of faith in Christ to our children and grandchildren.

Words Have a Lasting Impact on Children

Over the years I've shared posts with you which my friend Maralee McKee, the Manner's  Mentor, wrote on her blog; today I'm doing this once again. Maralee once wrote about her visit to a store where she heard unkind words being spoken by a mother to her daughter. Maralee said, "Words linger...words wind their way through our mind dropping off in every nook and cranny. They're never forgotten. Our sub-conscious holds on to them. After all our parent's voice is our first voice of truth. Mama said it's so, so it has to be right."

Maralee is right. Words do have a lasting impact on children; they do "linger" and are remembered throughout a lifetime. She went on to say, "One of two things will happen in the coming years if she's talked to often in this way . . . She'll spend her life trying to over compensate and feeling like she never measures up; or she'll rebel into a reckless lifestyle feeling like, 'What's the use. I'm useless.' Our voice is our child's destiny. Pray daily we will speak gracious life into our children, our correction will be with love, and our encouragement will be to build their character not their egos. And most of all, our words will lead them to their Heavenly Father, so when we mess up as parents, (and we do, and we will some more) they will know their one Parent Who always speaks life . . . glorious life to His children."

Leap Year Fun

Once every four years we have Leap Year with one extra day in the month of February . . . and this coming Saturday is the day! So . . . what could you do to have fun with Leap Year with your grandchildren? Well . . . consider the following . . . 

crafting with grandma - St. Patrick's Day Handprint Rainbow . . . and More!

Yesterday I was browsing on  Pinterest and came across are really cute idea for making a handprint rainbow for St. Patrick's Day! Since I love handprint crafts . . . wait, did I say, "love"??? Since this is a significant understatement, allow me, please, to correct . . . since I LOVE handprint crafts, I knew I would have to share this one with you!

Follow this link and you'll find the simple directions for this cute handprint rainbow . . . I would include a photo of my grandchildren in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, because they are my "treasure" for sure!!! 

100 St. Patrick's Day Ideas!

Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? If so, and if you are looking for some fun ideas you could use with your grandchildren, take a look at this link I found on Pinterest . . . if you follow it, you'll find 100 ideas for recipes, crafts, decorating and more . . . lots of potential fun for sure!

crafting with grandma - Crochet Some Polka-Dot Fun

I found an adorable pattern for crocheted polka dot bears on Pinterest which is sooo cute and would make a great gift for grandchildren or just to have in your home for fun!

I Would Most Sincerely Appreciate Your Help

For nine years I have been writing this blog, sharing ideas, information and resources to help you connect with the children you love and hand down the faith to them. Today I am asking for your help. 

My grandsons helped write the book; Praying Deeper Through the Psalms for Children by collaborating, writing and illustrating - it is designed to help children, ages four through fourteen, learn to talk with God by praying the Psalms back to God. If you are a grandparent/parent or know one (or more) who wants to hand down the faith by helping the children you love learn to be people who pray, please consider the following . . . 

A Gift for You & Bless the Ones You Love

One important thing we are able to do for the children we love is to "bless" them . The Bible has many blessings in it which you may use with the ones you love. You may choose your own blessing to give from a favorite Bible verse or use this one from Psalm 86 . . . 

From One Generation to the Next

I have always found a reading of the Old Testament to be exciting . . . and heartbreaking. You have real people and how their real lives were impacted and changed when they came to know and walk with God; such as David. He went from being a lowly shepherd boy to being the King of Israel. Yes, there were a lot of years between the two, but he knew and walked with God; even as a young teen . . . so much so he was able to trust God to fight for him when facing a giant none of the older soldiers in the army were willing to fight . . . they just ran and hid! He knew, walked with and trusted God to keep him through the years when he was being chased by Saul. Yes, he made some really horrible choices over the years, but when faced with his sin he turned from it and asked God for forgiveness and grace. He wrote the Psalms and modeled for us, even today - how to talk with God; how to worship and praise Him!

Happy Valentine's Day from Grandmas with Heart

On this day when we think about the love we have for others, just look at how Zephaniah 3:17 describes God's love for us, and the ones we love - 

• God's love is shown by His presence with us as He is with us.
• God's love is shown by His choice to save us.
• God's love is shown by the way He rejoices over us.
• God's love is shown by how we are able to find rest in His love.
• God shows His love by singing and being joyful about us!

Oh yes, God absolutely loves us and His great love for us gives us the example to follow in how we show love to others as we . . .

Grandmas with Heart

Many of you who read grandma's cookie jar are grandparents /parents who are focused upon handing down the faith to the children you love; it is one of the reasons you read this blog. On grandma's cookie jar I also include recipes, activities, crafts, product reviews of things in which you may be interested along with some giveaways along with ideas for handing down the faith. While I will continue to post ideas, resources and tools to help you hand down the faith, today I want to be sure you know about my other blog - Grandmas with Heart and invite you to make it a blog you read as well.

Birthday Menu Recipes - Enjoy!

My daughter-in-law's birthday is next week, so we are celebrating Sunday with her choice of dinner . . . my lasagna, oven roasted broccoli, homemade french baguettes and chocolate mousse pie. I have recipes for everything but the pie, so I looked on-line and found a recipe I'm going to try - which I thought I'd share with you today.

grandma's cookbook - Baked Brown Sugar Chicken Wings

My grandsons love chicken wings! Did I say, "loves"? It would be more accurate to say they, LOVE chicken wings! I bought some barbecue honey wings which only had to be put in the oven to bake . . . and they ate them right up! But, today as I browsed on Pinterest I found a recipe for Baked Brown Sugar Chicken Wings and thought, since chicken wings typically are extremely inexpensive to buy, it really would not be that difficult - or even difficult at all - to make them from "scratch"!

Teach it All

I was blessed to grow up in a family of faith in a home with parents and grandparents who believed in God. We went to church together, I remember them all reading their Bibles and hearing them pray. My grandparents loved the hymns and encouraged me to sing. I was blessed to grow up in a family of faith.

I did not, however; learn how to walk with God on my own. Then, as is still often the case now, parents and grandparents were not taught how important it is for them to teach the children they loved how to walk and talk with God on their own. I didn't understand what prayer was really all about and always felt like my prayers never made it past the ceiling, so when I became a parent, I taught my children about the Bible, the people in the Bible, we went to church and were always involved serving in our church - all great things for sure, but I didn't know how to help them learn to talk with God on their own and this is the single greatest thing I wish I had known to do raising them.

Why Not Give it A Try? What Have You Got to Lose?

As parents and grandparents we want to be focused upon handing the faith to the children we love. We know how important it is for us to hand down the faith, because what we say and do does matter - it does make a difference. So, we need to look for ideas, resources and books to help them us this very important thing.

I have personally tried quite a number of things to hand down the faith to my grandsons and while many of the have been effective and have engaged my grandsons in conversations which matter, so they believe and know why they believe, the single most effective thing I have done with them so far, is for me to help them learn to be people who talk with God themselves. We are on week 11 of our focus on prayer and I am able to see how this is starting to make a true difference and am looking forward to watching as they continue to grow closer to God by talking with Him for themselves.

Leap Day - Leap Frog Hats

This year is Leap Year, so I thought it might be fun to find an adorable crochet  pattern for frog hats . . . and found one at this link. This hat would be quick and easy to make and could be a fun addition to celebrating Leap Year Day with your grandkids! 

The Air We Breathe

I tend not to wonder or think about things like the air we breathe and the percentages of the "ingredients" such as nitrogen, oxygen, in it. But, when I read the following  information about the air, I was amazed! Did you know . . .

Why Not Give it a Try?

As grandmas (and grandpas/parents) who believe in, love and walk with Jesus, we certainly want the children we love to do the same. We know how important it is for us to hand down the faith, because what we say and do does matter - it does make a difference. So, we hand down the faith and we look for ideas, resources and books to help us do this very important thing.

I have personally tried quite a number of things to hand down the faith to my grandsons and while many of the have been effective and have engaged my grandsons in conversations which matter, so they believe and know why they believe, the single most effective thing I have done with them so far, is for me to help them learn to be people who talk with God themselves. We are on week 11 of our focus on prayer and I am able to see how this is starting to make a true difference and am looking forward to watching as they continue to grow closer to God by talking with Him for themselves.

Our Book Store is Open

I have wonderful news! We now have a Book Store on this blog where you are able to get digital/pdf copies of books and resources to help you hand down the faith for just $5 each! This means you will be able to get books and resources to equip you and use with the children you love to hand down the faith for less than you might spend at a fast-food restaurant.

One such book which is now available as a digital/pdf copy of Praying Deeper Through the Psalms for Children. This book is for children ages four through fourteen and for just $5 you are able to get it and use with all the children you love to help them learn to talk with God for themselves. Is there possibly a better way to spend $5? I know it is making a difference in my grandsons' lives as they learn to talk with God on their own.