22 Mother's Day Ideas

22 Mother’s Day Ideas Every Mom Would Love To Have

            With Mother’s Day just around the corner, you might be wondering what to give or what to do on this special day. Below are some ideas that would surely make every mother get teary-eyed on this special occasion. Don’t forget the hugs and kisses to go along with these ideas =). 

1.  Top 52 of your favorite memories you made together. Include why they are your favorite. Mom could read this for the next 52 weeks until next Mother’s day.
2.  A video of children/grandchildren singing to them or giving them messages.
3.  Personalized jewelry with her favorite Bible verse.
4. A book from her favorite author.
5.  A video of the husband greeting her if she’s a military wife.
6. Cook her favorite dish and had a blast celebrating Mother’s day at home.
7. Gift cards for her to buy what she wants.
8. Bouquet of her favorite flowers.
9. DIY gifts she would have never thought you could make.
10. Breakfast in bed! Yes she would love that!
11. Doing the week’s laundry =)
12. Stylish scarves.
13. A collection of her favorite herbs arrange in a mini garden for her kitchen.
14. That one thing you think she’s been longing to have but just could not.
15. A quilt with all the handprint or footprint of all her children/grandchildren.
16. Bookmarks with a picture of children/grandchildren.
17. Love letters from the kids or grandkids hidden in unexpected places around the house.
18. A super mom declaration printed out with photos of kids/grandkids.
19. A card with greetings from all member of the immediate family.
20. A box of things she’d collected over the years about you, like your first cut hair, your nails, your bracelet from the hospital, the one baby clothes you worn that she’s been hiding all those years.
21. A video or record of you singing her favorite song.
22. A list of 22 things you love about her printed in a card and put in a gift box.

Some April quotes

“April weather, rain and sunshine both together"

“Come forth ye blossoms over hill and lea

 A breathe of sweetness wantons a=with the sea

 And mid the smiles and tears of tender spring

 On dripping boughs I heard the throstle sing

 Ye cups and stars that strew the fair, green field

 Ye wings of gold the prickly gorses yield

 Ye pensive bells to purple pageants born

 Ye milk-white may-buds of the mantling thorn

 Ye violet gems and eyes of sapphire blue

 Wan, flushing wind flowers and shy elfin crew

 Of every crannied wall, -come forth and fling

 Your vernal showers around me while I sing”

-E. M. Holden

“Soon o’er their heads blithe April airs shall sing

A thousand wild flowers round them shall unfold

The green buds glisten in the dews of spring

And all be vernal rapture as of old”

                                      -J. Keble

The young lambs are bleating in the meadows

The young birds are chirping in the nest

The young fawns are playing with the shadows

The young flowers are blowing toward the west

Go out children from the mine and from the city

Sing out children as the little thrushes do

Pluck your handfuls of the meadow-cowslips pretty

Laugh aloud to feel your fingers let them through

                     -The Cry of the Children, E. B. Browning

Again the blackbirds sings; the streams Wake,
laughing, from their winter dreams,
And tremble in the April showers
The tassels of the maple flowers.

-John Greenleaf Whittier Quotes , Source: The Singer (st. 20)

“I love the season well when forest glades are teeming with bright forms,
Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell The coming of storms.”

                                           -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Oh, the lovely fickleness of an April day!”

-William Hamilton Gibson Quotes 

“The first of April, some do say Is set apart for All Fools' day;
But why the people call it so, Nor I, nor they themselves, do know.”

-Unattributed Author Quotes , Source: Poor Robin's Almanac--All Fools' Day

“Now the noisy winds are still; April's coming up the hill!
All the spring is in her train, Led by shining ranks of rain;
Pit, pat, patter, clatter, Sudden sun and clatter patter! . . . . 
All things ready with a will, April's coming up the hill!”

-Mary Mapes Dodge Quotes , Source: Now the Noisy Winds Are Still

“A gush of bird-song, a patter of dew,
A cloud, and a rainbow's warning,
Suddenly sunshine and perfect blue--
An April day in the morning.”

-Harriet Prescott Spofford Quotes

“Make me over, Mother April, When the sap begins to stir!
When thy flowery hand delivers All the mountain-prisoned rivers,
And thy great heart beats and quivers, To revive the days that were.”

-Richard Hovey Quotes 

“The lyric sound of laughter Fills all the April hills
The joy-song of the crocus, The mirth of daffodils.”

-Clinton Scollard Quotes , Source: April Music

Today, not Tomorrow

"She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying." Mark 14:8

       Many people would have kept the jar of perfume until Jesus was dead, and would then have broken it to anoint his cold body. At least, that is the way too many of us do in these days. We wait until our friend dies—and then send our flowers and speak our words of appreciation.

      Should we not learn a lesson from Mary? The kind words we mean to speak when our friends are dead—let us speak while they can hear them! The flowers we mean to send for their coffin—let us send to brighten the rough paths for their feet. The epitaphs we mean to put upon white marble—let us carve in deeds of gentle love while our friends are with us. Words of cheer today—are what people crave.
     "Withhold all eulogies when I am dead, All noisy sorrow;Give me the tender word today Instead of tears tomorrow."
(JR Miller)

Walk with God

     

 "So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran." Genesis 12:4

      

      That was faith. Obedience proved it. Abram did not know where he was going; he had simply the call of God and a promise. But he asked no questions. He did not insist on knowing how his journey would come out, how profitable it would be, just what he would get in exchange for the land he was leaving and the sacrifice he was making. Quietly, without question or hesitation, he arose, cut the ties that bound him to his old home, and departed.

      

      That is the kind of faith all of us should have, whenever God gives us a call and a promise. Some people want to see where they are going before they will begin to follow Christ; but that is not walking by faith at all.

      We should not trouble ourselves to know where we are to be led, if only we know that God is leading us. His guidance is safe; and we should be willing to trust him, do precisely what he says, and go just where he leads, without asking any questions. Abraham's life is a picture of a true "walk with God."
- JR Miller

Sorrows are but incidents in life...

        "After the death of Moses the LORD's servant, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant. He said—Now that my servant Moses is dead—you must lead my people across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them." Joshua 1:1-2

          Sorrow came to you yesterday—and emptied your home. Your first impulse now is to give up and sit down in despair amid the wrecks of your hopes. But you dare not do it. You are in the line of battle, and the crisis is at hand. To falter a moment, would be to imperil some holy interest. Other lives would be harmed by your pausing. Holy interests would suffer—should your hands be folded. You must not linger even to indulge your grief. Sorrows are but incidents in life, and must not interrupt us. We must leave them behind, while we press on to the things that are before.

        Then God has so ordered, too, that in pressing on in duty—we shall find the truest, richest comfort for ourselves. Sitting down to brood over our sorrows, the darkness deepens about us and creeps into our heart, and our strength changes to weakness. But if we turn away from the gloom, and take up the tasks and duties to which God calls us—the light will come again and we shall grow stronger!

(JR Miller)

Jonah and the Whale

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

            Such words of wisdom from the Bible inspire me to teach Sunday School kids during my “single” days aside from the benefit I personally and spiritually gained from teaching.  I enjoyed teaching that I totally miss it when I stop to tend to my first born child.

            Then just recently I am challenge once again to teach and get involve in the ministry. We only have one Sunday school teacher in our mission church and I have to step in every time she is not able to teach. I never realize how I have missed teaching until I was once again in front of the children.

            More so I am challenge because I can see that there are a lot of things to be done in the children’s ministry. I am challenge when I saw that we lack lot of materials for activities and crafts. I am challenge that their classroom needed a makeover. And I am challenge to make a difference in the lives of these kids. I believe in a good foundation so it is but right to teach children the ways of God as young as they are.

I am grateful that brethren in our mother church are more than willing to give some materials for the Sunday school so we can have something to use. I also scoured some of my materials which I used and keep not so long ago (at this moment I thank God that I am quite such a hoarder) =) at least we have something to use and I don’t need to buy much.

            My journey once again as a Sunday school teacher began, this time it is more challenging and quite difficult because I have with me my one year old son as I taught. Just blessed that he is not so hard to handle during class time (though there are times =)

            Last Sunday I taught them about Jonah, his disobedience to God and him learning that Salvation is of the Lord. The kids are excited to learn, I can see that but they are more than excited during crafts/activity time. I can tell that they enjoy doing their crafts so much. Below is the picture of the craft they made to go along with the lesson on Jonah and the Whale.

            We made a boat and put some people on it. Use a popsicle stick to stand the sail. And write their memory verse on the sail. The kids then paste their boat on a piece of construction paper (some on bond paper), draw some waves and a whale. You can never tell how creative kids can be when it comes to arts and crafts, so just let them bring out their creativity. Some of them make a little Jonah in front of an open-mouthed whale as if ready to swallow.

            If you are wondering how we made the boat, check this out:

How to make a boat (paper folding)

            There goes our Sunday, how about you? If you are a Sunday school teacher too, you can use the crafts we had made. I forgot to take a picture of the crafts we made when we had our fruit of the spirit lesson. But I made the kids draw nine fruits of their choice, colored it and write the fruits of the spirit on each fruit they made. Never forget to tell them to write their memory verse on their crafts/activity so that they will not forget it. I made them bring home whatever crafts they made to show to their parents.

             If you used this craft, don't forget to leave a comment and maybe some pointers too=)

            Happy crafting! =) God Bless!

            

A New Journey

Many times I tried so hard to be up to date in publishing new posts here in my blog but poor me I couldn't keep up. With my husband finally commissioned to be the Pastor of a mission church, we basically come and go from our house to the mission place.

I know there will be great adjustments and some difficulties and lots of challenges ahead of us but on top of that I am actually excited to what God has prepared for us in that new place. Being a missionary family and a missionary wife post great responsibilities but I know that God had chosen us to be in that place and God will enable and will qualify those He had chosen.

We had been living in two places and sleeping in two houses for the past months since we did not fully move in yet to the new place. We are here in our old house (staff house actually of the church where my husband is working) during weekdays and go to the mission place on weekends. It’s not that far but sometimes travelling is a challenge if we won’t go early in the afternoon of Fridays. No taxi will say yes to us especially if they see that we had tons of loads =) (that’s because we are slowly gathering and moving our things and we carry what we can every time we go there).

So those are the things that are going on with me and this family of mine for the past months. And so now we love what we are doing and loving the new place and loving the new journey God has given us.

And I am excited to tell you all that finally we had our first Ladies Fellowship last Saturday. We are using Myrna Alexander’s After God’s Heart Bible Study Series on Loving and Obeying God based on the Book of 1 Samuel. It’s a great study and as a Christian Woman it is my desire to be a woman after God’s heart. I am happy that God had given me the privilege to lead a Bible study as part of our church’s ladies ministry.

We finish our first topic, Coping with Pain where we study how Hannah coped up with her pain of being barren and for being constantly ridiculed by her adversary. We learn some Biblical ways and principles on dealing with painful and difficult situations. We also discover about faithfulness both of Hannah and of God.

And one thing I could not shake off is the principle that when we are facing life difficulties, we should turn to God first not to anything or anyone else and just give Him our emotions and tell Him everything. Oftentimes we seek relief in life’s hardships by turning to people, friends and relatives or by going out and relaxing instead of facing them and laying them at the feet of Jesus first.

So there goes my week =) Thanking and Praising God for His blessings! =)