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In the Jesus Storybook Bible, the author covers the lives of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah. Jacob is the son of Isaac and will continue the family line that God promised would change the world. Jacob loved Rachel for her beauty and rejected Leah for her lack of ascetics. The author focuses on Leah and her realization that she is “lovely because God loves her.”

This lesson is very applicable to us grown up readers too. I have a passion for this topic because I think as a nation we care WAY more about what’s on the outside than what God see’s on the inside. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:3-5a

^“3 Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. ⁴ You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. ⁵ This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful.”

…pretty straight forward right?

Instructions:

I started by going to the craft store and buying two identical boxes but you can use whatever you have around the house.

I found some wrapping paper we had on hand and wrapped up the first box super neatly and nicely. This will represent Rachel in the lesson. (You can add specific things to the box that your child would like i.e. stickers of things they love etc.)

Inside  I put… NOTHING. I didn’t feel like it was necessary to represent Rachel as having bad things in her.

Then I took a plain white box (Leah) and banged it up by rolled it around in the mud.

Inside I put a baby to represent Jesus (the first thing i could find was a 11-12 week in utero baby to size haha, but I would have preferred a nativity baby Jesus) and a beautiful cross to represent Jesus and hidden beauty. Get creative with what you put in your box for the story.

Then I put the boxes right next to each other and asked baby brother what they were. He’s almost 3, so I wasn’t sure how this would go.

After we established they were both gifts, I asked him which one he wanted and he went right for the pretty one! (Yes ! It worked!) He opened it and was disappointed and right away said, “Let’s open the other one!”

“A baby!”, he shouted. He shoved the pretty one aside and has been toting the plain one around all morning showing everyone what’s in his box.

If I were talking to older children, I would drag the anticipation out a bit and talk about what we expected to be in each box. Then after all is opened, I would talk about how just because something seems pretty or exciting to us when we look at it, doesn’t mean what we find inside will be the same. Looks can be deceiving.

The message we’re trying to get across to children (and to us too!) is; what other people think of us means nothing compared to what God thinks of us. If we believe in His Son and what He did for us, we KNOW God loves us and has a purpose for us not based on how beautiful or appealing to others we are on the outside.. but simply because of our hearts, attitudes, and ultimately because of His sovereignty.

Don’t forget to check back and read ALL the interactive activities for the Jesus Storybook Bible. 

The post Activity for the Jesus Storybook Bible: Leah and Rachel, Beauty on the Inside appeared first on My Mundane and Miraculous Life.

Confession, I love jars… I have for a long time (guests even drank out of jars at my wedding!). So when I see stuff on Pinterest that has anything to do with glass jars, I check it out. One awesome idea: Lunch in a jar!

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When I first started my job, I saw these salads in a jar and I got super excited for three reasons.

1. I hate getting up in the morning! So the less I have to do, the better.
2. I wanted to start eating more raw, fresh foods.
3. I love jars!!

There are TONS of these recipes going around out there in the Pinterest world but really… you don’t need a recipe. Just think of your favorite salads and boom: inspiration.

Here are the rules that I follow…

• Always put the dressing on the bottom
• Wet veggies/fruits first
• Leave the meat out until I’m gonna eat it

So I start with a quart sized jar for a full-meal portion.

Buffalo Chicken and Ranch Salad

First, I put ranch dressing in. (I always just guesstimate, the less dressing, the more healthy!) Next, thinly sliced green onions (so that they marinade) And then, my wet veggies.. Agian, I guesstimate the amounts of veggies to my liking. I used roughly: half a tomato, a handful of match stick sliced carrots, 1/3 of a cucumber, and a 1/2 of both green and red peppers.

*While I’m prepping my veggies I’m sauteing my chicken in buffalo sauce YUM!*

Then I threw in some baby corn and fresh mozzarella.. this recipe (if you can call it that since there are no specifics!) is one salad but the trick is to do as many as you need for the week! So while I was making this salad I was using some of the same veggies to make other salads!

Wahoo! Killing like 6 birds with one stone!

(moment of truth… I didn’t feel like cleaning my whole kitchen so I just cleaned this corner and jammed everything in)

Now I’m done! I typically don’t put the lettuce in because I wash everything and my lettuce is still wet (I need a lettuce spinner!) so I put my freshly washed lettuce with some paper towels into a large ziplock baggie and let them drip dry. Then when I’m getting my lunch packed in the morning I grab a few large leaves, tear ’em up and throw ’em in. I also leave my meat out until I’m ready to eat… but that’s just me, I’m weird like that. *wink*

After all is said and done, I usually have 3 or 4 big salads for myself and 4 or 5 little side salads for my husband (since he’s on the road and can’t enjoy a big plateful of salad these are easy for him to eat out of the jar).  When you’re ready to eat them give it a good shake to get the dressing all over and dump it onto a plate.

So colorful…so healthy…so fast and easy for busy mornings…what’s not to love?? – V

Want to find other great recipes on Pinterest? Follow Julie’s Recipe board, full of the yummiest meals from around the web!

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Hi friends!

Sorry it’s been awhile, I got a job which leaves me too busy to do posts often but I couldn’t skip this one!

My science kids are learning about the Integumentary System and I couldn’t pass up this awesome idea that I found here.

Ingredients:

Red Jello

Mini Marshmallows

Fruit Roll Up

Twizzlers (pull apart)

Originally, I had us make it together but the jello didn’t set fast enough (you live and you learn) so the next week I made it the night before.

We made the Jello, poured it into a small square bowl and put the marshmallows on top of the unset jello. Then give it enough time for it to set properly.

When the jello is set, run the knife around to “unstick” it from the sides and plop it out onto a big enough dish…

So far you have your Hypodermis (the Marshmallows) and your Dermis (the Jello) next you deed to add your Epidermis (the Fruit Roll Up) Poke holes in it first with a skewer or tooth pick

We used blue so the different skin layers would be more obvious.

Next its time to add some hair!!

Pull your licorice apart and cut (or tear like I did) your “hairs” to desired lengths and stick ’em in your “pre-poked” holes.

Ta-Dah Skin Layer cake!

Super easy, super helpful for visual learners, and super yummy if you like Jello (which I don’t… haha).

Anyways that’s all for now, hope you have as much fun as we did!

~Vanessa

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The post Edible Skin Layers Cake appeared first on My Mundane and Miraculous Life.

Another guest post from Vanessa, today! (Thanks Dude for getting me through this vacation/sickness lull! You’re the best!)

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This summer I’ve been blessed to nanny a family of boys. On Mondays, they get to have a play date, so even. more. boys!

This week, when I was grocery shopping, I found an egg full of Colorful Mini Dinosaur Erasers
so I decided to do something extra fun for no particular reason.

Dinosaur Day!

Sunday night, I re-purposed a fast-food drink carrier by flipping it over and painting various “prehistoric hangout spots” on it. A volcano, lava pool,  tar pit, watering hole, and a mud pond!

Perfect for small world play!

Then I made up a batch of “mud” ice-cubes. I made mine out of water with enough instant decaf coffee to darken it so that the Dino’s were frozen and hidden inside!

On Monday our Dino day started with getting “surprises” out of the frozen mud. (Sorry the picture quality isn’t great)

Here’s the first discovered Dino; excitement ensued!

 After they saved all the baby dinosaurs from the mud, I brought out “Dino Land.”

At first, they just had the painted drink carrier and some brown play dough (which smelled like chocolate, A-mazing!).

Then we added some “nests” and pipe cleaner trees, a Tupperware container with real water and a corn meal “sandy”beach.

I didn’t get a picture until they had played in it for quite a while so it’s not very pretty but…they played with it for hours!

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Today we get the privilege of Vanessa guest posting again!  This scientific post is quite literally a treat!

I love science, and I love activities that are also edible so this was perfect!

In the science class I’m teaching we’re learning about the Nervous System. The science book I teach out of suggested making a model of a Neuron out of clay but when I see clay models I always want to look for an edible version. Trustworthy Pinterest led me to this project by “A School of Fish”! I didn’t have the kids label each part of the neuron model, but we did discuss each part of our model and pointed to each part of the Neuron as I read the chapter.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Fruit Roll Ups – for the cell body and nucleus (I bought a variety pack of fruit roll ups so that the cell body and the nucleus could be different colors)

Twizzlers Pull-n-Peel – for the axon

Twizzlers (cut in small sections) – for the myelin sheath. I ended up cutting a slit in my pieces so that the kids could just wrap it around the pull-n-peels instead of threading it through.

I just showed them a picture in the science book for an example and let them create their own version. Some were pretty close to the picture while others were a bit more artistic.

So fun and yummy!

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Today I’ve asked my friend Vanessa to share a brilliant way she made her own matching game. Vanessa and I went to college together and she has a background in a Montessori classroom. Read more about her and the Montessori approach here. Or check out her blog! Without further ado…

I recently went to the dollar store looking for activities for the kiddos in my life. Calendars were 2 for a dollar! I bought one with this matching work project in mind. My baby brother is at the age for matching. We had a similar “work” at the school I taught at.

Here are the supplies:

You can do this a couple of ways. Either match the preview picture on the back of the calendar with the larger monthly picture, or buy two identical calendars and then the images with be identical of course.

My calendar had the small pictures on the back and on the first page so there were plenty of smaller images to use.

(This way it could be transformed into the memory game too!)

I glued my pictures to thick card stock paper

they are different sizes but my card stock is the same size so from the back you can’t tell

I don’t have a laminator (on my wish list!) but packing tape or contact paper works just fine!

and its that easy!

Baby brother loved it and figured it out right away!

Super easy and cheap. Pick the pictures that interest your kiddos and make up your own extensions to it e.g. story telling cards.

-V

The post DIY Matching Game appeared first on My Mundane and Miraculous Life.

Hello!

My name is Vanessa and I’m excited that Julie asked me to blog occasionally on MM&ML!

I thought it  be good to give everyone a little insight into my life.

I was home-schooled from 1st grade through high school and I wouldn’t change it for anything! I love my love for learning that I think home-schooling allowed me to develop.

I am a Christ follower. I am married to a wonderful man and have two babies in heaven you can read about that on my personal blog if you ever want insight into a grieving mamas heart.

I always have and hope I always will work with children. I love teaching. I’ve been blessed with lots of younger siblings, nanny/babysitting gigs, and years working at a wonderful Christian Montessori preschool.

Montessori, for those who might not be familiar, is a teaching method that is very hands-on. Children are encouraged to learn at their own pace, and it fosters a sense of independence that will grow with the child. Following the Montessori method children (mostly) use real things (as opposed to plastic). They are allowed to work with whatever they choose for as long as they are interested in it.

I will confess I am by no means an expert in Montessori but I do love some of the ideas and lessons I took away from my time working at that school!

Currently I am nannying for 3 boys, teaching a home-school science class and helping my mom with my youngest two siblings. I hope to share some fun ideas/projects and DIY’s for others to try.

Anyways, that’s my life in a nutshell

-Vanessa

The post New Guest Blogger!!! Welcome Vanessa! appeared first on My Mundane and Miraculous Life.