Sunday, April 03, 2011

The 10 Plagues

I am preparing for talking about the plagues that lead up to passover. These are simply my notes.
  1. Water into blood; 7:14-25 (Magicians reproduced this plague)
  2. Frogs; 8:1-15 (Magicians reproduced this plague)
  3. Gnats or lice; 8:16-19 (Magicians could not reproduce this plague and admitted it was by the hand of God)
  4. Flies; 8:20-32 (God made a distinction between His people and Egypt, no flies in Goshen. Pharaoh almost gives in.)
  5. Livestock die; 9:1-7 (God made a distinction between His people and Egypt, no Israelite livestock dies.)
  6. Boils/sores; 8:8-12 (Magicians couldn't even stand)
  7. Hail; 9:13-35 (God tells Pharaoh how to protect His people from this plague. Some servants fear God, some don't. No hail in Goshen. Pharaoh admits he has sinned.)
  8. Locusts; 10:1-20
  9. Darkness; 10:21-29
  10. Death of the firstborn; 12:29
I found a site years ago that showed a mom who had an activity for each plague. I did most of them last year and at least I thought it was fun! Go here to see what she did for Passover. Here is what I used:

  1. Blood - red food coloring in anything with water (toilet, water bottle), wonder if red egg dye could be put in faucets so water coming out of it was red?
  2. Frogs - plastic frogs placed all over, even in food
  3. Gnats or lice - rice (messy, but fun anyway)
  4. Flies - plastic flies everywhere
  5. Livestock die - stuffed and plastic animals everywhere on floors
  6. Boils/sores - the stickers you put on 3 hole punch holes to strengthen them (look like donuts) on dolls, parents and sleeping kids if you can
  7. Hail - practice golf balls, throw lots of them around the room (cotton balls make good snowballs, a possible alternative)
  8. Locusts - can't remember what I did! Maybe plastic grasshoppers?
  9. Darkness - blindfolds, night activities
  10. Death of the firstborn - not an appropriate plague to act out really
I try to do these over the 10 days before Passover. The original plagues actually took much longer, with days between some of them, but that doesn't seem important.

Saturday, April 02, 2011

New life in the garden

I really never post on here. I think about it so often, but still never get around to it. I can only hope I'm spending my time wisely, although I suspect otherwise!

I was about to post some research I am doing in preparation for studying the 10 plagues with the girls, when I realized I should probably post the most important event of 2011: Our 3rd daughter was born!

I've never been consistent about my decision to use their names or what names to use for them on this blog. So here we go, my little flowers they shall be. Daughter #1 will be my Rose, after her mama. She is so like me in many ways, the dear little dreamer. She is currently 4 1/2. Daughter #2 will be Daisy, a sweet pretty little thing. Actually, when I was pregnant with her, her Daddy said when he pictured her he saw a daisy. A tiny girl, she loves things to be in their place and to make people smile. She is currently 2 1/2. And daughter #3, oh I can't decide! I barely know her! Since she is just a bud, we shall call her Sunflower unless she blooms and shows us otherwise. She is our calmest baby yet, perhaps just because she is the third. She is eager to see the world around her and very patient with her mama and her adoring older sisters. She loves to sleep on her Daddy's shoulder, smile and "talk."

This tiny bud of a flower was born in February, our largest baby and my most intense birth to date. I was blessed to have her here at home, my first planned homebirth, and I couldn't have been more thankful to be here. She took her own sweet time to start breathing, giving us quite a scare. After the intensity of labor and the uncertainty of her first few minutes, I felt very very little. The world seemed huge and looming, I felt tiny, and I felt surrounded by God's love in a way I have never felt before. I was almost laid flat by the intense knowledge that my Abba loves me and cares for me in ways I could never imagine or anticipate. I looked at all 3 of my birth experiences and sensed His hand in my life in a way that shook me to my core. A friend, upon hearing my story in detail, said, "Honey, that's the fear of God!" What a gift this birth was, and as always, this baby is.

A few things I've learned since this wonderful little girl made us parents of 3:
  • With 3 kids, I am never alone, and suspect I never will be again. And that doesn't scare me!
  • With 3 kids, you suddenly have to take the garbage out 259 times a day.
  • With 3 kids, I spend every second of every day realizing how much our obedience to our Father in Heaven must bless Him. I spend every second of every day leaning on Him.
So welcome to our garden. Enjoy hearing about the Rose, Daisy and Sunflower, if their Mama has time away from tending them to write.