How To Make Bender Doll Angels

Christmas Tradition

by Jeannine Carroll

I wrote The Christmas Gift because I love this simple tradition and wanted to share it with other families. I, also, believe there is no greater gift we can give children than helping them to know the real meaning of the Christmas story. 

 The story and tradition, shared in the book, focus's on Christ's birth and sharing God's love through acts of kindness.  At the beginning of the Christmas season, the family puts out the empty manger and bag of straw. With each good deed, they put a piece of straw in the manger. By Christmas morning, the goal is to have a full manger and give baby Jesus the gift of a warm bed, filled with kindness. But, we also know that Jesus is the very best Christmas Gift of all!

I'm sharing this tradition, just in case you don't have the book set yet, to let you know that I have added an angel to the set!  In the book, there is an angel on each page. She is watching over the family as they do their good deeds.  

When my niece, Ashley, who is a young Christian mother, read the book, she suggested that I add an angel to the set.  Parents could move the angel to different places each day, during the Christmas season, to remind their children that God's loving care is always watching over them - And sometimes He uses angels! 

Since I have put all the sets together and paint each baby Jesus, I wanted to find an angel that I could make  I found the Bender Dolls and I love them!  I came up with angels dressed in white and angels dressed in Christmas colors.  After many parents asked for a boy angel, I now have one!

Boy Angel-Afro-American

Boy Angel in my Etsy Store

Father's Day- My Guiding Star

by Jeannine Carroll

I teach senior fitness classes and wanted to have a gift for the father's on Father's Day.  I wrote this story to portray the immense importance of Christian father's and the role they play in guiding their children.
I made a star tie tac to give each father.  It was fun!  (I marbled red, white and blue polymer clay and cut the stars out with little cookie type cutters).

                                                                                                                                                                   

Tie Tacs and Card for Fathers

As a boy, one weekend my family decided to go camping in the nearby Rockies.  After Mom and my two younger siblings had gone to bed, Dad and I were waiting for the campfire to die down.  Finally we shoveled some dirt over the coals and made sure no hot spots were left.  We’d be leaving tomorrow.

Dad said, “Come on, Son.  Let’s take a walk.”  We took a path that lead to an overlook.  As we stopped, I stared down with fascination at a vast ocean of sparkling lights. The city looked endless.

“Now turn around,” Dad instructed, as he switched off his flashlight.  I turned away from the lights of the city below.  My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the nearly moonless night and I could make out shadows of pines and a few aspens.

         “Look up,” Dad said.  I looked up and was amazed by the hundreds of stars I could see.  At home they were a pale sight compared to the bright lights of the city.  Here they were brilliant.

        Dad said, “You know people have not always had electricity and cars and computers. For thousands of years, they looked up to the heavens for guidance.  These stars helped them to find their way.  Now we look to gadgets to help us find our way, thinking we’d be lost without them.”

        “Son, you will never get lost if you remember to look up for God’s guidance.  Sometimes you will have to step away from the world’s brightness to see the true light.”

        As I listened to my dad, even at that young age, I knew that the brightest guiding star God had given me, was talking to me right now.

••••••••••

        Fathers have been guiding their children since the beginning of time.  The greatest have taught them to look up to find answers to life’s purpose.

Please accept this pin as a symbol of the “Guiding Star” you have been to the generations that follow close behind you. Thank you for accepting the life’s work of being a father.  There is no greater calling.

Happy Father’s Day!

       

"Flying a Sign"

I recently had a long talk with a woman who had spent many years of her life homeless.  She had worked for carnivals for twenty-five years and had developed friendships with other workers.  Many of them had alcohol or drug addictions.  They would travel together, sometimes sleeping in cars or pitching in to get a motel room.
When the economy turned down, they could no longer make it working in the carnivals.  She told me about "flying a sign."  When they needed money, one of them would go out for a few hours and stand on a corner with their signs, asking for help.
I was fascinated to hear about the ways people responded to them.  She told me that they were often given bags with toiletries and toothbrushes (which is funny since she didn't have any teeth).  They received snack bags and lots of protein bars and bottles of water.
She told me that they had people who would regularly give them bags of groceries.  They, also, received lots of gift cards from Chick-fil-A (Way to go Christians!) and other places.  She said that there was one thing they didn't get but could use and that was laundry detergent. 
Did you know people were doing this?  I didn't.  Not too long ago, I saw a young man get out of his car and go over and give someone a loaf of bread.  I thought this was an isolated event.  Little did I know!  I am so inspired by the goodness of people!  Thank all of you who are regularly helping others in this way!

Thought Conditioners

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was the author of The Power of Positive Thinking.  When he was young he memorized 40 little verses, most of them ten words or less.  These have been published in a book called Thought Conditioners , which I am not sure is still in publication.  Here is a link to a pdf of all of them and Dr. Peale's insights:   Dr. Peale's Thought Conditioners.  Thank you Sermon Publications for making them available!

What a great idea!  You may have verses or sayings that just come into your head when something happens.  I know I do, but I don't remember ever making a point of memorizing them.  We may not know where they are found in the Bible or who said them, but they still impact our decisions and thoughts.

What if we made a point of teaching these simplified "Thought Conditioners" to our children?  Summer is a great time for learning together.  We could make cards with the verses on them and review them in the car on a road trip or at other times.

I have made a page titled Bible Verses to Inspire.  You can see the entire verses on the link at the top of this page.  I am using the NIV but you may prefer another version.  Some verses I memorized in the KJV and they just come naturally to my mind.  

I have shortened some verses, but have not changed the original meaning, to make them easier to remember.  I will include where they are found in the Bible.  I am not using all of Dr. Peale's original verses and I have added some of my own.

Here are some powerful Thought Conditioners:

1.  "What is impossible with men is possible with God."  
Luke 18:27

Good Deeds- Bookmarks

by Jeannine Carroll

I recently received a surprise gift from a group I love and teach.  I wanted to thank each of them in a personal way, without spending too much.
I had a collection of used greeting cards so I decided to make bookmarks for them and write a thank you note on the back.  My hope was that they would keep the bookmarks and be reminded of how much I treasure each of them!  

Bookmarks

Father's Day Quotes

I love to celebrate Good Fathers!  If  you have been lucky enough to have one, you have been truly blessed!  I would love to hear your stories about your father!

Here are some of my favorite quotes and sayings:                                                                                                 

"A child looks up at the stars and wonders.

Great fathers put a child on his shoulders and

 helps them to grab a star."

"A good father is one of the most unsung,
unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the
most valuable assets in our society." ~Billy Graham

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a Father's protection." 

 ~Sigmund Freud

"The greatest gift I ever had came from God;

I call him Dad!"

"A dad is someone who wants to catch you before you fall, but instead,

picks you up, brushes you off

and lets you try again."

"Some people believe in Heroes, but they haven't met my Dad."

"My Father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person,

he believed in me." ~Jim Valvano

"My father didn't tell me how to live...

He lived, and let me watch him do it."

~Clarence Kelland

"Next to eternal life, the most precious gift that our Father in Heaven can bestow upon man,

 is his children." ~David G. MaKay

"Every father should remember that one day his child will follow his example instead of his advice."

"Dad, you're someone to look up to no matter how tall I've grown!"

Happy Father's Day!

At Days End by John Hall

John Hall's poem says so much!  At the end of the day, I like to take a quick look over all I did and ask myself, "What if I hadn't done that?  Would it have mattered?

At Days End

Is anybody happier because you passed his way?

Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?

The day is almost over, and its toiling time is through

Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?

Can you say tonight in parting, with the day that's slipping fast, 

That you helped a single brother, of the many that you passed?

Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said?

Does the man whose hopes were fading, now with courage look ahead?

Did you waste the day or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?

Did you leave a trail of kindness, or a scar of discontent?

As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that God will say

You have earned one more tomorrow, by the work you did today?

(Thank goodness we don't have to earn Heaven! ~J.C.)