Praising God Through Art

I'm always trying to think of ways to incorporate our kids in praising our Creator and connecting with Him personally. As Anneka loves drawing (she loves all sorts of art projects!), I've found that this is a way that we connect with one another and with God. We play a song about God and then as we listen, we draw what God brings to our hearts and minds. It's really neat to see what Anneka comes up with. The rule is that we don't talk at all during the song, but once it's over, we share our artwork with one another. This is Anneka's picture from today. The top is "God shining down". Below that are "the people of the world who are praising God". Next is "God holding the world in his hands". Then, there's a heart for love and at the bottom is a girl singing. (it's a little hard to see in the picture.)

Ella often joins us, too. Here's her creation from today. Both girls are layered in clothes, as our apartment is VERY cold. 1.5 weeks ago it was 91.4 degrees in our warmest room! And now we have to wear long underwear inside (Ike was even in his snowsuit yesterday). We all have runny noses, but this happens every year after they shut the heat off. It's par for the course.

We inherited these dressers from the Wickers, and Leif's mom was nice enough to paint them pink for us last summer. I looked everywhere for handles that fit (as the old ones were broken off), but coudn't find any. Martina had the great idea of using ribbons for handles... and today I put them on! Anneka helped me thread them through the holes.

They turned out pretty good! Ike likes them. =) Today Leif is helping to tear down a room at the church to prepare for a team of workers this summer who will build on an extra room. Yesterday it was so stormy... loads and loads of rain! I LOVE it when it rains here, as it rarely does, and I feel like it cleans the air. But it does make it hard to get warm when the heat is turned off. Our water and electricity were out yesterday, too. We had some guests, but I could only offer them warm tea from what was left over in the tea pot. And we sat in the dark. Also, I had Ike out in the elements and was scolded for taking a baby out into such horrible weather. But he was all snuggled up next to me in the baby carrier, sleeping. He likes the rain.