Archives for August 2013

{My kido’s first day of school yesterday}

Yesterday, my “Middlest” jumped into the van after her first day of second grade squealing with excitement. “Mama! we did the COOLEST experiment in class today- we just HAVE to do it at home so everyone can see what I’m talking about!” I asked her what kind of experiment it was and she began,”All’s ya have to do is put an egg in vinegar and the vinegar eats the egg shell and turns the egg into a bouncy ball!”

Hmmm….that did sound pretty cool. 

So, when we got home, I looked over her syllabus and sure enough…there was the egg experiment description with a little note. It said, ” This experiment shows us that just a little bit of acid, after a while, will eat away at the shell of the egg. The bible also tells us this lesson….just a little bit of sin, after a while, can start to chip away at us. In this particular instance the vinegar also hardens the egg. Likewise, our hearts can become hardened if we keep allowing sin into our lives.”  

I thought to share this with with you ladies in hopes that you too will do this experiment at home with your children! It sure does teach a valuable lesson -and yes, it’s pretty cool too. 

So thankful my daughter has such a wise and loving teacher. SO thankful. I get tears just thinking about it. 

Ehh hem…so, here we go. 

Fill a clear container with white vinegar and drop an egg inside {you had no idea that this was all you had to do to be a “super cool mom”, did you?}. You can see the bubbles start to form around the egg immediately! 

“Do not be misled :Bad company corrupts good character.”

~1 Corinthians 15:33

I talked to the kidos about this verse while we watched the bubble form around the egg shell.

I explained that sometimes the friends we choose to be around can make bad decisions – those decisions can, in turn, rub off on us too. We can choose to start being like them instead of how God wants us to be! It’s sooo important to reach out all people, but our closest friends should bring out the best out in us. If we know someone is doing something wrong, we need to love them enough to let them know it could hurt them and make the choice to do what God wants us to do in our own lives instead. If we don’t, before ya know it- those little lies here and there add up and cause a lot of damage! 

Can I get an amen?

I am certain my kidos will be on both sides here in life -haven’t we ALL been? Oh, how desperately we need a Savior.  

Pretty neat, hu?

This is about 18 hours later…

By 24 hours this is what it looked like- a rubber ball. Woah. Amazing. 

“Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their hearts falls into trouble”

~ Proverbs 28:14

You can see that even the inside hardened from just a little bit of acid over a period of time! Wow. 

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

~1 Corinthian 15:57

Noooo. Not the bell.

By grace. Amazing grace…

What’s grace, you ask?

It’s getting something that we don’t deserve.

It’s a gift.

A”get out of jail free” card.

A pardon.

There isn’t anything we can do to get grace…it isn’t earned.

God can’t possibly love us anymore than he already does. So, there should never be guilt-driven deeds, tithes, works, etc. going on in our lives.

“For it is by grace you have been saved , through faith-and this is not from yourselves-it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast”

~Ephesians 2:8-9

So often we can get “religion” and “grace” intertwined….but truly, they aren’t the same. In fact, I get the “he bee jee bees” when people label me as a “religious” person- because I’m not. I’m saved by grace, not religion. I’m not religious at all, actually.

What I know is this-Because I love Jesus, what He did for me and continues to do for me, I can’t help myself but to read his word daily, be obedient to Him, pray to Him throughout the day, teach my children to love Him, tell others about Him, and {this is a really fun part} love others~ because when I love others, I am loving Him. 

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”

~Matthew 25:40

I encourage you, sweet friends….to stop… relax…. bask in the knowledge that if you were the only person on Earth- Jesus would have died for just YOU.

That’s really something.

That’s everything.

Give of yourself… because you can’t help yourself…to be motivated by the deepest love there ever was.

Questions about salvation? e-mail me at JMNehrenz@me.com – I don’t have all the answers, but I have a bible and it does. Much love to you!!!!!