Sincere Prayers from Little Lips

Last Sunday--what a day! Thankfully we had recovered enough to be in our place at the Lord's House. I am so glad that the Lord gave us the strength to make it through the day, because it would have been a shame to miss all that went on.
First, it was Mother's Day here in Argentina. Unfortunately, just as this nasty "bug" attacked our home, it hit a lot of other church members' homes as well, so the attendance was down. In fact, when Sunday School started it looked like we were only going to have my 2 kiddos in our class. However, we took over the next class of 4-7 year olds, too, as the teacher and her kids, you guessed it, were out sick. My co-teacher and I wound up with 12 kids and she shared with them a wonderful lesson about Hannah and baby Samuel and praying and leaving your worries with God. Then it was Craft Time!! The other teacher and I had prepared some soap bars, all grated up, for the kids to make sachets for their moms. Let me tell ya, they will get plenty of fragrance out of those things; those soaps had a very strong scent! Midst a bit of craziness helping all the kids put their soap shavings in their little cups in pretty colored layers and hot gluing the tulle on top, writing notes, etc., we came out victorious and each child left with a smile on their face and a nice little gift in their hand to take to their mom.

Our Mother's Day Craft

A Closer Look

All the pretty layers of soap shavings

BUT, that was not the best part of the day...
Sunday night we had a "home coming" at our church. 2 sisters, that had made some poor decisions and gone astray from the Lord and from their church family that loves them, returned! That's right, although they had forsaken God, He never forsook them, and gently led them back to the fold. What a joyous and emotional time! Everything is not all squared away yet, they still have some fences to mend and things to make right, but they made that first o-so-difficult step!

HOLD ON NOW...even that, as wonderful as it is, is not the best part, to me!
 Ok, here it is...
My sweet little daughter...hmm...have I ever told you how amazingly thoughtful and sweet she can be?!

My sick girly, recouping on the couch last week

She never ceases to amaze me and this week was no different. You see, last week the 2 sisters had promised to come, but had not been able to make it. So, especially as the older girl used to be Clara's babysitter, I told her that we needed to pray for them to come back to church. Poor Clara was so disappointed last week when they never showed up. She looked up at me with those big, sad eyes of hers and said, "Mama, they didn't come." If you could have seen her; it was so sad and pathetic. Well, every night before bed we have Bible story time and Clara prays. Lately, as she is getting older, I have been telling her to chose what she wants to pray for. This week, every night without fail or prompting, in spite of being icky-sicky, she so fervently and innocently prayed for the girls to come to church this week. And they did! Don't you see what a victory this is?!! My little girl got to witness first hand the power of prayer.

My little girl is not so "little" anymore

When we arrived at church, the girls were on the sidewalk talking to Pastor and I said, "Look, Clara, they came! The girls are here!" She rushed inside to give them hugs and kisses and even asked me to sit with them during the song service. How could I say "No"?! There were many tears shed before the service began, and during the singing I noticed that the older girl had burst into tears all over again. Later I found out, much to my surprise, that she had started to cry because Clara had told her, "I prayed for you, and you came!" What a miraculous, eye-opening, heartwarming experience for my 3 year old sweetie and her old, skeptical mama! Little lips that offer sincere prayers to the Lord from little hearts that aren't so blackened and stained with the sin of this world {as mine is}, I think the Lord has no choice, but to listen and answer!

Such a sweet girl...

Needless to say, I am so thankful to be a mama, especially to this wonderful little girl that is growing up and learning to pray right before my very eyes! ♥

...with a beautiful smile and a kind ♥

♥ Me & My Babies on Mother's Day in Argentina! ♥

Happy Mother's Day from Argentina!

I See Spots Before My Eyes...

Don't worry, nobody punched me nor did I slip and fall. Although my head is/has been in a fuzzy, stuffy la-la-land lately due to this antagonizing cold that has hit our home {Super UGH!}, that is not affecting my vision either. Nope, just attempting some more creativity.

Voila! LADYBUG INVITATIONS!! Aren't they just about the cutest thing you have ever seen?!? Ok, ok, maybe I am {a bit} prejudice due to: Fact #1--I have a thing for ladybugs. ♥ Fact #2--I, yes little-old-me, made them, all 50 of them! 

Now let me tell you why I made these cutie bugs and why SO many! Next Sunday is Mother's Day in Argentina. (I know it sounds crazy, but as it is spring here, it really does feel like May down here anyway) In a little over a week we are having a Mother/Daughter Tea at our church for our ladies' mtg. this month and our decor. theme is {you guessed it, didn't you?} Ladybugs! I had to make a lot more invitations than usual, as we really try to make this month's meeting extra special and invite our moms, or daughters, and neighbors and friends, too.  It is going to be so adorable and fun, I can't wait to show you some more of the cute things I have planned and how it all turns out!

Now, back to the invitations. I will readily admit that this was not my original idea, I "borrowed it" from here and tweaked it a bit to make it "mine". I love having so many resources at my fingertips! The BEST part of this project was that my pastor's wife found this amazing paper--red with black polka dots! Sure saved me a LOT of work on this one and it looks so much better, too. Also, another friend of mine found the wiggly eyes for me and even haggled the price down to save me some money, too!

So, here's my big pile of "buggy friends" all ready and waiting to be handed out. We are praying that we will have a great turn out and that the Lord will use this as a wonderful opportunity to see some ladies' come to know Him as Saviour!

Such a feeling of satisfaction to complete a project like this! {Deep sigh of relaxation and contentment Aaahhh...} Wait a sec--I have a lot more "buggy projects" that are waiting for me! No time to sit around, I better get a move on!

'Til the next time...




P.S. Speaking of all things creative, if you remember my last post on the subject, I DID print 2 of my verses and framed them and gave them to my secret pal for her bday. However, in my excitement, I completely forgot to snap a few pics. of the finished projects. :( They didn't print out quite as nice as I had hoped, but from what I could tell, she seemed pleased with them! :)

Blue Lions & Red Zebras

Who knew that you could have blue lions and red zebras?? Did you?? I certainly did not. However, my clever 3 year old knew. You see, I have the amazing privilege of co-teaching the 0-3 year old Sunday School class at our church. Our class of Estrellitas (er..little stars) is the BEST!!! I love our class, and {added bonus} I have both of my kids in there with me. :)

Now, back to blue lions and red zebras. Last Sunday, I taught the kids about Noah and the ark. It was so neat to watch the kids' faces light-up as we dove into the story. I am sure some of them were hearing this incredible story for the first time! I had so much fun teaching and even more fun helping them with their craft. I did a little searching online, and found this adorable Noah's Ark plate craft. Then, with a bit more digging, found the animals and Noah (too bad I can't seem to find it back) to go with it. Too cute and easy to make, just had to share it with you!