Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! I’m so grateful for my community, both physical and online. I have the best supporters, cheerleaders, and customers – thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting Joy by Jess. I hope you have plenty to be thankful for today and everyday. 🥰🦃❤️
Salem Baptist Preschool Holiday Market Prep
Final preparations underway for this weekend’s Holiday market!
My ultimate goal with @joybyjess is to help moms of young kids fulfill Deuteronomy 6:7 “Impress [these commands] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
While I work on figuring out exactly how I can incorporate my desire to create resources to do that, as well as use my hand lettering, I’m creating artwork to act as a reminder to discuss scripture with your kids.
I find that when I decorate our home and bedrooms with meaningful Bible verses, it’s a reminder to me to help my kids memorize the verses. We practice the verse when we walk into the room or as we’re leaving. We talk about what it means, and remember them when we’re discouraged, fearful, or in need of some gratitude.
I hope when you buy something from me, you can also have that reminder and start a foundation of scripture memory with your kids and family too!
#joybyjess#smallbusinessowner#scriptureoftheday#wip#kidsministry#scripturememory#christianmom
Baby Memento Bulb Christmas Ornaments
They’re baaaack! I’m selling my baby memento bulb ornaments again this year and this is a #sneakpeek at how they’re made. What would you put inside? They’ll debut at the Salem Baptist Preschool Market this Friday and Saturday and then make their way to my Etsy shop.
Procreate – She is Clothed With Strength and Dignity
If only I could write this fast! This is 6x speed but gives you a little idea of the process of my lettering. #wip #ipadlettering #bibleverse #strength #asmr
Perhaps You Were Created for Such a Time as This
Perhaps you were created for such a time as this. Esther 4:14 👑💜
God’s Got You
Can you tell what I’m up to? I’m creating some new, fresh products for an upcoming market and I’ve decided to give stickers a try! What sayings or verses would you like on a sticker? They’re permanent vinyl so they can go on cars, cups, computers…the possibilities are endless!
God of Hope
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
If you’re reading this, I’m praying this verse over you today. 💕
Head-To-Toe Prayer
Happy #nationaldayofprayer!
Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a prayer rut? Often I find myself praying the same things for the same people over and over. That’s not bad, but I’ve searched for some creative verses to pray over my kids recently. I found the “Head-to-Toe” prayer method where, just like it sounds, you pray over your kid(s) (or anyone) starting with their head and work your way down to their toes.
You don’t need to research or scour the Bible to find verses either (however, it is an awesome activity if you want to). What I normally do is think like this: “Head/Mind… what do I want for their mind?… I want them to know they are always loved by God and me. Heart… what do I want for their heart? I want them to love people and be generous.” etc.
I hope this helps give you and your kids another way to pray. Give it a try on this national day of prayer and let me know how it goes! 🙏🏼
Teaching Kids About Easter
The best thing I read recently about teaching young kids the true meaning of Easter is this: Similar to a fairytale, the Easter story has a wonderful beginning, a scary middle, and a happy ending.
When talking about Easter, it’s impossible to remove the death of Jesus on Good Friday. Without the death, there would not be a resurrection on Sunday, or Easter at all. However, since death is a critical part of the Easter story, you may find yourself feeling unsure of how to share the true meaning of Easter with your young kids. I’ve put together a few of my own suggestions based on how we’ve broached the subject of Jesus’s death and resurrection with our 2 and 4 year olds.
1. Read age appropriate books about Easter. We like the Jesus Storybook Bible and the Easter Story Egg (bonus points – this comes with wooden nesting eggs to play with), and the Beginner’s Bible.
2. Keep it simple. You don’t need to go into gruesome detail but you can limit what you share. Don’t skip parts and let your kids ask questions.
3. Remember the basics. Our sin separates us from God. God sent Jesus to take our sins away. He lived a perfect life but had to take the punishment of our sins so that we can be with God again. You can keep it this basic when you’re first teaching the story. This is not the whole story but it’s a foundation you can build on when you feel like you want to share more.
4. Go to church and let the Sunday School teachers help you out! This sounds like a cop-out, but you could also think of it as leveraging your resources. They likely have prepared age-appropriate lessons for kids to discuss Easter.
5. Prepare activities that help make the story come to life. Resurrection rolls (see my previous Reel about how to do this), Resurrection eggs (search Pinterest for toddler friendly suggestions), and the Easter Story Eggs (mentioned above) are some good ways to tell the whole Easter story in a fun, hands-on way.
Remember: parts of the Easter story are hard and sad. You can’t take that away. Without the pain and death, there would be no resurrection or forgiveness of our sins. It’s ok for your kids to experience the sadness but focus on the love and joy that comes out of the sadness. And most importantly, celebrate the love Jesus has for us.
Do you have any other resources you use with your kids? I’d love to hear!
How To Talk To Your Kids About Easter
Does sharing the death and resurrection of Jesus with your kids scare you? Death can be a tricky subject to talk about with young kids, but it’s a critical part of Christianity. I have a few suggestions on how to share the Easter story with your kids in an age appropriate way, but here’s the bottom line:
Sin separates us from God. God sent Jesus to Earth to live a perfect life and take the punishment for our sin so that we no longer have to be separated from God. Easter is when we get to celebrate that sacrifice.
That’s it! If you don’t want to talk about death with your young and/or sensitive kids, that’s a great foundation to lay this Easter season. This is NOT the full story but can be used to build upon in the future. Tomorrow I’ll share a few more options to help you build on that foundation. And if you missed my reel on making Resurrection Rolls, check that out for a fun, yummy activity to help bring the Easter story to life!
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