Faith and a Haircut

Hi!

Here’s a fun, true story that has happened in our world this week.

My mom was brushing Maddy’s hair a few days ago and asked her if Mommy took her for a haircut.  She said no.

A few days went by, and a few more people commented – her hair was still able to be pulled up easily and it looked even, yes there were some areas that looked like there had been some breakage, but it had been a while since her last haircut.

Finally, Maddy went to stay the night with Grandma.  Before bedtime Grandma asked her if she had cut her hair herself and this is what she said:  “Well, I wanted shorter hair so I decided to cut it.  So while Grammy was downstairs doing laundry with Caleb I took the scissors and cut my hair and threw it away in the kitchen trash.  I knew after I did it that it  was wrong and I should not have done it so I prayed to God, because He was the only one who saw me do it, and I know He forgave me so everything was okay and I didn’t need to worry about it.”

…needless to say my mother called me immediately and retold the story, and I made a mental note that we were going to Best Cuts as soon as she got home the next day…we’ll come back to this later…

More important to me was how she responded to my mom.  Maddy knew that it was wrong to cut her hair so she prayed and asked forgiveness.  I’m so glad that she understands the true nature of God’s forgiveness and freedom from guilt at an early age!  In the last few weeks we have been talking a great deal about forgiveness at church.  In fact, you can watch one of the most recent teachings about forgiveness here.

We love our church and we love how much our family is growing into a deeper relationship with Jesus.  We transitioned here as a family in January and it was a big decision to leave where we were very involved, but over the past months God has show us in so many ways that we are in the right place.  I have gone from seeing Jesus in black and white to high definition, and it appears that our little ones are being fed in the same way we are!  Hallelujah!

So back to the haircut.  I took Maddy to Best Cuts to “fix” the haircut.  The stylist took about five minutes to fix her style and informed me that for a self haircut it was extremely even.  In fact it was the best self haircut she had ever seen.

…we’re not sharing that tidbit with Maddy.  She now understands that she need a license to cut hair!

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Joy

I love these little guys!

No matter what is going on, they are pure joy…most of the time…

Of course they test me every day.  Are there any children who do not?

But more importantly, they are making me grow.  God is using them to shape me into the person that he wants me to be.  One messy face, handprint, and giggle at a time.

Family Night: Easter Edition

Hi All!

Fridays in the Johnston house are reserved for family night.  I’m looking forward to sharing some of the interesting things that we do.  I am committing to do more creative things as a family.  Pizza and the Magical World of Disney Junior are okay, but not every week.

With Easter approaching I wanted to do something fun and themed for Maddy, so we had an Easter party! We decorated the dining room for our egg coloring festivities.  We did the traditional egg coloring and then to keep the fun going a while longer I purchased paper eggs and a paint set.  She will spend days painting eggs.  Everything fits on a cookie sheet so the mess is contained and transportable from the dining room to our art space.

After the eggs were done, we made “Resurrection Buns.”  I have seen the recipes for resurrection cookies where you mix up dough and bake it overnight, but that just freaks me out because if it doesn’t work you waited all night for nothing.  I found a recipe for a different bun version here and since it was easy, fun, and worked I wanted to share it!

For this project you need:

1 Package of Ready-Bake Biscuits

Marshmallows

Cinnamon & Sugar

Butter

Preheat the oven per the biscuit package instructions.  Take out the biscuits and flatten them out to about five inches across.  Brush or spread the butter on the biscuits and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Place a marshmallow in the middle of each biscuit and fold over the biscuit pinching it tightly.  The marshmallow represents Jesus in the tomb!  Place the biscuit folded side down on the tray (or on its side like a crescent) and spread butter and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.  Bake according to the instructions and then remove to cool.  Once they are cool you can tear into them and see that the marshmallow has disappeared and the “tomb” is empty!

My one tip to making sure you have an empty tomb is to make sure the biscuits are folded and pinched very tightly.  If they open up the marshmallow expands, but does not fully disappear so you may find yourself in the kitchen secretly scooping out the marshmallows…two worked perfectly and two were not.

Before we let Maddy enjoy hers Michael took some time to read the Easter story to her.  The book we use for family devotions is Jesus Calling.  You can find it here.

Happy Easter!  If you get a chance to try this recipe please leave me a comment!  If you have any fun Easter projects or traditions you use in your family, please feel free to post them here too!

Until next time…

Hard…

Have you ever had one of those – stop the world I want to get off weeks?  I think I’m having one of those; except it is more like a year.  Since the beginning of the year things have just seemed to move at warp speed.

This is a year that we get to say hello to a new life, and the year that we will probably say goodbye to another one.  My grandpa was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this month.  Things here are hard right now, but I guess when you live in a close family it is the price you pay for loving the way you do.  So if the blogging gets a little inconsistent – send me a comment.

…and thanks for reading!

Maddy & Caleb: Round One

I couldn’t help but share a small photo story.

Maddy is always in Caleb’s face.  He loves to give her kisses…I’m waiting for the day he throws up in her face, and I’m sure if it happens you will hear about it.  Sometimes I think he gets tired of her constantly in his face…so he’s learning to defend himself.

Until the next documented sibling fight…