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Sharing Hospitality During a Pandemic

Today I want to share some encouragement and hopefully some ideas of how we can share hospitality during a pandemic.

I love sharing recipes and collecting recipes. Over the years I have traveled back and forth across the country. Most of those trips involved ministry of one kind or another. I have collected recipes on these trips. Many of the recipes I share on this blog have come from some of those collections.

As I have sat around the tables of many of my Christian sisters I realized that a lot of encouragement happens in the homes of fellow Christians. In fact, I believe more happens there than any other place. I believe the early Christians were very hospitable.

Hospitality in the early church began in Jerusalem when the early church was started. Many people were there and stayed there. The Christians gathered daily growing their new faith in God. I can just see the new Christian sisters gathered around sharing what they had with others. Sisters cooking side by side to feed those new friends and brethren. Opening their hearts and homes to these new Christians.

Acts 2:44 -47 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

So many of my life stories have come from Christians who have opened their homes to me and my opening my home to others. Strangers united by Christ.

We can change the world through hospitality. When this pandemic is over open your heart and your home to those around you that God has placed in your life for just such a time. But while we are still in the midst of social distancing. I want to suggest some ways we can practice hospitality.

Think of those who may need a word of encouragement.

Write notes.

Do not think you need fancy cards or stationary. Just a piece of paper will do. If you want to draw a funny picture or send a cartoon you have saved, great. Everyone needs a laugh. What about all of those postcards you have collected from trips? Why not send those to people who would enjoy them.

Care Packages

You might want to send care packages or a sunshine package from the wealth in your own home. Do you have a book you have already read and enjoyed? Send it to a friend. What about an adult coloring book? Send a page or two with a note. Or color the page or have your child color it for a friend or neighbor. Sometimes suspense is fun. Make an envelope for each day of the week for them to open. Items you might want to include in the envelopes: scriptures, pictures, homemade confetti (you know which of your friends can handle this), a fun memory or picture of a time you spent together, assignments like writing 5 blessings you have on this paper, etc.

Phone Calls

Almost everyone in America has a phone it seems. Call someone today, just to say hi or share a memory you have of them. Ask them, “Do you remember when?”

Call an old friend you haven’t talked with in a while. You will both be encouraged.

Blessing Ring

Start a blessing ring today. Count your blessings for they are many.

Fun and Games 

Maybe you can make up a game.

Send a puzzle you have already done for someone else to enjoy.

A deck of cards.

Teddy bears in your window to cheer passersby.

Check out the Facebook group Happy Heart Hunt. Placing cheery hearts in your windows, chalk outside people’s doors, etc.

A lady from church gave me permission to share what her neighborhood is doing. Chalk the walk. So that when people take a walk they will be cheered.

Also, my neighbor had the idea to chalk a hopscotch game on the pavement behind our townhouses. Fun!

Check out Pan and Cora’s Adventures on Facebook.  http://redaredding.com/PanAndCorasAdventures

Send Encouragement Online

One thing I did today was to send encouraging scriptures to my friends in Malawi. They do not have many available Bibles and really appreciate the scriptures and encouraging words. I used WhatsApp to do this but we have so many resources to use. I also sent them a face mask pattern. I was told they have no masks there.

Have an idea of how we can practice this gift of hospitality in the midst of the coronavirus? Leave your ideas below. We can all use some more ideas to get through this.

Let me know what you decide to do.

Puzzle
Puzzle
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Making Old Fashioned Banana Bread

I didn’t really start the day planning to make old fashioned banana bread.  Today I was sorting books and got to looking through some old cookbooks. I found a recipe for old fashioned banana bread. We had some overripe bananas that needed to be used so I suggested Esther make banana bread. She got even more creative and made a video of her process. This was her first attempt at banana bread. She said to remind readers to soften the butter which she forgot to do.  And she said she poked it a few too many times checking for doneness. The bread turned out to be delicious.

Even though she put the recipe at the end of the video I am including it here at the bottom of the page.

Old Fashioned Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas

1 Tbs water

1 cup of sugar

1/4 cup butter

2 beaten eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups flour

1 cup nuts

Mash bananas and water together. Set aside 3 minutes, and then mix remaining ingredients together as listed. Bake in loaf pan at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

 

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Fun Things To Do With Your Kids at Home

Yesterday I started brainstorming about fun things to do with your kids at home. Many people have found themselves unexpectedly homebound. How long will this crisis last? Tornadoes, viruses, injuries, and snowstorms can all cause our world to come to a screeching stop.  I do not remember a more uncertain time in my life. I do not ever remember workplaces shutting down at this rate. This has produced a lot of anxiety for some people.

I recommend making your day a more positive day. Don’t give into sitting and watching a play by play on TV or on the internet. There are many things you cannot control but you can control your home environment. Don’t give in to all-day screen time.

Below is a list that I compiled just off the top of my head. There are many things you can do. These are some things I have done over the years or wish I had done. I hope maybe some of these ideas will make your days at home a little easier.

I have eleven children and I have homeschooled for well over 30 years. Staying home for days at a time surrounded by great books with beautiful and brilliant children was my joy and my life.  I miss those days. Were my days perfect? No. There are so many things I wish I had done better. Here are a few things I did do.

Making Chores Fun

If you haven’t already gotten your family on a chore system now is the time. There are several reasons for this. First, you will feel better when the basics are taken care of. This is a basic life skill. Second, you have a lot of hours on your hands and children truly need something to do and this benefits the whole family. There are several ways you might do this.

Pull slips with jobs on them. This adds a bit of mystery. You write single jobs on strips of paper. Fold them up and put them in a basket. Everyone chooses one and goes and does that one. They continue until all are done. You can set a timer to make it more interesting. These are extra jobs, not weekly chores.

Whiteboard with lists of jobs let them choose which one. And of course, get the joy of wiping off the accomplished job!

Assign chores by the week as I did when my children were younger. They became chore chart participants at 8 years old. We switched every Sunday. Dishes, table, babies, floors, etc. We have 11 children so for many years I needed help cleaning the high chair, buckling kids in car seats, etc.

Set a timer and have everyone work together in one room or folding all the laundry and then do something fun.

Stories

Tell Stories, everyone loves stories

Make chain stories where one person starts it and each person takes a turn adding the next part to the story. We did this frequently on car trips.

Read

Listen to audiobooks available free from your library even when your library is closed.

Read great books. If you have not read the classics they are great! There is a reason they are called classics. The long ones I prefer the audio version. Unabridged of course.

All those books on your shelf that you haven’t had enough time to read. Now is your opportunity.

Set a reading time every day during this confinement.

Write (or Dictate) and Practice Penmanship

Have your children write and illustrate a story. I have recently been going through files of things I have saved from my children’s younger days. Their stories are fun to read later.

Write stories and then let each one share. Your younger kids can dictate their stories to you. You can have them dictate first and then illustrate or the reverse.

Writing simple reports can be fun and educational. Let them choose a topic to learn about and research about it for a set amount of time and then have each one share his report.

Write out a scripture verse each day.

Write a letter to a grandparent, friend, neighbor, a sick person, or someone in the nursing home.

4 year old's report on frogs
Stages of Frog

Arts and Crafts

Have an art show. Hang a string from your curtain rod end to end. Especially if you have a large picture window. This works great. Everyone draws or paints pictures etc.

Craft time. Drag out the craft supplies and create pictures. If you have no craft supplies get creative and use noodles, string, make newspaper hats, etc.

Draw a picture for someone and mail it to them.

Take old mismatched socks and make something out of them. Ideas: sock doll, ball, puppet, doll hats, etc.

Make soap or paper.

Do origami.

Make a hopping paper frog.

Lion

Memory Work

Memorize ABC verses and offer a reward when they are finished. Here are links to two lists from previous posts.   A B C BIBLE VERSES H  and  icanteachmychild.com/abc-printable-scripture-cards/

Memorize other facts you may need like multiplications, verbs, etc.

Games

Play sound games with your preschoolers. Ask them how many words can you think of that start with the same sound as banana, or apple, or penny, you get the idea.

Drag out your board games.

Play charades. Choose a topic. Bible characters, animals, etc.

Music

Learn a new skill

Practice a musical instrument

If you do not have an instrument you might make a paper keyboard and practice as did several famous musicians. Or create rhythm instruments from things around the house.

Practice singing together.

Learn to read music.

Toys

Get out the legos and play together.

Have the kids sort their toys and find some they would like to share with others.

Put together jigsaw puzzles.

Homemade Fun

Make your own homemade family carnival.

If you have a laundry basket make a game of throwing old socks or balls, etc. and ringing the basket from different distances.

Make your own ring toss game.

Make your own dart game using rubber bands and try to hit a target you make.

Get out the shaving cream and on a safe surface give everyone some shaving cream to play with. It is a lot of fun. Remind them not to rub their eyes.

Make playdough ( recipe here) make figures out of it. Set themes: everyone make a dinosaur, or farm animal or flower, etc.

Cooking

Cook together

Bake cookies or bread or pretzels.

Let each child help you make a meal.

Set the table extra pretty for special guests who are going to be there and let someone make a centerpiece for the table out of things you have on hand. When supper time arrives tell your family they are the special guests.

Outside

Let the kids play in the yard or if they don’t want to, insist they run a couple of laps around the outside of the house for exercise.

Go for a walk.

If you cannot go outside put on some oldies and have a dance party. My 20-month-old granddaughter loves Barbara Ann. Take this time to laugh and be silly with your kids.

Look out the window and count how many birds you can see and what kinds. If you don’t know what kind of bird it is look it up!

Exercise videos

Play hopscotch

Generational

Have your child play the reporter and Interview their grandparents on the phone or face time.  What games did they play? Were they ever stranded at home? What was the longest time they ever remember staying at home? Snowed in? Epidemic? Earliest childhood memory?

Have the child interview different members of your church by phone and have them ask about their conversion story! How old? Where? Etc.

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Have You Been Snowed In During the Wintertime?

Have you been snowed in during the wintertime? If you know me you know that I lived many years on Redding Mountain. I used to have a blog called Redding Mountain. If you would like to read some tales about our adventures there you can check out www.reddingmountain.com.

Although we are going through a different sort of adventure at present there are some similarities and so it brought back many memories.

When you live in West Virginia it is very likely you may live on a mountain and find yourself snowed in during the wintertime. If you lived on Redding Mountain you would surely have experienced this as well as many other “adventures” in the wintertime such as no electricity for days or weeks, frozen water pipes, cooking on a kerosene heater, and/or a ride up the hill on the tractor when the road was impassable.

During our snow days, we became very creative.  Being snowed in actually became some of our fondest times. When you are snowed in for days everything becomes an adventure. Keeping your water pipes from freezing was a chore we had to deal with.  If we had a frozen pipe, someone would go under the house and find which one was frozen. We would then use the hairdryer to thaw the pipe. That is if we still had electricity. If no electricity we would have to rely on the water we had filled available containers with to use for drinking, cooking as well as flushing toilets. Many times we would have a kerosene heater to keep the main living area warm.

If the electricity was out we would move all the mattresses into the living area and close off the other rooms or cover the openings with blankets. There were so many of us that my father-in-law would mention how many BTUs we produced. That many bodies in a small space produced a lot of body heat. I would pile on the quilts and soon we would all be toasty. 

During the day when we were not taking care of survival, we would read books and play games. At night we would have our Bible reading time and sometimes quote memory verses or sing songs. Stories would be told by their dad and lots of laughter would ensue. Especially, with the antics of the “three little gitters” with the Redding kids always saving the day.

So find joy in these days that might seem hard and stressful at the moment for they’re what memories are made of.

 

 

 

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Easy Homemade Playdough Recipe

Easy homemade playdough
Easy homemade playdough

Are you looking for things to do with your kids?

Below is a recipe for playdough that I have used with my children for many years. You probably have all the necessary ingredients in your cabinet. This will only take a few minutes to make but will give you hours of fun!

One advantage of making homemade playdough is that you know exactly what ingredients are in it and you can create your own unique colors.

Recipe for Homemade Play Dough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
1 Tablespoon cooking oil
1 cup of cold water
food coloring

Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar. I put this in a small non-stick pan if you have one. I add the oil, water, and color and begin to stir over low to medium heat until it begins to thicken and stick together. It almost becomes a ball. I remove from heat and knead a little and set aside to cool for a few minutes. It is ready to play with now. Remember to store this in a sealed container or a sealed Ziploc plastic bag.

Let me know if you make homemade playdough and please share how much fun you had making it and playing with your kids today!

 

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What Does Will Roger’s Birthplace Have to Do With Education?

What does Will Roger’s Birthplace have to do with education? It seems like yesterday that we lay on the grass at Will Roger’s birthplace in Oologah, Oklahoma. We were a young couple in our 20’s with a baby. We like to visit historic attractions and of course free attractions. So we explored this beautiful place. Soon we found ourselves lying on the grass and our son experiencing the early days of his education.

I had grown up seeing the face of Will Rogers even though I really didn’t know much about him. He was a funny cowboy. I didn’t know he was a member of the Cherokee Nation, a commentator, newspaper columnist, as well as an actor.

I remember what a beautiful day we had. We lay on the grass, we may have had a picnic, we talked and interacted with each other and our baby, Micah. I remember we showed him the texture of the bark on trees and the blades of grass. This might seem silly to some but it was my way of approaching life and the education of my baby.

I took my baby outside in all weather to experience God’s creation. I knew even then that babies learn a lot from being outside. Even before a baby can speak words they have a great knowledge of many things. I wanted my baby to have great experiences so that as he grew and when he started to read he would know first hand what grass was, he would have touched and smelled and felt God’s creation. He was collecting a great amount of information about the world and God even though he was yet to speak a whole sentence. He was drinking in the wonder of God’s creation.

This was not his first experience with nature nor his last. By the time our son was two years old, he would have had many of these experiences with nature. And soon become an avid reader and explorer of the world around him.

This is a glimpse into the early days of the making of a mom and dad who would go on to have 11 children and teach them by letting them explore the forests, beaches, mountains, night skies, and meet a lot of people along the way. We continue to carry this philosophy with us on the journey.

Check out the home of Will Rogers at:

https://www.willrogers.com/birthplace-ranch