trish – Page 8

Last week I had my four oldest grandsons for Grammy Camp. It’s a time for the teacher in me to come out and to spend intentional time with my grandsons. Sunday night we made our passports, and decorated their suitcases so we could travel to a new country every day.

Inside each boy had his picture and personal information just like the real passports.

After breakfast we boarded our airplane (golf cart) and “flew” to our country.

Ready to fly to our country for the day!

“Prepare for landing, make sure your seats are in the upright position and your seat belt are fastened. Remain in your seat until the airplane comes to a complete stop. Thank you for flying Smith Airlines.” Can you guess where we are going today???

MONDAY: This country worshiped cats. In ancient times both men and women wore eye make-up. They are famous for mummies and pyramids. Their rulers were called Pharoahs….EGYPT! This day we made Pharoah headdresses and drums.

We tried to mummify action figures. The boys were hesitant to do this. I think if we had used Barbies they would have been more willing!

We enjoyed mummy hotdogs and cheese and cracker pyramids for lunch. For dinner this day we tried Kofta, stewed fava beans, salatit zabadi, flatbread and tiger nut sweets.

We talked about the story of Moses from the Bible and how he freed the Egyptians from Pharoah after all the plaques.

TUESDAY: This country is famous for bullfighting; introducing the world to chocolate,chilies and corn (maize); and has many volcanoes…MEXICO! We read about the Day of the Dead, which was a time they remembered their loved ones that have died. We talked about Grandad and DiDi (Neal’s dad) that have died.

Part of the fun today was going down to the beach to make volcanoes erupt!

This day was Caleb’s 4th birthday is we went to a Mexican resturant in the back of a Merxican grocery store! No, I didn’t serve them beer!

The day ended with a pinata to celebrate Caleb’s birthday!

WEDNESDAY: This country uses chopsticks, is the home of pandas, block printing, a HUGE wall and lots of rice…CHINA! We couldn’t go to the beach today because of an ecoli scare so good thing I had lots of activities planned.

We made Chinese dragons for the Chinese New Year celebration and rice farmer hats.

I am the year of the dog. One grandson was the year of the Ox, one the Tiger, one the Rabbit and one the Dragon. We talked about how God created us each unique and special. We read a great book about Emporer Qin (Chin) who was 13 when he came into power. He was afraid of death so he slept in a different room each night. He built an army of about 9,000 soldiers, archeologists suspect, and buried them 10 feet under next to the tomb built for him. He believed that once he died the soldiers would come to life and protect him and his valuables that he would be buried with. Of course we know that didn’t happen. The boys and I talked about that once we die we are in the presence of God and we can’t take out “stuff” with us.

Elise, my wonderful helper for Monday - Wednesday!! — Elise, my wonderful helper for Monday – Wednesday!!

We also did block printing with meat trays where the boys drew a design on the trays. After we painted the trays we put a piece of paper on top and rubbed the design onto the paper.

THURSDAY: This country is home to a 2200 mile bike race, invented soap, produced many famous artists, is home to a famous monument built by the same man who did the Statue of Liberty…FRANCE! This day started with crepes and later we enjoyed beef bourguignon, ratatouille, cherry clafoutis, and macaroons. We talked about Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper painting and the significance of The Lord’s Supper remembering what Christ has done for us, is doing for us and will do for us. We made soap, which I forgot to take pictures of!

Monet's Garden painting — Monet’s Garden painting

Our versions of Monet's painting — Our versions of Monet’s painting

This day we enjoyed lunch at Bridgman’s public beach house.

FRIDAY: This country is famous for nesting dolls, colorful eggs, a place where Grammy and Granddad have visited, has many fairy tales illustrated on black lacquer boxes…RUSSIA!

Lane wearing Neal's shopka. — Lane wearing Neal’s shopka.

The boy's versions of nesting dolls — The boy’s versions of nesting dolls

Today we talked about the onion domes on St. Basil’s Cathedral. The domes remind us that our prayers are always heard by God. P Yanitas was a card game similar to the card game War we enjoyed playing before parents came.

The boy's version of artist Kandinsky's circles — The boy’s version of artist Kandinsky’s circles

Over all, our week was fun! I’m already thinking about next year’s theme!

On the journey,

Trish

A couple of weekends ago I took my four oldest grandsons: Lane (almost 7), Eli (5), Corbin (4) and Caleb (almost 4), to Brickworld in Schaumburg, IL. Brickworld is a convention for adult fans of LEGO (AFOLs) to display and share their creations made of LEGO bricks. We picked up Karsten and he went with us.

Getting tired of waiting to get it:) — Getting tired of waiting!

The creations were very elaborate and well done. We saw lots of Star Wars, trains, impressive buildings, forts, space shuttles, carnival rides, sports events and many more.

Lane, Eli, Corbin, Karsten with Caleb; “Look at that!”

Our favorite display was on tables outlining an area of about 25 feet by 15 feet. We walked all around the display and watched as little LEGO balls moved from one contraption to another moving through bridges, mazes, a Ferris wheel, elevators, volcanoes and many other amazing devices.

Round and round.... — Up, up, up…..Down, down, down… round and round…

One brick out of place could have made the creation weak or not look complete. All the pieces were important. You may think that you are not important or that you have no value. God says that each of us are important to him and are created by him as a masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)

All of us are welcome into God’s family no matter our past, race, employment, financial situation, looks, or personality.
Ephesians 2:19-22The Message (MSG)”….You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building…. He’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.”

God is the architect. He wants to give us His design. He has a plan unique for each of us fitting us into His bigger design and plan. We each have value and are important in God’s picture. The creation isn’t complete until all the pieces are in place. We won’t see the final creation until we get to heaven. The day following the LEGO convention was Father’s Day so of course I was thinking about Neal in heaven. What will it be like there? I am sure it will be amazing, breathtaking, far better than we can even imagine.

God is using you, fitting you in brick by brick with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. The cornerstone in Bible times was more important than the foundation. It was the first stone laid. It was the thing that framed everything. It had to be accurate because the walls all conformed to the angle of that stone. It was the support, connector, provided strength and unity. It bore the weight of the walls.

LEGOs come in different sizes, appropriate for different ages. The big ones for toddlers, DUPLO size for pre-school aged children and the smaller blocks for school aged children. A toddler could never make a creation like the Ferris wheel pictured above. God gives us what we can handle at the time, yet still stretching and challenging us. As we prove faithful in smaller things, God gives us bigger challenges and opportunities.

God is fitly framing us together, harmoniously joining several parts together. He is compactly joining us to add beauty, strength and unity. We are not ill-arranged or ugly.

Just as the creations we saw at LEGO Brickworld took time and patience to assemble, so we too are being created brick by brick in God’s time. He is in control and is the Master Creator!

After we spent some time at the Brickworld convention we headed over to The Rainforest Cafe for lunch, finishing off our time with a roar!