Week 1: April 2-6 (Edmonds School District Spring Break)
Week 2: April 16-20 (Northshore School District Spring Break)

Gung Fu for Christ and Refuge Church present:
K-6 graders
Monday-Friday
10:00am—2:30pm
Our fun will include Bible teaching with Pastor Tim, Gung Fu training with Sifu Steve, nunchucks, star throwing, archery, spear throwing, crafts, games, and much more!

*Please bring a lunch, water bottle, tennis shoes, and comfortable clothes each day!

$80 EACH for first two siblings and 1/2 price for each additional family member.
*Scholarships Available
*A $15 non-refundable deposit is due at sign-up
Call or email Lisa @ 425-512-6225 or
gungfuforchrist@hotmail.com

Refuge Church (formerly Church of the Good Shepherd) Lynnwood, WA

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The fruit of the Spirit is love.  This is the first quality of the Spirit divinely inspired by God. You will find two kinds of love in scripture.  Philos love which is a friendly love or the love one has toward a friend or companion.   Agape love which is a caring love, the first quality of the Spirit.  Agape is a divine capacity to love.  Only God is capable of perfect Agape but we should strive to love as He loves us.  Agape is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, and it is not proud.  1Corinthians 13:4-8

Agape seeks the highest and best for another.  It is not self seeking, thus the ability to be slow to anger.  Psalm 145:8.  Agape keeps no record of wrongs and does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  Praise God for His Agape upon us!

If you want to learn more about Agape love and other qualities of the Spirit, I recommend taking Beth Moore’s study Living Beyond Yourself, Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit.

Happy almost Valentines Day!

Here are some bible verses in the romantic King James version to help you celebrate this holiday of love:

Fill your heart with Gods word

Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.  Psalm 119:11

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.  Proverbs 3:5-6

For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.  1 Samuel 16:7

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.  Romans 10:10

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.  Mark 12:30

Search me, oh God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.  Psalm 139:23

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Psalm 37:4

Verses that speak of God’s Love

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.  Jeremiah 31:3

God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8

Behold, what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.  1 John 3:1

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  1 John 4:10

We love Him, because He first loved us.  1 John 4:19

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2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (ESV)

Job 23:12 – “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.”  (NKJV)

“No Bible, no breakfast.”  Watchman Nee

As we reflect on this past year and contemplate the new year, we’re considering our plans for reading His word daily.  We just read an encouraging sermon about the “Morning Watch”.  There isn’t a more biblical or beneficial way to begin the day.

My husband and I have recently found that we can learn better and stay more focused by combining sight and sound, listening to the bible being read while reading along or reading out loud ourselves. Did you know it only takes about 70 hours to read the entire Bible out loud?  I didn’t.  And we can normally read silently much quicker than that.

The internet provides a myriad of ideas for reading and listening to God’s word.  Below are several Bible reading plans:

• Bible On Radio ~ You can listen through the Bible in a year with Tom Dooley.  It’s free.  Simply go to this site and push play while you are near your computer. This is a great addition to your own reading.  Turn it on while working on the computer.
• Bible Reading Plans ~ You can have your daily reading emailed to you.
• One Year Tract Bible Reading Plan ~ You can read, listen, or both.
• Bible Reading Plans from the beginner to the advanced reader.  I will be using the 180 Day Plan Guided Tour of the Bible first this year.
• Choose your own plan ~ Many choices of different books to read through the year.
• Discipleship Journal Plan ~ “Few things discourage us more from reading the Bible through in a year than falling behind. This plan gives five catch up days every month. This is absolutely golden!”
• Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers ~ The advantage of this plan is that it provides guidance as you read each day but does not put you on an internal guilt trip if you miss a day.
• Prof. Horner’s Bible Reading System ~ Unusual, challenging, and life-changing (click read more from the facebook info page for details of the system).   The Ten Lists is a great little application for the web or your internet enabled mobile phone or iPod that sets up and keeps track of this system’s daily readings.

“I ought to pray before seeing anyone. I feel it is far better to begin with God, to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it is near another.” – Robert Murray M’Cheyne

May God grant us all a deeper relationship with Him through the reading of His Word.

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This year National Poison Prevention Week is March 20-26th

What is National Poison Prevention Week?
Public Law 87-319 authorizes the President to designate annually the third week in March as National Poison Prevention Week. This act of Congress was signed into law on September 16, 1961, by President Kennedy, after which the Poison Prevention Week Council was organized to coordinate this annual event. Congress intended this event as a means for local communities to raise awareness of the dangers of unintentional poisonings and to take such preventive measures as the dangers warrant.

Did You Know…

…poisonings just surpassed traffic fatalities as the leading cause of injury-related death in Washington State and the third leading cause of hospitalization?

…91% of poisonings take place in the home?

…the WAPC answers more calls about medications (specifically pain killers) than any other potentially harmful substance!
(facts taken from The YUK Report Winter 2008)

Here are some activities to incorporate into school this coming week:

Mr. Yuk Word Search

Poison Safety Checklist

Fact Sheet on Plants

More on Plants, A list of Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants

Fact Sheet on Animals

You will be able to find these and many more educational resources on your local Poison Center’s website.  The website for the Washington Poison Center is here.

What is a Poison Center?

A Poison Center is a knowledge resource center, set up for the benefit of you and your
community.  Up-to-date information about millions and millions of dangerous products and raw
materials is available here for quick, easy retrieval, 24 hours a day, every day.  The person who
answers your call to the Poison Center is a dedicated, highly-trained poison information
specialist with access to the latest medical research in toxicology, the study of poisons.  Through
regular research and continuing communications with national toxicology specialists, the Poison
Center makes itself a resource for the latest information on the treatment for exposures to
hazardous substances.
The Poison Center is an education center.  The staff helps train and update medical professionals
on new toxicological research and treatment.  The Poison Center reaches out to the community
with valuable education programs for families at home, day care centers, schools, service clubs,
civic organizations, etc.  The Poison Center serves everyone and animals, too!.
The Poison Center serves the community by saving money.  When the public—you—learn to
call the Poison Center first, at 1-800-222-1222, when you suspect a poisoning, thousands of
needless hospital visits and unnecessary use of emergency transport vehicles are eliminated.
With the Poison Center’s knowledgeable help, most poisonings can be successfully treated at
home.  This saves each community hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in medical costs
and frees-up police, 911 and other emergency personnel for other people that need them.

Call the Washington Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222 for poison help or for information about
preventing poisonings.  This is a national phone number so whatever state you live in you will be connected to your local center.

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Presidents’ Day, originally known as Washington’s Birthday, falls on the third Monday of February.  As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was celebrated on Washington’s actual birthday,  February 22. By the mid-1980s, with a push from advertisers, the term “Presidents’ Day” began its public appearance.  This day has since expanded the focus of the holiday to honor another President born in February, Abraham Lincoln, and often other Presidents of the United States. Although Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, was never a Federal holiday, approximately a dozen state governments have officially renamed their Washington’s Birthday observances as “President’s Day”, “Washington and Lincoln Day”, or other such designations.

There are many websites to read about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  President Washington is almost universally admired.  President Lincoln is viewed from several different perspectives which I won’t go into in this post, but may be worth further study.  Below are two sites that interest me and that I will be using on Monday with the kids.

Read about George Washington here.

Read about Abraham Lincoln here.

Now for some activities to help celebrate the day.  Dress up like the Presidents of the past with this fun “Powdered Wig“.  This looks so easy and fun.  We don’t do a lot of crafts in our home but this one has to be done.  I just need to run over to the paint store to get the paper painters hats. I think it will be fun for all of us to put on our wigs and read about these two popular Presidents.

If the wig isn’t easy enough, you can fall back on these wonderful coloring pages.  I am thankful that I downloaded these last year from the White House Kid’s website.  The Obama administration has since removed them from the site.  You are free to use and pass them on as long as they are used for personal use and not for profit.

Download a full coloring book of all 41 Presidents:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Download a George Washington coloring page only

Download a Abraham Lincoln coloring page only

Happy Presidents’ Day!!

Original posting February 13th, 2009

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Martial Arts Spring Break Bible Camp 2011
Gung Fu for Christ and Church of the Good Shepherd present:

Martial Arts Bible Camp for
K-6 graders
April 4-8, 2011  Monday-Friday
10:00am—2:30pm
Our fun will include Bible teaching with Pastor Tim: Pathway to Peace, Gung Fu training with Sifu Steve, nunchucks, star throwing, archery, spear throwing, crafts, games, and much more!

*Please bring a lunch, water bottle, tennis shoes, and comfortable clothes each day!

$80 EACH for first two siblings and 1/2 price for each additional family member.
*Scholarships Available
*A $15 non-refundable deposit is due at sign-up

Call or email Lisa @ 425-512-6225
gungfuforchrist at hotmail dot com

Church of the Good Shepherd is located at 2609 Larch Way, Lynnwood, WA 98036

You can view photos from camp last year here.

Gung Fu for Christ is really fun and energetic.  I highly recommend this camp and the weekly classes as well.  Your kids will absolutely love it!  If you are interested in signing up for homeschool martial arts classes with Gung Fu for Christ you are welcome to enroll now as well.  This is a great way to get your kids moving and in shape while learning self defense.  You can find more information and pricing at their blog or at their website GungFuforChrist.com.

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This is a photograph of a real snowflake; a stellar dendrite.

It seems the appropriate season to study snowflakes.  They are one of the most thought provoking creations on the planet in my opinion.  They are absolutely a beautiful, wondrous gift from God.  Like humans, snowflakes are all one of a kind.  Here are some links to get you started on learning more about these magnificent icy morsels.

Snow Crystals, a study from Cal Tech, is a great resource to learn all about the different types of falling snow.  They have an extensive snow crystal guide, a page on snowflake watching and how to go about it, and the physical properties of ice among many other pages.

You can start your study by learning about the man Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley.  He was the first known person to photograph the snowflake in all it’s glory.  Wilson Bentley photographed snowflakes between January 1885 through March of 1931.

Books on the” Snowflake Man”:

• The Snowflake Man: A Biography of Wilson A. Bentley

• Snowflake Bentley (Caldecott Medal Book) I really enjoyed reading this story a couple of years ago to my son.  I must get it again soon!

Snowflake activity books:

• Make Your Own Paper Snowflakes

• Snowflake Designs Coloring Book (Dover Coloring Book)

A short video on the life of Wilson Bentley:

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