Socks and rocks. And joyful artwork.

This morning I have some time off.  I pulled out the cuff of a second sock.  And I found a rock...

 I am considering the "Trust God" rock an unintentional gift from our sweet daughter.  (She has been using the happy whiskered cat as her logo lately.)  

Our kids often come home from children's worship with rocks.  Here is a sample from our pile:

I am taking the sock as a gift this morning, too, because it is teaching me to be patient with imperfection.  The yarn, Intention Yarns  fingering weight in the "Faith" colorway, is not my favorite to knit with  --- it is splitty and the fabric it produces feels a little scratchy.  But then there is the quote from Mother Teresa on the inside of the ballband:

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls."  All from Him.

Somewhat unrelated...  a piece of joyful artwork from our little one.

Basketball is getting to be a "thing" over here!

Family New Year's Resolution

What better time than now to start going through the Heidelberg Catechism with our offspring?

It's divided by weeks (Lord's Days) -- so this week we got to start with the best Q&A ever, #1:

LORD'S DAY 1

1   Q.  What is your only comfort
in life and in death?

A.  That I am not my own,^1
but belong,
  body and soul,
  in life and in death—^2
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.^3

  He has fully paid for all my sins with his
precious blood,^4
  and has set me free from the tyranny
of the devil.^5
  He also watches over me in such a way^6
  that not a hair can fall from my head
  without the will of my Father in heaven:^7
  in fact, all things must work together
for my salvation.^8

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life^9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing
and ready
from now on to live for him.^10

^1  1 Cor. 6:19-20
^2  Rom. 14:7-9
^3  1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
^4  1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
^5  John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
^6  John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
^7  Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
^8  Rom. 8:28
^9  Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
^10   Rom. 8:1-17

The 9 year old has abbreviated this answer to "GOD!!!" (which is always a safe answer) but i hope she'll someday remember the whole thing. It's the one I remember best from my own childhood... and the one that shows up framed on people's wall, laminated on wallet cards, printed in funeral programs, etc.

Q&A #2 is less exciting, but shorter (condenses down to "sin, salvation and service"):

2   Q.  What must you know
    to live and die in the joy of this comfort?

A.  Three things:
   first, how great my sin and misery are;^1
   second, how I am set free from all my
sins and misery;^2
   third, how I am to thank God for such
deliverance.^3

^1  Rom. 3:9-10; 1 John 1:10
^2  John 17:3; Acts 4:12; 10:43
^3  Matt. 5:16; Rom. 6:13; Eph. 5:8-10; 2 Tim. 2:15;
1 Pet. 2:9-10

The challenge is going to be keeping them engaged - so far this comprises reading the references. ( I want them to be able to find them in the actual Bible; dh is advocating for online lookup.)

Happy New Year!!