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Mother's Day

 

Activities & Gift Ideas (Some ideas from our Message Board)

1. Make a collage of photos for Mom/Grandma! You can use a posterboard, or get fancy and buy one of those large frames with lots of little holes. If you want to get real fancy, you can make a scrapbook album and give pages at each gift-giving occasion that adds to their album!

2. From Briva:

Don't know if its safe for little ones, but this easy craft calls for sewing pins and fake pearl beads to be pushed into the bars of soap, with ribbon bows and lace around (don't know if hot glue will stick to soap).

3. From Clare:

Make a family photo collage of some sort. Decorate the page, put in photos and make sure to label with dates and any other appropriate journaling.

A couple years ago my husband was in a "mud run." Then the kids did a portion of it afterwards with him. They were covered from head to toe with mud. Anyway I made a page of the race and him and the kids. Then I had it framed. They all loved it. It was just of that event. My point is it can be a special event or miscellaneous photos.

6. From Melissa in TX:

This is something we made for my mom, grandmother, and mother-in-law the last two years. We bought a t-shirt or sweatshirt that would fit them and in a color they like (but the white one turned out the best!).

Then we put newspaper inside the shirt to prevent paint leaking through. I painted "Mother's Day 1997" the first year in small print in the corner at the bottom, then in the front in big letters painted, "Hugs are GRAND!"

We then put paint (a different color for each child) on a plate and smeared the kids hands in it. Both hands need to be done, but do one at a time and wash in between hands so they don't get paint on everything! Put a handprint on the back of the shirt that looks like the child has hugged the wearer of the shirt.

Last year we did handprints on the front and added green paint to make leaves and stems so it looked like the hands were flowers. At the top I painted a quote from Mother Theresa: "How can you say you there are too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers."

Oh, I ended up having to paint an outline around the handprint because my kids are little and some of the prints weren't terribly clear. I did it in the same color as the handprint. (The baby was about a week old when we did this last year! Those prints needed the outline the most! But it was absolutely adorable!)

7. From Carolyn

Hand prints in plaster of Paris. Simple yet adorable and heart tugging.

8. From Monica:

We've done several of the handprint shirts, and they're always a big hit. This year we're having to do sweatpants, too. The family is just getting to big!

Another idea is a scrap quilt. OK, so this one is a little more difficult than stick figures (Beverly), but I assure you, if you can sew a straight seam, you CAN quilt. Every time my mother made me an outfit, she saved the scraps. Now I do the same for my girls. For her anniversary this year we're making a postage stamp quilt out of all the scraps she and I have saved and right in the middle will be a cross stitched piece that says, "A Mother's Love Means Sew Much" It might turn out to be a wallhanging rather than a full sized quilt, but it should be cute. Just an idea.

Prayers

PRAYER FOR MY DAUGHTER'S FUTURE MATE

By Cathe T.

Father, I pray that you will be with the future husband of my beloved daughter. I do not yet know his name, but you do. You created them for each other. How awesome you are!

If he does not yet know you, I pray that you will continue to call his name. I beg that you will surround him with your angels for his protection and with your saints, that he might hear your word. Draw him close to you, Lord, and show yourself to him unmistakably, that he will know you and love you. Prepare his heart for you and send your missionaries to feed him. Before he loves my daughter, I want him to love you with all his heart, soul, mind and strength.

Even if he already has received the saving grace of Jesus, he will still need your protection from the wiles of the deceiver, a sinful world and the frailty of his own flesh. I pray, Lord, that you will strengthen him. Teach him to rely fully on you for everything, Lord, and lean not on his own understanding.

Guide his parents in his training and education. Help them to prepare him for the future. Bless their marriage, where he will see the examples that will shape his own marriage with my daughter.

Help him see his body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Keep him in good health, Lord. Encourage him in healthy habits and exercise. As he grows into manhood, guide him into purity. Steer him safely past the dangers of immoral choices. Help him make friends with other believers. Reveal his gifts and talents, so he can find a career that he will enjoy while supporting his family.

Bring them together, Lord, in your perfect timing. Be the completing and ever-present third part of their relationship. Guide their courtship into your will. Prepare their hearts for marriage. Keep their feet on your path. Help them to realize even before they start married life that it will include pain, and that only your love is perfect and unchanging. But Lord, I ask that they will love each other with a deep and undying love for as long as they both shall live.

Help me, Lord, to remember that you created these two for each other and for yourself. Help me to prepare my daughter to be a suitable helper for this young man. Help me, Lord, to be a good mother to both of them.

In Jesus' name I ask these things.
Amen

PRAYER FOR MY SON'S FUTURE WIFE

by Cathe T.

Father, I pray that you will be with that girl who will someday be my daughter. I do not yet know her name, but you do. While they were being knitted in the womb, you knew that this precious girl and my dear son would someday become one. How awesome you are!

I don't know where she is or in what circumstances, Lord. I beg that you will surround her with angels to guard her at all times. If she does not yet know you, I pray that you will draw her close to you. Send your saints into her life to tell her about you. I want her to love you with all her heart, soul, mind and strength.

If she already knows and loves you, Lord, I thank you. I still pray that you will keep her safe in this sinful world. You know the dangers that threaten her, my Father; please keep her in your arms. Reveal yourself to her and give her hope and encouragement. I pray that she will seek and find love, comfort, and wisdom in your Word. Teach her to trust in you for all things, Lord.

I pray for her family, dear God. Surround her with love. Help her parents and guide them in training and educating her. Bless their marriage, where she will see the examples that will shape her own marriage with my son. If she is not being raised in a Christian home already, Lord, please bring them all to you soon.

I pray, Lord, that she will understand her worth as a daughter of God. Keep that image before her, so she will see her body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Protect her, Father, from the emotional and physical entanglements, so common to the youth in our sinful world, that cause lasting pain and scars. Keep her in good health. Encourage her in healthy habits and exercise.

Prepare her for a future that will glorify you, God. Bless her with good Christian friends so they can encourage each other. Reveal her gifts and talents. Give her work to do that will pleasurable and profitable. Help her learn the skills she will need to be a mother, if that is your will, and make a home.

Bring them together, Lord, in your perfect timing. Be the foundation and capstone of their relationship. Guide their courtship into your will. Help them to realize even before they start married life that it will include pain, and that only your love is perfect and unchanging. But Lord, I ask that they will love each other with a deep and undying love for as long as they both shall live.

Help me, Lord, to remember that you created these two for each other and for yourself, and to train up my son to be a good husband, prepared to love this girl as himself. Help me welcome her with open arms and love her as my own.

In Jesus' name I ask these things.
Amen