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why i celebrate my kid’s salvation birthdays

We probably all have those friends we grew up with who considered themselves to be a Christian in childhood yet have not chosen a lifestyle of obedience and surrender to Christ in their adult years. Honestly, because of all the people I have encountered who have this as their story, (and honestly i was one of them for a time) I was very hesitant to “let” my children get saved when they were young. I was so worried that they would make the choice as children and change their minds as adults. This plays a part in why I celebrate my children’s salvation birthdays. This seemed like a fitting post to write this week since both girls celebrated their salvation birthdays this week!

why i changed my mind

Hailey, my oldest, has always had an inquisitive mind. She started asking questions about God and theology at a very young age. When she was 3, she started to mention the idea of wanting to go to heaven and ask Jesus into her heart. I would question her about it and she didn’t really know what that meant so I didn’t press it and neither did she. Since she was inquiring, I really started to think about what I would do when she DID press it and really want to get saved.

That’s such a brief overview, although it looks long, but I hope that helps for anyone who was feeling lost.

So back to how I changed my mind. I spoke with some friends in our care group and had a chat with my mother in law about it and came to the realization that if God was calling her to Himself, I should absolutely not be the one to stand in the way. I never wanted to give her the impression that she “couldn’t” get saved becasue that was absolutely not true. So I decided that when she asked and knew what it meant, we would pray together for her to be saved.

I’m going to pause really quick here incase any of my readers aren’t used to this lingo and wonder what on earth I am talking about getting “saved”. We believe the Bible to be the true word of God. So because of that, we believe what the Bible says in regards to all humans being sinners (Romans 3:23 – “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”). We believe death is the punishment for sin and that our sin seperates us from God. (Romans 6:23 – “for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”). The Bible tells us that God did not want His creation (us) to be seperated from Him because He loves us so much. But, as we know, actions have consequences and our sin had to be punished. So, out of His immense love, He sent His perfect son Jesus to die and pay the price for everyone’s sin. Not after we stopped sinning, but right there in the middle of our ugly, messy sin. He paid our price and loved us just as we are. (Romans 5:8 – “God demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”) God created us with free will and we get to use that free will to accept or reject this gift. We can accept His love and His payment for our sins and we can then be forgiven and able to spend eternity in heaven. See, without our sins being paid for, we cannot be in the presence of God. But Jesus’s death on the cross paid that price and allows us access to God in heaven. So what does it mean to be saved? Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with yourself that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” You need to acknowledge your sin and that Jesus willingly paid it. Confess that sin and that Jesus is Lord. Believe that Jesus conquered death when God raised him from the dead. And you will be saved! You have given Jesus the authority in your life and now you choose to surrender to him.

June 11, 2016 she did that. She asked me about it, we chatted and I asked her questions, and it was time. I felt a peace from the Lord that it was time and she joined the family of God that night.

Sophie did a few years later when she was 4 as well.

why i’ll always celebrate it

The type of celebration just seemed to happen on a whim. The night Hailey asked Jesus to be her Lord and Saviour was after Sophie was asleep. I knew I just happened to have a cupcake in the freezer so I got her up and served her the cupcake in celebration. That kind of stuck so now every year on their salvation birthdays I wait until they go to bed and then I sneak in and get the girl up and bring her out to a cupcake on the table.

Back when I was discussing all of this with my MIL, she made a point to me that I wont soon forget. She reminded me that whether she accepted God’s salvation at 4, 14, or 40 she would need to continue to grow in her faith. That she could accept God at 4 with all she knew and understood at the time and just continue to learn and grow as she developed a greater understanding.

So my hope this celebrating yearly is that this is a decision they will remember. I want them to remember what it means, why they chose it and that they will continue to choose it. Even in Exodus when the Israelites fled Egypt, they were to have yearly feasts on the passover day to remember what God has done for them. That is sort of how I treat their salvation birthday; a time to remember what God has done for them.

what we do

We keep it pretty basic and try to just focus on time spent together and good conversation and discipling. I always get them out of bed to have a cupcake and time with me. I share with them a verse that I am praying over them for the year and we talk about what God has done in their life the past year, for example prayers that He has answered. Last year since Hailey could write, I got her a little prayer journal. While she ate her cupcake I showed her my prayer journal and explained what it’s for and gave her hers. This year I gave them both quiet time journals to work through. I don’t focus on gifts or even wrap up these little things, and I dont give something every year, it just happened to work out last year and this year that I had something I wanted to give them. The focus is on discipling and celebration.

This is the quiet time journal I got them. I will do a full post on this, possibly next week.

This year, since it was Sophie’s first salvation birthday, I reread her a kids book about salvation to remind her of why we celebrate, why its a big deal and what it means. We talked about sin and why we need a Saviour. It was a sweet and special time for her.

With Hailey, I chatted more about choices and how she is growing up and we can’t make good choices for her. She needs to decide if she is going to chose to follow God’s will or her own and we talked a bit about what that looks like and how its often not an easy choice. Last year her verse was “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” so we chatted about how taming her tongue went last year and how we can both continue to work on that.

When we are finished, I pull that child into my lap or hold hands with them and pray over them. I thank God for giving them to us and for their decision to follow Him and I pray for strength and wisdom for them as they grow and continue to choose Him every day.

So that is the general jist of it

This is so individual and different for each family. I am only sharing what we do to give you ideas and hopefully inspire you to make this a time of celebration with your children. Be like the Israelites and take time each year to pause and remember what the Lord has done for them!

I’d love to hear how you celebrate your kid’s salvation birthdays in your house!

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About Me

Hi I am Kristin Stewart. I consider myself so lucky to be a homeschool mommy! Before I was a mother, I was a teacher in both public and Christian boards and I loved teaching so much. However, once my first daughter was born I knew God was calling me to be at home with her. So when it was time for her to start school, homeschooling was a natural fit for us. Read More…

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Kristin Stewart
✨better together✨ Another week of school done ✨better together✨
Another week of school done and enjoying the beach on this beautiful Friday afternoon.
1ish week of school to go.
#raisingreaders #alwaysbringabook #raisingreaders
#alwaysbringabook
Homeschool perk- the freedom to travel. Packed up Homeschool perk- the freedom to travel. Packed up our books and brought them to the land of the red sand. The beach is calling, we must go!
Friends, popsicles, butterflies and tiny pools…. Friends, popsicles, butterflies and tiny pools….we love summer ❤️
Starting our study of Numbers today for Bible time Starting our study of Numbers today for Bible time. It’s important to me that the girls understand the importance of looking at a whole book of the Bible for context and understanding of how each event fits into the bigger picture of Gods salvation. 

The Bible Handbook from @thedailygraceco to overview and introduce the book.

The Story of Numbers by @readkaleidoscope writes it geared toward kids.

And not pictured, our Bibles. We frequently go over checking back to our Bible if we arent sure about something in another book. 

What are you studying?
Cheers to the other mamas just finally getting the Cheers to the other mamas just finally getting their quiet time at 10:15 am because they’ve been in diffuse and correct mode all morning. 

Here’s to the mamas with a child who needs a little “extra” in the regulation department. (If you know what I mean, you know). 

To the ones taking deep breaths and calling on the fruits of the spirit to help her deal with the current “explosion”. 

To the mama who wonders if she’s doing it right but knows it’s worth it. 

God chose me to mother her and He chose you to mother yours. He did that purposefully and He will equip us. If you are a Christian, you have the fruits of the spirit and the help of the Holy Spirit. 

Take a deep breath, a quiet minute and ask God for wisdom and help for this day. It’s an honour and a privilege to have this job of mama.

Hard doesn’t equal bad. 

Here’s to you mama! Keep going. ❤️
All About Reading tip: give them last years reader All About Reading tip: give them last years readers for independent reading.

 She always wants a few minutes to read on her own before bed and she likes to read last years AAR readers because she knows she won’t get a story that’s too hard. 

There’s nothing wrong with letting kids independent reading material be below their instructional level.
It’s a great way to build fluency and confidence and avoid frustration.

Thankful for these readers with interesting stories and colourful pictures @allaboutlearning ❤️
We had a great hike adventure on this beautiful sp We had a great hike adventure on this beautiful spring day!
A look through, and long explanation of, Learning A look through, and long explanation of, Learning Language Arts Through Literature grade 4. 
Let me know if you have any questions!
Sharing the math manipulatives I used today in my Sharing the math manipulatives I used today in my stories. My youngest really thrives when she learns hands on. These are from amazon, except the animals that are from the dollar store.
Read with your kids! 👏🏻Read to them. Let the Read with your kids! 👏🏻Read to them. Let them read to you. Take turns share reading. Read your own books beside each other. READ!

The benefits of reading to your kids are staggering. Not only are there crazy academic benefits, there are also relational benefits. Reading together is such a bonding experience. It helps calm your tiny ones and it brings your older kids to you. 

She’s almost 10 and she’s been reading since she was 4. She’s a voracious reader, reads constantly. I might need a job just to keep her in books. She can read as well as people twice her age. Some might naturally think there’s no point in reading to her anymore. She doesn’t need me to, she’s capable on her own. 

I disagree! We always have a book on the go together. It’s so bonding to be mutually enjoying a book and into it together. It allows her to relax or draw while I read to her. It gives us something to do just the two of us when we have time but I’m tired. Sometimes we just snuggle up like this reading our own books, pausing when she wants to talk about her book. Benefits here are we are physically connected and I get to know what shes reading and be available for discussion. 

All that to say, read with your kids!! Even when they’re older!! 

Together, she and I are loving the Tuesday’s with the Castle series. We’re on our last one!! What are you reading with your big kids?
What a great fsmily hike today to the southern tip What a great fsmily hike today to the southern tip of our island! 75 ish min hike for the whole crew!
Mystery of History Level 1. This is the history p Mystery of History Level 1. 
This is the history program we are using this year and I love it. This is likely what we will use for the next few years. I think this level will last us 2 years since we don’t do History daily.
This is a Bible based curriculum. It begins with creation and goes through history chronologically from there. Each lesson is short with a lesson in the text to be read (I read it out loud) and then a selection of activities. Each lesson has an activity for younger students, middle students and older students. 
There are some written components you can choose, such as matching characters with descriptions or answering comprehension questions. But as the teacher you can pick and choose what you want your kids to do. It can all be oral if you prefer. 
You can order timeline images and work throughout this whole curriculum to make a timeline. This is neat as it allows the kids to see how it all first together.
I love using this resource to learn together as a family!! 

#mysteryofhistory #homeschoolhistory
Merriest Christmas from our house to yours!! Looki Merriest Christmas from our house to yours!! Looking forward to this week off of school and next week we will be back at it!! My plans this week are mostly to read! How are you spending this week?
We are all so excited to see the snow and hope it We are all so excited to see the snow and hope it stays for Christmas
Grumpy mom goes to the beach. If you hear report Grumpy mom goes to the beach. 

If you hear reports of a crazy lady walking Stanley beach in the downpour and singing at the top of her lungs, have no fear, ‘twas just me. 

Do you know the best part of homeschooling? Being with your kids all the time. Getting to make so many memories and develop a strong bond, laugh together, train them, shape their character, disciple them, see them grow up….

Do you know the hardest part of homeschooling? 
Being with your kids all the time. All the mess, all the noise, all the discipline and discipling and correction. Not being able to outsource the tiring and hard parts of parenting. 

Homeschooling isn’t neat and tidy that’s for sure. It’s loud and messy and tiring and hard. And it’s beautiful and rewarding and bonding and the best decision we ever made. 

Doesn’t have to be one or the other. Both can be true. I can love it and think it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done all at the same time. 

So that’s what brings me in my raincoat and boots, worship music blaring out of my pocket and out of my lips, to the beach…getting myself ungrumpy and ready for another week of the hardest and best thing I’ve ever done. I wouldn’t change it for all the money in the world. ❤️

@valmariepaper a nod to your grumpy mom takes a holiday book. ❤️
“I believe in God the Father, I believe in Jesus “I believe in God the Father,
I believe in Jesus Christ,
I believe in the Holy Spirit
And He’s given us new life.
I believe in the crucifixion, 
I believe that He conquered death.
I believe in the resurrection
And He’s coming back again
I believe.”

Last Sunday our oldest daughter publicly declared her saving faith and allegiance to Jesus through the act of obedience through believers baptism. What a glorious day! And for her daddy to do the honours was even more special. 

We will continue to disciple her as she grows in knowledge, understanding and love for God. 

You do not need to share my beliefs to be welcome here. I’ve got a seat for you at my table regardless of your religious views. But may where my belief, love and allegiance lays never be in question. 

We love you Hailey girl ❤️
One row of carrots and a few onions harvested. Abo One row of carrots and a few onions harvested. About 1/3 of what’s there so lots more work to do.
Thank you God for this harvest and it’s provision for our family
I accidentally cut myself off! Here is part 2! I a I accidentally cut myself off! Here is part 2! I also forgot that there are usually individual white boards down below with the binders but they used them this morning and they’re not put back yet!
Showing the rolling cart we use for school this ye Showing the rolling cart we use for school this year
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