The Hickman's: August 2008

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The Word on Wednesday...

John 13:35- "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

1 Corinthians 13:1-3- "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a- "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

1 Corinthians 13:13- "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

2 Corinthians 3:3- "You are a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stones but on tablets of human hearts."

What is love? I could go to Webster's Dictionary, a wise elder or my pastor. I could search the Internet or many other resources to try to find out what love is. But I truly believe that the only place I need to look is in the good ol' Book of Life- the B-I-B-L-E. God tells us what love is in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. And He shows us what is throughout the entire bible! Did you know that when asked what is the great commandment in the Law, Jesus replied that to love God is the great and first commandment and the second is to love others? Of all the commandments God could have given us, of all the rules He could have laid out right then and there, the only thing He said was to love God and love others:

Matthew 22:34-39- "Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

2 Corinthians 3:3 says: "You are a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stones but on tablets of human hearts." Wow- that means we are to be imitators of Christ! I believe Christ has told us and shown us ways to be imitators of Him in many ways. One way is by pouring the unconditional, never-ending love of Christ into others. We are vessels of Christ, He should be able to love others through us. Our love needs to be set apart from the World's love. We need to show love "in spite of" and "because of". In spite of rejection, hardship, or persecution, and because of the the love that Jesus showed us by dying on the cross for our sins.

I'll be the first to admit that it can be hard to love someone I don't know, someone who has hurt me or someone who is different. It is much easier to say, "Don't look at me, look at Jesus- read the Bible." Yes, it is good advice to look at Jesus and read the Bible, because people will always let you down. But, the truth is, we may be the only Jesus some will ever see. Dwight L. Moody says, "Of one hundred men, one will read the Bible; the ninety-nine will read the Christian." Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7: "You became imitators of us and of the Lord... And so you became a model to all the believers." We are God's love letter to the world! We were set apart for a purpose- to show God's love and communicate His glory to a lost and dying world. Have you shown someone that you and God love them lately?

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Word on Wednesday...

1 Peter 4:10- "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."

Ephesians 4:11- "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers..."

1 Peter 5:2-3- "Be shepherds of God's flock (our students) that is under your care, serving as overseers- not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock."

And because some students think they are: Matthew 10:24- "A student is not above his teacher..."

It's "Back to School" time! This time of the year is so important. For students it means a new backpack, school supplies, new clothes, friends, no more sleeping in, homework... For teachers it means waxed floors, a new group of kids, new dry erase markers, bulletin boards, grading papers, and a new year with a fresh beginning.

Do you ever think about the fact that teachers have the opportunity to have the greatest impact on our children? Let's remember to pray for our teachers, faculty/staff, administrators and students in our community!

Oh Heavenly Father,
There are so many teachers, administrators and students beginning the 2008-2009 school year this week. I pray that you will be with each individual, and that the year will start off right. Watch over us and give us protection, protection from accidents, illnesses and the evil one. I pray for the student-teacher relationships, that they will be respectful and pure. Help us teachers to be gracious, full of compassion, and slow to anger, having great mercy. Help us to remember that a soft word turns away wrath. I pray for our relationship with you. Give us faith, wisdom and strength to accomplish your will as teachers. Help us to shine out light in a dark world. I pray for our teaching, that we will love and enjoy our students, be excited about teaching, and pour your love and encouragement into our students. I pray for the administration of the schools, that you will give them guidance and wisdom when making decisions for our schools. Help them to be respectful, godly leaders, doing what is right and best. Be with each student, that they will have good attitudes, be respectful and stay enthusiastic about learning. Help them to seek you for strength, knowledge and power while studying, doing homework and taking tests. I pray that this will be a successful school year for everyone. I thank you for being with us in everything we do! I love you so much! Amen.

Here's what we're doing at Ms. Amy's "Tippy Toes" Preschool...

Breakfast... Oatmeal, grapes and milk

Singing our "Who's Here Today?" song (to learn names and faces).

"King of the Day"

Recess!!

Jedidiah and Zayde playing catch...

Boys being boys... playing in the dirt.

Miles and Zayde riding trikes...

J.P. is practicing cutting.

We learned the color word 'green' today. Jedidiah is showing his green frog.
"G-R-E-E-N, G-R-E-E-N, I know how to spell green, G-R-E-E-N!"

Snack time! Animal crackers... Mmm!

And my favorite time of the day... Nap! Just kidding:)

God bless all of the teachers, students, faculty/staff and administration!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Florida or Bust!

This summer, we were blessed to have the opportunity to go on a vacation with my family to Destin, Florida. We carpooled in five vehicles. There were 26 people, which included 15 adults and 11 children. Four families, including us, stayed in a 4 bedroom house and four families stayed in two camper trailers. We had an absolute blast!! Let's meet everyone...

The Martin's:
Tavner, Hannah, Logan, Lisa, Whitney

The Guist's:
Carol, Charles

The Hudgens':
Julie, Nathan, Cathy, Robert (We missed you, Chris!)

The Parks':
Phisher, Melissa, TJ, Cole

The Roy's:
Paxton, Christa, Mia (We missed you, Tommy!)

The Lewis':
Kynzie, Tamara, Cayden, Drew, Addye

The Hickman's:
Zack, Amy, Zayde

Hangin' Out at the Beach!

Zayde

Phisher and Cole

Addye Paige

Hannah and Logan

Flying Kites...

Miss Mia

Mr. Zayde

Amy and Zack on the boardwalk...

The two "Studs" laying out.

Amy, Lisa, Melissa, Hannah and Cathy get brave going deep!

Zayde and Mama

Just playing around...

Building sand castles

Hello Ladies!
Julie, Amy, Melissa, Christa, Tamara, Lisa, Cathy

Zayde and Papa sitting under the shade

Zack and Drew playing in the sand!

Amy, Mel, Christa, Julie

Surfing on the Shore:

Zack

Paxton

Tavner

Zayde is wiped out!

Taking a night swim at the pool...
*Let's play a game in this section. Instead of "Where's Waldo?", let's play "Where's Paxton..."

(Do you see him?)