the paquettes

Our family night activity tonight was found (for free!) here!  James and I thought of verses in the Bible that were especially meaningful to each of us.  We then put one of those verses in each egg and hid them around the house!  The point of the egg hunt was this conversation with the kids:

“What makes the Bible different from other books? The Bible is the word of God. The Bible is
living.
How can a book be living? It doesn’t eat. I don’t see it breathing. It is living because God
uses the words in this book to speak directly to our situation and our lives. I have read the
same part of the Bible many times but one time that same part will leap out like never
before, it comes alive, and I learn something directly from God.
Did you know that God wants us to read and search the Bible looking for treasure with the
same excitement we search for eggs? Finding wisdom in the Bible can be challenging,
exciting and just like finding hidden treasure.
We are going to hunt for the eggs, but I am going to put “treasures” from the Bible in the eggs. These
are parts of the Bible that through the years have stood out, come alive, to teach me and your mom
something about God.”

I thought it was neat to share with the kids all our meaningful verses and I wanted to have it recorded in a special place-so here it is!

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  (This verse was one of my favorites growing up because whenever I felt anxious about my future, specifically moving to Texas,  getting married one day, having children… I would read this verse.)

Galatians 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (This was one of the first big Bible verses that I memorized and recited to others when I was baptized around age 12.)

This is me being baptized in the backyard of one of our friend’s houses!

Mark 14:36b Yet not what I will, but what you will (This verse was at the top of my theraputic art that I did when I was broken up with James while we were dating. You can see the story and art here.)

Jeremiah 33:11  the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’  For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.  (This verse was given to me from the Lord in August of our “dating breakup” that lasted from April-November of 1999.  With hope and faith I prayed as if James and I would be getting back together one day!)

Ephesians 5:25-27  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  (These were the verses James read to me right before he proposed.  James washed my feet in a park before he got down on one knee as a way to live out this verse!)

James washing my feet, while my future mother in law was taking pictures hiding behind a tree!

Psalm 82:3  Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.  (This verse was the fuel that sparked my involvement with the sanctity of life.  I started volunteering at Austin Life Care to help women in crisis pregnancies, have prayed in front of abortion clinics, and I am involved with Life Care’s PALS (Partners in Affirming Life) program.)