Cleaning up trash

The last team to spend time with us, a combination of two churches from New Hampshire, had the opportunity to work with Niños Sin Fronteras (Children Without Borders), a non-profit children's clinic here in the community. The clinic organized a trash pick up day in the community. As any of you know who have been here, trash is an interesting part of this culture. It's every where. And it's not well taken care of. Most kids are allowed to throw candy and gum wrappers where ever they happened to put the sweet into their mouth. The drug addicts and alcoholics use the streets as their personal trash can. People who are responsible and bag their trash up and leave it in piles for the trash trucks to collect become frustrated every week as either dogs paw through the trash looking for scraps, or the addicts dig through it looking for left over food, scrap metal, or anything they can use. This undoubtedly leaves trash every where in the streets. Not to mention the trash that flows down river and ends up on the banks of Anonos. The clinic had a group of volunteers, the group from New Hampshire pitched in, and of course the young dudes and some of the little kids in our church wanted to lend a hand, too.

I don't know if you've ever been part of a trash pick up in your community. Let me tell you. It stinks. No, literally, it's not hard to do and I'm not complaining about picking up the trash. It just literally stinks. It was an olfactory assault on the brain. Who knew trash could be so stinky? Well, maybe Oscar the grouch, but that's his own fault. I started thinking about this as I worked. Many times in our lives we also collect trash. Things happen to us. People throw their own trash into our lives for us to pick up. They say mean words, little words or lies, which is like throwing gum and candy wrappers into our minds and hearts. They do mean things to us, like pitching used kleenex in our faces. They abuse us, like chucking broken bottles and dirty cigarette butts into our hearts. I think that looks different for every person, but in your own way I think you, too, understand what that means for you. 

 

This analogy also works for the sin in our lives. When we do things that we know we shouldn't do, we are effectively throwing trash into our own lives. When we hold on to sin in our lives, instead of asking for forgiveness from God, it begins to collect in the streets of our brains and the rivers of our hearts.

If we let those things build up in our lives, it can be very hard to get them out. Let me give an example of what I mean. As I was cleaning along the river bank, I came to where a house used to stand, but was washed away. Even though the house was gone, there was trash tangled in the old foundation that had obviously been there since November...like clothes and blankets that were wedged under heavy rocks and shredded bags tangles around exposed pipes. I tried to pull at it to trow it out, but it was so tangled and rotten, wedged in and stuck with mud and nastiness that it wouldn't budge. I tugged and tugged, but it would have taken two guys to pull the rocks off it and maybe a knife to cut it free of the branches, metal bars, and debris that it was snared in. Since it had been there since November, it was ODORIFEROUS!! This is just like trash that has been left in our lives, from other people throwing it at us and from our own selves letting it collect from un-confessed sin. If left long enough, it too will begin to rot. This is what the Christian dictionary calls "bitterness". We can probably all think of a person or two who has let the trash of this life collect to the rotten point.

The amazing thing about walking with Christ is that he provides a way to clean this trash out of our lives. He has already paid for the "garbage truck" to come and take the trash out of our lives. All we have to do is ask him to come and clean us. The Holy Spirit loves to come in and clean out all the areas in our lives where trash has been placed. We also can take part in this process by confessing our sins. It's like we pick up our own trash in our lives and throw it into God's trash can, where it is removed as far as the east is from the west, never to be smelled again!! 

Of course, as a good Calvin College student and steward of this planet, I also have to give a plug for saving our planet. Reduce, reuse, recycle (sayings from my generation). It is important to not only pick up the spiritual trash we collect, but natural, physical trash, too. Let's leave a clean planet for our children's children's children's children's children's children's children.

CNN Report

Costa Rica is making it's mark on the map! 

With the help of our dear friend, Dianu, 

a crew from CNN came in to do 

a feature story on Anonos. 

All of the people featured in the film 

are from our church. 

It is in Spanish.

Click here or the picture to see the CNN video

The laziest drink available.

I make almond milk because I’m lazy.

But, you say, can’t you buy almond milk from the store?

Aha, I say, but then you have to put on pants. And find your house keys. And walk to the store. Which can be like walking to Guatemala. And meet half of the community out in the streets. And you must stop and talk. Which means talking for at least 20 minutes. And then you finally make it to the store and they don't have any almond milk left. Or maybe they never had any to begin with. That’s work, people. Hard work.

Or just drink some soy milk? Isn't there always soy milk in the bodega (the storage room behind the kitchen)? How much more lazy can you get?

Alas, but then again, you have to put on shoes. And find your house keys. And walk out to the bodega. And realize that the soy milk is in a box on the shelf and is not cold. It is warm. And so you stick it in the freezer for 20 minutes hoping to chill it, only to realize that now 3 hours have gone by and you have forgotten that the milk was in the freezer and now it needs defrosted.

The solution to this madness? Homemade almond milk made from easily stored, nonperishable ingredients in less time than it takes to go to the store. And I’m only somewhat lying.

There’s no cooking. It's easy. And the best part is you have to make cookies afterward. First because you have to have cookies with milk. It's like a law or something. And secondly because you need to do something with all that left-over almond pulp. What is almond pulp, you say?? Pulp fiction, maybe?* We'll get to that. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

What you need:
1 cup of almonds

4 cups of water

A sweetener (honey, agave nectar, maple syrup...whatever floats your boat.)

Dates (I know I am always talking about finding a man, but not that kind of date, silly. You don't need a man to make almond milk...I'm talking about real dates here...like the fruit. Use about 2 Tablespoons. Eyeball it. Whatever. To taste. If you want. I can't force you to do anything.)

Vanilla (again to taste...whatever that means, I like to use a glug. What is a glug? I dunno...a splash...a teaspoon)

A blender

A fine holed strainer or cheesecloth

I like to use raw, whole almonds. You can use chopped, I guess. Measure out a cup. I like to use a glass 2 Cup measuring cup...a 2 cup glass measuring cup? a 2 Cup measuring glass? While I try to figure out how to say that in English, let's move on. Put 1 cup of almonds in the glass and fill the measuring cup up to the 2 cup line with boiling water. This softens the nuts. Leave them for any where between 1-4 hours. If you have other important business, now is the time to do it. Like checking facebook. If you want to be really lazy, just pour regular tap water over the almonds and leave them to soak over night. I know boiling water can be vexing to a body.

After your almonds have had a good soak, drain and rinse them. Put them in a blender. Add your dates and 1 cup of water and blend the heck out of them. Let 'em have it!! Sing the Eve 6 song "wanna put my tender heart in a blender, watch it spin round to a beautiful oblivion...."** This is the part where a good blender lid is very important. you know how almost all blender lids have that little plastic piece in the middle that makes a peep hole into the swirling world of the blenderizing foods? Slip that little piece out and gradually add 3 more cups of water. Don't worry, it won't overflow. Just pour by faith. At this point the almonds should be chopped into itty bitty teeny tiny pieces. At this point, while it's all swirling and turbulent...pour in your sweetener...I dunno, I always just squirt...maybe 1-2 tablespoons. Depends on how sweet you like it. Make a batch. If it's not sweet enough, add more the next time. Add your vanilla. Stop the blender. This is a very important step. STOP THE BLENDER!!!

Next take the lid off and pour the liquid through the strainer (or through the cheesecloth) into a pitcher. Once all the liquid has been poured off, put the tiny almond pieces into a tupperware container for later use. I will give recipes later for what I have dubbed "almond pulp".

Isn't it delightful?

This is what the pulp should look like.

After that, it keeps in the fridge for up to a week.  If you're a two cup of coffee a day kinda person, you won't make it a week, though. You'll have to make another batch!!

Making coffee the Costa Rican way...

My completed almond milk and a loaf of whole wheat almond nut bread...You'll have to wait for that recipe...

Hooray for lazy!***
~~~~
* Who wants to bet when this reference will seem old and absurdly dated? I call October 2011.
** OF COURSE this popped into my head while writing and now it won’t leave. If I have to suffer, you do too.  Misery loves company.
*** Thus the “kind of lying” part. I suppose it doesn’t take 24 hours to get to the store unless you’re really in Guatemala and have to go by donkey to the nearest town.

Baby turtles!!

By now, anyone who knows me at ALL knows I am slightly obsessed with my camera. I take it every where. Heaven forbid a Kodak moment go by without it being eternally captured by my lens. If you've hung out with me for even an extended amount of time, I may also pose you until I get just the right shot. I may ask you to do something ridiculous, like jump off a rock or a tree stump. I may ask you to twist into the "squishy face" or stand toe-to-toe for a foot picture. You may be given a prop to hold or model with. Whatever. All for the shot. All for remembering moments that we can (for the most part) never relive again!! So alas, to my shock, horror and dismay! I did not have my trusty camera with me for one of the most incredible moments of my life!! I was with the Virginia team doing evangelism on the beach in Nosara and had decided I didn't want to bring my camera...mostly because I knew it was going to rain. I had left it at the hotel hoping to go back later in the day for it. 

Fortunately, someone else did....Because that day we saw one of the most incredible miracles of God's creation...the birth of turtles and their brave new-born journey to the ocean!!! Johnny, Shannon, and I were walking down the beach to go shell hunting when all of a sudden I saw a tiny creature scuttling down the beach in front of us. "A baby turtle!!" I exclaimed. It ended up being the first of probably 50 or 60 turtles. We ended up finding the nest and watching in awe as they scrambled over vines and branches to get to the beach sands. They then made tracks to the ocean. When they arrived at the shore, a gigantic, merciless wave would come crashing in and sweep them out, but amazingly, we could see them swimming in the waves that were sucking them out.

 It's truly mind-blowing to think that these palm-sized newborns have the instinct to hatch from their eggs,

start scuttling (for lack of a better word...turtle army crawl? scurry? flipper?...I think I'll stick with scuttle.)

They really did make the cutest tracks in the sand. 

Ok...so lesson learned. When we first saw them, our natural instinct was to pick them up. I mean, dude, we are the touchy-feely generation. BUT we realized after 2.5 seconds we really shouldn't be picking them up. So before you call PETA on me, only 3 or 4 were actually touched...the rest we left alone. We didn't even help them over the vines and tangles and branches because we knew they needed to do it without human interference...  

You have to admit, the turtle is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY cute!!!! You probably would have had the same instinct.

Some fun facts about turtles. The information is from wikipedia, (the parenthesis are my own thoughts...) Costa Rica is one of the most important nesting grounds for sea turtles. Mature turtles often return to the exact beach from which they hatched. (so maybe in a few years we will see these little turtles again!!) Females usually mate every two to four years. Males, on the other hand, visit the breeding areas every year, attempting to mate (go figure). After mating in the water, the female moves above the beach's high tide line, where she digs a hole with her hind flippers and deposits her eggs. Clutch size depends on the age of the female and species, but can range between 100 and 200 (yowzers!!).  She then covers the nest with sand and returns to the sea. At around 45 to 75 days, the eggs hatch during the night (except, surprisingly enough, for us. We saw them around 3PM), and the hatchlings instinctively head directly into the water. This is the most dangerous time in a turtle's life. As they walk, predators, such as gulls and crabs, grab them (not on our watch!!!). Since they are born at night, they use the light reflecting off the surface of the water to guide them to the ocean. One danger to this process is light pollution from beachfront homes. Many turtles never make it to the ocean because they are disoriented by the light. A significant percentage never make it to the ocean (EVERY single turtle we saw hatch made it to the ocean!!!!).

What an incredible gift that God gave us! The ability to see one of His precious creatures surviving in the wild! What a great lesson for us, as well. When we are born again in Christ, we are also called to make the journey into the kingdom of God. It is a journey by faith that can seem long and difficult. There are natural predators out there that would try to kill and destroy us before we can enter into His kingdom. There are also false lights that would try to disorient us from where we should be going. But with help, we can make it to the shore.

Ah, Language

Do you ever get into a situation or a conversation with some one and all of a sudden you're lost for words. Like you want to use a word, but your language just doesn't quite capture it? Like there has to be a better way to describe what is going on in your head? Maybe you need to use one of the follow from a list of not-easily-translated-into-English words:

1. ToskaRussian – Vladmir Nabokov describes it best: “No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”
2. Mamihlapinatapei
   Yagan (indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego) – “the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start”
3. Jayus
   Indonesian – “A joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh”
4. Iktsuarpok
   Inuit – “To go outside to check if anyone is coming.”
5. Litost
   Czech – Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, remarked that “As for the meaning of this word, I have looked in vain in other languages for an equivalent, though I find it difficult to imagine how anyone can understand the human soul without it.” The closest definition is a state of agony and torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery.
6. Kyoikumama
   Japanese – “A mother who relentlessly pushes her children toward academic achievement”
7. Tartle
   Scottish – The act of hestitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name.
8. Ilunga
   Tshiluba (Southwest Congo) – A word famous for its untranslatability, most professional translators pinpoint it as the stature of a person “who is ready to forgive and forget any first abuse, tolerate it the second time, but never forgive nor tolerate on the third offense.”
9. Prozvonit
   Czech – This word means to call a mobile phone and let it ring once so that the other person will call back, saving the first caller money. In Spanish, the phrase for this is “Dar un toque,” or, “To give a touch.”
10. Cafuné
    Brazilian Portuguese – “The act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair.”
11. Schadenfreude
    German – Quite famous for its meaning that somehow other languages neglected to recognize, this refers to the feeling of pleasure derived by seeing another’s misfortune. I guess “America’s Funniest Moments of Schadenfreude” just didn’t have the same ring to it.
12. Torschlusspanik
    German – Translated literally, this word means “gate-closing panic,” but its contextual meaning refers to “the fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages.” (Altalang.com)
13. Wabi-Sabi
    Japanese – Much has been written on this Japanese concept, but in a sentence, one might be able to understand it as “a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.” (Altalang.com)
14. Dépaysement
    French – The feeling that comes from not being in one’s home country.
15. Tingo
    Pascuense (Easter Island) – Hopefully this isn’t a word you’d need often: “the act of taking objects one desires from the house of a friend by gradually borrowing all of them.”
16. Hyggelig
    Danish – Its “literal” translation into English gives connotations of a warm, friendly, cozy demeanor, but it’s unlikely that these words truly capture the essence of a hyggelig; it’s likely something that must be experienced to be known. I think of good friends, cold beer, and a warm fire.
17. L’appel du vide
    French – “The call of the void” is this French expression’s literal translation, but more significantly it’s used to describe the instinctive urge to jump from high places.
18. Ya’aburnee
    Arabic – Both morbid and beautiful at once, this incantatory word means “You bury me,” a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person because of how difficult it would be to live without them.
19. Duende
    Spanish – While originally used to describe a mythical, spritelike entity that possesses humans and creates the feeling of awe of one’s surroundings in nature, its meaning has transitioned into referring to “the mysterious power that a work of art has to deeply move a person.” There’s actually a nightclub in the town of La Linea de la Concepcion, where I teach, named after this word.
20. Saudade
    Portuguese – One of the most beautiful of all words, translatable or not, this word “refers to the feeling of longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost.” Fado music, a type of mournful singing, relates to saudade.

A picture is worth...

...a thousand words, and maybe a commentary or two from me.

Never be ashamed to be a dancing queen.

I always wondered where peanut butter came from...

Some times you just gotta light a fire under your butt 
to get going.

Never put off the important things 
you need to say.

There is no better death than a death by chocolate.

Galatians 5:15
If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

That explains it.

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
   if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
   and the LORD will reward you.  
Proverbs 25:21-22

Object Lesson

There is always a surprise in Princess Club! This week came with it's own unexpected object lesson. The theme of the day was the power of our words. We have been given authority and power in the Kingdom of God. This power comes through our words and we learn these words from God, as He speaks in our lives and as we read His written word that He has left for us.



We read through several scriptures (in Psalms, Luke, and Romans) about our authority that God gives us. To demonstrate the power of our words, we taped paper on all of our backs and each girl was given a distinct colored marker. The object was to write something nice about the girl on whose back you were writing. Each girl got to write on every girl's back.

When we finished, each girl took her paper off her back and got to read all the nice things the others had written about her...that is until one girl noticed a not so nice thing written on her paper. It said she was ugly. Who did that!! We had just learned about the power of our words!! About how we have been given authority with our words to build up or tear down!! Who had the orange marker?? The words were written in orange. The girl came forward but persisted she was innocent.

Freeze frame. At the beginning of group we went over the Princess Rules, which the girls helped to write. Rule number 4 is stated as follows: Only nice words. The consequences were discussed at the initiation of the club: immediate removal from club for that day if the rules are blatantly broken. The girl may return, but not until the next club meeting. (These are very similar to the rules I use when in my classes, which we have been using since September).

Flash forward back to the moment. The other girls were given the chance to speak up, in case that we had falsely accused, but no one came forward. The only fair call was to ask her to leave. I explained to her that because of the rules of the game, and the rules of the Princess Club, she needed to leave for the day. She would be allowed back next week.HARDEST CALL EVER!!! Even though it was not planned and one would NEVER hope this will happen again, it served as an instant object lesson for the power and consequences our words can have.

After she left, we shifted to snack time to relieve some of the tension in the room. During snack Ana Laura and I lead a discussion with the girls about the what had just happened. We again talked about the power of words and how our words have consequences. The girls definitely understood. It actually opened up a really good discussion with them.

And so finished another day in the Kingdom. Oh, and I was able to change the word "fea" into "Bella" (beautiful) with just a few pen strokes on the other girl's paper :)

The Princess Club #3: Claiming who we are in Christ

 This week in the Princess Club we had a princess visiting from a foreign kingdom. Princess Taylor came to Kingdom Anonos to share in the joyful things that are going on with our princesses!!!

During Princess Club #3 we learned about how we are new creations in Christ. We opened with the story of Shrek and how Princess Fiona on the outside looked one way, but when she realized her true identity, she was completely changed. When we realize our identity in Christ, we are also permanently changed. Of course we also used the analogy of a butterfly. We talked through the process of salvation, how we are all sinners and how the King sent his son to the earth to save it, and gave them the opportunity to accept Christ into their hearts. We also talked about what we see when we look in the mirror and how God sees us.

 

To demonstrate our new truths, we depicted them as follows: 

 

The butterfly represents us as new creations in Christ. 

God's love is the pocket where He hides us as princesses. 

Just Sayin'

After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you’re full of bull, keep your mouth shut.

-Will Rogers

Facts to Ponder About the Human Body

Some facts to ponder...I found the facts on a fact website (go figure). I added some of my own ponderings...

A human fetus begins to develop fingerprints at the 10th week of gestation and the process is totally completed by the 18th... As we all know, fingerprints are one of the main ways we can certify the identity of a person. It is how we can guarantee you are who you say you are. God has us ready to be identified really early in our development!!

It really is true that blood is thicker than water...approximately 4 times thicker, in fact.
More people are allergic to cows milk than any other food. It is estimated that 30 to 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant, including 75% of Native Americans and African Americans, and 90% of Asian Americans.  I will have recipes for almond milk in my next blog.....


A person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation (Death can occur about 10 days without sleep while starvation takes a few weeks). College students, no more all-nighters!!!


You burn more calories sleeping than watching TV. See comment above about sleep deprivation.

An average person will spend 25 years asleep. Except if you listen to my advice above...raise the bar to 26.


The fingerprints of koala bear are indistinguishable to that of a human. Next time a crime is committed at a zoo, blame the koala.


Skin is a human's largest organ. Humans on average shed and regrow outer skin cells every 27 days (almost 1,000 new skins in a lifetime) and sheds .7kg (1.5 pounds) of skin each year. Most household dust is made up of dead skin cells. Can some one pass me a loofah and some skin cream???!!!

Laughing lowers levels of stress and strengthens your immune system. Proverbs 17:22
¨A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.¨

Unless food is mixed with saliva you can't taste it. A good reminder to completely chew your food...at least 20 times per bite (that´s from my therapist´s perspective and research in the field!!!)


8% of people have an extra rib. Adam must have been one of those 8%...Just sayin´. 


Your tongue is the fastest healing part of your body. Still not a good reason to pierce it or stick it to a frozen street lamp.

The most common mental illnesses are anxiety and depression. Well that's depression.



          

Prayer

Well said....

Sk8 Club

Not only are their new princesses in town, but the men are being trained as warrior princes! (Of course in a manly, dignified way... of course....) A few months ago we had the pleasure of hosting Jud Heald, a professional skater (check out his website at d2lrevolution.com). The video here is one of his skate runs during a contest. Jud and another fellow skater use their skating to reach the younger generation. They demonstrate some phenomenal tricks and then share the message of the gospel. They always allow the kids time to practice their moves, too. 

Many of the kids here in Anonos also love to skate. The younger ones love to ride down the huge hill by the house sitting on their patched together boards. The older ones will some times walk to the Parque Sabana, the large national park about a mile from here, to practice different tricks. After Jud was here, Steve and Tito decided we needed a skateboard ministry here, too. So they built ramps and rails and every Saturday they bring them down to the bottom of the hill. They used to use them in the Planche, but with the constant need for cleaning it and from a safety perspective, they have moved to the road in front of the casita.  The kids skate for about a half an hour and then Steve or Tito share a 15-20 minute message with them and then they can skate for another hour. It has been a very positive and relevant way to meet the kids in their most formative years.

When people say they have nothing to offer others, many times they are just thinking inside the box. What do you enjoy doing? What skills or talents do you have? Can you teach those to other people? Can you encourage other people in those same gifts and talents? Do you enjoy children? Teens? Young adults? Young professionals? Adults? God's kingdom is not about a building. It's not about being inside a building once or even twice a week. It's not just about reading the Bible (although that is exceptionally important!!!) It is not always about serious study groups and intense conversations.  God's kingdom is in the every day. The simple. Every moment. It is using what God gave you to advance His kingdom. Taking your abilities, passions, and talents and using them for God's glory as well as the encouragement and growth of the church. I encourage you, too, to look for creative ways to be the light of Jesus in your community.

Steven lands this impressive move...

The Princess Club: Our Identity in Christ

YAY PRINCESS CLUB!!!!!!!!!!! Week two was just as incredible as week one!!! This week we learned about our identity in Christ! If He is the King of Kings and we are his heirs, we are Princesses!! We learned that we were carefully and purposefully formed in our mother's bellies by God. We are beautiful and have value in God's eyes!! We went over our key verse: Colossians 1:12: "(God) has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light." We also found our theme song: "Yo Soy Tu Amado" from the Gracias Por La Cruz album from Vineyard music. (If you click on the song title, it will take you to a website where you can listen to the song. The words are as follows:

YO SOY TU AMADO (Your Beloved)
Señor fuiste Tu quien creó los cielos.  Lord it was you who created the heavens.
Señor fue Tu mano quien las estrellas creo. Lord it was your hand that created the stars.
Señor Tu voz viene como la mañana. Lord your voice comes like the morning.
Y aun las olas del mar se postran ante Ti. And even the waves of the sea bow before you.

Quien soy yo comparado a Tu gloria, Señor? Who am I compared to your glory, Lord?
Quien soy yo comparado a Tu majestad? Who am I compared to your majesty?

Yo soy Tu amada, por Ti creado. I am your beloved, by you created
Y me amas como soy,  And you love me as I am
Me has escogido para tu Reino You have chosen me for your Kingdom
Y me dices que Tuyo soy. And you tell me that I'm yours.
Yo soy Tu amada. I am your Beloved.

  

The girls had a great time decorating their frames. Ana Laura and I had taken pictures of them when we gave them their invitations or the first week of the club.

 Rule #2 in the Princess Club is: Justice and Equality for everyone. Each girls was given the same number of foam stickers, a crown, and sequence to decorate their picture frame. I loved the creativity each girl showed in decorating their frame. Each frame showed a bit of each girl's personality. I loved the fact that Marilyn decided to put the crown sticker on her head in the picture. It started a trend and most of the girls followed suit. They are learning TRUTH about their IDENTITY in Christ!! It starts NOW! Not when they are adults. Or teenagers. Or in college or their career. Their Identity is formed NOW!!! They ARE princesses!!

 

Ana Laura explains more about what it means to be a princess while the girls eat their princess snack. Ana Laura made princess wand cookies with frosting and sprinkles...YUMMY!!!