Amos 3 - The Lion Roars Quiet Book Page

In Amos chapter 3, Amos preaches to the Israelites about how they have treated God's messengers. Even though they are not willing to listen to the prophets and have told them all to shut up, Amos is more afraid of not listening to God than listening to them - and their efforts to shut him up will be futile.

Memory Verse: “Surely the Lord God does nothing,

Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

A lion has roared!

Who will not fear?

The Lord God has spoken!

Who can but prophesy?” Amos 3:7-8 NKJV.

Materials needed to create the The Lion Roars quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used dark brown
• my free Amos 3 - The Lion Roars Bible Quiet Book Template Pattern
• felt in light brown, hot pink, light pink/very light brown, black and white
• 6 black grommets and tool set - I used 3mm inside diameter (perhaps 5mm height)
• 2mm elastic in black or gray - I used 3 lengths of about 20cm
• two round buttons for the eyes
• various ribbons in orange, gold, yellow, red and browns for the mane
• two 33mm white horn buttons for the teeth - I bought this in colour 4 (not an afiliate link)
• sewing threads to best match the page
• scissors!

Cut all the pattern pieces (you can use these to help with positioning pieces later). 

Cut the ribbons into lengths about 12cm long and melt the edges - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying. Sew them down as a mane under where the lion's head will be. I used a lot of zig zag stitch to sew things down underneath where they wouldn't be seen.

I often make more than one page at a time.
The extra sewing is not too bad when you
don't have to change thread colours, and
that way I can have extra pages for presents
and a practice run before sewing the real thing.

Sew the inner ears to the outer ears and then the outer ear to more felt and cut them out. Sew them in position too.

Cut and sew down the white teeth to the pink inner mouths about 5mm from the edge to allow the sewing machine foot to pass later on. 

I cut out the mouth from black instead of pink, but thought
it might make a good experiment to do it that way too.
I took a photo so you can see and compare
and decide which way you prefer.

Sew on the white horn buttons to form teeth making sure that the upper and lower jaws will close without the teeth impeding on each other.  

Then sew the pink inner mouths to black outer mouths (upper and lower) and sew the lower mouth/jaw in place.

Sew the nose to the head and insert the grommets. Thread the elastic through from the front to the back and back to the front through the opposite grommet. When you pull the top right whisker it should shorten the bottom left and so forth. Knot the ends to prevent the whiskers pulling out. I taped mine down out of the way so I could sew the next section.

Using matching threads to the mouth and head (match the felt not the spool and bobbin), sew the upper mouth/jaw to the head underneath where the nose and whiskers are along the outer edge only (otherwise you will have a sewn line across the lion's face), stopping about one centimetre short of either end. 

Place the head in position and fold back the top section so you can attach the inner jaw lining using zig zag stitch. Sew the head using  normal stitch to attach the head on top of the mane and ears along the outer edge meeting your previous sewing at the jaw.

Sew on the buttons as eyes.

Finished! 

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

The hardest part of this page is sewing the the top mouth section together with the teeth already handsewn on - just make sure you leave enough room for the sewing machine foot to pass.

Installing grommets can be intimidating, but once you try, they are easy and make you very satisfied with your efforts! The following YouTube tutorial by Irina Sorokina from My Craft Quiet Books should help.

Eyelets and grommets - My Craft Quiet Books

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Amos 3 - It is better to listen to God than man
• Imaginative play - open and close the lion's mouth and give a big roar (ok, so this page may not be so quiet!)
• Pull Strings - do you dare to pull the lion's whiskers?
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Tahlia says the memory verse and explains how to

pull the lions whiskers and make him roar.

Read the Chapter

Amos 3

Devotional

Amos chapter 3 contrasts Amos chapter 2 where the prophets of God are silenced by the people.

Amos has a healthy view of God and man however, and knows that when the lion roars you better be scared. And when God speaks, Amos prophesies!

If there is something we need to know about beforehand, we are assured God will (or has) let us know. Amos is warning Israel, Judah, and their neighbouring nations about the coming destruction of Assyria and Babylon. But of course the coming destruction prefigures the coming destruction of the entire world at the end. 

When the lion roars, we would do well to listen. God has told us the end from the beginning and continued telling us all through the middle. God makes no move without telling us - just like a parent warns their children that if they don't eat their dinner they won't get desert. The end should come as no surprise to anyone who has been listening.

God Reveals His Secrets To His Servants (Amos 3:7)

(Country Living)

The memory verse for this chapter is one of my treasured verses. I have been researching the Second Coming for a while now, and here, God claims that He will do NOTHING without telling us first.

It is a very common belief that Jesus will surprise everyone at His second appearance, but I have found that God tends to be very predictable. And I think that is because He is trustworthy, and repeats Himself in so many patterns in an attempt to get things through to our distrusting selves.

History has followed the pattern,
so will the future.

Jesus fulfilled prophecy to the minute at His first coming - he died at the time of the evening sacrifice on Passover, having entered Jerusalem on the 10th of the month, just as the lamb set aside for the purpose must have done. Why would He not fulfil prophecy exactly at His return?

The spring feasts were fulfilled at His First Coming - I believe the fall feasts will be fulfilled at the Second Coming.

To see how No One Knows The Day or Hour fits into this, you can read the article by Hebrew Roots.

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Have you been scared of installing grommets too? Comment below!

Genesis 40 - The Baker's and The Butler's Dreams Quiet Book Page

In Genesis chapter 40, Joseph correctly interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's Chief Baker and Chief Butler.

Memory Verse: “Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.” Genesis 40:21-22 NKJV.

 

Materials needed to create the The Baker's and The Butler's Dreams quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used light tan
• my free Genesis 40 - The Baker's and the Butler's Dreams Bible Quiet Book Template Pattern
• felt in dark brown, yellow, white, mint, light blue, mauve, light tan and tan
• wadding scraps
• gold grommets and tool set - I used 3mm inside diameter (perhaps 5mm height)
• 1mm elastic in mint, purple, and yellow - I bought these (not an affiliate link)
• vine leaf beads
• grape cluster beads
• colourful bird beads - I bought these (not an affiliate link)
• three small buttons
• material suitable for the white baskets (don't choose anything too thick or it will be difficult to sew)
• sewing threads to best match the page
• hot glue and glue gun
• scissors!

Cut all the pattern pieces (you can use these to help with positioning pieces later). 

Use the template to help you position your pieces before sewing

Cut and sew down these pieces in the following order using matching thread - benches, butler's rear leg, butler's front leg, baker's legs, butler's head, dream circles, butler's outstretched arm, butler's torso, butler's bent arm, baker's torso with arms, baker's head, side loincloths, middle loincloths, pharaoh's cup (in butler's hand), and vine.

Draw basket outlines onto the wrong side of your basket material. Sew a very tight zig zag stitch along the top edges of all three basket outlines (excluding the basket base). Cut out the baskets, being careful not to cut any of the stitching. Sew the base basket onto the baker's dream circle using a very tight zig zag stitch along the top edge only. Lay the largest basket and top of the basket base and sew both edges down with a tight zig zag stitch till just below where the next basket's top edge will sit. Lay the next basket on top and repeat this process. Lay the smallest basket down and sew all the way around with a tight zig zag stitch from one side to the other, catching all the baskets along the bottom edge.

The material I was originally using was rather thick so I did a test to see if my machine could handle all the layers. It could, but to my dismay I read the story again and discovered that the basket was white! 

I had to change my basket fabric... thankfully everyone on my Facebook page comments liked the white baskets better. That was encouraging because I liked the look of the dark basket better, but I do like to get all the details as correct that I can. Although the baskets being white may imply contents of white bread... but scholars are not sure, and I had already made the bread (including some white bread).

I also tried a quilted calico fabric but I think
it would have been too thick

Use the pattern pieces to mark where you need grommets and install them (see video below). 

Tie a grape cluster bead to the end of some green elastic and thread on a couple of leaves. Thread the elastic through the horizontal grommets along the vine adding beads to the elastic as you go. Finish by tying the end to the last bead. The elastic end should look like a tendril. Repeat this process with another length of green elastic along the vertical grommets of the vine.

For the birds eating the bread, thread three coloured elastics through the grommets from the back on one side of the baskets, adding a bird bead before re-entering the same hole. Continue threading the elastic through an opposite hole on the other side of the basket and add another bird before re-entering back through the grommet. Thread both ends of each elastic onto a button and tie the ends together. The button will prevent the knot from being pulled through the grommets and onto the right side.

To make the dark rye bread rolls, cut out the top pieces and sew onto tan felt around the slits. Cut them out and sew to another dark background then cut them out again. 

Repeat this process in a similar fashion for the oval bread and pie. For the pull-apart rolls, cut out the top and sew down onto another piece of felt with a piece of smaller wadding in between. Add stitching down the long centre and two lots of stitching down the shorter part to add the 6-pack detail, then cut them out. 

For the croissants, cut out the top pieces and sew them onto another piece of felt and cut them out. Roll them up using a small amount of hot glue to keep them in place.

Of course the baker would have been anticipating Pharaoh's birthday and have made him a cake. So cut out two cake pieces and sew the icing pieces on. Hot glue the cake together along the sides and top edges, leaving the bottom edge open to form a finger puppet.

Fill the baskets with the baked goods.

Finished! 

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

The hardest part of this page is sewing the basket. It's not that bad!

Installing grommets looks difficult and scary, but once you try, they are easy and make you very satisfied with your efforts! The following YouTube tutorial by Irina Sorokina from My Craft Quiet Books should help.

Eyelets and grommets - My Craft Quiet Books

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 40 - this page is all about faith versus works
• Imaginative play - squeeze the grape clusters into Pharaoh's cup
• Pull-string - help the birds peck the bread from the baskets
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Tahlia says the memory verse and explains

how to play with the dreams of the baker

and the butler which Joseph interprets.

Read the Chapter

Genesis 40

Devotional

Whilst researching and making this page, I learnt something exciting and amazing. 

As a child I had thought the point of this story was to show Pharaoh that Joseph's dream interpreting skills could be trusted. But now I could tell something strange was going on in this chapter. 

When morphing text into an image, I find myself asking lots of questions. One simple question I never thought to ask when reading this story before was "What kind of bread did the baker have in his basket?" 

There are two kinds of bread in the Bible - flatbread and leavened bread. And since leaven (or yeast) is used to represent sin due to it's ability to puff something up (like pride), and flat bread was used as an offering, I thought it was important to know which kind of bread featured in the baker's dream. Can you guess?

I looked up the Hebrew word used for bread and discovered that actually there was no word for bread. The bread was implied and used in the translation, but was not used in the original. Originally, the baker filled his basket with "deeds". When translated, his deeds were assumed to be bread (I guess it follows since he was a baker). As I mentioned above, the fact that the baskets were white may imply that the bread they were filled with was white too, although this is speculative. I also did a little research on the kinds of bread that ancient Egyptian bakers made - and discovered that they often shaped it into a crocodile. This led to the discovery that Sobek bread is so-called after the Egyptian crocodile god Sobek because the pull-apart bread buns resemble a bumpy crocodile's back - so I made sure to include a 6-pack bread bun in the basket.

Having grown up on a farm with an orchard, I knew that grapevines are grown on a trellis, with branches being trained to grow opposite each other in straight lines. So when I envisioned how to draw a vine for the butler's dream, it quickly occurred to me that this vine was growing in the shape of a cross! Imagine a smaller grapevine growing on the trellis below - it has only reached the second wire and the branches being trained on the first wire are still quite short.

Image Source - Grape Vine Trellis by Deep Green Permaculture

Even after these discoveries it still took me a little while to understand properly, and I'll admit a little googling did help. There was bread and there was wine, a cross-shaped vine and death on a tree... but what exactly was the hidden story in the dreams? 

Herein is the answer: 

1. The butler's dream represents FAITH in the saving blood of Jesus

2. The baker's dream represents WORKS because he relies on his own deeds

The results are not realised until the third day, which is also no accident. Of course Jesus rose on the third day, but I think this relates more to the Millennial Day Theory - where each day of creation represents a thousand years of Earth's history. I have given a summary of what I think the days represent in the devotional on my Genesis 1 - Days of Creation Quiet Book Page. The death of Jesus happens toward the end of the fourth millennium, and this seems to start a second way of counting the days. You can either count from one to seven, or you can count from one to four and then start again from four and count another three days. I believe this is what Hosea 6:2 is referring to "After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." Three millennial days after Messiah's death on day 4 will be the resurrection and restoration. And this is prefigured by Pharaoh's birthday gesture to the butler on the third day - he lifts up his face and restores him to his former position. Of course, those who rely on their deeds will be destroyed just as the butler was by Pharaoh also on the third day.

Concept drawing

The fact that it was Pharaoh's birthday is also interesting, although it was likely his inauguration/rebirth day which was shared by all Pharaohs and not a birthday as we would celebrate. 

There is a Jewish tradition that a groom is a king for his wedding day (and the bride a queen). Whilst many Jews did not recognise Jesus as the Messiah at His first coming, Christians believe this may be because He came the first time as the Suffering Servant (similar to the Jewish Messiah ben Joseph - see Isaiah 53 - Messiah ben Joseph Quiet Book Page) and will not show Himself to be King Messiah (Messiah ben David) until the second coming - just like the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph did not reveal his true identity until the brother's second visit to Egypt. We believe that Jesus will be crowned King around the time of the Second Coming, and this concept is also portrayed in the story of the Song of Songs where Solomon is crowned king on the day of his wedding (Song of Songs 3:11).

Who would have imagined that the age-old debate of faith versus works would be found explained in the book of Genesis?!! Like the butler, I definitely choose faith in the blood of Jesus rather than relying on my yeast-filled deeds like the baker.

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Could you guess which type of bread was found in the baker's baskets? Comment below!

Genesis 19 - Sodom and Gomorrah Quiet Book Page

In Genesis 19, Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed and Lot's wife turns into a pillar of salt, but Lot and his two daughters escape.

Memory Verse: “At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”” Genesis 19:15

Materials needed to create the Sodom and Gomorrah quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used cream
• felt scraps in brown, orange, yellow, gray, light blue, sparkly white (or white plus glitter glue), and various other colours
• furry yarn in a smokey/fire colour
• one pop stick
• hot glue and glue gun
• my free Sodom and Gomorrah template download

This quiet book page was inspired by a page from Glued To Glory's Quiet Book #16: Old Testament Bible. If you want to simplify this page - head over to her site and take a look. Heck, just take a look anyway! The more inspiration the better.

Cut out a section of brown felt to cover the bottom half of your page and sew a horizontal buttonhole in matching thread towards the top of the brown and just to the left of the middle of the page. (You can use the template to line up where other things may be positioned to work out where a good spot is. This will form the pop stick slot for Lot's wife to be inserted in and out of so it should be wide enough for that but not much wider to stop her from moving around too much.) Then sew the brown felt to the bottom of the page around all edges.

Sew down your sun, the buildings, three little people and the right mountain. Double the felt for the left mountain and sew it down leaving the cave mouth open.

Cut out Lot's wife out of yellow felt and sew her down around all edges except the bottom to a piece of sparkly white felt (or add sparkles with glitter glue later), making sure she is facing the right direction for each colour. Cut her out and insert a pop stick, securing it and the bottom edge of lot's wife with hot glue.

Sew down the city in rows, adding your fire and brimstone furry yarn over the top of the two rows of city using zig zag stich before finishing with the city wall. 

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate.

You will need to do a fair amount of hand turning of the wheel on your sewing machine as there are lots of small fiddly pieces.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 19 - Learn about where our focus should be - on where we are going (Heaven) rather than love of our current situations. Also, there is a Tale of two cities going on here - repentance is the difference between the different treatment of Sodom and Gomorrah and Nineveh.
• Inserting - insert Lot's wife into the buttonhole, then pull her out, flip her over and insert again! Explore the cave with your finger.
• Imaginative play - Lot's wife runs away but looks back and becomes a pillar of salt
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Genesis 19

Devotional

Sodom & Gomorrah · Tiko & Gitta

Verse 13 talks about the outcry that has reached the ears of the LORD against Sodom. The things reported to have been done there are recorded in Ezekiel 16:49-50. "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen." Whilst God longs to forgive and have all come to repentance, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed as a warning that sin results in death. You can read a thorough explanation of the text at What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? by Greg Koukl.

Had Lot taken the warning more seriously, would his wife have looked back? Yes, she was sorrowing for her other children who had not left with them, but should we also loose our salvation because someone else chooses not to accept it? Did she end up any happier? She showed that she cared more for her treasures that she left behind than for the favour God had showed her.

Jesus said that the people of his day were worse than those of Sodom - it is because they claimed to follow God, yet their lives did not reflect that. It seems to me that the Third Commandment applies to Christians more than anyone else. I know that mis-using the Holy names of God as swear words is not good, but it seems worse to me to claim that you are a Christian and then not live up to that claim as of course I frequently don't. People who use God's name as a cuss word probably don't even believe in God and therefore it is not such bad intent. But to actively say "I follow Christ" and then live life like there are no consequences to sin is to malign His name so much worse. We are giving Christ a bad name. People think that if that's what Christianity is like then I want no part of it, and we can hardly blame them.

Rather than miss out because others we care about are missing out, we should use our witness to encourage others to take the warning seriously. This world is destined for destruction, and we should make every effort to influence those we care about to accept God's love and provision of salvation. As the song Freely, Freely by Carol Owens says "Go in My Name and because YOU believe, others will know that I live."

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Hearing from you gives me great encouragement!

DIY Hymn Board & Sunset Times Felt Board Play Set

This DIY felt board set has been a real hit! I think for the lower primary aged kids numbers and letters become pretty fun.

My sister says her kids wouldn't even know what a Hymn Board is. Even though they attend church every week, they go to a church where hymns are seldom played, contemporary Christian music dominates, and the words are projected onto a screen.

Fortunately for us, we often visit smaller country churches where a hymn board is still mounted on the wall and a Hymnal can be found tucked into the back of a pew.

I have been singing Tahlia to sleep with hymns since she was born so she knows a few and it melts your heart to hear her randomly singing them. 

Because we believe in keeping the fourth commandment, our church also has a sunset times board on the opposite side of the pulpit to the hymn board. In Genesis God says there was evening and there was morning, the first day and so on. Like the Jewish people, we know that the day begins and ends at sunset. So it is handy to know what time sunset is so we know when Sabbath is coming.

I had intended that these would be part of a church (as opposed to Bible) themed quiet book, where Tahlia could copy the numbers from the board at church and kind of follow along with church each week. And they will probably make it there eventually, but for now we are having lots of fun with them mounted on our felt board like you would find them on a wall at church.

Tahlia has been learning to follow along with the words in a hymnal of late, and I have been encouraging her to flip through and find the right one that is coming up next based on what the hymn board tells us. Apparently that's not so fun... too much like school work I think. But for some reason the Hymn Board and Sunset Times Felt Board Play Set rates high on the fun scale.

How We Made the Hymn Board and Sunset Times Felt Board Play Set

You will need:

• Korean hard felt in gray, black and white
• Sewing thread to match
• My DIY Hymn Board and Sunset Times Felt Board Play Set Free Pattern Template
• A Sizzix Original and capitals lollipop alphabet/numeral die set or another method of cutting numbers about 2.5 x 3 cm in size - see my post on Letter cutting hacks. (Or you could just print them onto the felt using the sublimation/heat press method and save yourself a lot of sewing - see my post Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test).

1. Use the template to cut out your pieces (for the number cards it would be easier to rule up a piece of white felt and cut them out that way but I included the piece for size reference). I made 63 number cards (six of each number 0-9) and 3 colon cards for displaying the time. That way there is an extra in case one gets lost. My white felt sheet divided into 63, so that is how I decided how many to make. Plus 60 number cards is a common amount if you were to buy a set for an actual hymn board, so I figured there would generally be enough of each number required.

2. Double the thickness of your black runners by sewing them to another piece of black felt and cutting them out.

3. Position your black runners in the positions shown on the next two pages of the template. You can cut out the black runners places on the positioning templates and lay the runners in the position and pin, then remove the template. It doesn't matter if it rips when you take it off.

You could use this pattern to make a sports score board too!

4. Sew the runners down the center for the ticker ones and either the upper or lower edge of the thinner ones to allow the number cards to slide into the track formed.

5. Use an original sizzix to cut out the required letters and numbers and sew in place on the backboard and number cards. I used the centers of the zeros to make the colons for the sunset times.

6. Play with your DIY Hymn Board & Sunset Times Felt Board Play Set!

Baby likes to play too!

If you make one of these please tell us about it below or send us an email with a picture. It would make our day. It actually took me at least 1.5 hours drawing up the template on this one so you guys could download it (not including the design time so I could make it initially) so it would really make it feel worthwhile to see some pictures if you do make one 😍

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Genesis 24 - Rebecca at the Well Quiet Book Page

Rebecca at the Well in Genesis 24 is a beautiful story and every girl's matchmaking dream come true.

Memory Verse: “And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”” Genesis 24:19 NKJV.

Materials needed to create the Rebecca at the Well quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used orange
• this printable from LambSongsNZ
• a method of sublimation printing - see below
• white acrylic/polyester felt
• sewing thread to best match the page
• two mini black split pins
• string or wool
• hot glue and glue gun
• scissors!

Firstly, get the printable transferred onto white felt by the sublimation printing and heat press method - see my post on Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test. Print the Rebecca and bucket section in reverse as well so you can glue her back to back.

Cut out the printable picture and both buckets and Rebecca's.

Attach your wool or string to the background felt underneath where your picture will be sewn using zig zag stitch. Go back and forth a few times to reinforce the hold.

Sew down the picture along three sides to form a pocket at the top.

Use the split pins to join each Rebecca to her bucket. Hot glue the buckets together and enclose the other end of the wool or string inside, leaving space for the split pins to remain free to turn. Hot glue Rebecca together, again leaving space for the bucket to swivel between her arms and the bottom edge open to form a finger puppet.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page! The hardest part is lining up both side of Rebecca when hot gluing (but that's not that hard)!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 24 - God is a good matchmaker!
• Imaginative Play - draw water from the well to give the camels a drink
• Finger Puppet - Rebecca
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Genesis 24

Devotional

How great are the rewards for being faithful in little.

All Rebecca was asked for was a simple drink of water - something which would have taken one minute max. But she offered to water the camels too. Surely Abraham sent more than his "oldest servant who ruled over his house" with the caravan to Nahor! They could have easily drawn the water for the camels. And in fact there were more servants, although they are not mentioned until after Rebecca is found and secured.

I was wondering how many camels there were - can you guess? I was guessing at least five, probably more - but I read it again and it says there were ten. There was all the presents for Rebecca and her mother and brother to carry, plus a bride price, food for the camels and servants to last a good portion of the journey, and possibly camels to ride for the servants. It seems to me that this trip was an urgent one. Everything happens in a rush!

Abraham asks and in the next sentence, Eliezer has left and arrived. Before he finishes praying, Rebecca has appeared. He "runs" to her and she "quickly" lets down her pitcher. She "runs" home to make arrangements for him to stay and her brother "runs" out to invite him in. Then he refuses to eat before he tells them his mission, and after being asked to stay ten nights he will only agree to stay one before returning home.

Giving Eliezer a drink would have fulfilled his request, and is more than Rebecca was obligated to do. But to offer to water ten camels must have taken quite a while even though she did it "quickly".
The below podcast by experienced people says that a thirsty camel can drink between 100-150 liters of water in around 15 minutes. So to water 10 camels, Rebecca might have had to draw 1000-1500 liters of water. I imagine that Rebecca could lift no more than 20 liters at once, so she would have to draw water at least 50-75 times in order to draw that much water which must have taken a couple of hours. It was no casual offer that she made.

How Much Water Does a Camel Drink?

by Camel Connection

Rebecca is not the only virtuous person we can learn from in this chapter. Eliezer is pretty impressive too. Although he is not named in this chapter, Abraham thinks in chapter 15 that Eliezer his servant will be his heir. Eliezer must have known this at the time too. Not only does he not become hurt or offended when he is no longer heir, but he is the one trusted to secure a Godly wife for his replacement Issac. What faithfulness! We can learn so much about how to behave when we are disappointed by not receiving what we thought we were going to. Like when we don't get the promotion we thought we deserved. God has a plan, and often it is not our business!

Isaac and Rebekah Rap

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What do you think? 

Magnificent Butterfly Resurrection Easter Bonnet

Although PanPanic ensured there was no Easter Hat Parade at school this year, they still held an Easter Hat Slideshow.

And we did our own parade at home.

Why we made the Butterfly Resurrection Easter Hat

As always we take the opportunity to both learn about Jesus' sacrifice and develop faith-sharing skills. I think it is important to practice sharing your faith from a young age. There are too many who shy away from proclamations - but I want to make sure Tahlia grows up to be bold and unashamed of the Gospel.

This year our Easter bonnet featured an empty tomb with a myriad of butterflies. Butterflies have long been a symbol of the resurrection because caterpillars seem to die in their cocoons and emerge shortly thereafter possessing a far superior body. We included so many butterflies as Jesus' resurrection gives us the reassurance that He is able to do the same for anyone who places their hope and trust in him.

Inside the tomb we see what Mary saw described in John chapter 20. I have heard that the angels sitting at either end of the stone where Jesus had been laid are supposed to remind you of the Ark of the Covenant which had two angels on top with their wings touching each other. On top of the ark between the angels was called the Mercy Seat and this was where the Shekinah Glory of God's presence shone. We tried to emulate this in a way, but the light was also supposed to give the impression of angels rejoicing and reflecting the angel-party mood I imagine was going on in Heaven despite the disbelief and grief on Earth.

How we made the Butterfly Resurrection Easter Hat

Two of my favourite butterflies

This video gives the basic gist of how we made the base of our butterflies from pipe-cleaners, although we did make a few changes. Next we wrapped the wings in lace and secured it with hot glue. We also added beads to the ends of their feelers. I knew we would need a lot, so we started making these well before Christmas, but even so we did get a bit of help from some friends to make so many. Tahlia hot glued all bar one of the little ones in place and did an excellent job don't you think?

How to Make Pipe Cleaner Butterfly Rings 

by One Little Project

We had one little one left over so she did wear it as a ring.

The large butterfly on top was also made from pipe-cleaners and wrapped in lace.

We started the layers from the outside edges first so that each layer overlapped the next without getting in the way.

This hat is the third in a series where we have re-used the same paper mache hat we made in Kindergarten.  After removing last years beautiful felt flowers we gave it a quick vacuum to remove the dust and debris.

This year we enclosed the arch/doorway from the last two years to form the empty tomb. We marked where we wanted the tomb to go to and used plastic shopping bags to pack the space to be filled. Then we covered that section with three or so more layers of paper mache before removing the shopping bags and covering from the inside as well.

We also marked the edge of the entrance to the tomb on paper and formed a base for the stone out of cardboard cereal box. This got covered with layers of paper mache too.

The tomb and stone were painted inside and out in white by Tahlia, and I touched up the sky and grass after the damage done by removing the felt flowers from last year.

I had been hoping to find a frosted plastic box in a jewelry store but had no luck. Happily, and perhaps Providentially, we attended a wedding a few weeks before the hat had to be finished. The wedding favours came in a perfectly sized white box with a transparent lid. I managed to take a photo for you with one chocolate left in there before they all got demolished. Each box had two chocolates inside originally!

After removing the divider, three LED rings fit exactly inside the box - we bought this 6 pcs LED Rubber Rings from AliExpress (not an afiliate link). I bought extra in case some did not work and I'm glad I did as all the rest broke very quickly. The box is fixed in place with blu-tak so it can be removed to allow the rings to be turned on and off.

The angels were bought from a craft store but I have seen similar in dollar stores too - they were hot glued in place.

See the other Easter Hats in this Trilogy

1. Hosanna! Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet - focuses on Praising Jesus' ability to save
2. Spectacular Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet - focuses on the first Passover and the Cross
3. Magnificent Butterfly Resurrection Easter Bonnet - this one!

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I would love to see and share your Christian themed Easter Hats!