Psalm 28 was written by David and praises God who rescues him when he puts his trust in the LORD.
Memory Verse: “Save Your people,
And bless Your inheritance;
Shepherd them also,
And bear them up forever.” Psalm 28:9 NKJV.
Materials needed to create the Shepherd Them quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet - I used tan
Betty Lukens Felt book 01 Bible Stories available at Koorong
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Psalm 28 - Praise God that He is willing and able to hear our prayers, save and shepherd us
Imaginative Play - make the lambs play and eat the grass, play the harp with David
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
We all know that we don't deserve to have the Master of the universe listen to our beck and call. And yet this Psalm is all about praising Him because He hears us.
The sole reason given in this Psalm that God answers our prayers is that we trust Him. He loves to come through for us because of that.
It's been a while since I did an Easy Peasy page - but who doesn't like it when a quiet book page comes together quickly?
Don't get confused with an octopus quiet book page where there should only be eight tentacles - jellyfish can have lots! I must have a little obsessive compulsive disorder because it really grates on me when a counting page only goes up to eight. Admittedly I did make one that only goes up to eight, but in my defense that wasn't the primary purpose of the page - see Genesis 28 - Jacob's Ladder Quiet Book Page.
My jellyfish is a simple semi-circle. I used one of the rows from my Malachi 4 - Sun of Righteousness Quiet Book Page template and lined it up along a straight edge of felt and only cut around the outside edge.
Then I cut lengths from a 3mm white ribbon and threaded beads on (1-10). I made a card to stick the lengths of ribbon to so they would be evenly spaced when I went to sew them.
Then I pinned and sewed down the ends of the ribbons using zig zag stitch and angling in the two at either end so they would fit under the head of the jellyfish.
Finally, I sewed down the head of the jellyfish covering the ribbon ends and trimmed it with double gathered lace. This adds a touch and feel element to the page.
I am not sure I am a fan of the look with the looped tentacles... what do you all think? Although I don't think the ribbon would be thick enough when knotted to keep the beads on if they weren't.
Some variation ideas include:
Touch and feel tentacles made from various ribbons and trims - these can be curled using a hair iron or wet and let to dry around a pencil etc
Beads inside mesh tubing - If you look closely at this pinterest pin, Elena Rihsi has threaded the beads onto a thin cord before inserting them through the mesh cord. That way if the mesh breaks, the beads don't go anywhere! Genius.
Firstly, get the Noah's Ark and animals transferred onto white felt by the sublimation printing and heat press method - see my post on Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test. Cut out the ark and animals and sew the ark onto the background page along three sides leaving the top open to form a pocket for the animals.
Prepare two wooden cloud buttons by threading 15cm of the elastic onto each and tying a knot to create a loop of elastic. Slide the knot to the back of the button and hot glue in place. Cut the ends short.
Cut your mesh material to size to fit inside your page with extra length (and width if you want to finish the edges first - I didn't but I wish I had). Fold the top over itself a couple of times and pin and sew along the top edge as shown above, placing the elastic of the buttons underneath at either end. Make sure the end is poking out the bottom so you can pull it up and over the buttons to hold the rolled up mesh in place later.
Measure your ground and make a few layers of grass for the animals to sit in. I used ric rak to edge the top of the grass as there would be too many layers of felt along the bottom if I doubled the felt as I usually do. Use kam snaps to attach the grass to the page. At the back, use small squares of spare felt to strengthen them and prevent them ripping a hole when being pulled.
Cut a length of rainbow ribbon to fit your page and melt the edges - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying. I rounded the edges, but you don't have to. Mark where the button holes should be on the ribbon, then sew and cut.
Use the a colouring page as a throne template to make your throne. Simplify the lines by joining some together and rounding off the top.
Before sewing the pleather, I used the glue to attach the pleather to a sheet of felt. My pleather was stretchy which makes it very difficult to sew. Allow the glue to dry before sewing in place. Then sew the red felt on top and cut out the front section of the throne. Decorate with beads at the top.
Make a slot for threading the throne onto the rainbow ribbon by doubling a piece of felt and sewing onto the other half of your sheet of felt. Make sure it is slightly wider than your rainbow ribbon to allow it to pass through easily. Hot glue the throne to the sheet of felt with the slot facing out and centered at the back. Cut out the throne once again.
Thread the throne onto the ribbon and button it on, or store in the ark pocket.
Complete!
Difficulty Level = Intermediate.
Pleather can be difficult to work with.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Psalm 29 - God is in control even when it might seem like He is not
Rolling - roll up the rain, and roll it down again
Buttoning - secure the rain when it is rolled up with the elastic and cloud buttons, button on the rainbow ribbon
Threading - thread the throne onto the rainbow ribbon
Colours - learn the colours of the rainbow
Tucking - tuck the animals into the ark
Using snaps - snap on and off the ground to make it appear to flood
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
Maybe you feel like everything is out of control, but God assures us that He's got it. Sometimes trouble is what we need to wake us up and turn our course. When trial comes are we willing to listen to instructions and build an ark? Or do we insist on our own way?
This Psalm speaks about God twisting the oaks and breaking the cedars. Trees are often used as a symbol of men and strength. So the strength of men is nothing to God. Therefore, why worry about what man can do to you? Rather worry about pleasing God.
Not only does God rule over the kaos of The Flood, but He caused it.
Matthew chapter 1 lists Joseph's genealogy and records the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary.
Memory Verse: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”” Matthew 1:21.
Materials needed to create the Baby Jesus quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet - I used white
Betty Lukens Felt book 011 Life of Jesus as a Boy available at Koorong (not an affiliate link)
sewing thread to best match the page
scissors!
Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.
Sew the gates onto the doorposts by the sides.
Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!
Finished!
Sew the Betty Lukens scene onto your page along three sides
to form a pocket for piece storage
Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.
A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Matthew 1 - Learn about Joseph's lineage and how Jesus was born to the virgin Mary
Imaginative Play - put Baby Jesus to bed
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
I left the wise men out of the cover picture as they are not mentioned till
Matthew 2 - didn't think about it until after taking the photos that
actually the shepherds are not in this chapter either!!
I often think about the fact that without sin entering the world you and I would never have existed. Should we be grateful?
In everyone's lineage there is going to be some kind of sexual sin... I'm not sure about my lineage, but with almost 6000 years of history there has got to be quite a lot.
Adam and Eve could have had children without sin entering the World - but would WE have existed, or someone else... there are so many eggs and sperm around with slightly different DNA. If everything hadn't gone pear shaped, there would have been different combinations made, and plenty of people, but not specifically me.
When I explain my view to people, they often think I am saying that sex is wrong or bad or something. I don't mean that at all. God created intercourse to be beautiful. But we are all descended from people who have resulted from sexual sin. Everyone has prostitution, adultery, rape or something in their ancestry at some stage. Even having multiple wives like Jacob did is something I can't see happening in a perfect world. Not to mention all the children from Levirate marriages whose first child was considered the child of the father's brother/relative (the woman's first husband who died childless).
Would you have been born if sin never existed? Would your great great great grandparents have slept together? And then would you have been created?
Jesus Himself would have never needed to be born in the flesh either. If sin never existed, there would be no reason for Him to bother. Matthew goes out of his way to mention all the unmentionables in Joseph's lineage. Tamar (who slept with her father-in-law by deception), Rahab (a prostitute), Ruth (from a despised race), Bathsheba (an adultress), and Jeconiah (who was cursed). If you want to read about the Curse of Jeconiah and the different explanations for the differences between Matthew's and Luke's genealogies the following article is a fascinating read - The Two Genealogies of Jesus, the Curse of Jeconiah, and the Royal Line of David posted on the website The Jesus Question.
So there are plenty of scandals in Jesus's family ancestry. He even wears the (assumed) shame of His own birth. People who did not believe Mary's virgin birth story assumed that Jesus was a bastard - Joseph's son conceived out of wedlock. And it's understandable. God had to send an angel to Joseph personally to convince him to continue past the betrothal and marry her. Until that point, Joseph had decided on divorce (a legal requirement of betrothals, unlike engagements today). He must have been so hurt by Mary's appearance of unfaithfulness.
If you are feeling the guilt of sexual sin in your own life or family history, take this record in Matthew as encouragement, and remember, none of us today would have been born without sin including Jesus.
I tried to think of a good song to include with this devotional - it seemed like a tough topic to find a song about. But God had it covered. This song popped up in my random Spotify feed that day, and although it was written as a love song, like a lot of love songs it can easily refer to God.
What do you think? Should you be grateful for sin because ultimately you wouldn't exist otherwise? I'd be intrigued to read your responses below in the comments.
I simply printed out a font with a computer, cut it up and pinned it on to use as a pattern to cut out my felt. Although cost effective, this method gets very tedious as you might imagine. So if you want to make things a little easier, then here are five methods to hack your way to perfectly cut felt:
1. Scotch tape -
Stick your pattern pieces down to stop them sliding all over the place while you cut them out. This method is brilliant for intricate details and wherever you don't want pin holes in special fabrics.
This is a great method if you are doing a lot of lettering. Just put your die on top of your felt and put it through a cutting machine. All the edges are perfectly cut for you. I use the Lollipop Uppercase Alphabet Set with an Original Sizzix and it cuts well, even though thick felt. Because the font is so thin you only need to stitch once down the middle of the letters which is a great advantage compared to the original hand cut font on Tahlia's front cover.
I used the die cut method to make these number blocks
5. Buying pre-cut felt letters -
You can find packets of felt letter and numbers in dollar stores, craft stores and online - such as these (not an affiliate link). But be prepared to buy as many packets as you will need as you may only get a couple of each letter per pack.
