TOY TRIVIA

Bet you didn't know this:

LEGO originally got its name from founder Ole Kirk Christiansen by combining the Danish words "Leg Got" that means "play well" and later realized that the word LEGO in Latin translates to "I put together."

or this:

On July 5, 2009, Toys R Us opened a store in Kuwait.

or that:

The first Radio Flyer wagon was the "No. 4 Liberty Coaster", which was built from wood and steel in 1923.

Also....

In 2003, the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong Museum inducted ABC blocks into their collection, granting it the title of one of America's toys of "national significance."

Plus....

The Etch A Sketch toy was invented in France in the late 1950s by André Cassagnes, in his basement. He called it "L'Ecran Magique", the magic screen. In 1959, he took his drawing toy to the International Toy Fair in Nuremburg, Germany. The Ohio Art Company saw it but had no interest in the toy. When Ohio Art saw the toy a second time, they decided to take a chance on the product. The L'Ecran Magique was soon renamed the Etch A Sketch and became the most popular drawing toy in the business.

Additionally:


Frisbees originated at various New England colleges when students began throwing empty pie tins from the Frisbee Baking Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut.


And finally:


A husband and wife created the game of Yahtzee while on their yacht, thus the name "Yahtzee."

Oh wait, here's one more:

In 1989, Lonnie Johnson was trying to build a better refrigerator, based on a low-cost heat pump that circulated water instead of Freon. But when one of his custom-machined brass nozzles blasted a stream of water across his bathroom, Johnson—by day an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory—realized he had the makings of something way more fun. A shotgun-style air pump and a series of check valves allowed for sniperlike range and accuracy with little exertion. Selling the idea to toy companies, though, was more of an effort. After seven years of frustration, Johnson scrapped his difficult-to-manufacture

Plexiglas “pressure containment vessel” for an empty 2-liter soda bottle. It wasn’t slick, but it was easy to make. In 1990, the toy maker Larami brought the Power Drencher to store shelves; it sold roughly 2 million of them in the first year alone. Rebranded as the Super Soaker, the line has raked in sales of more than $200 million to date.

Click on this link to see a prototype of the Super Soaker:

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_prototypes/

Does knowing a little something about the toys you are buying, make the "buying" process less painful?  I hope so.  Merry Christmas!

Showing Mercy

O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.  Psalms 136:26

Thankfully, our heavenly Father certainly doesn't give us what we deserve.  We are shown mercy upon mercy.  We are amazed at the endless supply of grace and mercy given us by the Lord Jesus Christ.    The definition of grace is receiving favor that is undeserved.  Many times grace and kindness are used interchangeably, but really grace is showing or receiving kindness, when the kindness is not deserved.  I don't in any way deserve God's favor, salvation, and eternal home, and yet God saw fit to give me all of these things.  I do deserve punishment and eternal separation from God in hell, and yet God saw fit to spare me these things.  This is mercy.

Our children benefit from our grace and mercy.  What a sad and cumbersome life for the child that is never shown either.  For your benefit, here are some times in which I will show grace and/or mercy to my children.  You are welcome to provide examples of your own in the comments.

Sometimes children just do silly, dumb, or crazy things.  There are times when they just can't help themselves.  (Yes, I said it.)  They are careless and spill things.  They get excited and are very loud.  They see the bubble wrap or streamers or confetti and no adult around.  Unless you have given specific instructions, gather all the patience you can muster, take a deep breath, and you and your child clean up the mess, fix the broken lamp, etc. etc.  You cannot tolerate willful disobedience, but you can tolerate kids being kids.  I know there is a fine line between the two; pray for wisdom and use your best judgment as you decide if the line has been crossed.

I don't back my kids into a corner (figuratively speaking) so that they feel compelled to lie to me.  For example, if I see one of my kids take a cookie, or do something wrong I will not ask the him if he committed the offense.  I will not ask my 6 year old, "Did you hit her?"  Instead I say, "I saw you hit her."  If I already know the offense has been committed, there is no reason to give my child an opportunity to lie.  There will be times when I genuinely don't know whether or not my child has done something wrong and I will have to ask them to tell the truth and admit their offense.  At that time, a lie will be dealt with seriously.

When my kids have done something wrong, but tell me the truth about it, I show mercy.  They may not get off scott free, but I honor their truthfulness.  I will show mercy and emphasize how important it is to always tell the truth.

Finally, if my child is very contrite I will sometimes (not often) grant a free pass.  They know they deserve punishment and yet they will be shown mercy.  We all mess up, and I think it is important for our children to be shown mercy as they grow up.  What a great opportunity to minister to our children, as we speak about the gospel, and the mercy the Lord has shown to us.

Are there times when your child gets a "get out of jail" card?  Comment, I'd love to hear your examples!

Cast Out the Bondwoman and her Son

I would like to share with you a message my dad shared with our church a few weeks ago.  I am not quoting him word for word.  I took what I heard and then applied it to my own life, and will try to do it justice here.

"Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the slave woman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman."  Galatians 4:30

In the fourth chapter of Galatians, Paul gives us a wonderful analogy of law and grace from the Old Testament.  When Abraham was in his late seventies, and his wife Sarah in her sixties, God promised made a promise to Abraham.  God promised Abraham a son.  This son would be a miracle because Sarah was beyond child bearing years.  God promises Abraham that through this son, his descendants would be more numerous than the stars of heaven (Gen. 26:4). 

How wonderful Abraham must have felt, knowing that we would not die childless, and that God would use his seed to birth a nation.  However, several years go by, and there is no son.  So, Sarah decides she is going to "help things along."  As a result, Abraham and Sara's handmaid Hagar give birth to Ishmael.  There was nothing miraculous about Ismael's birth.  Ishmael was born as a result of human effort, not as a result of God's promise.   God does deliver a son to Abraham and Sarah, several years later, much to their surprise.  Sarah names her son Isaac, which means laughter, because the first thing Sarah did when she found out she was going to bear a son was laugh.   Ishmael is loved by Abraham just as much as Isaac even though Ishmael was not the son of promise.  Ishmael is 13 (Genesis 17:25) years old when Isaac is born.  When it is time for Isaac to be weaned, Abraham and Sarah decide to give a feast.  It is during the preparation of the feast when we read in Genesis that Ishmael mocks Isaac.  Sarah, hearing Ishmael mock her son, tells Abraham, "Cast out the bondwoman and her son."  Sarah knows she cannot have Ishmael in the picture; she understands that Isaac is the true son of promise.  Now Abraham, who no doubt loves Ishmael just as much as Isaac, must send him and his mother away.  Ishmael can have nothing to do with Isaac.  What hard ache Abraham must have felt, to have to do this to his son. 

Paul uses this Old Testament account to illustrate to the believers in Galatia the difference between human effort and promise, between slavery and freedom, between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, between law and grace.  Law and grace cannot be together, because the law will always condemn.  The child of "law" is self righteousness.  Self-righteousness is: God, you can have most of the glory, but I'll take just a little bit.  God is not going to share his glory, he gets it all.  Our default setting is to rely on ourselves in our Christian life, in our jobs as the nurturers of our children and in the education of our children.  However, when we "lay our head down on our pillows at night" to quote from my dad, we know that the Lord is working all things for our good.  We know that old system of works is not for the Christian.  The Lord has done it all, and now we get to enjoy the blessings of our dear Savior.  We get to participate in good works that the Lord has ordained for us to do (Eph. 2:10). 

I may sound like I am against law, or that I feel like I can just sit back and "wait" for God to raise my kids for me.  I don't mean this at all.  I work hard every day, being the kind of mother and Christian the Bible instructs me to be.  However, I do not live my Christian life with a performance mentality because I know my "righteousness" is in Christ.  Again, this does not make me lawless.  I am accountable for my actions, and I will reap what I sow.  If I choose to be a poor mother, my kids will be negatively affected.   The only reason I am not a poor mother, however, is because of the grace of God.  God has given me new birth, he has transferred me "from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Col. 1:13).  He has given me the Holy Spirit, a love for His word, and a desire to raise my children to know and love Him.  So, I take great comfort despite my failures as a mother.  I know that God is sovereign.  I know He will bring to pass all that he desires.  I know he is working in me to "will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).   And I know that my own worry about the job I'm doing as a wife and mother is self righteousness.  It is Ishmael peaking his head around the corner, mocking the freedom and grace I have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 I would like to think this might encouraging you, as you are raising your children, some of you homeschooling them, as I do.  Your kids aren't going to always behave the way you want them to.  You are not always going to behave as you want to.  You don't always say the right words to your children, I certainly don't say what I should say to mine.  You will not always have the correct attitudes towards your children, I don't towards mine.  However, I have found after years of exposure to my dad's teaching, that the more I hear about the grace of God, the more I want to do the will of God.  Understand grace.  Know who you are as a Christian.  Know that the old system of law, of performance is over.  There is a new covenant and it is 100 times better than the old.  It is the only way to be a child of God.  Know that your efforts are not what saved you, and are they are not what keep you.   It is the faithfulness of God that keeps you, it is the grace of God that sustains us all.