Let's get away this Christmas dear...

Let's get away from sleigh bells
Let's get away from snow
Let's make or break some Christmas dear
I know the place to go
How'd you like to spend Christmas on Christmas island?
How'd you like to spend the holiday away across the sea?
How'd you like to spend Christmas on Christmas island?
How'd you like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?

- Christmas Island, Jimmy Buffett

We head today to our own little Christmas Island where great-grandma, the grandparents and island friends will join us in our very nontraditional, tradition of an island Christmas.  Before we head out and disconnect from cell phones and reliable Internet service, I wanted to wish you a very merry Christmas. 

May the joy of the Lord be present in your homes, may the wonder of the miracle, Emmanuel , fill your hearts and may you find the time in the coming days to slow down a bit and love on the children in your life. 

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating that even this can be beautiful

Last night I had the privilege to speak to the amazing MOPS groups at Antioch Church of Erwin.  The women were warm and welcoming, and I was so blessed to meet them.  I spoke about seasons in our life (from Ecc 3) through the stories of Mary and Elizabeth.  The final segment of my talk was on Ecc 3:11 "He makes everything beautiful in its time."  God promises us here and in Romans 8:28, that He will turn even the ugliest seasons of our life beautiful. 

I was finalizing my speech this weekend.  THIS weekend, with images of lost beautiful first graders and the teachers and staff who loved them.  I have images of two of the parents burnt in my brain.  Oh Lord, help, how can your scriptures tell us that everything will be beautiful, everything is being worked for our good?  There is so much hurt, and evil, and brokenness, some days it is inconceivable to swallow these promises.  But that's just it.  They are promises from a God who does not fail. 

Mary and Elizabeth's lives held much hardship and sorrow. Individually they faced barrenness, poverty, isolation from family, being a refugee, and both having their precious sons murdered.  Yet through their lives we see redemption and times of celebration;   a long desired child given, financial provision through foreign wise men, and finally - triumphantly - death overcome through Jesus.  The goodness of God is so evident and it is encouraging.  It gives us hope.

Our lives are so similar to Mary and Elizabeth's lives.  Our struggles are different, our blessings are different, but the faithfulness of God through the good and difficult seasons is the same.  Just as the celebrations of their lives are remembered and honored, I believe God wants us to boldly celebrate the goodness He has worked in our lives as well.  Sometimes people feel like it is callous to celebrate one's happiness when people around us are suffering, but celebrations of the faithful are not about us, they are about giving glory to God for His goodness and giving much needed hope to one another. 

I challenged the women last night to share how God has made past seasons of their life beautiful.   The conversation that followed for the next hour was amazing.  There were stories of greatly painful seasons that God had so graciously made beautiful.  The stories were hard.  Our tears were many.  This life is not an easy one.  Yet each story was like a candle being lighted, casting more and more light into that room.  Each story shouted, "Have hope!"  "Do not despair!" "God is good!"  As I sat listening, I thought, "This is Christmas."  To celebrate the close of a year with the retelling of stories to bring each other hope.  To remember the birth of our Savior, with recounting the ways He has saved us.  It was an amazing celebration. 

With just 5 days now before Christmas, I encourage you to make time to share as a family the goodness God has worked in your lives.  May your shared stories brighten your Christmas celebration with the radiant love of Jesus Christ. 

Merry Christmas friends!

An Advent for everyone

This Christmas my heart goes out to my high school friend Leila and her baby girls who have just lost their husband and father. I wanted to share this posting from 2008, if you have a friend or family member mourning this holiday season, will you pass it on to them please.  Blessings to each of you my friends. 

  An Advent for everyone - originally posted 12/2008 As I have been writing my chippy little posts this week about fun ways to celebrate Advent, I have been plagued by the faces of my friends and family who are entering this holiday season with nothing less than dread. In the past few weeks I have cried with friends who have lost their jobs, marriages, pregnancies and parents. Friends whose children have cancer and parents have Alzheimer's. In my immediate circle, it has been a sad time. This season all the festivities seems just downright offensive for these friends. The twinkling lights, the carols, and the memories of past Christmases are all seemingly aimed at crushing the resolve of the broken hearted.
I know it is tempting to stick one's head under the sand and wish for January. The concept of honoring Advent, counting down to the very holiday one dreads, is inconceivable. But did you know Advent is dual purposed? Most people recognize it as a time to prepare our hearts to honor the birth of Christ. The second purpose often gets lost in the happy shiny messages of Christmas. Advent is also a time to prepare ourselves for the future coming of Christ.  He is coming my friends!  Christ will reign over our very broken world. He will reign over death, hunger, fear, hate, cancer, depression, ______________ (go ahead, fill in the blank) For me, that is the beauty of Advent. That's the Advent that is for everyone. Each week as we add the light of one more candle on the Advent wreath, we can be reminded that His reign is coming closer and closer.  The Light of the World will dispel the dark, broken world we live in today.

If your heart is broken this Christmas season, I pray that Advent will be a comfort to you. May you be comforted in calling out to God and knowing that this world is just a blink of an eye. 
I really read the words to this popular Christmas carol the other day.  It is a  wonderful anthem for Advent. Rejoice my friends, Emmanuel SHALL come to thee. 

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Mama needs some friends

When people ask how I am adjusting  to Raleigh they expect me to begin to weep or talking about my great loneliness, but the truth is, I am great.  A big part of this is that for the first time in several years I have an amazing group of new friends and time to hang out with them.  For the past three years I was homeschooling, and as rewarding as that was, it was also lonely.  When you homeschool in the manner I chose to, there is little to no time to get together with other women.  It was not good for me.  This Mama needed some friends. 

Today I was so blessed by new friends, it made me realize what I had been missing, and also what I need to be proactive about protecting.  This morning as I was getting ready to head out to drop off the girls, I had a text from my friend Michelle to see if I had some time to grab a coffee. Yes, please. Off we went.  One hour with one friend and one cup off coffee is worth a whole lot more than those individual parts.  She had work, but she took the time to prioritize our friendship and the initiative to invite me.  I was so grateful. 

This afternoon Marci had invited myself and Amy to her house for lunch.  Marci and I just met last month.  She is new to Raleigh as well.  I loved that even though she just met Amy and I, she was bold enough to invite us into our home.  Marci has some mad hospitality skills.  MAD!  Having lunch at her house was like have lunch in a Pinterest board. But as amazing as our pretty table and yummy food was, the time together was even better. Two hours, with two new friends, and I tell you my cup runneth over. 

Whether it is at a coffee shop or Martha Stewart-worthy lunch, the two things my day had in common was that Michelle and Marci were both willing to make the sacrifice of time and risk extending an invitation.  Maybe you are feeling like I did a year ago.  Are you thinking, "This Mama needs some friends?"   Use the holidays as a reason to reach out and extend an invitation to a new friend or two.  While we can all use the excuse that it's a busy season, I pray your investment of time will have you too soon saying,  "My cup runneth over." 

Six Ways to Put Christ in your Christmas - Take Two!

Alright my friends, let's try this again.  Sorry for the earlier post which had just a jumbo graphic with a comical error in it.  (If you didn't see it, I'm not telling!)

Christmas may seem to have been hijacked by commercialism, but each of us as parents get to choose what Christmas will look like in our homes.  I know I struck a nerve last week picking on the Elf on Shelf.  I'm really not saying throw all the whimsy of Christmas out the window, but let's make sure we do keep Christ in the holiday.  Here are my six easy ideas:

 1. Cut back on gifts and spending:  The more you shop and make Christmas about a giant haul of gifts, the less you make it possible to focus on Christ.  Most families are like ours and don't have what we use to have to spend on gifts - embrace that and take the opportunity to take the focus off spending.
2. Help the Less Fortunate:  More than ever people everywhere need basic help.  This is a great time of year to learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
3. Read Scripture Daily:  Be in the Word as a family daily.  Check here for Advent Reading suggestions.
4. Invite others to share in your celebration:  Each year my mom and grandmother have included widows, divorcees, or elderly couples without nearby children to share our Christmas dinner.  There are people on your street, at work, or at church who will be alone this Christmas, set an extra seat at your table. What a beautiful example for your children.
5. Say no to non-essential invitations:  Keep the craziness to a minimum.  You can not be intentional about #2, #3, or #4 if you say yes to every invitation that arrives. 
6. Turn off the TV and spend time together:  I love the pictures we find in literature of families like the March or Ingalls families.  At Christmas time they sang carols, popped popcorn, read stories by the fire, and played the fiddle.  You just can't make those memories with the TV on. 

Your kids deserve more than an Elf

This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent.   It is a time  to prepare for the coming of Christ - both His birth in Bethlehem and His anticipated second coming.

I want to challenge you to consider celebrating Advent through daily devotions with your kids this year.  Advent is where Pete and I started devotions with our girls.  We had never done it before, but we wanted the girls to learn what Christmas was about.  Each night our family lights the candle(s), have a reading, pray, and sing Christmas carols together. Each of us look forward to this season all year.

The mall is full of commercial "traditions" to buy for your kids.  As you are deciding how to spend your time and energy in the weeks leading up to Christmas, ask yourself, "What am I really giving my kids?  Will any of this last?"  Your kids will outgrow the Elf on the Shelf, and other commercial nonsense, but Advent devotions are a tradition you can keep, one that plants treasure in your child's heart. 

The truth is that your kids are worth more than the empty tradition of

cheap humor with a stuffed Elf. 

(I love my friend Cindy's thoughts on shelving your Elf )

 

If you have never celebrated the season of Advent, or are just looking for a new option,  I have listed several resources below.  I would encourage you to have an advent wreath and light the candles with your children.  There is something special about sitting by candlelight on cold December nights.  Now don't get all Pinterest crazy on me trying to figure out how to design your Advent wreath.  (Don't even do the search on Pinterest, it invoked tears and hyperventilating for me).  All you need is four candles and something to put them on.  If you really want "an official" looking one, most Christian bookstores carry them.  (There will be no awards handed out for the best Advent wreath on your block.)

 

Suggested Advent Reading Sources: 

For Families with young children:  An Advent reading schedule using The Jesus Storybook Bible

For Families with older children:  Ann Voskamp's free Jesse Tree devotional with printable ornaments.

Scripture readings: 

Focus on the Family Reading Schedule:  A single reading each day. 

The Revised Common Lectionary: Four readings per day from the old and new testaments, psalm and gospel . 

Does your family have a particular Advent book or reading schedule you follow?  Leave me a comment telling me about it and be entered into this month's drawings. 

Announcing Two Christmas Book Giveaways!

We're getting into the spirit of Christmas here at The Celebrated Family.  I have two amazing books to give away in the next month.  You can be entered into drawing in two ways. 
1. Leave a comment on the blog. (every comment equals one entry, so comment away!) 
2.  Like The Celebrated Family on Facebook.  All followers will be entered into the drawings. 

So what do you win? 

The Sparke Box by Jill Hardie

This beautiful new book will inspire your children to imagine how they can bless those around them in the true meaning of Christmas.   

 

Or

 

Touching Wonder:  Recapturing The Awe of Christmas

 by John Blase

 

 

 

Since this book's release in 2009 it has been one of my very favorite Christmas books.  It is beautiful, real and encredibly touching.  I love to read it bit by bit in the days leading up to Christmas.  Each page is a gift.  I am not normally super mushy about books, but this one is so worthy of mushiness!  I love it! I am bloggy friend's with John's wife Meredith who is generously providing me with the book.   I can't wait to see who wins it - it will bless you!

 

 If you are a Kindle user, it is a free download today only on Amazon.  Go get it! 

 

 What books do you love to read or give as gifts this time of year? Leave me a comment and be entered into both drawings.  Drawings will be held on Dec 17th.

 

The Jesus Birthday Box - A Christmas Family Devotion

 

The Jesus Birthday Box - A Christmas Family Devotion

Parent Introduction:  With images of Santa and promises of new toys filling our children’s imaginations since late October, it is easy for Christmas to lose its true meaning.  This month’s devotion is designed to help your family have a tangible way to remind one another that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior.  It is Jesus’ birthday celebration.  Birthdays are something even the youngest child can understand.  They understand that the birthday person should be the one who receives a gift.

The Jesus Birthday Box will be a place for your family to record donations and gifts of service done in Christ’s name this season.  It is helpful for parents to prayerfully establish a budget for your donations prior to starting.  Once your budget is established, work together as a family to decide how to use it. 

For example a $100 budget could:

·         Buy a gift for an Angel Tree Child ($25)

·         Sponsor  5 people to have Christmas Dinner at your local rescue mission ($10)

·         Donate a bag of canned goods for a food bank ($15)

·         Give a flock of geese through Heifer International ($20)

·         Provide phone cards to our servicemen and women to call home for the holidays through the USO ($25)

·         Visit a local nursing home and pass out candy canes ($5)

 It's pretty amazing the lives that $100 can touch.

If you have younger children at home, you may want to check out the new picture book The Sparkle Box by Jill Hardie.  (check the bottom of the devotion for how you can win a copy!) 

Materials you will need:

-          Bible

-          A box.  It can be a small cardboard box or a wooden box found at a craft store.  It should be at least 6 inches square.

-          Decorations for your box:  Paint, stickers, glitter glue, wrapping paper – whatever you have. Our now ten year old made our box when she was four.  She cut up wrapping paper and glued it all over.  Any form of decoration will do. 

-          Paper

-          Pens and pencils

_____________________________________________________________________________

Introduction:  What is your favorite part of your birthday?  What did you do on your last birthday?  Did you have a party? Receive gifts?  Do something special?  (Let each family member share).  I am going to read a short story about a boy named William and his unfortunate birthday. 

 

The Tale of William’s Birthday

There was once a boy name William who was very excited for his birthday.  His family told him that they could not wait for his birthday to come, they were excited as well.  William counted the days down until the day before his birthday arrived.  His mom had decorated the house, and cleaned it until it shone. William’s dad had purchased special gifts, wrapped them up and laid them out on the kitchen table.  William’s sister was even excited.  She said she could not wait until everyone showed up for the party.

The big day finally arrived.  William bounced out of bed and ran to find his family.  He found his mom first.  She was busy making a big breakfast.  “William can’t you see I am busy, get out of the kitchen,”she snapped.  William was sad that his mom had not wished him a happy birthday, but he could see she was very busy.  He found his dad at the kitchen table.  William was shocked to see that his dad was tearing open all of the beautiful gifts.  One by one, William’s dad opened the presents and shouted with delight.  It was the complete set of tools that his dad had been wanting for a long time.  William’s dad was so busy with his new tools, he never even noticed his son. 

William heard the doorbell ring and went to answer the door. His sister came running by him shouting, “They’re here! They’re here!”

William assumed it must be his friends arriving for the party.  When he opened the door, he was horrified to see only his sister’s friends.  They ran by him with a high pitched squeal.  The group of girls ran to his sister’s room and locked the door behind them. 

William could not believe his family.  No one seemed to remember it was his birthday.  Everyone only cared about themselves.  William went back to his bedroom alone. He thought maybe next year his birthday would be better. 

The End. 

Discussion: 

·         How do you think William felt about his birthday?

·         What made William’s birthday so sad to him?

·         What could each of his family members done instead to celebrate William’s birthday in a better way?  

The Tale of William’s Birthday may seem like a ridiculous story, one that would never happen to anyone, but it’s actually a true story in ways.  The Tale of William’s Birthday is really a story about Christmas.  Christmas is meant to be a day when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday, but in many homes these days, Jesus is just like William- left out, ignored, and forgotten about.  While there is nothing wrong with exchanging Christmas gifts with each other, or enjoying the many celebrations that come along with the Christmas season, we don’t want to leave Jesus out of His own birthday celebration.  But how can we best celebrate Jesus’ birthday?  Two scripture readings show us how.  

Reading:  If we are going to celebrate someone’s birthday, we should know what they think is important and what they would like us to give them.  Listen to the first reading to hear what Jesus says is important. 

Matthew 22:36-39

Jesus does not want a new computer game or sweater with Santa on it.  But he does tell us things that he wants us to do for him.  Listen to our reading to hear his wish list.

Matthew 25: 35-40

Discussion:

·         In the first reading, what did Jesus say were the two greatest commandments? 

·         In the second reading, Jesus said if we helped people in need we were doing it for Him.  What examples did he give? 

·         In our two readings, Jesus tells us what is important to Him and what we can do for him.  This is His birthday wish list.  What ways could our family do those things this Christmas season? 

 

Activity:  Make a Jesus Birthday Box.    Our family is going to make a box called the Jesus Birthday Box. Between now and Christmas whenever we do something in honor of Jesus’ birthday we will write down what we did (or draw a picture) and put it in our box.  On Christmas we will open the box and read all the “gifts” for Jesus. 

1.        Decorate your box as desired.

2.       Make a list as a family of all the ideas you would like to do this Christmas for Jesus. ( Remember the first reading?  Jesus says to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind is the greatest commandment.  How will your family worship and love the Lord this Christmas?  Put that on your list too!)

3.       Looking at your family’s calendar and budget, decide as a family what gifts you will plan on giving/doing for Jesus.

Prayer:  Close your family devotion time with prayer.  Include those you will be blessing this Christmas season in your prayer. 

Dear Jesus, We thank you for this time together to read your Holy Word and think of ways that we can honor you this Christmas season.  Lord we ask you to open our eyes to those that you would have us serve.  Multiple our time and resources so we can do the most good in your name this Christmas.  Precious Jesus we thank you for coming to earth to be our Savior.  Help us to keep you in our hearts and on our minds during this special season of the year.  In your name we pray, Amen. 

  

Christmas Day Instructions:  As you approach Christmas Day, set aside some time in your schedule to open your Jesus Birthday Box.  Let everyone know when you will do this.  For our family, we have a birthday cake for Jesus after Christmas dinner and then we open His gifts.  Friends of ours open Jesus' gifts as the last gift under thier tree before they have thier Christmas brunch.  Your family may want to include reading the account of Jesus' birth found in Luke 2:1-20. 

 ________________________________________________________________________________

Win A Copy of The Sparkle Box! 

To encourage one another with ideas of how to celebrate Christ's birth this Christmas, I am holding a giveaway of a copy of The Sparkle Box.  Each post will have a question at the bottom.  Leave a comment and be entered in the drawing.  You can be entered multiple times.  I will draw the winner on Dec 17th. 

Today's Question:  How is your family planning on helping others this Christmas season? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Family Day of Service

Sarah's Turkey Sugar Cookies

Pete works for Citrix Systems, who generously gives its employees two days a year to volunteer in their community.  Since the girls were off school this week, we decided to make it a family service day.  We spent Monday doing holiday baking for the guests of the Ronald McDonald House in Durham.


We were cut loose to bring ingredients and bake anything of our choosing for the 45 families currently staying there.  We chose to make triple chocolate brownies, chocolate cupcakes, pumpkins muffins and turkey sugar cookies.  Working together we got a lot of baking done!

The Ronald McDonald House is a special place.  We were blown away by the physical beauty of the house and the beautiful hearts of the house's staff and service providers. When we were finished with our baking, Oie Osterkamp, the Executive Director, gave us a wonderful tour of the house.  It broke Pete and I's hearts to learn parents coming to Duke for their child to receive stem cell treatments often have to sleep in their cars or the hospital waiting rooms without the benefit of the Ronald McDonald House.  These families come from all over the world seeking the best care for their children, and must stay in the area for 8-10 months for treatment!  I can't imagine. 

We asked Oie (pronounced like Joey with no J) how families can best help them.  They need nightly groups come in to cook dinner.  Several times a week you can bake like we did.  They have special projects that come up that corporate teams can help with and they can always use help at their front desk welcoming people. For material donations, you can visit their website.   http://www.ronaldhousedurham.org/page/wish-list


Our family will be going back once a month in 2013 - if you would like to join us send me a message!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Be Thankful Life is Unfair

Recently one of Emily's friends was over for a playdate.  Amidst their wild fun, I had to lay down some boundaries.  The little girl immediately retorted and unknowingly  pushed my Crazy Momma button.  Emily saw it coming.  I watched her little face screw up into a near cartoon character expression, her hand even covered her eyes.  You see, Emily's friend said the one thing that makes me CRAZY.

"It's not fair."

Tell me, "it's not fair,"  and watch me open up a big can of bananas. 

My girls know they'd better not...ever... say this ridiculous comment.  But Emily's poor friend was just reacting out of the big-fat-rich-American-kid  lie that most of us teach our kids to believe by the time they are two years old. 

People will make your life fair.

We (and I am guilty too!) start this absurd concept of "fair" as early as possible.  "Let's be fair and share the toy."  "I will break the cookie in two and you will each get half.  That will be fair."  As parents we work, and work, and work to make it "fair,"  but the problem is that life actually isn't fair.

Three years ago our family had the privilege of being part of an amazing family Sunday School program called Red Card.  It addresses issues facing kids around the world.  Slavery, Homelessness, Hunger, AIDS, being Orphans.  Week after week we were faced with the hard truth about how kids are living today and how God calls us to respond.  After that amazing, eye-opening experience I just could no longer stomach listening to my girls say, "it's not fair," when it came to their petty, selfish wants.

 In all our efforts to make things "fair," we, as parents, are really just creating little monsters who believe the whole world, and every tiny decision, should be resolved in a way that makes them feel good.  We aren't actually creating children who seek fairness in the world, we are creating children who demand their whimsies and wants be satisfied. 

Hence enters my big can of bananas ... B..A..N...A...N...A...S!!!!

When one of my children tell me something is not fair my response now is,

"Nope, because life is not fair and you better PRAY you never get what's fair." 

or

"Nope, and you had better praise Jesus that He has not given you what would be fair."
if it's a big, big can of bananas that will be followed up by some horrifying fact like ....

• "One in four kids in America are living in POVERTY.  That's actually not fair."
• "16 thousand kids died of starvation today.  Who cares if Sarah ate the last cookie." 
• "Millions of children are actual slaves.  Why don't you think about how unfair that is while you clean the dishes." 

As you can imagine, they have pretty much stopped saying this.  I'm not trying to win some sort of dramatic mom Emmy, it's just so absurd that rich American kids would open their little overfed mouths to utter the words, "it's not fair." 

As we sit down to our overflowing Thanksgiving feast this week, I want my kids to notice and cry out,

It is NOT fair!

It truely is unfair.  I hope their hearts long for a Raleigh, a North Carolina, an America, a world where all kids sit down in a warm house with a mom and dad and eat, and eat, and eat.  I hope they will be part of a better generation than my own.  I hope that instead of following Gordon Gekko characters, they will look up and follow the likes of Katie Davis (watch her video below) and Malala Yousafzai.  

 

 I hope this Thanksgiving we all will be thankful for our very unfair lot in life, and cry out "it's not fair," for those that actually need us to.  



I

Dirty Toilets and Gratitude

** Note: Today's post is direct at the ladies which is okay because I think I only have two male readers. If you are a husband, feel free to adapt my list!   ***

Pete was out of town last Saturday.  The girls and I had a full day of plans.  We had fun plans with great friends who we love.  As I went about getting ready I got grumpier nd grumpier as I tripped over one pile of stuff after the next.  Our house was a mess - actually beyond a mess - embarrassingly dirty.  God whacked me over the head and said, "Really Wendy!  Pete is away working and you are going to go hang out with friends all day while your house looks like this!  You are SO disrespectful!"  So I cancelled the plans.  I explained to the girls my reasoning.  If daddy was going to work that hard for our family, it was only fair that we did too.  Amazingly, I had two joyful cleaners helping me for 7 hours!  The more we got done, the happier we all got.  It became a great surprise caper we in on together.  When Pete got home, the girls could not wait to show him around.  Emily summed it up, "Daddy you work hard for us so we wanted to say thank you!" 

"Well that's a novel concept," I thought, "I could show my husband that I appreciate him for Thanksgiving!"  Wow, even better than Facebook postings! 

On Pinterest you can find 400 crafty ways to say thank you to your mailman and garbage collector this holiday season.  While that's a nice thing to do, good luck trying to find an equivalent list to thank your husband. 

Thank you just for being on the other side of the bed in the morning.  Thank you for providing for our family.  Thank you for being a dad who gets up with barfing kids.  Thank you for picking up subs on the way home from work because there was a Secret Princes marathon on so I didn't make dinner. (don't ask!)  

I think lists of ways to appreciate your husband haven't been printed since 1952 because there's this big lie out there that tells women we should worry more about being appreciated as wives than appreciating our husbands.  Modern women might just show up at your front door, take away your pants and beat you with a toilet brush if you dare to think your husband deserves to be respected and thanked in his home.  Appreciating your hubby is not so fashionable, but the truth is if we are going to appreciate anyone this Thanksgiving we should start with the guys we love.  The amazing thing is that when we do, we are the ones that benefit - a more peaceful home, a happier family. Who doesn't want that?

Since there are no cute Pinterest boards about showing your hubby thanks this Thanksgiving, I asked my Knowing God Ministry Team members for ideas.  They made quite the list! Half of it made me blush so it will not be printed here.  I hope the remaining ideas inspire you to show some thanks to your spouse as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday. 

1.  Talk with him about what's important to him for the Thanksgiving meal and then make sure that those items are on the table.

2.  Take time for a date in the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle.  

3.  Watch a football game with him.

4.  Download an action flick to watch, rather than a rom-com.

5.  Make a plan for dinners this week that he likes. 

6.  Choose not to break the budget on the Thanksgiving meal.  

7.  Write him a personal note detailing all the things that I admire about him.

8.  Toasting him at the Thanksgiving table ( okay that one made me cry!)

9.  Plan the Thanksgiving meal in a way that does not stress YOU out.

10. Steal into the hallway when he arrives home and tell him you thought about him today

11. Thank him in front of children for working so hard to provide.

12. Find one of his chores and doing it for him

13. Put a note in his car with a funny joke to help add laughter to his day

14. Pack him a lunch to take to work with a nice note inside.

15. Make it a nag-free weekend.  Give him a coupon for a "pass" on all honey-do list items for the holiday.

16.  Don't try to make it a Southern Living Holiday at the expense of peace and time together.

17.  Have the kids make handprint turkeys and write things they are grateful to dad for on each "feather."  Surprise him with them on Thanksgiving.

 

18.  Take a walk together

19.  Ask him about his day and actually listen to his answer (ouch - that's so true!)

20.  I'll leave #20 as the category that made me blush.  Figure it out ladies!

Ladies, just in case your husband is anything like mine.  He might not notice that you did these things.  It's not personal.  I have dyed my hair 5 times and Pete hasn't noticed yet.  It's a guy thing.  So I suggest you take a tip from Emily.  Take your guy by the hand and say, "I did _____ because I appreciate you!  Happy Thanksgiving." 

 

May peace and appreciate grow in your home as you head into the Thanksgiving holiday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will you join me in a Month of Thanks?

With all the election results in, I was naively thinking that Facebook would be safe to visit again.  Ouch, this morning things are ugly.  Ugly, ugly, ugly!  Frankly I am saddened and shocked to see the hateful words my Christian friends are posting.  While I believe everyone has the right to speak their political minds, I also believe that as representatives of Christ we are called to represent a higher standard of living than just cheap hate. 
So... this is an invitation. 
Will you join me in posting each day on Facebook one thing that you are thankful for, and will you join me in making that your ONLY posts for the rest of November? 

I have been formatting my like this:

Month of Thanks- Day X:  what I am thankful for. 

There has been something so joyful to me about doing this each day.  I get onto Facebook, read a whole bunch of negative comments and then thrown out some glory to God.  It makes me smile. 

I'll warn you that it's hard to pick just one thing a day.  Once you start counting your blessings, it's hard to stop.  God works that way.  The more we turn to Him with hearts full of Thanksgiving, the more blessing rain down. 


Many people are already doing this and it is amazing to read. Let's multiple it and plaster Facebook with thanks given to our amazing God. 

If you are not friends with The Celebrated Family on Facebook, please friend us, and share your Month of Thanks postings.  I look forward to reading them!

Why I will torture my daughters tomorrow

  It has been a long election season for our country, but before it is over, I have one thing left to do - well actually two.  1.  Go and vote. 2. Torture my daughters in the process. 

If you didn't vote early, I urge you to join me tomorrow in making your kids part of the election process.  Give them the privilege of going with you to vote.  Pray for a long line.  Bring nothing for them to do.  (Don't even pack a snack.)  As parents, I believe that it is as much our civic duty to vote, as it is to instill in our children that the right to vote is a privilege, one worthy of our small sacrifices. 

Eight years ago I volunteered at the polls in a very poor neighborhood with a high percentage of Haitian immigrants.  The polls opened at 7:00, so I was asked to arrive at 6:30.  When I arrived, I was shocked to see a line wrapping around the school.  These Americans, most of who had not been born here, valued their right to vote so much that they had started lining up hours and hours before the polls opened.  In line, were dozens of little children.  They were sleepy eyed, but many of them had been dressed in their Sunday best to go with their parents or grandparents to vote.  Those children were being taught that Election Day is a special day.   

My daughters are the 14th generation of women born in this country, yet they are only the 4th generation of women with the right to vote.  I want them to care about that.  I want them to care even in the election years when they don't passionately support any of the candidates.  I want them to care that women around the world everyday are burned, jailed, shot and beaten for trying to claim the very smallest of rights, let alone an equal say in their government.   I want my girls to grow up to be women who care enough to line up before dawn to cast their vote. 

So, tomorrow I will wait to vote until after school.  The three of us will go together.  I will take one daughter by each hand and pray for a really long line.  I will talk  to them about how we are among the most blessed and fortunate women in the world, and even if politics appear to dissolve into facebook quips and endless commercials, my vote does matter, and one day, theirs will too. 

Hold the tinsel - why we need Thanksgiving right about now

It's time to take down the ghosts and spiderwebs.  With the mall already decked in evergreen, the pull is strong to go ahead and decorate for Christmas.  I'm here to say, "Hold the tinsel sisters!"  Now this isn't a plea to stop the insanity of Christmas starting in September, this is a plea on behalf of your weary soul.

Maybe, like me, you are entering the end of this year looking back thinking, "Whoa, did all that really happen?"  This year, Facebook feeds and headline news merged more than ever before.  I used to check Facebook for dorky suburban updates, this year I checked it to read the status of friends and their children being shot, dying, houses burning down, diseases out of horror movies, and divorces worthy of Lifetime movies.  My soul is weary.  Is yours? 

Last November, a friend of mine, who had had a terrible year, put her Christmas tree up the first week  of November.  She said she just needed something happy to happen in her house.  She needed to sit by the twinkling lights of the tree and try to feel okay.  I get it.  I really do.  Hallmark and Martha Stewart have sold us a story that happiness is available if we just put up the decorations, buy the gifts, and bake the cookies.  If that is true, why not put up the decorations early?  Why not try to find a few extra weeks of peace?  We need it, right?

Well, we do need peace and happiness, but deep down we all know their story is a lie.  Only the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings is going to flood your home and heart with the joy and peace you're looking for.  You say, "That's why I want to decorate for Christmas early - to celebrate Jesus, to welcome the Prince of Peace." 

Sorry. Nope. Again, let's be honest.  Scripture doesn't tell us to enter his presence through an evergreen decked door.  How does Scripture tell us we should approach and draw near to Him? 

"Enter His gates with Thanksgiving,

and His court with Praise." (Ps 100:4)

We don't need to get tinsel, we need to give thanks.  We need Thanksgiving.  It's through giving thanks to God for our many blessings that Scripture promises us that we will draw near to Him.  It's the true way to the Prince of Peace, regardless of how Hallmark has told us to get there.

So hold the tinsel my friends, and let us enter into a 22 day feast of praise and thanksgiving.  Let us savor each of the next three weeks to count blessing upon blessing, even amidst chaos, and sadness and death (because that too He has conquered). 

Instead of covering your house with tinsel 22 days early, cover it in gratitude.  Hang poster board on the walls and let your kids list their blessings. Write the names of every friend, co-worker, church member, neighbor, service provider, teacher, and family member on pretty paper and plaster your kitchen with it.  Make a Thanksgiving Tree (and make it big).  Play contemporary praise music and old fashion gospel.  Read One Thousand Gifts and start making your list.  Take out some lipsticks and write on every bathroom mirror. 

For God so loved the world He gave his one and only Son.  (John 3:16)

or

Great is the Lord and most worthy of Praise (Ps 48:1)

or

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy (Ps 47: 1) 

or

Behold, I am coming soon! (Rev 22: 7) 

Friends, will you join me in coating this month in thanksgiving and praise?  When we take the time to count our many blessings, our burdens become lighter and our joy becomes greater, after a season of thanks, I know we'll find that when it's time to hang the tinsel, a true season of joy will be waiting for each of us.