When to call it enough

My mom and I talked today and compared notes on our Christmas shopping lists, and the progress we have made.  My dad piped in that my mom's list just keeps growing the more she shops.  It often seems that way doesn't it.  At this time of year I feel like all my lists just keep growing as I work on them.  There is always one more person I could bring a gift to, one more party or event invite that we can try to squeeze in, one more cookie/candy/cake that I feel I should make this time of year.

My second suggestion for making Christmas extraordinary this year is to know when to call it enough - all of it!  This weekend is the perfect time to sit down with a cup of coffee or cocoa and make a list of what you think still needs to be done for Christmas, and all events and outings.  Then ask these three questions.

1. What one thing do I really love on this list?

2.  What should I just not do? (even just for this year)

3. What can I pair back on. 

It is such a shame to hand this season over to empty busyness.  As the moms and dads in the house we get to decide if this Christmas will be extraordinary, or if it will just be busy.  Be brutal with your list.  Say no to those invites that you are dreading.  Give up the traditions that are feeling empty.  Recognize when you have enough gifts purchased.

The culling of your list serves as important purpose - giving yourself your resources of time and money back.  Then go spend that time with your kids ...
 Play a board game, Watch a movie, Go sledding, Bake cookies, Make a bird feeder, Read a book together.

And consider spending that money you saved where it is actually needed..
Buy food for the food bank, buy a coat for the homeless man you pass every day on the way to work, buy a goat or chicken or water buffalo through Compassion and change a life.

It's easy to get sucked into the ever growing lists of Christmas time, but it is worth it to take the time to sit down and ask, "Is it enough already?"

Resources for Advent

Last week I posted a challenge to think about making your Christmas extraordinary this year. With Black Friday behind us, are you ready?  I have four suggestions to share with you over the next few weeks.
 Today is suggestion #1:  Celebrate Advent

Advent is the four week period before Christmas.  Advent means "coming,"  it is a time to remember that Jesus came at Bethlehem, and that He will come again.  "Celebrating" Advent simply means to have the daily practice of reading scripture, marking the days until Christmas.  It is a wonderful family discipleship opportunity. Our kids are excited about Christmas - why not grab on to that excitement and use it to disciple your children?  I have listed below several books and resources for Advent.  May they bless you and your family.

For Family Worship:

The Jesus Storybook Bible Advent Readings

Adventures in Odyssey Advent Adventures Reading 

The 25 Days of Christmas by Greg Johnson

Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada

For Your Individual Devotion Time:

Touching Wonder by John Blase  (The Kindle Version is FREE!)

The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp

The Night of the Child by Robert Benson (audio recording)

Let's Conspire to Create an Amazing Christmas

Today is the girls' last day of school for a week.  Mix a week off of school, an upcoming trip to NYC, and finally a nip in the air and I'll tell you our family is ready to kick off the holidays!  How about your family?  Before an Elf arrives, or the tree goes up, or you even start to burn up those credit cards in the name of Christmas, I want to share this incredible video with you.  I have used this video in speaking to church groups about Christmas for the last 5 years.  I love it!  I watch it every year ( a few times actually) to help me remember to keep what's important, important and to let the rest go.  It is my first step in striving to create an incredible Christmas for our family each year.  I hope it will inspire you to think intentionally about your Christmas season this year.  Over the next few weeks I will be posting four ways to make your Christmas season not only incredible for you - but for your fellow man both near and far.

I hope you will take a few minutes to watch this video - and let's kick the holidays off right!

Loaves, and fishes, and shoeboxes

Once a little boy handed Jesus his lunch and offered it to feed a crowd of hungry people.  One little boy's lunch passed through the hands of Christ, fed thousands. 

I turn on the news and see the devastated, I flip through the paper and see the hungry, and drive through town and see the hurting.  Through the lens of my adult eyes, I see the needs, I feel hopeless.  I turn on the news, I feel powerless.  I read the paper, I want to give up. 


But then my little girl gave up her birthday party gifts.  She said she had enough.  She invited her friends to help her fill shoeboxes instead.  She let the birthday gifts intended for one little girl, pass through the hands of Christ, and He multiplied them into Christmas gifts for twelve little girls. 

And through this beautiful child of mine, I see that Jesus still multiples fish, and loaves, and shoeboxes too... if only we're willing to offer them. 

We need a little 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.
 (Orginally posted 11-2012)

******
Raleigh area readers - I would like to invite you to a parent workshop "Putting Christ in Your Thanksgiving and Christmas Celebrations,"  on Wed, Nov 13th at Bay Leaf Baptist Church  at 6:30.  The class is free and childcare is available.  Email me for more info at wschulz@bayleaf.org.  I hope to see you there! 



How low is your bar?

A few weeks ago my friend Parker posted the below video of her 2 1/2 year old son on Facebook.  I was blown away.  A 2 1/2 year old reciting the 23rd Psalm!  Really?  Take a moment to watch it.

When I first saw it, I watched it three times in a row.  At first I was just thinking, "he's so cute!"  Then I watched it again and thought, "he is so smart!"  The third time I watched it I realized why I had quickly become obsessed with this video, the bar I have for my children learning scripture is SO low!  If you are amazed by this video perhaps you can relate to that thought.  What goals do you have for your children learning the Word of God?  How low is your bar?

Do you have a goal for your children learning scripture for this month?  A goal for this year?  Any goals at all?  Most of us do not have any.

When it comes to setting the bar for our children's education, we set it high.  We want our children to succeed in school, do well, go to college ... be brilliant!

When it comes to sports, music, and other extra curricular activities, we set the bar high for our children.  We want our children to make the best regional sport teams.  We want them to progress swiftly in their music skills.  We want them to be rock stars!

Why then do we set the bar so low when in comes to learning scripture?  For most of us we don't intentionally set the bar low, we just forget to set the bar at all.

So I asked Parker how her family is learning scripture.  The above video is of baby #4.  She didn't originally set out to help him memorize the 23rd Psalm, she just read it to him every night as part of his bedtime routine - now he knows it! For herself and her two oldest daughters (10 and 8), the three of them are memorizing the book of James.  Each day they add a line. She has set the goal at memorizing the entire book!

When Parker told me about her plan for herself and her girls, I knew it was time for Pete and I to raise the bar in our house.  While we had been doing daily devotions with our girls at breakfast, I knew that we were setting the bar very low and just going through the motions. Last week we kicked off our Memorize James Project.  The girls are amazing and are much more excited to take part in our morning devotion - probably because Pete and I are terrible at memorizing anything and they are killing us!  But the point is we have set the bar, and we have set it high.  If your family's devotion time is growing bland, or is not regularly happening, I want to invite you to join Parker's family and our family in memorizing the entire book this school year.  Let me know if you accept the challenge, let's encourage one another along the way!

Are you serving out of your guilt or your gifting?

There is this strange phenomena in churches that I call the "age and stage volunteer plan."  It goes something like this:  If you are a mother to three young children you should serve as a preschool teacher.  If you are a sixty-five year old woman you should volunteer with the Prayer Shawl ministry.  If you are a forty year old man you should volunteer in parking duty.  While this might seem like a logical volunteer plan I believe it's killing the church.

Seem like an overstatement?  Well let's look at how this plan really plays out.  So 35 year-old mom to preschoolers is asked to be a preschool teacher.  She doesn't want to teach.  She is TIRED.  She knows she is not gifted to be a teacher.  She knows her patience with preschoolers is thin, and the idea of being locked in a classroom of 15 crying two year olds is keeping her up at night.  But... she's a good Christian girl and has now been asked by the Preschool Ministry Director 15 times to be a teacher.  So out of her guilt she says yes.

Meanwhile there is a 65 year old widow who is lonely.  Her husband has just passed away and her life is way too quiet.  Hoping to "give her something to do,"  the church invites her to join the Prayer Shawl Ministry where she can come and knit shawls with other widows. She doesn't like knitting, she doesn't want to hear the list of new medications and sorrows from the other widows.  She's depressed just thinking of joining this group.  But... she's a good Christian girl and has been asked by the Senior Ministry Director 15 times.  So out of her guilt she says yes.

What if instead the church followed the Word of God?

      There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kids of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 
 1 Cor 12:4-7  (for deeper study read 1-31) emphasis mine.

What if the church listened to the Spirit? What if we served as we're led by God?  What if we trusted, really trusted, that if we did this the church body would be healthier and that all our volunteer needs would be met?  What if we allowed the church body to serve from its gifting instead of its guilt?

So let's play out the volunteer lives of our two ladies from above.  We know what happens right?  They serve out of guilting and hate it.  Their souls are not satisfied.  They serve without the Spirit, because the Spirit never led them there to begin with.  Their ministries are fruit-less, because without God we will not bear fruit.

But what if we threw out the plan of age and stage volunteering and taught our congregations about the gifts of the Spirit, and showed them ALL the service needs in the church.  What if we told our congregation  to PRAY, because the Lord desires to use all of us for the common good.

Perhaps that young mom would find the Prayer Shawl ministry because she loves to knit and loves to pray.  She would be a blessing to that ministry with her beautiful handiwork.  The older women of the group would be blessed to have a younger member with new knitting patterns and lively stories from a house full of little people.  The young mom would get a break from her little ones, be mentored by older women, and would bless the ministry with her gifts.

Our widow would serve out of her gifting as a teacher. She would look forward to her hour with her class of two year olds.  Their hugs would be a gift in her week.  She would have the time to plan each week's lesson thoroughly, and to pray fervently for her students.  Those two year-olds would be blessed to have a teacher full of patience and energy - ready to love on them each week.  They would find birthday cards in their mailboxes from their teacher.  Her ministry would bear much fruit.

God has a good plan for our churches.  Do we trust that?

This fall I have turned down several women who signed up to teach in my ministry.  (You would realize how crazy this is if you knew how great our need was.)  I told these women that I believe in the Word of God.  I believe that God has a good plan for them to serve Him, and I didn't want to usurp that plan through guilt.  You see when we say yes to volunteering somewhere we are not called to, most often we close the door on serving where we were meant to be.  One of the women I said no to, was Elizabeth.  Now please know Elizabeth has been a great teacher, and would be, but... we both felt that this is not where she was called to serve this year.  Elizabeth has a wide range of gifts she uses for the Lord, but one of her gifts my ministry desperately needed - she is the craftiest, cutest, most thoughtful woman around.   I asked her if instead of teaching if she would several times during the year bless our teachers with some sort of gift of appreciation. I have 112 volunteers so this is a BIG job, but Elizabeth agreed.

She and her family kicked off our new Sunday School year with a bang.  On Promotion Sunday her family walked in with baskets of homemade cookies and water bottles for our teachers. See how cute they were!  There was even a label of the ingredients.  Really!   Last week, knowing that most of my teachers teach every other week, she was back with more baskets so that every teacher would feel blessed.

How cute is this! 

She is serving from her gifting, not her guilt.  And by the way, God did provide a teacher to take her spot, a grandmother of one of the children, who is so excited to teach.  God is good my friends.  He is so very good.  I pray as we head into a new school year, and a new church programming year that you will ask God to show you how He will have you serve, and that you will both be blessed, and be a blessing, through your work in His kingdom.

Off to Ghana, one friend's answer to God's big call.

In June, I wrote a posting asking,  what is God calling you to do?  I noticed that same day that my friend Allison posted on Facebook that she was getting vaccinations.  I asked her what was up.
Allison amazed me with her answer, she was preparing for a women's mission trip to Ghana in August.

Allison and her son Mac

 I asked Allison how she decided to go on this trip.   She answered:

 I thought it sounded interesting two years ago and couldn't go that time. my son was little and I wasn't prepared so I potentially planned on going on the next one. Then life happened and I couldn't have been in a worse position to go and I sort of forgot about it, or tried to, life was just to messy. I decided to be on the women's retreat team and help put that together. While I was working I couldn't get Africa off my mind, I sent out a prayer request to my WIW (Women in the Word) table and Cindy Ostlie (one of the greatest prayer warriors I know) praying for wisdom and guidance, was I supposed to be there, could we afford it? I waited a few days and it was clear, I would now ask my husband and my mom, respectively I needed money and child care. Without hesitation or thought both said yes and didn't question me. Yes, I am a little nervous. Is it possibly dangerous? Especially for a small blonde woman? Maybe. I know i am supposed to be there. It's on my heart and I had a clear calling from God. He spoke directly to me and I choose to obey!  

I have been so blessed in the last few months to talk to women about what God is calling them to do.  The thing that I just can't get over is it always comes down to those four simple words.  "I choose to obey."

Mac selling lemonade to raise money for his mom's trip

Allison's decision to obey God's call, flowed through her family.  Son Mac helped raise money for the trip with a lemonade stand.  Allison's mom and husband are getting to use their gifts of time and money to bless Allison with watching Mac and making the trip possible.  I think so often as moms we think we can't obey a big call from God like going on a mission trip because we will inconvenience family members by asking them to watch the kids, we think we will burden our husbands by using family funds to pay for the trip - but maybe instead we should be looking at it as offering them the opportunity to be the blessing as well.  Women and children in Ghana will be blessed by Mac as well as by Allison, what an amazing lesson to teach a seven year old.

Allison, and a group of incredible women from Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church outside of Denver, Colorado left last night for Ghana.  I am posting this today in hopes that you will join me in praying for these women.  They will be in Ghana for eleven days.  This is the description of their mission as posted on the CCPC website.

This year, thirteen women from CCPC are going to Ghana where we are helping build a school and programs for the girls/women so that they can gain skills that will help them provide for self and family. We also bring health supplies and training to help the women and their children fight off illness and remain healthy.

Talents and silence

Here's a clue into the life of Wendy... when I blog a lot, very little is going on in my life... when I stop blogging, big things are going on.  So you can take by my silence that the last month has been a full one.  This has been a month of talents and silence for me.  What does that mean?

In the book of Matthew chapter 25, Jesus tells the parable of a master who is going on a journey.  He entrusts three servants with different amounts of talents. (A talent was worth more than $1,000).  The two with the most go out and earn more, when the master returns he is pleased and gives them even more talents  to be responsible for.  The one with the least, does nothing with it, and what little he was put in charge of is taken away from him.

I heard a great sermon a few years ago that asked, Is the Lord adding to your talents or taking away?  Good question huh?  Life seems full and I sometimes think I few less responsibilities might feel good.  But when you read the account in Matthew 25 it ends with the master saying, ".., throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." That's pretty bad.  It's not the reaction I am looking for from God - so bring on the talents! It really is a good thing.

This summer I have watched the Lord place three new "talents" into my life.  Talents that have me excited, freaked out, thrilled and bewildered.  Once I get over the freaked out and bewildered part, I will tell you more about each of them, but just to break my own little season of silence, I wanted to share them with you.

1.  Daisy:  Daisy is our 14 year old exchange student from China. She arrived Sunday night and will be staying with us for at least a year.  She plans to be in the United States for four years, but with her parents, we have made the decision to prayerfully consider each year at a time.  We are so excited to share our amazing school, our church community, and our family with her this year.

2. A 5th grade Mother - Daughter bible study:   After a year of praying about it, God showed me a clear six week period to host a study this summer.  With great trepidation, I pulled the trigger and invited all 17  5th grade girls in Sarah's grade, and their moms to come to our house to study Elizabeth George's A Girl After God's Own Heart.  This was the third week, and it has been incredible.  We have had 18-22 moms and daughters here each week.  The discussions and prayer times have been so amazing.  I love this group of girls and their moms.  Many of us have not really had the chance to get to know each other, so it has been a very special time.

3.  Spiritual Parenting Class:  For six years I have desired to teach a spiritual parenting class. By "spiritual parenting" I mean a focus on passing on your faith through your parenting, (As opposed to a class focused on parenting topics like discipline and potty training).  This Fall I have been asked to co-teach The Legacy Path with our adult education pastor.  This class will be the first in an ongoing series of classes offered each semester in our newly developed Legacy Track of classes at Bay Leaf Baptist Church.  (If you are in the Raleigh area, please join me!  This class is open to the public and childcare or Awanas is offered at the same time!)

                                              

A call to love

I know I left everyone wondering about our big news.  A week of 600+ kids at VBS put everything else on hold for the past 10 days.  But we do indeed have exciting news around our house!  As I posted a few weeks ago, in the matter of a few days, three different opportunities came to Pete and I for us to host children.  One of the situations came our way via our school newsletter which shared that the school was looking for a host family for a Chinese student.  Call me crazy, but I felt that little newsletter column was written just to Pete and I.  This was the third of the three situations - the other two were personal phone calls requesting us to host specific children under very different circumstances.  I think the other two calls were God's way of opening my eyes to the fact that we could indeed welcome another child into our house.  

This weekend we were able to Skype with the family.  Both families were so excited to have
time to talk through everything from big questions like bank accounts, and medical insurance to smaller matters such as favorite colors and foods.  Our girls both felt less nervous about this new "sister"  after seeing her beautiful smile and hearing her happy laughter.  Hopefully she felt the same way.

This is a unique exchange situation in that her parents want her to come to the US for all four years of high school.  I have to laugh at this because the first hosting call we got was for a 6 week program.  The second was for a 8 month situation.  The third - yep, four years.  God is hilarious isn't He?  School officials have agreed with us that we will commit to hosting one year at a time, but we are all going into the situation understanding that the parents hope for her to be with us for four years.

While our family's big call this summer has been to open our home to this student, I have been amazed at some conversations I have had since my last posting.  God is making big calls all over the place.  A couple of friends have agreed to share their big call here on the blog, and I will be posting them in the coming week.  What amazes me about all of these calls is a singular common thread - love.  Love.  Every call to every person I have spoken to, boils down to the simple act of loving others.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 22:36-40 

So that is our big call, to love this girl as we love ourselves. Who is God calling you to love these days?  I would love to share your story here in the coming weeks.  

So what's your big call?

My last blog post ignited a flurry of phone calls and texts from friends. "What's your big call?" People had some pretty comical ideas.  I also had a wonderful email from a dear sister in Christ, Katie.
 Her message began:

Your blog hit close to home today (well - as usual) - but I have to tell you about what God did when I ran away in February.  I had plans just like you - and, also like you, God showed up!  and I am thrilled to tell you that the Lord has called us to the very messy, scary, risky, crazy business of ADOPTION!  

People, seriously, be very careful about wishing to run away.   God will show up!  Well Katie had hit the nail on the head, or at least pretty close.  The call I received was about hosting a Ukrainian orphan for the summer.  My friend Michele and her family had decided to host a teenage girl and there was one other girl that didn't have a host family - would we do it?  Meanwhile Michele's husband and Pete were talking, and Pete sent me a text saying.

I'm open to being a host.  

Okay, so you see how this was the end of the peaceful portion of my weekend?  Adoption has long been a topic in our house, and close to our hearts. Pete was adopted.  Emily thinks we need to "get a baby."  I have felt for years that there are supposed to be more children in our home - but how, I'm not sure.  While Pete and I started talking with the group running the hosting program, another call and an email came to us in the next three days.  Both of them, very different situations, were about bringing children into our home.  We were very open with our girls about these situations, and together as a family were praying for clarity.  As usual, our big picture clarity came through one of them.

Sarah said, " You know, we're a really good family."  

She's right.  We are a really good family.  So that was my big answer to the several opportunities that had come our way.  We are a good family, we can share the love of Christ, and we have an extra bedroom.  Next came the question of how to know what to do about each of these three situations.  The first opportunity, hosting the girl from the Ukraine, needed to be dealt with first, as we had only a few days to make a decision.  As we learned more about the program, its requirements and expectations, it became clear that we were not the family to host her. This is a program geared toward families with one parent at home, which is completely understandable.  Our role in this situation is going to be Aaron and Hur to my friend Michele and her family as they host this summer.  ( Exodus 17:12)  One of the two other opportunities we are pursuing and I will write about that more later.  

As I have spent the last two weeks praying through these opportunities.  The Lord has been so gracious in speaking to me through His word.  One of the scriptures is: 

"Be strong all you people of the land.  This is the Lord's declaration. 'Work! For I am with you.'"  

Haggai 2:4.  

This was written in regards to the rebuilding of the temple.  People were busy making their own homes lovely while the temple lay in ruins.  The Lord told them, "WORK!"  Often the work the Lord calls us to is, as Katie described it, very messy, scary, risky, crazy business .  It is inconveniencing and hard.  It is work.  And the Lord doesn't mince words about it, it's going to take away from the time, money, and energy we may be planning on using to make our own homes lovely.  This is not the plan for some people, it's God's plan for all His people.    We have to WORK!  There are orphans to love, hungry to feed, lost to find.  There are immeasurable needs in our fallen world, and each of us is called to address part of it.   

So while I appreciate your texts and calls wondering what my big call was, I give the question back to you my friends.  So what's your big call?    I would love to be praying for you and your family as you wade into the work the Lord has called you to.  

Just in case you were thinking of running away

Never fear, I did return from my Run Away Momma trip last week.  I had a wonderful two days.  I ate at restaurants of my own choosing.  I spent a really long time in an art museum.  I found this garden and wiled away an entire morning sketching.  Alone.  Alone.  Blissfully Alone.

I listened to this book and thought complete thoughts without interruption of work, little girls, or regular life.  Alone.

I spent several hours praying through three specific opportunities/ideas I had for this summer. I made a lovely chart of the pros and cons of these ideas and wrote out scripture ... yes scripture.. to support them.  Alone.  

And about three seconds after I took this photo, documenting my lovely peaceful morning ... it was so peaceful.. my cell phone rang ... it was God calling to thank me for the large amounts of humor I was providing Him with my cute little chart.  He barged right into the prayer time I was having Alone. God liked my chart for its humor purposes, but if my life was a bad Sunday School cartoon, my journal would have blown up into a little cloud of smoke and God's voice would have been heard from the cloud saying, 

"Wendy, Wendy, your chart is stupid. Your plans are small, and so is your faith."  

Okay, God would probably not say stupid and it was not Him calling on the phone. (That would have been a really fantastic culmination of my trip!)  No, He used my friend.  She was calling to ask me to do something that would require a LOT of faith this summer.  Something messy and difficult and totally outside my comfort zone.  I explained my chart.  My chart held three pretty little ideas.  Ideas that I was trying to choose between - because surely in my busy life I couldn't do something nutty and pick two.  There was just room for one.  She laughed, (sort if manically actually), and wished me good luck with my chart.  

So that was the end of the peaceful portion of my trip.  It was also the beginning of the genuine part of my trip.  You see I had told Pete I wanted to go away and be quiet and pray about what God's will is for me in this season of my life. But I had lied.  I wanted to go away and think about what I wanted to do in this season.  There is a big difference.  It's easy in Christian culture to say cute phrases about prayer and the will of God, when you really mean "thinking" and the will of ME.  It's easy to get away with living a life where you are risking nothing, over analyzing everything, and worshiping your "quiet time" because what really matters most is keeping life as smooth and peaceful as possible.  I had planned a weekend Alone, but I didn't get it.

I can try to put on all the trappings of The Good Christian Girl's Life and walk smoothly in my own self-serving plans. But then God shows up, out of His great and mighty love for me.  He reveals a better plan, a messier, bigger plan than would ever fit on my little chart.  For have any of God's plans ever fit on a little chart?  

So just in case you were thinking of running away to have a weekend Alone, I thought it would only be fair to warn you who might show up when you get there.  And that is the grace of God.  That even when we plan a weekend Alone, we are never left there alone.  

Runaway Momma

I am running away in just a few minutes.  My Mother's Day gift was 36 hours to run away and today's the day.  Thirty six hours to think, to pick my own restaurants, and to pray about some important opportunities that have been presented to me.  I have not gone away alone in seven years - that's a long time.  I actually worked pretty hard to make sure that I didn't get to run away alone.  I invited several east coast friends to come and meet me.  I let myself get completely overwhelmed with work to the point of nearly cancelling about 12 times a day for the last week.  I have tried to let the fact that our house is STILL not unpacked be a very good reason to stay home.  At every complaint and concern Pete has said, "GO!" He even took a day off to work on house tasks so I could check them off my list.  My friends have stepped in to say, "GO!"  Sweet friends are taking my girls today and tomorrow after school.  I appreciate them all kicking me out of my cozy nest.  I have a new book to listen to, a new book to read, an empty journal for some brainstorming and snacks that I will not have to share with anyone.  

I look forward to sharing my little adventure with you next week.

The Thorns of Mother's Day

There were many years I hated Mother's Day.  A strong statement for such a sweet little Hallmark day, but it's true.  For the five years that Pete and I were waiting for our miracle, I dreaded the day. The church we attended had the tradition of having all the mothers stand during the service and they would be brought a long stem rose.  I am sure in some pastoral meeting that seemed like a really sweet thing to do, in reality it was really a bad tradition.  While all the women over 25 seemed to be standing, I sat.  It was like an official announcement of my failure to produce a child.  An apparently simple task that seemingly every other woman in the church seemed to be able to complete (often for some).

When I started working in church ministry I suggested (loudly) that we not do such mindless traditions.  Moms know they are moms, they have been celebrated at home, let's not make a production out of pointing out all the women who are childless.  Let's instead be the church that bears the yoke of our Savior and cares about what He cared about...
         the brokenhearted,
                       the weary,
                               the lonely,
                                      the orphan.
As the Director of Preschool Ministries my heart is broken for a new reason this Mother's Day.  Our children whose mommas who are waiting for them in Heaven.  I'll be honest, this brokenness has rocked me this week.  You see in our church (and yours too) are sweet little faces with no momma here to celebrate. I can't imagine being four and trying to understand this holiday.  I can't imagine being the dad who drops off your child at Sunday School to find out they are making Mother's Day crafts.  This pain has to be a thousand fold what I felt sitting empty handed in my church 10 years ago, and this is a pain the church is mindlessly inflicting.

Now I am not saying we shouldn't honor and celebrate our moms this Mother's Day.  By all means bring on the flowers and gifts Pete.  What I am saying is as a church this weekend let us be a balm for the brokenhearted.  Let us give rest to the weary.  Let us include the lonely in our celebrations and let us love lavishly the orphans.  It will be through the intentionality of our love, not the mindlessness of our traditions that the hope of Christ can be seen by those who most need Him this Sunday.

He's never going to quit you...

Two Saturdays ago... two days before words like bombing, Boston, and manhunt flooded America's headlines and hearts, our sweet mother/daughter bible study met.  God in His wisdom had given our leader Cindy the perfect verse for us to talk about.

" Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged 

for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9

Cindy used three examples of courage in scripture.
Moses parting the Red Sea as the Egyptian army was upon them...
David volunteering to face Goliath...
Ester going to the king to save her people...

Cindy asked the girls...
Was it Moses' staff that gave him the power to part the Red Sea?
Was it David's slingshot that gave him the courage to face a giant?
Was it Ester's crown that made her brave enough to face the king even if it cost her her life?

Of course the answer was no, no and no.  They were strong and courageous because God was with them.  So often the tables get turned at our bible study.  Our daughters become our teachers and the mothers sit with teary eyes and shaky faith, looking in wonder at these mighty little sisters of ours.  As Cindy was teaching one of the girls put up her hand - she was bursting to share

"This is it," she said, "God is never going to quit you.  That's what our verse means.  He is NEVER, EVER going to quit you.  No matter what happens.  No matter what is going on, don't worry, just don't worry.  God will NEVER quit you, He will be with you."

The little girls nodded, the mommas wiped our eyes.  Perhaps we cried because we were so happy she knew that.  Perhaps we cried because our bruised and weary hearts struggle to hold the faith of a seven year old.  We ended our study time as, we always do, with a small circle of girls praying for one another. The girls prayed for safety, for happiness, for courage, and for faith for one another. The same little girl praised God that the mommies took the time to teach the lesson.  I praised God that she had had the courage to teach the mommies the lesson.

Two days later, Emily and I sat in the family room watching reports from Boston.  Emily reached over and grabbed my hand, "Remember mommy," she said, "God is never going to quit us, and He won't quit those people either."  Amen, my little sister, amen.

Infestation

Out west the moths are big.  We call them Millers and they arrive from the eastern plains in ugly flocks that cover your bushes.  They are so gross you don't think twice about killing them.

 In our new house in Raleigh we were greeted by a few little moths. They were so slow flying and cute, I felt bad killing them.  The cuteness was my downfall.  Those cute little moths turned out to be what's called "pantry moths" and my benevolence led to a full on infestation this past week.  Open a cabinet - swoosh - out fly five.  Open the cereal - swoosh -  out fly two more.  While we were not paying any attention, those little moths destroyed our groceries and wrecked havoc in our cabinets.  The cuteness wore off.  

While I was cleaning out our cabinets this weekend I was thinking about infestations.  They sneak up on all parts of life, don't they?  I started out this year set on eating healthier and exercising 4 days a week.  Yet little snacks, little celebrations, little stressors and little time commitments have snuck up on me and destroyed my good intentions and wrecked havoc on my health.

The more I cleaned those cabinets this weekend, the more areas of my life I assessed for infestations.  I fear  I found quiet a few brewing.

• Family Time:  a new job for me, new friendships for all of us,one additional activity for each of the girls.  As I look at the next week we don't have a single night all home together.  We've got a family time infestation. 
• Date Nights:  upcoming church events, school spring fling night, starting a community group, work travel, Indian Princesses.  There is not a Friday or Saturday night available this month (and next month doesn't look much better.)  Wow.  Infestation!
• Quiet Time:  waking up late, waking up still exhausted, distractions from the girls, news, work, and our move.  I HATE this - but if I am really honest, the quiet time with the Lord that I cherish each day has been infested by life lately, and its bad!

These are three important parts of my life.  This is the food of my heart and my soul and yet I have let my guard down.  Just like those cute little pantry months, I have let distractions dressed up and called "opportunities" infest my priorities, damage what I say I value, and wreck havoc on me.  

Our pantry sans shelves

Are there infestations going on in your home?  Are cute little opportunities adding up and becoming a problem in your family?  How is your health, your family, your marriage, and your walk with God?  

On Saturday Pete and I were merciless with those cute little moths.  We sucked them up with the vacuum, smashed them with fly-swatters, and sprayed them with bleach.  Then, just to make sure their offspring were not lingering around, we ripped out all the shelving in our kitchen.  We bleached the walls, and caulked the cracks.  We were pretty radical in our attempts to get our kitchen back.  

I want to be that radical with the rest of my infestations.  I want my health, my time with my family, my time with Pete, and my time with God back.  Distractions beware, I no longer think you are cute.  

Delicious Detox: A Guest Post by Caroline at Elevate Your Wellness

 Yesterday my friend Dana's facebook status started off ..."And the hectic pace continues." 
Can you relate?  I can, and most days around 2:00 I could update my status to read "I am SO stinkin' tired!"  Can you relate to that one too?  Today's  guest post by my dear friend Caroline offers wonderful insight into healthy eating to help us tired and overwhelmed mommas.  I will be joining Caroline's program starting April 10th - I'd love for you to join me too! I hope you'll take the time to hop over to Caroline's blog and explore, she and her husband have an amazing personal story and Caroline has an amazing selection of recipes and ideas.  

________________________________________________________________________________

I’m so honored to be sharing a post on The Celebrated Family. I LOVE reading Wendy’s blog because her passion for helping parents to grow in and pass on their Christian faith to their kids is so powerful. It shines though everything she does and she makes it seem easy and approachable.

My passion is healthy eating! I love to help YOU make time for self-care and fall in love with healthy cooking and eating. I think that self-care starts in the kitchen and having more energy starts with what you eat. If you are feeling exhausted and sick all the time, it might be as simple as changing what’s on your fork. For real.

Right about now, some of you might be thinking... see you later, I hate to cook and I don’t want to hear this but stick with me...OK? If you want to have more energy so you can show up 100% for your life and the people you love, this is for you! If you are a Momma, this is especially important for you...

I don’t have space here to share my whole story today but I’ll summarize it like this... in 2009, my very healthy husband got diagnosed with colon cancer. It turned our life upside down. You can read more about it here.

During our journey to health, we realized the power of eating whole, mostly plant-based foods. We shifted our diet because we were terrified of cancer but we stayed with it because we started experiencing amazing results. Increased energy, no more brain-fog, faster recovery after working out, clearer skin and rarely getting sick became our new normal.

Here’s what I realized... by tuning into your body and making simple changes to your diet, you can feel better from your head to your toes. You can have more energy, reach your ideal weight and most importantly stay disease-free.

I also discovered that some foods are literally were making us sick with every bite. Foods like sugar, dairy and gluten might be sending your body into a state of inflammation every single day and causing everything from anxiety to constipation to cancer.

Now, I know making changes to your diet and lifestyle can be daunting. I love to help clients ease into it. So much of it is tuning into your own body and starting to listen to the signals it’s giving you. Do you feel congested every time you eat dairy? Do you crash everyday at 2pm and desperately need a nap?  Do you get bloated and gassy when you have bread with dinner?

 

Your body is brilliant and it’s telling you everything you need to know. It’s time to tune in!

A great strategy is to ease into it or test the waters so to speak.  Try doing a 10 day whole foods detox and see how you feel. You can do anything for 10 days, right?

If you want to see how good you can feel-- create your own whole foods detox by doing the following for 7-10 days:

1.    Ditch the processed foods and eat mostly (or only) plant-based foods. This means eats lots of veggies, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Eliminate (or greatly reduce) meat, dairy, eggs and fish. Plant-based foods are easier to digest which equals more energy. Plus they are rich in fiber which helps “clean you out” so to speak.

2.    Eliminate the 3 foods that are known to cause inflammation. Sugar, gluten (wheat), and dairy. These foods may be wreaking havoc in your body and causing symptoms like migraines, GI issues, fatigue, joint pain, allergies, and skin issues. I found this in myself and see it all the time with my clients.

3.    Have 1 blended meal a day-- this can be a smoothie, a freshly-pressed juice, or a blended soup. This gives your GI tracts a break and lets your liver get to work detoxing your body. Plus you can pack a ton of nutrition into your blender!

Committing to a detox or cleanse is empowering. It’s your chance to SAY YES to ourself and find out how good you can feel.

If you are interested in getting support doing a detox, I offer a program called Delicious Detox that starts on April 10th. As you can guess from the title, I designed it to be full of delicious foods and easy to follow.

You’ll be achieving the 3 things I mentioned above without having to do a bunch of research or pour over cookbooks because I’ve done all the work for you with meals plans and a shopping guide.

And as a special offer to Wendy’s tribe, if you sign up...you’ll get a special bonus gift! A copy of Crazy, Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. Kris is one of my teachers and her book is full of inspiration and fantastic recipes. Just leave a comment on Wendy’s blog about signing up or email me to let me know and  I’ll drop the book in the mail to you.

The early bird investment ends on Wednesday so if you are interested, check it out at:

http://www.elevateyourwellness.com/GetEnergized/

I’d love to have you join me!

Shine Bright,

Caroline

Caroline is a full-time health coach and yoga teacher. She blogs at www.elevateyourwellness.com

Good Friday was for you

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

Tomorrow we will remember the day our Savior went to the cross for us.  For OUR sins.  It was not a generic salvation plan.  It was a very personal plan.  He died for you and He died for me.  Each year on Good Friday our family takes a few minutes to think about this amazing, incomprehensible fact:  Good Friday was for us.  I take each of my little girl's hands and tell them: 

Did you know, while our King was on the cross,

Your face was in his eyes,

Your life was in his mind,

Your sin was on his back,

Love of you, was in his heart,

for beloved, your name was written on his palm.

Then I make a red circle in the middle of their palm and write their name across it.  Over the years many of our friends have started this tradition as well, and it brings me such joy to see their children's little hands. 

Amidst all the Easter hoopla,  I hope tomorrow you will take a few minutes of quiet to remember that it was all for you.  For YOU are God's beloved.  The one he came to save.  

 If your family marks your hands for Good Friday will you send me a picture?  I would love to see it!

Blessings to you all! 

Hosanna Palms - another guest post by Janna

My friend Janna from Mustard Seeds, is spending a week here at The Celebrated Family, sharing her wonderful Easter tutorials.  I love this idea for creating Hosanna Palms for preschool age children.  Palm Sunday is next Sunday the 24th, what a wonderful way to engage your little ones on this day.  Enjoy! 

Tutorial: Hosanna Palm

Palm Sunday is the day we remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem a week before his death and resurrection (Easter). The people gathered palm branches to wave and welcome Jesus and they laid them down at the feet of the donkey he rode on.

To get your youngsters into the spirit, here's a quick and easy tutorial.

 

Anne and her friends love playing with these be-ribboned palms, which I keep in the Lent basket. They make a parade (I often join them) and march around the house shouting, "Hosanna, Hosanna!"

 

Supplies:

• A large silk palm or other greenery. Just make sure there is a long stem for proper "wave-ability."
• Ribbon, raffia, extra trim you have laying around. (You don't need much.)
• Scissors for trimming lengths of ribbon.
• Strong glue (I use Amazing Goop. Super glue will also work. You need strong glue so it won't fall apart after much flinging and praising!)

First, remove the leave from the stem. Put a dollop of glue in/at the end of the stem and stick the leaf back on. Then, put another dollop of glue where the stem and leaf meet.

 

Tie your first strand of ribbon/trim on top of the dollop of glue. Just tie it once, no need to knot it. You will need to tie on each ribbon separately with a dollop of glue alternating which side you tie the ribbon on.

See here that I've flipped the palm over to tie this ribbon. One of the reasons you do this is so that there isn't a bulky knot on one side. It also adds security to the palm since you are basically adding a small layer of glue to the joint each time you tie a ribbon.

 

Once you have all of your ribbons tied, put more glue at the joint and wrap your raffia around the ribbons and then tie with a knot. The raffia will kind of cover up all ties of the ribbons. Let dry completely before waving your praise for Jesus.

You can download a printable version here, using this PDF.