Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve. By now we’ve heard all the Christmas songs, played in various versions, some our favorites, some we skip over.

I love Christmas music. The memories they evoke, the words that remind us what we are celebrating {I know not all Christmas songs do this} , the beautiful melodies that we hum along with so easily. One of my favorite carols is Silent Night. The words and melody are simple enough for a child to memorize and yet timeless.

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
'Round yon virgin Mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight!
Glories stream from heaven afar;
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born!
Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth!
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth!

I’ve been reading a lot about World Wars 1 and 2 recently. The losses on all sides, the tactics, the horrors people witnessed that they never dreamed were possible. But in the midst of the Great War {WWI}, a well known event happened that is worth remembering.

It was Christmas Eve and the British were hunkered down for another miserable night in the trenches. Suddenly, they heard a familiar tune but with unfamiliar words. Across No Man’s Land, the Germans were sitting in their own miserable trenches singing “Stille Nacht” — “Silent Night.” The British soon joined in, singing in English, filling the evening in an unexpected harmony. The next day, tentative British and German soldiers climbed the ladders from their trenches, left their weapons, and met on the field previously covered in blood, bodies, and destruction. Handshakes, smiles, and food were exchanged. Some of the Germans knew English and short conversations were shared. The day would become known as the Christmas Truce of 1914. It is the only known or recorded instance of its kind. A day in the midst of a devastating war where both sides came together sharing peace and hope.

As we celebrate and remember the baby in the manger, let’s not overlook the importance of the coming cross he bore. Because he came, we can be reconciled to our Creator. Because of God’s Son, we are shown the redeeming grace of God.

Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year!

For further reading about the Christmas Truce, I found this article and short video interesting.

Photo by Gareth Harper on Unsplash.

Holiday Expectations

This week is Thanksgiving and then we rush headlong into the busy season: Christmas.

Everyone knows holidays can be crazy. Extra people, lots of food meaning lots of planning and preparation, decorating, special events, concerts, recitals, parties. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t have a hundred things going on between now and December 31. And even though we love family and doing special things and making the season memorable for our kids, it’s hard to not become a little overwhelmed.

As my kids get older, I feel more pressure to do things that they’ll remember. If they loved something we ate or did last year, we have to do it this year and the next and the next…. Traditions are important, right? As moms, it’s easy to believe tradition making is all down to us. We have to make every moment of the holidays special, no matter what it requires or how tired it makes us.

The thing is, no one can do everything, as I was recently reminded by a friend. We can pin all the ideas, buy all the trendy stuff, stay up all hours but we’re only human. If we’re too drowsy to enjoy the fun, too irritated to be joyful, too busy to sit and eat, what is the point of it all? It’s not bad to want to make the holidays memorable and keep traditions going, but if we’re so focused on doing all the things that we don’t enjoy them and our joy is actually being replaced with anger and complaining, it’s not worth it.

So how do you stop a grumbling spirit from ruining the holidays? Be honest about why you’re doing things. Is it out of true joy or a feeling of obligation? Are you afraid the holiday will be terrible unless you do XYZ? Are you putting too much on yourself in this season?

Let me give you a silly example. When I was growing up, Thanksgiving meant pulling out the china and making place cards. I loved the food but as a little girl who aspired to be a princess, I loved the beauty and specialness of a well set table. I still love making holiday meals really special by using china, real silverware and cloth napkins, and decorating the table with place cards and candles. Even after having children, I’ve pulled the china out of the cabinet for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. But this year for Thanksgiving, I bought paper plates and napkins at Hobby Lobby. We’re hosting my parents and some of Tommy’s family and the number of people coming just made real dishes and napkins not realistic. I knew I would love the look of the table set with fine china but I would also be standing at the sink washing dishes long after the meal was over. And probably grumbling to myself that everyone else was off playing games and watching football.

Maybe this would never bother you but I half jokingly sobbed to Tommy that my standards were slipping when I told him we would be using paper this Thanksgiving. Maybe for you it’s not preparing a whole turkey or buying pies from Costco instead of homemade. Maybe it’s asking for help with the meal or changing a tradition slightly. Things like illness, a new baby, changes in the family, or moving are events we sometimes experience around holidays that make traditions difficult or impossible. Give yourself grace and do what you can with a joyful spirit, not expecting perfection.

Photo by Sweta Meininger on Unsplash

Thanksgiving Activities

As I mentioned in my last post, an attitude of being grateful is so important for us and necessary to cultivate in our kids. We are not naturally thankful people. Our mind and desires are constantly pulled by what we want, not pleased with what we have. If we are truly to be good stewards and appreciate what God gives us, we must be thankful people.

It's easy to talk a good talk but true thankfulness is demonstrated by our attitude and actions. When we complain or worry or covet, we are showing how ungrateful we are for the blessings we already have. Sitting down and literally counting our blessings is one of the best ways to fight off the bad attitude blues and there are a variety of ways to get kids involved in this practice. November isn't the only month to use these ideas and I'll give some adaptation ideas if you want to practice thankfulness in May.

Wreath

Last year at Target in the dollar spot I found a foam wreath and 20-something leaves that you could write on and attach to the wreath using double sided tape squares. This year I saw a similar idea there but it was snowflakes instead of leaves. Something like this is a great afternoon craft and then it can go on display for the rest of the month with something you are thankful for written on each leaf. If you can’t find these at Target anymore, the Dollar Store would be a great place to look.

Tree

If you have a tree in need of pruning, cut branches off and put them in a vase or container — in essence making your own tree. Cut leaf shapes out {I found free leaf printables on Pinterest and printed them on colorful paper}, hole punch, and tie loops with yarn or twine. In the past, we’ve used this as a centerpiece on Thanksgiving Day, giving people a leaf or two to write what they are thankful for. Before our meal, we go around the table reading our leaves and hanging them on the tree. This can easily be changed into Christmas ornaments with time given to express thanks before we open presents.

Garland

One year I printed enough leaves for everyday in November leading to Thanksgiving and gathered clothespins. I hung twine across the family room, attached to the walls with Command hooks. Each morning at breakfast, I would ask my kids what they were thankful for, write it on two leaves {I only had two children at the time}, and hang them on the garland. When the leaves in our box ran out, it was Thanksgiving Day and our garland was a full decoration for our guests to read and enjoy. This is a great way to count down to an event and keep the focus on what we’ll be celebrating, not on how long we have to wait for the day to get here! Change the leaves to snowflakes, flowers, watering cans, or pumpkins depending on the season and make any time of year a time to give thanks!

Journal

Another great Target dollar spot find is a set of eight journals, each with 16 or so pages. Challenge older kids to write something everyday they are thankful for, maybe with a little more embellishment than “I’m thankful for food.” For younger children, they can draw a picture. This activity can be modified for different ages and various seasons very easily. In the spring, have children list what they are most excited about for summer then ask how it makes them thankful {“I’m excited to swim” becomes “I’m thankful we can go to the pool” or “I’m thankful I know how to swim”}. If you don’t have a journal or notebook, have kids make their own by hole punching copier paper and stringing yarn through the holes. These would be fun to keep and look back on each year.

A-Z Game

My dad is famous — maybe infamous — in our family for always instigating this game on Thanksgiving Day. No matter who is sharing the day with us, we always gather after dessert and before football to play. The challenge in this game is that nothing is written down, it all comes down to memory. Everyone takes turns and every turn begins by saying, “God is the source of all good things and I thank Him for…” and the first person says something starting with an A. The next person says the phrase, repeats what player one said for A, and adds B. You get the idea where this is going. This would be a great game to play in the car or on vacation, camping…. Because you don’t need any supplies, just a group of people, it’s perfect for anytime.

I hope you see that anything can be used to show what we are grateful for. What I try to do is something tangible that kids can see. When they can see how full the garland is, how many leaves are on the tree, it’s helps them to grasp how much we have to be thankful for. A running list on a chalkboard or post it notes stuck to a mirror can be just as good! Make a game of it and set a timer for 5 minutes. For every thing they mention, they get a block or a sticker or anything! When the timer goes off, count it up.

Giving thanks can be fun and creative. It can be done as a group on Thanksgiving Day or alone throughout the month. You can do it with your preschoolers all the way to college age and beyond. We are never too old to say, “Thank you, God, for all your good and precious gifts.”

Photo by Kiy Turk on Unsplash

Happy New Year!!

2019. It doesn’t seem possible yet here we are, at the start of another year.

2018 was filled with…lots of different things. Good, bad, hard, memorable, victories, laughter, tears. We had a baby, we moved, my grandma died, my parents moved, we started another homeschool year, I lost sleep. It’s hard to imagine how 12 months - 365 days - could hold so much. But here we are, on the threshold of doing it all again. Facing the unknown and trusting God to see us through.

Last year my focus was on quieting my heart. Not getting so caught up in what happened that I forgot to take time for God’s Word and peace. For this year, I didn’t choose a word to dwell on but rather a group of words. Over the last several months, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) has come up in many conversations with my kids and members of our church. Those nine words seem so simple yet put into daily practice become so difficult. So for 2019 I’m thinking, repeating, dwelling, and focusing on those: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Look for future posts about what I’m learning and how I’m applying them to my life.

For Christmas I received from my sister a journaling Psalter. It is a book with just the Psalms but every other page is blank for notes, thoughts, doodles. Then one of my sisters in law gave me a book about the Psalms and the themes of each one. So expect to see some blog posts about what I’m learning as I read through Psalms this year.

For my daily Bible reading, I’m using my She Reads Truth Bible again and the reading plan that’s in the back of it. This version {Christian Standard} I’ve probably read/heard the least so I decided to read it again. The plan I’m using is two Old Testament and two New Testament chapters each day. It goes through Psalms and the New Testament twice in the year.

I have some goals and projects I’m working on but I’ll save those for another post. Happy January 1! Let’s use this year to serve others, glorify God, and draw closer to our Lord.

Photo by Wout Vanacker on Unsplash

Worship and Bow Down

Merry Christmas!

This morning I read Psalm 95 and it seemed fitting for what we are celebrating today. As we gather around Christmas trees with presents and tables laden with food, let us shout joyfully to God for Who he has given. Let us worship and bow down to our Lord Who offers hope, peace, and joy for today and all our tomorrows.

Psalm 95

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

3 For the Lord is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

7 For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand.

Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

9 when your fathers put me to the test

and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

10 For forty years I loathed that generation

and said, "They are a people who go astray in their heart,

and they have not known my ways."

11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,

"They shall not enter my rest."

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash