Stressful Time

I think I'm beating a gift horse over the head with my thoughts about slowing down this Christmas season. Or maybe I just realize my tendencies to get caught up in all the wrong parts of preparation.

Either way, Hearts at Home is running my blog post today about ways to manage stress during the Christmas season. You can find it here.

And just to give you a quick laugh if you're already feeling your blood pressure rising, here's Walter's version of our latest Thanksgiving family picture.

Christmas Rush

I knew it was coming. I've looked over our December calendar frequently to make sure it wouldn't get packed with unnecessary commitments. But I already feel the craziness of a month focused on doing things to reach a goal of the picture perfect Christmas morning that rarely happens.

If our culture encourages us to think about the Christmas holiday for three months, then why is much of the actual month a focus on preparing rather than celebrating?

At risk of being held accountable to sticking to my ideas, I'd like to share the newspaper column I wrote about slowing down the pace of Christmas.

Check it out here!

Advent Prayer

Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do, seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking light.

To you we say, Come Lord Jesus...

Amen

This Advent Prayer by Henri Nouwen simply states the reasons I so much long for Christ's coming.

His presence brings

Peace

Fulfillment

Anticipation of a better future

Joy

Light in a dark world.

(I am frantically searching for daily Advent reflections. I'd love to hear from anyone who has a resource to recommend!)

By the Goodness of God

"By the Goodness of God we are far from want."

With these words, Pilgrim Edward Winslow ended his description of the first Thanksgiving festival.

I admit I forgot the reason for Thanksgiving.

Sure, I've lamented over the crazy focus of Black Friday over Turkey Thursday and the mad rush to Christmas before the potatoes have been mashed or the pies baked. But when Asher pulled a picture of a pilgrim and a sewn boat with Indians out of his backpack I remembered Thanksgiving is about even more than family and an attitude of thankfulness.

Its about the history of our country.
A celebration by surviviors who made it through a year in the wilderness of America.

They arrived at Plymouth Rock with little provisions at a time of year when they would quickly discover the harsh winters of the Northeast. Many did die during the first months in their land of freedom, but those who lived found new friends and discovered how to provide for themselves.

And when they made it through, they celebrated with a three day feast.

I don't presume to be able to offer a full history lesson on Thanksgiving here, but I encourage you to take a few minutes to do a little research about our past leaders who have celebrated.

The first to officially declare Thanksgiving as an annual national holiday held on the last Thursday of November was Abraham Lincoln. He encouraged our nation towards thankfulness shortly after he became a Christian in his Proclamation of Thanksgiving.

Even in the middle of the Civil War, when neighbors and brothers fought against each other, Lincoln found innumerable reasons for the country to stop and thank God for the blessings of "fruitful fields and healthful skies."

He encouraged fellow Americans in that day to see past the many troubles in the country and recognize the good things directly from the hand of God.

"No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy."

And even now almost 150 years later, despite the rough economic times and daily stresses of life, I can absolutely proclaim that only by God's goodness, I am far from want.

The Eighth Day

"I will be nice to my sister on the 8th day!"

When Asher took the "No Babies" sign off the front porch in September, we thought the switch in his brain had permanently switched to being sweet to Amelie.

But then she started to screech.
And now she crawls.
She even dares to look at Asher's toys as if she might possibly be interested in them.

And so now the unkind Big Brother Asher has returned. Whenever I correct his mean behavior he calmly tells me not to worry because he plans to be nice to Amelie again on the 8th day.

I know about what happened on Days 1-7 of Creation but I never thought about what might happen on the 8th day.

Every morning last week I tried proclaiming, "Today is the 8th day!"

For two days I received the reply that "No it's not the 8th day yet." Finally we reached the 8th day on Friday but Saturday sent us right back to Days 6 or 7. On one of those days he even resorted to putting the "No Babies" sign back on the porch.

Just when I think he's making progress, he'll slip in a little poke to his sister, or yet another reminder to her that "YOU SHOULD NOT SCREECH! IF I HAVE TO TELL YOU ONE MORE TIME NOT TO SCREECH I WILL BE VERY ANGRY." (And yes I did just mean to scream at you just as Asher screams at us.)

Probably our son isn't the only one in the family who progresses and regresses on a daily basis. Despite my good intentions as I start each morning, I often find myself lapsing back into negative selfish, prideful patterns I thought I already conquered.

I might make good progress towards becoming the loving mom, wife, and friend, I want to be and finally arrive on the 8th day, but too often the 9th day comes back around and I easily fall back into interacting with others without the grace I have been shown.

But its a new day again and I declare today to be the 8th day!

Creating Thankfulness

Can you believe Thanksgiving is only TWO weeks away?

Thanksgiving for us means hiding away from the shopping madness with Walter's family in a Missouri cabin. We can hardly wait to sit around the campfire, hike down to the river, and of course play (or cheer for) the annual Reedy-Walling-Fry football classic.

Amelie will get to try her first turkey.
Asher will (hopefully) walk on his own down the hill to the river.
I will take knitting lessons from Laura.
Walter will try not to dominate in Poker and promises to hold his tongue as some of the family plays the less strategic game of Dominoes.

Beyond the traditions and excitement of Thanksgiving, I hope it will ignite gratitude that lasts through the Christmas season.

Today my ideas to create thankfulness are posted on the Hearts at Home website. I invite you to check it out!

Hilarious Giving

Paul didn't ask us to toss coins into an offering plate laughing hysterically or cracking jokes to our pew mate, but he did challenge Christ followers to be hilarious givers. I don't know exactly what it means, but giving hilariously must go beyond writing a check with a smile on my face.

For my 3 year old who knows nothing of what it means to really need something I want to teach a lifestyle of hilarious giving that goes beyond duty or going through the motions because its what we should do.

He doesn't know anything about little boys and girls who don't get snacks or even healthy food when they wake up from their naps.

He lasts less than five minutes raking leaves in the yard with mommy and daddy before running off to ride his bike so the concept of forced labor is completely foreign.

Even knowing that some kids go to sleep at night without even one bedtime story or goodnight kiss is out of his realm of understanding.

So how do I teach him to hilariously fill up a shoebox for a child who has only a tiny fraction of the material things we have?

For the little boy who still daily questions my choice to go to the bathroom sitting down instead of standing up, I must start with myself.

Give creatively. Give regularly. Give cheerfully.