A Very Generous Father's Day Gift

My husband received one of the most generous father's day gifts this year. It is a one-of-a-kind gift that took much love and sacrifice on the part of my daughter who gave it to him. Unless you know the background, you really can't appreciate what a gift this really is. Here's a picture of it:

And here's what it says:

"To David,

I am your loving daughter Kari. I have decided that the best thing I could give to you for Father's Day was a coupon. Now, you are probably wondering what the coupon is for. So, continue reading.

I hereby give David E. Larson permission to dance to the song Alejandro by Lady Gaga in front of me in public or in private 25 times. Each time you do it, I have to mark a number.

Signed,

Kari E. Larson 6/20/10

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25"

Don't kids come up with the best things ever?! This will make me smile for years to come, as will Dave's dancing. ;)

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Yes, I'm quoting from Clement Clarke Moore's The Night Before Christmas, but it seems to be about as much as I can muster after a wonderful Christmas filled with much family, love, and laughter.

I pray that each of you was able to experience His good gifts of love, peace, and new life this Christmas. Yes, every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17), and God gave us the perfect gift in His son, Jesus. His sole purpose in giving us this gift? That we might be redeemed and reconciled to Him, able to live with Him for eternity. That, my friends, is the extent of his love for us. May we each be able to grasp that truth of His love more fully in the coming year as we grow in our knowledge of God, and may our hearts be more completely His.

Much love and wishes for a Merry Christmas to you all!

Thanksgiving Prayer

I pray that each and every one of you has a thanksgiving filled with true knowledge of your blessings. We take so much for granted, don't we? Anyway, this prayer is from Donna Partow and I thought it so appropriate for me. Perhaps it is for you, too. Happy Thanksgiving from my heart to yours.

"Dear God,

I want to thank you for what you have already done. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards. I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better. I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears. I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me behind my back. I am not going to wait until my financial situation or the economy improves. I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet. I am not going to wait until a different season in my life unfolds. I am thanking you right now.

I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief. I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed. I am thanking you right now.

I am thanking you because I am alive. I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties. I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles. I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better. I'm thanking you, Heavenly Father, because you haven't given up on me. You are good and you are good all the time.

Thank you for all the good you've done for me. Amen

Mish Mash Mondays

Let's see:

• All four Easter services I attended were great!  Love, love, LOVE the song, "Oh, Happy Day," and by attending the four services in the sanctuary, I got to sing it eight times - at the beginning and end of each service!
• Do you know how absolutely amazing our Children's Ministries Director (Miss Kourtney) and our Nursery Coordinator (Miss Janelle) are?  You cannot believe the number of kids they provided loving care for, not to mention the great Bible lesson and sweet take-away crafts. Kourtney and Janelle, you guys (gals!) are the BEST!
• I read an article for pastors today asking if we had "Easter hangover," meaning the crash that comes after such a big Sunday.  I think any pastor would have to say a big, "YES!" to that one.
• Yesterday, at my sister's house, we had to hide 250 eggs!  After a while, there were absolutely no more hiding places, so we just tossed the eggs around on the lawn and placed them on the sidewalks.  Quite a challenge for the kids!  :-)  Each of the ten kids were able to pick up 25 eggs filled with all assortment of candy and coins.  And then, the bartering began!  "I'll trade you one Sour Patch Kids for a Skittles."   "I'll give you a KitKat for a gummy LifeSavor."  I could definitely tell the kids are getting older; this is the first year I witnessed so much trading and bargaining over the candy.
• I was able to have coffee with one group of friends and then brunch with another friend today.  I am blessed.
• Dave and I went to Costco together to purchase the supplies for our Staff Appreciation BBQ tomorrow.  Each year, on the Tuesday after Easter, we plan something to let the staff and their families know how much we appreciate the extra hours and work that they put in for Easter services.   We'll have a great time together!
• Met an old college friend this evening for a walk at the university campus.  We were able to catch up on quite a bit; I don't even want to tell you how many years ago it was that I was in college!  Ouch.

Well, that's it for this Monday evening.  I hope your Easter weekend was as wonderful as mine was. 

Resurrection Day!

I have a hard time comprehending the sacrifice Jesus made for my sin, and there are no words to describe my gratefulness for it.  To think that the power that raised him from the dead is available to me today is amazing.  Happy, glorious Easter to all of us who long to follow after the risen Christ with our whole hearts.  

We will be spending Easter at my sister's house after the three morning services.  Dave will be wiped out, but the kids will have so much fun with all of their cousins.  I thought I had been given the easiest of items to bring to her house for our meal, but the dessert that I was to make really threw me for a loop.  This dessert has an initial layer that needs to be baked for exactly (as the recipe stipulates) 8 minutes at 400 degrees.  Easy, right?  Well, I put the dish in the oven, and then proceeded to set the timer for 20 minutes.  Why?  I guess it's because the one recipe that I make all the time, my grandma's Texas cake, needs to bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, so when I saw that recipe said 400 degrees, I went on auto-pilot and set the timer for 20 minutes, and as a result, the crust was charred!

No biggie, though; I would just make another one.  That would have worked well, but I was being so efficient, that after I put the second batch in the oven (and setting the timer for eight minutes), I looked at the next recipe I needed to start on and realized that I needed something from the store so I thought I'd just run to get the last few items I needed.  I didn't even think about the dessert crust I had just put in the oven!  So, I ran off to the store, picked up my few items, and then came back home to the smell of another burnt crust!  I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!  That's what I get for trying to do a couple of things at the same time and not paying attention!

My kids  got their Easter baskets on Saturday morning.  It's a tradition we started long ago for our family.  "Why on earth would you give your kids their Easter baskets the day before Easter?" you might wonder.  Well, on Easter mornings, Dave is up and out of the house even earlier than usual (Easter being a big day in his line of work and all), so we aren't able to be together when the kids get up.  Long ago, we decided that the Easter bunny (oh, lighten up!) would come to our house on the Saturday before Easter so that we could have a fun morning together as a family.   It works great for us!

I appreciate all the extra work everyone (and I mean everyone!) put in to help make our Easter services flow so well and our campus look so great!  The fact that so many people love Jesus and are willing to do whatever it takes to point others to Him is a HUGE blessing!   I LOVE MY NEW LIFE FAMILY!   You guys are the best!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I don't have much more to say today, but I would like to direct you over to Beth Moore's Blog because there is so much truth in what she shares today about making marriage work.  Check it out; I'm sure you'll agree.

Random Pictures

My husband continually assures me that digital photos are great, and I'm sure he's right. I'm just an old fashioned kind of girl in this respect and I love having actual photos to put my hands on. It makes me less afraid that I'm going to lose (or more realistically forget) what pictures we have. But there are a couple of things I enjoy about digital photos - the ability to delete photos that don't turn out rather than paying to have them developed and seeing the unexpected random pictures that someone (most often my youngest daughter who wants to be a photographer when she grows up) has snapped.

I just downloaded some photos from Thanksgiving weekend, and here a few of the unexpected photos I discovered:

A picture of the centerpiece, which was a great idea!

A artistic level view of the centerpiece and table.

A great close-up if you ask me!

And we mustn't forget about the salt and pepper! 

The little details, such as a golden ribbon around the sparkling cider, make for a beautiful fall table.

By the way, one of the blogs that I enjoy reading is "The Reluctant Entertainer."  Sandy (the author of the RE blog which is celebrating its 300th post) photographs some of her dinner parties, so perhaps my youngest daughter is taking after her.  I read Reluctant Entertainer because one of my yearly resolutions is to have more people over to our home, and Sandy helps to remind me that it's not about having the perfectly clean house and table settings, but about opening your heart to others and loving them where they are.  A great goal for all of us, don't you think?

Block Party

I received a couple of comments this morning at church about my more-than-inconsistent blog posting lately.  I even had one person volunteer to ghost-write posts for me until I can get it together to post more!  (Thanks, friend!)  There are a couple of reasons that I haven't posted, and I am sorry if anyone has been disappointed checking in here and finding nothing new.  I find it very funny that it is even possible that people would be disappointed by my lack of posting because I really have nothing to share most of the time. :-)

We hosted our annual block party last Thursday evening, and we had a great time.  The weather cooperated; the desserts were delicious (especially the peach pie!); the bounce house was busy all night; the fireworks were fun; and the visiting was treasured.  We all said, as we do every year, "We really need to trim that branch before we do the fireworks next time," and yet we never think about it until we're lighting fireworks the next year.  :-)  This was the first year that we have music to accompany the fireworks show that neighbor Chris puts on for us.  Eric and Ben had worked at putting some great theme music on a CD, so we watched the fireworks to the Indiana Jones, Rocky, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Star Wars soundtracks.  It added so much, and at the end, we all cheered!

Quite a few of our neighbors had already left town for their long holiday weekend, but we had some new folks join us this year.  We were also blessed to have our friend, Tom Lombardo (who is freshly back in the good ol' U.S. of A from the Philippines), stop by for a little visit.

Here are a couple of pictures of our time together:

On the fourth, we loaded up our portion of the day's potluck:  the homemade ice cream (Dave makes the BEST citrus ice cream and mocha Heath bar crunch ice cream!) , bean soup (a family favorite), black bean salad, and chips and dip to head out to my aunt and uncle's home outside of Empire.  They live on 20 acres and all of our families congregate there each fourth of July.  There's lots of visiting, quad riding, bike riding, "Outback" golfing, swimming, basketball, and of course, yummy food.  The day caps off with the brothers-in-law performing their comedy/fireworks show.  Great times celebrating our great country and our independence!  God Bless America!

Easter

Well, I did a new thing this Easter weekend; I attended all four Easter services!  Let me just say, I LOVED EVERY ONE!  I met many of your family members who came to church with you for Easter; thank you for that honor!  I saw God at work in each service, and I discovered that even though Dave speaks four times, each time is slightly different, so I felt I learned something new at each service.  I prayed multiple times throughout each service, and I felt that I could almost explode from the pure joy of people deciding to come running home to Jesus!  HE is so good, and all glory and praise belong to HIM!   

Oh, and by the way, when Dave was describing his perfect day (waking to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, having it brought to him, having all the time in the world to read the paper, etc....., I (along with many of you) thought he was hinting at what I should be doing for him!  :-)  Actually, he may have been hinting, but I am blessed because HE often gets up and makes coffee, brings it to me on a tray with the newspaper, and encourages me to take time to read and relax.  I'm blessed, I know.

This Easter weekend was filled with mixed emotions as two of our church family members had funerals for loved ones.  However, in some ways, it seemed most appropriate that their family members' funerals were during a season when the resurrection Sunday reminds us of the hope we have through our risen Savior who has conquered death and given us eternal life with Him.  The knowledge that our loved ones are with Jesus and that we will see them again brings comfort in the midst of incredible grief.  I thank God that He is our comforter and that he knows our pain.

On Tuesday, we are off with our staff and their families for a day at Gilroy Gardens.  We take all the staff families somewhere on the Tuesday after Easter each year as a thank you for ALL the extra work they do to prepare for Easter.  I am so looking forward to our time together.  We are blessed with the best staff, and we love each one so much.  It is wonderful to see all of our children having fun together, and we love the chance to simply "be" with each other.

Well, my children are wrestling in the living room, and I await the crying that is sure to ensue.  You all know how it is.....it starts off so fun, but inevitably someone gets a little too rough and doesn't know when to stop, and it's all downhill from there!  And usually, I know exactly which child will be the one to turn all the fun around.  Do you have that "one" in your family also?  ;-) 

Happy New Year!

(Disclaimer: I had typed this New Year's Eve, but forgot to post it. Oh Well!)

As we head out to the home of some friends to celebrate New Year's Eve, I just wanted to take a few moments to thank you for reading this quirky, little, random blog of mine. This is post number 97, so I am thinking of something I could share for my 100th blog post. Perhaps I should post a hundred thank you's to all of you who have shared this portion of the journey with me. Maybe I could post a hundred things I could be doing other than posting on this blog. :-D I might want to post a hundred random facts about myself, or I could post a hundred random facts about my husband (now that could be fun!). Perhaps I won't post anything special at all because if I were to count actual posts (including the drafts I have) I'm already over 100 entries, so I could just save myself some trouble. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, as this year comes to a close, here are a few of my thoughts:

1) I am forever grateful that the Lord has met all of my needs, be it physical, financial, spiritual, relational, or emotional. Yes, indeed, he has supplied all of my needs.

2) I am thankful for another year to love my husband and my children. I count it a privilege to be a part of their lives; it is an awesome thing to be a part in helping others become all that they can be in Christ Jesus! They also provide that very same thing for me.

3) I praise God for his ministry of reconciliation. He reconciles us to himself and to one another.

4) I would like to trust God in even bigger ways in 2008.

5) I have much to learn about in regards to being ready for the new things God wants to do in me, my family, and our church family in 2008. Remember, new wine does not go in old wineskins. Oh may we be ready for the new wine!

6) I need to work at providing healthier meals for my family. This takes time and energy, but I see it as a way to worship the Lord by caring for those He's placed in my care.

7) Let's see. I want to live my life in greater alignment with God's priorities for my life. God is already at work in this area of my life, and I thank Him for His leading and His provision.

8) I want to grow in His love and grace, and I long to pass that love and grace on to others.

I know there's more I can list, but the above is pretty all inclusive. I don't want to run the risk of being redundant! :-)

So....what are your thoughts as we bid good bye to 2007, and we welcome in 2008? I do pray that your heart is expectant as you look at the new year before you. Remember, faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.

Festive Fridays - Lessons Learned

Do they look like Christmas trees? I didn't think so! :-)

More Christmas trees! Can you guess our theme for the day?

Snack/Craft: Christmas trees made out of sugar cones, frosting, and candies.

Who's monitoring all this madness?

As promised, I will be sharing a few of the things I learned through my little Christmas project called Festive Fridays.

First of all, I must say a big thank you to my wonderful husband, Dave, for jumping on board with this idea. He and I work so well together, and I love when we are able to tackle something new like this as a team. One idea will springboard into another as we talk about what we can do. As you may have noticed, he is a great "up front" person, and I do quite well in the background making sure things are done and flowing smoothly. I was grateful for his ability to play the guitar and lead our Christmas carol singing time. I am also thankful that Dave is so open with our resources as this venture did cost us in finances, times, and our home. Dave also jumped in and helped with crafts, games, and story reading.

I am also thankful to my two older children, Hannah and Eric, for their willingness to give of their time to help with anything that needed doing. They organized games, picked up after craft time, read stories, helped with snacks, and generally, just did whatever needed to be done.

That being said, here are a couple of things I learned during Festive Fridays:

1) I needed better resources for tying it all together. It would have been nice to have the resources all in one place, but as it was, I was picking and choosing stories, games, scripture, crafts, snacks, etc... from a wide variety of sources. It all worked out great, but I have a greater appreciation for good curriculum! :-) The good news is that now I have my own curriculum of sorts to draw from for next year.

2) When it's raining outside, 18 people in my house playing a relay game is a tad too many! :-)

3) In reference to item #2, always check the weather forecast!

4) When it comes to crafts with children of various ages and abilities, easier is definitely better. :0 Also, any craft involving glue should not be done on my dining room table!

5) Speaking of crafts, using food products (or candy) in the creation of a craft calls for having extras on hand just for eating. We made advent calendars using Hershey's Kisses our first Friday together, and I overestimated a young child's ability to understand delayed gratification! Ha!

6)  This lesson I know from having children of my own, but I forgot since they are now older:  Pray fast!  Little bodies need to move!

7) I think we could have done more to focus on reaching out to others. We did collect money towards feeding hungry children, but I didn't want the children to feel pressured to give towards that as our time together was our ministry to them. However, I do think that the children would participate more fully and compassionately if we were able to help another neighbor with a project, gift, food, or money.

So there you have it - lessons I learned in putting on Festive Fridays for the kids in my neighborhood.  I'm sure if Dave were to share, he'd have more, different, lessons that I should have learned, but this isn't his blog, now, is it?!  

Festive Fridays

I mentioned a few posts back that I had asked God to bless a humble little project that I was working on.  Now that it is over and I've learned a few things, I thought today I'd share what I felt God leading me to do this holiday season. Tomorrow, I will share what I learned. :-)

For quite a few years now, I have wanted to host a backyard VBS during the summer for our neighborhood kids.  It just makes sense to me to have a VBS in our own backyard when we have neighbor children who would come.  Why must I ask our neighbors to travel somewhere else to drop their kids off to be in a huge group of other kids they don't know when I could just have them here and we could share Christ with them and build bonds between our neighbors and their kids all at the same time?  For whatever reason, I haven't felt the time has been exactly right to try the summertime backyard VBS yet, but this fall I had what I felt to be a God-led desire to do something around the Christmas holiday.  

What grew out of that desire was a Friday afternoon event held at my house called "Festive Fridays." We invited all the neighborhood children between the ages of K - 6th grade by passing out flyers the last week of November with the following information:

Festive Fridays!

Who? Neighborhood kids ages K-6th grade 

(Jr/Sr High kids are welcome to come to help.)

What? A fun time of songs, stories, games, and crafts.

When? Fridays (11/30, 12/7, 12/14, and 12/21)

4:00 to 5:30 PM

Where? The Larson Home – XXXX Our Street

Why? To enjoy the Christmas season with our friends and to celebrate the reason for the season.

Need more info? Call Gena at XXX-XXXX or XXX-XXX

Kids, just show up and have some fun with us!

We planned each Friday around a different theme, creating games and crafts around that theme. We also read a book having to do with the theme for the day, and we sang Christmas carols, practicing for the last Friday when we would go caroling at the homes of some of our older neighbors. (I called the neighbors first, asking if it would be okay for us to come by. They were thrilled to have the kids come by to carol, many having fond memories of caroling themselves).   The children also made gifts for their parents that we wrapped the last day in hand-decorated gift bags.

We had a blast as we built some new friendships, blessed some neighbors with carols and a gift, raised money to feed hungry children, made crafts, shared the real meaning of CHRISTmas, played some outrageous games, and basically just laughed and celebrated the season with our neighbors.

Was it a busy time? Yes! Did it get hectic at times? Yes! Did the kids have fun? Yes! Were we glad we did it? Yes! Will we do it again next year? YES! We did, however, learn a few things that we will do differently next time, and I'll be back tomorrow with lessons learned.

For now, here are a few pictures from two of our times together. Enjoy!  

*Pic Removed per K's request.
*Pic Removed per K's request.
*Pic Removed per K's request.

By the way, pictured above is my son, Peter, whose spiritual birthday is today!  :-)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Posting will be sporadic as I enjoy some time with my family the next few days, and I pray you are enjoying time with your loved ones as well. In honor of Christmas, I'm posting this prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Christmas Prayer
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Loving Heavenly Father,
Help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world. Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts. May Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake.

In Thy Name We Pray,
Amen

Full House

Well, we've just celebrated the first of our Christmases!  My dad and stepmom came to our home, along with my sisters, their husbands, and families.  We had a blast together;  the laughs, food, Wii tournaments, animal sounds, and celebrating were such a blessing to me!  I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!  Between my two sisters and myself, we have ten (count 'em, TEN) children, so it's always noisy, busy, and fun when we're together.  I am so blessed!  Dave took some pictures, so if I can get them on my computer, I'll share them.

I was able to sit down and address envelopes for my Christmas cards last night, but since I don't send Christmas cards to most of you at church (simply because it would cost WAY too much for us to send to everyone), I thought I would post our family picture that we are sending to family this year.  I'm also including the snippet of information we have included on the back of our family picture.  So, since I can't send a card to all of you, here's what your are (or are not) missing!  :-)

*Pic Removed per K's request.


Lar-son – (collective noun) –David, still pastoring at New Life Christian Center where God continues to build His kingdom in powerful ways; Gena, still teaching 7th & 8th grade English and trying to manage her home and family schedules; Hannah, a senior at Turlock Christian, co-chaplain at her school and a bass-playing, harmony-singing girl; Eric, a sophomore at Turlock High School, running in cross-country and doing high and long jump in track, quite social and always good for a laugh; Peter, in sixth grade at a new visual and performing arts magnet school, an encourager by nature with a beautiful voice and musical ear; Kari, in a fourth grade G.A.T.E. class, an organizer extraordinaire with an artistic streak and a big vocabulary. (2007)

May you be blessed in the New Year, 

and may the miracle and gift of Christmas be your joy.

Merry Christmas!

Dave, Gena, Hannah, Eric, Peter, and Kari Larson

"This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

Luke 2:12

That baby would grow up to save me from my sins so that I could be wrapped in His forgiveness and love. His birth was the greatest of gifts; a gift that would be sacrificed to meet my greatest of needs. That little cute and cuddly baby held the hope of all mankind, and he was approachable and available to all.  

Some thoughts running around in my mind:

1)  Is it possible for me to truly understand the Christmas story?

2)  Would I have surrendered to the will of God as Mary did, or would I have cared too much about my reputation?  

3)  Would the risk of losing my fiance have kept me from God's purposes for all mankind?

4)  I love the fact that Joseph was an honorable man in spite of the rumors that were certainly circulating around the village.

5)  How do you parent the son of God?  Did his wisdom as a man surpass that of his parents?  How did his parents feel about that?  Did Jesus always get to do what he wanted because Mary and Joseph knew he was the son of God?  Since he was fully human, did Jesus "push" his parents to the breaking point like my children have?

And, oh so many others!  Don't even get me started about Jesus as a man and his view/interactions with women!  That would have to be another post when I have time to actually delve into the deep questions I have asked and had answered through the years.  Just ask my husband, I am not afraid to ask some pretty hard questions in this area!  I've asked some questions Dave has never even thought of, and to be honest, he hasn't always had the answers.  I must stop myself here, or I could go on and on about my thoughts in this area.  

Do you have any questions in this area?  Are you afraid to ask them?  Have you wrestled through your questions and the hurt, anger, confusion you have experienced at the hands of less-than-godly men in your life?  I will have to start writing down some of the process I have gone through with the Lord in this area, and perhaps it will be something the Lord would allow me to share at some point.

Anyway, back to the baby this post was meant to remind us of.  I pray that you will reflect on what that newborn babe meant to the world, and what he means to you.  

Blessings at Christmas to all of you.

As a very heartfelt side note, dear friends, please know that this post about the baby Jesus is not meant to hurt those of you who have had no babies of your own, or who have struggled with infertility and/or miscarriages. I don't want to remind you of your loss or hurt you, and I want to acknowledge and honor the pain you bear. I know that in this season so many people cavalierly make comments about the baby who was born, and you can only think of the babies you haven't been blessed to hold. I, too, have known those feelings, and for those of you I know personally, I remember you and stand with you in prayer.  My love to you! 

The Angels Cried

Tonight I thought I'd share a beautiful Christmas song with you. Not having much spare time these days, I am unable to post as often as I'd like to, but I have been keeping a running list of things I'd like to post about when I have some time. I am not a fast writer (just as I'm not a fast reader), so it takes me longer than the average person to get a post written. So, I post this to keep some of you checking back in to my blog! :-)

I think this is a beautiful song, however, I do issue a warning if you don't like country music. This is a song by Alan Jackson and Allison Krauss.

The Cost of Christmas

I ran across this table this morning in an email sent to me by DebtBusters. I thought it was thought provoking, and I have tried to get my children to see the real cost of things they want by translating the cost into the number of hours or the number of jobs that they would have to "work" for me to earn enough for whatever it is that they want. This really comes in handy when speaking about the cost of "designer" clothing items versus a non-designer item. :-) To be honest, brand-name clothing isn't much of an issue in my home, thank goodness, but there are items (video games, CDs, etc...) that the kids want now and again, and I think it's good if they know the real cost in time and energy it takes to earn that item. So, here's something for you to ponder:

The First Ornament of Christmas!

Some of you have heard of our silly little tradition of hanging the first ornament on the Christmas tree together. It was so easy when there were only a couple of us to hang onto it, but with the six of us now, it's a little more difficult. We each place our hand on the blue lamb and hang it together on the tree, and then we step back, raise our hands over our heads and say together, 'The first ornament of Christmas!" Yes, it's a little hokey, but you know what? My two teenagers still do it with us, and they even smile while they're doing it! We then take hands and pray over our Christmas season, thanking God for the gift of His son and asking Him to help us focus on Him and others instead of ourselves. Then the children get busy hanging their individual ornaments on the tree while Christmas carols play in the background.

We're a little later than usual getting our tree decorated this year, but all in good time, right? I've already had two Christmas gatherings at our home, and believe it or not, they went off just fine without a Christmas tree being up! So many times, I (like many others, I'm sure), put so many expectations on myself to have things perfect in the house, all the while sacrificing what's really important. I am making progress however, because this year it didn't bother me at all to not have our tree in and decorated before the Christmas parties we hosted. So, in one small area of my life, there is slight progress! Hey, I'll celebrate even the littlest of victories!

Anyway, this all reminded me of a poem I received a couple of years ago from my friend, Dawn Davis, in an email. Let's all just agree to give up the perfect Christmas in exchange for a love-filled Christmas; there is so much more freedom that way. I believe we so often choose to make ourselves slaves to some standard just to feel like we're good enough, rich enough, stylish enough, whatever enough, that we are not choosing God's better gifts of love and peace.

May we all have a 1 Corinthians Style Christmas!

Christmas 1 Corinthians 13 Style
- author unknown

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust ... but giving the gift of love will endure.

Blessings to you!

I am wishing all of you a simple love-filled and thanks-filled Thanksgiving.  We are headed out of town to be with my family up in the mountains for a couple of days, but I did want to wish you all a "Happy Thanksgiving."  

There is much for us to be thankful for each and every day, but it is nice to have a day specifically set aside to focus on His goodness to us.  We can sometimes get so busy with "our" stuff that we forget to thank and praise Him, so I encourage you to take sometime the next few days to get alone with Him and give Him thanks.

Enter his gates with THANKSGIVING and his courts with praise; GIVE THANKS to him and praise his name.  Psalm 100:4

Happy "In Dependence" Day!

The 4th of July has always been a special day for me and my family because it was my grandmother's birthday. We were always with my extended family on this day because we would celebrate my grandmother's birthday and spend the entire day visiting, relaxing, swimming, eating, going on hayrides, riding quads, and finally, watching fireworks. We still continue to do all of these things, and today my grandmother would have turned 90 years old if she were still alive. Unfortunately, she passed away six years ago this month.

On July 4th, we, as a nation, celebrate the fact that we are an independent country, and we also honor all of those who have given their lives for the cause of our freedom. I also want us to remember that there are men and women serving right now to protect us and our freedoms, and we should continue to pray for them.

However, as I read the phrase, "Happy Independence Day," in the news paper today, I clearly sensed the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart. I in no way wish to demean to true meaning of this national holiday, but this word came to my heart that said, "Yes, it is "Independence Day," but you need to live "in dependence" on Me. Celebrate the fact that each day can be your own "in dependence" day, and you don't have to live on your own work and wisdom. There were many who had to lay down their lives in the fight for independence from another nation so that you could live freely, and now many hold independence up as an idol in this country. But, my son had to lay down his life for your eternal freedom so that you are now free to live "in dependence" on me because you are my child."

Wow, to celebrate being "in dependence" on someone or something else seems so undesirable to many in our society today. In many ways, it seems undesirable to me, too, because it goes against my sense of pride. But God's word tells us to, "Humble ourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift us up in due time." 1Peter 5:6 If I want to be lifted up, I must humble myself. Doesn't that seem so backwards to our world's thinking today?