Making the Most of Every Opportunity

I'm amazed at how many strong opinions there are on natural birth, hospital birth, and csections. I never planned or hoped to have a csection and yet, several weeks after my oldest was due, when I still had no signs of labor, I had my first csection . It put me in a humble place at future baby showers and I noticed, maybe for the first time, just how strong we can hold a preference. Sometimes saying hurtful things as a result towards others who don't do things our way. As I walk through the early childhood years, I'm learning that there are SO many areas the Bible doesn't speak clearly on that we tend to get overly passionate about on: Santa or no? public, private, or homeschool? potty training early or waiting? discipline, "clean" eating etc... Truthfully, we all are prone to judge each other in areas we are passionate about even though the Bible really never addresses them. I'm no less guilty than the ladies who have judged me, so I need to look inward...

I'm in count down mode for baby number 3. Only a few precious days until we meet him. That also means that in just a few days I will have major surgery #3. My last csection was pretty scary and things didn't go well. It was so bad that when they asked Andy (who was told to sit down and that he may be asked to leave) if he'd like to go with Caleb, he said "no" and stayed with me. I cried. A lot. It was a scary experience first as I reacted badly to the anesthesia and then later as I laid on the operating table seeing my blood squirt up, and wondering if I'd be ok. It brought out a heart of fear that I battle. Though being with Jesus face to face sounds AMAZING, I'm still afraid of the actual dying part. I see how God has lovingly spurred me towards Himself in my struggle. It was after that day that I really started praying that He would give me a heart that is full, at peace, and resting in Him all my days. I have been asking Him to ease my fear and ins...

I shared yesterday that we aren't giving each other any presents this Christmas. Not even stockings. And we are thrilled to do it. You can read more about how God lead us through our 6 year old's discomfort at receiving gifts on Jesus' birthday in my last post ... but here's where we left off: How can we give Jesus gifts on His birthday??? Though there's an obvious celebration we have as we eat cake, sing, read his birth story, remember Him, and seek hIm together, what about giving a gift? Here's the answer God gave Andy and I as we sought Him:  “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when...

This year, we aren't giving each other any gifts. Not even stockings... Not one wrapped present for us to open Christmas morning...  and we're SO excited!!! Want to know why???? ‎"The aim of God at Christmas is to make the goodies of the world lose all their attraction in comparison to the surpassing glory of the divine Name. The essence of Christmas purity is not what you stand against, but what you stand in awe of, the glorious name of God."- John Piper We have been floored by a simple question Jimmy asked and it’s literally reshaping Christmas for us. Here goes “Mom. I love getting presents, but I don’t feel right getting them on Jesus' birthday. Shouldn’t we be giving to Him?” The wisdom of that kid hit me like a brick. At first I started sharing how our gift giving is out of love for each other and reminds us of THE gift of salvation that came because Jesus came to earth as a lowly human baby…  But I couldn't shake his logic and then I started readi...

Repost: How can we teach"earning vs. receiving" theology? One way we like to bring it into our conversation with our children is during the times of gift giving (birthday, Christmas, and Easter morning especially) We don't want our kids to think they can earn or lose good gifts. Gifts are given out of love, not earned. (In the same way, we know that obedience only comes out of love. When our kids know Christ, they will want to obey, not the reverse.) We show (and explain) that "unearned free gift" teaching in all our gift-giving with the ultimate hope that our kids will see that though they don't deserve God's love,  God gives that undeserved love and forgiveness freely through Jesus to all who call upon Him to be saved.  "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" - Romans 3:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God...

Last year, I shared that we'd be trying an advent tree. It consisted of 25 daily Scripture readings, each symbolized by an ornament we hang on a felt tree to help set our hearts on Jesus during the busy, Christmas season. We had three weddings in three weeks in three different states, and as a result, traveled so much last December. Having this small, foldable, easily stored felt tree to pull out at each stop brought a little consistency to our trip and gave us our own little tradition that carried through each different place. We hung it from hotel lamps, on a nail near our friend's back door, on a dresser drawer knob at grandma's, and finally, on our living room wall at home. We loved it and are doing it again this year (though without the travel), so I thought I'd post some pictures of it: day 25 ornament is a gift, and there's the Scripture card several ornaments and their cards Day 1- Holy God and sinful man. putting the last ornament on the...

I'm praying through what to share this Christmas season and thought it might be good while I'm processing all God's showing me to just take today to link to last years series... You can see -our advent calendar -Christmas Eve / Day traditions - my thoughts on Santa -a good book/dvd/Christmas craft list -ideas for sharing Christ with family -and a clip from the Jesus Storybook Bible...: Read them all HERE at last year's Christmas season posts .

I read an awesome post on one of my favorite marriage blogs,  the Romantic Vineyard  about Christmas during a season of lack . They are going through a series on hindrances at Christmas and shared really openly about their own season of lack and God's provision for them in it. It was so sweet for me, because I know Christmas when money is tight or when we have no paychecks. We have had many of them. In fact, our last 4 years have almost always included short or no paychecks in October/November. This year, though we are able to pay our bills, we are once again in a season of financial lack as we look right past Christmas and anticipate paying for my csection and the arrival of our precious third son a week or so later. God has met me in such incredible ways and lavished His grace on me as I've confessed my fear (that it'll become more than a season and could lead to debt) and my dependence and trust in man (we receive any pay based on churches and individuals who give...

One new thing I wanted to add into our school day this season is a weekly advent event/craft/ reading to engage in looking back at the prophets who proclaimed the Messiah was coming and show how Jesus fulfilled that and to look forward to when He'll come again in full reign on earth. I needed simple, since we're in kindergarten, but engaging, because I'd like it to become a tradition in school years to come. My friend Virginia Knowles has a wealth of knowledge and love for Christ and does an awesome job pointing her kids to Jesus. She shared many of her Christmas traditions on her blog and I found our weekly "look back and see Jesus" time there. She shared an awesome and simple  4 night family advent blogpost . You could do this in a four day period or once a week over four weeks. We just did #1 this week- learning about Immanuel, "God with us" and being reminded by the Christmas lights in our neighborhood that Jesus is the light that pierced through...

I've heard several friends mention that they make a "Jesse Tree" each Christmas and i had NO clue what that was. Ha! So I looked it up. The tree gets it's name from a passage in Isaiah:   “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.”-   Isaiah 11:1-2 So, it's a tree that points to Jesus as the fulfilled Messiah. People do all sorts of different versions and it's fun to see how families remember. Some people find cute toys/trinkets that remind them of certain aspects of Him (like a small toy fish to remember His miracles, toy tools since he was a carpenter, nails and a cross to remember His death, etc..) Others have a more formal tree with actual glass ornaments and different Scripture painted on them. This year, we are doing one that just seemed ...