Holiday Togetherness

I remember holiday traditional activities being one of the biggest, excitingest (is that a word?) things as a kid. Every year the anticipation of those things was great! And looking back, the memories it created and the family bonds that were formed during those times were irreplaceable. Now that I have my own family, I have tried to come up with family traditions for us as well. Each family has its own personality, so they won't always be the same as you did as a kid, but it is so important to try to do these things! Here are a few that we do:
Bake holiday cookies or brownies with decos related to that holiday.
Carve a pumpkin and take pics with it.
Go to Harvest Fest (or other).
Cook and Eat together on Thanksgiving (using special china!)
Bake holiday pies.
Do stockings (at a different time than presents).
Do the Christmas tree together.
Have Christmas coffee with special creamers with candy and cookies!
Have a "Christmas Surprise" waiting under the tree on Christmas morning (unwrapped) or a gift from Santa if that is what you do (I am a selfish mom and want my kids to know who really bought it!)
Christmas Bible readings.
Make a Card or Cake or Cookies to celebrate Jesus' Birthday (find SOME way to keep the focus where it should be)

I am so excited that the holiday season is here! I just hope I can do a good job conducting here in the new place! Something we are going to try to do also is find some outreach that we can do together as a family every couple of months to teach the kids about giving and reaching out. Right now we have just begun a Shoebox (most of you know what that is). I encourage you to find things like this that you can include your kids in.

What are your traditions?

The Poison Apple

Do you remember that intense moment in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves when Snow White is about to be tricked by the Evil Queen (in disguise as an old woman) into eating that poisonous apple? You just wanted to scream at her, "Don't do it! It is a trick!" But alas, our beauty takes one bite and falls to her death (or a deep slumber).

This part of the story echoes an all too familiar story of another deception and another piece of fruit. Let's go back to the Beginning, to the garden of Eden. Our beauty in this story is named Eve. As we read the first few chapters of Genesis we come to this same intense moment. Eve is about to be tricked by the Evil Prince of Darkness (in disguise as a serpent) into eating that forbidden fruit (could have been an apple, probably not). Again, we just want to scream at her, "Don't do it! It is a trick!" But alas, our beauty takes one bite and falls to her death, taking the rest of the human race along with her.

But don't worry, happy ending lover, it isn't over. As Snow White lies there, cold and lifeless, along comes a prince on a white stallion. The Prince sees Snow White as beautiful, falls in love with her, and kisses her lifeless body (ok, so it is kinda morbid, but I think it is supposed to be romantic). By the power of that love, the spell is broken; Snow White awakes and the Prince carries her away with him to his castle in the clouds. IN THE SAME WAY (ironic the parallels here), as Eve, and the human race, were experiencing the death of their souls, the separation from God the Almighty, and living through the ever-increasing consequences of this sin, along came THE PRINCE, Jesus Christ. He saw his bride, felt compassion and love, and gave his life for her (a bit harder than a kiss, wouldn't you say?). And once again, by the Power of that great Love, the bonds of sin were broken; Eve, and her children, awake to new and everlasting life, and THE PRINCE will come soon to carry us away to His mansion "in the clouds." Wow.

So what can we take from this and apply to our life today? I mean, as Christian women who have already accepted THE PRINCE and await His return. I believe the key here is the temptation. We may have been rescued from the result of our sinful nature, but we are not finished here. The tempter is still hot on our trail. So we need to be wise to him, not allowing him to deceive us as he did our mother Eve. "(Our) enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. Here are some things we learn about the schemes of the Devil:

One: He jumbles up your mind and twists God's Word. (Gen 3:1-3)

Two: He contradicts God, placing His motives under false light, and causes Eve to doubt her faith in Him (Gen 3:4-5).

Three: He leaves it all up to the senses, which for us women is a dangerous thing. (Gen 3:6)

So what can we do when Satan attacks, placing that oh so desirable thing before us? Well, if possible: RUN!!!! But here are some other things:

One: Know the Word of God. "Do not let the book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Josh 1:8 Don't allow Satan to jumble you up when it comes to what is in the Bible. If you get confused, there is only one thing to do-open up that Bible and find the truth.

Two: Know your God. If you spend time with God daily, in prayer and in His Word, you will know the character of your God. Satan can not cause you to doubt someone you so intimately know.

Three: Know yourself. Realistically. You don't have the power to overcome when you allow something to sit there and stare at you, calling you, looking so desirable. You'll break. We all will. Think about a little child wanting to touch that pretty ornament. You said no, but it is still there, staring at them, tempting them. And what do they eventually do? Touch it. So as parents, or caretakers, what do we generally do? Say no, and then remove the temptation. It is the same for us. All I can say is remove that temptation somehow. Back to my original advice - run!

Well, you didn't know Snow White had so much to tell us, did you? Think of this next time you enjoy that G night with your kids!

A Real Life Fairy Tale (moved)

What girl doesn’t love a good romance or fairy tale? What girl hasn’t waited in anticipation for “Prince Charming” to come along? And what girl hasn’t ended up a grown woman, believing all of her fantasies were just that and that she indeed would never hear those words, “As you wish!” (Princess Bride) But Praise the Lord! the story is not over. God has given us those longings and desires for us to experience that magical life we dreamed of. We may not live in that castle in the clouds, but there is something out there just for us! As John Eldredge writes in his book Wild at Heart:
“There are also three desires I find essential to the woman’s heart, which are not entirely different from a man’s and yet they remain distinctly feminine…every woman longs to be fought for…And her childhood dreams of a knight in shining armor coming to rescue her are not girlish fantasies; they are the core of the feminine heart and the life she knows she was made for…Every woman also wants an adventure to share…caught up into something greater than herself…And finally, every woman wants to have a beauty to unveil.” (19-20)
We are worth fighting for, we have our very own adventure lined out before us, and we ARE BEAUTIFUL!! We are daughters of the King of kings. If that does not make us princesses, then I don’t know what would! We are princesses of the most High God, the Almighty! We need to wake up and start living that role! And just as our bedtime stories were flooded with many different princesses, each with her own personality, circumstance, kingdom and villain, we too have all been created individually, different, with different circumstances, “kingdoms” or homes to manage, and villains to go against. Isn't it nice to know that we can still dream of adventure, and that God may just have it in store for you?
I have started a whole new chapter in my adventure...it is taking some getting used to, but it is so exciting at the same time. It is probably the riskiest one yet, seeing as how I had to take the kids along! The good thing is we are not in a novel that has been already set out for us that we have to just ride along and see the conclusion. WE are in charge! The outcome of our adventure depends on us and God. Are you depending on God today and letting Him whisk you away? Tell me your story, Princess!