We Did Christmas Different This Year

We Did Christmas Different

As the 2013 Christmas season approached my heart began to break for the traditional way we celebrated it.  I deeply felt that it did not truly glorify our Christ Savior.  I dug deep, prayed hard, and even considered not celebrating traditional Christmas at all.  But every time I imagined the Glory of the Lord shining over the Shepherds, announcing Christ’s birth, my eyes filled with joyful tears and plead to celebrate His birth.

 

The Shepherds and the Angels

Luke 2:8-20

⁸ There were some shepherds in that part of the country who were spending the night in the fields, taking care of their flocks. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them. They were terribly afraid, ¹⁰ but the angel said to them, “Don't be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people.¹¹ This very day in David's town your Savior was born—Christ the Lord! ¹² And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great army of heaven's angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God:

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!”

¹⁵ When the angels went away from them back into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and saw the baby lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When the shepherds saw him, they told them what the angel had said about the child. ¹⁸ All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said. ¹⁹ Mary remembered all these things and thought deeply about them.²⁰ The shepherds went back, singing praises to God for all they had heard and seen; it had been just as the angel had told them.

Through prayers and The Word the idea of celebrating a more biblical perspective was born. 

Matthew 2:11

¹¹And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

 

Gold represents kingship.  Jesus is a King. (Value)

Frankincense represents Jesus as our high priest.  (Spiritual)

Myrrh represents the prefiguring of Jesus crucifixion—used for embalming.  (Need)

We chose to give each of our children three gifts representing: value, spiritual, and need. 

Carrie - 13 years old  

Loves music  

Has an eye for photography

* Spiritual gift - supplies to design and create a scrapbook to give away as a gift.

* Value - 1967 phonograph (in working order)

* Need - records 

Galatians 5:13

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Not very many 13 year olds have a record player that actually WORKS! 

Hannah - 12 years old

Loves the animal kingdom

Is a bookworm

* Spiritual gift - supply of donations for the local animal shelter (along with donation of her time)

* Value - a reading nook complete with a papasan chair she doesn't have to share

* Need - MORE BOOKS 

Romans 12:4-6 

4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying,then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith;

 Enjoy your book nook! No more mama fussing at you to get off the couch that way.  It's all yours!

Hallie - 9 years old

A beautiful keeper of the home

Loves to get lost in imagination

* Spiritual gift - All the necessary supplies to host a tea party of her very own

* Value - antique vanity (that she can refinish anyway she'd like)

* Need - princess clothes

Psalms 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

You are a daughter of the King of Kings--a princess! 

Lane - 6 years old

A boy child, growing into a man

Loves to work

* Spiritual gift - A handmade by Dad workbench

* Value - Dragon Castle Form 

* Need - Tools

Ecclesiastes 9:10a

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your strength

Never lose your imagination! 

Although deep down I knew that non-traditional way we were choosing to celebrate Christmas was in line with my convictions, I couldn't help but worry that the kids would feel a little let down.  But, I had nothing to worry about.  It was the best Christmas ever.  

May you all be richly blessed!  Merry Christmas

And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Revelation 19:16

“Once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand”

“Once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand”

Many of us have a favorite childhood book; one that was read to us by a parent, a grandparent, or librarian.  That book kind of sticks with you—forever.  When you think of it you kind of soften for a minute: relax your shoulders, inhale deeply, smell the pages, taste that memory. 

My favorite book as a child was “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams.  Just the sound of it makes me float around on a cloud with a smile on my face.  My mom read it to me, often.  And one year when I was seven years old, I received a real Velveteen Rabbit for Christmas; it was even in my stocking! It had pink satin ears, a pink velvety nose, and a one piece bunch bottom!  He was everything I could have imagined and the only thing I can even remember about Christmas that year.  I was instantly in love and I imagined he was real.  I loved that bunny so much that his ears eventually lost their pink satin and turned to white.  I wore holes in his stitching from all the holding and my mom spent many evenings sewing him up.  And although I don’t have much from my childhood, he is still around. 

A few years ago I gave him to my daughter.  She loved for me to read “The Velveteen Rabbit” to her just as much as I had loved it when I was a little girl.  He now has a few more hand sewn stitches than before and he even has a couple of patches that I sewed on one early Christmas morning after a mischievous puppy got to him.  

Our Velveteen Rabbit sits in our schoolroom now and he reminds me that Real happens over time and not all at once and that sometimes Real hurts.  But Real is always worth the late night stitches and hand sewn patches.

A Tangled Mess

A Tangled Mess

It’s so fun to watch babies learn, isn’t it?  Our little one is at the stage where he is almost crawling but not quite.  He babbles all these adorable sounds.  He sits and digs through his small bucket of toys (always choosing the free, used butter lid over the expensive learning toys), he opens and closes drawers over and over again, he finds his fingers and toes and intrinsically plays with them—it’s just fascinating! Every once in a while he gets stuck, ya know, in a half crawl half sit position, or sometimes he gets himself in a little situation where he is bound to get mildly hurt.  It takes everything I have not to jump up and save him from that board book that he is about to pull onto himself, or from closing that drawer on his tiny fingers, or immediately untangle his tangled legs—but I know if I do he won’t understand the cause and effect r develop the gross motor skills to untangle his own legs.  I know it is for his own good that I stand back and allow him to grow. 

Well today I was sitting at the table, eating this delicious apple crumb desert that my oldest daughter made (it is not a good thing to have a daughter that loves to make delicious deserts and leave them lying around), anyway there I was sitting, savoring this yummy apple crumb and the baby sweetly played under the table at my feet.  Then he got his legs all tangle up in the leg of the chair.  For a long, very long, time he tried to get himself unstuck.  It was painful to watch!  I wanted to just gently move the chair, only by a few inches—that’s all it needed, to help him get out of that sticky mess he got himself in.  But I knew better.  I knew this was important for him. 

I pondered this with every bite of my yummy sweet and then I began thinking about God’s love for us, we are his children, and how painful it must be for God to watch us get ourselves all tangled up in messes.  Often times, we get ourselves deep into it too! He must want to swoop down and save us from ourselves! But just like we, as parents, see the big picture—our children must learn to grow and growth makes them stronger, God must feel this way about us also. 

After a bit of time I got up and gently moved that chair back, kissed my baby on the head, and whispered, “I love you, child.”

Galatians 3:26 - For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Seasons of Rest

Our family recently moved into a season of rest. For a season we decided not to sign up for any sports or extra curricular activities outside of church. We had a few reasons for doing this. The baby probably encouraged this season of rest; had it not have been for his less than flexible personality we might not have moved into this quiet time. But typically with three activity aged kids we would be all over the town, county, and state this time of year and the burdens were already so heavy. So we decided that a time of rest was important and probably best for a short period of time.

I was very worried about it though. Worried that we'd be bored! Being busy is an addictive lifestyle! I was worried that the kids would fuss with each other. For goodness sake, we already home school and spend more time together than most! I was worried about a lack of sense of community since we would be abstaining from many opportunities to interact with our community. And I was worried about other silly things here and there.

But as it turns out--all that worry was for not. And I'm glad we have had this time as a family!

It has been extra special. My children haven't fussed more, in fact, the opposite. They have used this time to press into the heart of The Lord and build relationships with each other and even forged new relationships in the community! (Crazy how God makes that happen). Oh and we haven't been bored! We've been blessed!

If this is something you feel God might be asking you to do, here's a little encouragement! ;)

What’s Working and What’s Not—From Sun Up to Sun Down

What’s Working and What’s Not—From Sun Up to Sun Down

The last two years have been a whirlwind for me and I’ve experienced things as a stay at home mom that I never thought I would; for example it’s HARD—REALLY, REALLY, REALLY (not enough reallies) HARD!  I’ve gleaned from some very beautiful Titus women and put together my list of what’s working.  NOTHING IS ORIGINAL! Really—hijacked it all from The Greats!

1.       Dress for your day BEFORE you leave your bedroom.  EVERY MORNING.  And I mean from bra to shoes!

Dress to be prepared to run out of the door any minute or welcome an unexpected visitor.  I’ve also noticed my children take me more seriously if I’m dressed for my day.  And, if I’m honest, I take myself more serious too.  Not business nice, but not yoga pants and dew rag. (No condemnations here; there have been lots of those days and plenty still to come.)  But generally speaking this is a big help.

2.       Immediately start your first load of laundry!  This means before you even have your first cup of coffee.

 Oh my, I can hear ya now!  I know, I know!  But for me, it’s been a life saver!  One of The Greats has a love affair with her washer and dryer and swears that the sound of these babies purring sets her day.  I’m not quite that in love—but this does make a huge difference in the tone of your morning!  And it’s all about momentum.  An object in motion stays in motion!

3.       Stay in The Word—even if only by small passages or verses!

Back in the day I woke up in the 5 o’clock hour and read my Bible for 45 minutes before I even got dressed (while sipping coffee—oh nostalgia).  But this is just not reasonable during this season of my life.  And Jesus knows we stay at home mamas are weary—especially us with the smaller ones that are still waking up for those nighttime nursings.  Sleep is precious!  Let me say that again—SLEEP IS PRECIOUS! So, how do we keep our swords sharp against the evil one’s schemes?  Meditate on smaller passages or verses.  Write the verses that the spirit sends you in places you are the most, like the laundry room, your school room, your hands (done this), the bathroom mirror etc. 

4.       Meal Plan

Plan meals and stick to it (best you can).  Based on our family’s budget I can shop for two week’s worth of food.  I sit down, make a list of enough meals for two weeks, make a list for all the ingredients we need, and shop for them.  There may be better methods, but this works for us so I’m sharing.  I keep a list of the MEAL OPTIONS taped to the outside of the pantry door.  It is simply a list of meals that we have the ability to make because all of the ingredients are readily available.  So if I decide that tomorrow is a great taco night I set out hamburger meat to thaw.  By not saying M-Tacos, Tues-Beans it gives me flexibility to roll with the day’s punches!

5.       Start Your School Day with Family Devotion

Even if it is a quick one—it puts you all in the word together and starts your day as a family united.  (This is also where you can get more Chunk Word J)

6.       Chores for Kids

We call these ZC’s and PC’s for Zone Checks and Personal Checks.  We have a few times a day that everyone does a PC and makes sure their personal disasters are tidied up and then each of the kids have Zones that they are in charge of.  It helps.  When you’ve got lots of folks in the same quarters all day long it takes work to keep it in check.  Personally I don’t function in clutter—I mean total shut down, can’t do anything; and that’s no good for anyone when the mama is non-functioning. 

7.       Shower at Night

Otherwise you might not get one!  I enjoy, and prefer, to start a day with a shower but that’s not happening these days.  So in order to not be a total skank I must shower at night when my husband is home.  But, coming to bed clean has its advantages—just saying!

8.       Don’t Go to Bed with a Dirty Front of the House

This might be the hardest one because by this time of day you are tired.  I mean leg-numb tired.  So you could always ask your husband for help on this one.  Mine is awesome and most of the time makes sure the kitchen is clean after dinner.  Thank you Lord, because cooking and cleaning 3 times a day, 7 days a week is heavy.  At any rate, it helps tidy up your living areas before bed.  I call our living area the “Front of our Home” because it’s in the front, haha.  And every night (well almost every because, well you get it) but most nights I make sure the front of our home is picked up because tomorrow morning when I walk into the front of our home it sucks to be greeted by a pile of toddler toys and dishes in the sink.  On the contrary it is awesome to walk into your kitchen greeted by a shiny sink!

This is what is currently working for our family.  But the major life lesson I’ve learned since my journey from bread winner to bread maker began is that NOTHING STAYS THE SAME and it’s ALWAYS CHANGING!

From a novice: Some days suck and some days rock!

Sometimes I tell myself that I am somewhat disadvantaged that I began my stay at home journey in the middle of child raising—rather than from the get go.  It often seems that growing into this and alongside my children and family’s shifting needs might have made things a tad easier than jumping into this beautiful mess all at once.  Because even though this is my first year {home}, I always feel (and usually expect of myself) that I should have a better handle on this—especially when I consider that I’m a mother of four.  And, perhaps, adding all of these titles in less than 1-1/2 years is asking for a few gray hairs:  Wife (to a fabulous husband I might add), stay at home mom, new mom (5 months now), and homeschooling mom—uhm, wow, that’s FOUR new titles in a very brief time.  Okay, blog over, now I see why I have struggled!

Just kidding.  But, in all seriousness, I thought I would rock this job.  For the last year it has been a battle, a thorn in my side, that I felt as though this job was over my head—that I simply might not be cut out for it.  I cried out to Father, “Why is this not joyful?” I wallowed in the trenches.  I beat myself up for all of the incompetence I had.  I was broken.  

Ahhh, but see.  God has made me the kind of person that is an all or nothing kind of person.  I’m pretty passionate (if you didn’t know that already).  I don’t do anything half way.  I also prefer to only start a task that I can finish (this is why crafting is not my thing and laundry might pile up since I refuse to start it unless I KNOW I can finish it).  So at the end of my days I felt as if I had accomplished nothing—more notably nothing of any worth.  When it takes you All. Day. Long. to unload a dishwasher—there really was no pride in the finished job!

I also longed for a more even stride in our new life.  Some days would be so fantastic you couldn't make them up in the best book or movie, others so horrid you wouldn't dare let your closest friend see in your home or heart! The roller coaster made me batty, and again, further convinced me of my deep brokenness.

Through some guided wisdom of beautiful, Godly women, I realize that a nice even ride is not reality.  And some days are just downright hard! And other days are simply beautiful.  So my novice stay at home wife, mom, homeschooler epiphany is:  Some days suck and some days rock!

Rather than thinking I’m broken or simply just am not good at this role, I will cherish the days that rock.  I will hold them hostage in my heart and store their energy up for the days that will inevitably be SO MUCH HARDER. 

A Year in Review: First Year at Home

Just over a year and a half ago God set into motion a plan that he had been building a foundation for quite some time—in fact a lifetime.  I was the busy, career-minded, single mother to three very special children.  Then this man visited our church and sat down on an empty church pew, alone.  Six months later we were married! (You can read our story here: http://from-breadwinner-to-breadmaker.blogspot.com/2013/07/our-story-december-18th-2011.html) Just three months after that we were expecting our first baby together! A year in review and I don’t know if I have enough paper to write of all the blessings God has showered us with! But that won’t keep me from trying!

In June of 2012, just a few shorts months after our wedding, Paul and I felt called for me to become a stay at home mom.  This meant living off 1/3 of the income we were accustomed to and not knowing exactly how all the bills would be paid—but knowing that God was the author—he knew; and our job was to trust.  The day after I gave my resignation to my company I found out we were expecting our first baby together! My last day to work in a corporate setting was July 27, 2012.  The months ahead were so much rougher than I expected.  I anticipated jumping into my new job description and rocking it!  This wasn't the case and I struggled finding purpose, intention, and joy as a stay at home wife and mom.  Through many tears and prayers, God began moving me into a place of strength under my new role and I am so excited to say that the last six months of have been a time of beautiful spiritual and personal growth for me and our family. You can read this blog from the end of October about my unexpected struggles staying home: http://from-breadwinner-to-breadmaker.blogspot.com/2012/10/realitythe-transition-is-so-much-harder.html)

The first major miracle God has provided to us is that we haven’t starved!  God always provides.  Yes, there are times when it might look a little bleak; and scary is probably an understatement.  But God always provides!  The basic physical needs of our family are always met through his endless mercies! Yes, living off a little is hard and requires sacrifice—but the rewards are indescribable! God has used this to help Paul and I grow in our faith and become better stewards.  I can make a meal out of next to nothing—that’s God!

The next major miracle God put before us was Paul’s cochlear implant replacement! You can follow this link to read more about that. http://from-breadwinner-to-breadmaker.blogspot.com/2013/07/cochlear-implant-miracle.html But it is nothing short of a 21^st century miracle! And I’m so excited to report that the surgery was a success and to have a husband that can now hear my whisper (compared to before when we communicated using: lip reading, hand gestures, close range, loud voice talking) is indeed a beautiful thing!

An area of significant growth for our family has been the decision to “bring our children home”.  God called us to home school our children and has used this calling to guide us, grow us, and strengthen us!  I can’t say enough positive things about homeschooling and what it has done for our family.  It is truly something you could never possible imagine all of the benefits of unless you have seen them first hand.  My mom visited just before we brought the kids home and 6 months later she returned for another extended visit.  She repeatedly said, “I can’t believe the difference in your family and home dynamic.  It is such a positive place to be.”  The proofs in the pudding, folks! This isn’t the blog post for me to climb on my platform for homeschooling (that will come) but as parents, Paul and I are incredibly passionate about this and beyond grateful for God’s blessing to provide this for our children.

The most recent miracle is the birth of our newest son, Asa.  He is 4-1/2 months of perfection!  We had a very healthy pregnancy and a beautiful home birth that embodied the love Paul and I have for each other.  It will forever be one of the most beautiful experiences of my lifetime: bringing forth a son while being wrapped in the arms of the man that holds my heart.   Here's our birth story: http://from-breadwinner-to-breadmaker.blogspot.com/2013/03/it-was-one-of-those-march-days-when-sun.html

This certainly doesn't cover it all, but it catches some of the bigger butterflies! It has been the greatest year of my life!  I know it sounds trite, but I am married to my best friend, every day is better than the day before, and I am fulfilling my lifelong dream of being a wife, mom, and teacher and our family is united in love and purpose!  

Thank you, Father, for your faithfulness!