Christmas Traditions- Share Yours!!

As I said in a previous post, we had a lot of really fun Christmas traditions at our house. I truly looked forward to this time of year and enjoyed it as a child and still as an adult. There are some new traditions I'm hoping to start with the girls such as the Birthday Party for Jesus and the Jesse Tree Advent ornaments (haven't found any yet). So I have only about 6 friends that ever comment on my blog and I am hoping the reason is I never open a question to comment about... So I am asking everyone to share one of their favorite or most unusual Christmas traditions.

The most unusual we ever did was blowing up our Christmas tree on New Years. I grew up out in the country (until Jr. High) and since we always had the "perfect" real tree. On New Years we laced it with hundreds of firecrackers, gasoline and lit it up at midnight!! Fun stuff!! Since I try to always to leave at least one picture, here's my little girls fresh out of the bath, in footed pajamas, enjoying the tree in their rocking chairs (can life really get better than this!!)~notice how bare the bottom of the tree is from ornaments (all the shatterproof ones were down there and have secretly been pulled off one by one and are hidden throughout the house!!)


Please share your favorite Christmas tradition!!

Roll Tide!!!

Roll Tide!!! on a snowy morning in Alabama!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus

I was seriously considering skipping my bible study last night and meeting up for dinner with my college friends in Birmingham. It's been forever since I've seen them and miss them, but really felt I should keep my priorities straight and go to bible study...and I'm so glad I did.

This Christmas I have been thinking a lot about what really matters. Maybe it's because all around me I see Christ slipping more and more out of the "holiday season" with the "holiday trees" etc. It makes me sad and it also has made me so much more aware of the need for Christians to really celebrate Christmas for what it is...

With that said. When I was in bible study last night, that I considered skipping, the topic of Christmas traditions was raised and one of my friends said she and her kids bake a cake to celebrate Jesus' birthday. They blow out the candles and everything. I thought this was such a fun idea and shared it with Pat and we laughed about how you could get 2000 candles on a cake or whether there should be any since you are celebrating his zero birthday... Anyways I went to sleep last night thinking that would be a fun thing to add to our Christmas.

I woke up this morning with an entirely different perspective. I was again thinking about the candles and Jesus' birth and I realized I've missed a huge truth in the celebration of Christmas. I was raised in an amazing Christian home and mom and dad did a wonderful job teaching us the true meaning of Christmas. We always shopped for an angel child, served at Give Thanks, read the story of Jesus' birth and went to Holy Communion on Christmas Eve. All things I hope to continue. But what I realized is that I think one reason some of the true power of Christ has been lost in our celebration is that we are treating this as a time to celebrate the baby Jesus. Now don't get me wrong, I totally believe that his humble beginnings show the true power of God to use anyone or any situation for his glory... but what I really want to be celebrating is the life and death of Christ. His sacrifice which gave the ultimate gift of salvation and eternity to spend with Him.

My grandmomma died in the spring of 2008. She was one of my favorite people in the whole world and I miss her so much. Anyone who ever knew her, loved her. When her birthday came this August, I wasn't thinking about my grandmothers birth (I really know nothing of that) ~ I was thinking of (and celebrating) her life. The impact she had on me and on my life. How many people she blessed with her smiles and joy. That's what Birthday celebrations are about...celebrating the LIFE of the one you love!

I think what I've been missing is using Christmas time to celebrate the life of Jesus and all that he did for me. Yes, baby Jesus is important... But Jesus as my risen Savior means more.

It's a time to celebrate our freedom from sin and God's power in our lives. So this year we are going to have a birthday party for Jesus to celebrate all he has done and his ultimate gift of salvation.

In seeking to find ways to make Christmas more meaningful for my girls, God instead taught me.

Some verses of encouragement and truth:

John 3:16 ¹⁶"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

John 1:12 "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—"

Revelation 3:20 "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

Romans 10:13 "for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.""

Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Romans 8:1-2 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

Praise God for freedom in Christ. Celebrate Christ this Christmas.

I read this devotion this morning and it really spoke to my heart. I am an over achiever at heart...I really can't help it... I get made fun of by my family :) So this line of thinking really goes against everything in me... but yet it makes perfect sense for me. It doesn't mean that success is wrong, it just means God might have a different plan.

In my bible study we are doing "The Frazzled Female" I believe it's a perfect study for a stay-at-home, working mother of toddler twins!! This weeks study was about slowing down and enjoying God's best. Taking God with us everywhere we go. It referred to the story of Mary and Martha. That while Martha opened her home to Christ, she is busy serving Him through cooking and cleaning, while Mary is at His feet. When Martha complains asking Jesus to get Mary to help her Jesus tells her "Mary has chosen the One thing, the Best Thing"

That is my desire. To choose the One thing, the Best Thing and let the rest go!!

I hope you are as encouraged as I was by this devotional I got today from Proverbs 31 Ministries

I Don't Want to Raise Successful Children 19 Nov 2009 Lysa TerKeurst "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) I don't want to raise successful children. That's a shocking thing to read, and a shocking thing for a mother to type. So, let me clarify. I used to define success according to my child's report card. Good grades and academic achievement would surely equal a good child with great potential in this world. But then several of my children wound up being average students with average grades. Though we carted them off to tutors and spent many a late night at the kitchen table helping them, they remained average. And I remained concerned and frustrated. One report card day I found myself facedown in the fibers of my carpet crying and wonderi ng, "Where have I gone wrong as a mom?" I dug into Scriptures. I begged God for wisdom and discernment. I prayed for God's perspective with each of my kids. Finally, one day it dawned on me - what if I simply chose to embrace the natural bent of each of my kids as God's way to protect them and keep them on the path toward His best plans for their lives? What if my A student needs academic success to prepare her for God's plans while my average to below-average student needs to be steered away from a more academic future? What if my sports star kid needs that athletic excellence for his future assignments by God, but my benchwarmer kid is being protected from getting off course by her lack in this area? And that's when it finally dawned on me. My job isn't to push success for my kids. My job as a parent is to recognize the unique way God created each child and point them to Jesus at every turn along their journey toward adulthood. Yes, I wan t my kids to learn and thrive and grow up educated, but it's not a flaw in me or them if they don't have straight A report cards and trophy cases full of sports medals. Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (NIV). I am challenged to ponder these words, "… in the way he should go." Are we training our kids that the "way he should go" is to chase worldly achievement or to chase God? Whatever they learn to chase as a child, they will chase as adults. Therefore, we must be challenged to honestly assess the way we are pointing them to go. My daughter, Hope, is one of my average students. She has also warmed many a bench in the sports she's tried, and can always be found hiding on the back row of the stage during school concerts. Using the world's benchmarks for achievement, Hope wouldn't be seen as a child positioned for success. But God… This past January, my 15 year old Hope, shocked me when she announced she wanted to go to Ethiopia with some missionary friends of ours and live in the remote African bush for the summer. Yes, she may not have trophies and straight A report cards but she does have a heart of gold. And because she's not entrenched in sports and academic pursuits that could have created obligations for her summer, she was free to go to Africa.Free to chase God in a really big way. One of the first e-mails she sent me from Ethiopia read, "Mom, I've fallen in love with the AIDS orphanage children. They rushed at me when I held my arms out and I tried with all my might to hold all 30 of them at once. I love it here." Now, don't get me wrong. I do expect Hope to return to her studies this fall, give 100% effort, and finish her high school career having done her very best. She will most likely then go to college. But she probably won't be delivering the valedictorian address or wearing the honors cords and medals. She'll be the on e with a vision of a dying AIDS orphan pressing against her heart ready to chase God's plans to the ends of the earth. So back to my original statement, I don't want to raise successful children. It's true, I don't. Though Hope's sister coming behind her is an A student and can always be found on the front row of school performances - we don't chase after success for her either. I trust God that she needs those things in her life for the plans He's unfolding in her life. We train with that bent in mind. But, we don't chase it. Just like Hope, we point her in the direction of God at every turn and pray like crazy. I stand by what I said and I'll say it again, I don't want to raise successful children. Because--- raising God-honoring adults who will set the world on fire for Christ is just so much more rewarding. Dear Lord, being a mom is a really tough job. Please help me, teach me and show me how to define success for my kids. In J esus' Name, Amen. Related Resources: Visit Lysa's blog to watch a video of Hope's trip to Ethiopia Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa TerKeurst The Bathtub is Overflowing but I Feel Drained by Lysa TerKeurst Application Steps: Spend some time specifically praying for your kids today and ask the Lord how you can train them according to the way He created them. Reflections: What worries about my kids do I need to ask the Lord for His perspective? How should I define success for my kids? Power Verses: 2 John 1:4, "It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us." (NIV) Matthew 19:14, "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" (NIV)

Desk Fun

Life never gets dull around here. Last night I was trying to wrap up some work and had them in my office. They are always really interested when I get things out of my desk so I thought I'd put some random things in a drawer that they could play with. Well I see them start pulling things out, like always, and I get busy working...until I here a squeal... Savanah is in the drawer and Payton has crawled in on top of her!!! They stayed sitting like this just laughing for like 10 minutes!! Funny girls!!