The Gift of December- Favorite Books

I am so excited to be able to share with you all today. Michele has been an amazing friend and help to me since I joined the Review Crew. She is always encouraging and helpful. I am so excited to be able to give back to her in this little way as she and her family have such a busy and exciting December.

Candles. Trees. Wreaths. Cookies. Gifts. Carols. All these have something in common. Have you figured it out? They are all traditions. For our family, one of our very favorite traditions is books. Yes, we are a book loving family. Going to garage sales is fun for us but we don't stop unless they have books. We attend the Friends of the Library Book Sale every single time they have it. November is the HUGE one (something like 100,000 books) but they also have one three other times in the year. We get fantastic deals there. And, I always find at least one lovely new book to add to our Christmas tradition.



Today, I want to share a few very special books with you that are truly important to our family.

The Farolitos of Christmas by Rudolfo Anaya

I grew up in New Mexico. And while that is right next door to where we currently live, it is another world. In just about every single way. So, this book allows us to share ideas and traditions that I grew up with. Luz is a young girl who loves her family very much. But they have been torn apart by war. At Christmastime. Missing her father and trying to help her mother and ill grandfather, keeping up with school and friends, and striving to not lose her hope, Luz focuses on traditions to help her through the struggle. Her friend is putting up a tree with a tin star for the top. Her school is putting on a special performance that they have studied for. And her grandfather will be doing the luminarias? Or will he? He is so sick the doctor tells him to stay inside. But the luminarias are an important tradition. Not just for Luz and her family but for the whole community. What can they do? The importance placed on family and tradition is a big part of what I love so much about this book. Before we started homeschooling, our oldest chose this book as being representative of our family traditions so we took it to her classroom and read it to her friends. We love this book and share it all we can.

The Night of Las Posadas

Another book from New Mexico is an important addition to our holiday book stack. This one is there because it shows some of the beauty of family and community seen throughout the state and that my mom and dad always showed to others. This is the story of a community's Las Posadas, the procession of Mary and Joseph to the inn to find a safe place for the birth of Baby Jesus. While our family doesn't celebrate December 25 specifically as the birth of Jesus, since the Bible doesn't tell us when that was, we do believe in the importance of Jesus and think this is a great time to share Him with those who may not know Him. So this beautiful story of the procession in northern New Mexico is lovely. This is a tradition among most of the communities in New Mexico. You can find some beautiful photos of these live processions on the internet. We always take time to look at the real Las Posadas and remember Jesus, giving thanks to God for sending Him to redeem us. This book is one way we take time for that each year. And, last but not least . . . I couldn't decide. So I'll do two more.

The Tiny Star by Arthur Ginolfi

This is a sweet little book that highlights the beauty of each of us. The little star feels inadequate (don't we all at some point?) and unable to be of use. But, unexpectedly, the star falls out of the sky to one amazingly important job. We all have something to do and we need to work at it with all our heart. Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

The Donkey's Christmas Song by Nancy Tafuri

This is another sweet little book that helps us focus on our strengths and seeing that we are all different. However, in spite of our differences, we are all special and important. God uses those differences to make beautiful things, including an unusual chorus that bring laughter to a special little baby. May your traditions be beautiful, special, and specially yours. May your Christmas season bring you closer to God.

Lori

I blog at At Home: where life happens. I have been married for 20 years and have three giggly girls. At home truly is where life happens so that is what I write about.

Thank you, Lori for sharing such beautiful books!  We always love adding to our Christmas book basket each year.

The Gift of December-5 Christmas Traditions to Start With Your Kids

 

 Christmas traditions are important. If you didn't grow up with them, you might not realize it, but they are. Some of the best memories I have of my childhood are those that surround traditions. Every Christmas we decorated the house after Thanksgiving. We went to Christmas Eve service as a family and then went to my grandparents house and my grandfather read the Christmas story. We had an advent calendar and looked forward to it every night of Advent. We watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as a family and had popcorn. We had hot apple cider at my grandmother's house while we unwrapped presents. These are traditions that I look forward to. Some more than others but they were dependable and full of memories and love and, most importantly, family. So if you have not started traditions in your home, then you will want to get going. 

Establishing some traditions and making those memories with their kids is an important part of the holidays. They don't have to be big and detailed traditions. They don't have to be expensive or time consuming, but they do need to be thoughtful and consistent. Establishing traditions is easy. You just find something that you enjoy to do as a family and do it. If you enjoy it, do it again next year. And, voila, a tradition is born! You may even have established a few holiday traditions in your home that you haven't even realized.

Do you get out a calendar on December 1st and count down the days until Christmas? Tradition.
 Do you make cookies with your kids and decorate them and take them to grandma's house? Tradition.
 Do you make a gift for a needy family and take it to them at Christmas? Tradition.
Do you make hot chocolate on Christmas eve and watch a movie or read a story? Tradition.

So think about it? Do you have a family tradition for Christmas? Is there something your kids ask about as they look forward to the holidays? I was actually surprised at some of the traditions we had established as they weren't necessarily intentional but have become one of the favorite parts of Christmas for my kids. So if you haven't gotten a few traditions going for your family, here are some ideas to get you started!



  COUNT DOWN TO CHRISTMAS- I know I have mentioned it several times, but counting down the days until Christmas is a fun tradition for you and the kids. (And, I must admit, allows you to easily answer the incessant questions of 'how many days until Christmas, mom?") You can count down the days in many ways. You can make or buy a fancy calendar or simply mark off the days on a regular calendar. We have tried many different ways. We have had candy for each day (not my favorite because I don't like to encourage candy before bed but they sure loved it!) We have built a Lego Christmas village one piece each night until completed. We have done the paper construction paper chain with a Bible verse on each chain link that is removed each night. We have added an ornament to the tree each day and, this year, we are doing a Jesse Tree. No matter what you choose to do, have fun with it. Do the same each year or do something different each year. Either is establishing a tradition.



READ A BOOK -We read an Advent or Christmas story book each night before bed during December. I get at least one new book every year. And in our house Christmas Eve is a two story night with the Christmas Story from the Bible and The Night Before Christmas book (my 1955 Golden Book edition that was read to me). Making reading a tradition is fun and you can find some great seasonal books at the library if you need more ideas.

SERVE OTHERS- One of the best traditions you can do is serve others in some way. Since the Christmas seasons is about giving, why not give to others. You can do this in any way you choose but making it a tradition will pass on the 'reason for the season' - that it's better to give than receive. You can serve a meal at a shelter. Prepare and deliver a meal to a shut in. Visit a nursing home. Take cookies to a neighbor or sick friend. Send letters to your elderly family. Visit at Veteran's Home and take some Christmas cards. Or just do some random acts of kindness. Anything is helpful and appreciated and teaches your kids that Christmas is more than receiving presents from Santa. Be creative and have fun doing for others.

DECORATE TOGETHER My kids LOVE to decorate. Well, at least my oldest. She enjoys making decorations. So we make it a tradition to decorate together. She makes a new decoration or we make it together and then we spend some time putting it in a fun place and talking about what else we need. Homemade ornaments and construction paper snowmen are great. Keep them, make a scrapbook and then look back over the old decorations. You will be glad you did.










FIND ONE SPECIALTY DISH AND COOK IT TOGETHER A fun thing to do as a family is to find one specialty dish that you will bring or serve to Christmas day and bring to all those other holiday pitch ins and then perfect it, make it your own, and find a job for each person in your family when preparing it. Then the whole family can take part in making the dish together. If everyone takes part in the dish, it makes it that much more special and will become the go-to dish for you throughout the holidays.

There are so many more traditions that you can establish. Don't be afraid to start one but don't try to start 10 just this week. Just pick one or two things and see what your kids like. You may be surprised at what they will enjoy doing together! No matter what you have established as a tradition, know that your kids love it. They will remember it and they will likely try to pass on the joy they found in it on to their family someday. And every time they make those cookies or read that story, they will think of their childhood and the wonderful memories they have of those traditions.
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Tawnee and her husband Chris are a Navy family land-locked in Indiana. They have 4 awesome, crazy, and creative kids. She blogs about life, parents, and the adventures of homeschooling her family at Adventures in Homeschooling. Visit her blog or on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The Gift of December- Seeking Christ

Many, many thanks to my sweet friend Carol, who blogs at Home Sweet Life, for this beautiful post!  May it inspire you to set the extras aside and earnestly Seek Christ!  Thank you Carol!

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In the Luke 2 account of Jesus’ birth, we read of shepherds who followed the instructions given to them by angels to seek out the Christ Child. In Matthew 2 we read of the Magi (Wise Men) who followed Christ’s star to find Him, prepared to worship Him. Where are we looking to find Christ today? Are we earnestly seeking Him? Do we begin with what we know, or the instructions we’ve been given and pursue Him to know Him better? Are we prepared to offer our worship when we find Christ?

During this season of the year when many traditionally celebrate Christ’s birth, are we willing to peel back all the trappings of man that have been added over the years and Seek Christ?

The shepherds saw Christ as a newborn babe and returned to their lives glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. When was the last time you left an encounter with Christ and took that Joy into your life glorifying and praising God for all you saw and heard?

The Wise Men came prepared to worship the King. They brought gifts, they stopped to ask for directions, their whole goal at this point in their lives was to find and worship Christ. They adored Him! Where is our adoration? Where are our gifts? The Wise Men saw Christ as a young child (not a baby as the shepherds had,) and yet their reaction was just as great. They worshipped the Christ Child and presented Him costly gifts.

When we find Christ today is it a random encounter, or are we earnestly seeking Him? Do we come bearing gifts, do we worship? Today we find the Risen King, something different than the shepherds or Wise Men found, yet should our response not be the same as theirs?

Worship Christ.

Give Him the costly gifts of our time, our families, our devotion, our very lives.

Today I challenge you, as well as myself, to return the focus of the season to Christ. Start each day by earnestly seeking Christ. Return to your life after each encounter full of adoration and praise for all you have seen Him do in your life and the lives of those around you. May your chief goal this season not have to do with material things, but with finding and worshipping Christ.

May the Babe in the manger, the Christ Child in the home, and the Risen King bring you peace this season. May you remember that Glorifying God is the chief end of man. May your life be forever changed by the peace and joy that can only come from Jesus Christ!

Come, let us adore Him.

In Christ,

Carol :)

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O Man, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Carol and her husband Kurt make their home on the Midwest with their two High School aged daughters. You can learn more about their daughters’ Eclectic Experiential Education at Home Sweet Life.

http://www.home-sweet-life.blogspot.com

The Gift of December- A Christmas Eve Meal

Cristi is a fellow military wife ,mom and blogger I have gotten to know over the past few years.  She blogs about her life and homeschooling, as well as special needs at Through the Calm and Through the Storm.  I think I want to eat at her house on Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day!

 Thank you Cristi for joining us today!






As a fellow military spouse, I don't have a lot of set in stone holiday traditions. I'm not tied to specific events at specific places, particular decorations that must be displayed in my house, or even celebrating on December 25th. When given the choice, though, I do have a few meals that have become Christmas traditions at our house.

For Christmas Day, I serve grilled steaks and baked potatoes. A few days before Thanksgiving this year, my oldest daughter commented that she was looking forward to our Christmas dinner even more than the big meal I was planning for Thanksgiving. (If you'd like to hear how a deployment more than twenty years ago started my family's steak tradition, I blogged about Christmas Dinner as one of my "years ago" stories last year.)

Although it's not as dear to my heart as our Christmas Day meal, we also have a traditional Christmas Eve meal -- chili.

Cristi's Easy Chili Recipe

1 - 1.5 lbs ground beef
2 cans pinto beans
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can Spicy V-8
1 - 2 Tbsp chili seasoning (see below)

Brown the ground beef and drain. Add beans, tomatoes, V-8, and chili seasoning. Simmer for at least 15 minutes. It works well in the crock pot, too.



Homemade Chili Seasoning mix 

4 Tbsp chili powder
2 1/2 tsp coriander
2 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix and store in an airtight container. I usually use a recycled spice jar for ours.



My husband prefers to eat his chili served over Fritos and topped with lots of shredded cheddar cheese. Since my family used to always eat cornbread with our chili, I'll share our easy cornbread recipe.

Easy Cornbread

1 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp cornmeal
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk

Mix and bake at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. I like to melt a bit of bacon grease into my cast iron skillet while the oven is heating up and then pour in the cornbread mix. Yum!

Note: I usually add two tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar to a milk substitute (flax, coconut, or rice) to make a buttermilk substitute. If you can find it, you can use 2 cups of self-rising cornmeal in place of the cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

Regardless of whether you have fancy holiday traditions with elaborate seven-course meals or just simple ways of enjoying the season, I wish you and your family the very best!

Cristi

The Gift of December- The Jesse Tree

Celebrating the Promise and Coming of the Savior With the Jesse Tree

Having family traditions that center around the Christmas holiday has always been very important to us. Traditions bring the family closer together, create great memories, and help us to keep our focus on the spiritual significance of the holiday season. One of the traditions we enjoy is the Jesse Tree.

The Meaning of the Jesse Tree

The Jesse Tree is a visual picture of the promise of the Savior throughout Scripture, ultimately leading to the promise fulfilled in the birth of Christ. The Jesse Tree comes from Isaiah 11:1-"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." 

Beginning with Creation and following the thread of history through the Israelites and the line of people who would ultimately lead to Christ, the ornaments of the Jesse Tree show God's plan for redemption from the start. For each day, from the first day of Advent through Christmas, there is an ornament that symbolizes part of the redemption story. As we put on each ornament, we read a Scripture that explains that ornament, and we talk about what it means.

Many Advent traditions only focus on the birth of Christ. That's an important event for sure. But the Jesse Tree goes further and reminds us of the big picture. The birth of Christ wasn't just a random, isolated event. God had a plan for His people all along, and that plan, begun at the Creation of the world, continued on through history, culminating in Christ's birth.


Creating Your Own Jesse Tree

To make your own Jesse tree, you can use a real, small Christmas tree or you can draw a tree to place your ornaments on. We've done both through the years, but I finally decided on a tree drawing because I can keep it from year to year and pull it out for the first day of Advent. It's also a good choice for us because we don't have the space to put up an additional Christmas tree. I laminated my printed ornaments and put velcro tabs on the back. The tree has velcro tab spots where the ornaments can be placed.

The tree that you use can have bare branches because the theme verse in Isaiah talks about Christ as the Branch that bears fruit. I like to have the Isaiah verse written out with the tree because this reminds us of the focus of the Jesse Tree.

You will need a set of ornaments to use each day on your Jesse tree. You can print these or draw the ornaments yourself. I'll give some resource links below that I've used to print already made ornaments, There are twenty-eight symbolic ornaments and the symbolism of the tree which you explain on the first day of Advent.

• Dove
• Tree with fruit
• Rainbow
• Stars
• Ram
• Ladder
• Sack of grain
• Burning bush
• Lamb
• Torah tablets
• Ram's horn trumpet
• Clay water pitcher
• Crown
• Shepherd's crook
• Stone altar
• Empty tent
• Fire tongs
• Tears
• Watchtower
• City wall
• Scallop shell
• White lily
• Mother and child
• Tablet and pencil
• Carpenter's hammer
• Star
• Manger
• Chi-Roh symbol (Greek letters for Christ)

We use our Jesse tree for family devotions throughout the month of December. Each day we'll read the passage of Scripture, and then the kids take turns placing an ornament on the tree.

Jesse Tree Resources

This site has a great free printable pack that has all of the Scripture references, a devotional explanation of each day, and printable ornaments.

If you use an Advent wreath in your family, this site ties in the Jesse tree readings with the weeks of Advent, so you could see how the days fall along with using the Advent wreath.

This site has a little different version of printable ornaments if you would like a little different style.

The Jesse tree can be a great way to focus on Christ and the promise of a Savior as well as the fulfillment of that promise. It's also a great way to give kids a big picture view of God's plan of redemption throughout the Bible. It's a tradition we've come to look forward to year after year.




Leah Courtney is a homeschooling mom of four. Her days are filled with being a mom, homemaker, and teacher. In her (very rare) free time, she enjoys blogging, reading, and reviewing books and curricula. These days she’s learning the joys of being a mom of teens. You can read about her family and homeschooling life at As We Walk Along the Road.






Love the way Leah used velcro tabs to keep everything in its place!  This is a great project to do with kids of all ages.  THANK YOU, Leah, for such a wonderful addition to our Christmas celebration!

The Gift of December- Snowman Soup

You have got to take a peek at Rebekah's blog There will be a $5.00 charge for Whining!  Seriously, this lady makes me laugh out loud- often! Here's what she says about herself-

 I like books, classical poetry, musicals, vintage china, scrapbooking, the color red, flip flops, sushi, little boys named Josiah, the smell of lemons and dangly earrings. I am sometimes right, but more frequently wrong. I am sometimes only slightly fruity. Most of the time I am mostly fruity. I am learning to take what I have been given and make for myself and my little family a beautiful life.
Enjoy!  And thank you, Rebekah!



 I am tickled that Michele has let me hang out on her blog for a bit. She is always such a blessing and an encourager. What a treat to be able to share one of my Christmas projects going on at my kitchen table right now!

I LOVE Christmas! I love everything about it. As we begin our preparations for the celebration of the birth of our Lord, my heart always turns with how I can bless others.

Some years, I have a little more to give. Some years...a little less. You know how it is. However, I've learned that a cute and thoughtful gift doesn't have to be extravagant or complicated.

I also like having projects that my son and I can work on together. Not only do we get to share in a fun Christmas memory, but he is learning how to give.

I am sure most of you have heard of Snowman Soup. It's the kitschy little gift perfect for teachers, neighbors and friends. Or your teacher's neighbor's friends.  We are fairly free with our snowman soup.

I first heard of Snowman Soup many years ago. My sister-in-law and her family participated in a secret "pal" kind of gift exchange that took place with other members of their church. One cold evening, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened the door the family found a whole basket filled with Snowman Soup ingredients and a cute little poem. A bag of marshmallows! A box of candy canes, fun Christmas mugs....Everything a family would need for a wintery night at home.

This was the days before Pinterest (can you even remember?) and over the years I have created many versions of Snowman Soup.

The easiest and most economical version is one of my favorites. This year we are assembling snowman soup bags for Swim Coaches, the student teachers from my son's P.E. class, neighbors and church folks.

To create Snowman Soup you will need:

Hot Chocolate mix (you can make your own if that's the way you roll)
Peppermint Sticks
Candy Kisses
Mini-marshmallows
Small clear party bags


This year I even doodled my own little bag topper. I want to share it with you! I'll link to the final product (PDF) at the end of the post. I used cardstock for my bag toppers. I find cardstock is sturdy and makes for a nice presentation. However, you can use plain copy paper if that is all you have. You can make it sturdier by gluing it to a piece of construction paper.

I hand colored this copy. This is a perfect project for the Littles. I am going to also provide you a link with the colored version to make somebody's life easier. The assembly of the Snowman Soup baggies will be enough for at least a few of you (I remember those days). I like using gel pens for coloring. They make me happy. Colored pencils are also a good choice for these kinds of doodles. A finer tip will provide a much nicer result.

For the Snowman Soup poem I enlisted the help of my ever pithy momma. There are plenty of cute Snowman Soup poems out in webland. However, because I doodled this bag topper just for you, I wanted something I could share without infringing on someone else's creative property. Feel free to use this bag topper as often as you want!

After preparing my bag toppers, I gathered my ingredients together...minus a few candy kisses. This project is so economical. A body could get everything he or she needs at The Dollar Tree.

This is the size of the party bags I used. I am a big believer in using what you have. You can even use lunch sacks, but these cost under $1 at Walmart. I like the clear bags so the ingredients are visible.

I stuck all the Snowman Soup ingredients in the bag and folded over the top just a little bit. I tried to take a picture of that particular step, but the end product was too shiny to see. You will just have to take my word for it!

I then folded my topper in half and stapled the whole thing at the top.  I also added a little sparkly bag filler with my Snowman Soup ingredients. Everyone needs a little sparkly bag filler in their life.

This is the back view. I forgot to color his nose! Want to know something funny? Notice the word "SassyFras" just underneath the snowman. My mom and I have a online shop called SassyFrass Art & More. Did you just notice my boo boo? What kind of person misspells their own business on the back of a product? And here I thought I was being clever.

I did add some bling (in the form of some stick-on rhinestones) at the last minute. I looked for my glitter, but couldn't find any. That, my friends, is probably a good thing. I can get fairly liberal with the glitter.

As promised, I am providing links to my doodles just for you!

These links will take you to my Google Drive. You can print off as many as you need to. Set the kiddos down with the Snowman Soup ingredients and have an afternoon (or evening) of Soup making!

Just a few housekeeping notes. I did notice that my Black and White product wound up with some sort of strange line around the doodle. I think the paper moved during scanning. Just cut it off. And if you can remember...Add a another "s" to SassyFras!

Snowman Soup Black and White
Snowman Soup Color

I hope that you will find all sorts of folks to bless with Snowman Soup this year!

The Gift of December- Prepping for Christmas

Welcome to our December series- The Gift of Christmas.  I am so excited to have this series kicked off by a sweet friend of mine, Robyn, who blogs about her faith and family adventures at A Closer Walk!  You can also read about her Israel tours and book her to speak at robyncarrillo.net.  Our family met her amazing family when we first moved to New Mexico years ago and we were blessed to be in their Sunday School class.  It was there that we stepped our of our "Christian" shells and learned what is meant to be a Believer.  Our eyes were opened in so many ways and we thank God for their teaching and leadership.  I know without a shadow of a doubt our family would not be where we are today without having known them!  I love how God works!
So, thank you Robyn for the time spent pouring into our lives and for guest posting for me today!
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Do you look forward to playing Christmas music and setting out Christmas decorations? A lot of work goes into planning, prepping, cooking, buying and wrapping to make Christmas a beautiful and fun holiday.

This year, I questioned if I plan and prepare for the right reason. Instead of spending all my time on the tasks of physically setting the stage for the big event, like Martha did. I need to sit and prepare my heart like Mary did, at the feet of Jesus.

In preparing our homes and our hearts for Christmas, I’ve made a short to-do list.

1. Outside lights

2. Inside aroma

3. Gift bags vs. paper and bows

1. Climbing on the roof and untangling the strings of lights is not a fun task. I usually find an excuse not to participate in this part. We can’t do everything, right? I opt out of the rooftop, extension cords, replacement light bulbs chaos part of the decorating. I prefer to leave in the morning and return after it is finished when my job is to ooh and aah at the results.

I wonder how often I opt out spiritually. There is only one person who can untangle the sin attitudes and actions that have crept up in my life. I love what they do on the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. They write down the sins of the previous year, bring them to the Lord, then burn them as a symbol of repentance and forgiveness.

In preparing for Christmas, I want to evaluate the thoughts and actions I need to ask the Lord, and perhaps others, to forgive me for. Let’s not rush into traffic, long lines and busyness with a frustrated, get-out-of-my-way attitude. Jesus came to bring us peace. Although there has not been much peace on earth, the Holy Spirit can give us peace in our soul, if we surrender our agenda, and ask Him to fill us with His love and joy for others.

2. I love the cinnamon, pine, and sugar cookie smells. Those smells can waft from time spent cooking and baking, or I can take the short cut and buy candles and diffusers. The Bible says our prayers are a sweet aroma to the Lord. I want to spend time reading His word and talking to Him daily, praying and praising Him, especially this month as we remember His birth. I don’t want to short cut my time with Him because of the busyness of the season. Like Brother Lawrence said years ago, the busier he was, the more time he spent in prayer.

3. Gift bags are so practical: no scissors, tape, ribbons, or mess. Yet, the beauty and thoughtfulness of a perfectly tied bow on matching paper is always a treasure. I want to show love to my family and friends with practical gifts and plates of cookies. But isn’t the real treasure spending time with them, actively listening, and taking opportunities to tell them how special they are and how much God loves them? This month can be stressful as we worry about our budget and spending extra money on things. A truth I’ve realized recently is; words are free. It cost nothing to compliment, bless, encourage, and speak kindly to others. In the rush and rudeness this month can bring, it is a beautiful treasure when people smile and speak thoughtful, kind words, whether at home or standing in a long line.

During this first week of December can we take a few minutes to

prepare our hearts?

1. Untangle our sin attitudes and ask for forgiveness.

2. Spend time daily reading God’s Word and praying in the aroma of the real meaning of Christmas.

3. Choose to be a treasured gift to others through our time and our words.

Wishing you heartfelt blessings as you prepare your heart for Christmas.

Robyn

                 

The Gift of December- A Family, Faith and Fridays Series

Have you noticed?  December is almost here.  Can you even believe it?

For most, it means a flurry of activities.  School plays and recitals, last minute present buying, parties to attend and houses to decorate.

For us, it is all that and more.  If you have been around here a while, you know that we have almost come to the end of my husbands one year deployment.  Actually, we have gone well over 365 days, but who is counting?  On top of that we are moving and I have started a new job as Product Manager the TOS Homeschool Review Crew.  Yes, to say that December will be a busy month is an understatement.  Good, but busy.

But I did not want to leave this space sadly quiet while I was busy, so I have asked for a little help from some friends.  Some amazing gals have agreed to guest blog for me during December all about Christmas.  Wait 'til you read their posts! They have lots of fun in store for you- I cannot wait to share the posts with you starting December 2nd.

Don't worry, I will be popping in and out, I can't be THAT quiet, and I have a fun giveaway perfect for a stocking stuffer,  Plus, I have a lot of fun planned already for 2016!

I pray you have a beautifully. blessed Holiday Season and I pray you remember why it is we celebrate!  May the Lord bless you and your family this Christmas!

Blessings,