Archive | November, 2011

By monthly contributor, Ann Dunagan of Harvest Ministry

‘Tis the season to be jolly . . . yet often overly busy.

Writing Christmas cards. Decorating the house. Buying and wrapping presents. Cooking. Baking. Preparing for parties and hospitality. Getting ready for church events. Just thinking about all these things we “need” to do can be exhausting, but it doesn’t need to be.

As we’re heading into the Christmas season, a time to celebrate God’s PEACE and joy, let’s remember to simply seek God for what should be done (and what activities could be eliminated to bring more of God’s presence into our homes and family).

To stay in God’s divine daily balance, let’s make PRAYER a priority!

Jon and I just returned home from a thrilling two-week mission outreach to East Africa, so in addition to all of our upcoming Christmas activities, I’m catching up with kiddos and homeschooling, doing weeks of past ministry correspondence (and laundry!!!), helping my husband with oversight for 500+ remote village pastors from nine different nations who are joining with our ministry, seeking God’s provision for 750+ orphan children, preparing for big-kids coming home from college (including a just-engaged son — making two upcoming summer weddings), plus thinking about what to do for upcoming holiday meals with lots of company and for three immediate-family-member December birthdays . . . Whew!!!

Is it possible to have peace in the midst of busyness?

YES!!! The key is casting our cares on the Lord, and spending special time in the presence of God, one-on-one with Jesus, our Almighty Prince of Peace.

The will of God —
nothing less, nothing more, nothing else.”
— F. E. Marsh

Think of everything Jesus needed to do!!!

I just love the example our Lord Jesus demonstrated to us during His time here on earth. Instead of being directed by the overwhelming needs of the moment, Jesus took time to pray and to seek the Heavenly Father’s perfect direction for each day, and did exactly (and only) what needed to be done . . .

Jesus only lived 33 years on earth and spent just 3 short years in ministry.

In this short time period, Jesus had more on His “to-do” list than any of of could ever comprehend.

• He was responsible for providing God’s only way of salvation for all humanity.

• He had to establish a brand-new worldwide training program (through scriptural teaching and personal example) to explain God’s eternal kingdom.

• He had to equip His ground-level leaders (in deep theology and practical life skills) for future global impact.

• And on top of all that, He couldn’t sin or make a mistake . . . not even once!

Even with such a limited time allotment, an eternally important job, and such spiritual “pressure” (from our point of view), Jesus was never rushed or stressed-out. In spite of all He needed to do (and because of all He needed to do), Jesus always took time to pray.

God’s perspective is so much different than ours.

During his 33 years on earth, Jesus took 30 years to live as a simple carpenter and to simply “be” with His Heavenly Father. Jesus was totally perfect and totally God-in-the-Flesh, yet throughout His life He took time to seek God’s direction and guidance. Even when everyone else was busy and multitudes had pressing needs, Jesus took time to be quiet and to get away, and to pray.

Mark 1:35-38 says,

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He [Jesus] went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.”

Instead of being directed by the overwhelming needs of the moment, Jesus took time to pray in a solitary place (and He didn’t even tell His disciples where He was going). After this personal prayer time, Jesus knew the heavenly Father’s perfect direction for that day, and He did exactly what needed to be done.

If prayer was that important to Jesus, it should be important to us!

Finding PEACE . . . through PRAYER!

If you haven’t been praying regularly, it’s a good idea to begin by setting aside a particular new “MEETING TIME” with God:

• perhaps set your morning alarm a bit earlier

• perhaps establish a habit of reading the Bible as you’re sipping your morning coffee

• perhaps take time for the Lord during your children’s quiet time in the afternoon

• perhaps pray in the evening, after you put your kids to bed

May God bless you with PEACE this Christmas season . . . as you take time to seek Him in the quiet place, in a time of prayer.

This year we are beginning to use an Advent Calendar for creating fun, meaningful, creative, and gift giving activities through the Advent season. I have seen a ton of amazing Advent Calendars across the web, but knew I had to put together something very simple in order for this to be manageable. I purchased this set of muslin stamped bags to fill with our daily activities, and hung then on a simple branch from our backyard with a ribbon to hang it on our wall. Each day we will add a piece to our children’s Nativity Set as well as we await the arrival of Baby Jesus. I also have purchased a few new Christmas books to be opened throughout the month to add to our collection.

Here is our list of activities for this year:

Buy a new Christmas album and listen to it
Open and read a Christmas story book
Go to the mountain and find a Christmas tree
Make pumpkin bread and give to the neighbors
Sing Christmas carols around the tree
Make a fun Christmas ornament
Open and read a Christmas story book (Legend of the Christmas Stocking, Legend of the Christmas Tree, etc)
Wrap Christmas Gifts for our stockings
Make a popcorn/cranberry garland
Make Candy Cane Playdough – give some to neighbor friends
Make reindeer candy canes
Dance to Christmas music
Make a memory Christmas ornament – record memories from the year
Color a Christmas picture
Make coconut hot chocolate and stir with candy canes
Watch a Christmas movie and eat white chocolate peppermint popcorn
Build a Gingerbread house
Drive around and look for Christmas lights
Go visit Santa Claus
Make a Jesus Gift basket and deliver to a family in need
Have a camp out in front of the Christmas tree
Call grandma and grandpa and sing a Christmas song
Sing Christmas carols at senior citizens home
Watch The Nativity Story about the birth of Baby Jesus
Make a birthday cake for Jesus.

Merry Christmas!!!

Another idea we’d like to do throughout the month as we receive various Christmas cards from family and friends is to read/look at the cards together and pray for the families in turn.

Note from Lindsay: We are excited to welcome Daniele at Domestic Serenity as a new monthly contributor! Daniele is a lovely pastor’s wife and mother of five children and has lots of wonderful wisdom and insight to share with us on living simply and intentionally. Beside this, loves to help busy students to make their essays at buyessaynow.com. Check out her blog for sweet encouragement! So without further ado… here’s Daniele.

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 ”Okay kids!  Here’s the plan and agenda for today — first, we’re running to the craft store for supplies, a quick stop for groceries, then off to the library to check out our holiday books…won’t that be fun?  After lunch, we’ll bake gingerbread – lots – and deliver the cookies to our neighbors.  Oh, and we’ll shop for our Angel Tree child somewhere in there!

When Daddy gets home, off to get our own tree!  We’ll decorate, have hot chocolate, play Christmas music and do our Advent calendar.  This year we’re reading some exciting stories each night that I know you’ll just love!  Right before bed, we’ll pause to choose a few gifts for those in need.  Hmm, what shall it be — chickens, pigs, Bibles, a bicycle?  Can’t wait to decide!  This is going to be such a fabulous day, right?

Kids?  Kids!?…”

{Mom looks around to find that her children have dozed off.  She sighs and wakes them.  Off they go into the day.}

Okay, so this is a fictitious scenario I’m imagining with Mom excitement-filled and kids running very quickly out of fuel.  It’s too full of over-the-top-activity that none of us would actually attempt.

Or do we?   Reflect for a moment on the upcoming holiday season :: the plans, ideas, gatherings, celebrations, activities and timeline of events for your family.  Now think of the little ones in your home (or the big kiddos as well).  Does the pace ahead provide some breathing room, time for pause to soak it all in, some time for…

…serenity?

Serenity is a fancy word for a state of stillness or calm, of peacefulness.  We all gravitate towards this need because I believe our Maker created us with a ‘pause-o-meter’.  An internal reminder that our minds, our hearts, our bodies can only go so fast and so long before burning out.  The same is true for our children.

I’ll be the first to admit of this tendency to over-schedule November and December with good things, but plans nonetheless that rob our home and my little ones of the greatest gift I could bless them with during the holidays — time for pause.  Time to reflect.  Time for serenity.

I’m committing to three areas of provision for this gift in our home.  Perhaps we could all use a gentle reminder — care to join me?

Serenity Socially

Simply put — I’m cutting back on people contact.  Instead of succumbing children to extra doses of hustle bustle, seek to run errands in larger chunks while they stay with a spouse, friend or sitter.  If there’s a stretch of many activities, try for days ahead or afterwards of just being home, sandwiching the fullness with rest on either side.

Prioritize which people events to include the children, which to provide for another option and which to say ‘no’ to for this year.

Serenity Physically & Emotionally

Little bodies become weary much quicker than Mom or Dad, so pausing and keeping to routines and schedules should play a huge role.  When I cut short the toddler’s nap, no wonder he’s not interested in smiling for pictures later or in Christmas crafts {or such is our case, wails loudly in aforementioned craft store! Ahem.}

Evaluating how much stimuli surrounds our days is important — offering the sights and sounds of the season in bite-sized doses instead of too much at once allows children time to receive each one, and to enjoy.

When are children are physically rested, their emotions are more likely to stay in check.

Serenity Spiritually

Scheduling our families to complete a large list of hospitable and charitable activities can leave us just short of irritable.  That’s not quite the gospel Jesus had in mind.  He does asks us to meet needs of those less fortunate and to open our homes, yet we should choose wisely and carefully how to involve our families.  How can your home attend to this commission while still honoring Christ’s command to rest?

The same is true for spiritual instruction during this season – it’s a marathon, not a sprint.  Each passing year as we’re faithful to teach, our children understand more and more.  There’s no need to download it all at once or to fear that they won’t get ‘the reason for the season’.  They will.  A little bit at a time.

The holidays are a celebratory time, yet they’re not in isolation from the rest of life.  We can and should provide for both a joyous and peaceful season in our homes, and especially for our children.

Grace in the journey…

Photo Credit

We are all very much aware how much time and energy Christmas preparations can consume and how easily we can loose focus on the true meaning of it all. Every year I have to sit down and prayerfully evaluate what we should and should not do this season. We want to keep our hearts in tune and limit the clutter. Here are a few ways we are simplifying this year…

1. Photo cards – get them shipped for you!

For the last several years we have been intentional about sending out Christmas photo cards to our extended family and friends as a means of letting others know that they are loved and thought of during the holiday season. It is a simple way of staying connected and communicate Christ’s love across the miles. We don’t do any fancy letter but love to send out a simple greeting with our annual family photo. But I admit, it is certainly taxing to address and stamp all the cards and get them shipped in a timely fashion. This year, I am simplifying it further and paying a company to address and ship them for me! I found that Card Store will address and ship your cards for free with any purchase. They have some great sales running right now too – 50% off today! One less thing to fill my plate!

2. Limiting the Gifts – stockings only!

While our children young I wanted to establish the proper understanding of the reason and purpose of Christmas. I want our hearts to focus on the blessing of giving with the majority of our Christmas budget resources. We want to cultivate hearts of generosity in our children from a young age, thus we participate in Operation Christmas Child and we chose a family that we can adopt and bless with a Jesus Gift. So this year we are establishing a new tradition of only giving gifts that fit in our stockings with a specific gift budget of $25 per child and $50 for my husband and I. So I’ve purchased an assortment of fun learning things: Classical Kids CDs, art supplies, Brain Quest, garden gloves & kids garden tools. This has really helped simplify the gift giving process, as my size and cost are limited, thus my choices are limited.

3. Name Drawing – one gift per side of the family

For gift giving for extended family, we draw names. So we just have one person on each side of the family to buy for. This makes holiday celebrations simple and kept within a reasonable budget. Since we are a married couple, we put our name down together in the hat so if one of our unmarried siblings pick our name they buy a gift that would be appropriate for both of us. I am sure it would be easier to stop gifting to extended family all together, but there is certainly something special in sharing with one another even in a small way.

Beyond our own family, we like to choose just one other baked goodie that we can bless our neighbors and any one else we are trying to reach out to. This year, I am making small mini loaves of pumpkin bread.

4. Pre-plan and limit family outings

In early November, we plan out our outings for the Christmas season. We make a list of all the different activities, concerts, plays, etc. that we could participate in, and then we choose our top 3 activities that we would like to attend for the year, and then we often rotate in the coming years. This year, Aaron is taking Karis on a special Daddy/daughter date to a local adapted production of the Nutcracker, and we will attend our local Macy’s Day Parade, and a children’s version of Handel’s Messiah. We always prefer things that can be fun family outings rather than adults only events.

What steps are you taking to keep Christmas simple this year?

Written by monthly contributing writer, Trina Holden

Are you feeling overwhelmed at the thought that Christmas is just around the corner? Are you passionate about maintaining family traditions and creating memorable moments but are stressed at the mere thought of all the the work that entails?

Perhaps you have just welcomed a new baby into the home, recently moved, or are traveling during the holidays.  This year my days are full to the brim with three little ones, plus our family is going out of town for 10 days in December. This is requiring me to sift through the list of traditional ‘to-do’s’ around our house, choosing the best and letting go of the rest to ensure a peaceful Christmas season. Here’s a list of ways you can simplify this year…

In the Kitchen…

• Choose your favorite recipes and ditch the rest. I’m making just two kinds of cookies this year (gasp!) and one sweet bread. I’m also not obligating myself to any cookie swaps. If we miss some treat terribly, I’ll do up a batch on Valentine’s Day.
• Plan simple and wholesome breakfasts to allow more time for the holiday baking and to balance out the extra sweets you’ll be consuming. Soaked Oatmeal and Smoothies are quick and easy!

Around the House…

• Let some routine tasks go for the month to give you more cushion time. Skip the weekly library run, or use the dryer instead of the clothesline to get the laundry out of the way faster – just for a few weeks!
• De-clutter rooms in preparation for holiday decorations. Box up knick-knacks and put away excess toys and books for the month. It will be easier and more enjoyable to decorate if you start with a clean space.
• Choose one or two ‘go-to’ outfits for each member of the family at the beginning of the season. Keep them washed, ironed, and set aside so you know exactly what you’re all wearing in advance of parties and outings.

And the Gifts…

• Go digital with your family photo and update. I only print and mail to those who don’t have internet, like grandparents. Or, let yourself skip the letter every other year (I do this, too!)
• Postpone some gifting ’till after the season. I don’t know about you, but around here the kids get deliciously overwhelmed by the generosity of friends and extended family on Christmas Day. I’m actually saving a few ideas of things I’d like to make for them till I have the time for crafting in January. I’m sure they’ll appreciate a random, mid-winter surprise!
• Choose ‘One-Size-Fits-All’ gifts for extended family and friends. That list of people you’d like to give ‘just a little something’ to seems to grow each year! Simplify  by choosing a single item that will delight many. Last year, inspired by Lindsay, I made little jars of homemade vanilla extract by the dozens. Every woman on my list got one and they all loved it! A one-size-fits-all gift for guys could be new gloves. For kids this year, I’m thinking homemade play-dough packaged in jam jars, which my children can help me make and wrap.

My goal for this holiday season is to put extra emphasis on our family values and together time. Taking a moment to step back and choosing only the traditions that work for us in this season in our lives ensures I won’t be too rushed and burnt out to enjoy the little moments of twinkle lights reflecting in my daughter’s eyes, or my one-year-old’s wonder at erecting a tree in the corner of the living room.  May you, too, be inspired to simplify so that you can enjoy the season well.

What can you let  go of this year? What traditions are dearest to you or your kids, that you will be sure to make happen? And why?

We have been radically purging our toy collection this year to really minimize to the truly best toys – toys that would stand the test of time. And we have discovered that it is the miniature versions of real life things that our children love the most. They love pretending in their dress, their cooking, and their building. They want to be like Mommy and Daddy. What better way to encourage their participation in service and family life then providing them with little tools so they can jump on board with us?

I love what Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn share in their book, Teaching the Trivium:

“Give the child plenty of time to explore and play. Do not buy ‘toystore’ toys – they are expensive and are usually forgotten after the newness wears off. Invest in real things. Garage sales and auctions are an unending source for things like sewing machines, small tools for working in the garden, hammers, nails, and things for building, some wooden blocks, and dress-up clothes. Buy tools for exploring (a good microscope, telescope, binoculars, etc), not toys for adoring. When your children are young, spend your money on the tools of exploration, and motivate them to learn how to use the tools and enjoy using the tools.”

Dress-ups

A big box of miscellaneous dress ups have been one of the most enjoyed items in our home. Every time we have company, all the girls get lined up in their princess/wedding attire and march around the house. Our collection is a random assortment of Goodwill/thrift store items including fancy girls dresses, old wedding gowns, sparkly women’s shoes, vintage hats and purses, play silks, and a few Melissa & Doug role play costumes. We will be adding some knight costumes soon as our little boy guests are feeling a bit deprived.

Karis has had one sweet Rosy Cheeks cloth doll and a few accessories that she has loved from 15 months of age. No need for a huge collection…one has been well loved, washed repeatedly, and treasured for over three years, and still holding up strong. Practicing being a little mommy is one of the cutest things ever.

Building tools

Some basic wooden building blocks have been a fun item to have in our house because their is a never ending variety of things that can be built and torn down and built again. Lots of imaginative play happens here building churches, castles, grocery stores, and more. Melissa & Doug offer two fabulous wooden block sets that are reasonably priced and nice quality.

The little helpers toolbox (pictured above) is an awesome way to include your little people in the basic repairs around the house that need to be done. Working together with Daddy fixing and building things is quality time invested together plus they are learning basic skills at the same time.

Kitchen tools

We love the Curious Chef Nylon Knife set as they are safe and easy to use for both my two and four year old. The Sassafrass Little Cook set is a full line up of supplies for encouraging kids to participate in the kitchen. And of course the broom and dust pan is always a hit. There are a variety of fun little chef costumes, aprons, and such out there as well. We made our own little apron for Karis a few years back and she still uses it regularly.

Of course, a cute little miniature kitchen with our own homemade assortment of food items with a little grocery cart have been the top favorite toy in our home.

Garden tools

Raking leaves, gardening, weeding, and planting are regular happenings if you have a back yard of any kind. Why not include the little ones and work together? With a kids Big Tool set or garden tool set, they can learn how to help and enjoy the wonders of exploration outdoors in their own free digging play.

Old cell phones & cameras

We have kept a few of our old broken cell phones (or run out of battery life) for the kids pretend play and we experience a lot of laughter as we over hear their conversations calling Aunts and Uncles, Grandma and Grandpa. An old workable digital camera is also fun for little eyes to be able to begin exploring with capturing pictures. Their perspective on life is so precious, it helps keep me treasuring the little things. There are an assortment of kids digital cameras on the market as well which would also encourage that fun explorative creative outlet.

Musical Instruments

We bought Titus a little guitar and xylophone for his 2nd birthday this year and it has certainly been a hit. It has withstood some wear and tear but it has been so much fun to encourage a love for music in our home. Wooden drums, tamborines, and harmonics are other fun instruments for children’s play.

Exploring Tools

As the Bluehorn’s shared above, why not invest now in some quality exploratory tools, such as a good microscope, telescope, binoculars, etc. Now go out and explore nature together with real tools!

I’m excited to start investing in real tools that will help teach my children valuable life skills while serving together to care for the needs of our family. That real toolbox set is on Titus’ birthday list as I can’t get over how cute it is! I look at our toy collection now and see wooden blocks, a kitchen set, matchbox cars, and dress-ups, and they get used every day.