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Christmas is such a wonderful time of year! A celebratory time to reflect upon the arrival of Christ into our fallen human world. He came to establish His kingdom on this earth, and although He is not physically present, He continues His work of bringing about His kingdom and it will be completed at His return. It is interesting how humbly He came. Have you ever thought it funny that the kings came and brought gifts and the shepherds heard and welcomed the Messiah…but then we do not hear of these men any further. As far as we know, they did not go about and declare this good news! It is not until thirty years later that people finally start acknowledging the Savior. And even then He is put to death only three years later. Praise God that although He came and lived in such humility, He is now reigning in heaven as the Lamb that was slain for the sins of the world!

Here are a few resources and ideas that we have found helpful:

Advent Reading – This year we have been reading through Watch for the Light by a compilation of different authors (C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, etc.) on the advent and meaning of Christmas. It is very good and insightful. We have our advent wreath as our centerpiece at our table, but we don’t necessarily always read around it. We bring the book with us in the car to read while driving or in our bedroom before turning out the lights. I recommend it! It may be a little deep for little ones, but then it gives our hubby’s opportunity to truly teach and expand upon it. Aaron has had to do this for me many times already. This is a picture of our advent wreath. I bought the wreath and a simple garland that I stuffed in it after Christmas last year when everything went on sale. I like the red and white candle theme, although many people do purple, pink and white.

Jesus Gift – I mentioned this a little while ago. This is a special way to minister to a specific need in your church body this Christmas!

Thankfulness Box – a few year back our family designated a basket throughout the month of December in which we would write down special memories that had transpired throughout the year. Every time a memory came to one of us we would write it on a slip of paper, fold it up, and put it in the basket. As we took turns opening gifts on Christmas morning, we would each read one of the memories and reflect on all the blessings that God had poured out on us throughout the year. It was a time to reminisce and remember times together as a family. It was wonderful!

Neighbor Gifts – Last year, a few close friends and I got together and made cookies for each of our neighbors. It was a fun event to do together and so much easier that way! In the past, my family has also made simple table arrangements with fresh greenery and decorations. A very nice gift for the neighbors and friends. It didn’t happen this year, but I was thinking today that I would still really like to do something, but I was discouraged because I thought it was too late. Never! Even if they arrive after Christmas, it is the thought and love of Christ that we are sharing. I am setting aside some time on Saturday to make some simple lemon bread in little loaves for our neighbors. It doesn’t have to be extravagant…I just want to communicate the true meaning of the season! True joy comes from giving and not receiving. Giving the gift of life!

Local Holiday Events – I love going to different holiday events! This year we went to a live journey through Bethlehem put on by a local church. Tomorrow evening we are going to the Grotto Festival of Lights, which is actually a catholic event, but they have a really neat retelling of the Christmas story as you walk through their beautifully decorated and lighted grounds and hear different groups sing in their large chapel (beautiful acoustics). Powerful! We have invited a neighbor couple to go with us. What events take place in your town? Maybe you can invite your neighbors to participate?

Christmas Day – Gingerbread Pancakes at our home for breakfast (I used a similar recipe, although I replace whole wheat flour for the white flour and I don’t use the cocoa powder or nuts). We started this special Christmas breakfast last year and the hubby loves them! Make a special family breakfast and read the Christmas story together. We kept our gifts simple this year: stockings only. I loved it and think we will keep this as a tradition for the future.

Ornaments – each year we are aiming to find a ornament that represents a significant event that happened in our life throughout the year (birth of a child, vacation, etc). My husband’s family did this while growing up. Each child would get a new ornament that represented the year or something they did together as a family, etc. to add to their own personal ornament collection. When they got married, they could take their collection with them. So this year we added “Karis’ First Christmas” to our collection.

Check out my friend Kimi’s blog for some other resources for Holiday Ideas.

Merry Christmas to you all!

While teaching piano this past week I was prompted by a little analogy in our music session that really stood out to me. We were working on the importance of balance between the hands, as there are normally two distinct parts to music, melody and accompaniment. We are always searching the music and tones to discover which hand has the melody at any given time, as it should come out singing above the accompaniment in the other hand.

They are both very important parts to convey the full harmony of the song. Although the melody is often more prominent than the accompaniment, without the accompaniment and background harmonies the melody has no support or fullness. It does not sound as rich and beautiful without this proper balance.

Likewise, in comparison, in a marriage relationship we have two very equally important roles between a husband and a wife, but each has a completely different function. Without one or the other we do not have the full array of beauty and design that God created to be displayed in the marriage relationship, which is then a reflection of the Father and Son’s relationship in the Trinity. If the roles are reversed and the woman is showing disrespect in her attitude towards her husband to such an extend that he feels unworthy and unable to lead his family, we have a conflict of balance. It will sound more like a train wreck than sweet music.

Now every analogy has its falling point, but I do believe God has designed the husband to be the leader and protector of the family, a role that will be more prominent as the melody in music. He is the leader, he is the man of the house. He is to be known in the gates! But without the proper support of the accompaniment, his bride, serving to be his helpmate, encouraging him in his calling, and meeting his needs, he will not find such greatness. He must have a good woman behind him cheering him on.

The irony of this relationship is that being the accompaniment as a woman sounds like such a low position in the eyes of the world. But again, the symphony behind the solo instrument may appear small and insignificant on the recording but when you see it in live performance you couldn’t image the solo instrument sounding like anything without the background of all the different instruments and tones supporting it.The woman and any children that may spring from this relationship are called to a high position of supporting and believing in the man they are following. With this support, that man will go for.

It is only when I fully surrender to God’s beautiful design and harmony for marriage that I find the greatest delight in fulfilling my role as the accompaniment. It is there at Christ’s feet in submission to my husband that I find my greatest joy and purpose. There is no better place for me than to support and serve my husband!

When we work together in God’s design, our marriage will be as music to the world!

Karis turned 7 months old yesterday and definitely has such a sweet personality! She loves people! Yesterday, while I was nursing her upstairs, the door bell rings. As soon as she heard other voices downstairs, she sprang off and started looking curiously around. She knew someone was here other than her mommy and daddy. From then on she was so distracted. You can just assume we didn’t get a good feeding in that time. It was hopeless! I put my nursing cover on and everything, but to no avail!

She also began sitting up on her own this week. It is so precious to see her learn how to balance herself. We have had a few minor accidents with her falling over, but she seems to be brave enough to handle the pain at this stage of the game.

She joined us at the table as well. Her high chair attaches to one of the table chairs, so she is at the same level as Daddy and I. Boy does she enjoy it! Bananas have been her first food and she is very petite and modest in her eating habits. No wide open mouth here, but she still daintily enjoys it. I tried adding squash, but she wasn’t too interested in that. Alas! We’ll stick to the banana for now.

God really has done a good work in me as of late. I am so thankful for this long process, 6 months in fact, of pruning me in regards to my overly passionate desire to have my baby on a perfect schedule. Being inclined to be more organized in my giftings, this has been a significant struggle for me. I have been frustrated, stressed, tearful and overwhelmed by my little one because she wouldn’t adjust to fitting into my schedule and when I wished for her to take a nap and for how long she would rest. I wasn’t too strick about it, but I wanted consistency!!!!! I wanted it too much. The perfect schedule for eating and naps was non-existent or only lasting a few days before it was thrown through a loop again.

I have come to realize that this approach was not strengthening my relationship with my girl, nor was I loving and meeting her needs the way I should. Thank God for His sustaining grace!

Flexibility is not my forte. God has been teaching me to let it go, lay down my desires at His feet, don’t worry about her naps, giving it up! She’ll take a nap when she needs it. If she wakes up earlier than I hoped, than she’ll probably take a longer nap later. Maybe I struggled with the belief that if I carried her in the front pack for her nap, she would get spoiled and never take a nap in her bed. I was believing a lie.

She is my daughter and my priority! She needs my nurturing love and affection. I may not have my hands in as many things as before, but at least I am not missing out on putting my baby before myself. It’s all a part of serving the Master by serving my child!

So I have come from being consumed with the scheduling approach to being more flexible and allowing the Lord to reign in our home. Some of those scheduling books put way to much pressure on the mommy that it has to be done a certain way or else. Praise God for freedom in Christ! I am so much more at peace and joyful now. It’s funny too…as soon as I started letting go, things started going more smoothly. It is amazing how much better we are both doing now than this whole last month. It allows my home to be more of a haven for my husband too since I am removing that gloomy and depressed attitude! Praise God!

There is so much more peace where God reigns and not me!

Is there an area of your life that you need to surrender to the Lord today?

Isn’t she a cutie? I guess I am a little biased. I think she is getting my curly hair!

Check out this great site for lots of creative ideas for celebrating the holidays. There are resources for purposeful holiday ideas that can be practiced throughout the year. I am bookmarking some of these ideas in a “traditions” folder so I can look back at them in years to come as my children (Lord willing!) grow older. Really enjoy this resource!

Here is the start of ideas and resources for your purposeful holiday preparations (as I talked about here)!

This is an excellent site for learning some thoughts on different meanings of Christmas traditions and symbols that are displayed around us. I learned alot as I read through this. Consider how you might incorporate more purpose into your holiday symbols by learning the history behind it all. Should we not put more thought into what the world sees in how we celebrate and decorate for the holidays? One idea would be to frame notes around each decoration with its symbolism and meaning.

One such example is the use of bells in your holiday decorations. Here is what they said:

Bells both call us to worship (church bells) and remind us of the joyous angelic announcement of Christ’s birth to the lowly shepherds.The golden color of ones often seen is a Kingly one and reminds us of our Lord and Savior.

More resources and ideas to come….