The Afterglow

Today I finally got the decorations off the Christmas tree. The family convinced me to leave the tree up longer than I wanted during holidays. Although I knew that meant I wouldn't get the tree down till school started again in the New Year, I obliged. We all love the ambiance of the tree lit room.

I have been enjoying the afterglow of Christmas in our family life as well. In an earlier blog I had commented on our family tradition of picking names and buying relational gifts and giving away "saved" money. I have been enjoying seeing this tradition grow and take roots in our lives. The authentic excitement that's growing to give gifts and the desire to use them together makes me giddy just thinking about it.
One of the gifts I gave Megan was the cookbook, "Mennonite Girls Can Cook". She loves being in the kitchen and in fact just tonight as I was tucking her into bed she said, "I think I'd like to make the supper meals for a whole week!" I'm feeling like there is no such gift as a selfless one as I ponder the benefits...

I have been enjoying the rewards of "doing gifts" together and the anticipation of it.




I've been enjoying the huge smiles, you know the kind that you can't suppress even if you try, when I hear requests for using a shared gift, like sitting together under a cozy throw for a snuggle and hot drink.

Early in January we decided as a family how to spend the money saved through cutbacks in daily spending throughout the season. We kept a running list on the fridge during the season and each child was able to pick something from the World Vision catalogue, something they had wished for at the onset. I think my favorite moment was when one of the kids said, "you know, it wasn't really that hard, we should keep doing that".







In the beginning of new year when resolutions and hope are abundant, we dream of more, of how we can give more and be more. We contemplate our dreams, our spending, our daily actions, our habits and our free time.
I think about my fitness videos and how fitness guru Jillian Michaels encourages us to give it all we've got especially when our energy is high at the beginning of a workout. And how really all it takes is a bit of focussed time each day. A commitment. It may hurt for awhile while when we're in it but all of a sudden it's over and we've grown stronger from it.

In the afterglow, I'm hopeful because of God's faithfulness to change and grow hearts.


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Merry Christmas!

I was fortunate to win a photo shoot with Gingersnaps photography. Here are a few favourites I'd like to share in the form of a Christmas greeting.









We pray that you receive the love, hope, peace and joy offered through the gift of Jesus this Christmas.



Merry Christmas!

Ready My Heart

Ready my heart for the birth of Immanuel;
ready my soul for the Prince of Peace.
Heap the straw of my life for His body to lie on;
light the candle of hope,
let the child come in.












Mine is the home that is poor and is barren;
mine is the stable of cold and stone.
Break the light to each corner of doubt and of darkness;
now the Word is made flesh for the birth of me.




Alleluia!

Advent Peace

The advent candle that was lit on Sunday morning was the candle of peace. I didn't remember that on my own. It was woven through the theme of the family service. The virtue was peace and the definition we recited with our children was, "proving you care more about someone than winning an argument." In our family discussion about peace we discover how unpeaceful we feel because things haven't gone the way we hoped and how often our response in those situations is to set things right, our right. We are more concerned with ourselves than in seeing what is going on in the other person.

The Christmas story demonstrates this kind of giving up. This kind of seeing things through in love right to the cross.

We hear "that on the first Christmas God, through the angels, sent the message of peace to the shepherds. That message has been passed on through the ages until one day the message of peace was passed on to you."

The simple message overwhelmed, like stepping out into the cold on a minus 30 winter day. It was in that moment that time froze but my eyes thawed and puddled. I was overcome with immense gratitude.

Thank you God!

Thank you for sending the Message.

Thank you for my Mom and Dad and for their faithfulness to God to pass on this message of peace.

Thank you for how the message changes moments, changes lives.

The children sang the message, "For unto us a child is born. Unto us, a Son is given. And His name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."

I think it's their naive presentation of something so amazing that makes the simple, sophisticated (Da Vinci). In their adorable, exuberant, beautiful and bashful way, they represent all of us speaking of things we don't yet understand, of living in ways we know and believe to be right but having no capacity on our own to get it right. They represent us, our journey and our need for a Saviour.

They remind me that this message of peace isn't meant to be hidden or contained. It is to shine brightly and be shared generously.

Missing The Point

I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist. I'm sure my family would argue that I can be a nit pick, or to put a positive spin on it and because I have a nice family, they might say I have high standards for living.

As we've been working to find a way "to do" Christmas over the years I have hemmed and hawed and out right argued about how this season should look. I have straddled both sides of the fence from embracing commercialism to shunning it. My poor family walks through the pendulum swings with me as I struggle to find the balance.

I think one of my greatest fears as a parent is that I won't have taught my kids well enough or given them enough information and enough proof that Jesus is everything. That Jesus is peace and is our complete purpose. I struggle with how they can properly grow when their mother can't seem to get it right! Maybe that's the part of Advent I'm slowly learning. Maybe that's what the gospel teaches us through the example of Jesus. In my search to get it, I find myself looking for a new right way of doing things, a ritual if you will, of how we can make advent meaningful in our house. However, to-do lists or rules can become an end to themselves. They are measurable and can become something to attain, again missing the point. The gospels teach us it's not about me being enough. It's that God is enough.

Scripture is clear on what God requires of us, to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God, Micah 6:8. How that looks in each of our situations is not always clear. In this season our family is working on embracing the generous abundance of Gods love. How can we, with joy, give up to give away. How can we concretely speak about and be about this absurd selfless love daily? If our celebrations become more about us than others we've missed the point of Christmas, the point of the entire gospel. What struck me with force a couple of days ago was the fact that the grace of God enters every situation and begs us to accepts it. God is not limited by our celebrations if our desire is to see Him made famous.

I am grateful that getting it right isn't the point but that following obediently during every season is.

For All The Times...

we miss garbage day,
I walk in late to church with the kids,
we leave the dishes out on the counter (dirty),
we miss walking the dog,
we have overdue library books,

we are especially thankful for times of

shared celebrations,




homemade NHL posters,


creative birthday cakes,


surprise thoughtful gifts,


each other.

The Kingdom of God Belongs to Such as These...

We have a Christmas tradition in our little household. It started a number of years back. If Dave had his way, it would have started many years ago, I just take awhile to catch on sometimes. Between the five of us we pick names for a gift exchange. The gift needs to be a relational gift, something that we can do together both the gift giver and the one receiving the gift. We have really enjoyed these gifts. They are creative and meaningful for both parties involved. The other part of this tradition is that the money saved from this goes towards something or someone else. Sometimes we look for an immediate need around us (not our own) while other times, we join in with an already existing organization.

The kids have been asking for weeks already if we can pick names. Finally, last weekend when they came with the request again we sent them to the basement with a World Vision catalog and asked the kids to look through it, to think through previous years' ideas and current needs around us and to agree on something and present it to us when they were ready. Well about a whole 10-15 minutes later they called us!

We came down and they had set up a chalk board covered with a blanket, a computer device on a TV tray, a piggy bank and the World Vision Catalog. Our eldest started the presentation and by the end, all had participated in one aspect of the presentation. The teacher in me appreciated that they were organized, well spoken and very excited! Their dream was big!

Their enthusiasm and their dream made me wonder if this is a part of what Jesus meant when He said,
Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Luke 18.16.

Their presentation seemed to confidently say, obstacles? What obstacles! The kids were helping me to see,
With human's it's impossible, with God, all is possible. From Luke 18.27.

As a finisher to their presentation they showed us the money they were willing to put into the kiddie to start it all off, ranging from birthday money to money earned.

We were floored! Questions and discussion followed. Then we brainstormed about extra sacrifices we would have to make in order for this to happen. With excitement, we all agreed on the project. Unanimous. Carried.

So here we are, off on an adventure with our family for the next month and a bit. I can already say we have been feeling some crunch. We realize how often we run to the store for things. We have been forced to think harder and more creatively. We are talking through the stuff we hang on to that causes clutter, our money habits, our spending, repairs, food costs...as well as attitude of the heart.

I'd love to hear from you! What kinds of Christmas projects have you done with your family or friends to share Christ's love during this season?