Balanced Perspective -- Living Out a Christ-Centered Christmas

Perhaps it is because I've already lived much of my life as an all-or-nothing person that I now search earnestly for a balanced perspective on so many things:

- Traditional medicine vs. naturopathic means of finding healing

- Eating organic foods vs. eating a good old-fashioned (trans-fat filled) donut now and again

- Living with an agrarian focus but all the while buying our dog food at the local D&B

- Celebrating a harvest celebration (Halloween excluded) vs. ignoring the whole pagan event.

The Christmas holiday is no exception. In the past few years, God has been so good to help me to be purposeful to create a Christ-centered focus during the month of Advent whilst still participating in the various traditions our culture has created (gift giving, Christmas cards, parties, musical opportunities, etc.). I have felt tremendously blessed by these efforts which focus on three things:

1. Preparation prior to December - I work diligently to do all of my gift buying, making, and wrapping before December 1 arrives. I also aim to have our Christmas cards addressed and written prior to that date. Our schedule is meaningfully planned and carefully kept open so as to not overwhelm us during this month. Days are marked and guarded carefully as simply "family days" where we can enjoy games, Christmas movies of old, and family-favorite comfort foods in the company of "just us". Finally, we usually decorate for Christmas just after the Thanksgiving holiday, allowing me (in particular) to really focus, change my heart, and slow down. Being purposeful to get these tasks out of the way has been tremendously freeing as it enables us to be relatively free from the anxiety often associated with the season. More importantly, it clears our hearts and minds so they can be Christ-centered and Advent-focused in our day by day walk through the month.

2. Keep Christmas giving-centered and simple - Keeping the holiday giving centered really begins at Thanksgiving time when we aim to be service oriented in living out our thankfulness for the many blessings God has given. This giving-mentality continues into our Advent season as we are very purposeful as a family to pray for and then give to a needy family that God has brought into our lives (all you have to do is pray -- He will be faithful to bring someone into your life). This looks different each year but has included: providing groceries and personally shopping for the family, actually traveling to and decorating/holiday baking for the family, buying and wrapping gifts for the family members, giving gift cards to the members so that they can buy gifts for each other, buying needed items such as blankets, paying for a heat bill so that the family can be warm through the month, or whatever else might be needed.

In addition to giving to others outside our family, God has been so good to help us keep our focus giving-centered within our family. This has been a tremendous blessing to my husband and I as we've found our children to be far more interested in giving to each other and others (using their own hard-earned money) than they are in curiosity regarding what they will receive under the tree on Christmas morning. It never fails that their faces are exploding with absolute delight as they are anxious to give their gifts to each other and to us first. Gifts given need not be extravagant or expensive. For those who will appreciate it, a handmade gift filled with the sacrifice of time and giving of the heart is always much more meaningful than something haphazardly chosen on your latest trip to WalMart. Our generosity towards others within the presence of our children and our purposeful giving in meaningful ways to them as well has proven to be very effective in encouraging generous hearts in our children.

3. Be diligent and purposeful to communicate Christ - this takes purpose, effort, and a daily walk with God as the busyness of the season can so easily undermine your efforts. We choose carefully how we decorate our home for the holiday -- focusing on God's gift of beauty through nature, the nativity, and the warmth of home and all that it represents. We've been purposeful to keep Santa out of our decorating as well as our focus for the holiday; however, we have taught our children about Saint Nicholas as well as the Christmas customs taught around the world. In our family, we participate in a daily Advent devotional reading as well as a weekly (Sunday evening) Advent lighting complete with the study and exegesis of God's Word on the meaning of the candle being lit, hymn singing with a carol that represents that meaning, lighting of the candle, and family prayer. I have a few resources (listed at the bottom) which I've used over the years to help me plan for this. I typically sit down in the quiet of an early morning and plan our Advent celebration just after Thanksgiving when my heart is full and my mind is fresh. Our many, many read aloud sessions with deliciously beautiful illustrations are focused on telling the story of Jesus' birth as well as celebrating the tradition of giving, not on the antics and adventures of Santa Claus or snowmen running from monsters.

This is the first year we have also put out a "Happy Birthday Jesus" jar sitting next to two Compassion International catalogues showcasing the needs of poorer countries and the gifts (typically in the way of buying animals, seeds, or donations toward well-drilling) which we can buy. Family members can donate spare change, their allowance for the month, or any amount of money that they feel called to give. My youngest has embraced this to the fullest, heading straight to her piggy bank and emptying its contents to go in the jar. Smile. She looked right up at me with those bluish green eyes and rosy cheeks with a look of sincere and tender affection and said, "Mommy, God loves a cheerful giver!" She is so right. She went to bed with dreams of giving ducks, chickens, seeds, and goats to our motherless Compassion Child (Agatha) living in Tanzania who is able to go to school and receive a Christian education through our monthly giving.

While I greatly appreciate the concern many have in not wanting to support the commercial frenzy that Christmas has become and therefore losing sight of the true purpose and reason for Christmas, I believe that it is possible to walk this path with a balanced perspective and enjoy a Christ-centered Christmas alongside some cultural traditions. Each family must respectfully and faithfully search out the answers and method that best fits their convictions of the heart. God is and continues to be faithful to reveal this in His own timing. Blessed Christmas to you and yours as you celebrate His birth in your own unique ways.

Resources:

"A Family Advent: Keeping the Savior in the Season" by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

"Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas" by Sharon Jaynes

"Family Celebrations at Christmas" by Ann Hibbard

"Christmas Gatherings: How to Host Evangelistic Christmas Gatherings" by Joyce Bademan.

Project Angel Tree -- Prison Fellowship www.angeltree.org

Operation Christmas Child -- Samaritanspurse.org

Jesse Tree patterns and information -- Proverbs31.org or www.aholyexperience.com

Advent Season

The quiet has returned with the snow this week. I forget how much sound the outside makes -- the mowers, the goats and cows and roosters, the birds of prey circling overhead, the tractors and four-wheelers. The six inches of snow quells all of that and the air is finally still.

Christmas is here. Snug blankets on the couch signify that our evenings of reading each night have returned. There suddenly seems more time in my day . . . more darkened hours to fill with light. Needy arms await soothing as time seems to stand still.

The music of the season has returned, as have the tastes. Ginger and molasses and mint and chocolate become intermingled in our days. The decorations are arranged and the special trees are in their places awaiting each day's lighting. I think I love the twinkle of Christmas lights in the early morning hours more than any other time ...

Our Sunday evening advent times have returned with reading and sharing, singing and lighting. Each child carries a candle to bed singing "Silent Night" until that one final silent night when anticipation meets with joy.

Pictures of us from years gone by draw me in to remember .... and sometimes weep. It is all happening so fast. How I cherish each passing year. Praise God for His gift of Christmas. I do.

The Giving in Thanksgiving

We have snow on the ground with fall leaves sprinkled on top. It's an amazing contrast as we transition seasons. I love this time of year ... love the quiet and the purpose that comes with preparing for a feast and giving of gifts.

Each year we have prayed earnestly (usually beginning in September) for the Lord to reveal to us a way that we can serve and give outside of ourselves during the holiday season. We usually pray specifically for God to give us a family to bless. He is always faithful to answer. There is so much need right now -- families struggling to stay in their homes, families moving with a few days notice after the bank arrives on their doorstep and orders them to leave. Families hungry, cold, dealing with severe health issues and no insurance to pay .... families so alone in their suffering.

This year we have been privileged and blessed beyond measure to meet some of these needs. My children will be able to touch and speak to and serve some of those needy families tomorrow evening as we help to serve a meal to nearly 2,000 residents hopeful for a warm meal and a smile of lovingkindness. We will deliver bags of joy and gift cards of hope in the days to come. This is Thanksgiving. It is giving with thanks ... blended with humble adoration of a great big God who knows all the needs and sees to it that they are met. Seek out ways to give this day. All you need to do is pray. He will be faithful to answer.

And then he turned sixteen ....

This morning I sat at my devotional desk, where I've sat so many times before, looking at the three pictures of my wee babes. Josiah's is when he is just hours old, already alert and happy and interested in everything around him. As I held that picture in my hands, I prayed and cried out to my Lord for the heart and life of my child -- now taller than me, definitely smarter than me, and quickly approaching independence and responsibility well beyond his years. Sixteen.

We tried to decide just when we began the tradition of the number pancakes -- likely when Josiah was 3 or 4 years old. It is a well-anticipated tradition ... each number filled with sustenance and time and love.

His face is changing, had to finally shave off those long hairs growing over his top lip. A late bloomer physically like his Momma ... God has used this humble beginning in his life to grow him more like Him. I am so proud of the man he is becoming.

My children are the dearest of friends -- one of the many, many tremendous benefits of homeschooling. Isabelle and Isaac spent a good deal of their own money to buy him a gift he'll use time and again. They were so anticipating giving it. The joy on their faces was worth more than the look on his ...

I've held it together these days and weeks leading up to this momentous day in our family. A simple prayer for the blessing of our food and the life of our firstborn allowed the floodgates to flow freely. My children are quite accustomed to my tears .... here I receive a Momma hug as I weep into the neck of my man-child.

Who am I to deserve this greatest of gifts? Thanksgiving brings contentment. I am ever so content .... to God be all the glory.

Study of Trees

We've enjoyed a truly beautiful autumn. The weather has been warm, the nights and early mornings chilly and crisp. It is only now that the ground below my feet feels differently and the sun's angles have shifted on our daily walks. This past month Isabelle and I have studied trees for our science unit study. It has been delightful!

Along with tree shapes, sizes, bark rubbings and identification, leaf types and walks galore, we finished off our study with a field trip to a city park filled with a wide variety of leaves. We shared our study with dear friends who came, taught what they had learned, and listened as we did the same.

Dear dear friends and extended family to boot, we are so privileged to share these relationships now. The kids enjoyed the large open spaces, the squirrels, and variety of trees (the Moms enjoyed a diet coke and quiet conversation amidst a picnic lunch and rounding up kids).

A scavenger hunt was on the schedule as well as measuring trees, finding leaves and nuts, and leaves the size of one's hand. It took 3 children to encircle this tree!

Ahh, the delight and wonder found nearly daily on the face of my precious daughter. Does learning get any better than this?

The glory of autumn is coming to an end and the dark mornings and nights are closing in. God has been so good to help us relish it one tree at a time this season. Happy autumn to you!

Bounty

Our little farm is slowly being put to bed in winter preparation. Gardens tilled, pantry filled, and last fruits being savored. Isabelle and I found two apples missed on one of our trees. We relished their crunch and flavor .... things always taste better when grown by the sweat of your own brow.

Each night as the table is set, I notice the light fading with autumn's shift. The bounty of God's gifts are centerpieces in our hearts and minds as we finish well another season of agrarian living.

Beans and potatoes are tucked away safely awaiting a mid-winter meal when their homegrown taste will bring comfort like no other.

I am filled with thankfulness for yet another season of bounty. Gardening is such a process and so fulfilling. Learning abounds through every planting, every evening session of weed pulling, every bean and squash and berry ....

So thankful for the promises He gives through the land. We've been entrusted to use it wisely. In this season of our lives, that involves work, side by side effort, sacrifice, and giving.

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." Genesis 8:22 This is God's promise to all gardeners :-)

"Thanksgiving brings contentment, " says Elizabeth Elliot. Right here, right now, in this moment ... I am very content.

Harvest Home

God granted us a beautiful reprieve this September. Although it was filled with work (the "busy at home" kind), it was filled with purposeful and meaningful pockets of time.

We took our yearly vacation to the Oregon Coast during this month. It was perfectly clear and beautiful our entire weekend. We spent hours on the beach relaxing and playing, but also searching for local tide pools.

My Dad and his wife, Bonnie, were able to join us for the weekend. The kids played a million games of pool with Grandpere and loved every minute of their visit.

My children are an adventurous bunch! Here they climbed up into a cave along the side of the ocean cliffs! This is what memories are made of ....

Homeschooling has continued in spite of nearly weekly interruptions due to various weekends away camping or vacationing, as well as days when the harvest is too much for me to handle alone and all hands are called to help pull, dig, pick, peel, can, etc. Isabelle and I spent our science time during September studying ocean life in preparation for our tide pool visit. We were able to gather several specimens to bring home and study. We added them to what we've already had collected and created quite a display for Daddy and the brothers to admire :-)

Although our weather has not been the most suitable for growing pumpkins or tomatoes, we have enjoyed a massive harvest of fruit, beans, berries, and gourds. I've been able to freeze or can a variety of fruits and vegetables -- always such a blessing. In addition, we put our first produce in the root cellar today (potatoes, pumpkins, and carrots) to see how they fare through the winter. We have enjoyed sharing much of what we've grown with family and church friends who were willing to come and dig, bag, or pick what they would like to take home.

This September, the boys achieved the milestone of testing for and receiving their brown belts in their continued study of karate. It will take them over a year of testing before they are even able to test for their black belts. They really enjoy and gain a great deal physically and mentally from this sport.

We have all spent hours on the back porch canning up a storm. Homemade spaghetti sauce (with all our own home grown herbs, onions, and garlic), peaches and peach jam from our huge harvest of peaches this year, apple pie filling and applesauce as well as dried apples, berry preserves, and green beans happily fill my pantry shelves. We also harvested honey after a two year rest for our bees.

The gardens are now tilled under and the last of the canning will be done in a day or so. This is such a busy and yet rewarding time of year. We are counting our blessings one by one as God continues to sustain us for the tasks at hand.

Back-to-(Home)School

It seems that no matter how many years I do this, I still can't wait to fall back into the routine of walking my children through the day as they learn and grow and become ....

Freshly sharpened pencils and anticipation combined with resolve makes for a glorious start of my 12th year of homeschooling.

Little fingers work in earnest to shape new letters, read new words, and enjoy finally being involved in every part of our homeschool day. Growing fingers work harder math problems, type papers at the computer, and anticipate classes of growing complexity.

We sit morning after morning and through a portion of each afternoon studying and reading and writing here. This table, filled with lines and holes and markings from years gone by, is likely going to be my most treasured piece of furniture when, at last, this room sits quiet and empty.

This large home filled with small rooms is God's continued gift to us as each and every room is used daily. Music fills the morning hours with violin, piano, and guitar. It is a crucial and highly valued of our daily routine .... a gift beyond measure.

Nooks for imaginary play and shelves and shelves of books make our homeschool room a place of comfort and joy nearly every day of the year. Atmosphere is everything -- whether it is a corner or a room. I continue to be purposeful to provide warmth in the midst of learning. It is HOME schooling after all.

Activity balanced with quiet, intense learning is always the way we have educated our whole hearted children. Karate practice (both boys are soon to be brown belts), runs around the yard, purposeful fitness times, and daily walks keep us awake throughout our days.

This couch is now beginning to wear thin in places after years of being sat on, laid across, hung from, and tumbled over. It is where I sit and read, one child (sometimes two) on either side, head's snuggled on my shoulder, legs touching, breath making quiet rhythm to my words. Cherished moments day after day.

The crockpot is now officially my best friend. Filled in the wee morning hours with nourishing and often home-grown food, it soothes us all day with its comforting smells and the promise of reprieve as evening approaches.

Art supplies and blocks, table space and maps, Legos and books and room to stretch and tumble and build huge creations .... this is where you'll find me. This is where my cup is filled. Homeschooling continues to be my calling and passion with blessed assurance .... I continue to run this race with perseverance.

July & August - Better Late than Never

This summer was the shortest in my memory. The days slipped through my hands like grains of lakeshore sand. Yesterday, I indulged myself in a good long cry .... knowing that another summer was nearly over and feeling as if I had so little to show for the time. This is life. I must embrace whatever comes my way.

But there were pockets of time, pockets of joy amidst a stress-filled July and August. There were wildflowers along the gravel road of Scriver Creek -- our yearly camping destination as a family.

There were many many joy-filled moments surrounding water for my kids. Trips to the water park for screams of anticipated fear, swimming at the godparents' community pool, swimming in lakes and ponds for hours in a row, swimming lessons with the Blackhursts for yet another year (our 9th!), and of course, running through sprinklers on foot or huddled in the Ranger racing through the field as the pasture sprinklers blast away.

There were moments of quiet exploration, moments of quiet reading, moments of just quiet. Praise God for those moments. There weren't enough of them to suit my needs .... but they were what was given and so I will be thankful. I am learning ...... "Thankfulness brings contentment." - Elisabeth Elliot

And there was always this little one to light my world and my days, to make me laugh and ponder and be amazed at her creativity with string or dirt or all things first-aid. She is a gift beyond measure. I praise You God for this treasure.

And of course this one ..... with unceasing energy which, if not carefully directed, can create chaos and laughter and mischief in two seconds flat. He, forever my comforter and caretaker, was busy with games and balls and buildings of assorted shapes and colors. He is always ready for a competitor. I was willing but not able as much as I would have liked .... but again, it was what I was given and so I will be thankful.

And this one. Smile. He grew weary of studying by the middle of July and I was so glad. We missed him, his funny accents to smooth out the wrinkles of attitudes and grumbling and life amidst daily chores. We missed his willingness to put off being 15 1/2 and instead join into a world of Peter Pan or Adventurer or Patient or Evil Villain. And so, he came back :-) and we read under the willow tree (only twice, but it did at least happen!). He helped in a myriad of ways. We can now entirely count on him. What a gift -- trust, responsibility, accountability. He is becoming a man. Thank You Lord.

And then it happened again. Another year passed and another birthday arrived. I now have two teenagers and the wrinkles under my eyes prove that I am aging right along with them. Oh, but the blessing and gift of motherhood!! It's worth a thousand wrinkles.

So... another summer draws to a close. Homeschooling resumes in full fervor. My 12th year. Isn't that amazing? What's really amazing is JUST HOW MUCH God makes up the difference. The nights feel cooler and I'm having to wait longer each morning before going outside for the morning show of pink and purple sunrises, the sound of roosters crowing far and near, the stirring of the neighborhood, and the smell of freshly mown pasture grass. I'm hanging on to the green and the warm just a little longer . . .