If you were going to name your two least favorite, most likely to be disastrous, days of the year, what would they be?
Guess what mine are.
The first day of school? No.
Black Friday? Nope.
9-11? No again.
Pearl Harbor Day? Keep guessing.
Bear with my honesty, please. Sadly, for many years running, the two worst days on my annual calendar might shock you.
My two least favorite days are …. Drum roll, please… My birthday and Mother’s Day.
I can hear you now. “What???” “That’s gotta be some kind of typo.” “That girl is crazy.”
I have a feeling, though, that I’m not alone in this. I have a feeling that I’m not the only selfish, discontent, hard to please, woman out there.
And before you all join in feeling sorry for me, imagining that my family forgets my birthday or skips the handmade Mother’s Day cards, STOP for you’d all be dreadfully wrong. It’s not anything like that.
Actually, my family tries to do things to please me – breakfast in bed, gifts, cards, dinner out, but you know what? It’s just never enough. I am so deeply entrenched in thinking that every moment of my “special day” should be all about me, that I am destined for disillusionment. I’m certain to be met at some point in the day with a dirty dish, a crying child, or a gift that won’t zip up. The breakfast isn’t cleaned up after, the cards and gifts aren’t quite right, the restaurant isn’t my top choice. Do you feel me, sisters??? The day is never perfect enough and I’m left disappointed rather than delighted.
Now I have a feeling that you are wondering, why I’m telling you this? Why am I sharing this in such a public forum? And why on earth am I telling you this now?
Well, you see, tomorrow marks my 41st birthday and I am determined that my day is going to be different.
Not different because I’ll be swarmed with comments from hundreds of adoring blog followers, but different because I’m determined to wake up with an attitude of gratitude. Different because I’m going to put on joy like a coat. Different because God has put a new song in my heart and I am not the same woman that I used to be, so I don’t have to live like I used to. Different because I don’t have to let my past dictate the future.
Today, I am committing myself to be thankful even for dirty dishes and crying children and pants that are two sizes too small.
Today I’m choosing to be thankful for a family who loves me and a God who made me in His image and who has good plans for me.
Lord, teach me to be content. Teach me to be thankful. Teach me to love others as they show their love for me.
Thank You, Jesus, for making me right where I am and thank You for always growing me to be more like You.
Bear with me. I know that title was bizarre, but as I lay quietly in bed last night meditating on God’s goodness, I had this amazing visual illustration. It went something like this.
Imagine you’re sitting down for a quiet lunch. It’s just you. You’re sitting at a large, round, oak dining room table. In front of you sits a tall glass of skim milk and a small white plate holding a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread and a half dozen of those little, bite-sized raw carrots.
Maybe you’ve heard the analogies about Jesus in your life like He’s in a house — like do you keep Him on the porch, or in a closet or maybe He’s allowed into the formal living room … Or do you invite him in to the kitchen where you really live?
Well, I’m kinda a foodie — No, I’m seriously a foodie and God spoke to me through this FOOD-related spiritual picture. Let’s see if any of you can track with me.
So, is God my nice, healthy, good-looking tall glass of clean, white skim milk? Kept at arm’s length, and good for washing down anything distasteful in my life?
Or is He my side of carrots? Good for me, full of vitamins and crunchy to the teeth? He’s made it on the plate, but not because I want Him there — more because He’s supposed to be there. You know, like a necessary but not desirable part of my life. I don’t hunger for Him, but I know that I need Him.
Or is He the crust on that PB&J sandwich? All around the outside. Visible to the onlooking world. But in my real, every day activities when no one’s watching, I peel Him off and cast Him off on the plate. Maybe when I’m really hungry and I’ve finished off everything else, I pick Him up as a last resort.
Or is He the peanut butter and jelly of my life? Sweet? Appetizing? Spread thick from edge to edge, filling every empty space and oozing out with every bite I take? Is He my “go-to” favorite? What I run to at every point of need, knowing that He will satisfy both my needs and my desires?
I pray that Jesus would fill my life with all that is good and beautiful to overflowing, that He would ooze out of me with joy and gratitude and that He would be my go-to-first response to whatever my day brings.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)
That very same week, we began to pray for the baby boy that God would give to us to adopt.I prayed for him before I knew him, before I’d laid eyes on those big brown eyes, before I’d held those big round thighs, before I’d rubbed that tense, strong back, before I’d heard that laugh that could bring a smile to the weariest mother’s face.
That child who was borne halfway around the world in a nation and culture so different than my own was chosen by a great, big, good God to be my very own “little man.”
Now as I look into those same big brown eyes and hear that same big infectious laugh, those chubby thighs and rigid back may be gone, but I continue to pray for that precious child who has grown into manhood before my very eyes.
And I will continue to pray faithfully for this beloved son until my dying day … because he is worth it.
I pray with thanksgiving to a God who places orphans into families and who placed this one in mine.
I pray with thanksgiving for his first mother who carried him in her womb and who gave us a gift in this beautiful boy.I pray with thanksgiving for the workers in the Russian hospital and baby home who cared for this baby boy for his first six months of life.
I pray with thanksgiving for the Future adoption agency who worked tirelessly to bring him home and all those fellow “Future” families who cheered us on.
Yet, I also pray with humble tears for the millions of other orphans still in need of families.
I pray for the Lord’s blessing upon that first mother we hope to meet in Heaven and on all of the many people who cared for this baby boy and helped make his adoption possible.
I smile and say, “Thank you, Father, for the gift of this special child.”
He brings excitement into life’s daily drudgery that would otherwise drowned me in the mundane.
He memorizes movie lines and song lyrics so effortlessly, reciting actors’ names from movies I’ve long ago forgotten.
He rattles off sports statistics and Cardinals players biographies with fascination and ease.
He draws a crowd with his engaging wit, quick smile and expressive story telling.
What does God have in store for this young man’s future?
Only He knows, but whatever it is, I’m thankful to be a part of it.Happy Birthday, son. I’m glad you’re mine. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Love
TWIG
By the way, if you’d like to give my little big man a birthday gift, how about checking out his YouTube channel? Maybe watch a few zany skits? Maybe become a subscriber even? It really would make his day!
Every year this time of year people think about their New Year resolutions.
I’m not real sure about that myself because I seem to have a hard time following through on the promises I want to make, but I do start every year with some reflection on the past year and prayer for the coming year.
With that in mind, these are my prayers for this year.
Father, teach me to number my days. May I make the most of every moment.
Every moment with my rapidly growing children. Every moment with my husband. Every moment out in the world where my life is on display. Every moment You give me to proclaim Your truths in word and in deed.
Father, please guide me in how to spend my free time. Show me by Your wisdom and grace in how to spend those extra little moments and minutes and hours when nothing is pressing for my attention.
Father, I pray that I would remember that I have been chosen, been made a royal priest, been made holy, made your very own possession, that I would PROCLAIM the excellencies of Him (that’s YOU) who called me out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once I was not part of God’s family, God’s people, Your people, but now I am. Once I had not received mercy but now I have received mercy. Now, as a sojourner and exile, I pray that I would abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against my soul. I pray that I would keep my conduct among the world honorable so that when they seek to speak evil against me, they would see my GOOD deeds and glorify GOD. (1 Peter 2:9-12)
May I live my life as Yours. Your servant. Your slave. Your chosen, adopted child. Your daughter.
May I remember that my life is not my own, that I have been BOUGHT with a price. The blood of Jesus has ransomed me from my slavery to sin. I have become Your bond servant. I have sold myself willingly into Your service.
But, no, it’s more than that. I am MORE than a mere bond servant. I have been made a daughter of the King of kings, Lord of lords, ruler supreme of the universe.
Father, please give me the strength, passion and wisdom to live boldly in the grace and power which that gives me. May I be about my Your business, my Father’s business, today and every day.
Not by my might, nor by my power, but by Your Spirit,
Happy 2014! Let us wake up each morning looking toward the blessings that day holds.
Psalm 90:12 (ESV) “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
Here’s the text from our 2013 Christmas letter. I traditionally have each person write their own part for the newsletter, or at least coerce them into giving me lots of input. This year, I confess, it was all me.
Bill and Kim – married 19 years
Bill – Probably the highlight of this year would be moving to a new house — yes, our fifth house! We moved to a one-story home about 15 minutes south of Collierville, but across state lines. Our new home is located in Barton, MS on a gorgeous 2-acre lot. I’m enjoying the laid back lifestyle of the new neighborhood, complete with four-wheeler rides, bonfires and laser tag in our wooded back yard. I’m still working at FedEx, leading a small group for our church and serving in the audio-video ministry there.
Kim – This year I have been blessed with many opportunities to share Biblical truths from my heart as I led a women’s Bible study over the summer and spoke at two women’s retreats a well as maintaining at blog — http://www.TeachWhatIsGood.com. (Please check it out!) My days are very full homeschooling and caring for my growing family, as well as serving our portable laser tag business, Pure Laser Tag. In July, we took a trip out to Colorado to visit my parents and my sister and her family. Upon arriving home, we began to hurriedly pack for our upcoming move, when Nick (our go-to moving man) contracted viral meningitis and ended up in the hospital for two days. It was so faith-building to see the peace that God gave us as He brought Nick (and our whole family) through this scary, busy time. We are especially thankful for our amazing church family who was there helping us every step of the way. Incredibly, the week after moving in to our new home, I experienced a severe allergic reaction to poison ivy and ended up in the hospital ER. I am thankful for once again experiencing that peace that surpasses understanding as we waited patiently upon the Lord and He heard my cry, bringing healing and help to come to my aid. On top of everything, I’m scheduled to go in tomorrow for surgery on my right ulnar nerve in my elbow for something called Cubital Tunnel Syndrome (aka Ulnar Nerve Entrapment). (Postscript – I’ve survived, but still waiting for the nerves to heal. Ugh.)
Emily – 17
Emily – It’s hard to believe that I’m in my final year of high school. Time has certainly flown by! This spring my mom and Noelle and I went on a cruise with my best friend (Dani) and some of her family. We sailed out of New Orleans to Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Cozumel, Mexico. It was amazing! Over the summer, Nick and I went once again to Reynosa, Mexico to serve at the Rio Bravo Children’s Home. I love it there and hope to be able to spend more time there next year. I officially received my driver’s license this summer and am enjoying the freedom of being able to drive myself around. Also this year, I’ve been having fun learning to shoot a recurve bow with the Memphis homeschool archery team. On Thursdays I teach two classes (a science discovery class and a Bible study about the Biblical names of God) for homeschooled elementary students at Renewed Moms Ministry.
Nick – almost 15
Nick – This year I officially started high school, though no one can believe that I’m only fourteen. It’s fun seeing the shocked looked on people’s faces when they find out how old I am. Last spring I played on a competitive 14-under team called “Batters’ Box” and this year I’m with the Memphis Homeschool high school team, “The Eagles.” We started practicing and working out in August so we are looking forward to a great season. On Tuesdays, I attend a learning center for homeschoolers called Veritas. It is a college-prep program where I study rhetoric, apologetics, literature, geography and more. The rest of the week I work on my schoolwork from home. I enjoy making crazy videos with my best friend, Zane. Emily does the recording and editing work, while Zane and I make up and perform the skits. We have a YouTube channel at ForeignBrotherFilms (all one word). We’d love some more subscribers! (Hint, hint)
Noelle – 10
Noelle – I’m now in fourth grade and learning all the necessary fourth-grade skills, but my current passion is ice skating. I ice skate almost every week at a skating rink near our new house and absolutely love it. It’s exciting and fun and beautiful. My other favorite activities include making crafts and made-up recipes in the kitchen. I love going to AWANAs on Sunday nights with the rest of my siblings where I learn Bible verses, play games and hang out with my friends.
Daniel – 6
Daniel – This spring I finish kindergarten and this fall I officially became a first grader. I love learning new things. My favorite subjects are math and astronomy. I am interested in all kinds of science things, like weather, outer space and how the body works. At night, I love to work on memorizing new Bible verses and listen to my mom read books about real stuff, like hurricanes and tornados and trains and sharks. Since moving to our new house, my siblings and I have been learning to shoot BB guns and archery. I also like playing all kinds of sports, like soccer and baseball.
I don’t know if our earthly birthdays are still celebrated in Heaven, but if they are,
Happy Birthday, Brady.
My first of many nephews.
You are still loved, missed and remembered.
When we wake up in the morning, we may not know what grief that day might hold.
And for that, I am thankful.
Yet, in the same way, we don’t know what JOY awaits us either.
May we choose joy. May we choose hope. May we choose faith and love and life. May we live every day giving thanks, trusting that God is good. May we wake up each morning and live each moment with grateful hearts to God from whom all BLESSINGS flow.
Brady’s life was a blessing.
We thank the Lord for each day he had. 486 days of life after birth.
We give thanks for his big smile, his contagious laugh, his sparkling blue eyes.
And we give thanks for the blessed hope that we will see him again one day in the glory of Heaven that awaits us.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (ESV)
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
(a) of natural relationship, e.g., Mat 19:29; (“and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life”), of the “sisters” of Christ, the children of Joseph and Mary after the virgin birth of Christ, e.g., Mat 13:56;
(b) of “spiritual kinship” with Christ, an affinity marked by the fulfillment of the will of the Father, Matthew 12:50 (Jesus says: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother”); Mark 3:35 (Jesus says, “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother”); of spiritual relationship based upon faith in Christ, Romans 16:1 (“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae”); 1Corinthians 7:15 (“But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.); 1 Corinthians 9:5 (“Do we not have the right to take along a believing (adelphe) wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?”) …
Lord Jesus, thank You for the blessing of sisters. Thank You for my sisters in the body of Christ. Truly, they are sisters in blood – Your blood. They are sisters in my family – the family of Christ. Thank You for the kinship of believers. Thank You for the fellowship that is only made possible by the grace and forgiveness that is ours in Christ.
I praise Your name for the gift it is to have my dearest sister not only a part of my earthly family, but of my heavenly one as well. I praise You for the gift it is to have married into a family where I have sisters in the faith. I praise You for the gift of sisters both close by and across the nation, sisters who lift me up before Your throne of grace, sisters who see all my faults and imperfections and issues and love me anyway.
Frozen statues in the cold, washed in moonlight blue and gold.
Mary’s babe in plastic cape, quiet wonder on her face.
Mary, you look so serene, far too pretty, much too clean.
We might think we know you well, but what stories would you tell?
Of all the dirt and dust and shame, every burning labor pain,
And as I turn to walk away, I hear you say…
I am real.
Don’t turn me into memory or myth.
Let me be real. Real.
And I’ll show you what it means to love like this.
To be real.
Shepherds bending to the ground, Bethlehem is safe and sound.
Joseph, you look brave and true, but do we know what it was like to be you?
How many sleepless nights awake found you desperate and afraid?
And as I turn to walk away, I hear you say…
I am real.
Don’t turn me into memory or myth.
Let me be real.
And I’ll show you what it means to love like this.
To love like you don’t even care about the hurry and the hussle,
Like you are unaware December comes with so much trouble
Cause you believe a baby came not in paintings or in plains
But every minute, every hour, every day.
To be real,
Real
You are real, real
Show us what it means to love like this.
To be real To be real
More than a memory,
More than a story.
Someone on an online forum I belong to recently asked this question: “How do we keep Jesus Christ and His birth at the center of our Christmas celebration?” This really got me thinking and I pray that my response will bless you, too.
Growing up our family never went to church apart from going with my grandparents. I wasn’t raised to pray or read the Bible and yet, my family celebrated Christmas. We put up stockings and a Christmas tree and exchanged gifts and my parents played Santa just like everyone else.
By the time I was a teenager, I was an outspoken atheist that found pleasure in ridiculing and arguing with Christians. So when I was in college, I questioned my parents about our Christmas festivities, asking them why we celebrated Christmas if we weren’t Christians. I still wanted to exchange gifts (come on, who wouldn’t?), but I wished we would do it for New Years so that it wasn’t a religious event. I don’t actually remember how this played out, but the point is that I knew that whatever we were doing wasn’t right.
Sadly, despite being a hard-hearted atheist, I really had no idea what Christianity was all about. I did not understand that Christians believed that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and that Christmas was celebrated to remember the day He was born on earth to live as a man. I also did not realize that Easter was the celebration of His resurrection from the dead after He had shed His blood on the cross to pay the penalty for man’s sin.
It was not until many heated debates with a Christian young man (who later became my husband) that I heard the good news of the gospel – that I could be forgiven and set free from my slavery to sin by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on my behalf.
So, with that background, let me encourage everyone how IMPORTANT it is to keep CHRIST at the focus of your Christmas celebrations. That is certainly a good question to ask, but, at the same time, I fear that the question that’s being asked is actually the wrong question. I think the real question, the better question, is this: HOW DO WE KEEP CHRIST AT THE CENTER OF OUR EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE YEAR LIFE? This is really the heart of the matter because I think that as we keep our heart focused on Him, when we live and move and have our being in Him, then He will be guiding us away from the crazy busy commercialization of this holiday that has actually become more of a deterrent to our devotion to Jesus than an asset.
In response to the question – “How do we keep Christ at the center of Christmas,” the answer is to walk by faith and not by sight, to set our minds on things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. Every advent activity needs to be evaluated by whether it is drawing your family closer to Jesus or pushing you farther away.
Yes, we festively decorate our home and Christmas tree. Yes, we buy gifts for our children and other members of our family. Yes, we drive around town and look at the pretty Christmas lights.
But, no, we don’t spend days and weeks putting up and taking down decorations. We refuse to go into debt feeding our kids’ appetites for stuff and our own appetite to impress others with our earthly possessions. And, no, we do not attend a dozen holiday plays, cookie exchanges and Santa Claus festivals because truthfully they take our family’s eyes off the true GIFT of Jesus and just add busy-ness to our already full lives.
But, once again, these are not decisions that are made just for the Christmas advent season, these are decisions that we have to make each and every day. Every day we have to choose for ourselves who we will serve and as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. This means walking daily deciding what God wants us to do that particular day and that particular week, rather than just saying, “Yes” to every fun opportunity that comes our way.
Truthfully, in my almost 20 years now of being a follower of Jesus Christ, I have learned that the Christian life is so much more than a list of do’s and don’ts, shoulds and shouldn’ts. It really is a living relationship with the great Creator, the Ruler of the Universe and the Lord of my soul. If the Lord is calling you to spend a month putting on a Christmas play for your neighbors, if the Lord is calling you to organize the cookie exchange to end all cookie exchanges, if the Lord is calling you to decorate your home in a thousand lights, then DO IT! But, don’t do it to “keep up with the Joneses.” Don’t do it because “everybody’s doing it.”
Truly, when you seek the Lord with all your heart, you will find Him. Trust Him. His Word is a light to Your feet. Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
As for our family, here are some things we do that help us not lose Jesus in the midst of our Christmas celebration –
We limit ourselves to three gifts per child. This limits not only the money, but also the time and energy, we spend on Christmas gifts.
Each of our four children choose a gift for each of their siblings and parents. They use their own money that they have earned doing chores throughout the year to buy them. This helps them focus on the giving, rather than just the receiving, of gifts.
My husband and I and our children give our gifts to the recipients, rather than taking our gifts. This, too, helps to keep the focus on giving rather than receiving.
My husband and I try to have most of our gifts bought before December 1, so my mind is not being consumed by shopping. The stress of finding “just the right gifts” was frequently enough to make me anxious and angry, not good for the Christmas spirit.
I have to commit myself to going to bed on time every night. If it’s not done by 10:30, then it doesn’t need to be done. Tomorrow is another day. A tired mommy is a cranky mommy.
We enjoy sending Christmas letters – now via email – but try to keep the focus on the goodness of God and His sustaining grace.
We spread out opening gifts over several days or even weeks. With two sets of out-of-town grandparents, plus aunts and uncles, plus our own family’s gifts, we wanted everyone’s gifts to receive the attention they deserved. This means our kids might receive their gifts from us a week before Christmas, so that they can enjoy them and still appreciate the gifts from their grandparents they’ll receive on Christmas Eve. Does this make sense?
We taught our kids from a young age that playing pretend is fun, but it’s just pretend. God is real. Santa is pretend. We used to “play Santa” and do stockings and leave Santa cookies, but our kids knew the truth. I know this is a big can of worms I’m opening here, but I believe God wants us to be truth bearers and I wanted my kids to know that Mommy always speaks the truth. I want them to trust me, to know that I will not deceive them. That does not mean that we can’t play pretend – but they know we are pretending. Does this make sense?
Christmas morning we have family breakfast and worship before any gifts are opened.
And, yes, we do try to have daily prayer and scripture reading and discussion as a family. But, this is not just for the advent season. Why would we only read the Bible for the couple weeks before Christmas? Jesus is not just the King of Christmas, He is the King every day of the year!
I love you guys and I pray that this is an encouragement to you. I am in no way writing this to make you feel guilty about what you’re not doing. No! I am writing this because I’ve had to make it up as I go along for the last twenty years and I am grateful that the Lord has impressed this on me.
Teach What is Good 
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