Christmas DAY is over and the kids are home. Family is gathered. Your home may be loaded with toys to entertain your children through the holidays. But, if you find that you’re in a bit of a slump and need a few fun ideas to carry you, the kids, and relatives through the holidays, try the following. 1. CHRISTMAS BINGO Everyone loves bingo and all ages can play. You can make and print your own bingo cards HERE. I bought a necklace from Dollar Tree and cut the coins to use as bingo markers. …
When he walks out and you lose your ability to receive
The living room twinkled in hues of blue from our eight foot tall white Christmas tree, decked out in blue lights peppered with homemade ornaments. Tori Grace sat at its feet, tucked in between the tree and fireplace. In all her silly brilliance, I laughed over her funny story when I said, “Baby girl you are so beautiful,” but her response caught my eye. Ever so quickly, she set her jaw and froze over the compliment before smiling and saying, “I don’t like that.” “You don’t like it when mommy says you’re beautiful? What about when I tell you …
Grace, Holiness, and Christmas
“Why do we have to read the Christmas devotional?” my kids chorused in unison. My heart squeezed tight with anger, frustration, and sadness. “Because I want us to remember what Christmas is really about,” I managed with frustration edging my tone. As I read the devotional to my children God gently reminded me – I instruct my children to know the truth, I live my faith out in front of them, but my kids must make their own choices, develop their own relationship with God. What then is it that draws our hearts closer to God’s? Romans 2:4 tells us …
The Most Important Thing a Mom Can Do (at Christmas and Every Day)
Christmas is next week. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in all the things we have going on during the holiday season: Parties Family get-togethers Gifts Cookies and other goodies Local holiday events Church or school programs All of these things are wonderful, but if we’re not careful, we can easily get so wrapped up in these that we let the most important thing slip by. And what is that most important thing? It’s seeking after Jesus and teaching our children to do the same. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things …
What If…
What if: You found out that by staying at home and raising your children, yet accomplishing nothing that can be seen or noted at the time, you found out that the job you did really mattered? What if: By working your job day by day and finding it toilsome, you found out that your simple presence and hard work had greatly impacted another individual? What if: by taking time to patiently listen to the ramblings of an older person, you found that because of that person you became a better person and even used some of the “ramblings” to springboard …
Do you ponder?
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which …
How to Mentor Your Children Through the Holidays
As we find ourselves full-steam into this holiday month, I am especially sensitive about the opportunity to intentionally mentor my children through the holidays. I want to help them embrace the fullness of remembering the Christ child’s birth, without heaping on extra responsibilities rooted in traditions that become a drain on their schedules and deplete their rest and joy. The challenge, however, is that my children are in distinctly different developmental stages. Oh the Teens My oldest, fifteen, is studying for finals while primarily being concerned with seeing her friends as much as possible before the long, family-focused break. …
Christmas Brunch Recipes
Need some new Christmas recipes? These recipes have graced our Christmas brunch table for many years. The kids always insisted I serve these. It wasn’t Christmas without them. Need some new Christmas recipes? Click To Tweet I used to make the sausage and egg casserole; however, I now usually serve these with ham and scrambled eggs. Whether you fix breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner, you might want to try these. Well, a couple of them may not be suitable for dinner. If you don’t try them for Christmas, try them sometime. If you don’t, you’ll be missing some yummy dishes. …
On the move this Christmas? How to make a home for the holidays…
“We’re almost home!” my daughter texted me, letting me know she was on her way back from her friend’s house. We were visiting California for Thanksgiving and my husband Mike had just gone to pick her up. When I saw her text, I smiled. Because we weren’t actually home; we were staying in a hotel. Our house–as of five months ago when Mike’s job got transferred–was now in Idaho. Spending time in a hotel over the holidays was a new experience for us and we were going from place to place, trying to fit in as many visits with friends …
Jolly Belongs in Christmas
“A happy heart makes the face cheerful.” Proverbs 15:13, NIV I was reading through the Sunday newspaper, browsing more like it. I really only bought it for the coupon clipping. But good editors know how to grab you with the headlines. I’d only gotten five minutes in, and I was already depressed. I remembered why I rarely read the newspaper and barely watch the news anymore. ISIS, Ebola, racial riots, economy debates and political division all on display begging to rile me to action somehow. Ahhh, the coupons, buried beneath a huge pile of slick advertisements for holiday “savings.” It …