Count Down to Christmas

So, I pray everybody is having a joyous CHRISTmas Season. We are strategically getting things done so there are some surprises on Christmas day. The kids are getting excited about Jesus' Birthday Party.

I feel I need to talk about an issue though. See, our family does not entertain this fella called Santa Claus. The real man, St. Nicholas was a kind and compassionate man that wanted his charitable deeds to go unknown. He wanted the glory to be given to GOD not himself. This is why we have a devotional in our family on December 6th specifically about St. Nicholas and giving.

This year I feel stronger than ever about it, perhaps it's because of the "War on Christmas", perhaps not. Maybe it's just because I want all 6 of my kids to know that I won't lie to them and I won't give them the false hope that the guy in the red suit will give them everything they ask for. Or you know, maybe it's because the reason we celebrate CHRISTmas is because we are celebrating CHRIST'S birth.

It really bothers me to see the same Christians that go on and complain about Target or Lowe's or Walmart or whoever not including the word Christmas in their advertising gladly bring in Santa Claus and inadvertently teach their kids that Santa and gifts are what Christmas is about.

Exodus 20:3-6 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Now, I really want you to think. All of those Christians out there that put Santa Claus before Jesus... you are essentially making Santa a god. So, what are you doing to those children that you just want to have a little fun in getting gifts at Christmas?

So then, you ask what does my family do? We have a birthday party for Jesus. We have a large dinner just like most people on Christmas, then we read the scripture of Jesus' birth. Once that is done we have a birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday Jesus. Once that is done, then we open the presents that are from Jesus. We also use this as an opportune time to explain that God gave the greatest gift to us when He sent His Son, Jesus to earth.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

May you have a blessed CHRISTmas and a joyful New Year.
~ Faith

Christmas.... what is it?

I was reading an article earlier this morning and it really bothered me.. Mostly, because it is true.

THE REAL WAR ON CHRISTMAS
12/2/05

There is much talk these days of a "war on Christmas." A couple large retailers have banned the word "Christmas" from their marketing, and many folks are upset about it, sounding the alarm and crying out that Christmas is under attack.

Of course, we know why these retailers have made their choice. They want our money. They don't want to offend us by greeting us with "Happy Kwanza" (the invented holiday), because they want our money. They don't want to chance offending the Jew by wishing them a "Merry Christmas," because they want their money. Their motivation is mostly financial. They would have done it decades ago if they thought that they could get away with it.

But it's both sad and somewhat amusing to watch folks beat their chest and wax solemn today about the fact that a couple of profit-motivated corporations have dropped the word "Christmas" and substituted "holiday." More

Christians have been sucked into the hype and materialism of the Pagan Christmas. Am I getting too critical? I don't think it's possible this time of year. How often do you think of what happened that night nearly 2000 years ago when that young teenaged girl gave birth to our Savior? Do you think about it while you are fighting for this years top picked gift?

Christians getting upset about Target and other retailers not using the word Christmas really have issues. The retailers are in it for the money. Flat out.

Both myself and my mother worked for a Furniture company owned by a Jewish Family. They have been around since the early 80s, and not once have they had anything Christmas in their building. So, does that mean we shouldn't have worked for them and shouldn't have bought furniture there? No, we respected the fact that they were Jewish and they respected us being Christians. Why do I bring this up? Becasue more than likely most of the CEO's of the companies that are banning the word Christmas from their advertising scheme, are more than likely no Christian.

I also find myself with a bad taste in my mouth about the critizism that President George W. Bush is getting about the Holiday Card this year. He is geting bombarded becasue he isn't using the phrase Merry Christmas on the card but yet used scripture from Psalms on it. My opinon on the case of the President, he has always tried to welcome everybody and not attacked anybody. Now this my be a fault or an advantage. Plus, it is the holiday season. You have THanksgiving, then St. Nicholas Day, then Christmas Day, Kwanza, and Hanakah. Not to mention then there is also New Years and Ephiphany.

Christmas to most is one day, to me it is the season. I try to celebrate Christmas everyday of the year because I know that had Christmas never happened, then neither would have Easter.

St. Nicholas

I must apologize, I had intended on posting this yesterday and got too busy. See, every year as we are preparing for the Christmas Holy Day, we reflect on the other special days leading up to it starting with Thanksgiving. On December 6th, it is St. Nicholas day.

St. Nicholas as legend has it was a very caring, compassionate, and giving man. He was orphaned at a very young age when his parents contracted a deadly illness. They had a significant amount of wealth in which Nicholas inherited. As he got older he learned of God and Jesus. Particularly Matthew 19:21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.

One of the first things that Nicholas is noted for is help the three poor maidens. Summing what he did up, Nicholas secretly gave each of the young maidens a bag of gold by throwing it in the window. One of the bags landed in the maidens stocking, which is where contemporaries get the Christmas Stockings. He did this for all three girls and with the last one, their father caught him and thanked him.

Just this story of Nicholas shows his compassion and his desire to not bring attention to himself. He wanted God to get the glory instead of himself.

Narnia

Do you remember when you were younger reading The Lion, The Witch and THe Wardrobe? I do, I remember being entranced by it. Wondering if such a world existed and if it did it would be wonderful to live there.

I read all of The Chronicles of Narnia while I was pregnant with our youngest blessing Benji. I then realized that different thing stick out at you depending on your age and your point of view. I wouldn't want to live in Narnia. No air conditioning, you'ld have to walk or ride a horse where ever you went. Let's face it I have gotten lazy and complacent as I have gotten older. If I dont have to walk I usually don't. But then again...

Don't you think living in a land of talking animals and simple living would be grand? Everybody working together to the good of all mankind? It would be awesome.

...Sorry...

I got caught up in my fantasy world. I suppose the reason The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe has caught my attention is because my 11yo is really interested in the movie. She said she would rather see it than Harry Potter. (Praise God for miracles) At least in the chronicles of Narnia, you can see that
C.S. Lewis
included many references to God and the Bible.

Then I realized that my daughter would rather read The Chronicles of Narnia than Harry Potter. I am somewhat relieved. I am not putting Harry Potter down, but it is a dark series. Kids have enough to worry about, they don't need to read about the witches and warlocks going through an already trivial time in life. And I know that Narnia can be considered a place full of magic and the such, but it is more of a fantasy world and it removes you from the world you are in now. Harry Potter is in England.

Now, my goal of this entry is not to put down writings, the point is that my daughter, my 11yo, hates to read. She is interested in reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe because of the movie. She has never asked to read a book to any other movie before. For that matter she's never really asked for a book other than the one on bugs that we got her. So I am happy that the Chronicles of Narnia are in her site. There is only one thing in the books that I have a hang up about and I may just not have her read that one book.

In the last battle (I believe the last book) a soldier that fights for Tash speaks with Aslan in fear because the soldier always though that Aslan was evil and Tash was good. Aslan told him that since he honored Tash by doing good and living good that he was actually honoring Aslan. I know I am not remembering it quite correctly but the gist is there. If a person were to take that sentence or paragraph and say well since Aslan is equal to Jesus and etc, etc, then if I live a good live worshipping whoever thinking they are the good then I will be fine, that is wrong.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

So, I suppose the moral of my entry today is that if your children, teens, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, husband, or wife reads the Chronicles of Narnia, be ready to answer questions. And be ready to know that Jesus is the only way to God.

Reflections

As I get up and grab my hot tea this morning I am reflecting on our holiday weekend. After spending time with family and friends, I have realized that God has blessed us remarkably.

My family has had two major triumphs this year. Benji, our little one that was born with 2 congenital heart defects. We had no idea that he had anything wrong until after he was born. And even while we were going through the hospital stay and the surgery, we never realized just how severe the defects were. We had 100s if not 1000s of people praying for our family and for Benji. He made it through his closed heart surgery with flying colors. Our other triumph is God gave us the means to give my husband's two children a safe and healthy environment.

When we sang Give Thanks at church Sunday I began reflecting on the rest of my family, my parents and my brothers. My oldest brother is a very smart and successful computer guy. He has given his entire life to God and letting God be in control. While things have gotten tight, his family still is relying on God for all their needs. My 2nd brother, they have a total of 5 children and 2 are in the Marines 1 is in Florida with her son and they have two still at home. Everybody is healthy and doing well.

We really were thankful this weekend because my brother's daughter was in a pretty bad wreck and got banged up pretty bad. No broken bones but she got bruised up and her son got hit in the eye with something. He was in the hospital Friday night and Saturday. They went home Sunday and although he has one nasty shiner, he is playing and laughing and having a good old time. Praise the Lord for his protection over them.

My dad has Parkinson's Plus, it is a neurological disorder that there is no cure for. He is doing good and he is healthy for the most part.

There are other things I am thankful for and as you read I want you to think about it for yourself.

I am thankful for the little house we live in. God has given us a roof over our heads where we can stay warm and dry.

I am thankful for our utility bills because that means we have heat, water, and the internet, plus we have means to pay them.

I am thankful for my 1993 Dodge Caravan. She may not be pretty, but she can get all of our family from point A to point B and occasionally point C.

I am thankful that we live in a smaller community, because we actually know most of our neighbors and everybody looks out for each other.

I am thankful my oldest daughter just turned 11. Her pre-adolescent attitude means she is listening to me and trying to make a place in this world just for her, regardless how much she gets on our nerves.

I am thankful that I have trials and tribulations because that means that I appreciate God being there and I will always need Him.

Poetry Speaks to Children

So, I am excited. Last week I got an email from Tony Viardo with SourceBooks, INC to see if I would be interesting in reviewing a new book. The title is Poetry Speaks to Children, it comes with a CD that has many authors of poetry reading their works. Some of the authors are Robert Frost, Ogden Nash, J. R. R. Tolkien, Langston Hughes, and many more. As I am flipping through the pages I can't wait to dive in as I myself am a lover of poetry. I am really looking forward to sitting down with our kids and reading some of these writings to them.

The authors are contemporary and old favorites, from flipping through it appears the majority of what is included is old favorites even though there are some authors I am not familiar with. I think when I write the review, I will have my 11 year old write some too.

I must say that this is not a Christian Book and it is not written by Christian Authors for the most part although I do believe J.R.R. Tolkien is Christian. I would highly suggest that each and every parent that seems interested in this book read it first, be aware of what it contains. As you should with everything your children have.

Are we Really Thankful?

You know, I am going to be transparent here. I don't want anybody to think higher of me than being a normal mom that wants a special holiday with all of her kids. Just like every other mom out there I want to be with my family. What I am finding though is that there are families out there that aren't being considerate when doing so. I have a few friends who are always having to drive hours back to the 'family' home and none of the family has ever come to their home. Now, I look forward to going to Grandma's for the holidays, but on Thanksgiving Day and on Christmas Day I would love to just sit home with all of the kids and take in the season. It shouldn't be a forced holiday season.

Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

So, please do correct me, but once a man and a woman are married, they become one and it is then up to them to agree together as to what thy are going to do. This is what me and my husband are doing. We have had a couple relatives invite us over and we may or may not do it, we aren't sure yet.

Thanksgiving is suppose to e a time when we are thankful for what God has given us, not a time when people decide to force you to do what they want. I remember the holidays where I felt as is I had to go to this one's house or that one's house and feel uncomfortable the entire time. As a family, mom and dad need to agree on what to do.

Perhaps if you are having trouble your rotate. This may sound odd but actually many people do it. Say, you go to his parents for Thanksgiving and then go to her parents for Christmas. It works much the same with child custody disputes. Since our family does not practice "santa" Christmas morning, my ex-husband has our girls Christmas Eve and then they come home around noon Christmas Day. We have Jesus' Birthday in the Evening.

The last thing people need to do during the holiday season is bicker and fight about who is going to who's house. Love each other, your children are watching you.

Slumber Party Fun

I must apologize for not posting this week. My oldest turned 11 and we were planning a party for her and the other hustle and bustle of things that goes on got me busy.

To the party though. I have realized that our family has a huge gift that we need to share with others. As I said my oldest turned 11 and we were having a party for her. We decided to have a weanie roast with smores. Three of Kimmie's friends came over and of course we had our 6, so we had a few. It was a blast. The party went off with out a hiitch save for the mini breakdown I had as the party time neared and I didn't have everything straightened up. I got over it though.

The girls had fun and played in the big leaf pile and on the tire swing, playing hide in the seek in the dark and flash light tag. It was a fun experience. In fact the party had initially been just a two hour party but two of the girls spent the night which got to be really fun. (I am not kidding. They had alot of fun)

Sitting up watching movies and eating smores. That is what I call entertaining. Now of course I am going to need to scrub some marshmallow out of the carpet but that is what carpet cleaners are for right?

The fun we had last night was when the kids settled in to the movies, we invited over our neighbors to sit by the fire and eat rosted marshmallows. That was enjoyable. They brought their daughter and she enjoyed the leaf pile. They were really surprised we had invited them over having the slumber party going, but we explained that they were inside and had lost interest in the fire.

We were able to witness to them without saying one word to them about God. Just by our actions they were touched. Same goes with the girls, one of the girls is new to the area and I had never met before. I met her mom at the beginning of the party and spoke to her for maybe five minutes. Her daughter is really a sweet child and was impressed with breakfast. :)

We fixed the kids a rather large country breakfast this morning. We had pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Although it didn't quite go over as well as the homemade hot cocoa last night, it went over big.

So we got to share the love of God with others while having fun, who'da thunk it?

May you be blessed this beautiful fall day.

Getting to know Me

I realize many of you that might read this may know little to nothing about me and my family, so I am going to introduce myself. To do so, I need to introduce my family.

I am Faith, a 30 year old mom that has traveled down a long road both spiritually and in my life. I have discovered that God's grace has no limits and that He will always love me and everybody else that turns to Him.

I am married to Jeff, who has also gone down a long road, I am just thankful that our roads have joined together. God has put Jeff in my life because I don't think anybody else was up for the job. :)

We were married March 1, 2003. We each brought two children into our marriage. I had Kimmie and Britt and Jeff had Allie and Josh. Since our marriage, we have had 2 boys Micah and Benji. Both of which are wonderful blessings.

In our family we have a couple medical concerns and also some developmental concerns. Medically, Britt has asthma and she also suffers from migraines. This can be a big challenge since alot of the asthma medication can cause headaches. Then we also have Benji who was born with two congenital heart defects. He has coarctation of the aorta that has been repaired with a subclavian flap and he also has a bicuspid aortic valve with stenosis. While both defects are VERY common, the surgical repairs are not perfected. For the rest of his life he will need to visit the cardiologist regularly. Did you know that 1 out of 125 babies are affected by a heart defect?

Both Allie and Josh have developmental issues. They are both in speech therapy for comprehensive issues. Allie who is 8 1/2 is on a 4-5 year old level and Josh who just turned 4 is on a level of about 2 1/2 years. We are praying for them continuously to overcome their delays. Both are very intelligent, they just don't know how to express it.

So that's a bit about my family. If you haven't realized, both my husband and I have been divorced and this is our second marriage. We both acknowledge that you have to have God head of the marriage or it won't work. You will either be miserable or it will end in divorce. When God is in control things fall into place, not to say that things will be perfect, but things will work out.

We do have to deal with visitation and the attiatude change that results from it. We just remain consistant and don't allow certain elements. The most common issues deal with disrespect, our answer to that is time out and we also pray for the other parent. I am sure I will write of this in the future, it comes up so much I don't think I could not write about it.

So you may ask why should my journal interest you since I write the Moms Escape column. My answer is because this is my personal journal. This is where I talk about the nitty gritty. Whether I am reading a new book or we have gotten a new video for the kids or even a touching moment in our lives.

I pray you will join me on this journey and we will grow to closer to the Lord.

Something to do about God

I just started reading Praying God's Will for Your Life by Stormie Omartian again. It's really awesome to know that God will create circumstances in which you have to acknowledge Him. In the first chapter Stormie shares about how God woke her up to Him, and it made me think.

I was six years old when I was saved. I understood at that time that I was a sinner and that Jesus was my Savior. Since then I have gone through many trials. Through each trial however God has always brought me back to Him. I have slowly learned that God is the answer, not friends, shopping, chat rooms, or anything else, just God. He is teh Answer to all of life's troubles and tribulations.

As I have refected through my trials, I pray that God will give me the wisdom to do the right thing when it comes to my precious children. I want to remember the things I did both good and bad so that while equipping myself in God's Word I can use examples to teach my own children. I see that I have to be completely honest with them, I can not lie about things I did as a child or a teenager or even as an adult. That is one of the hardest things to do as a parent.

Telling the truth to our kids when they ask the hard questions. And I am preparing for them. I am sure it will be from have you ever done drugs to did you have sex before marrriage, to did you sneak out of the house to did you skip school and so much more. Seeing that my oldest turns 11 on Tuesday and the youngest is 8 months and 10 days, I will have to prepare.

As I am preparing, I believe I will base my monthly articles at Mom's Escape on the questions and answers that I come up with. I will start that in January.

As for the article in December, it will correspond to the advent season.

God is an awesome God. He is magnificent in all His ways. Once you accept Jesus as your Savior and follow His ways, no matter when you stray I believe He will bring you back.

One Little Monkey Jumping on The Bed.

*grins*

Little Benji had his first sick visit to the doctor today. I think it's pretty good concerning he's 8 months 9 days. He's had sniffles and congestion since he got his flu shot October 26th. Taking him to his new pediatrician was fun too.

I really like the new doctor (change insurance stuff but it was for the better.) He isn't much older than me if any and he interned at Vanderbilt. He was very attentive and listened to me. I must say he was rather impressed with what I knew of Benji's condition.

Anyhow, the gist is, Benji has a cold. While I can't give him the over the counter cold remedy medicines, we can still do vapor rub and vaporizer. Saline drops and suction for the nose and prop up when he's sleeping. (Typical stuff for a little one that is sick.)

The funny part of the whole things is last night Benji was cranky and pitiful looking wanting to be held. This morning it was much of the same but he did sleep well and was not as cranky. He was smiling. Still pitiful looking and snotty. Drove in (doctors office is 25 miles away) and he slept the entire way. Got to the drs office and sat him on the floor. He just sat there looking as if he was a zombie.

Then some other kids came in. LOL. All of a sudden he starts crawling around and spots a toy to play with. Still looking zombie-ish.

By the time we went back to the exam room he was ready to go. He was all over the place smiling and laughing, playing in the mirror. When I tried to hold him, he was climbing on me like a little monkey. He's so cute.

I thank God for giving me this little guy! He is such a blessing and I know He has something special planned for Benji.

Lord of the Beans

So, I haven't seen the video yet, but I do have the trailer on the home page of Parents For Christ. From what I have read and heard the theme is gifts. What we do with our gifts. I don't think it means material gifts.

From what I can tell from the promo and the write up is that the lesson is how do we use our gifts that God has given us. Meaning our talents.

My 'gift' is writing. I use that gift in spreading God's Word and sharing with other parents in order to help them with their children.

My oldest daughter loves to draw and she draws cute little animals and wants to draw pictures to go along with sermons in church.

The youngest girl happens to be our most active child and she gets excited about playing sports so she can talk to new people about Jesus.

How we use our gifts is what we need to think about. How do you use the gift that God gave you?

Start of a New Day

You know it's really amazing, God is so good. I already knew this and I am sure many of those reading this do too. God is good all the time, all the time God is good.

From time to time I really need to just sit back, relax with some hot tea and take in what God has done in my life. He is really good. I just get over that.

Why do I sound spaced out and sorta loopy? Because I realized that no matter if there are dust bunnies under the sofa or cobwebs behind the TV, He is still there and hi is still awesome.

I have been getting anxious because the holidays are coming and the house is a mess, we have been doing the bi-annual swapping clothes and haven't finished yet. Our oldest boy will be 4 Saturday and I haven't even planned a party for him. (Small get together with close friends and family) As I was vaccumming behind the sofa getting those dust bunnies I laughed. Do you think Jesus was upset because there was dirt on the floor when he visited people in Israel so long ago?

Now, I am not saying that I don't clean house and that we shouldn't, but what I am saying is that we can't let the cleaning take over our lives. We do need to tidy, but we don't need to let it consume our lives.