Santa Approved

I got the thumbs up from Santa tonight!

Wanted to do a little chat about giving presents...

We are conditioned to mutter “it’s not about the gifts” “presents are not what is important” Until we feel guilty about having the stress of finding the perfect gift, getting things wrapped, crossing off names on our shopping lists. We wander the toy stores, search sale papers and when we walk away empty handed we reprimand ourselves about how it is not about the gifts and we should feel ashamed at our disappointment. When we finally find that perfect gift, our hearts rejoice as we picture the face of the recipient opening it in awe.
So say it out loud and feel good about it…

It is about the gifts. The presents are important. Getting family and friends something that they want is essential for Christmas.

That feels better doesn’t it. Now I will tell you why I think it is OK. God gave us his son as a gift for humanity, to save us, to show us true love and forgiveness. The Magi brought gifts to honor the king, they brought their best. Christmas, through the eyes of believers, is full of gifts.

As parents, we use Christmas to teach our children of the Virgin Birth, traditions, a time for giving. We use Christmas as a time to be a little bit kinder to strangers. Christmas becomes a time for miracles.

Whatever your tradition may be (opening presents of Christmas Day, pjs for Christmas Eve, Advent, Epiphany, trimming the tree, stockings, etc.) it has something to do with giving of gifts. Just as God gave a gift. We use those gifts to show family and friends how much we care about them and want to give them our best. It is totally natural to stress about these gifts. The quest to fill the desires of our children’s list to Santa, to find something that someone in your family wants, get them wrapped and presented. It is important that we feel like we gave our best; that we produced a Christmas that follows our traditions and created memories to last the years.

So good luck as you continue in the next few days to make this Christmas “perfect” for you and your family. Don’t feel guilty about focusing on the presents. I am thankful that to God it was all about the “gift” and his heart rejoiced at our awe of receiving His gift at Christmas.

Jesus Got Ran Over By A Reindeer

Christmas. That wonderful time of year where Religion fights Commercialism.

Santa Claus or Jesus?

Many believe you have to make a choice between the two, especially when you are a Christian parent and responsible for shaping the mortal soul of your young charges with their impressionable minds. I know many parents who actually take it to the level that believing in Santa is one of those "no other gods before me" all or nothing deals.

I personally believe that in the "WWJD" scenerio, He would don a Santa hat and "Fa-la-la-la-la" with all of us. I think He would highly approve of the Santa figure and all that he represents.

• Giving
• Jollyness
• Holds the "Naughty" and "Nice" accountable
• Family
• Fellowship

When starting off with our children we had to make the decision on allowing them to believe in Jolly Ole' Saint Nick. Was it right to allow them to believe in fantasy? Would it take away from the "reason for the season"? Would it corrupt their gentle souls to believe a fat guy stuffs himself down the chimney once a year? Is not believing going to turn them into a little green Grinch who has a heart that is two sizes too small?

I believe that is is possible to allow children to believe in Santa and believe in Jesus. A healthy balance of religion and magic. All little children grow up into the adults that rush around making Christmas perfect for their family, putting together impossible toys where the instructions are only in Chinese and trying to balance the budget come January 1st. Why not allow them a little magic of snowflakes, reindeer bells and half eaten cookies by the fireplace? If your home is filled with Jesus the other 364 days of the year; they are not going to lose sight of that fact because of a little "ho-ho-ho".  Jesus is not going to be run over by a reindeer (although I have heard rumor that Grandma will be if she gets sauced on eggnog) and that magic sparkle that happens as they dash to the tree to see what was left just for them is irreplaceable as a parent.

Allowing a child to believe in Santa is not irresponsible or a sin. It's just a twinkle of time in their lives before they face the real world. As it becomes age appropriate the "truth" will reveal itself in time and they will understand the difference in Santa Claus and what the Spirit of Christmas truly is.

Let's PAY IT FORWARD and BE A HAMMER

So much has been happening these past few weeks that I have barely written here and when I do write; I don't want to waste all that typing trying to tell you everything. I have found a "Blogger App" on my phone and am considering using that and doing shorter more frequent posts from my phone when a thought hits me. I try to save up until I have time to sit down at the computer, but my sitting time is getting sparkly horn unicorn rare.

Just in the moment after I typed the last few words above I had to save a 11 month old who was tangled in garland, vacuum half a dozen crushed Nilla Wafers from the rug, pour 2 cups of juice, adjust the temp on my pork roast and realize I forgot salt, refill my coffee, explain how an egg is laid and then Obama called me on that matter of "World Peace" that he wanted solved. My mind is pulled in 40 directions all at once and I have got retain some sort of control over the gray matter spillage. Oh yeah and I told Obama to figure out himself. I didn't have time because I was trying to figure out how we are going to afford health insurance this year plus put food on the table.

The two biggest thoughts that have gone on in my little brain that I want to pass to you are:

Pay It Forward - I heard these words spoken at Baby Sophia's funeral by her father. It was mentioned several times about the abundance of FaceBook fans and people that have come together to pray for and support her during Baby Sophia's brief stay here on Earth. There is strength in numbers and all of YOUR numbers added up and provided her family with prayers, support and generosity. Sophia's father asked that her time here on Earth should "mean something" and for us to walk away from her death and "pay it forward". So....what is "IT" that we are paying forward? It's super simple folks. The "IT" is "YOU" The giving of YOUR time, prayers, talent, money, etc. for the help in easing someone else's burden. To let someone out there who is struggling with their health, health of a family member, etc. to know that they are not alone and they are supported. Thanks to the internet, it is not difficult to find these situations. Around every corner is a heartbreak waiting for a miracle. I ask that you get involved and get your knees dirty in prayer, support, etc. Let someone know that they are not alone and that they matter. PAY IT FORWARD and when you do it...think of a precious angel named "Sophia" and let's show her parents that her life matters. Perhaps you buy an extra box of food this Christmas for a family in need, buy a toy for a needy child, give a donation to help the homeless, give blood, or support another family in crisis...any of these things....when you do it for Sophia go visit her family's Facebook page and let them know that you "PAID IT FORWARD"

Indoctrination - I swear I am not picking on a particular person here, but rather a movement. I recently was in a discussion where a mother was teaching her 5 year old daughter about Christian faith. She was questioned over the fact that she was "indoctrinating" her young child and influencing the impressionable mind rather than allowing her child to grow up with a chance to choose her beliefs. Folks, it is time for us Christians to quit being the nail and start being a hammer. It's time to stop tip toeing around the non-believers and trying to not offend their civil liberties. They ask us not to indoctrinate our children with our beliefs, but rather indoctrinate them with non-belief....which is a belief of its own. It's backwards to say the least. Christian parents...it's time to teach our children the basic moral codes of being Christ like. To tend to the needy, feed the hungry, love the unlovable, forgive the unforgivable and things like honesty and integrity are a "must have". God was not passive when he wiped out cities of sin. Jesus was not concerned with offending civil rights when he threw people out of the temple. Jesus was not timid when it came time to die. It's time to be a hammer!

Macro Friday

The whole point of Macro shooting to me is to zoom in on a singular subject, get as close to it as possible and make it the focus of the picture. (I have totally bumped my 5QF Vlog so scroll down to see that!)



Today's submission is....


This is a page out of my bible, but I was focusing on how the verse talks about not worrying about your life because if God takes care of the birds; how much more important are you?

I thought this was a perfect example of not macro shooting with my camera, but how we need to apply some macro viewing in our own lives. So often we get caught up in watching the news, worrying about finances, worrying about what others think, etc. that we lose our focus by trying to see the big picture. If we could look through a macro lens at our life and focus singularly on the fact that God loves us so much and will provide for us more than the birds, the rest of all those worries get kind of blurry.

Patience Patient

I really thought after I had The Scribblers that God didn't need to teach me any more lessons in patience. Just the fact that I am not popping Excedrin Migraine in a Pez dispenser, or beatinf my forehead into all the door frames should prove that I have really learned this patience deal.

I was wrong. I still need lessons. I am still a Patience Patient.

This house selling/buying business has pushed my patience level to the red zone of the pressure valves.

The theory from the reports coming out of the news and from Realtors is that once this April 30th deadline for the Homebuyers Tax Credit expires, that if a house hasn't sold it very well might not. Then there are the grumbles of interest rates rising...it's just not a good market to sell.

So I have been praying. I know we are supposed pray "Thy will be done" but OMGoodness that is hard when you really want something. Not only that, but how do you pray with true honesty on something like this?

Dear God,

I really would like my house to sell and buy that perfect house that I found...but thy will be done and I will glorify you no matter the outcome. Well honestly, I am going to be a little ticked off...Ok Ok...a lot ticked off. But then, you already know that. You see God, I am not trying to be selfish. It's not just for me that I want this house. I want the house for the kids so they can live in the country, go to smaller schools and have room to run. Alright...so I want the nice kitchen...I didn't fool you did I? But it's for the kids too. I know I am supposed to pray for your will to be done...but can't this be your will? Can't you work with me here and get my house to sell? I know you already have my life planned out for me, you know every hair on my head...by the way...what's up with the gray ones? What did I do to get those? Alright, off subject...back to your plan for my life. Can this house buying/selling thing go under free will? Can we go that route? I know better than to make deals with you...let's be honest...that deal I made about passing my SATs and tithing 40% for 10 years didn't work out to well, I am sorry about that. So I am not going to make any deals. You know my heart, I really want this house and I want mine to sell. This may not be your will and you may have something better for my life. So, if you don't have this house thing in my life plan, can you at least let me know somehow that there is something better so it doesn't sting quite so bad. Did I mention that I am going to be mad for a while...I hope you are OK with that, because I am human and selfish. OK so we are good now? Right? Amen.

I just don't know a better way to pray about these types of things to someone who is omnipotent and knows my heart. It does me no good to lie and say I understand; He knows better. So I am trying to just see Him as The Healer and me The Patience Patient.

How do you pray in a situation where you want His will to work for you?

The Ring

I have had a little problem for a couple of weeks. I tried to ignore it, I tried to wish it away; but it just kept squeezing me a little more each day. (Hey, that rhymed! Bonus points for me.)

I have this beautiful ring that my husband bought me way before we had children and we could throw money at sparkly things. It's my birthstone plus some diamonds and it is EEGADS gorgeous! I never had it sized correctly but it was just small enough to not sling off my finger when I did a "toodle-o" wave. I never really cared to wear it on my ring finger, but there is where it fit best. After I had the baby and lost the massive amounts of water weight, I noticed that the ring was a little too loose on its normal finger. I had this bright idea (seemed like it at the time) to slip the ring on my middle finger where I had always wanted it. This is my meatiest finger by far (not freakishly meaty or anything) but for some reason, with very little effort the ring eased over the knuckle and looked perfect.

Apparently that finger weight loss was temporary, like maybe 24 hours kind of temporary.

Within a day I noticed I could not absent-mindlessly just twirl the ring around. I attempted a little tug on it and it was stuck. It was not coming over that knuckle any time soon. Thus began the "Ring Extraction" mission. A little bit each day I would work on it when I thought about it. Tried dish soap, soaking my finger in ice water, wesson oil, lithium grease, sucking on my knuckle, prayers, etc. After about a week it was apparent that conventional ring removal methods were not going to work. Not only that but every day my finger would swell a little more from my effort.

Today I finally had enough. It was time to get serious with my problem. I grabbed a leather strap, put it between my teeth and yanked. There was a moment that there were sparkles in front of my eyes and I felt kind of nauseated. Now I had really done it, it was stuck on my knuckle and my whole finger was turning purple and cold. I started to really panic. I pulled out the laptop and typed out everything I could think of in Google (not easy with a swollen, dying finger) to see how long my finger could last without circulation. The results weren't pretty, so I ran to the garage and found some wire snips. At this point I enlisted the help of The Head Crayon (who said some pretty unflattering things about my intellect) to get it cut off. I was furious that it had come to this as it lay in pieces in my hand. It was off, but look at the cost. If only I had not tried to put it where it didn't belong...If only I had gotten serious about it the same day that I put it on...

How many times have we been like the ring in our own lives? We've done something on a whim that we know wasn't right and then as it starts to become uncomfortable, we make small attempts to fix it but don't grasp how serious it is. It finally gets to the point that we are lying broken and in pieces. If only we hadn't made that choice...If only we had gotten serious about fixing it before we had gotten too stuck.

I will be taking the ring to a jeweler who will know just what to do to put it back together. He will take those broken pieces and weld them back together to where there is not even a crease that shows its been cut. Just as God can take our broken pieces of our life and carefully put them back together. We just have to take it to Him and ask him to do it.

I have decided not to try on those size 6 jeans....not quite yet. Lesson learned.

Knit Together

Psalm 139:13 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

So since this little being is starting to take up every square inch of my middle section (it was generous sized section to start with and this child has aggressively marked the whole of it to be its territory) I have really been thinking about this verse and what it means to me.

I think the word that strikes me the most is "knit", because of what it implies. Knitting is something totally out of my patience capabilities. I do good to tie a shoelace and I used to be able to rock those Friendship Bracelets. When I was pregnant with Buzz, I thought I might try this knitting thing. Maybe start with a blanket and work my way up to a knit gown with matching hat and booties all BEFORE she was born.

My friends, I ended up with a hanky. For a Barbie.

Knitting is something that takes patience, skill, long term planning and time. To say that God has knit us together in the womb says a few things to me. First, he must have some really little needles. (applause from audience)....

Seriously though, let's start with the "time" factor. I ended up with a Barbie hanky with more knots than knits after months of laboring over this thing. In order to have produced a blanket, I would have had to invest a lot of time of practicing to complete a finished project. Even though its a 2 inch square of knots, I love this thing because of what I intended it to be and the time I put into it. Doncha think he loves us so much more because of the effort and time he has put into us to create us just as he intended us to be? Knots and all?

Then we got the long term planning thing. In order to make this little square, I had to figure out how much yarn I would need, study this plotting grid thing (supposed to keep me on track) and visualize what I wanted this to be for the end result. Can't you just picture our Father (with his tiny needles) plotting the course for this new life? Lovingly visualizing the end result of what He wants us to be? His plans for us as he casts each new stitch?

Patience, that was the worst part for me. Each time I slipped, each knot that formed and each time it came all the way unraveled; I just wanted to throw the thing in the garbage and just say "Forget it" Most times it seemed that the yarn had a mind of its own, doing what it wanted to do. His patience is totally awesome though. How many times have I had a mind of my own and almost messed up His masterpiece, yet He kept patiently knitting away? How many knots have I gotten myself into, that I have begged for Him to undo and get back on course? I know in my life, My Father has a heck of a lot of patience for my yarn.

Finally we have skill. Skill is something that you got, you have to work hard to get or just pay someone to do it for you. I learned quickly that I do not possess the skill off the bat for anything more than a knotted hanky. Dude...He has skill to make a person. Millions and millions of individual creations all perfect in their own way, all with a purpose and all fresh off His tiny needles. Some are pot holders, some are cozy blankets and some are intricate sweaters of amazing detail. The coolest thing is that every single one of them is just what He intended it to be when He started knitting. Perfect within itself and its purpose.

Thanks for keeping up with this folks. Pardon me while I knit some wool for sleep before I unravel....

Toodles!