Give Thanks

Today is the first day of the Thanksgiving advent-style calendar Jilly and I created last year. We placed it in our hallway and began what is developing into a family tradition - taking the time to write down what Jillian is thankful for each day. Today Jillian said she was thankful for eating spaghetti with daddy and God's blessings.

We had a bit of a challenge with the start of this exercise. She seemed to be confused with the Christmas Advent Calendar where she woke up to something new each morning. After letting me know what she was thankful today she immediately asked if she would have something new tucked inside one of the pockets in the morning. I tried to let her know this is the time we recognized how we are blessed. She completely understood that but still wanted to know if she would have something new in the morning.

Last year was the first year we did an Advent calendar for her and I am beginning to rethink that. First off, we never had one growing up so I'm not simply sharing a childhood tradition. And secondly, even though the gifts were small, she got something every day for 24 days. I think that it stole a bit of the thunder from Christmas morning. Maybe we'll simply give her an inspirational message most mornings and the other days we can give her a new ornament to place on the tree. For now we'll focus on having her recognize how incredibly blessed she is, even if it is something so simple as having the chance to eat spaghetti with her dad.

Planning A Meaningful Christmas

I am involved with a Bible study group that is reading Francis Chan's book Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. It has been a powerful study and one that caused to me deeply examine my relationship with Christ. I don't think much in Chan's teaching has surprised me. I'm usually honest with myself in regard to my shortfalls. However, this book has highlighted those shortfalls even brighter. The underlying message of this book, for me, has been to change my perception of security and stop clinging to earthly goods in the hope of using them in the future.

We are more than halfway through the book and this week's discussion led several in our smaller group talk about Christmas. We talked about how we are so blessed to need nothing in the way of gifts. We talked about stripping festivities and traditions back to the basics. Several ladies discussed not exchanging gifts and placing more emphasis on the gathering of family. A couple of ladies said that what they remember most of Christmas are not the gifts but the gathering of family.

I have to be honest here because, well, that is not my memory. At least not when I was a kid. Sure, as I get older I can look back and appreciate the time with my grandparents, aunts and whatever cousins were around that year. Our holiday varied each year - one year with my dad's side of the family, the next with my mom's and the next at home with both families welcome to celebrate with us. If I think back to Christmas at my grandparents' home in New Mexico, I immediately envision the platters of Martha Washington chocolates my grandmother made the previous weeks. In Tennessee I remember driving up to Pigeon Forge to look at the beautiful lights and my grandmother's church family stopping by Christmas Eve to exchange gifts and to share dessert. The memories are different depending on location, but the one constant thing that is foremost in my childhood memory is waking up in the morning to see what Santa delivered. Whether it was a doll, rocking horse, kitchen set, the anticipation of what would be under the tree filled my head each Christmas Eve as I went to bed.

I wonder if our parents and grandparents had these conversations back then. Did they ever fret over doting on us so much at Christmas? What has changed? I don't believe that we are that much better off financially than my parents were when I was a kid. Are things just more accessible now? As for us, we don't buy Jillian much throughout the year. She may get a new book or game during the year, but the bulk of her toys are purchased for her at Christmas and her birthday. What Grandma and Nana send is another story, but as far as what we do, it's fairly limited except for those occasions. And the child does not want for anything. Still, I enjoy the opportunity to shower her with gifts when possible. It makes me happy to have the ability to do that for her.

What is so wrong about showering the people we love with gifts? God showered us with the greatest gift, that of the birth of his son Jesus Christ. I get that we should not become so consumed with our earthly possessions that we lose focus on our eternity and serving God. But does that mean we abandon the traditions that provide so many childhood memories? I love the opportunity to find gifts not that people need (because as mentioned, few of us really need anything) rather gifts that they wouldn't purchase for themselves or something that screams their name when I see it. I admit there are some people who are a struggle to shop for and I dread it and do so because it's expected more than anything, but overall I feel blessed to have the opportunity to do for others. I don't believe in quantity or cost, rather the simple gift that says to a person that I have been thinking of them.

As for how all this relates to my study, well it's that I have decided to become much more purposeful about what I plan to purchase for friends and family and how we give to those in need (which I will discuss in another post). My goal to make this a more meaningful and simple Christmas this year is to put more thought into why I am giving a gift. Is the purpose simply to go through the motions of what has become a tradition or is it to glorify God by showering love on the people in my life?

Peace Among Chaos

Psalm 46:10 tells us to "Be still, and know that I am God." It is in those peaceful moments - often times forced peaceful moments - that we are truly able to recognize God's power and majesty.

I will argue, though, that there are times we can feel a closeness with Him even when we're running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Yesterday is a glowing example.

It was one of those days where I thought I had everything planned out but it all went sideways. In my mind the day was perfectly planned: whip up a crock pot meal for a neighbor, quick trip to the doc, dive into the day's school lesson, have lunch, catch up on election results while Jilly naps, deliver meal, daddy home, dinner together. Oh, and let's not forget tending to the little second grade neighbor we watch after school. Still doable and manageable without stress.

A full but peaceful day.

Naturally things got off course a bit: decided to make an additional meal for sick neighbor, hosted a friend and her two daughters for a play date, blew off school, daddy's flight was canceled so didn't expect him home as early as hoped, entertained crazy neighbor kids, rushed to make our dinner, tended to Jilly's first hockey injury, squeezed in a little play time with Jilly and daddy after dinner, cleaned kitchen, prepped breakfast dish for MOPS, went to bed.

I will spare the details, but other than sitting to talk with my friend during the play date (which was periodically interrupted by hollering kids), I don't think I was still one minute of the day. However, I felt it was a peaceful day and a day where I was closer to God than any other this week.

I had the chance to serve Him by bringing comfort in the form of food to a friend. I got the chance to spend some time with a godly woman who I rarely get a chance to talk with. I watched three little girls pour out their sweet innocence through play. I experienced the opportunity to shroud my child with comfort and love after being hit in the mouth with a hockey stick. I had a natural flow partnership with my husband who stepped in to help brown sausage without being asked an in spite of traveling all day.

And all along I talked with God, asking what could happen next. Could I please have a moment to finish one task at a time? Instead, he shepherd me to the next adventure.

We naturally need peace in our lives to slow down and recognize the wonderful gifts we have received, but sometimes the pace needs to be picked up a bit to execute God's work.

Election Day

Jilly and I will be heading to the polls in a bit to select who we believe is the best fit to govern us. I am sad to say that no one really stands out, but our household is fairly conservative so we tend to support candidates whose values are more in line with ours.

This morning I told Jilly that we had to get dressed so we could go vote. Her reply, "what is vote?" My best answer that I thought she could comprehend was that it's our opportunity to choose the people who make the rules for our country. Her response: "God makes the rules."

My prayer is that she is always mindful of that truth. Though the Bible tells us that we are supposed to respect those who govern us, we must know when they are asking us to go against what we know is God's law and do what we know is right. Man, is that more true today than ever and I can only assume it will be even more so as Jilly gets older.

Halloween

Halloween was quite fun this year. It has always been one of my favorite holidays just because I love the whole idea of dressing up into something new for a night. Plus I enjoy all of the activities that take place this time of year - visiting the pumpkin patch, carving jack-o-lanterns, making caramel apples.

Jilly took part in quite a few events the past week. First, our MOPS group visited a retirement home and collected candy from the residents there. The kids were a little scared of the older people, but warmed up once they realized candy was involved. The residents adored the children and had a great time talking with them.
On Saturday we participated in what I hope will become an annual tradition - decorating caramel apples at the local coffee shop. We did this last year and Jilly and her buddies had a great time. This year was no exception. Thankfully Jilly doesn't have the desire to eat her apple, so we are holding on to it for a day or two as a decorative piece then will place it in the trash.
Then finally the big night - Halloween. I'm not so sure what Jilly looked forward to the most - trick-or-treating or seeing everyone else dressed up. She and her friend, Gemma, went out together. I love our neighborhood because not only are there so many kids for such a small community, but all of the neighbors seem to be just as excited. The adults enjoyed seeing the kids dressed up and the kids gladly took their candy.
So now it's over until next year (by the way, Jilly has already decided what she wants to be: an astronaut). We will take down the ghosts and goblins that are scattered in our yard and turn our thoughts toward being grateful for all we have.

Is It Fall?

The calendar says it's fall, but the weather the past couple of weeks says anything but. I would be OK if we were still in Houston, but I always thought you were supposed to feel the seasons in Virginia. Not even the colors are that great this year, thanks to a lack of rain. But still, we are in the throes of one of my favorite times of the year.

Still, I feel as if it is slipping away from me. I am dealing with a tragedy that hit our mom community a week-and-a-half ago. It's a story that I have written as a blog post but have not found the courage to publish just yet. I think that once I see it jump from my head and into words then it will be more real than I want it to be and will have to deal with it on a level that I'm not quite ready to reach. It will appear here soon enough. We can't hide from the truth.

So instead I have been plugging along doing what people in this part of the country do this time of year - loving fresh picked apples, filling my home with the smell of homemade pumpkin everything, and getting ready for Halloween.

JillyBean has been planning for Halloween since June. Yes, June. You would think that you could blow off something that a three-year-old says she wants to do four months later, but not my child. She has a mind like an elephant - she never forgets. Not only does she remember, she remains fixated on it. I cannot tell you how many afternoons we have spent at the lunch table making sure we were on the same page, conversations that were initiated by her. "OK, mama. Let's talk about what we're going to do for Halloween." It was as if we were part of some corporate brainstorming committee trying to launch a new product.

This summer Nana and Doc took Jilly to see a middle school production of Peter Pan. She was hooked (forgive the pun that will shortly come to light). I have the movie on VHS and she has watched it several times. We were in Barnes & Noble and found the book and it is a staple at nap time and bedtime. So which character would my daughter naturally gravitate toward from the story? You'd think being a girl she'd love Tinker Bell. Nope. Or maybe even Peter. Nope. No to Wendy, too. In June Jilly announced that she was going to be Captain Hook for Halloween. Yes, my child was so inspired by the beautiful story of Neverland to become a pirate. The bad guy, though she insists she is going to be a good Hook....

I began searching for a costume that we could buy and nothing quite worked. The best "look" didn't come in her size so we decided to have one made. Not by me, of course. I can't sew. Thanks to a family friend, Jilly will be the pirate of her dreams on Sunday night - hook and all.

I am excited to see her all dressed up. She'll be cute yet fierce. We will trick-or-treat in our neighborhood and hopefully find a new home for all the candy that I am sure she will score. Then hopefully we can fall back into sync and enjoy this lovely time of year.

Music City Baby

We got the chance earlier this month to visit Nashville. Daddy had to go for work and Jilly and I tagged along for a change of scenery and the opportunity to visit with Aunt April. In addition to getting the chance to catch up, Auntie A was gracious enough to do a daylong photo session with Jilly and captured some great images.

I wanted something that captured both Nashville and my child's individual style and sass. Here are the highlights: