2014 has been a year of conviction and changes for me as a parent.

As my kids get older, I am growing ever more conscious of the example I am setting for them, particularly in the area of my phone.   I’m not just talking about while driving, during dinner or family time, or while helping them with homework.  Those are all real concerns for sure.

However, what hit me the hardest was how my cell phone was negatively impacting the start of my day.
How easy it is to turn off the alarm on my phone and start checking e-mail and Facebook.

Before I knew it, I was running late for my day and in a grumpy mood because of all the things that had bombarded me before I even got out of bed! 

Anyone with me?

I had always used the excuse of not being a morning person to put off my devotional time until later in the day.  Yet, here I was, regularly devoting a good 15 minutes to a small rectangular metal box.
And we mock those days-of-old idol worshippers!

When discussing electronic limits for our kids, a friend of mine shared that they have a non-electronic rule for the first hour they are awake.  What a wise pattern to establish that will serve her children well both now and later!

It was important for her to explain to them (and sometimes still remind them), that the reason for this family guideline isn’t that she’s just a “mean” mom restricting their fun!  Rather, it’s to help them remember the principle of…

This is the day the Lord has made.  We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Hmmmm…we just read the words “rejoice” and “glad,” didn’t we? 
Sounds like fun to me…And it is!
Starting the day out with God’s Word and talking with Him is uplifting, encouraging, empowering, and a blessing….pretty much everything my previous routine of e-mail and Facebook is NOT!

So, fellow parents, as we think about this coming year, let’s consider how our daily patterns are impacting our lives and our children’s.   For me, that means more of putting down the iPhone after turning off the alarm and picking up my Bible.  

How about you?

A resource that has greatly helped my OCD self is Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters!   Anyone else feel like the author had you in mind with that subtitle?  I enjoyed taking my time on this book, only reading a chapter a week.  That helped the principles soak in and give me time to practice before moving on.

Disclaimer:  Since this goes to such a broad audience and many of y’all don’t know me personally, I feel it’s important to add a couple of points.  While I share what I regularly strive for, I am not legalistic about any of this.  Some days I have to check my e-mail first thing.  Some days (and pretty much every Saturday morning) the tv comes on first thing for the kids.  Some days I enjoy putting off my time with Lord because I know I have a great window of time later in the day.  Some days I regretfully don’t make time for the Lord.  You get the idea.  Life happens.  This blog is always supposed to be non-guilt and non-ritualism inducing from an imperfect parent (me!) who enjoys sharing what she’s learned with others (you!) in hopes that it helps in some way!  To God be the glory if it does!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Looking for a new way to get in the Word with your kids this year?
Or, want a way to pray for your kids about specific issues using God’s Word?
Consider Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments  as a topical family devotional guide or topical parenting prayer guide.

This Christmas, Focus on the Family’s daily broadcast aired a compilation of Christmas memories from different folks who have been in their studio throughout the year…including yours truly! 

Click here for a link to hear the broadcast (Part 1 of “Reflecting on Christmas Memories”).

Click here for a link to read a blog I wrote on the same subject.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

My mom had the gift of making every family gathering special.  When my older nieces and nephew were little, she had them act out the Christmas Bible story!

And look who got to be the donkey!  Yes, that would be the teenaged version of me!

Making Luke 2 come alive!
Christmas 1993

No prep or costumes necessary, but the costumes did add to the fun!
(Simple instructions are further down, if interested)

Mom had a set of these that she used over and over with her 3rd grade Sunday School class and 4 year old preschool choir.  You can imagine how many Bible stories those costumes jazzed up!  She taught both of those classes for over 50 years, by the way!  I love thinking about all the children that were blessed by her amazing gift of serving the Lord through her passion of teaching kids about Him!

Depending on how many kids you have, you could go all out with shepherds, angels, etc or just stick to Mary and Joseph and use a baby doll for Jesus.  Adults and teens can have fun filling in where needed.

Tell the story or read it from the Bible while the kids are acting it out.  You may even want to throw in a Christmas Carol or two for the whole group to sing.  No need to complicate the script or feel like it has to be an all out pageant!

Keep it simple and have fun! 

Bible Costume Instructions:
Tunics:  Strips of cloth with holes cut for the head.
Head coverings:  Scarves or cut material held on with stretchy rings of cut pantyhose legs.
Sashes:  Cloth belts, strips of cloth, or scarves.

Are you inspired to create a little drama at your Christmas gathering this year?

True or False:  The Wise Men were there when Jesus was born.

FALSE!

The Wise Men came from far away.  Following the star, it probably took a couple of years.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusale and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  Matthew 2:1-2

Growing up, my mom let me put our nativity set’s wise men on the other side of the room.

My kids always remember this bit of Christmas trivia and I was amused to see how our magnet nativity set appeared on the fridge this year.

It’s kind of hard to tell in this picture, but the wise men are “far away” in the upper left!

Those with young children might enjoy the “Wise Men” song.

Tune -Here we go ’round the Mulberry Bush
 Motions -Pretend to carry gifts
The wise men came from far away, far away, far away
The wise men came from far away, bringing gifts to Jesus.

Where are your nativity set’s Wise Men?
Now you and your kids can be OCD like me and itch to move any
that are nestled near the stable with baby Jesus!

Still shopping for Christmas?
Don’t forget to consider
Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Want to get the focus back on the true meaning of Christmas and add more spiritual depth and richness to your family’s celebration of Christmas season? 

Here are 8 creative ways! 
(After scanning through this post, Click here if you wish to quickly scroll through all of these complete blogs at once, rather than clicking each individual blog link below.)

Want a media related teachable moment as you watch the classic White Christmas  with your family this season?
See “Bing Crosby’s yearly reminder to count our blessings!”

Want to help your child gain appreciation for our beloved Christmas carols through learning about their meaning and having fun with a craft?
See “Christmas Carols:  Meaning and Craft”

Want to extend the teachable moments of your Christmas giving opportunities?  Create a special present under your tree to help you remember to pray for the people represented by those donations.
See “The Gifting Gift”

Want a meaningful Christmas gift that supports a good cause and that your child will treasure forever?
See “Nativity Set Tradition”

Want a resource and fun method for your family’s Advent devotions?
See “Christmas in July”

Want a creative way to help your child see how your family lends a helping hand?
See “Christmas Traditions:  Helping Hand Tree”

Want a fun way to help your child learn and interact with Luke 2?
See “Christmas Traditions: Luke 2 Memorization & Scavenger Hunt”

Wondering what to do with all those Christmas cards?  Enjoy praying for those people.
See “Christmas Card Prayers”

What’s your favorite meaningful Christmas Tradition?
Please Share!

If you need a meaningful Christmas gift,
don’t forget to stock up on
Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments  makes for a meaningful gift! 
(Click on the blue title to go straight to the Amazon Link.)
Stock up now and get one more thing checked off your Christmas list!
Who are the moms, dads, or teachers in your life that would appreciate this great resource?
*Family members
*Friends
*Pre-school or School teachers
*Sunday School, Awanas, or church choir teachers
*Baby presents – Who just had a baby or is due in the next few months?
*Remember those folks who have birthdays around the holidays, too

Idea for what to write inside along with your personalization –
“May God bless you with wisdom as you continue parenting/grand parenting/influencing children with Scripture!”
You can incorporate this into the wording on the inside title page.

Click here to order through Amazon.

If you are local, I’m happy to sign them for you!

Stay tuned for next week’s post: 8 Creative Ways to Celebrate the True Meaning of Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Celebrate with grateful hearts!
Then, don’t forget that Advent starts this Sunday!

A favorite tradition of my family is to celebrate Advent by lighting our advent wreath during our devotional time each of the Sundays of December, as well as Christmas Day.

What are Advent candles?
If you are unfamiliar with the advent wreath and candles, you can read in more detail about them in this Focus on the Family article.

These are the weekly themes our family follows:
(themed Scripture and Carols further down)
1st Sunday – Light (purple)
2nd Sunday – Peace (purple)
3rd Sunday – Joy (purple)
4th Sunday – Love (pink)
Christmas Day – Christ – (white)

Candle Lighting Song: 
We begin each advent time by lighting the appropriate candle(s) and singing a modified version of Natalie Sleeth’s “Light One Candle.”

For the tune, listen to this sweet children’s choir.  To simplify things, our family only uses the melody during timer 23-38 seconds for each of the weeks.  We simply substitute the themed word for the week.

Lyrics –
“Light one candle for (joy),
one bright candle for (joy),
He brings (joy) to every heart,
He comes! He comes!”

Note: If your kids are like ours, be ready with a system of taking turns for helping light and blow out the candles, lest a holy war break out each time!

Bible Reading and Christmas Carols:
After singing “Light One Candle” and lighting the candle(s), we read a related Bible passage and sing favorite Christmas carols.  I picked these songs because of their references to the theme of the week.  See if your family can find them as you sing.   If you don’t know the words or tunes, they can be easily Googled.

LIGHT
Scriptures
John 8:12
Matthew 5:16
Carols
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Do You Hear What I Hear

PEACE
Scriptures
John 14:27
John 16:33
Carols
Silent Night, Holy Night
It Came upon the Midnight Clear

JOY
Scriptures
Philippians 4:4
Romans 15:13
Matthew 2:10
Colossians 1:9-14 (Turn this into a prayer for your child(ren).)
Carols
Angels We Have Heard on High
Good Christian Men, Rejoice
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

LOVE
Scriptures
John 3:16
1 John 4:9-11
Carols
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Love Came Down at Christmas

CHRIST
Scriptures
Luke 2:1-20
Young children might enjoy using a nativity set to play out the story while you are reading.
Carols
Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
Joy to the World! The Lord is Come

“Honey, every day is Thanksgiving to me!” 

This is what a sweet older neighbor exclaimed when I asked her what she was doing for Thanksgiving.
She didn’t know yet when her kids or grandkids would be able to come to share a meal, but it mattered not to her!  She is one of those people who exudes the light of the Lord and joy and gratitude in Him!

The cheerful heart has a continual feast.  Proverbs 15:15b

I want to have a contagious heart of joy and gratitude, too, and teach that to my kids!
Don’t you?!

“Thanksgiving is always in our hearts!”
One of my favorite decorations and reminders –

For more on the topics of Appreciation and Thanksgiving, see Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

For more parenting with Scripture Thanksgiving ideas, scroll through these posts.
*Thankfulness Tree
*Grateful Hearts
*Thankful Travel Time
*Thankful Turkey

Maybe you’ve heard about Operation Christmas Child and even done boxes in the past.
But has your family ever heard a personal story of how it impacted someone?

Tears streamed down my face as I was walking the dogs down our street last fall listening to the Focus on the Family podcast, “Serving as a Family this Christmas.”  A lady from Bosnia shared her testimony of how one of the Operation Christmas Child boxes blessed her both physically and spiritually years before when she was a poor child in a war torn country.

Until then, my family had more or less been going through the motions of doing the boxes every year.  We enjoyed the tradition and vaguely knew it helped people.  We had even read some of the follow up stories from the mailings we would get from Samaritan’s Purse after the deliveries.

However, there’s nothing quite like hearing something first person!  This lady’s story had the beautiful result of tenderizing our hearts as we shopped, wrapped, and packed our boxes. 

I intend for our family to listen to this again before we get started on the shoeboxes this year.
You can hear the story by going to this Focus on the Family link and clicking the “Listen Now” tab.  The portion I’ve referred to is at counter 16:30-26:10.

If you listen, please keep in mind that it’s a 2013 broadcast.  The correct dates and information for 2014 giving can be found here.

10 Ways to Meaningfully Involve Your Child(ren) in Operation Christmas Child :

1. Use the Operation Christmas Child website to explain how it works, if your family is unfamiliar with it.  There are clear instructions and fun, age-appropriate videos showing the packing process.
2. If your child is old enough, listen to this audio mentioned above or look through these videos on the Operation Christmas Child website.
3. Encourage your child to use some of his allowance to help purchase gifts.
4. Take your child with you to shop for the items.
5. On the way to shop, pray out loud that God will give you wisdom to pick out exactly what the recipients will love and need.  Share with your child how cool it is that God already knows who is going to receive your family’s boxes!
6. Let your child have input (within reason) as to what to purchase for the boxes.  (This is challenging for a control freak like me, but God can work through it!)  We try to balance fun things with necessities.
7. Consider having a “packing party” with families from your church…Or, if anything, just with your family.  This is one of our favorite events every year with our Life Group!  All the families bring their own boxes, items to stuff, wrapping paper, tape, and scissors.  The families spread out across the floor of the living areas and get to wrapping and packing.  Yes, it can be a bit crazy…Christmas music is blaring, it’s noisy with all the kids, we continue to struggle with the “best” method of wrapping those cantankerous boxes, and we must all be on guard our for roving toddlers and preschoolers trying to pilfer items that look fun!   But that’s all part of the charm!
8. Again, pray over the boxes for the children represented by them.  Brainstorm ways to pray for the kids that will receive them: health, food, water, safety, positive influences in their lives, their future, to come to know and/or grow in Jesus.
9. Consider creating and putting a “Gifting Gift” under your tree to help you remember to continue to pray for the children who will receive these boxes.  See http://www.parentingwithscripture.com/the-gifting-gift/.
10. Discuss with your family why we take time, energy, and money to do things like Operation Christmas Child.  You can easily find applicable Scripture under the topics of Giving, Ministry, Sharing, Charity, etc. in Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Pictures from our Life Group’s OCC Packing Party 2013!

 Any other great ideas related to Operation Christmas Child?  Please Share!

Your family’s pumpkin carving can turn into a meaningful and memorable lesson!
We are  fans of Liz Curtis Higg’s book, The Pumpkin Patch Parable.

This is written for preschool through early elementary and has great Biblical analogies for the whole pumpkin growing and carving processes!  These principles have stuck with us beyond those ages as we continue to discuss them during our annual carvings.

Quick Pumpkin Craft Instructions, left to right:
Toilet Paper Pumpkin – Cut orange felt and wrap a roll of toilet paper, stuffing the edges in the top.  Roll a piece of brown paper and stuff in for the stem.  Wrap a green pipe cleaner around a pencil to make a curly-q.   Attach the following verse.

You are the light of the world…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:14a, 16b

Paper Plate Pumpkin –  Paint a paper plate orange.  Glue raffia bow, pumpkin seeds, and green paper leaf that says, “Thank you God for….”

Paper Bag Pumpkin –  Stuff a brown paper bag with crumpled newspaper, paint 3/4 orange and 1/4 green or leave it brown.  Tie green curly ribbon to create the tendrils and attach a green paper leaf with the child’s name on it. 

“What other time do friends, neighbors, and strangers knock on your door and ask for a treat?!”  I wish I could remember who I heard say that years ago because I would thank him or her for the impression it made on me.  What could be a better treat than the “Good News?!”

My family makes the most of this opportunity by having tracts mixed in with the candy bag.  American Tract Society www.atstracts.org has a number of fun Halloween themed, child-friendly tracts available for ordering.

Because we are out trick-or-treating with our own children on Halloween night, we are not at home to pass out the treats.  So, every year we decorate a brown grocery bag, fill it with candy and tracts, and leave it on the porch along with a note instructing the trick or treaters to only take 2-3 things.

Who knows whether or not they all abide by “take 2-3 things” note, but we figure whoever gets the tracts are the ones meant to have them.  My kids love prepping the bag and then together we pray over the bag that God would use the tracts to help the recipients learn more about Him and salvation through Jesus.

Have another  idea for bringing God’s Word into Halloween?  Please share!
I know Halloween can be controversial among Christians.  Let’s not get into that debate here, please.  🙂