www.sandraevertson.com
11 years ago
Posted by
Victoria
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I am a child of the '80's, a teenager/ Young adult of the '90's, a generation X'er as it is known. I remember life before cell phones, computers and the Internet. I remember what it was like to have to call someone, open a phonebook, read a map, a cookbook, shop at a real store. When I was in high school no one had a cell phone. My computer class in 11th grade was all DOS based programing, no windows. I could write a program to make my name scroll along the screen and make faces appear. I had a book of programs at home that would let me play games on our very large Commodore 64 computer, it would take hours to type it all in just to make it play basic games with lines and dots. There was a time when my parents would have had to call the Mall and have me paged to the information desk if they wanted to talk to me on a Friday night ( which never happened). Once, A friend of mine and I got lost one night coming home from Elkin and ended up in VA..(long story, don't ask) Two 18 year old girls at a Welcome center in another state at 1 am, scrounging change out of the bottom of the floorboards in order to use the pay phone so we could call her boyfriend to get directions back home.... no cell phones, no GPS. It cost over a dollar to make the call and he was so mad at her he hung up on us without telling us how to get home, so a lady with her dog and milkshake in her hand dug in her floorboard to give us another 1.00 so that I could call Jason to get directions, he was angry, he informed me how dangerous it was for us to be there, and he made endless amounts of sarcastic comments about what we were doing and why we were there, but luckily he cared enough to actually help us get back to the highway and home... this would be unheard of and dangerous today, but it was the way it was in '92. No cute Facebook status about being at the rest area with a crazy dog lady and the old, fat truck driver, no quick text to a friend or a check-in from VA, just us, some change and a prayer that someone would be home to answer the call.
Now just a decade or so later, we are completely dependent on Internet, cellphones, GPS, and Google. We never open a book to find info, we just Google it, we never open a map we turn on the Tom Tom or open the latest map App. We never talk to someone and hear their voice, we just type a bunch of letters and symbols to send a message and we use fake cartoon faces to convey our moods, we think in short sentences and we hide behind our keyboards, we never make a photo album, we have everything stored on memory cards and DVD's, our children do cute things and ask us to put it on Facebook. We tell random strangers where we are eating and what we are doing. We show them every part of our lives from the exciting to the mundane and then we check back to see if they "like" what we put or if they commented on our cute child, our Pinterest worthy crafts, or our fabulous home cooked meal. Technology...an easier life.. a harder life. Technology is supposed to save us so much time and yet we find we have no time.
I read a blog about Lent and sacrifice and making things more important than God and I thought of Facebook for me, how much time I waste on it, how many times a day I peek at it, how much I dislike it sometimes, but yet still go back and look some more, and I decided that I would try life the old fashioned way...for 40 days... days that I would rediscover my life without status updates and photo documentation and drama and politics and all the other mess. I am now 10 days in and here is what I have found to be good and not so good about my life without Facebook.
Things I have missed:
-Friends, seeing what they are doing and keeping in touch.
-Prayer updates, I follow several peoples struggles and journeys with cancer, illness and troubles. I pray for them based on what they say they need prayer for, these past ten days I have not known what to pray for or how they are doing and I find myself thinking about them more and feeling inadequate in my prayers for them.
-doing things the easy way, checking Facebook to find out if church is canceled, if the roads are bad, if school is delayed, if Zumba is on schedule, etc. , etc. Facebook has made it so easy to not have to actually call anyone or look anything up that now it seems like a chore to have to search for the info on my own...sad...but true
Things I have not missed:
-Friends, it is sad, but we tend to judge ourselves based on how many Facebook friends we have. I have over 200 "friends" on Facebook and yet only a handful that I actually see and talk to or correspond with. Any given status update I post may have a couple of comments or 10 or so likes out of all those friends. There are only a few who actually keep up with what is happening in my life and care to respond or talk. So many people say "well, I read and keep up with you, I just don't comment or say anything." to me that is not friendship. Friendship is about sharing life not just observing it; however, I am the same with a lot of my contacts as well. I don't comment or correspond with half the people I am friends with, so why do I keep them on my list? Would they notice if I took them off? Would I notice if they took me off of theirs? Most people don't really care if we are on Facebook or not, the people who are really our friends will see us or keep up with us anyway and the others will just move on, probably half of my list doesn't even know I am gone...sad....but true.
-drama, I have had issues lately with Facebook drama. I have family members and friends who are tied in with people that I am not friends with and it makes it very difficult when those who I am not friends with can see and interfere with what I post. Lately it has caused me to feel like I am in a hard place between wanting to share and post with family and yet being very careful and guarded about what I post and share with them. I have to tread lightly with my husband and his feelings about what is shared and not shared. He has unresolved feelings, and strong ones, about some people who are tied in to me through Facebook. You don't always realize how much of your past hurt and anger is still ingrained in the deepest parts of you until it is dredged up and thrown at you. It is not worth the stress and mess to me to drag up feelings and anger and stress for him that have not been a problem in our lives for the past 20 years and shouldn't be now, just because of Facebook. We live a no drama, low stress life and I intend to keep it that way.
-politics, I have in no way missed a single political posting. I am tired of them, they don't change anything, they don't prove anything, they serve no purpose other than keeping people debating, arguing and angry. I haven't heard or seen anything political in over a week and it has been wonderful.
-misguided quotes. I have not missed a single cute photo with a touching quote or life lesson, most of them are contributed to people who didn't actually say them and if you really love the people in your lives or at the other end of the sofa, can't you just look over the top of your laptop or phone and just tell them instead of posting mushy love quotes to them and 300 of your closest friends. This is just me, I am not mushy, don't take offense if you are a poster of cute sayings, if you love your children and your husband and generally like to post every life lesson you can find in sentence form with a tranquil beach behind it.. it is o.k., I am simply saying I haven't missed them on my wall.
So this has been a long post, mostly because life has been quiet here these last ten days, but a good quiet. Yes, I miss checking in with friends and laughing at everyone's cute children and funny life moments and I will be back I am sure. I have felt at times isolated and out of touch. My house is quiet during the day, but I have found that my time is spent so much more wisely. My house is clean, my laundry is done, I have finished memorizing the book of James, I have prayed on a regular schedule, I have cooked and crafted and played games with the girls, I have exercised and lost 5 pounds, I have read books and went to book club, I have e-mailed and talked on the phone, I have enjoyed sharing stories and funny things with my Mom before she has already heard it five times from everyone else. I have enjoyed sharing stories with Jason when he gets home from work that he hasn't already seen on Facebook.
Life without Facebook still goes on and it is good!
Now just a decade or so later, we are completely dependent on Internet, cellphones, GPS, and Google. We never open a book to find info, we just Google it, we never open a map we turn on the Tom Tom or open the latest map App. We never talk to someone and hear their voice, we just type a bunch of letters and symbols to send a message and we use fake cartoon faces to convey our moods, we think in short sentences and we hide behind our keyboards, we never make a photo album, we have everything stored on memory cards and DVD's, our children do cute things and ask us to put it on Facebook. We tell random strangers where we are eating and what we are doing. We show them every part of our lives from the exciting to the mundane and then we check back to see if they "like" what we put or if they commented on our cute child, our Pinterest worthy crafts, or our fabulous home cooked meal. Technology...an easier life.. a harder life. Technology is supposed to save us so much time and yet we find we have no time.
I read a blog about Lent and sacrifice and making things more important than God and I thought of Facebook for me, how much time I waste on it, how many times a day I peek at it, how much I dislike it sometimes, but yet still go back and look some more, and I decided that I would try life the old fashioned way...for 40 days... days that I would rediscover my life without status updates and photo documentation and drama and politics and all the other mess. I am now 10 days in and here is what I have found to be good and not so good about my life without Facebook.
Things I have missed:
-Friends, seeing what they are doing and keeping in touch.
-Prayer updates, I follow several peoples struggles and journeys with cancer, illness and troubles. I pray for them based on what they say they need prayer for, these past ten days I have not known what to pray for or how they are doing and I find myself thinking about them more and feeling inadequate in my prayers for them.
-doing things the easy way, checking Facebook to find out if church is canceled, if the roads are bad, if school is delayed, if Zumba is on schedule, etc. , etc. Facebook has made it so easy to not have to actually call anyone or look anything up that now it seems like a chore to have to search for the info on my own...sad...but true
Things I have not missed:
-Friends, it is sad, but we tend to judge ourselves based on how many Facebook friends we have. I have over 200 "friends" on Facebook and yet only a handful that I actually see and talk to or correspond with. Any given status update I post may have a couple of comments or 10 or so likes out of all those friends. There are only a few who actually keep up with what is happening in my life and care to respond or talk. So many people say "well, I read and keep up with you, I just don't comment or say anything." to me that is not friendship. Friendship is about sharing life not just observing it; however, I am the same with a lot of my contacts as well. I don't comment or correspond with half the people I am friends with, so why do I keep them on my list? Would they notice if I took them off? Would I notice if they took me off of theirs? Most people don't really care if we are on Facebook or not, the people who are really our friends will see us or keep up with us anyway and the others will just move on, probably half of my list doesn't even know I am gone...sad....but true.
-drama, I have had issues lately with Facebook drama. I have family members and friends who are tied in with people that I am not friends with and it makes it very difficult when those who I am not friends with can see and interfere with what I post. Lately it has caused me to feel like I am in a hard place between wanting to share and post with family and yet being very careful and guarded about what I post and share with them. I have to tread lightly with my husband and his feelings about what is shared and not shared. He has unresolved feelings, and strong ones, about some people who are tied in to me through Facebook. You don't always realize how much of your past hurt and anger is still ingrained in the deepest parts of you until it is dredged up and thrown at you. It is not worth the stress and mess to me to drag up feelings and anger and stress for him that have not been a problem in our lives for the past 20 years and shouldn't be now, just because of Facebook. We live a no drama, low stress life and I intend to keep it that way.
-politics, I have in no way missed a single political posting. I am tired of them, they don't change anything, they don't prove anything, they serve no purpose other than keeping people debating, arguing and angry. I haven't heard or seen anything political in over a week and it has been wonderful.
-misguided quotes. I have not missed a single cute photo with a touching quote or life lesson, most of them are contributed to people who didn't actually say them and if you really love the people in your lives or at the other end of the sofa, can't you just look over the top of your laptop or phone and just tell them instead of posting mushy love quotes to them and 300 of your closest friends. This is just me, I am not mushy, don't take offense if you are a poster of cute sayings, if you love your children and your husband and generally like to post every life lesson you can find in sentence form with a tranquil beach behind it.. it is o.k., I am simply saying I haven't missed them on my wall.
So this has been a long post, mostly because life has been quiet here these last ten days, but a good quiet. Yes, I miss checking in with friends and laughing at everyone's cute children and funny life moments and I will be back I am sure. I have felt at times isolated and out of touch. My house is quiet during the day, but I have found that my time is spent so much more wisely. My house is clean, my laundry is done, I have finished memorizing the book of James, I have prayed on a regular schedule, I have cooked and crafted and played games with the girls, I have exercised and lost 5 pounds, I have read books and went to book club, I have e-mailed and talked on the phone, I have enjoyed sharing stories and funny things with my Mom before she has already heard it five times from everyone else. I have enjoyed sharing stories with Jason when he gets home from work that he hasn't already seen on Facebook.
Life without Facebook still goes on and it is good!
Posted by
Victoria
comments (0)
"Happy Valentine's Day" my children told me at Breakfast. I had almost forgotten that today was the day. The middle of the week, school calling, rushing, dressing, eating, brushing hair, not thinking to much about love and hugs and kisses until it is time to run to the car and wave them off to school. The morning rush puts a damper on love and gifts and Valentines. I gave them hugs and kisses and said "I love You" as they headed out the door in their pink shirts covered in hearts. " Happy day of Love" my youngest shouted as they pulled out of the driveway. I came in and sat down and pulled out their little gift bags full of stickers and books and teddy bears and thought about how much Valentine's Day has changed for me. I have so much to be thankful for, so much love in our home, in our hearts...in my life.
Everyday is a day to show our love, not just Valentine's day, but I do love this holiday. I love heart shaped toast for breakfast, chocolate hearts and pink peep candy. I love the little paper Valentines the girls bring home and the extra hugs and kisses that I get all day long. It is a day to remember what is important in life, our families, our friends , our God and our love. "We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19. God created us to love Him, he filled us with love and He demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners He sent His son to die for us, He showed us the most perfect form of love so that we could love others and share that gift of love He gave us with them. I Love love....
My first Valentine's Day with Jason was spent sitting on his porch ( he was grounded...haha) I wasn't supposed to be there but he had called and said his parents were gone for a while and I should come over and... well? What was I supposed to do... teenage love is a complicated thing. I had not thought I would see him so I had bought a basket of chocolate and had it delivered... I am sure he was totally embarrassed, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now here we were sitting the porch, two young teenagers, not sure what to say or do... he gave me three roses for the three words " I love you" and a card. We were nervous and awkward and embarrassed. He wasn't exactly a "love-showing" kind of guy and I was not a really mushy romance girl so we just sat there and mumbled I Love You and thanks and then his Mom pulled in the driveway and caught us there... Love left quickly as fear kicked in. I remember the look we got and the voice that had me running to my car and leaving without even a goodbye, I also remember laughing all the way home with butterflies in my stomach...first love.
A few years later, we went to a fancy restaurant all dressed up and pretending like we knew what we were doing, we even paid for valet parking and then laughed as we sipped our Tea and tried to figure out how not to embarrass ourselves. No more awkwardness or nerves just laughter and fun... comfortable love.
Years went by and the Valentine's days of married life became movie nights, home cooked meals and dates at the Mall, holding hands, and spending time together... lasting love.
Now here we sit 23 years later and Valentine's Day has become heart stickers, colored paper hearts with misspelled love words, candy hearts and sweet hugs and kisses. Today Jason and I went to Olive Garden for lunch, we talked and laughed and enjoyed a simple lunch hour together. Later we had a Valentine scavenger hunt for the girls ending with coloring books and light up heart balls. A smile on their faces, a smile in our hearts. While Jason and I shared a huge chocolate Hershey kiss, I thought about how far life has come, how much our love has grown, first it was us, now it includes two little girls who love to love, who light up when you hug them, who squeal with delight over a note in their lunch box and a pixie stick in their book bag... girls who have their Daddy's hair and their Mommy's laughter, a little piece of both of us, a product of our love, created by God to give love back to Him and others. "We love because He first loved us".... Our hearts just keep growing and keep loving, no matter how long we live, no matter how big or small our families are, whether we have a lot of people to love or just a few... we just keep loving, because He loved us and He put that love in us and around us and it comes through us and flows out of us, it isn't always easy and it takes work sometimes, but it is always there if we choose it, not just one day a year, but everyday.....true love.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Everyday is a day to show our love, not just Valentine's day, but I do love this holiday. I love heart shaped toast for breakfast, chocolate hearts and pink peep candy. I love the little paper Valentines the girls bring home and the extra hugs and kisses that I get all day long. It is a day to remember what is important in life, our families, our friends , our God and our love. "We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19. God created us to love Him, he filled us with love and He demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners He sent His son to die for us, He showed us the most perfect form of love so that we could love others and share that gift of love He gave us with them. I Love love....
My first Valentine's Day with Jason was spent sitting on his porch ( he was grounded...haha) I wasn't supposed to be there but he had called and said his parents were gone for a while and I should come over and... well? What was I supposed to do... teenage love is a complicated thing. I had not thought I would see him so I had bought a basket of chocolate and had it delivered... I am sure he was totally embarrassed, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now here we were sitting the porch, two young teenagers, not sure what to say or do... he gave me three roses for the three words " I love you" and a card. We were nervous and awkward and embarrassed. He wasn't exactly a "love-showing" kind of guy and I was not a really mushy romance girl so we just sat there and mumbled I Love You and thanks and then his Mom pulled in the driveway and caught us there... Love left quickly as fear kicked in. I remember the look we got and the voice that had me running to my car and leaving without even a goodbye, I also remember laughing all the way home with butterflies in my stomach...first love.
A few years later, we went to a fancy restaurant all dressed up and pretending like we knew what we were doing, we even paid for valet parking and then laughed as we sipped our Tea and tried to figure out how not to embarrass ourselves. No more awkwardness or nerves just laughter and fun... comfortable love.
Years went by and the Valentine's days of married life became movie nights, home cooked meals and dates at the Mall, holding hands, and spending time together... lasting love.
Now here we sit 23 years later and Valentine's Day has become heart stickers, colored paper hearts with misspelled love words, candy hearts and sweet hugs and kisses. Today Jason and I went to Olive Garden for lunch, we talked and laughed and enjoyed a simple lunch hour together. Later we had a Valentine scavenger hunt for the girls ending with coloring books and light up heart balls. A smile on their faces, a smile in our hearts. While Jason and I shared a huge chocolate Hershey kiss, I thought about how far life has come, how much our love has grown, first it was us, now it includes two little girls who love to love, who light up when you hug them, who squeal with delight over a note in their lunch box and a pixie stick in their book bag... girls who have their Daddy's hair and their Mommy's laughter, a little piece of both of us, a product of our love, created by God to give love back to Him and others. "We love because He first loved us".... Our hearts just keep growing and keep loving, no matter how long we live, no matter how big or small our families are, whether we have a lot of people to love or just a few... we just keep loving, because He loved us and He put that love in us and around us and it comes through us and flows out of us, it isn't always easy and it takes work sometimes, but it is always there if we choose it, not just one day a year, but everyday.....true love.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Posted by
Victoria
comments (1)
It started with a simple question..."Mommy, can I paint my nightstand purple?"
Purple? I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Purple. I need to think about it. I will have to ask your Daddy. I am just not sure I want that table to be purple, but when I asked Jason, he just laughed and said "why not?". I guess he is right, after all it is her table now, she has had it in her room since she was born. A shelf to hide her diary, side holders to stuff stickers and papers in, and a top to hold her favorite things... a treasure box, a lava lamp, a Hello Kitty alarm clock. It is an old table, but she doesn't know that. It hasn't always been white, but she doesn't remember that. I do. Because for me this little old table that I am cleaning off and sanding down represents a memory. I am sentimental. I like old stuff, stuff with a story, stuff with a history, my history, my family's history, someones history. I love connections, pieces of the past, and being an only child and a collector means I have lots of them. I have a trunk full of mementos of my childhood. Blankets that were made by my Grandmother, clothes I wore as a baby, special toys, and handmade art. I have my Grandparents things, my great-Grandparents things, my little girls things. Little things that tell a story... my story... my daughter's story. Emma shares my sentimental gene, maybe that is why she loves the table. She knows that it used to be in her Daddy's room at his house so she gets attached. She is a keeper as well, cards people make for her, special treasures, her first stuffed toy, her rock collection... her mementos, her story. The girls and I each have our special things that represent our connection to the past, to our family, but for my husband...well... he has this table.
He isn't sentimental, he isn't really attached to things. He isn't really attached to this table. If it wasn't for me and my love of all things that remind me of a story or a connection, we probably wouldn't even have this table. My husband's parents divorced when he was a teenager. We had been dating a while, although I was not really close to his family at that point. His Mother left home and took everything with her. Everything. Now, this blog isn't really about my husband..or his family, but I was there that day...just him and I. No one else home, no one else around. The two of us, dating for only a few short months, coming home, standing in that empty house, an echo to our voices....empty.
Fast forward four years. We are getting married, moving out, moving on. I came into our marriage prepared as only a single, somewhat spoiled (although not rotten, my parents say) child could....full of stuff. My parents sent me out in the world with enough stuff to supply a small country. Furniture from my house, furniture from my Grandparents house, sheets and towels and photos. Kitchen supplies, dishes and more furniture. Hand-me-down what-nots, collections, new and old, a moving truck to carry it and a family willing to put it all up for me while I was away on a honeymoon. We came home to a fully furnished home full of memories... my memories. Jason came into our marriage as only a guy who had been living with his Father and brother for four years, in a now very basically furnished home, could... with a suitcase full of clothes and a table. This little wood table that I made him bring, that I picked out of his basement room. I don't know where it came from. A yard sale, his Grandpa's barn, a neighbor. It was old and it was dirty and it was falling apart, but it was a connection, it came from his house and I wanted him to have it with us. I sanded it. I painted it. I peeled the yuck off of it, and when I was done, it looked pretty good. A place to hold his magazines, a place to hold the remote, and a lamp. We had some other small things of his, new copies of birth certificates and paperwork. I had one photo of him as a little boy that I found in an old wrecked car in his Grandpa's backyard and some copies of photos of his Grandparents that his Grandma made for me, but for some reason I associated this little table with his childhood, whether it came from it or not, I made this table represent a memory, a connection, a story...his story...our story. It really only takes one thing to feel sentimental about and then it becomes special, a piece of your history. We all have them, those little things that remind us of home, of family, of ourselves. We all need something, to keep us grounded, humble, to remind us where we came from, and how far we have come.
Fast forward 16 more years. A new generation is now born. My Grandparents have all now passed away and my girls will never get to see them this side of Heaven, but their memory lives on, in their stories, in our mementos of them. The girls have lots of things that let them know they were loved even before they were born. The blanket that keeps Emma warm, sewn by my Grandma. The pillow handmade by my great-aunt who was blind. The rolling pin that has rolled out dough for three generations and still helps me make the best bread ever. My Grandparent's Bibles and my Mother's Bible from when she was a teenager, full of verses and notes, a legacy of following Christ, passed down to the next generation.The bracelet that my Grandfather engraved for my Grandmother to let her know he loved her,and on and on and on.
We now have other things from my Husband's family, some furniture made by his Great-Grandfather that I love, some photos and collectibles from his Grandmother. Things given to my girls. We even have a few little things that over the years, through different family members, have come back to him from his Mother, some baby shoes, a handmade baby oufit, some childhood artwork, etc. We are grateful for each of the things we have and I cherish them and share what I know about them with my girls, just like I do my stuff, but it is still that little old white table that I hold in my heart. A table that has come with us through 4 moves and 16 years, a little, old, cheap table that could have came from anywhere or nowhere. A little table that is now ready to be purple and take on a new life. A table that for my daughter holds stickers and books, crafts and a feather collection. A table that for me will always hold a special place in my heart. A reminder of all that we have been through together and most of all, a reminder of how far God has brought us and how much God has blessed us... a story...a connection...a memory.
Purple? I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Purple. I need to think about it. I will have to ask your Daddy. I am just not sure I want that table to be purple, but when I asked Jason, he just laughed and said "why not?". I guess he is right, after all it is her table now, she has had it in her room since she was born. A shelf to hide her diary, side holders to stuff stickers and papers in, and a top to hold her favorite things... a treasure box, a lava lamp, a Hello Kitty alarm clock. It is an old table, but she doesn't know that. It hasn't always been white, but she doesn't remember that. I do. Because for me this little old table that I am cleaning off and sanding down represents a memory. I am sentimental. I like old stuff, stuff with a story, stuff with a history, my history, my family's history, someones history. I love connections, pieces of the past, and being an only child and a collector means I have lots of them. I have a trunk full of mementos of my childhood. Blankets that were made by my Grandmother, clothes I wore as a baby, special toys, and handmade art. I have my Grandparents things, my great-Grandparents things, my little girls things. Little things that tell a story... my story... my daughter's story. Emma shares my sentimental gene, maybe that is why she loves the table. She knows that it used to be in her Daddy's room at his house so she gets attached. She is a keeper as well, cards people make for her, special treasures, her first stuffed toy, her rock collection... her mementos, her story. The girls and I each have our special things that represent our connection to the past, to our family, but for my husband...well... he has this table.
He isn't sentimental, he isn't really attached to things. He isn't really attached to this table. If it wasn't for me and my love of all things that remind me of a story or a connection, we probably wouldn't even have this table. My husband's parents divorced when he was a teenager. We had been dating a while, although I was not really close to his family at that point. His Mother left home and took everything with her. Everything. Now, this blog isn't really about my husband..or his family, but I was there that day...just him and I. No one else home, no one else around. The two of us, dating for only a few short months, coming home, standing in that empty house, an echo to our voices....empty.
Fast forward four years. We are getting married, moving out, moving on. I came into our marriage prepared as only a single, somewhat spoiled (although not rotten, my parents say) child could....full of stuff. My parents sent me out in the world with enough stuff to supply a small country. Furniture from my house, furniture from my Grandparents house, sheets and towels and photos. Kitchen supplies, dishes and more furniture. Hand-me-down what-nots, collections, new and old, a moving truck to carry it and a family willing to put it all up for me while I was away on a honeymoon. We came home to a fully furnished home full of memories... my memories. Jason came into our marriage as only a guy who had been living with his Father and brother for four years, in a now very basically furnished home, could... with a suitcase full of clothes and a table. This little wood table that I made him bring, that I picked out of his basement room. I don't know where it came from. A yard sale, his Grandpa's barn, a neighbor. It was old and it was dirty and it was falling apart, but it was a connection, it came from his house and I wanted him to have it with us. I sanded it. I painted it. I peeled the yuck off of it, and when I was done, it looked pretty good. A place to hold his magazines, a place to hold the remote, and a lamp. We had some other small things of his, new copies of birth certificates and paperwork. I had one photo of him as a little boy that I found in an old wrecked car in his Grandpa's backyard and some copies of photos of his Grandparents that his Grandma made for me, but for some reason I associated this little table with his childhood, whether it came from it or not, I made this table represent a memory, a connection, a story...his story...our story. It really only takes one thing to feel sentimental about and then it becomes special, a piece of your history. We all have them, those little things that remind us of home, of family, of ourselves. We all need something, to keep us grounded, humble, to remind us where we came from, and how far we have come.
Fast forward 16 more years. A new generation is now born. My Grandparents have all now passed away and my girls will never get to see them this side of Heaven, but their memory lives on, in their stories, in our mementos of them. The girls have lots of things that let them know they were loved even before they were born. The blanket that keeps Emma warm, sewn by my Grandma. The pillow handmade by my great-aunt who was blind. The rolling pin that has rolled out dough for three generations and still helps me make the best bread ever. My Grandparent's Bibles and my Mother's Bible from when she was a teenager, full of verses and notes, a legacy of following Christ, passed down to the next generation.The bracelet that my Grandfather engraved for my Grandmother to let her know he loved her,and on and on and on.
We now have other things from my Husband's family, some furniture made by his Great-Grandfather that I love, some photos and collectibles from his Grandmother. Things given to my girls. We even have a few little things that over the years, through different family members, have come back to him from his Mother, some baby shoes, a handmade baby oufit, some childhood artwork, etc. We are grateful for each of the things we have and I cherish them and share what I know about them with my girls, just like I do my stuff, but it is still that little old white table that I hold in my heart. A table that has come with us through 4 moves and 16 years, a little, old, cheap table that could have came from anywhere or nowhere. A little table that is now ready to be purple and take on a new life. A table that for my daughter holds stickers and books, crafts and a feather collection. A table that for me will always hold a special place in my heart. A reminder of all that we have been through together and most of all, a reminder of how far God has brought us and how much God has blessed us... a story...a connection...a memory.
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Victoria
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Already the third day of a new year, three days gone in the blink of an eye, in the time it took me to clean up from Christmas, take the candles out of the Advent log, wash my girl's clothes... three days had already gone. Today was the first day that I decided to begin my year of change. Looking at that calendar this morning and seeing that 3 staring back at me made me realize more than ever that there is no better time than today, because before I know it tomorrow will be here and this is how I get sucked in to not accomplishing my goals. A day turns into a week, turns into a month, turns into failure and I just simply give up, so today is the day, no turning back... always forward.
This morning I set the parental controls on my computer, not for my girls, they are rarely on the computer. I set the controls for me, not to block me from any specific sites or to warn me of any content issues, that is not the problem. I set the controls to block out the time I should not be on here, time I should be spending baking, cleaning, playing, reading a book, walking my dog, etc. Habit replaces habit... and my habit is to check e-mail, play games, update my status, look up recipes, read blogs, and basically waste time. I justify it by saying "I need to check this" or "I can take five minutes to look at that" but all those 5 minutes add up to a lot of my day wasted. I tell my children they can't play on the computer sometimes even while I am on it myself. If I take a photo or laugh at something they do, they will tell me to go put it on Facebook. They don't ever get to look at Facebook but they know that is what people do with their photos and funny stories, they know that is what I do with mine. What does this habit say about me as a Mother? What does it say about me as the Godly example that I am supposed to be to my girls? Not what I want it to say, not what God would want it to say. Nail drives out nail.... Parental controls for time have been set, even now as I type this I am on borrowed time, when my time is up, my computer will log me off, done, time to move on to more productive activities. The plan... that by cutting my time off, the new habit will be to no longer rely on the computer to find a recipe, or a phone number, or a decorating idea. I am old enough to remember what my life was like before we had Facebook or Pinterest, or even the internet for that matter. I don't have a cell phone because I want my free time in the car, or shopping, or playing at the park, or eating dinner to be mine, I don't want to be that parent who always has a phone in my hand, so why do I think that I should be that parent at home?
Daily devotions with my family is the next priority on my list of change. During Advent we sit down as a family every single night for the entire month and have a family devotion together. We do it without excuse, we do it whether it is late, or we are tired, we do it after Daddy gets home from work, and before we go to gymnastics. We make it the priority and we never miss a single night...and then Advent ends and January starts and we go back to our regular devotion time, which seems to have become optional. We do it consistently for a while and then we start to make excuses. We say it is too late, or the girls are too tired, or Daddy isn't here on time so we will just skip it this night, we have gymnastics to get to or Brownie meetings to attend tonight... the list goes on and on. What does this inconsistent habit say about me as a Christian? What does it say to my girls or my Husband? Daily devotions should always be the priority, we love doing them at Advent time and we should love doing it all year long. I have purchased the Jesus Calling devotional book for children, it has a devotion for each day of the year, starting January 1 and going through all 365 days. I haven't got to worry about finding another book this whole year. The devotions aren't very long but they are perfect for my young children. They have a memory verse, an explanation, and an extra reading if you want to do more. Habit replaces habit... we always shower, always brush our teeth at night, I have never said it is too late or we were too busy for any of those things, so we are never going to be too busy, too late or too tired to spend time with God. Everyday together, this should be what my children see as the priority, what our habits should be.
We are taking the Joy Dare challenge this year, this is something else I found on Ann Voskamp's blog, a dare to live Eucharisteo, always thankful, always looking for things to give God thanks. This is one way to focus on gifts and joy and not on the negative of life. I printed off her list of things to look for in January. Everyday she gives you three things to look for and give thanks to God for, to focus you in and make you really look for the blessings all around you, even in the simple things, the little things. The girls think this is fun, they think it is like a scavenger hunt, always looking around them for things to add to their list. In the midst of all the negative news, a depressing economy, a lost and evil world, it helps to look for joy, in the small, in the large, in the unexpected. God wants to hear your praises, He relishes in your Thankfulness. He blesses us in so many ways everyday, we just have to stop, look and listen to find them all. The Bible says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1, We should be thanking God for as many of them as we can.
My last habit to work on creating this year is Volunteering, giving of myself to help someone else, and further God's kingdom. I do some volunteering, but I make a lot of excuses about how my children are small and I am new to the area and I don't know where to go or who to call, or how I don't have time. I am a stay at home Mom, my girls are in school during the day, I don't have a lot of contact with people outside my home. How can I spread the good news of Christ? How can I show others God's love and be a light, if I don't put myself out there to be a help? This year the plan is to pick up the phone and call the local soup kitchen, or shelter home, or women's shelter, and then just do it, no talking about it, no excuses, just do it. I may not have a lot to give, I may not have a lot of money or resources, but I have time, and I should be giving it to God. " Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2. In my memory work of James, I have learned so many things and one of them is that God wants action, not just lip service, not just me sitting in my house reading and learning His word, or sitting on a pew on Sunday morning praising Him. He wants me doing, moving, working...for Him, for others. My previous church pastor used to tell us that we act most like Christ when we love, but we look most like Christ when we serve. Serving others, my new years habit.
This year is not about goals of losing weight, or exercising more, or vacations or house remodeling, although I would like to do those things as well, but this year for me is about this... what does a Godly example of a wife, a Mother, a Christian look like? This is the question I am asking myself this year, this is how I am determining what I should or should not be doing...When the Lord looks in on me and my life.... What do I want my habits to say about me?
This morning I set the parental controls on my computer, not for my girls, they are rarely on the computer. I set the controls for me, not to block me from any specific sites or to warn me of any content issues, that is not the problem. I set the controls to block out the time I should not be on here, time I should be spending baking, cleaning, playing, reading a book, walking my dog, etc. Habit replaces habit... and my habit is to check e-mail, play games, update my status, look up recipes, read blogs, and basically waste time. I justify it by saying "I need to check this" or "I can take five minutes to look at that" but all those 5 minutes add up to a lot of my day wasted. I tell my children they can't play on the computer sometimes even while I am on it myself. If I take a photo or laugh at something they do, they will tell me to go put it on Facebook. They don't ever get to look at Facebook but they know that is what people do with their photos and funny stories, they know that is what I do with mine. What does this habit say about me as a Mother? What does it say about me as the Godly example that I am supposed to be to my girls? Not what I want it to say, not what God would want it to say. Nail drives out nail.... Parental controls for time have been set, even now as I type this I am on borrowed time, when my time is up, my computer will log me off, done, time to move on to more productive activities. The plan... that by cutting my time off, the new habit will be to no longer rely on the computer to find a recipe, or a phone number, or a decorating idea. I am old enough to remember what my life was like before we had Facebook or Pinterest, or even the internet for that matter. I don't have a cell phone because I want my free time in the car, or shopping, or playing at the park, or eating dinner to be mine, I don't want to be that parent who always has a phone in my hand, so why do I think that I should be that parent at home?
Daily devotions with my family is the next priority on my list of change. During Advent we sit down as a family every single night for the entire month and have a family devotion together. We do it without excuse, we do it whether it is late, or we are tired, we do it after Daddy gets home from work, and before we go to gymnastics. We make it the priority and we never miss a single night...and then Advent ends and January starts and we go back to our regular devotion time, which seems to have become optional. We do it consistently for a while and then we start to make excuses. We say it is too late, or the girls are too tired, or Daddy isn't here on time so we will just skip it this night, we have gymnastics to get to or Brownie meetings to attend tonight... the list goes on and on. What does this inconsistent habit say about me as a Christian? What does it say to my girls or my Husband? Daily devotions should always be the priority, we love doing them at Advent time and we should love doing it all year long. I have purchased the Jesus Calling devotional book for children, it has a devotion for each day of the year, starting January 1 and going through all 365 days. I haven't got to worry about finding another book this whole year. The devotions aren't very long but they are perfect for my young children. They have a memory verse, an explanation, and an extra reading if you want to do more. Habit replaces habit... we always shower, always brush our teeth at night, I have never said it is too late or we were too busy for any of those things, so we are never going to be too busy, too late or too tired to spend time with God. Everyday together, this should be what my children see as the priority, what our habits should be.
We are taking the Joy Dare challenge this year, this is something else I found on Ann Voskamp's blog, a dare to live Eucharisteo, always thankful, always looking for things to give God thanks. This is one way to focus on gifts and joy and not on the negative of life. I printed off her list of things to look for in January. Everyday she gives you three things to look for and give thanks to God for, to focus you in and make you really look for the blessings all around you, even in the simple things, the little things. The girls think this is fun, they think it is like a scavenger hunt, always looking around them for things to add to their list. In the midst of all the negative news, a depressing economy, a lost and evil world, it helps to look for joy, in the small, in the large, in the unexpected. God wants to hear your praises, He relishes in your Thankfulness. He blesses us in so many ways everyday, we just have to stop, look and listen to find them all. The Bible says "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1, We should be thanking God for as many of them as we can.
My last habit to work on creating this year is Volunteering, giving of myself to help someone else, and further God's kingdom. I do some volunteering, but I make a lot of excuses about how my children are small and I am new to the area and I don't know where to go or who to call, or how I don't have time. I am a stay at home Mom, my girls are in school during the day, I don't have a lot of contact with people outside my home. How can I spread the good news of Christ? How can I show others God's love and be a light, if I don't put myself out there to be a help? This year the plan is to pick up the phone and call the local soup kitchen, or shelter home, or women's shelter, and then just do it, no talking about it, no excuses, just do it. I may not have a lot to give, I may not have a lot of money or resources, but I have time, and I should be giving it to God. " Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2. In my memory work of James, I have learned so many things and one of them is that God wants action, not just lip service, not just me sitting in my house reading and learning His word, or sitting on a pew on Sunday morning praising Him. He wants me doing, moving, working...for Him, for others. My previous church pastor used to tell us that we act most like Christ when we love, but we look most like Christ when we serve. Serving others, my new years habit.
This year is not about goals of losing weight, or exercising more, or vacations or house remodeling, although I would like to do those things as well, but this year for me is about this... what does a Godly example of a wife, a Mother, a Christian look like? This is the question I am asking myself this year, this is how I am determining what I should or should not be doing...When the Lord looks in on me and my life.... What do I want my habits to say about me?
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Victoria
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They say time flies when you are having fun. Well, I don't know about the fun part but the time flies sure seems accurate. I can't not believe that I am entering into a new year already. It seems like only yesterday when I was thinking ahead to all the things I was going to do in 2012. My goals to use time more wisely, be a more godly example, lose weight... all those things I wanted to better myself by doing, all those opportunities wisked by in a blur, and now the year is over and how have I done? I have failed, I may have accomplished a few things that I set out to do, but in the great scheme of things, in the areas that really counted, I have failed....again. I have been reflecting on these failures for the past several weeks. The taking down of Christmas decorations, the throwing away of the trash, the sweeping up of glitter, and tinsel, the fresh clean of the house marks the begining of the new year for me and I decided that resolutions were pointless, they never get fulfilled...just a wish to make me feel better... a hope for what I want to be and a disappointment for everything I am not, but then one day a few weeks ago I read this line on a blog and it said " a goal without a plan is just a dream" and it sparked something in me.
That is the problem, I make goals, but I don't make a plan for how to achieve them. I say I want to better this or be this or do that, but I don't set a plan of action. When we go on vacation, I am the planner. I make maps, I chart the route, I even make daily itineraries and look up eating options. I research for weeks the best places to see, the best places to stay and the best things to do. I make a travel book and include everything. I even plan activities for the girls in the car, etc.... so how come I don't plan my life like that? How come I am content to just wing it and hope that my goals are met?
So began my plans, this year will be different because this year will have a plan. I think even God smiled and shook His head that I finally figured something out, He knows I require a little extra work and help, so I think it was Him that lead me to this new blog I have been following... A Holy Experience blog by Ann Voskamp. How I had not heard of her, I don't know. I am up on my women of Faith, I read Beth Moore, I study Kay Arthur, I should be in the know, but somehow I missed out, maybe it is because God's timing is perfect and He led me to this blog just when I needed it most. I have been spiritually renewed in the past few weeks reading her blog, she has made me think of my life and what I say and do and some things just speak to us sometimes in ways we don't understand and this blog has been that little voice that I needed to hear at just the right time. In the midst of my failures, it has given me hope...for a new year, a new beginning, or as Ann states... moving forward.
I have been thinking about different people in the Bible who chose to follow Christ and how they didn't say things like " I think I am going to work on my witness" or " I am going to try to read more of those scriptures" they just did it! They didn't think about it and get back to it later, or "work on doing better" they just did it, they immediately dropped what they were doing and went, they were committed. Daniel made prayer his habit, everyday, even under fear of death. Paul made witnessing his habit, everyday, even under fear of inprisonment, beating, and death.
So... what are my habits? What do I do daily that I am committed to, that I make time for, that I would be willing to endure hardship to maintain?
Habit replaces habit, nail drives out nail. Another thing I have learned on Mrs. Voskamp's blog. We are creatures of habit, if we do anything for a length of time and make it a priority, then it will become a habit. If we take it away and replace it with something else, then the new thing will become our habit. Whatever we are committed to do, we make time for, whatever is not a priority we will make excuses for, this made me really take a step back, because I constantly use the phrase " I don't have time" or "I didn't have time" but yet there are a ton of useless things I do everyday that take time and I never say things like " I didn't have time to watch (insert favorite show)" or "I didn't have time to surf ( insert favorite website/social media site)" Habits.... it is all about plans, goals, and most of all habits!
Instead of resolutions this year, I am focusing on what habits I am changing, and then I am making the plan of how to change them... because this year for me is all about change! If 2012 taught me anything it is that our time on this Earth is short, our time with our families, our children, our loved ones, could end any minute, we could be meeting our Creator or we could be be meeting eternal torment in the blink of an eye ( and if that doesn't make us think twice about our choices and our habits, nothing will) ...what do we want to do with the time that we have? What do I want my habits here on Earth to say about me? These are the things I am thinking of as I start this new year... my year of renewal.. my year of change!
(to be continued......)
That is the problem, I make goals, but I don't make a plan for how to achieve them. I say I want to better this or be this or do that, but I don't set a plan of action. When we go on vacation, I am the planner. I make maps, I chart the route, I even make daily itineraries and look up eating options. I research for weeks the best places to see, the best places to stay and the best things to do. I make a travel book and include everything. I even plan activities for the girls in the car, etc.... so how come I don't plan my life like that? How come I am content to just wing it and hope that my goals are met?
So began my plans, this year will be different because this year will have a plan. I think even God smiled and shook His head that I finally figured something out, He knows I require a little extra work and help, so I think it was Him that lead me to this new blog I have been following... A Holy Experience blog by Ann Voskamp. How I had not heard of her, I don't know. I am up on my women of Faith, I read Beth Moore, I study Kay Arthur, I should be in the know, but somehow I missed out, maybe it is because God's timing is perfect and He led me to this blog just when I needed it most. I have been spiritually renewed in the past few weeks reading her blog, she has made me think of my life and what I say and do and some things just speak to us sometimes in ways we don't understand and this blog has been that little voice that I needed to hear at just the right time. In the midst of my failures, it has given me hope...for a new year, a new beginning, or as Ann states... moving forward.
I have been thinking about different people in the Bible who chose to follow Christ and how they didn't say things like " I think I am going to work on my witness" or " I am going to try to read more of those scriptures" they just did it! They didn't think about it and get back to it later, or "work on doing better" they just did it, they immediately dropped what they were doing and went, they were committed. Daniel made prayer his habit, everyday, even under fear of death. Paul made witnessing his habit, everyday, even under fear of inprisonment, beating, and death.
So... what are my habits? What do I do daily that I am committed to, that I make time for, that I would be willing to endure hardship to maintain?
Habit replaces habit, nail drives out nail. Another thing I have learned on Mrs. Voskamp's blog. We are creatures of habit, if we do anything for a length of time and make it a priority, then it will become a habit. If we take it away and replace it with something else, then the new thing will become our habit. Whatever we are committed to do, we make time for, whatever is not a priority we will make excuses for, this made me really take a step back, because I constantly use the phrase " I don't have time" or "I didn't have time" but yet there are a ton of useless things I do everyday that take time and I never say things like " I didn't have time to watch (insert favorite show)" or "I didn't have time to surf ( insert favorite website/social media site)" Habits.... it is all about plans, goals, and most of all habits!
Instead of resolutions this year, I am focusing on what habits I am changing, and then I am making the plan of how to change them... because this year for me is all about change! If 2012 taught me anything it is that our time on this Earth is short, our time with our families, our children, our loved ones, could end any minute, we could be meeting our Creator or we could be be meeting eternal torment in the blink of an eye ( and if that doesn't make us think twice about our choices and our habits, nothing will) ...what do we want to do with the time that we have? What do I want my habits here on Earth to say about me? These are the things I am thinking of as I start this new year... my year of renewal.. my year of change!
(to be continued......)
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Victoria
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Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat.... I have no idea why but from the time I was a little girl everytime someone says Christmas is coming I think of this song. My Mother used to sing it to me when I was young and I guess it just stuck. Today as I finished up my shopping and was checking out I heard a lady say to no one in particular "Christmas is coming but I am so not ready." and the sales clerk smiled and said " yes, I need some of that Christmas magic Santa uses so I can get everything on my list done, but it hasn't happened yet." I chuckled to myself and thought how can you not be ready? I am always ready for Christmas, it is my favorite holiday. I understand that she meant she still had things to buy and things to bake and things to wrap and in that sense I am not ready either, but to me being ready is not about any of those things, being ready is about anticipation, it is about the excitement that Christmas brings.
Christmas magic, it is not just the stuff of fairy tales and it isn't just for Santa either. Christmas has a feel all it's own, an excitement that surrounds it, the anticipation, it creates an atmosphere that could truly be described as magical.
Can you feel it? The magic of Christmas, the reason it is so exciting? and it isn't this old materialistic world of red suits and green money. The magic or spirit of Christmas isn't about the colorful packages, the ribbons and bows, the shopping, or even the activities. It isn't a big fat man in red suit bringing gifts that creates that special intensity, urgency, or magic as some like to refer to it.
The magic of Christmas is about a God that is so big the universe can't contain Him making himself so small that an animal food trough was enough to cradle Him. The magic of Christmas comes in the form of a crying, helpless, cold, shivering, hungry baby that made a King shake in fear, so fearful in fact, that he ordered every baby in the kingdom to be killed just to try and stop it. The baby that caused wise astrologers to leave their homes and families and comfort to set out on foot, not really knowing where it would lead or how long it would take to get there, to follow a star, with nothing but a hope that they would get a glimpse of salvation.
Now, I know that Christ wasn't really born on December 25, I know that there was not snow on the ground and that the stable wasn't a cute warm barn with animals silently sleeping around them and baby Jesus wrapped up sweetly smiling in the wooden manger. A tiny town, Bethlehem, not really known for anything special, a town that in today's time would be off the grid, not found by any GPS, just a little passing through kind of a town, but there was one day in History that it was full, full of people, full of activity, full of God. One day in time that would forever change little Bethlehem. Mary was a just a teenager, inexperienced, never been in labor, never had a baby to care for, more than likely had never left home before now, yet here she was, chosen by God to give birth to the Savior of mankind. I would love to have been able to know Mary, to know this girl who at a very young age had already found favor with God, so that He chose her out of all the women of the world, to be the Mother of Christ. Mary was in pain, she had just traveled days, on foot and maybe a donkey ( although I don't think the Bible actually mentions her riding on an animal) in labor. I have been in labor, it is not fun, and I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like with no medicine, no doctor, no midwife, and traveling on foot for hours, days....I am almost positive that Mary was not smiling when they arrived in Bethlehem. I can picture her tired, weary, crying, and then there was Joseph...Joseph, a first time husband and a first time Father, out on his own trying to provide for his brand new family. I see him banging frantically on doors asking for a place for them to sleep, going from one house to another, maybe a little panicked at the thought of his wife in labor and no rooms in town to lay their heads. Joseph, desperate, begging for a place for his wife to rest, so that when a man offered up his cattle cave, Joseph took it without hesitation. Anywhere was better than nowhere. The barn was more than likely a cave, a cold, dark, maybe a little candle light, damp, smelly cave, carved out of the side of a mountain. The animals were probably loud and confused by this human family nesting down in their home. That manger trough, more likely made of stone than wood, carved out to hold the hay and straw. It was hard, cold, and I am sure it didn't smell nice. I have only small house animals and their food bowls and bedding areas smell so I can only guess what that cave smelled like. Sometime in the night, in that crowded, dirty, stable in that busy little tiny town, the Light of the World entered the darkness in the most humble of ways... naked, hungry, small, and weak...a baby crying out. Shepherds, the lowest of the low, the ones no one thought much about in town, those shepherds always out in the fields, smelly, dirty, unkempt. They spent days at a time camping out in those fields, outside of town, the fringes of society, those lowly shepherds who lay forgotten on the ground, of course God always thinks of the lowest first, so unlike us. God chose to make His birth announcement to the least of us first, and what an announcement it was. A sky full of angelic glory, a bright light in the dark night, a glimpse of Heaven chanting their praises and announcing a Savior, I cannot begin to fathom what that would have been like. Shepherds cowering in fear and watching in awe, both amazed and speechless all at once. They went running into town as fast as they could go, to see this baby that Angels declared was Christ the Lord. God made flesh, God among us, is there anything that makes us more ready for Christmas than that? There were no wisemen in that cave, they were still hundreds of miles away, no Christmas gifts yet arriving for baby Jesus. Just a few strips of cloth to wrap him up, an exhausted Mother and a nervous Father, along with a few shepherds and maybe a few stunned townsfolk hanging around.
That was God's plan, from the moment Adam took his first bite of forbidden fruit thousands of years before in the garden, God's plan was already in place, He was already preparing us for Christmas. He was the gift, He was our gift, all wrapped up in cloth and straw, just waiting for us to take hold of Him and accept the greatest gift we could have ever received.
The plan for our Salvation had arrived, God was ready to redeem us, He was ready to be us! God was willing to leave a perfect Heaven and come to a broken Earth just so he could walk among us, He left his throne to lay in a manger, He left a non-stop chorus of praise in Heaven to come and be taunted, ridiculed, beaten and killed... sacrificed, just for us. He felt our hunger, He felt our pain, He felt our weakness, He felt our temptation, and He chose to come and live as us so that He could understand us, and so that we could see what perfection looked like, so He could be that final sacrifice we needed, once and for all. That baby laying in that trough crying in the night was our only way back to Heaven, back to perfection, back to God, our creator, who loves us so much that all he asks us to do in return is believe... trust Him, follow Him, praise Him, believe! That is the spirit of Christmas, that is the anticipation, that is what makes the magic... Are you ready?
Christmas magic, it is not just the stuff of fairy tales and it isn't just for Santa either. Christmas has a feel all it's own, an excitement that surrounds it, the anticipation, it creates an atmosphere that could truly be described as magical.
Can you feel it? The magic of Christmas, the reason it is so exciting? and it isn't this old materialistic world of red suits and green money. The magic or spirit of Christmas isn't about the colorful packages, the ribbons and bows, the shopping, or even the activities. It isn't a big fat man in red suit bringing gifts that creates that special intensity, urgency, or magic as some like to refer to it.
The magic of Christmas is about a God that is so big the universe can't contain Him making himself so small that an animal food trough was enough to cradle Him. The magic of Christmas comes in the form of a crying, helpless, cold, shivering, hungry baby that made a King shake in fear, so fearful in fact, that he ordered every baby in the kingdom to be killed just to try and stop it. The baby that caused wise astrologers to leave their homes and families and comfort to set out on foot, not really knowing where it would lead or how long it would take to get there, to follow a star, with nothing but a hope that they would get a glimpse of salvation.
Now, I know that Christ wasn't really born on December 25, I know that there was not snow on the ground and that the stable wasn't a cute warm barn with animals silently sleeping around them and baby Jesus wrapped up sweetly smiling in the wooden manger. A tiny town, Bethlehem, not really known for anything special, a town that in today's time would be off the grid, not found by any GPS, just a little passing through kind of a town, but there was one day in History that it was full, full of people, full of activity, full of God. One day in time that would forever change little Bethlehem. Mary was a just a teenager, inexperienced, never been in labor, never had a baby to care for, more than likely had never left home before now, yet here she was, chosen by God to give birth to the Savior of mankind. I would love to have been able to know Mary, to know this girl who at a very young age had already found favor with God, so that He chose her out of all the women of the world, to be the Mother of Christ. Mary was in pain, she had just traveled days, on foot and maybe a donkey ( although I don't think the Bible actually mentions her riding on an animal) in labor. I have been in labor, it is not fun, and I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like with no medicine, no doctor, no midwife, and traveling on foot for hours, days....I am almost positive that Mary was not smiling when they arrived in Bethlehem. I can picture her tired, weary, crying, and then there was Joseph...Joseph, a first time husband and a first time Father, out on his own trying to provide for his brand new family. I see him banging frantically on doors asking for a place for them to sleep, going from one house to another, maybe a little panicked at the thought of his wife in labor and no rooms in town to lay their heads. Joseph, desperate, begging for a place for his wife to rest, so that when a man offered up his cattle cave, Joseph took it without hesitation. Anywhere was better than nowhere. The barn was more than likely a cave, a cold, dark, maybe a little candle light, damp, smelly cave, carved out of the side of a mountain. The animals were probably loud and confused by this human family nesting down in their home. That manger trough, more likely made of stone than wood, carved out to hold the hay and straw. It was hard, cold, and I am sure it didn't smell nice. I have only small house animals and their food bowls and bedding areas smell so I can only guess what that cave smelled like. Sometime in the night, in that crowded, dirty, stable in that busy little tiny town, the Light of the World entered the darkness in the most humble of ways... naked, hungry, small, and weak...a baby crying out. Shepherds, the lowest of the low, the ones no one thought much about in town, those shepherds always out in the fields, smelly, dirty, unkempt. They spent days at a time camping out in those fields, outside of town, the fringes of society, those lowly shepherds who lay forgotten on the ground, of course God always thinks of the lowest first, so unlike us. God chose to make His birth announcement to the least of us first, and what an announcement it was. A sky full of angelic glory, a bright light in the dark night, a glimpse of Heaven chanting their praises and announcing a Savior, I cannot begin to fathom what that would have been like. Shepherds cowering in fear and watching in awe, both amazed and speechless all at once. They went running into town as fast as they could go, to see this baby that Angels declared was Christ the Lord. God made flesh, God among us, is there anything that makes us more ready for Christmas than that? There were no wisemen in that cave, they were still hundreds of miles away, no Christmas gifts yet arriving for baby Jesus. Just a few strips of cloth to wrap him up, an exhausted Mother and a nervous Father, along with a few shepherds and maybe a few stunned townsfolk hanging around.
That was God's plan, from the moment Adam took his first bite of forbidden fruit thousands of years before in the garden, God's plan was already in place, He was already preparing us for Christmas. He was the gift, He was our gift, all wrapped up in cloth and straw, just waiting for us to take hold of Him and accept the greatest gift we could have ever received.
The plan for our Salvation had arrived, God was ready to redeem us, He was ready to be us! God was willing to leave a perfect Heaven and come to a broken Earth just so he could walk among us, He left his throne to lay in a manger, He left a non-stop chorus of praise in Heaven to come and be taunted, ridiculed, beaten and killed... sacrificed, just for us. He felt our hunger, He felt our pain, He felt our weakness, He felt our temptation, and He chose to come and live as us so that He could understand us, and so that we could see what perfection looked like, so He could be that final sacrifice we needed, once and for all. That baby laying in that trough crying in the night was our only way back to Heaven, back to perfection, back to God, our creator, who loves us so much that all he asks us to do in return is believe... trust Him, follow Him, praise Him, believe! That is the spirit of Christmas, that is the anticipation, that is what makes the magic... Are you ready?
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Victoria
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I have come to the conclusion that Facebook and I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship. I love being able to connect with friends from my past and get to know new friends better. I love seeing the photos. Photos of vacations to places I may never get to go, photos of holidays, decorations, and fun activities that people are enjoying, photos of new babies and children playing and growing. I love that I can see who needs prayer and sometimes even pray for them right at the time they need it most. I love that my family in other parts of the country and friends around the world can be connected and feel as if they are close even when they are far away. Facebook has a lot of things to love, but the flip side of that is that are also a lot of things that are frustrating and aggravating and sometimes I find myself having to exercise a lot of self-control when hanging out on Facebook. Sometimes Facebook is a lesson in restraint.
I have been memorizing the book of James in the Bible. I wanted to hide God's word in my heart and be an example to my children and prove to myself that you are never to old to learn new things. I mean if I can learn the jingle to the latest advertisement on TV, and quote senseless movie lines, then I can learn God's word. James spends a lot of time talking about how we need to rein in our tongues, control our mouths and what comes out of them, in fact he makes some pretty strong comments about how evil our tongues are and how harmful our lack of self-control can be to ourselves, to our witness, and to others. Since I have been committing these words of his to memory, I find that I am much more conscience of what I say and the word of God pops into my head at times when I am thinking of saying things and it causes me to rethink what I may or may not be saying.
This brings me to the things I hate about Facebook. I hate that so many people lack restraint and self-control about what they type and what they make public. I hate that Facebook can be a breeding ground of hostility and disrespect among people who are supposed to be friends. I hate that social media makes it so easy to type out anonymously what you think, about pretty much anything, and that because you are not face to face people think that their words don't mean anything. People type the first thing that pops into their heads, whether it is hurtful, angry, resentful, sneaky, manipulative or disrespectful and then they click on to the next thing. I hate that friends of friends, who are no friends of mine, can see photos and posts and comments and can sometimes even comment on those things without even knowing me personally. I feel that if I have not "friended" you on Facebook you have not earned the right to see my children, my family, my activities. I have truly tried to have self-control from the very beginning of my time on Facebook. I try to be responsible for what I say and how I say it. My intent on Facebook is to enjoy my friends and enjoy the similarities and the differences in our lives, to be a Godly example, and to show the same restraint in my typed comments that I would show them if I was face to face.
There are some areas of Facebook that I have to really work to show restraint and hold my comments on. One is politics. I hate that everyone debates politics on Facebook, I was raised that your political views were your own and not anyone else's business. I may not like a politician, I may not like a law, I may not agree with a vote or an agenda or a friends opinion, but Facebook is really not the best way to get that point across. God calls us to respect those who are in authority over us and I don't think that bashing the candidates, posting false information, copying and pasting rude jokes, crude cartoons and fake ads are in line with God's word. The president did not cause every problem in the country, there are a vast number of politicians from the community level, state level, senate, congress and courts that all play a part in what gets passed and what gets voted down, so bashing the president and blaming him for absolutely everything is not a very good use of your time. Facebook and the Internet are full of lies, shocking, I know, and when you copy and paste things all over your wall that you have not bothered to check out and verify as fact then you are only hurting your own cause and at least some of your friends in the process. I feel it is important to restrain myself when it comes to politics on social media, I rarely comment on anything political, I don't engage in useless bantering and hurtful commenting, it is not worth losing friends and hurting those you love over a political opinion. My friends know that I am a Christian, they know that I am a conservative Christian and that I hold conservative Christian values. I do not feel the need to argue or be hurtful or disrespectful to those who I am friends with who don't share those values. I can agree to disagree and not love them less for not being me. It can be hard sometimes to read the opposing view or see that someone I respect or love doesn't feel just like me on certain issues, but embarrassing them, debating with them and making rude remarks is not going to win them over to my side, it is only going to further distance them from my opinion and myself.
Another area I struggle with is family issues. Yes, family, and I know some of my family and maybe some of Jason's family read this blog so I am going to show restraint even here, but this is my personal little blog space that I use to journal my own thoughts and opinions and this is an area I struggle with. Family on Facebook can be difficult. I love keeping up with them and I love seeing what they are up to and sharing our lives and our children's lives with each and every one of them, but just like the family I live with here in my own home don't always share the same views and opinions, family on Facebook doesn't either. I do honestly struggle with some of the things that family members post sometimes, some family members may not share the same values or morals or opinions that I do and it is easy to want to comment and insert my opinion, but just because I am sitting in my den and not facing them does not mean I get a free pass to say whatever I want or that I get to make public my differing opinion. I still love them even when we don't share the same opinion. There are also family members we aren't close to or who we don't really communicate with on both sides, but they are friends with other family members that we share our lives with, and this creates a little bit of a sticky mess for me sometimes because I don't necessarily think it is fair for those people to see our photos, share in our posts, or be able to follow our lives through someone else. I struggle when I see comments and posts from people that I am not friends with personally and who I may not talk to, on photos of my family and my children. It is hard to read them and not comment back or say what I think, but Facebook is not the place and it would be wrong for me and angering or hurtful to my husband, who doesn't usually see any of it, and doesn't need to. I think about how much of our lives are shared with people who have not really earned the right to share it with us, strangers, friends of friends of friends, and although I have nothing to hide and don't share things on Facebook that I don't want the world to see, it still takes restraint to not comment back or engage in conversations, that although may be linked to me through Facebook, are not really my business. The family I am connected to on Facebook, I love very much and would never want to say or post anything that would be hurtful or disrespectful to them, and I hope they would do the same for me, it is about having enough respect for someone's feelings that you exercise restraint.
Facebook... the place where everyone comes together and yet never sees each other, the place where lives can seem perfect and a perfect mess all in the course of an hour, the place where everyone thinks that they can say whatever they want no matter the consequence, a place where out of the same mouths can come both praise and cursing. The verse that has stood out to me the most this week from my memory work is this " With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come both praise and cursing, my Brothers and Sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
Facebook.....a lesson in restraint!
I have been memorizing the book of James in the Bible. I wanted to hide God's word in my heart and be an example to my children and prove to myself that you are never to old to learn new things. I mean if I can learn the jingle to the latest advertisement on TV, and quote senseless movie lines, then I can learn God's word. James spends a lot of time talking about how we need to rein in our tongues, control our mouths and what comes out of them, in fact he makes some pretty strong comments about how evil our tongues are and how harmful our lack of self-control can be to ourselves, to our witness, and to others. Since I have been committing these words of his to memory, I find that I am much more conscience of what I say and the word of God pops into my head at times when I am thinking of saying things and it causes me to rethink what I may or may not be saying.
This brings me to the things I hate about Facebook. I hate that so many people lack restraint and self-control about what they type and what they make public. I hate that Facebook can be a breeding ground of hostility and disrespect among people who are supposed to be friends. I hate that social media makes it so easy to type out anonymously what you think, about pretty much anything, and that because you are not face to face people think that their words don't mean anything. People type the first thing that pops into their heads, whether it is hurtful, angry, resentful, sneaky, manipulative or disrespectful and then they click on to the next thing. I hate that friends of friends, who are no friends of mine, can see photos and posts and comments and can sometimes even comment on those things without even knowing me personally. I feel that if I have not "friended" you on Facebook you have not earned the right to see my children, my family, my activities. I have truly tried to have self-control from the very beginning of my time on Facebook. I try to be responsible for what I say and how I say it. My intent on Facebook is to enjoy my friends and enjoy the similarities and the differences in our lives, to be a Godly example, and to show the same restraint in my typed comments that I would show them if I was face to face.
There are some areas of Facebook that I have to really work to show restraint and hold my comments on. One is politics. I hate that everyone debates politics on Facebook, I was raised that your political views were your own and not anyone else's business. I may not like a politician, I may not like a law, I may not agree with a vote or an agenda or a friends opinion, but Facebook is really not the best way to get that point across. God calls us to respect those who are in authority over us and I don't think that bashing the candidates, posting false information, copying and pasting rude jokes, crude cartoons and fake ads are in line with God's word. The president did not cause every problem in the country, there are a vast number of politicians from the community level, state level, senate, congress and courts that all play a part in what gets passed and what gets voted down, so bashing the president and blaming him for absolutely everything is not a very good use of your time. Facebook and the Internet are full of lies, shocking, I know, and when you copy and paste things all over your wall that you have not bothered to check out and verify as fact then you are only hurting your own cause and at least some of your friends in the process. I feel it is important to restrain myself when it comes to politics on social media, I rarely comment on anything political, I don't engage in useless bantering and hurtful commenting, it is not worth losing friends and hurting those you love over a political opinion. My friends know that I am a Christian, they know that I am a conservative Christian and that I hold conservative Christian values. I do not feel the need to argue or be hurtful or disrespectful to those who I am friends with who don't share those values. I can agree to disagree and not love them less for not being me. It can be hard sometimes to read the opposing view or see that someone I respect or love doesn't feel just like me on certain issues, but embarrassing them, debating with them and making rude remarks is not going to win them over to my side, it is only going to further distance them from my opinion and myself.
Another area I struggle with is family issues. Yes, family, and I know some of my family and maybe some of Jason's family read this blog so I am going to show restraint even here, but this is my personal little blog space that I use to journal my own thoughts and opinions and this is an area I struggle with. Family on Facebook can be difficult. I love keeping up with them and I love seeing what they are up to and sharing our lives and our children's lives with each and every one of them, but just like the family I live with here in my own home don't always share the same views and opinions, family on Facebook doesn't either. I do honestly struggle with some of the things that family members post sometimes, some family members may not share the same values or morals or opinions that I do and it is easy to want to comment and insert my opinion, but just because I am sitting in my den and not facing them does not mean I get a free pass to say whatever I want or that I get to make public my differing opinion. I still love them even when we don't share the same opinion. There are also family members we aren't close to or who we don't really communicate with on both sides, but they are friends with other family members that we share our lives with, and this creates a little bit of a sticky mess for me sometimes because I don't necessarily think it is fair for those people to see our photos, share in our posts, or be able to follow our lives through someone else. I struggle when I see comments and posts from people that I am not friends with personally and who I may not talk to, on photos of my family and my children. It is hard to read them and not comment back or say what I think, but Facebook is not the place and it would be wrong for me and angering or hurtful to my husband, who doesn't usually see any of it, and doesn't need to. I think about how much of our lives are shared with people who have not really earned the right to share it with us, strangers, friends of friends of friends, and although I have nothing to hide and don't share things on Facebook that I don't want the world to see, it still takes restraint to not comment back or engage in conversations, that although may be linked to me through Facebook, are not really my business. The family I am connected to on Facebook, I love very much and would never want to say or post anything that would be hurtful or disrespectful to them, and I hope they would do the same for me, it is about having enough respect for someone's feelings that you exercise restraint.
Facebook... the place where everyone comes together and yet never sees each other, the place where lives can seem perfect and a perfect mess all in the course of an hour, the place where everyone thinks that they can say whatever they want no matter the consequence, a place where out of the same mouths can come both praise and cursing. The verse that has stood out to me the most this week from my memory work is this " With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come both praise and cursing, my Brothers and Sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
Facebook.....a lesson in restraint!
