Happy Birthday, Jesus

Our family has chosen to host an intimate birthday party for Jesus, though we know that December 25th is not His actual birthday.

We invite you to join us.  To make Christmas meaningful.  Different.  Reflective . . . but fun.

A extraordinary wonder . . . a delightful memory that beckons your children and your heart to be inclined towards the star . . . leading you on a journey to the Savior.

Read the Christmas Story.  Be a part of the Christmas Story.  It’s written for me . . . for you . . . for the world. 

A party.

A birthday party for a Savior.

Join me over at Sharing the Journey to read about our very special birthday cake.

Here is a sneak peak:

Christmas is the one day of the year when our children restrain themselves and stay in bed longer than us.  They wait.  Their mouths salivate.  There is much anticipation.

This one day . . . the only day out of the year, they are served breakfast in bed.  And it isn’t just any ordinary breakfast.

They are treated to wholesome cake . . . at 7 AM.  Birthday cake.

Click here to read the rest! 

Love Came Down: A Giveaway

Last night we met for Bible study. 

As the sun approached the horizon, I found myself sidestepping a nervous dog, jumping over a rather inconvenient bean bag housing one Ezra traveling towards the sickness that had already overcome Asher, and a pile of dirty dishes lining up to enter the dishwasher. 

Meanwhile, Gabe talked for attention and grabbed his fourth pair of pants for the day. 

Thankfully, my little girl slept.

The kitchen?  I wondered how . . . how would it get clean?  The ladies were each bringing their favorite treat.  And I had the counter covered in Christmas Spirit Sugar Scrub

and Almond Lavender Sugar Scrub.

Tonight was supposed to be a party.  A Christmas party . . . and I with no cheer.

I was still stinky from my workout at the gym.  My hair was two days old.  Dinner hadn’t even made it to the checklist.  There were supplements to be administered; herbals to be prepared; and essential oils that must be anointed upon ailing loved ones.

I still had to call someone and apologize.

Quite truthfully, I thought to myself, is this what Christmas is about this year?

Business?  Sickness?  Hosting?  Cooking?  Baking?

However, every morning for the past two weeks I am reminded that it is not.

My morning mug tells me otherwise. Love came down.

And my afternoon mug seeks to remind me.  Love came down.

Love came down.

When I remember or am available to lead our Advent devotions . . . I am reminded there too . . . 25 days of being reminded.  Love came down.

I desperately want to grasp this concept.  A baby.  A beating heart.

A living person.  Not just a person . . . but God! 

God!  God . . . I shout.

But I’m struggling to hear.

Jackie Kendall and Debby Jones write in their book, Lady in Waiting,

Too many women have been involved in a form of religious worship, but have never had a vital, growing relationship with Jesus.

I am stuck right there.  At some point . . . somewhere between summer and fall, my interaction with Jesus became religious, rather than a relationship.  I became a Pharisee . . . bent on rules and doing the right thing.

Keeping up appearances. 

But when you are FORCED to consider who Christ is . . . when you are surrounded by Him in your home and even on the radio . . . I consider those words this season. 

Love came down.

Though one popular song artist has changed the lyrics to an old Christmas hymn, I know that there is power behind the real words.

The Word.  It’s not just a book.  It has the ability to know our hearts . . . transform our hearts.

So each morning, I am drawn to Him.  This Jesus.  This man that an ENTIRE day is celebrated.  More than a day.  A month.  Though we see evidence of a morphed holiday . . . tinsel, presents, Santa and his elves, cute reindeer . . .

The fact remains.

Without Jesus . . . no one . . . no one would be celebrating Christmas.  Black Friday wouldn’t exist, nor would Cyber Monday.

It is because of Him. Love came down.

People have tried to change how that Love is expressed.  But when it comes down to it . . .

It is Jesus. 

Lord Jesus . . . fill me with that wonder and awe of you.  God, draw me back to you.  Help me defy the pull at my apron strings, my mental to-do list, my tiredness, my lack of desire to serve . . . wake me up physically and spiritually of a morning.  As you grew from a baby to a man . . . Lord God . . . grow my faith.

Lord, come down into my heart.  I’m trying to build a crèche for you.

*****Let me invite you to enter to win a $35 gift certificate to be used at the Dayspring Store? *****

Mandatory (pick one):

• Where is your heart this Christmas? (Besides in your chest.) or
• What is your favorite Christmas decoration?

Optional:

• Follow me on Google Friend Connect
• Subscribe to my blog
• Tweet about the Giveaway . . . Let me help you out:

Enter to win a $35 gift certificate at Dayspring via @GranolaMom4God granolamom4god.com/2011/12/love-c…

DaySpring has sent me this product for free to review and that all opinions stated are my own.  I will notify winner via email on December 26th.  You will have 24 hours to respond.  Coupon will be valid until the end of December for anything in the DaySpring Store.

FYI:  There will be an “after Christmas” sale at the Dayspring Store.

Tidings Eternal

He asked me what tidings meant as he hung the angel he had decorated last year on our freshly cut tree.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  (Luke 2:10)

These days, Ezra asks a lot of good questions.  Observant questions. 

Tidings.  Tiding is usually found in the plural.  It is defined as a “piece of news.”

I thought that our deviation from an artificial tree to an evergreen that would assault our senses with its fragrant essential oils would be a blessing this year.

Much to my surprise and dismay, our green boughs brought discord . . . and tears.

“Mommy, I don’t want it to die!!”

But Asher, it will die eventually.  We are all dying every day. 

“I don’t want to get rid of our old tree.  Don’t throw away the box.”

I’m not going to throw the box away.  Daddy and I thought it would be a fun treat for you kids to experience a real Christmas tree.  One that God made and grew. 

A tree that truly reminds us of Jesus.

A cross . . . made of wood . . . wood that pressed against our Savior’s skin so that later we would celebrate His birth and rejoice in His rebirth.

That is why . . . before our tree has a hint of tinsel . . . we remember.

We remember what the tree stood for . . . and who was on that tree . . . Jesus. 

The nail . . . it reminds us.  It is hung as close to the tree trunk as possible.

Like Jesus, Asher, the tree had to die.  There is no way to avoid it.  Sure, the world could stop selling fresh Christmas trees. 

The tree would still die.

But this tree . . . this tree that we have here in our family room was probably planted the year you were born. 

It was planted by a person who intended for the tree to bring joy.  To one day travel to our house, to shelter your three gifts until the appointed day. 

Christmas morning. 

The tree is part of a larger story.  A plan.  It was purposefully planted in a spot where it could grow, spread out its limbs, only to be cut down.  Once it was cut it lay flat for many days until we brought it home.

And it became part of our story.  It found its purpose.  The reason for its life. 

Likewise, God designated each of us to live at a certain time . . . to be born, to live, to serve, to know Him . . . to be a part of God’s story . . . His plan – so that all may know . . that He is the Christ. 

He is the author of our story . . . we are a chapter in God’s giant book . . . the best one ever written. 

Like Jesus, our tree lived to die.  And in that . . . brought us joy tonight as we prepared a place for it in our home. 

It brings good tidings.

A reminder . . . of Jesus.

Christmas Ornament Exchange Alert

It’s happening again.  An ornament exchange.  From your family to another family. 

Remember last year’s ornament exchange?

Welcome to this year’s ornament exchange.

Please read my sister’s blog post over at Hi Mamma Designs regarding this sweet, inexpensive tradition she has started.

She needs to know if you are interested by December 2, 2011! 

Elementary Round Up

Nearly 400 pictures later . . . and I am only going to show you one day’s worth of pictures.

We are on vacation.  Doing vacation-like things. 

I’m not supposed to be blogging. 

I thought I would get TONS of stuff done by not doing school, not blogging, and having the Hottie home.

Nope. 

We have been playing.

Too much.

Naaaaaaaaaaa . . . .

Because sometimes when you play, you learn.

You let go.

You become independent. 

You fall.

You get back up.

You see a new machine.

And you even learn a math term. 

‘Cause your dad is a math whiz. 

And a homeschool dad.

For example,  a zamboni goes in a spiral.  But I need to find out why the zamboni is called the zamboni. 

What has been going on in your school room – and if you don’t have a blog to link up with . . . leave a comment and tell me what your family did in the Learning Room!

Guidelines: 

1. Write a blog post about your elementary aged child(ren), first through fifth grade, comprising the activities you did the prior two weeks.  You can include pictures, bullet points, tools used, learning gained, God moments, etc.
2. Be sure to include a link back to my blog.  By doing so, other like-minded readers can hang out in a central location if they are looking for Elementary School ideas.   Publish your post and then head back to my site. 
3. Provide the exact link (URL) of the Elementary Round-UP blog post you wrote, not your blog’s home address, through the provided MckLinky.
4. Optional:  For now, I would love it if you grabbed my blog button over on the side.  At some point, I may get creative and create a button specific to this meme . . .
5. You can combine this with other meme’s if that helps you to save time (as long as it is OK with the other blog owner). 

BIG IMPORTANT HEART MOMENT:  This isn’t a blog post to WOW other moms . . . the point of this is to help YOU document on YOUR blog what you and your child(ren) are learning.  My link-up is only to provide some accountability.  I won’t come and leave nasty comments on your blog if you don’t link up. 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Praise be to the Lord,

the God of Israel,

the God of our Land, the God of my home, the God of my family,

because He has come to His people and redeemed them.

He has redeemed me.

Us.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us (as He said),

Jesus.

~

Daily I seek You through Your letter to me.

Your letter to everyone.

Words that contain hope . . .

Encouragement . . .

Comfort.

On this Christmas season may the Story . . .

The only Story Of Innocence . . .

bless you, sustain you,

and bring you life.

 

Merry Christmas,

The Granola Family

(Brian, Jodi, Asher, Ezra,

Gabe, and Naomi)

Thanks be to God, the Hottie has some time off . . . and I will also be taking a break from my “habit” of blogging.  We will be spending some much needed time as a family – resting and recuperating from our busy fall filled with moving, a new baby, a wrap-up of many engineering projects for the Hottie, and healing from the empty spot in our kitchen with the loss of our dog.

See you after the New Year. 

(I will probably post a link next Friday for the Elementary Round Up, though.)

Stay tuned for upcoming giveaways in honor of my new blog design from The Frilly Coconut:  Pick and Draw, Tropical Traditions, and hopefully a few other surprises.

Be sure to check out Melanie’s giveaway (only if you want to work on having some gratitude, though!)!

Elementary Round Up

Time is short today . . . and typing one handed is hard . . . . so our past two weeks will be like watching an old fashioned silent movie . . . without captions.  (Leave a comment if you want to know what we are doing in a certain picture or where to get the printable we used.)

Oh, and we also have played in the snow a lot.

 

 

 

  

What has been going on in your school room – and if you don’t have a blog to link up with . . . leave a comment and tell me what your family did in the Learning Room!

Guidelines: 

1. Write a blog post about your elementary aged child(ren), first through fifth grade, comprising the activities you did the prior two weeks.  You can include pictures, bullet points, tools used, learning gained, God moments, etc.
2. Be sure to include a link back to my blog.  By doing so, other like-minded readers can hang out in a central location if they are looking for Elementary School ideas.   Publish your post and then head back to my site. 
3. Provide the exact link (URL) of the Elementary Round-UP blog post you wrote, not your blog’s home address, through the provided MckLinky.
4. Optional:  For now, I would love it if you grabbed my blog button over on the side.  At some point, I may get creative and create a button specific to this meme . . .
5. You can combine this with other meme’s if that helps you to save time (as long as it is OK with the other blog owner). 

BIG IMPORTANT HEART MOMENT:  This isn’t a blog post to WOW other moms . . . the point of this is to help YOU document on YOUR blog what you and your child(ren) are learning.  My link-up is only to provide some accountability.  I won’t come and leave nasty comments on your blog if you don’t link up. 

 

Wordless Wednesday Wordless Sled Instructions

 

      

 

Wordless Wednesday @ 5 Minutes 4 Mom