Biggest Announcement Ever
26 Jan 2012 6 Comments
in faith, life, Missions Tags: Bogota Colombia, Latin American missions, mission to the world, missionaries to Colombia, missionary families in Bogota, missionary families in Colombia, Missions, MTW
Well, maybe not the biggest…
I think I’m going to start putting that title on all of my posts, except then everyone will think I’m pregnant…and I probably am….
Okay, so big news to share. We (our team) have had a change of plans. I’ll give a little background for those of you who are new here. Our family is moving with another family to the mission field. The original plan was to go to Costa Rica for two years. During our time there, we were going to attend language school and participate in creating a training program for new missionaries going to the field. Our desire, and what we feel the Lord leading our families to do, is start a new work somewhere in Latin America where the Gospel has not taken root. We want to assist national pastors in planting churches where there is a need.
Well…
…two weeks ago we found out that there is a place better suited than Costa Rica to accomplish the training program, so we flipped a coin and decided that we’re moving to Bogota, Colombia. Just kidding about flipping a coin, we drew straws. No really, after much prayer and many conversations with MTW, we decided that this is a much better fit. In fact we are absolutely thrilled with this change and let me tell you why.
First of all, there is a very reputable language school there that we will attend our first year. Secondly, there is a thriving team there and an established network of churches in Bogota. And if that was not enough, this is my favorite part…national leaders and pastors are coming to Bogota from all over Latin America asking the team there to pease send missionaries to their countries because they want to duplicate what they are seeing happen in Colombia. God is moving there! Raise your hand if you want to be a part of that! No really, raise your hand!
Okay, for those of you freaking out about the drug cartel, violence, kidnapping and what not, let me speak to that. Colombia is not the place that it was 10 or 15 years ago. The team that is there now was pulled out from 2001 until 2006. The team leader told us that they feel so safe there that his wife walks alone at night. There are so many places here that you wouldn’t feel safe doing that. I think in terms of infectious diseases, not so much gangs and violence, so that was my main concern. I was very happy to hear that Bogota is not a city at high risk for malaria. Whew.
The fact of that matter is, and I know you all will agree with me here, God is in control of my life and your life. He is in control of my children’s lives and my husband’s life. “Which of you by worrying can add one more day to his life?” A hair doesn’t fall from our head without his permission. Any one of us could come down with a disease today or be a victim of a violent crime or a terrible accident. Our trust is in God alone. Our salvation comes from Him. Alone. But I get the concerns. God is teaching me this stuff.
So the last two weeks have been a lot of work. We have had to redo every single brochure, every mailout, packet, letter, card, every video, our website, every single thing said Costa Rica. Josh and Nate made a video (at midnight no less) describing what we are doing and answering questions. Some of you may not know that we have to raise all of our own support. Our plan and desire is that we are able to move to Bogota in August. We will only be able to do that if we have raised 100% of our support. Right now, we are at about 60 or 65%. We are completely dependent on monthly pledges. Please pray that the Lord leads people to give.
I’m going to link the video here. If you don’t care anything about the mission field or what we’re doing and if you have no desire to support us financially or pray for us. You MUST watch this video anyway! The guys recorded it at almost midnight and Josh is talking in his sleep. Seriously, his eyes are CLOSED the entire time. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Go watch it. You can thank me later.
I forgot to mention one of the best things that is coming out of all of this. When I used to tell people that we were moving to the mission field, the first question they would ask was, “Where are you going?” then I would tell them “Costa Rica” and they would get a huge smile on their face and say “Oh how fun!” like I was just going on an extended vacation. And then I would smack them. Just kidding, I would never do that. Now, when I tell them I’m moving to the mission field and they ask me where I’m going and I say “Colombia” they get this look of intense concern on their face and immediately tell me that they will be praying for me.
Now that’s more like it.
The Jesse Tree and a Wecipe
13 Dec 2011 3 Comments
So…
I hope your holiday traditions are well underway. We are doing The Advent Jesse Tree this year and are enjoying it so much. Love. That’s all I can say. If you didn’t get the memo about that, you definitely need to order your book and plan on doing it next year.
In our Jesse tree group, I was assigned the day represented by the 10 commandments. So, I recruited help from Jak. He took it very seriously.
I lit.er.all.y took 27 pictures of Jak with this exact pose. This is how you know he’s really concentrating.
I mean really workin’ hard. This one was taken right before his stroke of creative genius.
And voila! It’s just so abstract!
…and the finished product.
I would like to offer you some advice just in case you ever find yourself molding the 10 commandments out of air dry clay. Don’t make them too thin. Do not. Because then they will be very fragile and will perhaps break. You may have made 38 very thin 10 commandments for your closest friends. Bummer. Then you will be forced to say that it was the first set that Moses brought down from the mount. These commandments are the first set. I repeat, these commandments are the first set. I meant to do that.
If this happens to you, I mean, if you happen to make the broken first set of 10 commandments, you will feel defeated and you will need to prove yourself. To yourself.
You will set out on a mission to make marshmallows. From scratch.
First, you will need to find a homeschooled child to make an awkward homeschool pose behind your ingredients.
Check.
Then you will need to pass out from looking at all of those genetically modified ingredients.
Check.
You should feel very guilty for feeding this to your nearest and dearest. Shameful.
Okay, so first you’re going to have to heat some stuff up. You will have to use your meat thermometer because you broke your candy thermometer. Don’t fret.
You are just going to have to let it boil. And boil.
You will add the hot stuff to the other stuff.
Then you will get out your dinosaur hand mixer because you are a glutton for punishment and well, you deserve it. You made 38 too thin 10 commandments out of air dry clay, remember? Then you wrapped them up and gave them to your friends.
Now, here is where I want you to listen ever so closely. You must use your mixer for 15 minutes. Pray you have a stand mixer and you don’t have to use your extremely old fashioned hand mixer that you got on your wedding day.
15 minutes.
I’m going to give you the secret to marshmallows. There are lots of secrets, but we’re friends, I will tell you everything.
You will never, and I do mean never, accomplish marshmallows if you do not have this going on right outside your kitchen door.
This, my friends, is essential.
Words cannot adequately describe how these marshmallows are going to taste. This just gives them a little extra something.
You are being punished for only having a hand mixer.
So, there should be much chaos ensuing while you use your dinosaur, 18th century hand-crank mixer for 15 minutes. Don’t complain, this is where the magic happens.
Once you’ve boiled some stuff and mixed some stuff. Then you’re going to pour it into a 9 by 13. You will then let it sit while you peel very small pieces of paper off of your work of art child. This will take 24 hours.
Cut them into the size you want.
Honestly, these marshmallows are so good! I told Josh last night that I didn’t think I could ever drink hot chocolate again without these marshmallows.
The recipe is here if you want to try it. Really easy, except all the mixing and paper issues…although I know you won’t even need to click on the recipe link because of how stellar my step-by-step instructions were!
Hope you’re enjoying your Christmas celebrations!
P.S. Annie, yes I stole the Wecipe idea from you. Start blogging again or else!
Pumpkin Time!
16 Nov 2011 3 Comments
I love Fall. I love Winter. I hate cold weather. Did I tell you that I’m moving to Costa Rica? I will probably miss the changing seasons eventually. Maybe when I’m good and thawed, I’ll think about missin’ them.
I think I just like the idea of changing seasons, not the actual seasons…and definitely not the cold weather accompanying them. I should probably just light some pumpkin spice candles in July and call it a celebration. I’ll let you know how that goes next year when I’m celebrating Christmas and it’s 80 degrees. Sure hope I can get my hands on that candle.
One thing I do love about this time of year is pumpkin carving with children! When you finally get to the point where they can actually participate and not just watch you carve their pumpkin, it’s just so funner!
So, I’ve typed that ’cause I think it’s funny and I’m sitting here worried that someone will actually think that I think that it’s really “funner” and they’ll be worried about my fitness to homeschool. This is sad. This is not funner.
At. All.
I guess they should be worried about my fragments too.
Anyhoo.
When we told Jak that we were going to carve pumpkins, he was sorta shocked at first.
Then overjoyed.
Ecstatic even.
Until he heard the “ice-tweem twuck”.
This was the exact moment when he said, “Excuse me, sir. Pardon me, but I hear the ice-tweem twuck”.
Speaking of ice-tweem twucks, why are they so creepy? Honestly, I wanna know. I mean, I love our ice cream lady. She’s very nice and not creepy, but she drives a very creepy ice-tweem twuck.
Why?
In case you were about to ask the question, “Why do all of your children look like they just ate dirt?” The answer is, I don’t know.
What?
Your kids don’t eat dirt?
Just kidding. Mine don’t either.
Except when they do.
You know, sometimes my posts just get funnier and funnier and I just have to stop myself because, honestly, who can take all that belly laughing?
Not me.
I honestly can’t take it. It’s too much.
And I was going to include a wecipe. But since I have carpal tunnel from uploading all of these pictures and since all of you have really sore abs from all the belly laughing, it’ll have to wait.
It’s gonna be good though (with or without the dirt).
Christian, you are not your own.
10 Nov 2011 4 Comments
in faith Tags: Inerrancy, is God's word inerrant, is God's Word true?, the inerrancy of scripture
So, how about the great weather we’ve been having?
That’s kinda how I wanted to start this post.
Or how ’bout them Saints?
Just so you know, I’m really ready for something lighter on my blog. It’s been kinda heavy around here lately.
But this question has been weighing on my mind…
“Can I be a Christian and not believe that the Bible is inerrant?”
In other words, can I still be a Christian and believe that the Bible has flaws and error? *(see note)
The doctrine of inerrancy is simply this, “the doctrine that the Bible is fully truthful in all its teaching.” Scripture does not contradict itself. It does not misrepresent or manipulate the truth.
The attack on the doctrine of inerrancy is ages old. Wars have been fought on this issue alone.
The question is not, “does the Bible have a mistake?” but “does God make mistakes?”.
If we do not believe the Bible to be inerrant, then on what do we base our beliefs? The Bible itself claims to be inspired. If it claims to be inspired, but it isn’t, then God is a liar. If God is a liar…
So, what does the Bible claim about itself?
Hebrews 4:12 ”For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Isaiah 40:6 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of God stands forever.”
Psalms 119:105 ”Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
I Thessalonians 2:13 ”When you received from us the Word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God breathed…”
John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth.”
I heard someone say this week, “I believe in the overall message of the Bible, but I don’t believe that it’s inerrant.” Why would someone believe in the overall message of a book that lies about being ultimate truth, perfect, infallible, eternal, God-breathed and without error?
I wouldn’t.
You know how much I like to over-simplify…
May I suggest that someone who holds to the view, “I am a Christian, but I don’t believe the Bible is without error.” is someone struggling with being told what to do?
Ahhh. That’s a big problem isn’t it? Who likes to be told, “You are not your own.” or “Submit your will to the Lord.” or “You are a living sacrifice.”?
Don’t I have rights?
How many times this week did you hear someone say, “It’s my body!”?
Christian, you are not your own.
This problem is as old as mankind. It is a problem that waged war ages ago. It is a problem that continues to wage war in the human soul. Mine and yours.
I fear this “self-sovereignty” is invading the Church.
The question of authority is the crux of the issue.
Absolute truth infringes on our authority over ourselves. It wages war on our autonomy. It is a direct attack on our rights.
Many times the Christian tries to “fix” Scripture. We try to make it fit into our choices, our perspective. We try to fit it into our idea of how we think things should be.
In Eugene Peterson’s, Eat This Book, he says, “We are fond of saying that the Bible has all the answers, and that is certainly correct…But the Bible also has all the questions, many of them that we would just as soon were never asked of us, and some of which we will spend the rest of our lives doing our best to dodge. You can’t reduce this book to what you can handle; you can’t domesticate this book to what you are comfortable with…This book has generative power; things happen to us as we let the text call forth, stimulate, rebuke, prune us. We don’t end up the same.”
Christian, you are not your own.
So, let’s say, I’m a Christian and I believe in the inerrancy and authority of Scripture. What does that mean for my life?
Let me give a big shout out to Eugene ’cause he answers this question in his book too!
“[The Bible] is given to us in the form of a story that is intended to shape our entire lives into the story of following Jesus, a life lived to the glory of God.”
The Christian submits to the text. Ouch.
It hurts. We feel its impact. We conform to it. We become transformed by it.
John Calvin said, “All right knowledge of God is born of obedience.”
The Christian must not only ask, “What does the Bible say?” but also, “How can I obey what it says?”
And what does the Bible say? Yes, that’s where the Christian must go and stay and live.
Live there.
1 Corinthians 6:20 ”You were bought at a price. Do not become enslaved by the world.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ”If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone the new has come.”
Acts 5:29 ”We must obey God rather than men.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 ”We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
1 John 3:16 “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ”Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
Christian, you are not your own.
Okay, so glad we got all that worked out! {wink}
Next week something lighter like nuclear fusion or why eating dirt is a totally acceptable way to get in your trace minerals or how to keep Ava from putting peas in baby Matthew’s ears or why I can’t discipline my son like I discipline my daughters or why I’m thankful for spell-check. Something like that. Ish.
*I’m not addressing the issue of translation. Some translations are not as accurate as others. A good student of the Word will utilize available study helps to be sure of what God really is saying to us from the earliest documents. It’s well worth the effort.
Initiative 26: The vague wording argument.
04 Nov 2011 3 Comments
I feel I need to address another argument concerning Initiative 26. I have included this in my original post, (please read it first, if you haven’t already) but feel I need to address it separately as well.
Argument #6 The initiative is poorly written.
I will admit I am probably as much baffled by this argument as by any other. I have heard it stated, “I am a Christian and I am against abortion, but the wording is too vague.” Too vague? Let’s have another look.
“…to define the word person…to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent…”
Vague? Hardly. The wording could not possibly be any more clear and concise. May I suggest that this is a misunderstanding concerning the purpose of an amendment? Take a look at our Bill of Rights. These amendments are one sentence. ONE SENTENCE! They do not address every possible implication of the amendment. They couldn’t possibly. They do not address ONE SINGLE implication. That’s not the purpose.
The purpose of this initiative is ONLY to establish a foundational truth, a fundamental principle. As of right now the concept of personhood is not defined in the constitution. IT SHOULD BE.
Now, if we are talking about the implications of this initiative being unknown, I whole heartedly agree. However, the initiative Is Not Vague. There will always be unknowns. Always.
Are there absolute implications if this amendment passes? YES! I am voting for this amendment for that reason, as well as the fact that there are ABSOLUTE IMPLICATIONS IF IT DOESN’T PASS.
We can’t be sure how some things will be interpreted if it passes. We CAN, however, be sure that the courts will continue to treat the unborn as expendable if it does not pass.
Friend, I ask you the question again, Do you believe that an unborn baby is a person?
Initiative 26 only establishes the personhood of the unborn.
This is the only question.
If you believe that an unborn baby is a person, vote yes.
Please stand up and speak for those that can’t defend themselves.
Initiative 26: Do you believe that an unborn baby is a person?
01 Nov 2011 45 Comments
in Children, faith, life Tags: amendment 26, bible, birth control, christian, embryo personhood, in vitro, initiative 26, is an unborn baby a person, ivf, life begins at fertilization, Mississippi, person-hood, personhood, personhood amendment, vote yes, when does life start, yes on 26
This post is for Christians.
If you are one of my friends or family members who don’t believe in the God of the Bible, then I understand how you may fall on a different side of the argument than I do. You may agree with me. But I get it if you don’t. I would love for you to read this post, but it’s not intended to address you.
This post is to address my Christian brothers and sisters who may have succumbed to the confusion that is circulating concerning Initiative 26.
Initiative 26 is an attempt to amend the constitution of the state of Mississippi.
The official ballot summary of the measure reads:
“Initiative #26 would amend the Mississippi Constitution to define the word ‘person’ or ‘persons’, as those terms are used in Article III of the state constitution, to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof.”
I want to address this issue on my blog because I have been shocked and grieved to see how many Christians are listening to what they hear on facebook, websites, google searches, etc. They are making decisions based on arguments they hear and their own fears instead of facts.
Initiative 26 only establishes the personhood of the unborn.
As Christians ,we have a lens through which we must see all of life. EVERYTHING must be filtered through this lens. It’s how we make sense of the world. If we believe the Bible to be true, then we won’t believe it when someone says the world was created by a huge random explosion. We won’t be swayed when someone says there is more than one way to get to heaven. We have a plumb line by which everything is measured.
Let’s address the plumb line first. What does the Bible say about the unborn?
Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart…”
Isaiah “The Lord has called me from the womb; from my mother has he made mention of my name.”
Job “Did he not form us from within our mothers…”
Psalms “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
I could go on and on. This is my question to you.
Do you believe that an unborn baby is a person?
Let’s address the arguments.
Argument #1 They’ll take away our birth control pill.
I’ve been most surprised to find this is one of the biggest arguments against this initiative. Women are very afraid to lose their pill. A few years ago, I read that the pill (not the morning after pill, the regular hormonal birth control pill) can be abortifacient. Meaning, it can allow an egg to be fertilized and then cause a miscarriage. I was shocked. I was more than shocked, I was horrified. I grieved. I wondered if some of my babies had been aborted (yes, that’s the word I meant to use) by my using the pill. Then I became angry. I had researched it enough to find that it was, in fact, true. I couldn’t understand why Christian leaders weren’t standing up and telling us this! I started to tell my friends. I knew that they would have the same response that I did.
I was wrong.
They didn’t want to know. Most people that I told either didn’t believe me (I understand, I didn’t believe it at first, either) or they didn’t want to know. I even had close friends say, “Well, I just can’t get pregnant right now.” My heart aches just thinking about that. If this just rocks your world and you just can’t imagine life without the pill. Please, please examine your heart. I beg you. We CAN’T make decisions this big looking through a lens of convenience. This is not okay. We just don’t have that right.
Does this mean that things might change? Probably. Does this mean that you may have to do something that is more complicated than popping a pill or using an IUD? Most likely. Does this mean that they will make the birth control pill illegal in this state? Hopefully. I understand that there are people with issues (PCOS, hormones, etc) that take the pill for reasons other than pregnancy prevention. If you are also using the pill as a form of birth control because you are sexually active, you could be CAUSING miscarriages. You could be CAUSING miscarriages.
Argument #2 What about ectopic pregnancy? They will let a woman die because they won’t remove the embryo.
An ectopic pregnancy is where the embryo implants in the fallopian tube and begins to grow there. There is no chance that the baby can live. Yes, it is still a baby, but it can’t live because it never made it to the womb.. NO ONE is saying that the life of the mother is now (or ever) invalid. “Life of the mother” cases have always been decided by the mother and her family. This was the case before Roe versus Wade, when abortion WAS NOT LEGAL. No one is going to require a mother to die to save a baby that cannot live. Please don’t believe this lie. No one is going to require a mother to die PERIOD. Sanctity of life concerning the unborn does not oppose the sanctity of life of the mother.
Argument #3 What if a person is raped? They won’t give her the morning after pill.
Before I begin to address this argument, please hear me say that I have deep compassion for anyone whose life has been violated in this way. I cannot imagine the emotional and physical devastation this brings. However, if she were to get pregnant as a result of rape, that doesn’t change the fact that it is a pregnancy. It is a baby. It’s not okay to kill. a baby. Causing an abortion, in my opinion is not only NOT protecting the mother, it is causing her further harm and distress.
Argument #4 This initiative is legislating morality.
Huh? Isn’t that what laws do? Name one law that isn’t somehow legislating morality. Someone argued with me this week saying, “Well, I would never have an abortion, but…” Well, why not?! You wouldn’t kill your baby, but you wouldn’t tell someone else not to kill theirs? Do you believe that an unborn baby is a person?
Argument #5 They won’t let us do in vitro fertilization.
IVF creates an embryo (a fertilized egg) outside the womb and then implants it. This initiative is not proposing that you can’t make babies (inside or outside the womb). This initiative IS saying that you can’t kill them. This WILL affect the way we do IVF. The fact is, there are OVER 500,000 frozen embryos in the U.S. ALONE. I didn’t accidentally type too many zeros. OVER HALF A MILLION. Someone on facebook said that this initiative would cause a crisis because we couldn’t “discard” them the way we have been. The reason we have over 500,000 right now is because there are a lot of people that know that those are actual babies and they are not willing to “discard” them. Many of these frozen embryos are available for adoption. They’re called snowflake babies. This initiative will require us to be responsible with the way we do IVF. Probably, people will not be able to fertilize more eggs than they are willing to eventually implant. Inconvenient? Maybe. Expensive? Probably.
I believe that human life begins at fertilization. I also believe that this is what the Bible teaches. Human life equals personhood. I have asked several people on facebook that are arguing against Initiative 26 this question, “When do you believe a baby (an embryo) becomes a person?” They all give very vague answers, even saying, “No one can know for sure.” The same person then states, “I am 100% sure that an embryo is not a person.” Anyone can see the huge fallacy in this argument. If you are completely uncertain of when personhood begins, how can you be entirely certain of when it does NOT begin? Someone then argued, “There is no magic line that an embryo crosses into personhood!” My point exactly. There is no magic line. An embryo is already a person.
Argument #6 The initiative is poorly written.
I will admit I am probably as much baffled by this argument as by any other. I have heard it stated, “I am a Christian and I am against abortion, but the wording is too vague.” Too vague? Let’s have another look.
“…to define the word person…to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent…”
Vague? Hardly. The wording could not possibly be any more clear and concise. May I suggest that this is a misunderstanding concerning the purpose of an amendment? Take a look at our Bill of Rights. These amendments are one sentence. ONE SENTENCE! They do not address every possible implication of the amendment. They couldn’t possibly. They do not address ONE SINGLE implication. That’s not the purpose.
The purpose of this initiative is ONLY to establish a foundational truth, a fundamental principle. As of right now the concept of personhood is not defined in the constitution. IT SHOULD BE.
Now, if we are talking about the implications of this initiative being unknown, I whole heartedly agree. However, the initiative Is Not Vague. There will always be unknowns. Always.
Are there absolute implications if this amendment passes? YES! I am voting for this amendment for that reason, as well as the fact that there are ABSOLUTE IMPLICATIONS IF IT DOESN’T PASS.
We can’t be sure how some things will be interpreted if it passes. We CAN, however, be sure that the courts will continue to treat the unborn as expendable if it does not pass.
Friend, I ask you the question again, Do you believe that an unborn baby is a person?
Initiative 26 only establishes the personhood of the unborn.
This is the only question.
If you believe that an unborn baby is a person, vote yes.
Please stand up and speak for those that can’t defend themselves.
O Come, O Come!
27 Sep 2011 9 Comments
I know it’s just barely officially Fall, but can you feel it in the air?
The expectation?
I love Christmas (and Easter and birthday) traditions. That’s why I start thinking about what I will do to celebrate God Incarnate in September. If you must know, I was thinking about what I would do this Christmas, last Christmas. I won’t even get started on our birthday celebrations…
Now I will tell you what you must do.
First, you must order the book. It’s $10. You can swing it.
It’s called The Advent Jesse Tree, by Dean Lambert Smith. An older copy of the book says, Dean Meador Lambert. If you are one of my Hattiesburg friends, look closely at the author.
You will need to do a little preparation.
The book has a written devotional for the days leading up to Christmas, starting on December 1st. Each day, you will read the devotional and hang the ornament (I’ll get to that) on the tree and fill your child’s heart (and your own) with wonder and expectation. This is not only for people with children in the home. Each day has a separate adult devotional as well.
You will need a different ornament for each day. 25 total. Since I know you don’t have all the time in the world to make 25 different ornaments, you will need to get a little group together. No really, you can do it. If I can, so can you. I have four children and I have to clip all of their toenails and I could be pregnant any minute now. So, no excuses.
Get a little group together, even a group of 5 or 10 can easily pull it off. I just know you have 10 friends who want to experience Christmas this year in a different and better way than The Elf on the Shelf! No offense. Sort of.
Once you have your group, you will assign each person an ornament (or two, depending). They will make enough of their assigned ornament to pass around to each member of your group. So, if you have a group of 12, you will need to make 12 (don’t forget to make one for yourself!) of your assigned ornament. However, in this situation with a group of 12, each person would have to make 12 of two different ornaments, because you must have 25 different ornaments total, when you are finished, to take home. And then, there is one pesky ornament that a saintly woman will need to do as well as her assigned two ornaments. In the end, each person will go home with 25 different ornaments. The book will tell you what your ornament should look like. Make sense?
But I’m just not creative like that!
Oh, but you don’t have to be! It’s called “Google”. It’s your Christmas present from me. And the book tells you everything you need to know.
And don’t try to tell me that you have a Martha Stewart – themed Christmas tree and that you just can’t bare to have ornaments that don’t match hanging on your matchy-matchy tree. I don’t judge, I have one of those too.
Get the children their own tree. Think outside the box. You can make it work.
Now, order the book and get your group together. If you go to Madison Heights, you’re in luck! Join our group!
If you’re still hesitant, let me close the deal.
The Son of God became a man.
The Son of God became a man.
The Son of God became a man.
I think we should celebrate!
And wait…
…expectantly.
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
o come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!
If you have any holiday traditions that you love, please share!
It’s Complicated.
09 Sep 2011 5 Comments
So, I know you’ve died a thousand deaths because I haven’t posted since JULY.
I know you’ve been checking my blog every day and leaving in utter disappointment. Well, have you, Mom? (and that one other person?)
Look, I just have other things to do. Do you realize that I have 40 fingernails and 40 toenails to clip Every. Single. Week? This does not include my own. Make that 50. This is among other things, like bathing little people and teaching them about ancient China and brushing their teeth. You know, stuff like that.
It’s complicated.
I just can’t keep up with all of the demands.
This blog will consist of my leftovers. Sometimes it may be a yummy casserole. But today, it’s grilled cheese.
Don’t hate.
.
So, we went to Costa Rica. Why? I’m not answering that. I have little people lined up to get their fingernails clipped.
We went to Costa Rica and I have lots and lots of pictures I want to share with you. I’ll try to get to it soon. Please, don’t cry.
It’s hard to think and write and upload pictures with only one brain cell. That brain cell is singularly focused. Like I said, it’s complicated.
And I know I’m leaving you hanging. I know you’re sad and disappointed, but press on, my friend. I’ll get to it in between saving civilization as we know it shaping the young minds of the next generation and clipping those toenails.
