The Sunset Won't

Notebook Night: Sharing A Part of You

2012-03-01T08:05:00.000-06:00

The following is something I wrote to share with the Youth Group I work with. We have Notebook Nights where students and leaders share a slice of their life. It could be thematic, or as simple as I ate pizza and got heartburn today. The point is that we are sharing in each others lives, and listening to one another.

I shared as a way to open the door for some of our students to be aware that they are not alone in their struggles. It was really hard. My fellow leaders were nothing but supportive. And I hope that it provides an opportunity to create a safe space for our students.

There is something that we don’t like to talk about. Like it’s a dirty little secret. Something we push to the back corners of our closets in the hope that no one will see it. Because we feel like there’s something to be ashamed of, there’s something wrong.

I’ve felt the sting of friends who’ve hurt me. I’ve experienced the turmoil of becoming a teenager with parents who just don’t seem to get it. I’ve seen the devastation that comes from the suicide of a loved one. I’ve known the confusion over choosing which path to take, and the regret of chances not taken. I’ve known the darkness of depression.

There are some days when all I want to do is turn off all the lights, curl up under the covers and hide. There are days when people around me are laughing, having fun, chatting and I feel nothing. Not happy, not sad, not upset…just nothing.

Sometimes on those days I’ve felt like a waste. A waste of space. A waste of people’s time. Why bother talking to me? When you ask me how I’m doing I can say “I’m fine” or “I’m okay” when inside I’m not. I can put on a mask because the conversation won’t last forever. I can wipe the smile off my face as soon as you walk away.

The problem is that some days, I feel great. I can laugh, smile, I feel on top of the world. People see that and think you’ve snapped out of it. That you’re better. But there are days where every hour can be a struggle. Just like there are days when every hour is amazing.

What I’ve learned recently is that finding someone that you can talk to, even if it’s just trusting them enough to say “I’ve been better” or “It’s not going so well” when all you want to say is “I’m good,” can be a little freeing.

A few months ago I hit a rough patch in my struggle with depression. It was a perfect storm of events that all converged at once sending me into the dark waves. I felt alone. Angry that no one could understand just how sad I was. How hurt I was. I always fear that telling someone I have depression makes me seem weak. Makes me seem less than, incapable, unworthy. There are only a select few people in my life who know of my depression. But one day, I decided to jump. I trusted a fellow Crowd leader. When they asked me how I was I didn’t put on the mask. Or at least not completely, and I said something like, “I’m not doing so well.” And when they didn’t say “oh that’s too bad” and walk away, or try to make light of it I said, “I’m struggling with my depression. It’s been tough lately.” They simply said, “I know. I read your blog. How can I pray for you?”

They didn’t tell me to cheer up. Or to fix it. Or that someone else in the world has it worse than I do. They didn’t minimize what I was feeling. That made me feel comfortable enough to share with other leaders who have also been supportive.

There’s a song by Casting Crowns titled Stained Glass Masquerade and part of it goes like this:

“So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay.

If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too.

So with a painted grin, I play the part again,

So everyone will see me, the way that I see them.

Are we happy plastic people, under shiny plastic steeples,

With walls around our weakness, and smiles to hide our pain.

But if the invitation's open, to every heart that has been broken,

Maybe then we close the curtain on the stained glass masquerade.”

Sometimes life sucks. And you need to be sad, grieve or get angry. But try to take of the mask, because we all have weakness. We all have pain and sadness. But we also all have joy. We all have happiness and contentment. You sometimes just need the reminder that it’s there.

Tonight I’ve taken a step away from the stained glass masquerade. The number of people who know that I have struggled with depression has increased tonight. And that’s a big step for me.

Today was a good day. A great day. Lately life’s been pretty good. And when tough things roll my way, or I feel like I’m starting to slip I’m learning what I need to do for myself.

Knowing that there are others who feel this way is comforting. It’s nice to know I’m not alone. And if you struggle with depression, neither are you. Because I’m here. Anytime.

Negative Nancy's in the Workplace

2012-02-29T09:18:00.000-06:00

There are moments in life, Oprah would call them A-ha moments, some call them moments of epiphany, or awakening. Whatever it is you choose to call them I'm often jealous of those who so clearly have these moments. Moments that they see something in a new way that clicks for them.

I had one of these "lightbulb moments" yesterday. I work at a middle school (low income) in an intervention classroom. I teach next door to another intervention teacher. We share the same schedule as we work with different grade levels. Because we teach intervention classes we sometimes have behavior issues in our classes. So there are some days that are rough. Some days when you question if you could possibly be doing ANYTHING right.

Sometimes you talk to other teachers about it. As my neighboring teacher and I share a schedule we often talk in between classes or during our preps. This is Neighbor Teacher's first year at a middle school so it's quite the transition. But yesterday as I was driving home I realized that this teacher complains a lot about their students. And because I'm with them and sometimes feel similarly, I do too. Every day is not bad, so I have no idea what my problem is.

I was allowing myself to get sucked into the negativity. This is the very reason I've always avoided teacher's lounges. Because I don't want to be in that environment. But by commiserating with this teacher I'm focusing on the bad, not the good. The frustrating, not the uplifting.

Yes, there are absolutely horrible days. But there are moments in the day that can remind me exactly why I became a teacher. It might only happen a time or two in a week. Or maybe it happens once every day. But it happens. Good happens. Fun happens. Learning happens.

Today, a student was reading a short story on the Hindenburg. She was asking questions and then on her own, stopped the computer story and went online to google the Hindenburg. How awesome is that!? Then she didn't know some of the words and opened the dictionary to look them up. That is why I teach.

But I need to be wary. We all do. Of the sometimes Negative Nancy's that work alongside us. And perhaps we need to help them become a Realist Ronnie. Because in reality some days suck, but some days are awesome.

And who couldn't use a little more awesome in their day.

Book Review: The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter

2012-02-20T20:47:00.000-06:00

From the publisher: Two high-school sweethearts, a wedding reenactment, and one absent-minded preacher. Is it a recipe for disaster or a chance for a new beginning?

Shay Brandenberger is a survivor. She's lived through a crazy childhood, a failed marriage, and single parenthood-with her confidence intact.

But not for long. Because when Shay participates in her town's Founder's Day wedding reenactment, she finds herself face-to-face with the one man who takes her breath away and leaves her weak in the knees: Travis McCoy.

Travis is back in town after years way on the rodeo circuit. His one regret in life is breaking Shay's heart when they were high-school sweethearts. He's determined to get it right this time.

So when their Founder's Day "marriage" is accidentally made official, Travis seizes the day. Can Shay put aside her pride to let Travis help her, or will their accidental marriage be dissolved before it can begin?

My thoughts: It was an okay book. I didn't love it. Perhaps because I found Shay to be a little irritating. Granted she's been hurt before, but she was rude, stubborn, selfish, and unforgiving. I've never experienced the things that this character has, so I can't imagine the pain this character would have been feeling. But at some point it got a little frustrating. I can't say much more on this point without giving things away so I will stop there.

I liked that this book tied into the first in the series A Cowboy's Touch. It was fun revisiting Abigail, Wade, Aunt Lucy and Maddy. Many of the other characters in the book were enjoyable. I just had a few issues with the leads.

It was hard for me to swallow that this man pined for this woman for 14 years and then when he accidentally marries her he puts up with the behavior she hands out. I did like how the book addressed not trying to do things so that others can see, or to impress them. It's a message that I think a lot of women and girls need to be reminded of from time to time.

Would I recommend the book? It was an okay book as I mentioned before. I'm not sure it's one that I would reread again. As an ebook it is one I will keep because it isn't taking up valuable real estate on my sole bookshelf. If you're looking for a book about first loves, missed chances, second chances, being hurt than this may be for you.

I would give this book 3/5 stars.

(I was given a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes and am under no obligation to provide a certain review. All opinions in this review are my own.)

2012-02-17T10:12:00.001-06:00

I learned a lesson over the last two days. A big one.

I'm a people pleaser and have been for as long as I can remember. I would rather everyone else be happy, that me. I would rather listen to everyone else's ideas and go with one of them, than share my dissenting opinion.

This has caused some feelings that have started to fester lately. Like a small paper cut on your finger. One so small you can't see it. And then meetings, discussions, conversations, get togethers each one is like putting a little salt on that cut. A little antibacterial gel that stings. And then it hurts more than it did before. You're aware of it now. But, because I don't like conflict I put a bandaid on it and try to move on. I keep typing, keep writing, keep working.

But that cut is still there.

And it still hurts a little.

This past week something came up that caused a lot of salt to be rubbed into that cut. And I had an enlightening conversation with my mom last night.

In talking about this situation I was saying how in this one instance I really can't stay quiet. I really needed to say something. And perhaps cause a little conflict. I was thinking out loud. Really, for part of that conversation, my mother wasn't even needed. But because I didn't want to stir the pot, I wasn't sure that my feelings and gut reaction was correct and appropriate to the situation. And I needed a sounding board.

At the end of my spilling the situation, and sharing what I thought my reaction should be, my mom replied with something along the lines of, "You can do that Heather. You should stand up for yourself."

'But I'm a people pleaser. It's hard for me.'

"I know it is. So be careful. Because sometimes when you do decide to stand up for yourself and share your feelings you can get a little like your brother (who has autism). You go and go and go. Because you've finally shared what you want to you have trouble stopping and hearing the other person respond. You get afraid that if you stop and hear their response you will cave. You won't be able to stand up for yourself anymore. And you can get a little defensive sounding in those situations."

I couldn't believe how accurately she had described it. And I was shocked she understood. And could verbalize it. Because I couldn't. And I hadn't thought about it until that exact moment.

I'm still digesting. Still processing what that means. But I know that I need to start advocating for myself. Even if people don't agree. If I feel like I'm not being heard, I need to say it again. Say it louder. Because even if people don't agree with me, they've heard me.

Perhaps it's my people-pleasing nature, or a deeply hidden need to be needed, or valued, or appreciated. (Really, everyone needs to be appreciated. So tell someone you appreciate them at some point today. That's your homework from this middle school teacher.) Who knows?

But what I do know, is that when you have that gut reaction. That light inside your head that says this is wrong. Or you can't do this. Or this is what you need to do.

You need to listen.

You need to listen.

And I need to start believing. Start believing in me.

Yes, this small thing caused deep thinking. And taught me a lesson. One that I may not be ready to fully learn yet. But, it's in the planner.

Remember life is short. So think about your dreams a little harder.

Reach a little higher. Laugh a little louder. Love a little stronger.

Because many things in life can wait... The Sunset Won't!

Wordy Wednesday

2012-02-15T08:01:00.000-06:00

Wednesdays are often the busiest day of my week. It's a reminder of all that is left to do during the work week. There's work, homework, church, meetings, gathering... all in one day. It's a lot. On Wednesdays I used to share quotes or passages that I really enjoyed, but I fell off the wagon. I'm going to start again...

Today's quotes comes from a few posters that I've created, or have purchased for my classroom. Enjoy:

30 years from now, it won't matter what shoes you wore,

how your hair looked, or the jeans you bought.

What will matter is what you learned and how you used it.

You are not finished when you lose. You are finished when you quit.

Read a book... and you unlock the world.

Remember life is short. So think about your dreams a little harder.

Reach a little higher. Laugh a little louder. Love a little stronger.

Because many things in life can wait... The Sunset Won't!

A Tug of War

2012-02-13T09:43:00.000-06:00

Image from: http://alphamom.com/your-life/the-in-law-tug-of-war/

There is a tug of war going on.

Team one's captain is What Is. Behind him is Family, Friends, Comfort, Safe, and The Same.

Team two's captain is What Could Be. Standing strong behind her are Dreams, Adventure, Change, The Unknown, and Chance.

It's a seemingly endless tug of war. One that goes back and forth. There are days that I really want team two to win. That the pull of What Could Be, the strength of What-if seems to overpower me. Dreams seems to pull me in.

But then Team One seems like the easier of the two teams. What Is is easy. Family and Friends are always with him. Comfort and Safe are not far behind. There is no questioning, no worry, no wondering. The Same is not far away either.

Sometimes life is a big 'ol tug of war. With What Is and What Could Be pulling at you. Calling you in both directions. If you're not careful you could be torn. And that tear can travel with you for a long time. Reminding you of that struggle.

I'm still not totally sure which side I want to win. But I know that I'll probably cheer for the What Is team. Because What Is is much less scary than the What Could Be. But What Could Be keeps calling my name...

Remember life is short. So think about your dreams a little harder.

Reach a little higher. Laugh a little louder. Love a little stronger.

Because many things in life can wait... The Sunset Won't!

Book Review: The Road Trip by Jo Lynn Crozier

2012-02-03T07:00:00.002-06:00

From the Publisher: Liz always felt God beside her, but she never imagined she would be in his passenger seat! In this humorous, heartfelt adventure story, God invites and ordinary woman to travel with him on a life-changing road trip. Along the way, they encounter fantastic beings, heavenly houses, and extraordinary communities that Liz could never have imagined. But this is no vacation. God has a lot to teach Liz, and behind all the whimsy is a deeper spiritual message with real-life applications. Buckle up and join God and Liz on the journey of a lifetime.

My Thoughts: At first I couldn't decide if this book was fiction, non-fiction, autobiographical or a devotional. I couldn't decide what I thought of the book. Did I like it? Did I not like it? Did I want to keep reading or put it back on the bookshelf? I'm really glad that I decided to give this book a solid try. The Road Trip takes the reader on a wonderful journey to the Comfort Zone, to a fork in the road where you choose between Decisionville and Confusionville, and so many more stops (that would just ruin it if I mentioned).

As I said, I wasn't sure about this book at first. But sitting here writing this with my copy sitting next to me I have to laugh at the dog eared pages (something I never do to books, I usually try to just make a note somewhere else). But there were so many things I connected with. And as I walked out the door to work, or a doctor's appointment, or even to walk on the treadmill I grabbed the book, stuffed it in my bag and headed out the door. I took it everywhere and when I had a chance to sit and read I dove right in.

I was inspired. Inspired to take another look at my faith. To look inside myself. And my relationship with God. To remember that life is a road trip. That there are many stops along the way, but that I don't have to be the driver. There were lessons in the pages of this book I didn't realize I had learned, and didn't realized I still had to learn.

Would I Recommend This Book? I'm still not sure how I would classify this book and am so glad that that isn't my job. It's a bit of fiction, mixed with experiences from Ms. Crozier's life, along with material that would make for a wonderful devotion. It was an interesting book that was a easy read. As a youth group leader it's something I could see using with high schoolers because the writing is accessible. I would rate this book a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. I am under no obligation to provide a positive review.

(Books are rated according to the following scale:

5 stars= A definite favorite, will be re-read again and again, and permanently placed on my bookshelf.

4 stars= A pretty good book, one that will be re-read eventually, placed on the bookshelf.

3 stars= An average to good book, that may or may not be read again, probably has a place in my library.

2 stars= A not liked book, I wouldn't read it again, and wouldn't have a place in my library.

1 star = A book I really didn't enjoy, wouldn't read again, would not keep in my library.)

12 Changes: February Introduction

2012-02-01T12:01:00.000-06:00

12 Changes in 12 Months, that's my goal. 12 little changes to a ~~brand new~~ new and improved me.

One month down, eleven to go. Last month was about working out, it was the physical part of me. This month is about the spiritual part of me:

February: Spend time every day in conversation with God.

Whether it's reading his word, spending time praying, listening, reading a devotional something. But every day I will find time to spend in conversation with God. Finding that rope tethered to him and holding on I think is going to be a wonderful way for me to stay anchored.

Anchored in life. In faith. In knowing who I am and who I'm going to be. What I'm doing. And why I'm doing it. But I need that communication.

So I will pick up that tin can with a string that goes out my window and up to heaven, knowing He's got the can on the other line. Anytime. And every time I need him. And even when I don't think I need him, He's still there. Waiting to talk. Waiting to listen. To guide.

Remember life is short. So think about your dreams a little harder.

Reach a little higher. Laugh a little louder. Love a little stronger.

Because many things in life can wait... The Sunset Won't!

Book Review: Smitten by Colleen Coble and Others

2012-02-01T09:30:00.000-06:00

From the Publisher:
Four friends devise a plan to turn Smitten, Vermont, into the country's premier romantic getaway-and each finds her own true love along the way.

With Smitten Lumber closing, residents wonder if their town can stay afloat. Then four friends and local business owners-Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese--decide the town is worth saving. How will they do it? They'll turn Smitten into a honeymoon destination!

As Natalie, Julia, Shelby, and Reese work to save the town, each discovers romance in her own life. Meanwhile, the faith of a little child reminds the whole town what it means to have real faith in the God who is the always and forever Love.

Discover a novel written by four of Christian fiction's most popular romance novelists- friends in real life who've drawn an amazing story of four friends! Includes a Reading Group Guide as well as "Conversation over Coffee with the Authors".

My Thoughts: First I want to say that I really enjoy Colleen Coble have started reading Denise Hunter stories recently. I'm not sure if my expectations for books is getting to high because I'm an avid reader or because I'm a reading teacher but I was a little disappointed with this book. While I liked that it was 4 stories about friends (and women business owners!), I was a little disappointed with the plot and character development. I'm sure it's hard to write a novella and get everything in there you want to as a writer. But I was hoping for a little more. Don't get me wrong, it was still a good book. A fast and easy read.

I can't comment too much on the characters because I couldn't really connect strongly to any one of them in particular. It didn't pull me in like many books can.

Would I Recommend This Story: This is the kind of book that would be good for a traveler who needs something on a plane, a beach read, or a stormy weather day of reading. It's not something I would highly recommend, but it's not awful either. I would give it 2 out of 5 stars.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes and am under no obligation to provide a positive review.

12 Changes: January Recap

2012-02-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

I am participating in a 12 Changes in 12 Months challenge. 12 small changes to make a whole new, better, healthier me by 2013. My first post in this series was an introduction to what I am doing.

Let's review how January went... in all honesty...

January: Workout at LEAST once a week. Complete physical therapy exercises four times per week.

Let's say that I started with the absolute best of intentions. But man, did January fly by or what?! Thinking about it I did walk on my treadmill at least once a week (except this week, which is still in progress). So I'm still okay. But I did slack on my physical therapy exercises. And my body feels it. It hurts.

I was impressed with myself that the interval training I've tried I actually made it 18 minutes. Which for me, was HUGE. I walked two-ish minutes and then ran for at least a minute and repeated that cycle. Depending on the music I was listening to I may have run a little longer.

The times I walked I did it at a pace of 3 mph, so in 20 minutes I had walked a mile. I've done that a few times. I was tired by the end but not exhausted like I was with the interval training.

So I ~~need to do better~~ will do better in the next month. Because the point of these 12 changes is that they build. They continue to grow and new habits are formed.

My goal for continued and improved success: I'm going to continue with the 1x a week working out on the treadmill. I'm going to try to continue walking and perhaps throw in a bonus workout of running twice a month. That may seem small, but I have no doubt I will put it off until the last two days of the month if I let myself. Small changes. Small changes that will build.

Stay tuned for my February change!

Remember life is short. So think about your dreams a little harder.

Reach a little higher. Laugh a little louder. Love a little stronger.

Because many things in life can wait... The Sunset Won't!

It's Been Busy

2012-01-31T10:15:00.000-06:00

Life got busy! Bad excuse right? It's an excuse I think we use so often.

I was so busy I forgot your birthday. Forgot to call you back. Forgot to get you that paperwork. Forgot our meeting. Forgot. Forgot. Forgot.

It's been so busy I've forgotten to take the time and chat with my blogosphere friends. To take the time for me to look back on the last few hours, days, weeks.

It's been busy.

But that's not an excuse. Not an excuse for letting friendships slip, letting relationships lag, letting to-do lists grow longer, things accomplished grow smaller. It's not an excuse. So I am back. And getting ready to gear up.

By Friday I will have two new posts. That's right TWO. Maybe even three by saturday. That would be awesome. The plan is to reflect on my 12 Changes progress for January, where I'm headed in February and I have a book review to write. To create really.

I'm excited.

Yes, life got busy. And it's only going to get busier for me. But that's not an excuse. So we're off...

Remember life is short. So think about your dreams a little harder.

Reach a little higher. Laugh a little louder. Love a little stronger.

Because many things in life can wait... The Sunset Won't!

Guest Blogger: Melissa from Every Woman, Everywhere

2012-01-26T08:05:00.000-06:00

Today's Guest Post comes from Melissa who I met through 20sb. If your in your 20's and your a blogger it's a great place to connect with other bloggers worldwide.

Thank you Melissa for sharing a lesson that you've learned!

Learning Not to Judge Myself

I used to be so afraid. Afraid that other people were judging me. Afraid that they were looking at me and thinking less of me. Afraid that I wasn’t good enough for them.

And then one day I realized that while yes, I was being judged by some people some of the time, most of the time, I was just judging myself. I was doing it for other people without realizing it.

Because I would look at another girl and think, “She’s prettier than me. I’m ugly.” I would listen to another person speak and think, “He’s smarter than me. I’m dumb.” I would hear what another wife does for her husband and think, “There’s no way I could do all that. I’m a bad wife.” The list goes on and on.

And one day it hit me. I was judging myself. Those people didn’t say anything. I thought something. I was hurting myself.

And that’s when I realized I needed to make a change. Because I have been wonderfully made by my Creator who loves me and thinks I’m beautiful and special enough to die for. I am His daughter.

So day by day, step by step, I am learning not to judge myself. It’s difficult. I’m not perfect at it. But it started when I realized that I was judging myself. Because now if I start to think it, I can try and stop it in it’s tracks and reverse it. To tell myself where my real worth comes from. But I needed, most importantly, to realize it first, because otherwise I couldn’t start thinking positive things about myself.

Melissa is a recent graduate who studied political science and writing. She's currently a stay-at-home housewife, preparing for her first child due in May. Melissa blogs at Every Woman, Everywhere a blog about women's issues.

Book Review: Tomorrow's Sun by Becky Melby

2012-01-15T10:42:00.000-06:00

From the publisher: Emily Foster won’t allow herself to move on until she earns enough money to make restitution for the accident that stole a young girl’s dreams. Flipping houses sounds like the fast track to her goal, but when her first project turns out to be a stop on the Underground Railroad, Emily finds herself drawn to, but at odds with, the contractor she hires. Jake Braden needs to focus on gaining guardianship of his late sister’s twins, but the story of lost love uncovered in Emily’s house sets the stage for what might become his own lost love.

My Thoughts:

As a history teacher, and a lover of history I enjoyed the historical aspect of the story. I will admit that it took me quite awhile to get into the novel. Mostly due to the historical snippets of the home's history interwoven with the contemporary story line. They seemed very disconnected, and I was a little frustrated with that. It took me putting the book down and coming back to it a few days later and really sticking it out for a few chapters, but then the glimpses of the past tied in to the story in a really cool way.

Jake's twin niece and nephew were a perfect balance to the rest of the story and I liked Jake's character.

I was a little put off by the strength and intensity of Emily's feelings in regards to the "restitution" she feels like she needs to pay. To me, it sometimes just seemed like all she wanted to do was suffer. And that got a little hard to read. But I could see why that was needed in the story.

Would I recommend this story?

It's not one of my favorites, but I didn't hate it either. It was okay. If your stuck looking for a book this is definitely not a bad choice.

I would give it 3/5 stars.

Screaming, Hitting and Tears... Oh My!

2012-01-14T09:46:00.000-06:00

For the weekend I am a nanny full time. Watching 4 girls under the age of 7 (including twin 2 1/2 year olds). I could not believe the chaos that was dinner. I cannot imagine if I had to do this every night by myself. The only reason I got to eat is that Grandma showed up and entertained them for a few minutes while I scarfed down my spaghetti and veggies.

Last night I was ready for them to go to bed. I was ready for bed. But sleep eluded me. This morning I got up extra early so I would be ready for the busy day ahead before the kids woke up. Knowing that today would be chaotic.

Screaming, hitting and tears oh my! There's bumping into each other and a case of STS (sudden tear syndrome). Then they laugh and run around some more. Then the dog gets ahold of a marker and it's all hands on deck to get it back from her. Oh my.

But then there's the cute moments. One of the twins throws her hands on her hips, points at her sister taking a drawing off the wall and says "heazer, look!" Little kids can never get the "th" sound in my name. But throw in a z and it was pretty close. And pretty cute. Ten minutes earlier it was "heazer, tummy hungry."

I had to laugh. And escape into the blogosphere, if only for a moment. Because this is what it's about.

The laughing, giggling, funny moments in the chaos. Amidst the tears, screams, and hitting.

It's like that in life to, isn't it. You could miss the laughter for the tears. The giggling for the screams. The fun and beauty for the violence in life.

And now, if you'll excuse me... there are loud noises floating into the kitchen over the sounds of Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas singing Camp Rock songs... and in come two ladies who bonked heads.

Happy Saturday!

Let's Get Reading

2012-01-13T11:36:00.000-06:00

I've started my new job as a reading teacher. More to come later.

But I have a few questions for you...

What is your favorite book? That book you can read over and over again.

Mine is called Bamboo and Lace and is by Christian fiction author Lori Wick.

What book are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading a YA book called All-American Girl.

What book is next in line to be read?

I think I may read "Don't Look Back" next by Lynette Eason.

Do you read more than one book at a time?

I do. Partly because of my job. I usually have a YA novel, a novel for me, an informational sort of book and a bible study/my bible all being read at once. That changes if I'm really busy or taking a class. Then I read fewer books at once.

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

12 Changes in 12 Months

2012-01-07T10:35:00.000-06:00

New Year's. Whenever I think of New Years I imagine the resolutions that will be made and broken. The hopes of making a new me in one year seems ludicrous. I always start with the absolute best of intentions. But somewhere along the line I break down. I give in. To the spending. To the negativity. To the nap. To the doubt. To the chocolate cake.

But not this year. Because I've got a blogosphere support group this year. I've got a group of people I've never met before, but who want to see me succeed. And there's a bunch of people who I want to see succeed. Which is what makes this so fantastic.

It's hard to make a list of changes all at once just because it's the first of the year. So instead in 2012, there is a group of people who are making 12 small changes. One a month. All year. Because 12 small changes can make one big change.

Let's Begin:
January: Workout at LEAST once a week. Complete physical therapy exercises four times per week.

This may seem like a ridiculously simple change to many people. But I can be lazy. And I hate working out. I hate working out because I'm out of shape and I feel stupid. (See the Catch-22 there?) But my family invested in a treadmill, I made a playlist on my iPod and I started. Today was my first work out in the new year (yes we are 7 days in, but I did it). And I'm really proud of myself. I'm exhausted and sweaty as I sit here writing this post because I just walked/ran for 23 minutes, 1.4 miles. That's amazing for me. Unheard of really. And then? When I was done. I did my physical therapy exercises which I'd all but given up on.

But this is not okay. I complain that I don't like my weight, my health, the way I look but I do nothing about it. I'm in pain from my hips and I don't follow through with the exercises designed to help them. Stupid. Yes, I was being stupid.

But with the encouragement from a group of changers, a goal, a determination and a vision of a newer, better, healthier, happier me. I'm going to try.

(It all began with a tweet, to get the story check out Stephany's post here. A tweet, a blog post, and then a call. A call to action. A call of encouragement.) (Interested in taking part? I'd love to follow your progress, so please let me know if you are!)

Follow the progress of all the participants, read updates and posts, and learn more at 12 Changes in 12 Months.

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Dear 2012

2012-01-04T12:16:00.000-06:00

Dear 2012,
We've been together only four days, but already I feel as though we are off to a much better start than I was with 2011. I'm glad he's gone. And I'm glad your here.

Many people say that a new year brings a new start. That the slate is wiped clean (a slate? who uses those anymore?) But I digress. I don't think that's entirely true. Because I know that you and 2011 were close. That he probably shared some things with you. So you have some knowledge of my life. And that's okay.

But I really would like a chance to, maybe not write the slate completely clean, but write over some of it. Because it wasn't all bad.

My hopes for the two of us are that I can learn. Learn to be honest. Open. Trusting. And maybe a little daring. That I can remember. Remember those I've lost with love. Remember where I've been with fondness. Remember my hopes and dreams. That I can try. Try to be a little more carefree. A little more spontaneous. A little more me. And a little less what I think people want me to be.

So here's to you 2012! May we be better friends than enemies. May we have more hugs than punches. And may the road to December 31st not be too bumpy.

Love,

Dear 2011

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

Dear 2011,

Looking back over the year we spent together I can't help but feel sadness. Sadness and disappointment. Sadness over, well, my sadness. The last few months were spent in a fog, a haze, rain, darkness. And disappointment. Disappointment that I didn't do more of what I wanted to do.

However, there were some good times. There was meeting the Musketeers. And the trip we had in Vegas for spring break. That was a fun time. There was my first job interviews. Getting a new car. Being a leader on a high school mission trip to Wisconsin. My first part-time teaching job.

I wonder if you feel bad. For bringing that sadness into my life. Or are you in cahoots with Self-Doubt. Perhaps Wariness. Or Lost Dreams. Regardless, you have been a year that has taught me much. But I can't say that I'm sad to see you go.

Bon Voyage!

Lessons from The Last Year

2011-12-29T22:01:00.000-06:00

There were lessons learned throughout the last year. And learning that there are still lessons still to learn. (Still following?) Some of those lessons that I've reflected on:

1) Give yourself a present.

2) The world will not crumble if you take time for yourself.

3) I may fit nicely into one box, but that's not all I am.

4) We all deserve abundant life, don't let fear hold you back.

5) If we are broken, we can be fixed.

6) We are all connected.

7) We thank people always, but we need to try to thank people all ways.

8) You can be the echo of your past, or the glory of your future. The choice is yours.

9) Do not be broken, but broken open.

10) Stand up for you.

11) Sometimes, it's safe to take off the makeup.

12) Somewhere, you belong.

13) Grief can be transformed, joy does exist in unexpected places.

14) Remember to be thankful.

Sometimes it's nice to look back. Look but don't stay. Remember but don't dwell.

I wonder what sort of lessons I will learn next. Or what lessons will come across my path in the next year. Will they be big ones? Small ones? Hard ones? Easy ones?

Well, we shall just wait and see.

Day 12: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-25T07:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Pearl Girls™! We hope you enjoyed these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from the authors who were so kind to donate their time and talents! If you missed a few posts, I hope you'll be able go back through and read them on this blog over the next few days. If you'd like to keep up with Pearl Girls and our new book project, Mother of Pearl, coming this spring, just click this link and sign up for our newsletter (lower left sidebar).

Also, just a reminder that today is the last day for the pearl necklace and earrings giveaway! Enter now by filling out this {form}. The winner will on 1/1 at the Pearl Girls blog.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Jesus -- The Reason For the Season
By: Rachel Hauck

Through the narrow scope of 2000 years, Mary, the mother of Jesus, appears to be one lucky woman. Chosen by God to give birth to His son, the Savior of the world? All right, Mary, way to go.

“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you,” Gabriel said.

How many of us would like a declaration like that? Highly favored. The Lord is with you. But Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

The angel told her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Mary’s seems confident and resolved when she responds, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”

She’d just been told the Holy Spirit will come upon her, that God’s power will overshadow her, that she’d become with child even though she wasn’t married, and she said, “I’m the Lord’s servant. Let your words be true.”

I find this amazing! A young woman. Ancient Bethlehem. Unwed mother. They stoned women for such things in her day. But Mary believed in God. And submitted to His will. He gave her the Holy Spirit – the same Holy Spirit given to us. If He gave her confidence, He will give us confidence. Even though, like Mary, our situation seems impossible.

Listen to Mary’s song later on in the first chapter of Luke.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me Holy is his name…”

Conceiving a child out of wedlock, by Divine intervention. Not a girl’s every day existence. Yet she had a Yes in her heart to God. She rejoiced. She boldly said, “Generations will remember me!”

How we struggle to trust God with our children. Our finances. Our emotional well-being. We worry. We fret. And wonder why we have no peace.

Christmas is the season where words like joy, peace and love are bantered around like Christmas candy. Let’s not take them as just words, but as truth. Let’s be like Mary and embrace God’s favor on our lives. Boldly declare "He’s done great things for me!”

Out of the grit of our own souls, we can reach His heart, and feel Him reaching for ours. No matter the pain of our past, present or future, God is there for us. He is able. Best of all, He is willing. “My soul glorifies the Lord this Christmas!”

***

Rachel Hauck is an award winning, best selling author who believes God has done great things for her. She lives in Central Florida with her husband and ornery pets. Her next release is Love Lifted Me with multi-platinum country artist Sara Evans, January 2012. Then in April, look for The Wedding Dress. www.rachelhauck.com.

Day 11: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-24T07:00:00.008-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

The Panhandler's Breath
By Robin Dance

He slipped in sideways between the closing elevator doors, as if he were late to a meeting; he pressed the "5" without looking. Instead of suit and tie, though, baggy pants and faded navy hung on his tall, slim frame...and his stealth entry stiffened the hairs on the back of my neck.

I had noticed him a few seconds earlier, just after we had parted a sea of clamorous teens. He was smiling, grandfatherly, standing maybe 30 feet away where the electric shuttle picks up.

I had no idea he had been watching us, studying us, predator patiently awaiting his next prey.

The four of us were sealed in a four- by six-foot metal tomb. Tomb--that thought really scampered across my mind. I wondered if he had a knife in his pocket. I wanted to protect my son. Fight or flight pumped adrenaline but there was no where to run.

Extreme and ridiculous, these thoughts - and more - flashed through my mind. The Stranger began speaking.

"Yessir, I see you're a family man with your wife and your son here..." and he nodded in my and my son’s direction.

"...you see I'm homeless and all I've got..." and on queue, he reached into his left pocket and pulled out two old pennies blackened with age. Two cents to his name?! It was all too contrived, too practiced, and I didn't believe a word he was saying.

It was then I smelled it ~ the small space lent itself to that ~ and I doubted my doubt.

His breath.

It wasn't the scent of alcohol. His eyes weren't red, his voice didn't waver; his wizened face matched his graying hair.

His breath was morning's, zoo breath, the pet name I'd given to the scent inhaled when kissing my children awake when they were little.

He needed to brush his teeth. I wondered how long it had been since he brushed his teeth.

The elevator door opened and I handed him my leftover pizza as my son and I brushed past him. My husband handed him a bill and the Stranger thanked and God blessed him.

The elevator door closed behind us. Conflicted, I was relieved.

We got in the car and blurted first reaction--

"I didn't believe a word he said."

"That made me nervous."

"I wonder if he'll really eat the pizza."

In the quiet, we were left to our own thoughts, contemplating the right thing to do. At the end of the day, this is what I decided: It doesn't matter whether or not his story is true; for an old man to resort to begging, he has to be desperate. The money my husband gave him will never be missed. It was a reminder we've been entrusted with much and given much. Materially, yes, but more so spiritually. Loved, chosen, forgiven, redeemed, graced, lavished--every spiritual blessing. E v e r y.

There's a part of me that wishes I would have been brave enough to ask the man his story, made sure he knew he was loved...and bought him a tooth brush.

Later, it occurred to me he could have been an angel. Doesn’t that mean generosity, kindness and hospitality is always the right response? Then it's not about you or the stranger or the circumstance, it's about a simple, God-glorifying response.

Had we entertained an angel unaware? We'll never know.

But it wouldn't be the first time the Breath of Heaven smelled like a zoo.

***

In a decades-old, scandalous affair with her husband, Robin also confesses mad crushes on her three teens. As Southern as sugar-shocked tea, she’s a recovering people pleaser who advocates talking to strangers. A memoirist, Compassion International Blogger, and Maker-upper of words, Robin writes for her own site, PENSIEVE, and also for (in)courage by DaySpring (a subsidiary of Hallmark) and Simple Mom. She loves to get to know readers through their blog comments and on Twitter and Pinterest. www.pensieve.me

Day 10: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-23T08:50:00.002-06:00

***

Inside Out Christmas
by Debora M. Coty

My veterinarian friend, Dr. Katie, tells the story about the December when a woman brought a very sick black lab into her clinic. The dog was only ten months old, so she was really just a big puppy, but she’d been vomiting incessantly and her worried owner didn’t know what was wrong.

“Why don’t you go on home?” Dr. Katie told the owner. “I’ll need to run tests for about four hours. We’ll give you a call when we’re finished.”

Dr. Katie’s assistant took x-rays and hung them on the light panel for Dr. Katie to examine. Hmm. Something looked a little peculiar. Dr. Katie called her assistant over.

“Is it just me, or does that look like a … a camel to you?” she asked incredulously.

“Matter of fact, it does,” replied the astute assistant. “And look, there’s an angel here, a shepherd there, and down there in the colon, it’s Baby Jesus!”

At that moment the phone rang. It was the dog’s distraught owner. “I can’t believe this! I just got home and glanced at the coffee table where I put my manger scene yesterday. There’s nothing there but an empty stable!”

As I thought about this quite literal technique for internalizing the true meaning of Christmas, it occurred to me that sometimes I have the opposite problem. With all the bustling busyness, my inner joy in celebration of my savior’s birth never really makes it to the outside.

Oh, I have plenty of glittery, festive evidences of the holiday in decorations, baking galore, and gifts under my tree. But those things are for show. They’re merely the pretty wrappings, not the gift itself.

Can people really see the core-deep joy that radiates within me when I think of the true gift that Papa God sent the world in his son, Jesus? Is my immeasurable gratitude for eternal life evident as I dash through this hectic season?

I’m afraid all too often, the answer is no.

I’m just too preoccupied to allow my outside to reflect my inside so that nonbelievers recognize that I rejoice because of the hope that is within me. My joy is obscured by the mounds of clutter. Gratefulness is sucked out of my soul by the vacuum called urgency.

“But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy” (Psalm 68:3, NLT).

This verse has become my prayer this Christmas season – that I would make the time to give priority to rejoicing, being glad in God’s presence, and letting my inner joy show for those who may be silently desperate to know the giver of true joy.

Yep, there’s a better way to internalize the gift of Christmas than the black lab technique. We can lodge the Little Lord Jesus in our hearts rather than our colons.

***

Debora M. Coty is a humorist, inspirational speaker, and award-winning author of twelve books, including Too Blessed to be Stressed, and coming in March, More Beauty, Less Beast: Transforming Your Inner Ogre. Debora would love to swap Christmas hugs with you at www.DeboraCoty.com.

Day 9: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-22T07:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Simple or Sparkle?
by Tracey Eyster

It’s a simple ornament made of thin cheap metal and it looks quite out of place on our CHRISTmas tree. But each year I lovingly and safely nestle it amongst its expensive and sparkly peers, without a care as to how unglamorous it appears.

Many of our CHRISTmas ornaments have a story and an uncanny way of welling up emotion in me, but this certain one causes an intense stir.

You see the ornament is engraved with the name of my grandmother, Sara, and was given to me by my mother, who ordered it from Hospice, after Grandmama’s death. Yes, the months leading up to her death carry memories of a frail and failing grandmama, but that ornament carries my thoughts to sweet CHRISTmas memories of the past.

CHRISTmas Eve dinners in her home, laughing, singing, gathering and celebrating a year filled with blessings as we remembered the birth of our Savior. CHRISTmas mornings, she was always there participating with glee, in our raucous CHRISTmas happiness. Her gifts were always bank envelopes gently tucked into the pine needles of our CHRISTmas tree, fresh cut from the property she grew up on.

All memories of my Grandmama make my heart swell. You see she was my Jesus with skin on. She lived her life full of joy, serving others and approached life selflessly with an attitude of, “What can I do for you?”

Just months before she left us, even as the Alzheimer’s was robbing her mind she shared her love of Jesus with a sweet little old lady friend, who came to know the Lord – a divine appointment. The very next day that little old lady silently slipped away to meet in person the One Sara introduced her to just the day before.

At the time I wept, realizing that regardless of our own frailties and failings, God can still use those of us who are willing to do His work and are well practiced at hearing His voice...no matter our lack of sparkle in comparison to others.

A simple life lived for Him, a simple ornament in memory of Sara...a simple truth for you to ponder.

***

Tracey Eyster wife, mom, relationship gatherer and Creator/Editor of FamilyLife’s MomLife Today is a media savvy mom making a difference where moms are, on-line. Through speaking, writing and video interviews Tracey is passionate about encouraging, equipping and advising moms on every facet of momlife. Her first book, Be The Mom will be released August 2012. You can connect with Tracey at www.momlifetoday.com, her personal site www.traceyster.com or www.twitter/momblog.com.

Day 8: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-21T07:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Enjoy the Ride!

Susan May Warren

We sit poised on the top of a cliff, a near drop off before us, that falls to a rushing river. In the middle, a bridge of snow and ice hints at our destination. My husband guns the snowmobile engine. “Ready?”

Ready? For a face plant into a tree, maybe reconstructive surgery? To feel my stomach ripped from my body as we plummet down the mountain? Let’s do it!

We live on five acres of woods in northern Minnesota that butts up to a national forest. Hence, our backyard is about a hundred thousand acres. Aside from harboring deer, lynx, fox, cougar and bear, it also makes excellent snowmobile terrain. And not long ago, Mrs. Claus gave her Santa a snowmobile for two.

I love snowmobiling. Flying over the snow, catching air over drifts. I love to drive, to be at the helm of the beast as I weave around trees and over hill and dale, my husband sitting behind me. I also love riding behind my husband as he drives, feeling those powerful arms as he’s muscling the snowmobile into the wilds. We follow unknown trails, driven by a Magellan spirit, hoping that we have enough gas to get us back to civilization. I love hanging on, simply trusting him, knowing that wherever he’s taking me, he’s going first.

But there are times, when I see where he’s taking me, and I just have to bury my head in his back. Like straight down a cliff.

However, my heart cheers, despite the terror as we gun it down the hill, over the river, up the opposite side. And, if we hadn’t let ourselves go, we would have never discovered the beauty of a winter river, a hidden jewel buried deep in the forest. Nor the exhilaration of facing the challenge together.

Further on, we find an enchanted forest of towering white pine. Catch a view of Lake Superior, discover an old cabin in the woods.

It occurs to me that snowmobiling is much like my spiritual life. Occasionally, I drive, and it’s me setting our course, weaving through the trees, getting us hopelessly lost. But when God takes the “wheel” and I hang on, trusting Him for the speed and destination, I see the scenery. I trust him to keep me safe. I trust him to bring me home, where there is an eternal supply of hot chocolate.

As Christmas season becomes more hectic, what if I let God drive? Maybe everything doesn’t have to be perfect, and maybe I don’t have to control every tradition, every holiday nuance. What if I just held on for the ride?

I’ll bet I’ll still get there, and I might even enjoy the scenery along the way.

How have you let go, and “enjoyed” the scenery of this hectic, exhilarating Christmas season?

Merry Christmas!

***

Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of thirty novels with Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill and Summerside Press. A four-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Carol Award. A seasoned women’s events speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Day 7: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Family Traditions: A Glimpse into Christmas Future

by Tricia Goyer

Have you ever thought about family traditions? As I helped my 1-year-old place ornaments on the Christmas tree this year I imagined her doing the same thing with her children—and maybe even grandchildren—one day. Traditions are beliefs and customs handed down through generations. By sharing meaningful moments with your kids you're sending yourself into the future. How amazing is that?

Sharing family traditions cause us to slow down from the busy, adult world for a while. We ignore the laundry to set out the nativity set with our kids. We set aside time in our schedules to drive around and look at Christmas lights.

Holiday traditions aren't only fun, they also help strength family bonds. Through traditions kids trust in the security of family unit. They think, “This is our family and this is what I do.” Of course, the most important thing to share isn't just what we do ... but why. Why do we put out a nativity? To remind us the real meaning of the season—Jesus coming to earth. What do the Christmas lights represent displayed on homes and on trees? They represent the Light of the World, Jesus.

Using traditions to bond our families and share our faith isn't new. I love these two Scriptures that talk about that very thing.

Exodus 12:25 says, “When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.”

Psalm 78:4 says, “We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.”

What are you're traditions? Here are a few of ours:

Baking a Birthday cake for Jesus

Buying a new ornament every year for each child

Acting out the Christmas story (with props!)

Praying together before opening presents

What are your traditions? Write a list and appreciate them in a new way this year. Then ask, “If I could add one new tradition this holiday season, what would it be?” I'd love to hear what you choose! It also makes me smile to think of your children's grandchildren doing the same.

***

Tricia Goyer is a CBA best-selling author and the winner of two American Christian Fiction Writers’ Book of the Year Awards (Night Song and Dawn of a Thousand Nights). She co-wrote 3:16 Teen Edition with Max Lucado and contributed to the Women of Faith Study Bible. Also a noted marriage and parenting writer, she lives with her husband and children in Arkansas. www.triciagoyer.com

Day 6: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Let The Baby Grow Up This Christmas

By Shellie Tomlinson

When I was a little girl, Christmas seemed to take forever to make its way back to our little house on the end of a dirt road called Bull Run in northeast Louisiana. We kids started counting down the days before the leaves ever began turning. Sure, the adults said it came once a year but I wasn't so sure. Once Santa Claus left our humble abode it seemed like light years before he found his way back to the Delta.

That was a child's perspective. I imagine it hasn't changed all that much for today's kids. On the other hand, I'm operating under a completely different time frame these days. It seems like it was just yesterday when I pulled the boxes down from the attic and began pulling out the nativity scene, the miniature lights, and the keepsake ornaments. And now, just that fast-- Christmas Day is right around the corner. Soon the tree will be striped naked and the piled up presents will all be distributed. After a few more day it'll be hard to remember who got what from whom, and once again, I'll start packing all the decorations away for another year.

I was thinking about how bare and cold the house always looks after the holidays when I realized that, sadly, this scene would play itself out in many hearts as well. A lot of people will have had expectations that weren't filled and many of those same souls will be left with hurts that don't seem to heal. Unless this year is remarkably different from past seasons, my bet is, the New Year will bring magazines full of articles on combating depression and the talk shows will have experts on offering ways to fill the long days ahead and cure the winter blues.

I'm no expert, dear readers, but I'd like to offer you a suggestion that will go far beyond the creature comforts of a nice warm bath or a delicious bowl of hot soup. Your heart doesn't have to be bare and naked after the holidays. Do you want to know the real secret? It's simple, really. Don't pack up Christ with Christmas! As beautiful and special as the Christmas story is, it's only a part of heaven's miracle. The Christ child grew into a man and the man became a Savior.

This year, may we be determined to let the babe from Bethlehem live on in our hearts. If we'll allow Him to become the Messiah He was born to be, the joy of Christmas can be ours all year long.

***

Shellie Rushing Tomlinson is an author, speaker, and radio host from Louisiana. Her latest release Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy was endorsed by Jeff Foxworthy as "laugh out loud funny!" You can find Shellie's weekly southern features, podcasts, video chats and more at http://www.allthingssouthern.com/ Make sure to get by the blog and read about the Super Christmas Giveaway Shellie is hosting for her readers and secure your chance to win a Mort Kunstler print valued between $700 and $1400. www.allthingssouthern.com

Day 5: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-18T07:00:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

The Snowflake Party

By Deborah Raney

The first snow of winter hasn’t fallen yet, but in our kitchen tonight we’re doing a pretty good imitation. The whole family is circled around the huge old oak table. The snip, snip, snip of scissors is background music as tiny scraps of white paper float down, making our floor look like a giant brownie sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Tonight has turned out to be the night for our annual Snowflake Party, a tradition that began when our children were toddlers. There has never been a date blocked out in red on our calendar, but one day we wake up and the brisk autumn air has turned bitter cold. Naked tree branches trace their stark calligraphy on a dull grey sky and we need a taste of the joyful promises of Christmas and snow. It’s the perfect time for a party.

On such a day, one of the kids will fly in the back door, fresh home from school, and declare “Hey, Mom! Tonight would be a good night for the Snowflake Party!” First we round up every pair of scissors in the house. This is one time when sharing is not a virtue. While the kids search for scissors, I cut white paper into squares and fold them caddy-corner multiple times. The resulting triangles are artfully arranged in a basket, awaiting the beginning of the party.

Later, while the supper dishes dry on the counter, I recruit a volunteer to help me stir up a big pot of hot cocoa. For the next hour it will warm on the back burner, tantalizing us with its aroma.

Now the fun begins with careful cutting and snipping, shaping plain white paper into intricate works of art. Each snowflake we create seems as unique and spectacular as the genuine variety created by God himself. As each masterpiece is unfolded, collective oohs and aahs go up.

When the last dregs of our creative juices are drained, Dad oversees the vacuum patrol while I pour cocoa into generous mugs. We spread our handiwork on the floor around us and sit, quietly admiring our work while we dunk marshmallows and sip rich chocolate.

With empty mugs piled up in the sink, it’s time for the judging to begin. There will be awards for ‘prettiest’, ‘most unusual’, and as many other categories as we need for everyone to be a winner. Dad is the judge because he studied art in college. He also usually wins one of the top prizes––because he studied art in college.

Snowflakes deemed runners-up might be pasted in scrapbooks or hung on the refrigerator. A few even “melt” into the trash that very night. But the winners are taped proudly to the picture windows in the living room for passersby to enjoy while they long for the day when genuine snowflakes will color the world clean and white.

Our oldest daughter went away to college last September. She called just after Thanksgiving to tell me that her dorm window was covered with snowflakes. No, not the real thing, but the ones she remembers from her childhood––paper ones that she spent an entire evening cutting and snipping while sipping hot cocoa.

That’s the neat thing about traditions: They go with us no matter how far from home we travel.

***

DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Her books have since won the RITA Award, ACFW Carol Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award, Silver Angel, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. After All, third in her Hanover Falls Novels series will release next spring from Howard/Simon & Schuster. Deb and her husband, Ken Raney, enjoy small-town life in Kansas. Their four children are grown now and having snowflake parties with their own children––and they all live much too far away. Visit Deb on the web at www.deborahraney.com.

Day 4: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Why I Decorate for Christmas

By Elizabeth Goldsmith Musser

An old cassette tape of Christmas carols—received in a package twenty years ago when we had first arrived in France as missionaries—fills our den with delightful piano music as I place one more ornament on the already over-laden Christmas tree. This one is a little white wooden rabbit with pink ears that move back and forth. It actually doesn’t look much like a Christmas ornament, but I bought it for our baby Andrew when my husband Paul was in seminary, and I was working for less than minimum wage in the library. This ornament was literally all I could afford.

As I hang it on the tree today, I get goose bumps and then a rush of warmth. And that’s why I decorate for Christmas. Not to impress but to remember. I remember those lean, lean years, and God’s faithful provision for us.

There are the cross-stitched ornaments I made our first year in Montpellier—for the boys (for by now we had two sons) and Paul and me. How I ever had time to do that, I don’t know. I remember our puny little tree—the kind they sold in France back then—in a pot so that it could be replanted later. We perched that tiny tree on a small table out of baby Christopher’s reach. I guess I watered it too much, because about halfway through December, it started smelling and then stinking, and it rotted there on Christmas Day!

I smile with these memories.

I look at the other ornaments on the tree. Many were purchased—one for each boy—when we attended conferences around Europe, and that makes me smile too. Getting to travel on a missionary’s budget to exotic places! There are the waxed red bear and red baby carriage from Wales, the brightly painted clay sun and moon from Portugal, the blue and white porcelain windmill and wooden shoes from Holland, the hand-blown glass Snoopys sitting on gondolas from Venice, and the delicately decorated eggs from Prague.

Other ornaments include the little pinkish shiny ball ornament with Paul’s name written in glitter—I think he made it when he was about six , and the little red velvet bows, bought at Michael’s after Christmas one year for a dollar. They bring a unifying theme to the tree. I say this, smiling, because our tree is, and has always been throughout the years, a hodge-podge of our life. And I like it that way. I don’t think I could ever have a ‘theme’ tree. Mine is a ‘memory’ tree.

The music plays softly in the background and I smile through tears, remembering God’s incredible faithfulness to call and keep us here in France for so many years. Heart-breakingly hard years, overwhelmingly joyful years—the same years, the same amazing God, our keeper.

Before we left for the mission field, I memorized Psalm 121 in English and in French, and over the years I have held on tight to those last beautiful words of the psalm: The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever. (NASB)

Of course He will. He is God with us.

We decorate to remember Christmases past, our lives, our legacy, and mostly, for those of us who have embraced Christ, we decorate to honor and praise Him for coming to us—Emmanuel! We make our homes ready to receive the Christ Child, with soft music and candles burning and the sweet flickering of angel wings on an over-laden evergreen.

***

ELIZABETH GOLDSMITH MUSSER, an Atlanta native and the bestselling author of The Swan House, is a novelist who writes what she calls ‘entertainment with a soul.’ For over twenty years, Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, have been involved in missions work with International Teams. They presently live near Lyon, France. The Mussers have two sons and a daughter-in-law. The Sweetest Thing (Bethany House, 2011) is Elizabeth’s eighth novel. To learn more about Elizabeth and her books, and to find discussion questions as well as photos of sites mentioned in the stories, please visit www.elizabethmusser.com and her Facebook Fan Page. www.elizabethmusser.com

Day 3: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-16T07:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Babbie Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Where is Comfort and Joy Found?

By Sandy Ralya

The year 2006 ushered unwelcome emotions into my life. My husband was unhappy in his job, two of my grown children were making poor choices, my mother-in-law was showing signs of Alzheimer’s, extended-family issues were surfacing, and I was writing a book. Things only got worse. Much worse.

Early in 2007, I was asked to represent the mentoring ministry for wives I founded, Beautiful Womanhood, and lead a women’s conference in Uganda, Africa. My husband wasn’t sure if traveling to Africa was a good idea, so we committed it to prayer. While we were listening for an answer, I sensed God asking me to fast from spending, except for groceries, for thirty days. Sometimes you know that you’ve heard God’s voice because you’d never have come up with those words on your own. This was one of those times. I’d never heard of a fast from spending. Tom needed no convincing that a fast from spending came directly from the mouth of God. He still gets excited just thinking about it!

During the fast, it became clear I had used spending as a way to gain a comfort fix. When I was spending money, I felt carefree and lighthearted. Instead of dwelling on the unpleasantness in my life, I was thinking of my purchases and how they would bring me pleasure. Not until I stopped spending did I realize how short-lived the fix really was. During the fast, when I felt the urge to spend—to anesthetize my pain—I pictured myself running into the arms of Jesus, the Great Comforter. Oh, what comfort I received!

One night, I told good friends my experience of gaining comfort through the power of the Holy Spirit rather than money. I exclaimed that I had never felt so comforted. One friend then told us about a dream he’d had shortly after hearing about the invitation from Uganda. After the dream, he had awoken and recorded the following thoughts:

“. . . this is for Sandy. Christ’s redemption of women is beautiful. Beautiful Womanhood is a result of redemptive wholeness. The visuals the ministry uses on the books, etc., are like a piece of beautifully veneered furniture. There is something going on with the ministry to the brokenness of abused women. In Uganda, there are hurting, abused women, and something is connecting their need and Beautiful Womanhood. Though there is nothing wrong with veneer, it is only the topping—the covering, and without good structure it is shallow and will not hold up. It is time to add a new depth to the ministry.”

Then these verses came to my friend’s mind:

All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NL

When my friend was finished sharing, everyone in the room broke down in tears, praising God for His work in my life. I’d learned to listen and God had spoken. I’d obeyed, and He’d acted. When He acted, I was changed.

Needless to say, I packed my bags and experienced some of the best days of my life in Uganda—offering God’s comfort to His troubled women.

***

Sandy and her husband Tom have been married since 1980 and live near Grand Rapids, Michigan. They have three adult children and a growing number of grandchildren. When not writing and speaking, Sandy enjoys shopping at yard sales for vintage clothing, cooking, travelling, and drinking really good coffee (black is best) with her husband. For more information, contact Sandy at sandy@beautifulwomanhood.com. Subscribe to Sandy’s blog at www.beautifulwomanhood.com/blog. Find Sandy on Facebook at Beautiful Womanhood. Follow Sandy on Twitter @MentoringWives.

Day 2: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Advent
By Sibella Giorello

Consider the bride's walk down the aisle. We all know where that woman in the white is going but somehow waiting for her to arrive at the altar is an essential part of the ceremony. In fact, the waiting is so essential that even cheapskate Vegas chapels include wedding marches.

Why?

Because the wait adds meaning to the moment.

At Christmas time, we tend to forget this essential truth about anticipation. We're lost to shopping malls and checklists, rushing toward December 25th so quickly that we forget the quiet joy of the month's other 24 days -- and then we wonder why we feel so empty on the 26th, amid ribbons and wrapping paper and our best intentions.

Because the wait adds meaning to the moment.

And that is why Advent is so important to Christmas.

I'm as guilty as the next harried person. This Advent was particularly tricky because just six hours before it started, I was still trying to finish a 110,000-word novel that was written over the course of the year -- written while homeschooling my kids, keeping my hubby happy, and generally making sure the house didn't fall down around us.

It's an understatement to say my free time is limited. But waiting adds meaning, and Advent is crucial to Christmas, so I've devised several Advent traditions that are simple, powerful and easy to keep even amid the seasonal rush.

When my kids outgrew the simple Advent calendars around age 7, I stole an idea from my writer friend Shelly Ngo (as T.S. Eliot said, "Mediocre writers borrow. Great writers steal." Indulge me.)

Here's how it goes: Find 24 great Christmas books, wrap them individually and place then under the tree. On the first day of Advent, take turns picking which book to open. When we did this, we would cuddle under a blanket and read aloud -- oh, the wonder, the magic! We savored "The Polar Express," howled with "How Murray Saved Christmas," and fell silent at the end of "The Tale of The Three Trees" (note: some of the picture books I chose were not explicitly about Christmas but they always echoed the message that Jesus came to earth to save us from ourselves and to love us beyond our wildest imagination. In that category, Angela Hunt's retelling of The Three Trees definitely hits the Yuletide bull's eye).

This Advent tradition lasted for about five years. It gave us rich daily discussions about the season's real meaning, without being religious or legalistic, and it increased family couch time. But like the lift-the-flap calendars, my kids outgrew the picture books.

Because the wait adds meaning, and Advent is crucial, I prayed for another way to celebrate anticipation of Christmas. By the grace of God, last year I found an enormous Advent calendar on clearance at Pottery Barn. Made of burlap, it has large pockets big enough to hold some serious bounty.

But my husband and I didn't want the kids focusing only on the materialist stuff for Advent -- we already fight that on Christmas day. We decided to fill the daily pockets with simple necessities and small gift cards. We also printed out the nativity story from Luke 2:1-21 in a large-sized font and cut each verse out. From Day 1 to Day 21, there is one verse to read aloud. The kids memorize it, then get to open their present (again, on alternating days for each person). Then we tape the verse to the wall in order. By Day 22, all the verses are on the wall, in order, and the kids now try to recite the entire nativity story from memory. That's not as difficult as it sounds because they've been memorizing one verse each day. Still, the entire recitation -- verbatim -- usually requires Day 23 and Day 24. Whoever does memorize the entire thing -- without mistakes -- earns a bonus gift of $25.

Does that sounds extravagant?

It is.

Because we want our kids to understand that God came down and humbled himself and taught us about love right before He suffered and died on behalf of the undeserving -- which is every one of us.

"That's" extravagant.

And in the waiting, we find even more meaning.

***

Sibella Giorello writes the Raleigh Harmon mystery series which won the Christy Award with its first book "The Stones Cry Out." She lives in Washington state with her husband and children, and often wishes there were 36 hours in a day.

Day 1: 12 Pearls of Christmas

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

A Christmas of Kindness
By Suzanne Woods Fisher

"You can give without loving, but you can¹t love without giving." Amish proverb

I do it every year.

I plan for a simpler, less stressful Christmas season and, every year, by Christmas Eve I'm exhausted! After our delicious and very-time-consuming-to-make traditional Swedish meal to honor my husband¹s relatives (think: Vikings), it's time to head to church. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but the last few Christmas Eve's, I have sent my husband and kids head off without me. The pull to spend an hour of quiet in the house feels as strong as a magnet.

It's odd. My children are young adults now. Wouldn't you think that Christmas would be simpler? Instead, it's just the opposite. Jugging schedules to share the grandbaby with the in-laws, trying to include our elderly parents at the best time of day for them, dancing carefully around recently divorced family members whose children are impacted by the shards of broken relationships.

The thing is: you can simplify your to-do list, but you can't really simplify people. We are just a complicated bunch.
Here's where I borrow a lesson about simplicity from the Amish. It's easy to get distracted with the buggies and the bonnets and the beards, but there's so much more to learn from these gentle people if you're willing to look a little deeper.

Yes, they live with less "stuff" and that does make for a simpler, less cluttered life. But it's the reason behind it that is so compelling to me: they seek to create margin in their life. Not just empty space; but space that is available to nourish family, community, and faith. Their Christmas is far less elaborate than yours or mine, but what they do fill it with is... oh so right.

Christmas comes quietly on an Amish farmhouse. There is no outward sign of the holiday as we know it: no bright decorations, no big tree in the living room corner. A few modest gifts are waiting for children at their breakfast place settings, covered by a dishtowel. Waiting first for Dad to read the story of Christ's birth from the book of Luke. Waiting until after a special breakfast has been enjoyed. Waiting until Mom and Dad give the signal that the time has come for gifts.

Later, if Christmas doesn't fall on a Sunday, extended family and friends will gather for another big meal. If time and weather permits, the late afternoon will be filled with ice skating or sledding. And more food! Always, always an abundance of good food. Faith, family, and community. That is the focus of an Amish Christmas.

And it's also how the story begins for A Lancaster County Christmas, as a young family prepares for Christmas. A winter storm blows a non-Amish couple, Jaime and C.J. Fitzpatrick, off-course and into the Riehl farmhouse. An unlikely and tentative friendship develops, until the one thing Mattie and Sol hold most dear disappears and then... Ah, but you¹ll just have to read the story to find out what happens next. Without giving anything away, I will say that I want to create a Mattie-inspired margin this Christmas season. Mattie knew inconveniences and interruptions that come in the form of people (big ones and little ones!) are ordained by God. And blessed by God.

Creating margin probably means that I won't get Christmas cards out until the end of January, and my house won't be uber-decorated. After all, something has to give. But it will mean I make time for a leisurely visit with my dad at his Alzheimer's facility. And time to volunteer in the church nursery for a holiday-crowded event. And time to invite a new neighbor over for coffee. Hopefully, it will mean that my energy won't get diverted by a frantic, self-imposed agenda. Only by God's agenda, the essence of true simplicity.

And that includes taking time to worship Christ's coming at the Christmas Eve service. You can hold me accountable! This year, I will be there.

***

Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of The Choice, The Waiting, The Search, and The Keeper, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Suzanne is a Christy Award nominee and is the host of an internet radio show called Amish Wisdom and her work has appeared in many magazines. She lives in California. www.suzannewoodsfisher.com.

Intro: 12 Pearls Of Christmas Blogging Series

2011-12-13T08:25:00.000-06:00

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Pearl Girls™ 12 Pearls of Christmas blogging series!

We've gathered several of today's most beloved authors to share their Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom"! Please follow along beginning tomorrow (Wednesday the 14th) through Christmas day as Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Rachel Hauck, Sandy Ralya, Sibella Giorello, Susan May Warren and more, share their heartfelt stories of how God has touched their life during this most wonderful time of the year.

If you'd like to share the 12 Pearls of Christmas with your blog readers too, just email Christen and she'll send you the series.

AND of course there is a giveaway! Beginning tomorrow you and all your friends can enter to win a PEARL NECKLACE and EARRINGS valued at $450! The winner will be announced on New Year's Day! Pearls - a tangible reminder of God's grace to us all.

***

Just a quick note before the series begins on the 14th ...

As I write this, I imagine that we are sitting at my kitchen table and chatting over a cup of coffee while familiar Christmas carols celebrate the Season. My twelve year old Chihuahua, Pongo, barks for a pinch of pound cake while my Shih Tzu, Lilly, patiently sits by the chair and waits for a crumb to fall.

My name is not Martha Stewart, and I will never receive a neighborhood beautification award. Just look at my front stoop. Yes, my never-had-time-to-carve-the-pumpkin-that-now-suffers-from-frostbite slouches next to the front door which is decorated with a Christmas wreath. I plan to roll this large orange ornament to the garbage pile tomorrow. For now, however, I will pretend that my front stoop is a contemplative modern art exhibit capturing the essence of contrast.

Actually, I love the concept of juxtaposition – placing things together that don’t seem to belong together, yet somehow ultimately make sense being paired. A personal example for me this season is the phrase: “comfort and joy.” Having just completed my manuscript for New Hope Publishers about the aftermath of grief, I fully understand the contrast of those two words. How can comfort bring joy? How can one find joy in loss?

Perhaps, dear reader, you have experienced loss this year – loss of a loved one, loss of friendship, loss of health, loss of financial security, loss of trust, loss of love, or loss of direction. Even with the best intent, words of encouragement shared by others can somehow seem insufficient to address an inconsolable loss. A spoken word cannot fully restore joy to a broken heart; however the Word can. And that’s the bottom line message of Christmas! God gave us the most amazing gift: His Son - the Word of God, the Holy Comforter.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).

You are not alone this Christmas, dear friend. Juxtaposed to the unexpected grit in life is the gift of God’s grace wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This year I purposely placed a pearl in the Nativity scene as a metaphoric reminder. When we place our grit into the hands of the Lord, His grace transforms our pain into a pearl.

“Joy to the world!”

Thank you so very much for sharing the JOY of the Season with us this year.

God Bless,
Margaret
@mcsweeny

***

Margaret McSweeney lives with her husband, David and two teenage daughters in the Chicago suburbs. She is the founder and director of Pearl Girls. For more information please visit www.pearlgirls.info. Margaret is fast at work on several fiction manuscripts. Her book Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace was written to help fund the Pearl Girl Charities. She is also the host of weekly radio show, Kitchen Chat. Connect with Margaret on Facebook or Twitter.

It's Going to Get a Little Crazy Around Here

2011-12-13T08:23:00.000-06:00

I am participating in the 12 Pearls of Christmas Blog Series, and the 12 Changes in 2012 Challenge!

12 Pearls of Christmas will have a post everyday from now until Christmas.

I'm very excited to share this with others.

12 Changes in 2012 was something I came across at Stephany Writes. If making 12 small changes in the year 2012 to create a better you sounds like something you would like to join in, check out Stephany's blog, and let me know when you post so I can share with others! Happy Tuesday!

Merry Christmas and HAPPY Holidays

2011-12-12T08:57:00.000-06:00

It's back! A long time ago in a blog post far far away I created a list of 101 Things I Wanted to Do in 1001 Days. One thing on that list was to create a list of 101 Things That Make Me Happy.

On November 1st, 2010 I finished that Happy List. Then, in February of 2011 I needed to be pulled out of the stressful mess my life was becoming. I need to pull out that list and add a few more pieces of gold to it, to remember just how very blessed I am.

Now, I've decided to make a Winter Holidays Happy List. A list all about the things that make me happy this time of year. A couple may be from the original list, but hey, if it makes you happy it doesn't hurt to list it again!

1. NSYNC's song "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays." I was a huge boy-band fan when I was in middle school and high school. If I were being completely honest, I still like listening to that music. But one of my favorite non-traditional Christmas songs was this one. Listening to "Marry Christmas and Happy Holidays" during the Christmas season, makes me happy.

2. Holiday Cookies. This seems like the one time of year when people go crazy on the cookies. And I love it. My jeans and scale don't. But I do. Holiday cookies make me happy.

3. The stockings hung by the chimney with care. When I'm sitting in my living room, the fireplace is on and there are stockings hung in front of the chimney, that makes me happy.

4. The Cedar Holiday Tree. On Thanksgiving Day the tree is plugged in, and stays on every night until New Year's Day. This tree is lit up by a couple in my hometown. With over 41,000 lights this tree is visible from the highway and is one of my favorite things about the holiday season. The Lit Up Holiday Tree, makes me happy!

5. Being with family. Christmas Eve all the Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and my Grandmother get together to celebrate. The next day the other side of my family gets together for the afternoon. These traditions, and seeing family that I don't see very often is awesome. Being with family at Christmas time, makes me happy.

6. Winter Break. As a person working in the field of education having Winter Break (a week off from work/school) makes me happy.

7. The Ornament Exchange. One side of my family does a huge ornament exchange with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. We draw numbers and make it a game. That ornament exchange is one of my favorite things about the holiday season, and it makes me happy.

8. Christmas Carols AFTER Thanksgiving. Before Thanksgiving, I don't like them and find them annoying. But from the day after Thanksgiving to the day after Christmas I love hearing and singing Christmas Carols. Those songs, at this time of year, make me happy.

9. Opening ONE gift on Christmas Eve. My parents, brother and I have a tradition of opening one gift Christmas Eve before we go to bed. This sneak peek of what's to come, makes me happy.

10. Kids who believe in Santa. Watching them wait in anxious anticipation to sit on Santa's lap. Reminding them that Santa is watching them and they need to be good. Watching their excitement when their cookies were eaten and their stocking is full, is so cute. Kids who believe in Santa make me happy.

These are just some of the things that make me happy about the holiday season.

What things would you add to a Winter Holidays Happy List?

The Villain of Self-Doubt

2011-12-08T10:35:00.000-06:00

There is a villain marching through the story of my life. He appeared so suddenly and has become a master at lurking in the shadows. He hides just out of sight. But I know he is there. Just when I think I have bested him, that I have found his kryptonite and taken him down, he reappears.

I believe there is power in a name. In identifying something. This villains name is Self-Doubt. But he has several other aliases. You may know him by Uncertainty, or Second Guessing. He has a few friends he calls upon. The Wicked Witch of Wariness, The Evil Queen of Lost Dreams, Dr. Doom, The Queen of Broken Hearts, The Lord of Lonely. The form a cohort of evil, just waiting to strike you down.

Sometimes he sneaks through a window and heads down the hall straight to your heart. Other times he hits you like a bolt of lightening cracking through the night.

It's important to arm yourself, getting reading to take down this ne'er-do-well. If we were in a medical story I would tell you to put on your helmet of happiness. Your armor of awareness. Take up your shield of gifts you posses, and your weapon of wisdom.

But in this story of good vs. evil, hero vs. villain I feel as though a cape, mask, and super power would be more apropos. Perhaps a super-sonic-boom of remembering you have amazing gifts. Or a superhero strength to endure whatever Self-Doubt throws at you. Maybe call upon your own league of superheroes to stand beside you. To help you overcome this villain once and for all.

Call upon your friends when you are weary, when you are low. They will help. They will push Self-Doubt back into the shadows. Or, if you're lucky, out of your story completely. That doesn't mean he won't find a way to sneak back into your plot line once in awhile. That just means you have to work extra hard to stand guard. To be ready.

And to know that you are beautifully and wonderfully made. That most mistakes can be fixed, wrong turns made right, new paths can be forged. You just have to turn the page.

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Wordy Wednesday

2011-12-07T08:30:00.000-06:00

The future of the world is in my classroom today,

a future with the potential for good or bad...

Several future presidents are learning from me today;

so are the great writers of the next decades,

and so are all the so-called ordinary people

who will make the decisions in a democracy.

I must never forget these same young people

could be the thieves and murderers of the future.

Only a teacher?

Thank God I have a calling to the greatest profession of all!

I must be vigilant every day,

lest I lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow.

-Ivan Welton Fitzwater

Happy Wednesday!

The Pressure that December Brings

2011-12-03T11:43:00.000-06:00

December can be one of the best times of the year. I love walking up the stairs from the basement and looking out to see freshly fallen snow in the morning. Snow still untouched by the hustle and bustle that life brings. No tire tracks. No foot prints. No piles from shoveling.

But December can also be full of pressure. The pressure to find the perfect gift.

I have some friends who are doing a meaningful no-spend crafty Christmas. I'm excited because I think it's a great idea to make your good friends something rather than just picking something out in a store every year. So it's something different. But it's hard to think of something crafty to make when your not a huge craft person. And the no spend part isn't going to happen because I need supplies.

The second part that makes it trickier is that while I know these girls, I really haven't known them that long, so I'm nervous about the meaningful part. So I'm focusing less on that and more on the, I think they would use this and like this.

I have a few ideas. Which I would share, but those friends read this blog on occasion. So that would be bad.

In addition to making this gifts, there is the pressure of do I get this person a gift? You know those friends that you see a few times a year, but they're still your friend? And then if you do get them something how much do you spend. It's not that I don't want to get them something, because I do. I love giving gifts. But it's hard to pick the right thing for every single person.

So my shopping list this year entails my brother, parents, a cousin (we do a secret exchange each year!), the 3 friends in the craft circle, a couple other friends, and a couple co-workers. But, I only have gifts for my brother so far. And it will probably stay that way for another week or two.

While I sit and write this and reflect on the pressure I am putting on myself to find the perfect gift I'm realizing that by worrying about this I'm missing the whole point. It's about taking the time and caring enough to give something to someone else. It's not about WHAT I get them, but that I care about them enough to WANT to get them something.

Remember the reason for the season! And enjoy it all.

Book Review: America's Last Best Hope Vol. 3 by William Bennett

2011-12-01T23:14:00.000-06:00

From the Publisher:
Twenty years ago, John McCain was serving his second year in the Senate, and Colin Powell had just been promoted to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There was no Fox News Channel, no American Idol. Saddam Hussein and the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeni ruled Iraq and Iran, respectively. George W. Bush was the fairly unnoticeable son of the then-president. If you asked someone to “email me,” you would have received a blank stare, and “Amazon” was a forest in South America. Finally, 20 years ago a young man named Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. The two decades from 1988 to 2008 have proved to be some of the most pivotal in America’s history. Based on a lifetime of experience in government and education, William J. Bennett defines the events that shaped American history during the final years of the century.

I used the first volume of this series when I was teaching US History. It was a wonderful resource for not only myself to get some great information, but it served as supplemental reading material for my students. So I was excited to be able to read this volume as well.

This book relies more heavily on first person comments and memories from the author that is because it is a time that the author lived through. Events that he experienced. What he does provide along with his comments are additional notes at the bottom of some pages that serve as additional insight into Bennett's comments.

While there is some political views seeping through the material, overall I really liked this book. It's one that I will keep in my permanent library for not only personal use, but to use in my classroom. If you are a fan of history that this book is for you!

Book Review: A Jane Austen Devotional

2011-12-01T22:58:00.000-06:00

A Jane Austen Devotional by Thomas Nelson is a wonderful devotional for fans of Jane Austen. Blending scripture and approximately 100 excerpts from Austen's greatest novels this devotional would be a great addition to daily devotional time.

For over 200 years people have been reading Jane Austen's novels Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Emma.

Discussing themes like "Vanity's Folly," Unhealthy Friendships, Evaluating Your Focus, Stirring Up Trouble, Letting Go of Worry, Unhealthy Persuasion, Forsaking the Long-Term Prize and more this was a wonderful twist on classic themes in the lives of Christians today.

Taking a few minutes out of each day to spend time both in scripture and the novels of Jane Austen is a wonderful break from the day to day stresses.

I received an ebook copy of this devotional for review purposes. The copy was a temporary one and this is definitely a book I will be purchasing when it is released. This book will be available for purchase on January 10th, 2012.

(A complimentary copy of this ebook was provided to me through NetGalley for review purposes.)

Book Review: I Used to Know That & I Wish I Knew That

2011-12-01T22:43:00.000-06:00

I Used to Know That by Caroline Taggart is a fun reminder of all the things you used to know. Covering history, religion, literature, science and nature this book is full of those little things you learned throughout your schooling years, but perhaps forgot.

As a teacher I can easily see myself getting this book and using it in the classroom as an additional tool for both myself and my students.

If you like random facts, and knowing a little bit about various subjects that this may be the book for you!

While there is a lot in here that I might not use it was a fun refresher.

I Wish I Knew That by Steve Martin, Dr. Mike Goldsmith and Marianne Taylor is a book that will put you in front of the class.

This book contained the following subjects:
- Classic Reads
- How Land is Shaped and Changed
- Math Stuff
- Science at a Glance
- History Stuff
- AND MORE!

Get an overview of children's literature classics like The Wind in the Willows or Call of the Wild. Learn about the world's tallest mountain, largest sea and longest river. Get a refresher in geometry. Find out more about Dmitri Medeleyev, creator of the periodic table. Learn about early explorers, get the main points from important wars, and have a list of all the countries and their capitals.

Of the two books I liked this one a little better. It had some really neat information that would be useful to teachers and parents alike. This is one I would add to a school library collection.

(I received complimentary copies of these ebooks through NetGalley for review purposes.)

Wordy Wednesday

2011-11-30T14:09:00.000-06:00

This week I watched "Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind" on OWN. The episode I watched was on James Cameron. Thinking it was going to be just a little interesting I didn't have high expectations. But Mr. Cameron had some pretty neat things to say. So today, on this busy Wednesday, as I finish up my day teaching here are some of those more interesting comments he made:

There's a moment when the fantastic becomes possible. Just barely possible and that's where the fun is.

Doors don't just open for you. Every once in awhile one will open a crack and you have to recognize that that's the moment. The door will open just a crack, for a split second and you have to push it the rest of the way open. And you have to know that's the moment to step through.

I always think of the universe as like a giant bank vault lock. And the tumblers are constantly moving. And every once in awhile the tumblers line up and you've gotta listen for the click.

It's not enough to just bear witness. You have to also bring that back for everyone else.

Fortune favors the prepared.

You must always be prepared to fail. Because only by being prepared to fail will you take the kind of risks to do something new. Now having said that you do the very very best you can to hedge every possible bet. Do every bit of planning, do every bit of research so that you don't in fact fail.

Wordy Wednesday

2011-11-23T09:08:00.000-06:00

Wednesdays are busy. And on this Thanksgiving Eve it seems like the day seems a little busier. So here are some quotes all about Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. ~E.P. Powell

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Patient of labour when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off'rings, and a thankful strain.
~Alexander Pope

What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? ~Erma Bombeck, "No One Diets on Thanksgiving," 26 November 1981

Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day. ~Robert Caspar Lintner

There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American. ~O. Henry

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. ~Theodore Roosevelt

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

An Interesting Observation

2011-11-21T09:40:00.000-06:00

When I started blogging January of 2010 I immediately found some blogs that I liked and followed them. As a blogger I know that it can be really nice to know that someone out there is reading what you write. Not because you want to get famous or have legions of followers (although let's not lie, it would be cool to have a ton of people following your blog). But I'm realistic. That's not going to happen. And that's okay. I'm just excited that this blog has made it this long.

I've hit some dry spells here and there. I've gotten extremely busy and The Sunset Won't has taken a back seat. I'm proud that I've made it to 241 posts. 241! That's incredible.

Because today, I took some time to really look through the list of blogs that I follow. Because I've noticed that many of the blogs I followed when I first started aren't blogging anymore. One my my favorites, My Masonic Apron, stopped 2 months ago. Others haven't written a post in almost 7 months.

An interesting trend I thought. But, let's be real. Thinking of something to write about a few times a week, and then writing something with any sort of quality is hard. It's challenging. And when you don't know if people are actually reading what you write, sometimes it can feel like a waste. But for me, that's my choice. It's my choice that virtually everyone in my life has no idea this blog exists.

But I don't really write for them. I write for me. To help me keep track of what I'm learning. What I'm experiencing. How I am challenging myself to grow. There are other things here too of course. But mostly it's for me. And if someone else learns something from it. Gets inspired. Or encouraged. Comforted. Challenged. Well that's just a really big bonus.

If you are a blogger, keep writing. Because whether you know it or not someone may be following. Someone may be inspired by what you write.

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Remembering to be Thankful

2011-11-17T11:55:00.000-06:00

When life started to get overwhelming, and I felt like I was surrounded by darkness I took a break. I took 15 minutes and created a notebook from some online company who's name I can't recall.

The point of this notebook, in my mind, was to have a space where I kept a record of what I'm thankful for. The good things. The great things. The things that weren't so great, but something good came out of it. The people and relationships I'm grateful for. The events that happened that made me smile.

The second piece of the notebook was a place for me to write my concerns. My worries. What's frustrating me. My hope was that I write those things down and get them out of my mind. Of course, the worries and concerns don't disappear just like that. They don't magically go 'poof!' just because I write it in a pretty pen in a notebook. But the act of identifying those concerns, giving them a name, seems important. I started this over a week ago and only have a couple entries. But that's okay. Eventually it's something I hope to do every other day or so.

Then on those darker days I can go back and look at all I have to be thankful for. And a place to remember that even though I've written those concerns down, I'm not facing them alone. That God already knows my concerns. And He's with me all the way.

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Wordy Wednesday

2011-11-09T08:35:00.000-06:00

Wednesdays are busy. This post is short.

It's a quote a colleague recently shared with me. Enjoy.

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

-John Lennon

Happy Wednesday!

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Grief Can Be Transformed, Joy Does Exist in Unexpected Places

2011-11-05T14:23:00.000-05:00

There have been a few times I have come across this saying in book reviews:

Grief can be transformed, and joy does exist in unexpected places.

As I mentioned in an earlier post a student of mine passed away. In that same week three colleagues lost their fathers, the company one of my parent's works at is slowing going under, and my depression seemed to be slowly suffocating me.

Grief and sadness were ruling my life. And I just felt like letting them. I was tired. Tired of fighting them. Tired of acting happy, in the hopes that it would make me feel happy. It wasn't working. I shared with a couple trusted people that my depression was feeling a little worse. But I didn't share how bad. Some of them read this blog, so they knew, but I didn't tell them.

Someone shared Psalm 30:5 (the second half) with me.

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

So while my heart, my mind, my soul and my spirit were weeping... joy was to come in the morning.

One night at my house it was just my dad and I; mom was out of town, my brother was at work. And for some reason I decided not to retreat to my mini-apartment in the basement. But to sit by the fire and watch a movie. We watched "The Count of Monte Cristo." A movie I own, but hadn't seen since it came out years ago. But I am really enjoying the new TV show "Revenge" which is based off that book. So I thought it would be fun to see the movie and compare. For two hours I was not sad.

The next day, I told myself that I could do this. I could overcome the pain, the loneliness. Then I heard the song "Used to the Pain." While much of the song does not apply, I could relate to the majority of the chorus:

No I won't go so far as to say that I'm fine...

I'd like to believe in the healing hands of time.

But the truth is I really can't say,

if I'm getting better or just used to the pain.

So while I'm not sure if I really am feeling better, or am just getting used to the pain. Feelings and insecurities that have been there for so long. But I need to find the happy. I took the time to look back through my happy list the other day (something on my 101 in 1001 list was to make a list of things that make me happy). And I remembered how many things in this world can make us happy. And even if that happiness lasts only a moment, we can look around and find it somewhere else.

Because it's there just waiting for us. In unexpected places, joy can be found.

Where have you found joy lately?

Wordy Wednesday

2011-11-02T09:16:00.000-05:00

Today is Wednesday. Middle of the week. And let's face it, life gets busy. Lately life has been especially busy for me. So on Wednesdays I share a short quote, lyric or passage with you. To offer a break in your day. If only for a minute or two.

Here is a prayer I got from an email chain years ago. I thought it was a good reminder that I needed to hear again. And one I thought I would share with you:

Heavenly Father,

Help us to remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Working for God on Earth doesn’t pay much,

But His retirement plan is out of this world!

Happy Wednesday!

Book Review: A Wedding Blunder in the Black Hills by Kim OBrien

2011-10-31T11:06:00.001-05:00

Image from Amazon

A Wedding Blunder in the Black Hills is a Christian fiction novel by Kim O'Brien. The story centers around Millie Hogan who dreams of a life on a reality television cooking show, and David Denvers the town dentist.

Millie helps her mother run the Dosie Dough Cafe, her mother "helps" run Millie's love life. David's mother work at the front desk of his office, and David works at avoiding the advances of an amorous patient.

Throw in some meddling aunts, a town where everyone knows everyone's business, and an almost-teenage-son and you get two people who need quick solutions. That solution? A fake relationship. This would get Millie's mother to stop setting up dates, and would get Cynthia to back off David. No one gets hurt. No one gets nagged. Everything goes according to plan, until they start to care. Now what?

This was a good story. Classic two people have problems, they find a mutual solution, all goes according to plan, they begin to care... Nothing wrong with a classic plot line. It was well done. The last few chapters I found to be really well done. With a laugh thrown in at the end.

I have trouble with cooks where the Christian aspect, or conversion of a main character is overdone. That was not the case with this book. I thought the christian aspects of the book were woven well with the rest of the story.

Overall this is a good story, that I would recommend.

(I was provided a free ebook preview copy from NetGalley for review purposes. I am under no obligation to provide a positive review.)

A Life Cut Short

2011-10-28T21:49:00.000-05:00

This has been a rough week. A 6th grade student of mine took her own life a week ago. I had to walk into my first hour on Monday, and tell them the news. Then last night I attended her funeral. A teacher should never attend a student's funeral. Much the way a parent should never attend the funeral of their child.

It was described to some of our students as a hole that we have fallen into. It's dark, we wonder how we got there. But while we acknowledge the loss, and remember it's okay to be sad, we must begin to climb out of that hole.

Image from
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2225

While I watched my students listed to this message, I realized how very much I needed to hear it myself. I struggle with depression. And depression is part of the reason my uncle took his own life 2 years ago. While speaking with a family member we discussed how often people hide their emotions. How often they struggle with mental illness, and tell no one. Because it's just not something we do.

Why is that? Why is it something we feel we need to keep quiet? Why do we force people to wear masks of contentment, of happiness, when what they really feel is despair, loneliness, or apathy? These are questions I've been struggling with lately, as I have begun the backwards slide into my own hole of darkness. Depression is a powerful thing.

Whether you are diagnosed with depression or not is not the point. Because we all get sad sometimes. We all feel lonely. We all feel depressed. So you know can have an inkling of what it feels like. But for those who have depression, the little things that make us sad begin to feel like weights being carried on our backs. How do we climb out?

We remember that it's okay to be sad. To grieve. To feel lonely. But then we look up from our hole. And see that there is a light. There is even ground above. And if we can't quite make it alone, we look for the hand that will help us reach the top.

Life is short. Too short. So my reminder to myself in the coming days is that it's okay to be sad. But I need to find a little happiness in every day. It's okay to grieve. But I need to find a little solace in each sunrise. It's okay to feel lonely. But I need to remember the hands of friends that are they to keep me company.

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Wordy Wednesday

2011-10-19T11:12:00.000-05:00

This blog is all about lessons I'm learning, have learned, or need to learn. And in that vein, I thought of the song "Lessons Learned" by Carrie Underwood. So today, I'm sharing those lyrics with you.

There's some things that I regret,
Some words I wish had gone unsaid,
Some starts,
That had some better endings,
Been some bad times I've been through,
Damage I cannot undo.
Some things,
I wish I could do all all over again,
But it don't really matter,
When life gets that much harder,
It makes you that much stronger,
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.

And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,
And everyday I wondered how I'd get through the night,
Every change, life has thrown me,
I'm thankful, for every break in my heart,
I'm grateful, for every scar,
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned.

There's mistakes that I have made,
Some chances I just threw away,
Some roads,
I never should have taken,
Been some signs I didn't see,
Hearts that I hurt needlessly,
Some wounds,
That I wish I could have one more chance to mend,
But it don't make no difference,
The past can't be rewritten,
You get the life you're given,
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were,
Lessons learned.

And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,
And everyday I wondered how I'd get through the night,
Every change, life has thrown me,
I'm thankful, for every break in my heart,
I'm grateful, for every scar,
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned.

And all the things that break you,
Are the things that make you strong!
You can't change the past,
Cause it's gone.
And you just gotta move on,
Because it's all
Lessons learned.

And every tear that had to fall from my eyes,
From everyday I wondered how I'd get through the night,
From every change, life has thrown me.
I'm thankful, for every break in my heart,
I'm grateful, for every scar,
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned,
Oh, some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned,
Lessons learned.
Lessons learned.

Happy Wednesday!

A Piece of Me Revisited

2011-10-18T12:01:00.000-05:00

When I was in college, and Facebook was the new best thing for us, there was a "tag" that went around. Well there were dozens of them, but I tried not to give in. With one in particular you were supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals that were all about you. So I decided to give in.

I looked back over that list today. I was surprised at how many things have changed, and at how many have stayed the same. But that's life, right?

For example:

11. I am a part of "B-cubed" and without one of us it just wouldn't work. We may think it would, but it wouldn't. I love my friends, though at times they may drive me crazy, I don't know what I would do without them.

This is no longer true, one part of the cube and I had a huge falling out, and haven't spoken in a long time.

But this, this will always stay the same for me:

24. Regrets. People always say they want to live life with no regrets, even me. But I have them. Some bigger than others. There were chances I didn't take, things I didn't share, friends I lost contact with, people I let tear me down, times I stayed quiet when I should have spoken.

It's a lesson learned. And one that I needed to be reminded of. At this moment.

Here are some of the other things from my list of 25:

1. I love to make lists. The feeling of crossing something off a list is AMAZING! It makes my crazy schedule and insane amount of things to get done seem manageable.

2. I think I may be a little OCD. Why? Because my books are sorted by series and height, movies are alphabetical and crayons are sorted by color ... crazy... I know.

4. I love to curl up under a warm quilt. Grabbing a book and a cup of tea or cocoa and sitting with the quilts my mom has made me is like grabbing a little piece of heaven. I also love the feeling of sleeping under quilts.

5. Music is a huge part of my life. I listen to it constantly and I like that it can instantly change my mood. I love most types of music but especially country. My only problem is I seem to have music ADD and it's hard for me to listen to an entire song.

7. I love Frozen Hot Chocolates from DQ!!! If you haven't had one, you have to try it!

8. I have been blessed to be able to travel. I have been to several countries in Europe and have been to several states including South Dakota, Wisconsin, Maryland, West Virginia and Hawaii.

9. I really don't like having my picture taken. I try to avoid cameras when possible, but I wish that I had more pictures of things that have happened in my life.
12. I collect tea pots. I bought one in London and after that I started to collect them.

13. When I was younger I wanted to be a country singer... and still think that would be amazing! When I hear an awesome song I imagine how it would work in a concert.

16. I have a song for just about every friend, situation and mood. I think its great how music can connect different people.

21. I am not an outgoing person. Sometimes I like to just sit and listen. But, when I am really comfortable around people I love to make them laugh, even if its really dumb things. Though that doesn't happen often.

23. I may be a social science teacher but that doesn't mean I know a ton about economics, history, politics, sociology, psychology or geography. I know a little bit about a lot of things. I may enjoy politics but it doesn't mean I want to debate my beliefs with you.

Happy Tuesday!

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Wordy Wednesday

2011-10-12T13:09:00.000-05:00

Wednesdays are busy. Today's post is quick.

Today it started pouring during the school day. So I referenced the song Fire and Rain by James Taylor. My students had no idea who I was talking about. I shared the chorus with them and I now share with you:

I've seen fire and I've seen rain

I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end

I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend

But I always thought that I'd see you again

Happy Wednesday!

Rock the Boat

2011-10-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

I like routine. Walking in the most efficient path. Streamlining the things I do every day to get them done faster. I don't like change. Why change something that works? Why rock the boat?

A lot of this blog has been learning lessons. About life. About myself. Learning to love my life and who I am. But that also means I'm learning what I don't like about myself. What my doubts are. And one of my big doubts is that I will obsolete. Irrelevant. Not needed.

Crazy, right? But all my life I've often felt on the outside. The fringe friend in a group. The friend for now. A friend only while it's convenient. I think this might be something that many of us struggle with as we try to find our place in this world.

Recently a dear friend of mine had a major life event happen. And as we were relatively new friends in the grand scheme of things, I wasn't sure what to do. Give her space. Call her? Let her contact me? Where did I fit. Funny enough another in our group asked a similar question. And so in this email, I was told this:

"You fit in to her life in that you know her line of work and share her passions for some things that J and I don't. You're a geek, organizational freak, hilarious and fun! Which fits with all of us. :)"

We all fit in in different ways. Each brings something to a group of friends. But somewhere, you belong. It might be in your family, in your church, on a team you serve on, or a group of friends. Somewhere you have a home, even if you don't always feel like it.

Remember, life is short. So make mistakes.

Learn lessons. Live life the best you can, live it to the fullest.

Because many things in life can wait... but The Sunset Won't.

Book Review: Attracted to Fire by DiAnn Mills

2011-09-30T22:44:00.000-05:00

Special Agent Meghan Connors' dream of one day protecting the president of the United States is one assignment away. After the VP's rebellious daughter is threatened, Meghan is assigned to her protective detail on a ranch in West Texas. The downside? Special Agent in Charge Ash Zinders has a reputation for being critical and exacting, and not hiding his dislike of female agents. Connors and Zinders are both up for the same promotion if they can complete their current assignment successfully. When threats against the VP's daughter escalate and security on the secluded ranch is breached, it becomes clear this isn't the work of one man- but a plan that reaches deeper, higher and farther than anyone could have imagined. It's up to Ash and Meghan to put the pieces together before it's too late.

This book had it all. Mystery, suspense, drama, romance with a little action thrown in for good measure. Books can become boring quickly when you can too easily guess how it ends. While I had an inkling early on, this book definitely threw some twists at me.

I have read historical fiction from DiAnn Mills in the past but really enjoyed this modern story. There were a few places in the book where the story seemed to lag, or I wondered how the story could possible last that many pages, but I kept reading and wasn't disappointed in the end. I felt the characters were relatable, and people you begin to care about. While it has a strong Christian tone (it is Christian Fiction) it wasn't preachy, but honest and open about it's message.

I would recommend this to Christian Fiction lovers.

Tyndale House Publishing provided me with a complimentary copy of this e-book for review purposes. I am under no obligation to provide a positive review.

Book Review: There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

2011-09-29T14:07:00.000-05:00

There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones is a wonderful story of grief, guilt, forgiveness and love.

Eighteen-year-old Finley Sinclair books her trip to Ireland as a foreign exchange student. Her mission is to get some answers from God who, since her brother's death, seems to have forgotten her. She wants to let her heart heal, see the sights her brother held so dear, and work on her college audition piece for a music conservatory.

Her plan is to use her brother's journal from his time in Ireland as her guide, tracing his steps throughout the country. But from the moment she sits down on the plane next to Beckett Rush, teen star of the hottest vampire movies, nothing goes according to plan.

The beauty of Ireland surrounds the chaos that becomes Finley's life. As she works to control her life and fill the void left by her brother secrets from her past refuse to stay buried. When it all falls down Finley must figure out how she can give her past, her hurt, her emptiness to God, if she can ever hope for a future.

I first stumbled upon Jenny B. Jones in a bookstore where her book Save the Date was on sale, and immediately fell in love with the characters and the writing style. When I found out Finley was getting her own book I knew it was another book I had to read.

I loved this story. I enjoyed the main characters, the way the story flowed with the music (that will make more sense when you read the book), and the overall message. The story of grief, loss and guilt is one that many people can relate to. In this book, Finley is no different from a lot of people in the way that she handles those emotions. Jones does a wonderful job of sharing a young woman's struggles with loss, death, hope, love, forgiveness and healing.

Thomas Nelson graciously provided me with an e-copy of the book for review purposes. All opinions of the book are my own, and I am under no obligation to write a good review.

Wordy Wednesday

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

If you're anything like me, your Wednesdays often feel long. You're only half done with your work week. You still have a to-do list that seems a mile long. So on Wednesdays I like to share a quote, short passage or song lyric that I've discovered.

Today's quote is from a BBC show called Torchwood, episode Random Shoes.

The average lifers full of near misses and absolute hits.

Of great love and small disasters.

It's made up of banana milkshakes, loft insulation and random shoes.

It's dead ordinary and truly, truly amazing.

What you've got to realize is, it's all here, now.

So breath deep and swallow it whole.

Because take it from me: life just whizzes by,

and then, all of the sudden, it's ---

Pinteresting

2011-09-27T13:22:00.001-05:00

Catching up on the blogs I read I noticed that Bakergirl had a post that made me laugh. She has a pinsession.

Why did I laugh? Because I have one to. Pinterest is an amazing site. It's a virtual bulletin board where you can have as many boards as you like. I'm currently using 21 boards with titles like "Favorite Spaces and Places," "TV + Movies," "Wordy Word," "Make Me Smile," and "Gotta Have Faith." On those boards you can pin pictures from anywhere on the internet, or you can re-pin someone else's picture.

It's amazing and a great way to collect cool things from around the internet. Here are some of my recent pins:

1. This picture came with the caption: “a bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t” -Charles Spurgeon. This is on my Gotta Have Faith board. I love it. Someday I will be more disciplined in reading my bible and my bible will be well worn like this.

2. This is a great idea for smaller spaces, or someone like me who has a TON of makeup. There are magnets on the back of each makeup item and then a neat frame is used to hold them.

3. This is just a beautiful picture. So it's on my "Cool Pictures" board. I would love to be able to take pictures like this. Instead, I just pin them.

4. This is something I will share with my students on the importance of punctuation. Hilarious. It is these sort of funny pins that make pinterest so addicting.

5. There is a board I have called "Maybe Someday." Maybe, someday I will get married. And if and when I do, this is an idea I may need to use. The most important people in your life use something blue to write a message to help you walk down the aisle.

6. Shhhh! Don't tell my Dad. But he is getting this for his next birthday, or Father's day. I'm not creative enough to come up with this on my own. But that's what pinterest is for!

So, Pinterest is highly recommended. I go on it just for 5 minutes, 40 minutes and 20 pins later time has been wasted. But man, was it fun!

Wordy Wednesday

2011-09-21T10:45:00.000-05:00

Wednesdays are busy for many. A reminder of all that has been and all that is left to be in the week. Wednesdays I share quotes, short passages or lyrics that I've discovered and enjoyed.

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'

-Erma Bombeck

I don't believe in failure... Because simply by saying you've failed, you've admitted you attempted. And anyone who attempts is not a failure. Those who truly fail in my eyes are the ones who never try at all. The ones who sit on the couch and whine and moan and wait for the world to change for them.

-Sarah Dessen

Most obstacles melt away when we make up our minds to walk boldly through them. -Orison Swett Marden

Happy Wednesday!

Book Review: Shadow in Serenity by Terri Blackstock

2011-09-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

Shadow in Serenity is the story of Carny Sullivan who grew up in the world of a traveling carnival. The peaceful, Mayberry-like, town of Serenity, Texas has given her a home, a life and a child.

Logan Brisco is the smoothest, most handsome man Serenity has seen. But Carny is smart, and knows a con artist when she sees one, and see has seen plenty of them, starting with her father. What is strange for Carny is that she seems to be the only person in the entire town to see through the Italian shoes, smooth talking and movie star smile. Logan has the town completely under his finger.

Carny is determined to reveal Brisco's true colors before his promise to the townspeople of part ownership in an amusement park bleeds this town dry. The problem is that as much as she hates his ways there is a man behind that facade, one who may win her heart, whether she wants him to or not.

The publishers note says this is a modern telling of Music Man, I'm unfamiliar with that story so I can't say for sure whether or not it is. But what I can tell you is that I really enjoyed this book. I think it's hard to find a book that tells a story you haven't heard before, or presents it in a new way. And this book was a new take on a familiar story. I found myself loving the town of Serenity and all of it's inhabitants.

Were there parts of the book I didn't like? Yes, there were a few spots that seemed slow. There was a chapter that didn't seem necessary to the plot line so I skimmed it. There was one piece that seemed to change rather quickly in my mind, but the rest of the story made up for it (sorry, spoilers).

Originally published as a secular novel under a different title, Shadow in Serenity is a sweet story about forgiveness, God's grace, and the power of a second chance.

Zondervan provided me with a complimentary copy of the e-book for review purposes. I was not paid for my review and am under no obligation to provide a positive review.

See more of my book reviews here.

Wordy Wednesday

2011-09-14T08:40:00.001-05:00

Today is Wednesday. A very busy day for me, so maybe for others. Wednesdays I share a passage, quote, lyric that I like and want to pass on to anyone who may read this post at some point.

Today's is a prayer I found for teachers on some random website. I wish I could give credit to the author, but I don't know who it is. Only that it's not me. Enjoy!

Lord,

Let me be just what they need.

If they need someone to trust, let me be trustworthy.

If they need sympathy, let me sympathize.

If they need love, and they do need love, let me love, in full measure.

Let me not ager easily, lord but let me be just.

Permit my justice to be tempered in your mercy.

When I stand before them, Lord, let me look strong and good and honest and loving.

And let me be as strong and good and honest and loving as I look to them.

Help me to counsel the anxious, crack the covering of the shy,

temper the rambunctious with a gentle attitude.

Permit me to teach only the truth.

Help me to inspire them so that learning will not cease at the classroom door.

Let the lessons they learn make thier lives fruitful and happy.

And, Lord, let me bring them to you.

Teach them through me to love you.

Finally, permit me to learn the lessons they teach.

AMEN!

Happy Wednesday!

Do your best to live your life, love others, forgive, be thankful, be in awe.

Moments are precious, many things can wait... The Sunset Won't.