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Minor Characters Playing A Major Role

But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true.  Let’s go there now.  Perhaps he will tell us which way to go.”  1 Samuel 9:6
Haiti me carrying bucket on my head with word overlay      I just came back from a weekend in New York City with Judi and Lizz, my two best friends from college.  At night, we did the fun NYC thing until the wee hours of the morning.  But during the days, we talked and talked.  We didn’t just catch up on each other’s lives; we helped each other flush out what our hopes and dreams are for the new year.
     In an attempt to help each other accomplish these goals, we each shared our hard earned wisdom from past experiences and hardships.  It was like a Prayer Map conversation: mapping out the people and circumstances that guided us which way to go when we were at certain crossroads in our lives.

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My Guest Post on Rebecca Krusee’s Parenting and Children Blog

Rehearsing The Right Response

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.    2 Timothy 3:16-17

Pageant with word overlayMy nine year old son Mason had his first speaking role ever in our church’s Christmas pageant this year. He played Joseph, and had quite a few lines. Having done theatre in college, I know that nervousness can cause your mind to go blank while performing. I explained to Mason that he needed to know his lines forwards and backwards, so no matter how nervous he got, he’d remember what to say and when.

To read more of my post, visit Rebecca Krusee’s Parenting and Children Blog at: http://rebeccakrusee.com/archive-blogs/   

I’d like to thank Rebecca for sharing her space with me and all of you!

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The Pivotal Battle Ground

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…      Ephesians 6:10-12
Mason with word overlay     My son Mason is a truly gifted writer.  When a writing assignment is wide open, he is as creative as can be.  However, when an assignment has any kind of parameters he has to adhere to, his ability shuts down like a power outage.  It’s not that he can’t overcome this; it’s that he believes he can’t.
     This December, when his fourth grade teacher required him to write a poem about Christmas family traditions, Mason was a wreck.  He worked himself into such a state, he couldn’t even list our traditions on the brainstorming grid.  As I was trying to jog his memory as to what we do each year as a family, I realized the real help he needed was a pep talk.

     I explained to him that it wasn’t necessary to work so hard on the brainstorming grid.  Where he needed to work harder was on the battlefield of his mind.  I explained there was a war raging there: doubt was battling against belief.  If he gave in to the doubt, thinking he wasn’t capable of completing the assignment, he would lose the war, causing that thought to come true.  But if he fought against the doubt, and instead believed in himself, he would be victorious.  Then his writing would begin to flow effortlessly. Continue reading →

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A Clean Slate

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitudes of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.    Ephesians 4:22-24
Dia Del Diablo

Photo courtesy of Esquipulas.com.gt

     When I lived in Guatamala, I loved “Dia Del Diablo,” The Day of The Devil.  On December seventh of each year, the people there sweep any trash from their dirt floors out the door and into piles in front of their homes.  Then they add their old items that can’t be repaired or mended anymore.  After sunset, they light the piles on fire.  It is an amazing sight to see: fires burning up and down the dirt roads as far as the eye can see.  They believe the fires draw out the bad spirits from their houses.  It is their way of cleaning their homes, both physically and spiritually, in preparation for the birth of Christ on Christmas morning.
     I wanted to bring Dia Del Diablo back with me when I returned to the U.S.  But I can’t light a fire on my street in New Hampshire.  So my version is to systematically clean out all my cabinets, drawers, and closets, giving away or donating what we don’t use anymore.  I’ve always viewed this purging process  as a focus on the old: looking back, assessing what used to fit and now doesn’t, what used to be used and now isn’t.  This year I want to look at it differently.

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A Crossroad of Cutting Words

A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit.     Proverbs 15:4
12 17 15 001 with word overlay     I’m not fashionable at all.  I used to get my hair cut twice a year.  In the interim, I’d wear it up in a clip and trim my own bangs when necessary.
     When we moved eight years ago, having two kids under the age of three and boxes everywhere, getting my hair cut didn’t even make it onto the priority list.  Plus, I had no idea where to go.  When I couldn’t avoid it any longer, I ended up at a hair salon that was far more posh on the inside than it appeared from the outside.
     As I sat in the stylist’s chair, she proceeded to cut me down while snipping my hair: the style of my bangs was from The Eighties, I should dye the gray out, the texture of my hair was frizzy and brittle, etc., etc.  I am extremely uncomfortable with confrontation and avoid it at all cost.  Moreover, I was too sleep deprived and concerned about the outcome of my haircut to speak up and piss her off.  Consequently, I sat there and said nothing.
     It still bothers me to this day that I was charged A LOT of money by someone who insulted me.  Needless to say, I never went back to that salon.  After years of trial and error, I finally found a salon that suites who I am.
     However, when Jocelyn needed her hair cut right before Christmas, her regular stylist was not available.  So we went with someone new.  As I was explaining to her how I wanted Jocelyn’s hair cut, she was downright condescending to me.  I sat in the waiting area seething.  Maybe because this stylist was all of 22 years of age, or maybe because I had held onto that eight year old resentment, I decided to face my fears and confront her before we left. (I was smart enough, though, to know I had to wait until she was done so she wouldn’t take anything out on Jocelyn’s hair.)
     Once my decision was made, I spent the wait time planning what I would say.  I was thinking of all the scathing things I could say to put her in her place.  I even practiced my speech in my head so I’d be sure to hit all my points.

     After I felt ready for the big event, I sat there patting myself on the back, so proud of myself for planning to go outside of my comfort zone.  I even felt relaxed enough to open the book that I am currently reading and had brought along.  That’s when my whole plan fell apart… Continue reading →

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Birthday Party Invitations

For to us a child is born…. Isaiah 9:6
12 24 15 047 with word overlay     I got a frantic email last week about a child’s birthday party that Saturday.  The mom was apologizing profusely.  Weeks before, when she was creating the evite for her daughter’s sixth birthday party, she had overlooked inputting Jocelyn into the evite.
     Jocelyn loves this little girl and would have been over the moon to attend.  But I am an advanced planner and had already filled that Saturday with other commitments.  All week I tried to problem solve to find a way to make it happen.  But you know how this time of year is: we’re all overbooked with no space for spontaneous invites.
     Years ago, my mom gave me a small laminated card with a story called “Mary’s Dream” on it.  It’s author is unknown.  Every Advent, I pull that card out and reread the story.
     In it, Mary is talking to Joseph about a bad dream she had.  She explains that she sees a vision of us all cleaning, decorating and shopping for Jesus’ birthday party.  She describes the glistening lights, the craziness of having a tree inside our homes that we decorate, and the stacks of wrapped presents we put underneath it.  Her confusion increases when she sees us all, on her Son’s birthday, exchanging gifts with each other, and not with Him.
     Every year, without fail, it is like a punch in my gut when I read, “I had the strangest feelings that if our Son had gone to this celebration, He would have been intruding.  Everything was so beautiful, Joseph, and everyone so gay, but it made me want to cry.  How sad for Jesus – not to be wanted at His own birthday party.”

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Angels On Earth

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?  Hebrews 1:14
12 17 15 004 with word overlay     I’m one of those sappy people who LOVES a feel-good movie.  So at Christmas time, I develop an extreme addiction to the Hallmark Channel.  They have at least four to five of these movies a day, all with beautiful people, all with happy endings.
     There’s usually just two story lines, both of which you can predict the ending of within three minutes of its start.  Either the lead character has lost their way and has buried their loneliness in the pursuit of success and consumerism, or they’ve lost their loved one and are buried under grief.  One formula to reach the happy ending is the perfect match comes along and redeems them through love.
     But my favorite formula is when it’s an angel that leads them to the happy ending.  In this scenario, the angel takes on a human form.  Then, slowly, with small acts of kindness and gentle guidance, they lead the person to love.
     When I wrote a post a few weeks ago about my mom, my friend commented that my mom is one of those “angels on earth.”  It got me thinking.  And I guess because I’ve been watching too many Hallmark movies, my thoughts took on the form of a movie…

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What Is Blocking Your View?

“They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear…”   Ezekiel 12:2
12 7 15 008 with word overlay     I never tell my kids where we are going.  Instead, I call every outing an “adventure.”  I just tell them what to wear, what to bring, and when to get in the car.  So when we went to Crossing Life Church’s narrated hay ride this past Saturday night, my kids had no idea what to expect.
     For forty-five minutes we waited in line in the cold.  But it was a beautiful night, a splendor of stars in the sky.  They had hot cocoa to sip, and we took turns getting out of line to warm up at the bonfire.  Finally, after our long wait, we climbed into the wagon with excitement.
     It was so fun!  They had choreographed the pre-recorded narration and music so that as the wagon approached each different lit up scene in the woods, the music matched the display: “You’re A Mean One” played for The Grinch, “Let It Go” played for Anna, Elsa and Olaf, etc.
     The climax was a live nativity at the peak of a hill.  They stopped the hay ride here so people could either gaze at the scene in awe from the wagon, get off and look up close, or warm up at another bonfire blazing on the other side of the hill.  My husband and Mason were on the bonfire side of the wagon.  Mason was mesmerized by the fire’s glow and the kids toasting marshmallows.
     When I tore my eyes away from the Baby Jesus, I asked Mason what he thought of the live nativity.  Come to find out, he had no idea it existed!  Everyone on my side had blocked his view.  I found myself saying, “Oh Mason.  Come look.  This is the whole point in coming.” 

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Seeing God In Others

….you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.     Luke 19:44
11 11 15 001 with word overlay

Zachary and Mason

     We recently started visiting a local nursing home with a group of other moms and kids through a program called MOSAIC Kids.  The idea is to teach our children that they can be the solution to so many of the world’s problems by being God’s little hands and feet on earth.  Visiting the residents and playing musical instruments and games with them each month teaches our kids to share their time and talents to bring joy and companionship to people who might otherwise be lonely or sad.

     After each visit, each of us moms gets a list of Questions For Reflection to discuss with our kids on the ride home, at dinner, or at bedtime that night.  Asking our kids to put their thoughts into words helps them further process the experience.
     After the first visit, I sat with my kids at dinner and asked them some of the questions.  When I asked them if they saw Jesus in anyone that afternoon, I thought for sure they’d either be clueless about what I meant, or say they saw Him in one of the little nuns that we visited.  Instead, I was blown away by Mason’s answer.

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The Best Bucket Filler Ever!

“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”   Proverbs 31:29
11 26 15 003 with word overlay     There’s a social worker at Jocelyn’s school who talks to each class about “bucket fillers” and “bucket dippers.”  She explains that when someone is kind, they “fill” your bucket.  On the flip side, if someone is unkind, they “dip” into your bucket.  I think her objective is to teach the kids to be “bucket fillers” so they make this world a better place.
     Thanksgiving has me thinking about, and grateful for, the bucket fillers in my life.  I am incredibly fortunate to have a long list of them.  But hands down, my mom is my #1 bucket filler. 

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