God With Us

As we approach Christmas Day (4 days!!!!) my prayer for you and your children is that you experience the presence of God in a new way this season. Recently I was reminded of the awesomeness of the God we serve when I witnessed the funeral of 3 children who were taken suddenly from their family two weeks ago. A tragedy that could have turned into despair and an inward focus on loss was turned into an outward display of God's goodness and faithfulness. One of the kids recently told his grandfather that he was going to change the world in one day. With over 4,000 people attending and watching the funeral online, I think he did just that. So listening to their lives unfold, and hearing the stories that have come about from the aftermath of their death, I was reminded of how BIG and AWESOME our God really is!

We are such a tiny part of His plan yet He chose to come to earth as a baby to live among us, showing and teaching us so many things. And if that's not enough, He took our sins and punishment so that we could have life.

Now that's something to celebrate. May you get even just a glimpse of that this Christmas!

Twelve Keys to a Miserable Christmas

Here's a blog post that caught my eye as we get ever closer to Christmas. This has been a great holiday season for me so far. Thanks to the "Presence" challenge I got all of my shopping done early and feel a lot more focused on Jesus and what His birth means for all of us. But I'm hosting a family Christmas this year and have a lot of activities going on over the next few weekends, so I'm beginning to feel that stress creep in. Here are some good reminders of what NOT to do at Christmas.

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Christmas is a bit nerve-wracking, isn’t it? I mean the stakes are high, and you’ve accumulated a few bad experiences along the way to remind you that things don’t always go as planned.
Despite our best intentions, Christmas is a high stress season with so much at stake. To raise the tension a little further, this may be your 35th Christmas, but it might only be your daughter’s fifth. I need to remind myself all the time that I’m writing the story of my kids’ childhood every day.
And we only get about 18 of these holidays before our kids grow up and leave home. So each one matters. Each Christmas is important. It might be just one more holiday for us grown-ups (special, as it is), but for kids, well, they’re like kids at Christmas.
So, how do you make Christmas better this year?
Sometimes the best way to figure out what works is to pay attention to what doesn’t work. In the spirit of Christmas, we thought we’d help. Here’s a list of 12 things guaranteed to help make Christmas miserable.

1. Head into Christmas exhausted, exposing your temper and nerves to everyonee.

2. Speak badly about other family members when they’re not in the room.

3. Overspend this Christmas trying to impress your kids with stuff they’ll throw away two years from now anyway.

4. Ignore the family members and neighbors who usually get ignored at this time of year anyway.

5. Focus the kids on what they’ll get for Christmas—not on what they could give.

6. Leave everything to the last minute so the tension runs high in the moments you should be making great memories.

7. If you share custody of your kids, be greedy in the time you want with the kids and try to outspend and outdo your ex.

8. Do nothing for the poor. Make it all about you and your wants.

9. Focus on what you don’t have, not on what you do have.

10. Obsess about the way your house looks and how perfect the meal needs to be.

11. Argue a lot over small things.

12. Let the celebration of Jesus end at church.

By Carey Nieuwhof

Christmas Stories for Kids

I have always loved reading children's Christmas books during this time of the year. The story of our Saviour's birth is so sweet and simple, much like many of the books written for children. Here are a few examples of some good ones to share with your kids. All of them are on the "Parent Resources" bookshelf in the lower level so feel free to sign them out and share them with your families! And to go along with them, here's an idea from Michael-pick one of these books and talk with your kids about Jesus, the Light of the World. Then talk about what being a light in the darkness means and finish it up with a little fun game of flashlight tag! May your families experience the light of Jesus this Christmas season.

The Christmas Story, told by Carol Heyer 

Christmas in the Barn, by Margaret Wise Brown 

The Christmas Story, retold by Jane Werner 

J is for Jesus, by Crystal Bowman

Thanksgiving Follow-Up

Thanksgiving has come and gone already (that was fast!) so I wanted to update you all on my Thanksgiving projects. I have not gone shopping with the kids yet to pick out items for the Loft but plan on doing that sometime in the next few days. We did, however, start our memories on our "Thankful Tablecloth" and had a lot of fun reflecting on how God has blessed us.
On Thanksgiving morning I pulled out the tablecloth and announced that we were going to write on it! Ben thought I was joking but after I explained what we were going to do he was very excited about the project. So we all thought about what we were thankful for this year and wrote it on the tablecloth along with our names and the year.

 The challenge for upcoming years, especially for the kids, will be to pick specific ways God has blessed them throughout the year. Otherwise we might get "mom" every year. But I guess I'm okay with that. :) It turned out to be a great opportunity to practice thankfulness after all.  And I'm looking forward to looking over our blessings each year when we pull it out.

Top Ten Things Not to Let Your Children Watch

The other week my son Ben was watching football with his dad on a Sunday afternoon. During the first commercial break I was horrified at what I saw when I actually paid attention to the commercials that were airing for my 5 year old to see! From movie previews to news reports I was surprised at the extent of the violence that was shown. We ended up changing the channel or turning the tv off during each break. It was a pain, but well worth it.

We are approaching the holidays, which means kids will have some time off from school. In my experience, that usually means more tv time! So here's something I came across from All Pro Dad that could be very helpful to you. Read over this list and commit to limiting what your child watches on tv every day.

Top Ten Things Not to Let Your Children Watch 

1. Programming with Bad Language and Violence
   Children repeat things that they hear.  Shelter their ears.  They also mimic behavior they see.  Studies have shown that after watching violent programming, children behave more aggressively directly following.  TV-14 is there for a reason, be careful.
2. Nudity and Sexual Content
   Protect their innocent little eyes from nudity and sexual content.  They are too young for it and do not have the maturity to handle it.  Also, you do not want to awaken sexual desires prematurely, it will open a whole load of issues to deal with as a parent.
3. Graphic Scenes on Crime Dramas
   Crime dramas are very popular right now and many children enjoy them.  Some of the content is even educational.  However, shield their eyes from scenes that show the victim or other gruesome scenes with the victim if you still think they should watch the program.
4. Television Versions of Higher Rated Films
   Just because a PG-13 or R rated film was edited for a television audience, it does not mean that is appropriate for a younger audience.  If the film was originally rated PG-13 or R, then the content is likely not appropriate for younger audiences.  Watch the opening of the movie to see what areas the higher rating was for such as violence or language.  And nowadays, you even have to be careful with PG ratings.
5. Higher Rated Films Which You Yourself Have Not Seen
   Do not watch a film that you have never seen, with questionable material, with your child that is rated above their age.  Allowing the kids to watch just because it is more convenient for you is of poor taste.  
6. Adult Cartoons
   Animated does not mean child friendly.  There are adult cartoons that are extremely inappropriate for child audiences.  These cartoons often contain bad language and sexual imagery.
7. Glorifying Alcohol/Drug Use
   Alcohol and drugs can be presented to look very cool and fun without any attention given to their dangers.  Avoid positive representations of alcohol and drugs since children are easily influenced.  Also, explain to your children the risks and health dangers associated with the two.
8. Too Many Commercials
   Television is saturated with commercials trying to sell you something.  During children’s programming, most of the commercials are targeted for children and feature toys.  Their purpose is to get the kids to beg their parents to buy the toy for them.  In turn, these commercials spur greediness and the desire for instant gratification.
9. Inappropriate Music Videos
   The most popular songs of today offer at least a lyric or two that is inappropriate for younger audiences.  The music videos display even more, or perhaps you should say less because of the small amount of clothing usually any them.  Some music videos are fine, but again, just be aware of what your kids are watching.
10. Too much News
    It is important that your children be aware of what is going on in the world.  Let them watch the news with you and discuss it with them.  However, monitor the news and its images; your children do not need to know everything and all of the details.  The news often contains violence and graphic images that can really upset them.

Funny Quote Friday

Humans are the only animals that have children on purpose with the exception of guppies, who like to eat theirs.  ~P.J. O'Rourke

Give Thanks

I'm in total shock that Thanksgiving is just one week away. Where has the time gone? I shouldn't be that surprised, expecially since I've been trying to get my Christmas shopping done before December. I am making this great attempt so I can participate in giving the gift of "presence" that our church is doing together. I do have some gifts but need quite a few more-panic is starting to set in. I might just need a Christmas miracle.

But I don't want to look too far ahead and miss out on the opportunity Thanksgiving provides to be reminded of how thankful I am for all that God has done and IS doing in the lives of my family. So I'm making a conscious effort to bring an attitude of thanks to the forefront of our holiday festivities. Here are a few ideas you can use to practice "thankfulness"as a whole family:

• Find Scriptures that highlight thanks to God and read them together. Talk about how God is working in your family and give thanks to Him together! (Ask your elementary aged kids what their kidSPACE Bible verse is this month to get you started.)

• Buy a white or light colored tablecloth for your Thanksgiving table. Put a fabric marker at each person's place and have them write something they are thankful for (write it for the little ones). Sign and date each entry and reuse the tablecloth each year. Over the years you will enjoy looking back at how God has blessed your family.

• Participate in a giving project as a family. Find something your family can do together to help others. Taking a shopping trip or gathering things together for The Loft would be a great idea!

• Put alphabet magnetic letters in a bucket or can. Take turns pulling one out and thanking God for something that begins with the letter picked.  

                                                                  A B C

                                           

Our family is planning on trying the tablecloth idea as well as gathering/buying things for The Loft. Ask me next week how they went and I'll tell ya!