St. Patricks Day

Okay... here is your brief history lesson on who St. Patrick really was and how he became known as the patron saint of Ireland. Obviously this is history and some parts are disputed but overall most of my research has led to this basic conclusion.

Around 390 A.D. a young boy named Maewyn Succat (later to become Patricus also known as Patrick) was born to Calpernius, a Roman-British army officer. It is believed he was born in either Scotland or Roman England. One day while growing up in Britain he was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. He is believed to have been a slave for around 6 years and the stories around his escape/freedom are varied. That is not the point. The point is that at some point God intervened in this young mans life, he studied to become a bishop and felt God calling him back to Ireland to convert people to Christianity and a relationship with Jesus. He also set up schools and churches all over the area. Ireland was a very pagan nation and the Celtic's really didn't appreciate his teaching or good doing. He was arrested several times and escaped each of them. St. Patrick spent about 20 years traveling Ireland preaching the word of God. March 17th is the day he died and the day chosen to celebrate him.



So, this St. Patrick's day I encourage you to talk less about green things, leprechauns, and gold and spend more time talking about:

- Loving the lost and having a desire to see them saved. Learn the great commission as a family.
- Who the Irish people are - learn about their culture not just the rumores about them.
- What it means to be pagan and how confusing it can be for seekers to find truth with so many pagan beliefs out there.
- How even when things seem horrible we need to stay true to God and have faith that He has a plan and will use all things to bring glory and honor to Himself. We are the tools but he is the master planner.
- Unlike Leprechauns who keep their treasure hidden we are called to be lights leading the way to the ultimate treasure.

No promises but I will try to get on here soon and post some fun holiday ideas. And don't forget that I said spend LESS time not NO time talking about all the silly stuff. My sister-in-law lets her kids have Lucky Charms (a forbidden sugar cereal in our home) and I might just do that as well this year.

Don't turn Jesus into a party pooper - He delights in our family fun - just don't forget to HONOR HIM ALWAYS and include Him in the party!

Valentine's Day - Valentines

Well, I hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day! Here are a few fun "Valentine" ideas.

Instead of candy why not give something their moms might actually let them keep this year. Kenyon gave out pencils with a note that said... Kenyons "write" you are AWESOME! The ones pictured show a different saying but I realized it sounded funny and changed them.

Adia being 10 and very emberassed to give boys anything lovey decided to make stress balls (balloons full of corn starch) and attach a not saying... Don't STRESS - I'll be your friend!

For the girls she made bracelets (strips of ribbon hot glued to felt - then she added velcro circles to make them attach) in a bag with a candy ring and the note said "I'm all wrapped up in this friendship" and some said "This friendship has me all wrapped up".

Avery went with the candy and made candy filled rocks with an attached note saying "Friend - you rock!". These were a bit more time consuming and messy but lots of fun. You take small candies, wrap them in tissue, wrap that in foil and then dip it in prepared plaster of paris - when that dries you paint them to look like rocks. We made our red and pink rocks to stick with the theme. Also to make sure people knew to break them open we put them in a bag that said "Break Me".

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

"Without justice, there can be no peace. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Pretty soon we will all have a 3 day weekend in honor of one of our nations heroes. I am embarrassed to admit that most of my life I never cared about this holiday or what it represented but I do remember when all of that changed. I was planning out a lesson for Adia, our first year homeschooling, and I remember thinking how important it was for her to grasp the injustice that MLK fought so hard against. Well, when the day came to actually teach her about it we had a biography on him to read and as I started reading (with the goal of opening her heart to issues of justice) the tears came streaming down and I couldn't even talk. I was overwhelmed at the importance of what this hero fought for and had so much guilt that before this day I never really cared. Obviously by wanting so badly for my daughter to "get it" I knew it mattered but I honestly just didn't ever think about it. Soon after that we read our first American Girls book about Addie (a slave girl who runs away with her mom and has to leave behind family) and once again my heart was being torn for what people have gone through over the ages and how much I take for granted my life of little worries. At first I seemed to just wonder if I really would have been a part of the problem or the solution back then. Now 5 years later God has opened my eyes even more and shown me that I don't just have to wonder how I would have reacted then... the fact is slavery still is exist (and in bigger numbers than before), evil injustices are taking place all around us TODAY and just like many back then I have not been a part of the solution, I have closed my eyes to it and I am horrably humbled and sorry for allowing this disconnect to take place in my mind that allows me to know this and yet go on as if I do not.

Wow! That was kind of deeper than I meant to go but hey - it's my heart and I had to share.

So here are a couple fun things you can do to start softening your childrens hearts to these matters.

For the little ones,

There are some cute poems and books out there based on a box of crayons and how the crayons didn't like one of the colors to begin with until they realized the value each of them had and how boring the world would be without each of them. This is a simple way to help our young children relate to racism and how mean and ugly it is.

Box of Crayons:

poem #1

Wouldn't it be terrible? Wouldn't it be sad? If just one single color was the color that we had? If everything was purple? Or red? Or blue? Or green? If yellow, pink, or orange was all that could be seen? Can you just imagine how dull world would be If just one single color was all we got to see?

poem #2

While walking in a toy store the day before today, I overheard a crayon box with many things to say. "I don't like red!" said yellow. And green said, "Nor do I!" And no one here likes orange, but no one knows quite why." "We are a box of crayons that really doesn't get along," said blue to all the others "something here is wrong!" Well, I bought that box of crayons and took it home with me and laid out all the crayons so the crayons could all see. They watched me as I colored with red and blue and green and black and white and orange and every color in between. They watched as greenbecame the grass and blue became the sky. The yellow sun was shining bright on white clouds drifting by. Colors changing as they touched, becoming something new. They watched me as I colored. They watched till I was through. And when I'd finally finished, I began to walk away. And as I did the crayon box had something more to say... "I do like red!" said the yellow and green said, "So do I!" "And blue you are terrific so high up in the sky." "We are a box of crayons each of us unique, but when we get together the picture is complete." NOW IF WE COULD JUST LEARNFROM THIS BOX OF CRAYONSTHIS WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE. by Shane DeRolf

When we read these poems last year I printed them out in color for the kids. We read it, talked about it and then did a craft coloring our own crayons to put in crayon box and hang up on the wall... I don't have a good picture of ours but this is all over the internet so you can just google the topic and you will find lots of cute ideas to do with it.

For the Older Children,

Justice Gathering

There is so much you could do... this year I am having some kids over and we are going to focus on what MLK stood for. We are also going to talk about William Wilberforce and the amazing story he has as well. This holiday is not just to honor Martin Luther King but to also honor what he stood for and that is JUSTICE! So when I have the kids over (ages 10 and up) we are going to...

- talk about MLK and discuss what he stood for, his courage and how he honored God by lovingly seeking justice.

-watch the movie Amazing Grace which is the story of William Wilberforce and discuss how he fought for the majority of his life for one cause and let nothing get in his way. WOW!

-lastly we are going to talk about slavery today and all sorts of injustices that are happening now. We are going to discuss that God hates injustice (the Bible is very clear on that!) and that we are all called to do something!

Great Book... Be the Change

This is a book written by a young man (12 at the writing of it I think) who when studying abolitionist realized that we still need them today and began a program called Loose Change to Loosen Chains. He has an amazing heart for God and has done much to open awareness to things like slavery, abortion, sex trafficking and so many other things MLK would have stood with him to fight!

Get Involved

There are a ton of organizations that continue to fight to fee the slaves today and I would encourage you to get involved with them at some level... even if that is just receiving their newsletters and praying for the ministry

- http://www.ijm.org/ International Justice Mission

The founder of IJM, mentioned above, is Gary Haugen and I would strongly suggest reading any of his books on the topic. Starting with The Good News About Injustice (they have a youth edition).

- http://www.love146.org/ Love 146

This is a group started by a group of people who went to India to see for themselves some of the major oppression taking place their. When they went into a brothel posed as customers they were horrified to see not only were these little girls for sale they had their names taken away and were only given a number. Most of the girls looked like they had given up the fight - they had been there too long and had lost who they were... but #146 seemed like she still had fight left in her eyes and must have been new to this evil world they brought her to. This website will help you find ways to support the cause to end sex trafficing, learn more about it and so much more.

Read and Reflect on Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)
The Sheep and the Goats 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

May we all learn to care more, do more and sacrifice more for the people in this world who need us!

Annual Ornaments

One fun Christmas tradition is giving your children annual ornaments. Each year pick an ornament out for them that reminds you of them (specific to that year). We give ours to the children the night we put up our tree. We actually wrap them and hand them out at random then the kids have fun guessing who's is who's. This year we gave our oldest daughter one with a big monkey bathing a little one and our baby boy who began walking at 6 months got a superman onesie. I think I am also going to start writing them a letter as to why this ornament was chosen for them and give them the letters someday when I give them their box of ornaments. My mom did this for us growing up (minus the letter) and I still see my "annual ornaments" and they make me giggle because of the silly memories they bring back. I have about 3 different raccoon ornaments and my kids think it is funny because anyone who knows me would never describe me as an animal person but there were a few years that I was obsessed with them! Plus when I first got married it was so nice to have 21 hallmark ornaments to start my tree off with that had meaning. My kids even know a bit about me growing up from the ornaments that I doubt I would have thought to tell them otherwise.

Advent

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent and I hope you all are anxiously awaiting the beginning of a beautiful season of celebrating that Jesus came and is coming again! What good news!

For those of you who do not know Advent is a Latin word meaning Coming. The season of Advent is a time of preparing our hearts for the fact that Christ came and is coming again. Traditionally people use an advent wreath with 4 candles going around and 1 center Christ candle to light. You light one each Sunday leading to Christmas and the center candle Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. For more info on the meaning and depth of the season just google it... there are so many resources. With the ages of my children we don't go too in depth on the meaning behind the candles we just light them and say"He's Coming" "He's Coming" and each candle our voice is more animated and excited.

I just wanted to encourage you to spend the whole season celebrating the only ONE worthy of a month long birthday party where all the attention is placed on Him and the fact the He is a perfect gift to all of us. Try to use each of the symbols of the season to teach the TRUTH of the season! Remind the kids that the tree points up - not down to the presents but up to the TRUE PRESENT who is very PRESENT to us all and loves when we look to Him and seek Him in our daily lives. Remind them that the gifts are reminders of the ONE TRUE GIFT we have in JESUS! Every symbol that is going to be in front of their faces for the next month is an opportunity to draw their hearts back to the one who made them.

Our family spends each night before bedtime going through a special Advent book beginning December 1st. In it there are beautiful doors on each page that you open and read part of the Christmas story from. Each day we get to open one more day and by Christmas morning we have read the whole story straight from the bible and the kids have most of it memorized since we start from the beginning every night. The pictured book is an heirloom addition that I am not sure is available anymore but I know they have another red version you can still buy.

After we read the story we talk about what we read then we all get to pick one Christmas song of worship to sing to Jesus and of course we finish the night of in prayer to our favorite Birthday Boy ever! I find these times so wonderful and they really help us keep our hearts focused on the real reason for the season.

Dinner Devotion

I think almost every family has the tradition of taking time at the dinner table to thank God for his blessings and share with each other what they are thankful for most from the past year. Just in case some of you do not do something like that I would encourage you to give it a go. It's my favorite part of thanksgiving! After the food is served (don't make people eat cold food) we just go around the table and each person shares what they are thankful for.

The only twist to this is that in the past couple of years I have called the family members that can not be with us and typed out what they had to say on small strips. Under everyone's plate I put somebody else's thoughts. So along with sharing each person own things they are thankful for they read who ever's paper they got. I know this means a lot to my mom and MIL as they have big families and it helps us feel like we are together.

Don't forget to save those and keep a binder (yes, I have a binder for just about everything) with previous years comments. One year about a week before thanksgiving I even sent an e-mail to everyone including the families "thankful fors" from the previous year to remind everyone to get thinking and feel blessed because no matter what your circumstances are if you have access to this blog I have a feeling YOU ARE VERY BLESSED!

Oh and one more suggestion... read a part of the Thanksgiving Proclomation by Lincoln.... it's got some good stuff in it!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Tree of Thanks

Here is something super easy, fun and meaningful we did this year...

Each night as we did our evening devotions focused on thankfulness and our many blessings the goal was to have each family member add another leaf to our tree. We just wrote something we wanted to thank Jesus for and signed our names then picked a branch and stapled it on. We had a great time with it and then when my sweet little nephew went to heaven our tree stopped growing for awhile. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for our family. Although I long to see my little nephew again right now I can say that I am so thankful for his life and all he did to further God's kingdom in his short 9 years on earth. What a blessing to be his Aunt. He wanted to live his life in ministry and he did and his life story will continue to minister to many for years. I hope to start growing our tree again tomorrow and am thankful for the big reminder in my home of all we are thankful for and most importantly WHO we are thankful to! It's pretty special that on our tree this year are the words heaven and so many things relating to what our family was in the midst of this year and the innocent child like approach our 5 and 3 year old had on it. I will for sure be keeping our leaves this year and starting next years with them.

More Ideas:

Thankful Turkey:

My sister's mother in law does something I hope to do in my home eventually. Last year I got the hand prints and this year I will as well in hopes next year I have enough to start my turkey. I think it is one of the best ways I have heard of to display previous years blessings in a fun, cute and special way. So what you do is have each family member trace their hand and write on it what they are most thankful for that year. The next year you will use these laminated hand prints to be a big turkey tail of a turkey body that you draw and put somewhere to display on your wall. This is super special because not only is it a cute handmade decor item but it shows the growth of the children's hand prints, the growth of the families hearts as they mature and go from being thankful for toys, to people, to grace and so on and you can even include the people you spend your Thanksgiving with and then it is a trip down memory lane as you see hand prints of people who you have been with in years past. My sister loves this turkey in her MIL's house and enjoys reading her hubby's words from his teenage years when he said things like "I'm thankful we only have to do this once" to his adult years and her name made it on a hand print! I will try and get her to take a picture this year and post it if I do.

Thankful Tree:

For those of you who move around a lot this is especially good for your families. It's the same idea as above but instead of hand prints each person picks a special leaf near your home to write what they are most thankful for on. The person who shared this idea with me said they use contact paper on them and then write with permanent markers. It;s special to them because they have leaves from several states and also all the fun things they were all thankful for hung on the wall for a beautiful fall decoration.

Don't forget if you have some great ideas for any of the holidays to share them with me (amy@honorhimalways.com). And check back often as December is sure to have lots of good stuff on here! I will be posting before the end of the week on Advent as the season is soon to begin and I hope to encourage you all to participate in the celebration that He has come and is coming again!

Blessings!