Bible, family activities, family fun, Holiday, Parenting, Raising Teens, Valentine's Day

Remind them how much Jesus loves them this Valentine’s Day

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I have three teenagers and more than anything I want them to have a great relationship with Jesus; filled with the knowledge of His great love for them.  With that in mind, I am always looking for ways to remind them of just how much Jesus really does love them.  And with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I decided to use this holiday of love to focus on God’s love for us.

In the past leading up to Valentine’s Day, I have given them hearts where I have written why I love them.  But this year I wanted them to know God’s love for them.  I start on February 1st and every day for the next 14 days I hang one random heart in their room with a personalized Bible verse about God’s love. For example, I might write “For God so loved Aaron that He gave His only Son so that Aaron should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

A few days ahead of time, I started cutting out my hearts.  I used scrapbooking paper that I already had, but you can buy heart themed paper, or red or pink whatever you want. I cut out various size hearts using different sized cookie cutters and tracing them on the paper – one for each kid for 14 days. For me, this was a total of 42 hearts.  I also looked up all my verses ahead of time.  I have a list of several scriptures you can use Valentine’s Day Activity –God’s love Bible verses.  Just remember to personalize them!  Then every morning for the first 14 days in February I would hang a heart with a verse on it somewhere in their room.  If my children hadn’t mentioned anything about the hearts to me by dinner I would ask them if they found the one for that day.

   

Last year I even added my husband in this.  I wrote why I loved him on 14 different hearts and hung them around our room. Most of which are still hanging in the same place a year later.

It’s a small thing but I pray the impact of these hearts will be huge.  That they will remind my kids, on days when they feel like no one loves them, that even then God loves them like crazy.

If you have ways you have tried to help your kids recognize God’s love for them I’d love to hear about it. Leave your ideas in the comment section below!

Happy Valentine’s Day, and remember God loves you more than you can even comprehend.

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Christmas, Holiday, Recipes

Naughty and Nice Christmas Cookies

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It’s Christmas time, and if your house is anything like my house it means making Christmas cookies. Cookies for probably 4 different parties, for the neighbours, and a school event or two.  I have two tried, tested, and awesome Christmas cookie recipes for you.  One is naughty – full of all the stuff that tastes good but isn’t good for; and one that is a little more healthy and gluten-free.

I will start with the naughty one.  I have been making this sugar cookie recipe at Christmas for as long as I can remember.  We made them every year since I was little.  The dough is great – rolls out easy with a little flour dusted on the surface you are rolling them out on. And, bonus, the whole recipe makes roughly 12 dozen medium-sized cutouts – more if you use a small cookie cutter, and less if you use big ones.  The dough freezes great, so you can make a few for a holiday event and then freeze the rest to make later.  The cookies, once they are made, freeze well, too.  Even once they are frosted you can freeze them. Just unstack them to thaw or the frosting will stick to the other cookies.

Here is the recipe for the sugar cookies and a link for the frosting that I made and used.
Sugar cookie cutouts
3 cups Parkay (I couldn’t find Parkay so I used Imperial brand margarine. (DON’T USE BUTTER unless you want oily cookies)
2 2/3 cups sugar (I cut this back to 2 cups and no one has ever known until now.)
1 teaspoon salt
8 egg yolks (you can plan on making egg white omelettes the next day or egg white quiche for dinner like me!)
4 tablespoons 1/2 & 1/2
4 teaspoons vanilla
8 cups of all-purpose flour
Instructions
Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy and well combined.
Then add egg yolks while mixing on low. Mix until egg yolks are well incorporated.
Then add the 1/2 & 1/2, vanilla, and salt.
Lastly, add the flour. I add 1-2 cups at a time.  If you use the paddle blade on your blender it helps.
Once all the flour is mixed in, divide the dough into thirds, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.  If you are planning on freezing any of it,l double wrap it or put it in a plastic zip freezer bag for later use.


Once chilled roll out dough to 1/4 in thick and place on greased cookie sheets.  Place the cookie sheets in the freezer for 5 mins, then put into an oven heated to 350 degrees.  (Putting the cutouts in the freezer helps them hold their shapes better while cooking.) Cook for 8 mins.  Let cool and decorate.
Here is the link to the frosting recipe I used:https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/simple-cookie-glaze-recipe

And now for the nice recipe.  It seems these days there is always someone with food allergies (myself included). These cookies are gluten-free, sugar-free, and nut free.  I did use an alcohol sugar blend but no white table sugar.  I call these naked gingerbread men because without frosting they really are a healthy option for the holidays that taste good too!
Here is that recipe
Naked Gingerbread Men
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 cup sugar substitute (here’s the link for the one I used: https://joyfilledeats.com/sweetener/
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
4 tablespoons  molasses
1 tablespoon (21 g) honey (or maple syrup)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:
Cream together the butter and the sugar substitute.
Mix in egg.
Once combined mix in the spices – salt, honey, molasses,  baking soda, and vanilla.
Lastly, add flour and mix until all is combined.
You can freeze this dough, too, at this point. Just wrap it in plastic wrap and then in a zipper freezer bag.
Roll dough out  (I used cocoa powder to dust the board. If your dough isn’t sticking you won’t need this.)
Place the gingerbread men on a greased cookie sheet and then in the freezer for 5 mins before placing them in a 350-degree oven for 8 mins.
Once they are cooled, you can decorate them or leave them naked.

Happy Holiday baking to you!!

 

 

 

 

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Bible, Christmas, family activities, family fun, Holiday

That’s What Christmas is All About

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For years I have struggled to find that balance to make Christmas fun, memorable, exciting, and focused on Jesus.  There is so much Christmas all around starting often months before December that I have a hard time not getting swept up in it. I love making crafts and baking which the Christmas season lends itself to perfectly.  I love giving gifts and decorating my house.  And if I am not careful I can have the best Christmas, one full of fun memories, family, great food but maybe not so much Jesus.

It’s hard to find that balance, isn’t it between celebrating Christmas and celebrating Jesus?  I know there are a million ideas on how to keep Christ in Christmas but let’s face it, it is HARD.  It is hard to focus on two things at once, at least for me.

I have swung the whole pendulum of Christmas over the years from no tree to a small tree to 3 trees.  As well as giving a lot of gifts to giving a few gifts.  Yet every year I have this mix of thoughts as Christmas approaches.  How do I celebrate family, friends, fun, and a blessed life, all the while making Jesus my top focus of the celebration?  I have yet to find the perfect way to do that.  But I will not give up.  I will keep trying.

This year I am trying a few new things and a couple that we have been doing for years.

To start I have a verse I am focusing on this season.  The first one is Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, to us a son, is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

God has been speaking to me to slow down and focus on the here and now.  To stop being so rushed to move onto the next thing or get stressed about the future.  This verse gives me so many ways to do that.

Christmas: the celebration of a child being born, a son is given to me, for me, to save me.  But that’s not all.  Christmas is a time of giving gifts. God gives gifts too.  First He gave us His son and then the names or attributes.  In Hebrew names were more than just a name.  They were attributes possessed by that person.  So we are given this son of God, to fill us with wonder, to guide us with His counsel, and to be a Mighty God when we feel so small and powerless.  He is an everlasting Father and our Prince of Peace.

This verse frees me to celebrate Christmas, the wonder of Christmas, making wise choices with my time and my money because He will counsel me in how to do these things if I ask.  He will be mighty when I am lacking strength this season and he will be a peace in the midst of craziness.

The second verse I am focusing on this season is Luke 2:10. “And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.”

Fear not!  I can stop fearing that I am somehow missing the mark this season.  That I am not doing a good enough job of making Christmas about Christ.  I can just let it go. I can know that I am held by a God who loves me and I don’t have to earn that love.  And I can have great joy in knowing God and His love for me.  After all, it was because of His great love that Jesus came to earth (see John 3:16.) And the best part is this good news of God’s love and the gift of Jesus is for all people.  “For all people” has an interesting meaning in this verse.  It means every part that applies; the emphasis of the total picture while focusing on one piece at a time.

Isn’t it nice to know that God sees the whole picture of humanity while simultaneously seeing the individuals that make up the whole?

Along with those 2 verses, I try to keep my family focused on Jesus too.  I started a new tradition this year.  I made each of my 3 kids an ornament with their name on it and a bible verse.  I asked each of them for a verse that speaks to them the most right now. Then I incorporated the verse into the ornament.  The thought being, each year as we hang those ornaments on the tree we will talk about how God moved in my children with their verse.  Just like we talk about how cute they were in that kindergarten picture that is glued to a paper cut out of a star.

Year by year we can see through ornaments how God has used His word to empower us, change us, and set us free.

We are also doing an advent reading this year.  It’s a new one that focuses on the wonder of Christ.  We read the devotional each night and hang a snowman on our advent tree.  Why a snowman?  Because I love snowmen and when I can get all the family to join me, well that’s magical.

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Bible, Holiday, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving when you don’t feel all that Thankful

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The last week has been a little hard.  I had to have surgery on my foot for an issue that I had already had two surgeries for on the other foot.  The surgery itself went well but the recovery has, well, been up and down.  I feel like I am living on a rollercoaster.  One day I feel ok and very optimistic, and then the next something will pull or hurt and I will feel like the whole process was a waste of time.  Today would be one of the lower days.  Frustration is winning.  So I sat down at my desk to listen to a worship playlist and read my bible and pull myself out of the funk that I was in.  I am doing a few different Bible readings.  I have my Beth Moore study homework and then I follow Rachel Wojo (which if you don’t know who she is you really should. Her stuff is awesome and very encouraging http://rachelwojo.com). This month’s Bible reading challenge from her is on Thanksgiving.  I opened my bible feeling selfishly not so thankful.  My foot is in a cast. My house is, well, a little out of order because I can’t walk and wonderful husband is trying to do all that I do while still doing his job.  Needless to say, a few things have slipped or just been done differently than I would have.  (And if you are reading this Todd I love you and you have been doing a great job remember I did say I was feeling selfish.)  Ok back to the point – THANKSGIVING. Uh, I wasn’t really in the mood to think about how thankful I should be, how blessed I am.  I was more in the mood to be, well, negative and unhappy and very ungrateful.  Thoughts of why I am going through this again. What if the surgery doesn’t work? And God I don’t want to be thankful right now. I want to mad and self-centred.

I pushed through and read Colossians 3:12-17.  And it hit me, and God’s goodness overwhelmed me in that moment.  I can’t be thankful because I haven’t put on love, and I certainly wasn’t letting Christ’s peace rule me at the moment.  You see, according to this verse there is a list of things we must do and then be thankful.  I was trying to start with thankful which isn’t where God wants us to start. The verse says you must have compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. I had none of that at the moment. It goes on to say bear with one another and if anyone has a complaint against someone, they are to forgive as the Lord has forgiven them.  And above all of this, you are to put on love which binds everything together.  The word bind there has a great meaning.  More than just connecting things together it means “a close inner identity which produces harmony between members joined closely together.”  Love allows kindness and compassion to follow. Love allows me to be humble and meek.  Love propels me towards forgiveness, and love allows me access to God who will bring a peace that only He can to rule my heart.  When I have all of that working in my life, then I can be thankful. I can be thankful that my identity isn’t in a messed up foot but in the love of God.  My identity isn’t in me at all; it is in HIM and Him alone.  Once I realized that I felt this wave of thankfulness.  I am so thankful that in a moment God’s presence can change everything – my mind, my emotions, my perspective, and my identity.

So this week as we head into Thanksgiving, remember this – as you come to the table with your list of what you are thankful for, without time in God’s love first you will not experience true thankfulness.

So in the business of cooking turkeys for hours on low and making the perfect pumpkin pie, and making sure the table is beautiful, take a moment and let God remind you that you are beautiful to him. He loves you more than you can imagine. When you do this, you will be able to come to the table with a heart that overflows with thanksgiving.

 

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