Good morning, Sweet Things!
It’s one of those rare days around the Moore house when we get to sleep late. I got up about 7:30 because I like to have a few minutes before everybody else rouses around here. I just got finished with my quiet time and had you on my mind so I thought I might show you what life looks like from exactly where I’m sitting:
My man and I usually get a tree that is way too big for our low ceiling and have to cut two feet off the top. After all, we are the Moores and if medium is good, more is better. This year we got one that fits our size room a little more appropriately and is less accommodating to Star and Geli for chewing and climbing and all-around-dragging. Up front is me in my favorite house slippers. They are called “The Pinks” (forenamed by Melissa and I when we got our original pairs). Everyone in the family knows The Pinks and God forbid one of the dogs getting hold of them. I am very picky about my house slippers because my man keeps the house ten degrees below zero and my feet nearly freeze into nubs.
To the right of The Pinks you can see the very top of my favorite coffee cup. I’m annoyed at myself for not getting it in the picture better but I don’t have time to take another one and upload it. My Greek tutor, Dr. Joe Wall, and his beautiful wife gave me a set of dessert plates and cups and saucers from Russia where they train pastors. (Replicas of Catherine the Great’s official dishes.) I don’t have a ton of attachments to things but, if my house caught on fire, these would come out right after the baby pictures and the dogs. Coffee and tea drinker that I am, I love delicate cups and saucers. So do Amanda and Melissa and we have used this set no less than a thousand times. They have the added sentimental value of coming from people I love and respect so they make English tea or fresh brewed coffee taste even better.
On each side of the tree are dolls that hold candles and move their arms (hence, the blur). I’ve had them for twenty years and they mesmerize me. I could sit and stare at them for hours. Annabeth is also completely taken with them. She stands right in front of them and needs to talk to me at length about them. The one on the right has a hood on her red velvet coat and AB likes to put it on and off and on and off and with the delicate touch of a chimpanzee. Nonetheless, the doll stands tall and takes it like a trooper. If you’re wondering where the presents are, we don’t bring them out until Christmas Day because they take up too much room in our den.
Shhhhhhhh. Don’t tell them you saw what’s in them but these are my girls’ stockings:
I made each of these from kits with my own little hands right after each girl was born. (Amanda was born ten minutes after we were married. Not really. Nine and a half months to be exact and, no, I’m not kidding.) Of course, I also made a stocking for Keith and one for me. I still can’t believe I did it. (Don’t you dare ask how hard it could be. This might as well have been chiseling heads on Mt. Rushmore for me.) That was back when I had more hope of being the home goddess. I may have even had a sewing machine back then. I had high hopes of carrying on family tradition. My mom could sew anything and I didn’t have a store bought dress until junior high. My older sister, Gay, and I dressed alike all our young lives and still think it might be fun.
Uh oh. Melissa and Keith are up so I’ve run out of time. Here’s one more. It’s a picture the girls and I took yesterday at Saltgrass Steak House with Melissa’s I-phone on our Christmas shopping day. By 2:00, we hadn’t gotten a single gift but we’d eaten twice.
Oh gracious. I love those girls so much. They remain the greatest proof in my life of God’s inconceivable redemption. Even more than the ministry, as thankful as I am for it. God didn’t just do a miracle in my serving life. He did a miracle in my HOME. In my own troubled family. How Keith or I either one did not destroy this home is a mystery only God can explain.
OK, so now it’s your turn. What holds a special Christmas memory or tradition around your home? Do tell!
I love you guys so much.
PS. OK, because you insisted, here’s a close up:
And I couldn’t bring myself to show it to you empty so you just caused me to have a fourth cup of strong coffee. I’m typing really fast and feeling extra energetic. Going to get off and do handsprings in the den until I calm down.
I have SUCH memories of “things” just like you described of my moms. This is the 2nd year without her and since she died three weeks before Christmas last year and we were still all kind of “numb” this year has been harder. I grew up in MN but live in TX. We take turns each year either driving to MN or driving to central TX to my husbands’ moms house. There are many years we haven’t even had a tree due to our long travels. Each has special memories but we have done those trips for the last 20 years. We have a son getting ready to go to college and a 5 year old who we brought home from China almost 3 years ago (and two girls in between) that this year I insisted we stay at home. It has become SOOO important to me that my kids have memories of ME and their dad at home, in our house at Christmas. With my mom gone those memories are the things that bring joy to my heart on the days when I miss her so much it hurts. My husbands family comes together for a week (in ONE house) with 32plus people and as much fun as it is with cousins and chaos it also occurred to me my kids will have great memories of all of that but I think Mark and I kind of get lost in those memories because it is again….chaos. Waking up to the Christmas tree lights on, my mom cooking in her own slippers (and hearing them shuffle across the floor as I lay in my bed) and all the things she did to make Christmas so special made me long for that for my kids. Also, when you have an 18 year old and then start over again you realize HOW auickly time flies and I want to be INTENTIONAL about our family time….instead of it just flying by and then one day you go “WHEN did you grow up?”….. SO….this is a new year, full of new traditions that I hope will last for years to come!!1
Happy Christmas Siestas!!!!!!!
so much love to you and your family this christmas sharon <3
Our tradition is to go to Christmas Eve service, drive around after service to look at lights..I love this, go home eat some snacks, and then when kids go to bed, hubby and I dance in front of the Christmas tree. WE have been doing this for 20 years and it is my most favorite thing.
Merry Christmas Mama Beth and to your sweet family.
love
Tammy
Tammy, how beautiful, I can just picture this, dancing in front of a beautiful tree.
Don’t know why I said “happy”…MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!
When my kids where really little we went to look at Christmas lights. We stopped at the Aunt of my husband and she gave us cookies to eat while we drove around enjoying all the Christmas lights. This was the start of our Christmas cookies we take with us when we go and look at Christmas lights. Candle light service and Christmas tamales Christmas morning are a couple of very special Christmas traditions. Merry Christmas to all of Siestaville
Merry Christmas, Beth and family! You make me smile. 🙂
My 8 cousins and I share wonderful childhood memories of spending Christmas Eve night at our grandparents farm house. All four of their children, their spouses, and children all spent the night. Three of us girl cousins shared a bed in the upstairs hall. My father made a life-size nativity scene before I was born that he put up at our house and different churches through the years. One Christmas Eve after we went to sleep, my older cousin woke me up in an awed whisper for me to look out the window. That year my father had put the nativity scene in the garage across the road. I’ll never forget how real it was to both of us seeing it in the middle of the night. Tonight (I’m 64 now!) that dear cousin is having all of us and OUR children and grandchildren for supper and games (I’m sure she’d even let us spend the night if we could!) It’s another house, but on the very same land as that old farmhouse of our memories. All the cousins’s parents and one cousins have gone to be with the Lord, but we are so thankful to Him for today as well as for all the lovely memories.
Just read your blog. I’d like to wish you and your family a very merry celebration of our saviors birth. Like you Christmas is filled with memories and new delights every year. We have added a son-in-law and a newly engaged daughter-in-law-to-be to our clan this year.
we are having a progressive celebration so we can see all the decorations and begin a new tradition. Home is now three houses in our clan.
I must say I got excited when I saw your dishes. My husband through me a 40th b-day high tea party. Each guest brought me a tea cup…one of my favorites is that Russian tea cup (although I never new that it was a replica) I knew it was grand. My parents taught a Russian Theology class short term for two years.
Have a great christmas! Rebecca
I can not believe that Christmas is only one day away! We have a lot of Christmas traditions around here. My favorite one though is cookie baking with the kids. We have three small kiddos and they love baking anything! Tonight we will be visiting my home church where I grew up for their candle light service. I can not wait to see the looks on my little angels faces as we sing christmas carols by candle light. Praise God for sending Jesus to die on the cross for us! I hope y’all have a blessed and merry christmas!!!
Dearest Beth and her precious family,
Merry Blessed Christmas! First, I would like to say from the depths of my heart and of many others…thank you to Keith, your girls and families…thank you for sacrificially giving up time with your wife, mom and Bippy for all of us. You sharing your Beth with us to let her study, spend time with Jesus and write….has changed my life forever and so many of us. The Jesus in her made me so hungry to know Him more deeply. I will never be the same…so generations of families all over the world have been changed because of your giving hearts! Hallelujah!
As I am now 55 and becoming even more reflective and sentimental at my age (my daughter says “More sentimental…how could that be?”) Christmas’s do change as loved ones go to Heaven yet I have the sweetest memories with them! My mom, dad and all our grandparents and others are celebrating Christmas with Jesus. I can’t grasp how wondrous that must be! I come from a big family, so the more the merrier! We always read the Christmas story out of the Bible and then mingled it with going out to find Santa in the sky and looked for Rudolph’s nose! I just know I saw it when I was a little girl. Our nieces and nephews put on a Christmas play for us. What joy and how precious. Cara, the director, is now 32! Many times, we went to a candlelight service at our church. There is something heavenly about singing Silent Night with all those candles aglow!
Now with our children married and grandchildren, we head to the mountains! Have to wait til Christmas evening to get them all here…but it is worth the wait! My beloved husband and I now build snow according to what is special that year to welcome them! One year it was a bride and groom…one year it was a turtle for our granddaughter, Savannah, and Dora the next year! As we leave tonight after the Candlelight Service (my husband is a pastor), we will look forward to building a snowman as an expectant mom…that should be fun! Our son and his wife are expecting in June!
I have loved hearing from all my sisters and for some of you… who are hurting, may the hope of a baby, sweet Jesus, bring you such love, joy and peace. A moment in time…
lives changed forever…Beth Moore…and all of us….Glory to God in the Highest!
Merry, Merry Christmas Sweet Beth! With four cups of coffee- I would expect you’d be doing handstands down the street!
oops, my Christmas tradition!
Make home made Christmas treats for Santa, go out to eat for dinner, then drive and look at Christmas lights. Wonderful fun and I savor the excitment with my little girls.
MerryChristmas!!!
[Would
you
believe
my
two
year
old
has
broken
the
spacebar
off
my
keyboard??
It’s
challenging
not
to
have
a
spacebar!!
hahahahahaha]
Your
writings,
teachings,
studies,
prayers
have
ALL
impacted
this
saved-by-grace-sinner!
Much
love
and
gratitude
to
you
and
your
beautiful
family,
Miss
Beth!!!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
from
a
Mommy
of
four-under-10
who
is
doing
her
best
in
THIS
culture,
THIS
time,
THIS
place!!
To
HIM
be
the
Glory!!
HILARIOUS.
This just cracks me up!! The space-bar that is. or lack of one. HUGS
Love this!
We’ve continued a tradition from my side of the family, where the kids get to open one gift on Christmas eve, just before going to bed. As a little girl, I remember going through and trying to find “THE” perfect gift to open all day, in anticipation of that night. It makes me smile to see my kids do the same thing…
Merry Christmas to you and yours Beth, and all of Siestaville!
P.S. I got my Siesta scripture memory book in the mail the other day, and in a mad cleaning/cooking/decorating frenzy to get ready for our Christmas/Housewarming Celebration, I can’t remember where I put it. I’m sure it’ll turn up before Jan…gotta love all the festivities though…=D
We’ve had many wonderful traditions and family times, but we changed it up three years ago after my husband died. Since we were all back in the states, we were able to go to church together on Christmas eve. We all came back to my house after wards and each of my four adult children had a couple of special friends with them. I looked around that night and just praised God for giving each of them someone to help fill that hole that had been left.
We ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning and opening our presents before we went to bed. That has become the new tradition for us.
Tonight we will come home after church and my oldest son will read the Christmas story and we will have have good food and good times together!
My memory is of memories. Before my Dad died about 8 yr ago we had Dad for Christmas. He had just gotten outta the hospital and was not well enough to be home so I kept him for awhile till he was strong enough to be home alone again. Christmas Day night the kids and I sat around with Dad till the guys had dairy chores done out here on the Dakota prairies. We asked my father to describe a typical Christmas eve when he was a child. Well, he said they lived two miles from the rural church so early in the day Grandpa would hitch the team and go to the church and start a fire to warm up the building for the evening service. Afew hours before the service the family would get ready and put on their warmest gear. Grandma would put rocks and bricks in the wood stove to warm up and Grandpa would fill the sled with loose hay or straw. They would put the old feather tick in there along with other warm blankets and all six children would climb in for the hour drive to church. When they got there they would hear other teams of horses with bells jingling and others would be coming too. They had a small childrens service and at the end they would light the candles on the live Christmas tree and sing Silent Night. They had to be watchful that the candles would not start the tree on fire! The way home was colder and faster as the horses were ready for a warm barn and oats and the family was cold! This year we sort of relived that for our local community. We have a driving horse. We have a small antique sleigh and bells. We hitched him and gave Santa and children both young and old rides in the sleigh. One lady was 101 yrs old and remembered the old days well. We gave rides for 3 straight hours and the horse even seemed to have fun. Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh!! Remember all because of Jesus! May He always be the reason for our rejoicing at this season! Hugs from the Heartland! Betty M
My mom always made us take turns opening the presents AND made us cut along the tape line so the paper could be re-used. We still go one at a time, but ripping the paper is now the rule.
Christmas Eve service followed by opening JUST ONE gift on Christmas Eve which is always a pair of pajamas. We take a family pic in front of the tree in our new pajamas and then the next day we’re still in the same pajamas for the Christmas morning pics. We typically stay in those pajamas until late sometime on Christmas day.
My son takes so long opening all of his presents. It’s not that he gets a lot, he just opens S-L-O-W-L-Y. So slowly that we’ve been asked if he has mental deficits! He doesn’t, but he’s like his Mom and likes to savor every morsel of the holiday. We usually take a break from the unwrapping to have a hot breakfast. I love that part of it.
I can’t wait to read everyone else’s to see what other traditions we might adopt.
Peace,
Kim Feth
Apex, NC
MeRRy ChRiStMaS Miss Beth to you & your family…may it be filled with LoVe JoY & PeAcE…love you so!
I do not have any Christmas traditions or memories from growing up-we didnt have any I dont believe. Sooo I am making them with my children now. These are all relatively new traditions since we are navigating life in our new single-mom-ness stage since last Christmas. We decorated the tree together, baked a bazillion cut out cookies and decorated/painted them with paintbrushes and icing. We went on a spontaneous ride in our neighborhood at 8:30 one night in our pj’s to look at lights after stopping at the local coffee shop for hot chocolate of course and made certain to put each childrens Christmas cartoon into my phone as we saw it advertised so that we would not miss them!
Thanks! I’ve been dwelling on what I do not have right now (a family that gathers together) and feeling pretty down in the dumps today. I needed to remember what I have and what we as a small family of 3 have been doing together!
Lisa
My heart goes out to you, Lisa, because that was once MY story only I had 8 children & no job & little child support. Struggles were great & often, sometimes never ending. I did have my parents close by who were a great comfort & joy, but it was a challenge just the same. One thing we did that cost very little that I still do today & my girls have started w/their children, & that was to build a village. That first year we covered foam w/frosting & added cookies & candy & a broken mirror for a lake…not especially pretty, but what fun & memories we had. You have begun a long journey, but sounds as though you are wanting wonderful things for your kiddos & each time you add something fun(the lights/pj’s & hot chocolate) believe me, they will remember what Mommy did that year!!!AND my prayer for all of you is that God will drown you in His blessings & love. btw, my oldest child is named Lisa….Is it possible God put you in my line of vision today???? I am sure of it!!!
Ever since we married we always read the Christmas miracle out of the Bible before we go to bed on Christmas Eve. Now that we have children it is even more special. We fix hot chocolate and gather in the family room and my husband reads it to all of us. I cherish this time so much. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus.
A tape (very old) that we listen to every year. It is the story of Jesus’ birth from Zachariah to Jesus in the temple. My kiddos know it by heart.
I have so many memories at Christmas. I learned to wrap gifts at a local store where my mom helped out over the holidays. I remember watching and watching and loving the beauty behind it. I remember Christmas eve candle light service like it was yesterday. And I always remember my older brother waking me up at 2am to go check things out in the den…..Santa didn’t wrap….and then trying so hard to go back to sleep!!
One more…as a wife,momma to 3 boys….we cram as many Christmas movies as we can in the month of December, drive around and see the lights, and drink hot chocolate like nobodys business. 🙂
Merry Christmas to you all! I love you guys dearly.
Hugs and blessings,
Fran
Have a blessed Christmas! Enjoy each other. Much love and prayers!
You girls look gorgeous!!
Thank you for sharing a bit of your life with us. My favorite memory has been my (now 11) son reading the Christmas story from the Bible prior to opening gifts. My favorite!
As I read your post, Beth, I had to smile because my sister and I also dressed alike every day of our elementary school life. On special occasions (Christmas and Easter) my mother would sew matching outfits for our entire family of four. (c:} Our family also has personalized handmade (crocheted)stockings…beginning first with my sister, brother, and mine. Then came our spouses, and now our children. They all make an appearance on my parents’ mantle each Christmas. We all travel back to mom and dad’s house each Christmas — each from a different state — to spend Christmas Eve together as a family and wake up early on Christmas morning to open presents and spend the rest of the day as a family. We have been extremely blessed to be raised in a strong, Christian home where God is always the focus. This past year has been an extremely hard one for my husband, children, and me. We are experiencing one of our toughest trials yet; however, God remains faithful. How refreshing it was to step back inside my parents’ home this week and experience the unwaivering love and support of family. God has blessed us beyond comprehension. I pray that each of you have a blessed Christmas season — and experience God’s love and faithfulness through the people that have been placed in our lives.
I love this post. Merry Christmas to you and yours. God is so good!
Our family has always gotten together on December 23 to have our big family Christmas so we each can have Christmas with our individual families on December 25 in our own homes. Every year was a very special time for me. I always love having the whole family together hearing all the talking and eating all the good food. I love spending time with my family! But this year is rather sad for me. My grandfather passed away ten years ago which was hard but it is even harder this year because my grandmother became suddenly very ill and we can lose her any day now. They have always been my safety blanket and now I have lost them. It didn’t matter where we have Christmas, but we always made sure maw was there. This year we had to have our Christmas time without her because she is bed ridden and can not leave my aunt’s house. But after our family did their celebration my sister and I went to visit her. I just couldn’t let the day go by without a small visit with her. She can no longer carry on a conversation but I got to tell her again how much she means to me and how much I love her. She is a precious person and I am so thankful for the wonderful Christmas memories I have of her. My maw always made the most delicious red velvet cake every year. Now I have the wonderful honor to continue this tradition. I am honored she shared her recipe with me! Always love your family like its the last day because you never know how long you have!
I was actually thinking about the song Silent Night. I was thinking if we could have heard what Heaven sounded like when Jesus was born, I bet it would have been so much louder than the Heavenly Angels sounded that night!
In our home growing up, on Christmas morning we stood behind the door to the living room so that my father could turn the lights on the old 8mm movie camera and blind us when he said open the door! He never understood why we stumbled around for 10 minutes trying to find our stockings till we got him back when our own children were born!! We did the same with ours, except the Super 8 we had did not require blinding bulbs! We also still open presents one at a time, youngest to oldest!
I have so enjoyed your sharing your Christmas with us this week Beth, I have to say your daughters, like you, are so lovely! Rejoice! Merry Christmas!
It’s Christmas Eve 2010. I just finished “So Long, Insecurity…” I couldn’t have bought myself a more needed gift this Christmas. It was delivered yesterday from Amazon (yes, I do read rather fast) and now the book is set lovingly on my daughter’s pillow. She is 22, still at home, and needs to be reminded as much as I do that we are secure women of God, clothed in strength and dignity. What a joy it is for me to be able to give her such solid, wise counsel, in the form of your blessed book.
I have been married 25 years and have been graced with 3 beautiful children. My life story is crazy, but I will spare you details except to say that I am broken and the Lord is restoring me. I really just want to say thank you. The Lord has used you to speak into my life in many ways throughout many years.
With Sincere Love in Christ,
Tanya
Christmas does not hold sweet memories for me because the holiday was usually filled with fighting and confusion for a little girl and her two younger brothers. But as the years went by and the kids were born, it has gotten better and better. It is amazing what time and grandchildren do to soften the rough and hard edges of unhealthy individuals. I realize that the grandkids are not the answer to lifes struggles, but they sure help out with our ultra dysfunctional family. I am thankful for all 4 of them!
This is my first Christmas in a new town and in a new apartment. Tomorrow I plan to have a special time with the Lord uniterupted and then make a huge batch of cookies while the Christmas parade is playing on the TV. Still not sure where I am going for the day but trusting God to lead me where He wants me to be.
Merry Christmas Beth, family, and Siestaville! Much love to you this special season!
My my…reading through these entries had me thinking back a little more in depth than I did before my previous post. I did have some traditions for Christmas that bring back good memories. We always would go to a local tree farm and cut down our tree shortly after Thanksgiving. My dad always had to have tinsel on the tree and I remember how much I loved to put it on the tree with him. He was very patient with me and showed me how to put it on evenly and not just throw it in a clump. I also remember sleeping out next to the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve and then waking up in my bed on Christmas morning. I remember the excitement of Christmas morning, but that memory is mixed with the sad ones too because Christmas morning was when things typically went south. But on to more happy memories…I loved having our annual Christmas program at school(I went to a catholic school) and was so so excited when in 8th grade I was chosen to be Mary in the program. It was a special memory for me. Really I think the beginning of my quest to know God.
So glad that I could redeem myself a little bit here….my life was not all bad. I have to make efforts to remember the good and the ways that God blessed me during that time 🙂
Thank you Beth for your earlier posts about your family. Our traditions have changed this year among everything else. A new home, new town, new job, hoping my children can all be together for the holidays.
Change is scary.
But I am more excited about our future than I have been in years.
We have all grown this year, been stretched this year, pressed this year. And God, well, He never once left my side. I love him more, thank him more, want to serve him more than in all my life combined.
Change is good.
Please pray for a dear friend of mine that found out this week she has breast cancer. She will have surgery Monday. She loves the Lord and I would not be free and saved from my past without her. She wants to remain anonymous, but God knows her well. Thank you.
Merry Christmas Siestas!
Merry Merry Christmas to you and your precious family with much love!! Our family will all be here tomorrow.. 25 of us! We will be celebrating Christmas in the same living room for the 39th year. Second Christmas without my precious daddy and my wonderful mother is in the nursing home with Alzheimers… but we are very very blessed… all our children and grands are happy and healthy and belong to Jesus!! It will be wild and crazy with lots of love and laughter and we will “feel” daddy and mama and other loved ones who are in heaven all around us!!
One favorite tradition is looking at Christmas lights. There are not many right now with my immediate family….when my grandmothers were alive there were more…listening to beautiful Christmas music seems to be one though I think.
Tonight I went to a wonderful Christmas Eve candelight service at my church. It so clearly and beautifully put the focus on Jesus, the most wonderful Gift. As “O Holy Night” was sung I just took in the wonder of Jesus. I definitely want these types of celebrations to become tradition in future years…if you call that a tradition. “Mary Did You Know”…..that He is “the great I AM?” Merry Christmas Beth, and all Siestas!
Okay, this is a fairly new tradition (I won’t go into the Christmas memories or I could write a whole book). I took everything off my mantle this year and set up my Grandmother’s nativity set. It was given to me, by my dad, after Mema died. It is beautiful. Three wise men, two sheep, Mary, Joseph, and my Savior in a manger. I also set on the mantle an ornament hanger with a Hallmark ornament set (3 pieces). They depict three different scenes, but they say “Seek Him”, “Find Him”, “Praise Him”. They help keep me grounded in the true meaning of Christmas and why the Savior came to this earth. This is especially important to me this year as I lay on the couch recuperating from major surgery. It is requiring a 6 week recovery time and I’m not very good at being still. Mama Beth, I think you can probably relate from what you went through a year ago. However, I am healthy and I give all praise to God Almighty for that. Merry Christmas, dear sisters in Christ. I pray that God blesses you all with the happiest new year ever! And if that isn’t in His plan for you, I pray for you the strength to get through whatever challenges lie ahead. Lean on Him. You can’t go wrong!
I can think of only one thing that absolutely MUST be done EVERY Christmas in my family. I mean I always decorate my snowman shelf but it really only holds special warm feeling for me, as most of the little guys (and a few gals!) have been given to me by dear ones…But, everything else is kind of hit or miss…some years, some things are more important than other years. But the one thing that must happen…is our Christmas Eve candle light service at church. It just is NOT Christmas for me until then. And tonight’s service was very possibly the best EVER! It could very well be though, that it is, because this year, I love Jesus more than I can even say and He IS EVERTHING to me!!
It is 5 minutes till Christmas day here in Wyoming. I do not have a fire place so I’m watching a TV channel that is playing Christmas music and has a scene of a fire in a fireplace with a gaily decorated hearth. My husband is snoring in his recliner, my 12 year old is on the phone with a friend playing a game on the computer and 2 of my 3 cats are sleeping next to me. Does it get any better? 🙂
Merry Christmas Beth!
Beth,
After your breaking Free study, my mother and I have been inspired to do great things in our church. I love your words and the way you present God’s love and grace. I am SO EXCITED you have this blog! It is so refreshing! I can’t wait to tell my mom about it! Have a wonderful Christmas!
Sarah Rhodes
I love the dishes. I wanted to say have a Blessed Christmas, Beth, your family and everyone at LP Min.
Also Beth, thanks to your commitment to God and the work He has called you to do, you gave me a chance to give myself one of the best presents I ever received. I been reading your SO Long Insecurity Book. I do not even put that book down when I am at home till my eyes cannot adjust to the print any longer because I had been reading it almost NON Stop. LOL Sorry got off on a tangent, the present I am talking about is the Prayer Journey you had in SLI, Thank you Siesta. This Christmas Morning I reclaimed back my God-given Dignity. Continued prayers are welcome from all who care to pray for me. My earnest desire is to be come the Proverbs 31 woman of Valour or as close as God will allow me. I have a LOT of work to do and He has a lot of work to do in and through me. I have the privilege of finally taking the Breaking Free study. This book is a wonderful introduction to the study in my opinion. Thank you and God Bless you and your work for HIM continually.
Good Morning…
I heard about a Christmas tradition that we are incorporating into ours this year. Every year the whole family memorizes one verse of the Christmas story…you repeat the verse every day in December. So we started with Matthew 1:18 this year–“THIS IS HOW THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST CAME ABOUT: HIS MOTHER MARY WAS PLEDGED TO BE MARRIED TO JOSEPH BUT BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER SHE WAS FOUND TO BE WITH CHILD THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT.” I wish I would have know about this when my children were little because if you start when they are 3 you could have both the Matthew account (Matthew 1:18-25) and the Luke account (Luke 2:1-7 ) in their hearts and minds by the time they graduated from High School. My youngest is 10 so she will have the Matthew account by the time she graduates…and we will just have to do it with the grandchildren.
Have a blessed Christmas! Praying we all take the time to ponder the wonder of it all!
Kimberly–Zionsville, Indiana
Hi Kimberly……I smiled at your post, because you are so right!!!! I learned all of Matt/Luke as a child & for myself this year, when the Pastor read it Christmas Eve, I closed my eyes & under my breath said it word for word from the KJV, only stumbled once. Think that is the very reason why you teach them when they are young, because, truthfully??? I can’t remember the verse I memorized last wk……woe is me!!!!!!
i smiled when i discovered this today, as i too am enjoying Pinks. they are a gift from my inlaws and they are toasty warm!
thought you’d enjoy seeing where i’m relaxing with mine today, this blessed Christmas Day:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_dyONfYbI4U4/TRYcBKZGEyI/AAAAAAAAADI/kUJvXVvqHzM/s288/IMG_20101225_112722.jpg
It was the tradition in my husband’s family to have the gift exchange on Christmas Eve, right after their Christmas Eve service at church. We have followed in that tradition. So, our kids never expected Santa to be bringing them toys down the chimney, but they were always the first on the street to get their loot! For us, it helped us to focus on “the reason for the season.”
Merry Christmas, Siesta Mama! We have had a great one. Our traditions include driving around town to see lights, baking lots of cookies and goodies, giving a small gift in the advent calendar for each day of December to the kids, eating cheese fondue for Christmas Eve and singing Christmas songs that night, reading the Christmas story. The kids are happy today, they got everything on their wish list. And we’ve got snow in Memphis, that makes this one of my favorite Christmases ever!
My story isn’t really a tradition or memory, but it’s what makes our Christmas extra special. Tears came to my eyes when I looked at the picture of you and your girls and felt the love that poured forth from that last paragraph. I too have experienced the amazing grace and redemption of Jesus in my marriage and home. This is a little long but when I made a re commitment to Jesus 7 years ago I committed to proclaim His great love and mercy!
10 years ago I left my first husband for a life I thought would bring me much happiness. I couldn’t conceive a child and we had just lost our adopted daughter who was born on December 17th. I hated December because it was a memory of my failed life and that I’d never be a mom.
Fast forward 5 years and my second husband and I were also battling infertility. God had already healed my heart, I was the prodigal daughter who had returned to Him. And amazingly my husband also came to know the love of Jesus. But still I wasn’t a mom and didn’t think I ever would be. After more failed adoptions and infertility treatments we had our home study approved with a new agency the end of November 2007. We prepared ourselves for at least a year wait. 2 weeks later we got an email about a 5 week old “high risk” girl who was in foster care. Her name was Angel and we knew the minute we saw the email that she was meant to be ours. We never thought in a million years she’d be home for Christmas, but on December 17th she was legally declared our daughter (YES! the same day as the birth of the little girl my first husband and I almost adopted) and she was home 3 days later for Christmas. We were blown away by God’s faithfulness.
Our Lord and Savior not only blessed us with our daughter, bringing joy to December 17th but He decided to really blow us away with His blessing, love and grace. 4 months later I realized I was pregnant after 9 years of infertility! We found out we were expecting a son and my due date was December 12th. That day came and went and on December 15th I went into labor. 36 hours later our son Caleb was born at 2:44 am on December 17!!
A double blessing. No coincidence here! God, in His great mercy even though we are so unworthy saw fit to give us a double blessing, a double healing. December has been redeemed and we give all glory to Him!
Merry Christmas everyone! We are with my in-laws in Nebraska this year because they couldn’t make it to MN for Thanksgiving. We were blessed with an eventful day of driving on Thursday. Thank you Christ Jesus!
We will do one of our favorite traditions during the Christmas season on New Year’s Eve Day to go to the Mall of America. My kids are looking forward to using their gift cards and doing some after Christmas shopping.
We enjoyed going to Christmas Eve service with my in-laws. The candlelight singing of Silent Night always tenders my heart. Last night was no different.
Blessing to all this Christmas Day!
Mary Ann, Woodbury, MN
Merry Christmas Beth and thank you for your ministry that blesses me all year! My favorite Christmas was when we lived on the farm. My Uncle was in the Navy and he and some sailors that could not get home for Christmas came from the ship and literally slept everywhere—on our enclosed back porch, in the living room, on the kitchen floor…they said it was just good to be home with us…one decided to use a scooter and ride home to surprise his parents in Ohio, we lived in NC, but asked my parents not to tell. After much thought and consideration Mama and Daddy did call, his parents made lifelong friends of mine and kept in touch all their lives. We had a wonderful Christmas, my Grandma was with us, too and it was a celebration of Christian love and joy.
I wanted to let you all know that my daughter is home. We got home yesterday. She is the one I posted about who had a seizure on Tues. and was flown to another hospital and ended up in the PICU. She is doing very well. It is so good to see her healthy and spunky. God goodness is not lost on us this day I assure you. Thank you for praying.
My family did not have a lot of set Christmas traditions as I was growing up. So my husband and I have made a point to start our own, melding our two personalities and preferences together. On Christmas Eve, after putting out the cookies for Santa and a reindeer treat, we all pile into the floor/couch/bed, my husband reads The Night Before Christmas (a tradition in his family for three generations now) and I read the story of the First Christmas. The next morning, we have coffee or hot chocolate, play Christmas music in the background and relish every moment of the pre-dawn hours!
Loved the Russian tea cup. May I ask, is it Gzhal? I think that’s how you’d spell it. I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Russia five yrs ago, and during our one day of sight-seeing in Moscow, our Russian guide suggested a souvenir of Gzhal dishes, named for the region in which they are produced. Although I don’t know of a connection to Catherine the Great, they look very similiar to your picture: blue and white with lovely, fluted edges. I’ve actually never had the nerve to use mine. Perhaps I feel a new Christmas tradition coming on.
Had to giggle at the chimpanzee reference. My kids heard me from the other room and hollered, “Are you on Beth’s blog?” How’d they guess? They said my giggle gave me away. Thanks for sharing. Jesus’ love makes me Merry!
Merry Christmas Siesta Mama and daughters (and families)!!!
I’ve just now gotten caught up on all the news with Melissa moving back to Texas and other things! How exciting! (Look at all those exclamation points!)
My girls gave me a beautiful picture collage of the two of them (15 & 18) and they included a picture of my four legged love, Maggie!
I’m coming to Passion so I will be seeing y’all soon!!
Much love.
C
One of the sweetest traditions for me is opening up my stocking to find my annual ornament from my mom. Every year she manages to pick a theme that colored our year or an impacting event. The year I became a believer it was a cross intricately carved with the Nativity. The first year my brother traveled out of the country he received Big Ben. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes sweet. No matter how hard I try to predict them i’ve never been right. Yet after I see what she has chosen, it is so exactly right.
I can relate to the stockings. I needlepointed ours – took me 16 years and at the age of 11, my youngest finally got hers this year. She proclaimed that she was finally part of the family! 🙂
Favorite Christmas memory was about 7 years ago when we moved into our house 2 days before Christmas. Had been in an apt with no christmas decor. Got a small tree and put it in a bucket. My girls made paper ornaments and my oldest daughter put a tiara as the tree topper because she said “Jesus was the king.” We moved in and had boxes eveywhere and were just so happy and thankful.