by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Who would guess that an empty twenty-year old box of Nestle Quik could still evoke a smile with every December glance? Perhaps this post from 2008 will answer the question. The last paragraph is especially meaningful now that we have our sweet granddaughter (and a grandson on the way!) to share it with.
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To most, this is a simple (and bare) Nestle Quik container. To me,
however, this brightly lidded container represents a priceless treasury
trove of memories.
When the boys were little, we created a
Christmas tradition that if they behaved throughout the day, they could
draw one or two slips of paper from the container and we, as a family,
would have to do whatever it said. Good behavior + family activities =
success! I’m not sure what it is with me and slips of paper, but here
were some of the activities they found inside:
- Ride through Fountain Inn and look at the lights
- Work on the Christmas puzzle (we tried to complete one a season – I think we need to reintroduce this one!)
- Rent a Christmas movie or watch one of ours. Make some popcorn and cocoa. Change seats during commercials.
- Family Instrument Night! (Can anyone say ear plugs?)
- Sleep on couch bed (this folded out in our den where they could fall asleep watching Christmas movies)
- Turn off all the lights in the house except for the tree lights and watch the classic “Santa Claus” together as a family.
- Make up your own version of the “12 Days” and share it with everyone.
- Each
family member does an acrostic for the word “Christmas”. Time limit:
10 minutes. Share it with the group and then display them in the house.
- Pray for all those who have sent us Christmas cards.
- Make a pallet for sleeping under the Christmas tree, turn on the tree lights and turn off all others. (The boys loved this!)
- Choose your favorite Christmas CD to play. TV off!
Brian
and I enjoyed creating traditions for the boys while they were growing
up. We felt it gave them a sense of security and stability — something I
could never offer them during their very early years when I had no
relationship with Jesus.
We had a lot of fun, great memories were
made, and one day (in the future!) I hope to pull out the Quik canister
again. Can anyone say grandchildren? 🙂
What’s one of your favorite family traditions — past or present?
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Favorite “seasonal” quotes followed by small offerings of prayer.
God is the friend of silence. See how nature–trees, flowers, grass–grow in silence? The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. -Mother Teresa
Lord, how can we give from an empty reservoir? In silence, strengthen us from the inside out. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. -Luke 2:19
Lord, forgive us when the thoughts of perfect decorating and the pressure of picking out just-the-right gift weigh heavier within than the celebration of You.
Beauty is God’s handwriting. -Charles Kingsley
Oh Lord, how we love Your penmanship! Awaken us to each curvature and sweep of Your creative hand this season. We will be quick to give You praise.
Miss Piggy has two hundred sprigs of mistletoe–and I try to avoid them. -Kermit The Frog
Lord, empower me to run hard towards those in need of love and not to give in to the temptation of avoidance. Help me to embrace Your boldness.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
Lord, You are with us even when we don’t see, feel, or sense Your nearness. May we never take the unspeakable gift of Your presence in our lives for granted. Help us to rest in Your truth when our flesh tempts us to believe otherwise.
Advent is primarily about the coming of God, and only in a secondary way about our asking, seeking, waiting, and longing. There is hope, because we are unconditionally loved, whatever may be our failures, our tepidity, or our secret despair. -Maria Boulding
Oh, the sweet release Your unconditional love brings, Father. Love that covers our deepest fears and darkest failures, ushering in hope and exposing light where darkness once called home.
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Have I mentioned lately how much I love and appreciate Summit Church — the pastors, their families, the elders, life group leaders (Kevin and Carolyn), etc.? Brian and I are very blessed to be a part of this church family. One blessing we’ve discovered since joining Summit is one we never expected to find and that is the ability to “do life” again with friends from a former church — but that’s exactly what’s happened — and continues to happen!
This particular blessing kicked into high gear Sunday morning when Sue Johnson and her husband, Paul, visited Summit for the first time. I’d not seen them since we left our former church in 2008. It was a sweet reunion on many levels.
As the service began, I smiled as I noticed Sue sitting next to Susan B. and waving at Jared G. in the sound booth. Both Susan and Jared were also members of our former church and are now current members at Summit.
Watching everyone wave and exchange hugs after a four year separation immediately transported me back to the time when the four of us (Sue, Susan, Jared, and myself) served together on the design team, alongside the teaching and worship pastors. For years, we gathered weekly in Steve’s office to pray, “design”, and execute upcoming teaching series in creative and meaningful ways. It was the highlight of my week.
So, yes, I smiled on the outside at the sight of my friends together again. On the inside, however, was a twinge of pain as I recalled “what used to be.”
But before the twinge had the opportunity to become a full-fledged ache, God reminded me of how He is using those past experiences to benefit His purposes in and through my life today.
Sadness turned into gratitude.
And gratitude melted into praise.
For everything there is a season.
For everything there is a season,
and a time for every matter under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Edie Melson, Jamie Britt, and Vonda Skelton
For this Friday Fave my focus turns towards one of the sweetest and most encouraging young women I know, Jamie Britt. Her physical sight may be impaired but the insight God gives her certainly is not.
Awhile back Jamie asked if I would be a “Friday Friend” on her awesome blog
Encouraging Women. I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough. (Thanks, Jamie!)
So, today, would you consider dropping by Jamie’s blog to read our interview? You can read it
here.
Thank you!
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
“Discovery favors the well-prepared mind.” -Jerome Bruner
Thanks to an Amazon birthday gift card (thanks Mom & Steve!) I recently purchased Where Do You Get Your Ideas? A Writer’s Guide to Transforming Notions Into Narratives, by Fred White.
I’ve yet to dive in but admit I couldn’t resist dipping my toes into page 31. The subject? Capturing Ideas In Your Writer’s Notebook.
Writing down your thoughts, however amorphous, is important because the very effort to capture ideas in words helps to develop them. One of the most fascinating things about becoming an active idea hunter is that very act of hunting for ideas will sharpen both your observational skills and your imaginative skills. Work hard to cultivate the habit of writing down the ideas you’ve hunted down, even before you begin assessing their story potential.
One idea: Here’s an opportunity to practice idea recognition while simultaneously doing housework: Find a cluttered closet, junk drawer, or corner of your attic, basement, or garage and organize it. As you do so, see how many potential story ideas you can recognize in the items you come across. Here are two examples from a closet purging to get you going:
- Old musical audiotapes from a long-forgotten jazz quartet. Possible idea: What if a jazz enthusiast, recognizing the exceptional talent of this group, sets out to find the individual musicians and reunite them?
- A cache of holiday greetings from twenty years ago, some from friends and relatives you haven’t heard from since or have since fallen out of favor. Possible idea: What would happen if your main character attempted to reestablish a close friendship (implicit in one of the old greeting cards) that had gone sour for some reason?
How and where do YOU capture ideas?
I’ve much to learn but you’ll rarely find me without this in a nearby pocket. In it, you’ll find random ideas, quirky words/phrases, and mini notes from Marcia Moston’s devotions, given every month in our writer’s meeting.
Now to transform my notions into narratives!
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