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By Posted on Posted in Christmas, newsletter No Comments

{when you’re longing for a more peaceful and meaningful Christmas}

I started a holiday series on social media, sharing tips for making this month a bit more peaceful and meaningful. Here are the first two tips:

{1} Start an advent devotional!  It’s not too late to start–just continue into January.

All of the shopping, decorating, gift wrapping, baking, and holiday scheduling can increase our Christmas joy—but it can also steal it! The season often feels overwhelming and stressful.  If you’ve never tried an Advent devotional, I highly recommend it this year to get your heart engaged with the spiritual meaning of Christmas. It’s helpful to have daily encouragement to realign your focus and guide you through the day.

There are endless choices on Amazon, with many advent devotions priced under $10. There are also plenty of options that can be downloaded online. You can find free devotionals from Focus on the Family, Billy Graham, Desiring God, and many more websites!  Try a Google search with “free advent devotional 2023”. If you prefer to simply read through all of the Bible passages pertaining to Christmas, you can find reading plans on most Bible websites or apps.

It’s so easy to jump on my phone first thing in the morning and start checking emails, online shopping, returning texts, or just scrolling mindlessly. I’ve committed to keeping the first part of my day phone-free this month so that I have time for my cup of tea, devotional + Bible reading, and time to talk to God.  I’m taking this season one day at a time so I can experience the joy and peace I know He wants for me!

{2} Set aside time to meditate on the birth of Jesus by imagining yourself there in the stable with Him!

Our imaginations are created by God and can be led by the Holy Spirit to engage with the Lord in powerful ways. Trust me on this. The kind of visualization I’m suggesting is not manifesting or letting the imagination of your flesh run wild.  I’m talking about picturing yourself in a time and place with Jesus or the Father and then letting the Holy Spirit guide the interaction.

I’ve had some precious moments in my mind’s eye, walking with our resurrected Jesus on the beach… touching the scars in His hands, leaning into His embrace, and letting Him speak a word of scripture to me. All of this happened in my imagination while I was singing a worship song in church on a Sunday morning. I implore you to give it a try if you’ve not experienced a moment like this with Jesus!

Years ago, the Lord gave me a visual image in my mind of baby Jesus lying in His manger bed. He spoke to me so powerfully, yet tenderly, through the imagery I saw in my imagination and some whispers from His heart.  I wrote about this experience on my blog in 2013 and have shared it a few times. But this year, the Lord urged me to record it as a guided meditation and share it with you all!

I’ve added it to my podcast as a bonus episode. It’s just under 15 minutes and I think you will be blessed (and possibly undone) by what God gave me to share. Here is a link to find the podcast on your favorite platform: Pressing In Podcast

Merry Christmas, friend. May you meet Jesus in a fresh new way this season.

 

 

p.s. I’ll be sharing more tips leading up to Christmas!

By Posted on Posted in Holidays, newsletter No Comments

{ the best kept secret of the proverbs 31 woman }

Friends, as we launch into the holiday season, I want to share a word of encouragement from my Proverbs 31 devotional book. Take a look at Proverbs 31:15 in the Amplified version, which differs from the NIV I’ve read from for many years:

She rises also while it is still night
And gives food to her household
And assigns tasks to her maids.

There is something in the original language that the Amplified version picks up and elaborates on in that last line.  God included something in the text to show us that we are not to do it all alone. We are not responsible for everything!

This holiday season, I believe God wants us to ask for help and delegate. I believe that He wants us to let others help with the planning and preparation. And then perhaps we will experience the peace and joy that He intended.

 

{ 5 ways to cultivate gratitude this month }

Last week I shared some simple activities you can do on your own or with your family to create a whole month of thanksgiving, rather than just one day! You can find the ideas in detail here: 5 ways to cultivate gratitude

 

{ holiday planning guide }

If you’re looking for some help in getting the Thanksgiving & Christmas plans rolling without all the stress, my holiday planning guide is still available as a free download! It includes prayer and journaling prompts, tips for setting priorities, and a sample planning schedule.

 

Blessings to you,

By Posted on Posted in gratitude, Holidays No Comments

Cultivating gratitude can be challenging at times, especially during the holidays. If you’d like to practice thankfulness at home during the month of November, I have some ideas for you to try!

Gratitude Banner – This is the activity that my family is doing this year. I created a stringed banner with 15 double-sided pennants. Each day in November, we will all write something we’re grateful for on one pennant. The front sides of all the pennants will be written on November 1-15th, then we’ll turn it around and write on the back sides November 16-30th. Creating the banner was fairly easy, but there are inexpensive pennant garlands to order on Amazon!

Thankful Box– We did this several years ago and it was a hit with the family! Use a basket, or cover a shoebox with paper and decorate it with fall stickers or shapes. Prepare a stack of little pieces of paper (or purchase a pack of autumn die-cut paper shapes from Amazon) for everyone to write things they are thankful for each day and drop them in the box or the basket. Open the box or basket on Thanksgiving Day and read them aloud! 

Dinner Conversation Starters– Use this list of conversation starters around the breakfast or dinner table each day of November! If you like, you can print the list and cut it into strips to place in a basket and pull one out each day. The second page of the list has prompts for younger children.

Gratitude Journal – Use this list of journal prompts to write about things you are grateful for every day of November.  This can be done individually or as a family in a communal journal. This is great for homeschooling families to use as a language arts activity for the month! 

Colored Candy Thanksgiving Activity – We have used this activity on Thanksgiving a few times. Buy a bag of multi-colored candy (m-n-m’s work best) and pour them into a brown paper bag. Print the image below and attach it to the bag. As you pass it around the table, each person pulls a candy from the bag. Depending on the color, the person follows the prompt and shares something they are thankful for. 

May your November be full of gratitude leading up to Thanksgiving!

 

blessings,