Emily C. Gardner 4 Minute Read When I was younger, traditions were the most sacred part of any holiday. Mess with one of the things we did every year and the whole holiday felt off kilter. If the evening didn’t culminate with full bellies and jammies in front of Gramma’s roaring fireplace, it just wasn’t Thanksgiving. If we didn’t drive around in the…
Jeannie Pederson 3 Minute Read If you could walk into my house during the Christmas season, there would be no feeling of rush and stress and hectic holidays. There would be a mess, of course, because life with a busy toddler is messy. But Christmas, to me, is meant to be a peaceful time. A time to reflect on Jesus…
Rachelle Rea Cobb 4 Minute Read This summer I felt the Lord leading me to do something I’ve never done before. Translation: He challenged, and I balked. Story of my life. The task? Something simple, something Scriptural, something like…setting apart a Sabbath. It was summertime, but every time I thought of the upcoming semester, I heard that challenge repeated to take…
Elisabeth Allen 3 Minute Read Family gives you context and origin gives you understanding and the family tree of Christ always gives you hope. (The Greatest Gift p.ix) First of all, I think you ought to know, The Greatest Gift – a day-by-day advent devotional by Ann Voskamp – is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. Seriously!…
Caroline Rose Sanders 4 Minute Read I come from a large, close-knit family. Holidays have always been very happy, special times. We aren’t the type to sit quietly around the the tree and wait as each person opens their gift. Christmas morning is always a time of beautiful, intentional chaos because we are all bursting with joy and gratitude. Thanksgiving dinner…
Elisabeth Adams 5 Minute Read Does God speak to us in modern times? Some Christians say yes; some say no. Some feel that He guides us indirectly through the Bible, counsel from wise people, a feeling of peace in our hearts, plus our circumstances and our God-given common sense. Since I graduated from homeschool, my life verse has been Proverbs…
Katie 4 Minute Read “Wait, how many people are in your family? Christmas must be crazy at your house!” I smile and nod. It’s a comment I’ve heard more times than I can count. Yes, Christmas is always crazy in a house with 12 children, and siblings introducing boyfriends/girlfriends and spouses to the mix. There are three things that happen every…
Chantel 3 Minute Read I think I want to redefine my approach to gift shopping this year and in the years to come. I want to get farther away from the buying and giving just because everyone buys and gives. I want to buy less useless clutter — things that will never be used — and spend our money…
Chantel 2 Minute Read Cool and clear was the night
That shepherds watched their sheep;
Up in fields on yonder hills,
While in the valley Bethlehem lay asleep…
Trina Holden 3 Minute Read When I was young, my mom used to take us to art shows. This may sound like a crazy idea to you — venturing out with five kids, age 12 and under, to a tent-city full of pottery, original paintings, fine glass and one-of-a-kind treasures. But she’d started when we were young — cultivating an appreciation for beauty and training us to keep our hands to ourselves — and we loved art show days.
Chantel 3 Minute Read Winter was never my favorite of the seasons, but my family and I eagerly looked forward to the days after Thanksgiving when we would fill our long evenings with baking banana bread and packing up little bags of cheer to share with our neighbors near and far at Christmas time.
The nights were often windy and the cold was good at finding any little crack to creep into, even if you dressed up like a snowman with parkas and mittens and scarves.
Elisabeth Adams 3 Minute Read Have you ever thought about the world Jesus was born into?
Of course, the set-up for His arrival began before the foundation of the world, but we can see precise pieces being set into place decades, and even centuries ahead of time…
The End.
The End.