Bowersox Family News

step up and postpone making a difference

2012-02-09T11:26:00.000-05:00

our brilliant boy

2012-02-06T21:04:00.000-05:00

Garty at dinner: "Daddy, I'm really smart. I know plus, minus, and eagle."

Our little guy may be good at math, but we really need to work on English.

one reason we do what we do

2012-01-17T15:14:00.000-05:00

I'm re-reading Theirs is the Kingdom, a wisdom-packed little book of stories about life in inner city Atlanta. As I read the preface, I felt so humbled and overwhelmed by the truth of it as we live and work here in Norristown:

My wife and I saw the city as a mission field and ourselves as missionaries carrying the light of the gospel into the darkness of the ghetto. How surprised we were when we discovered that the One who had called us already preceded us. Those to whom we came to share our faith frequently had more faith than we did. They had learned to depend on God for their daily bread, and answers to their prayers were often miraculous. Their capacity to care sacrificially for neighbors and family members made our scheduled, metered acts of service sometimes seem trite and even self-serving.

After 6 years in Norristown, I still have so much to learn. It's hard to imagine living anywhere else, yet I often feel out of place. I'm so thankful to be here and to have the opportunity to invite others to come and experience Norristown as well. There is still so much to learn!

it's funny because it's true

2012-01-16T12:30:00.000-05:00

In a discussion about about how old we are, Joshua just said, "I'll round 38 to 40..." So he evidently has decent math skills but not enough common sense to stay in our good graces.

sometimes kids really are cute

2012-01-07T19:43:00.000-05:00

While sitting at the dinner table, Joshua asked if Peter would tell the story of how he proposed to me. Then he added, "and don't leave anything out." Garty chimed in and said, "not even the kissing part!"

shop well

2011-12-05T20:27:00.000-05:00

Are you like me and not yet done Christmas shopping? Here's an important thought and then some shopping ideas to get things moving.

"Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want."

(Anne Lappe)

This is true for food, office supplies, toys, and more. And it's complicated. There are so many factors to consider. You can make yourself crazy analyzing your purchases. I've been there and done that many times.

As you prepare for Christmas, don't overanalyze, but consider making at least a purchase or two that will cast a vote for a better world. Here are some cool options, and I'd love to see more ideas in the comments if you have them.

Hearts for Hearts Girls: buy a doll and help girls around the world

Made by Survivors: an organization that is fighting slavery around the world and selling all kinds of products

Gobena Coffee: organic, fair trade, fresh roasted coffee that supports orphans in Ethiopia...and it's really good

Roma Boots and Toms Shoes: buy a pair, and they donate a pair to someone in need somewhere in the world

Sari Bari: bags, blankets, pillow, scarves, and baby gear made from recycled Indian saris and marked with the name of the woman who made it, a woman who has been freed from Kolkata's sex industry (Keep checking back if you don't see anything available that you like. They restock somewhere around the 10th of each month.)

And if you haven't found something on the list so far, you can peruse this Ethical Holiday Shopping Guide for other ideas or go to the store and buy some fair trade chocolate to stuff in stockings.

Happy shopping!

day 5 of advent

2011-12-01T23:23:00.002-05:00

Well, we're 5 days into Advent, and I still haven't gotten my act together. I know that Christmas is more meaningful for me and for our family when we prepare for it, but it snuck up on me this year. So, I have a choice. I can give up and try again next year or I can jump in a few days late and make the most of it. I'm going to choose the latter. If you want to join our family in celebrating Advent, here are some great resources:

a great 2 minute video to introduce advent

a family-friendly advent devotional guide

a fun website for learning about Christmas around the world

As I find more ideas, I'll share. The important point though is that it's never too late to prepare for the birth of Jesus. Happy Advent to you!

a great reminder from a 10 year old

2011-11-16T19:42:00.001-05:00

I just heard Joshua tell his daddy, "Some people think Christmas is just for presents. That's not what Christmas is for."

I'm so thankful that he's beginning to understand how true that statement is, even if he'll still be present-crazed a month from now. I'm thankful that my kids appreciate the opportunity to give as well as receive, the opportunity to spend time together and do special activities, and the opportunity to remember a little baby who changed the world.

I write you blog posts by the hundreds in my thoughts

2011-10-15T13:38:00.002-05:00

Really, I do. While I'm in the car or cooking dinner or walking down the street. They just never make it here for a lot of reasons. Someday soon they might. Or not. It's hard to say. But there is so much I could share. So much going on in our lives and our ministry and our family and our dreams. Happy things and stressful things and in between things. Please don't think I've forgotten you. I'm just overwhelmed and easily distracted these days. I'll be back.

the conversation in my living room

2011-09-07T17:32:00.002-05:00

Garty is really into dressing up in pretty dresses. He just decided he was going to be a flower girl in the current imaginary wedding. Patience informed him that he can't be a flower girl because he's not a girl. Then she added, "You can be a flower boy."

a challenging blessing

2011-07-26T11:44:00.003-05:00

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

(A Four-Fold Franciscan Blessing)

cast your vote

2011-05-26T08:59:00.001-05:00

I've been informed that numerous people are frustrated by my slowness in choosing a business name, and I apologize. Sometimes life just happens, and I need to change plans. Life definitely happened this past week, and I'm trying to get back on track.

So without further ado, I believe this is a complete and uncensored list of all the names I received. If a name you suggested is missing, please let me know immediately. It was an error and not a judgment on your suggestion. I do reserve the right to veto a name on the final vote if I feel a strong reason to do so, but that's not likely to happen.

Some of these names have very intriguing derivations and thoughts behind them, but I decided to only list the name that will go on the business card. No matter how interesting the back story is, customers will react to the name when they hear it. I can't fit the whole story on the card, though it might end up in the "about us" on the website.

Please read the names carefully and choose your favorite five. Then send me the names by private facebook message or an email to peterandbecky @ hotmail . com (with spaces removed). Please do not leave your votes as a comment.

I will leave the initial voting open until Friday at noon, which gives you 26 hours to see this post and make your decision.

The Creperie

Convenient Crepes

Crepes a go-go

Crepes, Cakes, & Bakes (Catering)

The Traveling Crepe (Catering)

Holy Crepe Catering

“I Crepe You” Catering

Got Crepe?

The Great Crepe Escape

Crepe-mates Catering

La Chandeleur Catering

Liberty Catering/Caterers

Monkey Crepes

Oh Crepe

Crepes on a Stick

Bonjour Crepe

The Crepe Lady

Crepes a la Carte

The Skinny Crepe

Rebecca's Crepes and More

The Galloping Crepe

Divine Catering

Crepes, Etc. or Crepes Et Cetera

Hors d'oeuvres, Crepes, & Such

Crepes & Such

Crepes & Stuff

Catering Crepe Lady

Rebecca Bowersox Catering/Caterers

Cosmopolitan Catering

Norristown Catering

Crepelaterie

Becky's Baking & More Catering

Becky's Bountiful Catering Co.

The French Confection

Let Them Eat Crepes

Crepes+

Flavor of Paris

Taste of Paris

Paris at your Door

Crepe Expectations

Crepes Rebecq (Catering)

West End Catering

The Crepe Escape

Rebecca Bowersox : Crepe Lady

business naming contest

2011-05-17T19:23:00.001-05:00

You all amaze me. I've been overwhelmed with ideas for the past 48 hours, and I've decided that I don't want to rush this decision. I'm going to wait until tomorrow at noon to see if any more ideas come in. After that, I'll put all the names together, post them, and let everyone vote on their 5 favorite names. I'll use the first vote to narrow the field, and then we'll do a final vote toward the end of the week.

This is fun! Friday I'll be meeting with the owner of the kitchen I'm expecting to rent. If all goes well at the meeting, I'll be putting in my application at the health department immediately.

If you want, you can check out the selection of savory and sweet crepes that I'll be listing on my website when things get up and running.

help needed

2011-05-15T18:17:00.001-05:00

We officially determined a few months ago that one of us needs to get a part time job in order to stay afloat financially for the long haul. We've considered numerous options. Catering was one of them. I've actually considered it on and off for years, but I didn't want to do it unless I could go through the process of becoming a "real" caterer with access to a commercial kitchen and health department approval. Those two obstacles were always deal breakers for me since I only wanted to cater on the side. In January, I finally decided that I was going to give up the idea of catering permanently. I was really at peace about the decision, and I knew I would still have chances to handle the food for friends' parties and ACPPA Community Art Center from time to time.

It felt good to move on, and I was happy... until I started getting a steady stream of requests for my services from a variety of different connections. I even carefully explained to a few people that I'm not a "real" caterer, but they didn't want to settle for my answer. So... the past week things have very suddenly come together, and we're about 98% certain that I will soon be a "real" caterer, specializing in made to order crepes and cocktail style parties. It will be a very part time venture, as we don't want to take a lot of time away from our work at the Norristown Community House or Montgomery County Community College.

I'm super excited about it all. The only part I'm not excited about is coming up with a name for my business. That's not my strength. It's evidently not Peter's either, since he was in favor of Crepes N'at... a name that might work in Pittsburgh but would be disastrous on the Main Line. So I need your help. I need to you to comment or email me (peterandbecky @ hotmail . com - Just take out the spaces) with your idea for a name. Please remember that crepe catering will be my niche, but I don't want a name that makes it sound like I only do crepes. At this point, I still want the flexibility of doing other small parties as well until I see what direction the business goes.

I'll collect suggestions until Tuesday at noon and then I'll put them out for a vote. It's not a long time, but I'm doing food for a friend's event on Thursday, and I'm hoping to get enough good name ideas that we can choose and run a temporary set of business cards to hand out. Peter and I reserve the right to veto any name, but we're not likely to do that since we're desperate for all your ideas and opinions. The creator of the winning name will receive a $10 gift card to his or her choice of locations: Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Panera, Cold Stone Creamery, or Dairy Queen.

So will you help a desperate, soon to be famous, very part time caterer? Please?

what?!

2011-04-13T23:05:00.001-05:00

The kids were discussing Toy Story 3 while getting ready for bed. One of the younger kids evidently couldn't remember Buzz's full name, so Joshua enthusiastically announced to all of us that it's "Buzz Light Beer."

It's possible that they're still struggling with English phonetics.

4 years?!!

2011-04-09T20:18:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrated our 4th Gotcha Day. 4 years ago we met our kids in Liberia. 4 years ago our lives changed forever. What an adventure it's been so far! Look how far we've come.

Then...

And now...

this should be good

2011-03-30T08:13:00.000-05:00

I have a few random things I need to use up, so I was thinking about trying to concoct some kind of soup. Then I remembered that several people have told me how much they love the ingredient function on allrecipes.com. I clicked over, plugged in the ingredients I have, and it gave me the results. Choice number one? Homemade dog food. We evidently have a great meal ahead of us.

world water day final update

2011-03-29T17:30:00.000-05:00

This article shares all the details of a successful World Water Day campaign. The Prem Rawat Foundation even surprised everyone by matching the entire $11,390 that was raised by midnight, though they had only committed to match $10,000. People are still donating to the fund, so the total raised is currently $12,305, bringing the combined total to $23,695. I'm so excited and so thankful.

we did it!

2011-03-23T19:28:00.000-05:00

A hearty thank you to those who helped make World Water Day an amazing 24 hours! Our combined contributions will help train more well mechanics throughout India, providing clean water, jobs, and dignity to many. With the generous match from the Prem Rawat Foundation, we raised $22,125!

I'm thankful for the team at The Adventure Project who provided a simple way for us to be part of something much bigger than ourselves. I'm also thankful for all who made a small sacrifice to accomplish a huge goal.

true story

2011-03-23T08:23:00.002-05:00

Our kids seldom make special food requests. They like just about everything. They definitely don't whine for food because they know it won't work. This morning, however, was an exception.

Joshua [in a slightly whiney, pleading voice]: Can we have some of this with our fried eggs?
Mommy: I guess so.
Joshua: Yes!

Followed by many exclamations of excitement from all 3 children.

The cause of the joy? The last of Aunt Katie's fresh homemade sauerkraut that had been buried in the fridge.

I resisted the urge to laugh at them because I don't want them to know how weird they are.

I'll have an update on yesterday's fundraising campaign later today. Right now I'm headed out the door.

don't miss this

2011-03-22T10:03:00.003-05:00

I must start by apologizing to those of you who thought I was pregnant based on my previous post title. I evidently created quite a stir. I'm quite amused by the situation, but that's not what I'm blogging about today.

Many of you know that I'm super enthusiastic about opportunities to impact the world. I get especially excited when I find simple ways to make a huge impact. Today I want to share with you one of those opportunities.

Today is World Water Day! I'm passionate about the world water crisis because it's a tragedy that doesn't have to be. The statistics are staggering.

1 in 8 people throughout the world has no access to clean water.
4,000 children die each day as a result.
1/3 of the wells built in the last 20 year are broken.

I'm totally in favor of digging new wells. In fact, we make a monthly donation toward well digging in Liberia, a place that we're particularly in love with because of our 3 kids. But what about all those broken wells?

Meet Ram Rati. She's not your typical Indian woman. She's a handpump mechanic with WaterAid India. She and her team are doing something about all the broken wells there. In just 2 years, they've already repaired 300 handpumps, turning water back on for 30,000 people in India. She's a superhero where you wouldn't expect to find one.

Watch her story, and you'll see what I mean.

The Adventure Project - World Water Day 2011 from The Adventure Project on Vimeo.

Isn't that exciting? Now do you want to join me for an adventure?

Today I'm joining 100+ bloggers for an exciting day of fundraising that has the potential to bring clean water to 3,600 new people in India over the next year. What makes it even more exciting is that it's a sustainable program that creates jobs and preserves dignity.

My job is to inspire 10 readers to give $20 toward the cause today.

I know money is tight for many of us. I know there are plenty of good causes asking for your donation. But I also know that most of us can quickly spend $20 without blinking an eye, and I'm willing to give up one of those $20 purchases to be part of a truly epic campaign like this. What about you?

If all 100+ bloggers reach the goal, we'll raise $10,000 in one day. And if that happens, the Prem Rawat Foundation has promised to match our total, doubling our impact!

Imagine that... sacrificing $20 so $20,000 could change the lives of people in India. Very cool. I hope you'll join me! You can donate here. I'll update you on our progress and on the results of the project.

If you want to learn more about The Adventure Project's work in India, you can check out the project on their website. It's innovative, and it's effective. I love it! I can't wait to learn about the impact of today's campaign.

don't pass out

2011-03-21T20:04:00.005-05:00

I don't want to freak anyone out too badly, so I thought I'd give fair warning: I'm going to put up a real blog post tomorrow. I know it's shocking. I know you thought I'd never blog again. It's been hard for me to focus on blogging this year with so incredibly much going on, but I have a really good reason for tomorrow's post. It's something I'm super excited about, so I'm going to make time to share it with you. I hope you'll check in and be excited with me. It's super cool. I promise.

Just don't get so excited that you don't sleep tonight. I've had a few nights without much sleep the last few days, and I don't recommend it.

rare disease day

2011-02-28T16:32:00.002-05:00

I just learned that today is Rare Disease Day, as approved by the 112th Congress of the US. I didn't know it existed until I was notified by the ARPKD/CHF Alliance, a group that supports families dealing with the disease our boys have.

In honor of Rare Disease Day (and the fact that I actually managed to compose one blog post in February), please consider saying a prayer for Joshua, Garty, and their kidneys and livers. Their bodies are functioning quite well compared to many who share their diagnosis, but they have a long road ahead of them on the health front.

More from me in March. I haven't forgotten those of you who check this blog regularly. I've just had to prioritize other things recently.

reading

2011-01-29T13:01:00.004-05:00

I was recently inspired by a former student who had committed to reading 52 books in 52 weeks during 2010. (She completed the challenge, though I think she only blogged 50 of the books.) I love to read, but these days I have difficulty finding a quiet time to sit and read without falling asleep. I'm told it's just this stage of life, but it's frustrating. I decided I need a challenge to keep me reading, though I'm not ambitious enough to go for a book a week. Instead, I'm going to try for 2 books a month, for a total of 24 in 2011. If you read a lot, that goal won't sound very ambitious to you, but it's a challenge for me.

In honor of my new goal, I revamped our reading list on the sidebar. I separated my reading list from Peter's and added some of our favorite books. I'm already annoyed because Peter's 2011 list is twice as long as mine. I must remember that this is a personal challenge and not a competition.

The most fun part is that I've started reading the Chronicles of Narnia to the kids, and they love the books. Though I'm only going to count the series as one book for my personal challenge, it's been great fun. I remember sitting and listening to my Daddy read Narnia to me, and I'm excited to continue the tradition.

snow day

2011-01-27T20:48:00.001-05:00

Every night at dinner we each say our favorite part of the day. Tonight 3 kids in succession said, "My favorite part of the day was the whole day." And why wouldn't it be? Lots of friends at our house for many hours and a great sledding trip with Daddy and a few friends late in the afternoon. I think they'll sleep well tonight.

another adoption post

2011-01-25T11:49:00.002-05:00

Yes, we're still alive. I'm just trying to balance exciting but crazy ministry stuff with times to sit back and breathe and enjoy my family. It's a struggle, but I'm feeling more at peace now than I did most of last year. I do have some things I hope to share here later this week, but I'm not making any promises.

I just took a minute to read this post about adoption, and I completely connected with it. I thought I'd share it, since I know many of you appreciated the post I shared in December.

my thoughts exactly

2010-12-16T09:28:00.004-05:00

The past few years Advent has been a very special time for me. This year I want it to be, but my mind is running in too many directions. I don't have time to sit still, and I probably couldn't do it even if I had the time. I feel frantic and scattered, even when I'm not doing anything.

I've been thinking since last night about how much I want to slow my mind and heart in time for the last week of Avent. I've missed most of it, but it's not too late to salvage it. I just don't know how. Then I read this:

Lord Jesus, Master of both the light & the darkness,

send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do

seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things

look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways

long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.

To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”

(Henri Nouwen)

Thanks, Jody, for taking the time to post this quote. It's exactly what I'm feeling, and exactly what I needed to read this morning. I'm going to print it and make it my daily prayer for the next week.

reflections on adoption

2010-12-13T21:32:00.004-05:00

While I'm reposting thoughts from others, I couldn't resist sharing this wonderful post from Jennifer, a fellow adoptive mom. She clearly articulated what I feel all the time but don't always know how to explain. If you're an adoptive parent, you should read this. If you know an adoptive family, it would probably be good for you to read too.

"real" gifts with purpose

2010-12-13T16:52:00.005-05:00

Since I love Advent but am having trouble making time to blog these days, I thought you might enjoy reading some great thoughts from someone else on "10 Ways to Avoid the Seduction of Consumerism this Christmas."

By the way, I might seem like I'm not into buying Christmas gifts, but I actually fought to keep gift giving alive in my family. I love giving and receiving gifts. I just don't think we need to go overboard. I also think that it's exciting to give donations, as I mentioned in my previous post, or buy "real" gifts that support a good cause.

Searching the internet will yield all kinds of gifts with purpose, so look for gifts you love that support causes you believe in. Two that I have used for Christmas are:

Gobena Coffee: Each bag of coffee feeds an orphan for a month. I bought a bunch last Christmas for gifts and for us. Nearly every time I serve it to guests, some coffee lover comments about how good it is.

Paper Bead Necklaces supporting From HIV to Home: I made these available to friends and family last year, so they sent me some again this year. They're made by women in Africa who are paid fairly for their handiwork, and they're beautiful. The proceeds support a great organization, so everyone wins. (Let me know if you want to see my supply.)

I also have a new favorite organization to purchase gifts from, but I can't tell you about it because certain people who might read this post will be receiving Christmas gifts from them this year. I'll have to tell you about it after the holidays, and you can make a note for next Christmas.

Really, the options for purposeful gift giving are neverending. If you have a favorite gift with purpose, please share it in the comments so we check it out.

our crazy 2010

2010-12-07T13:32:00.003-05:00

It's amazing to look back over this year and see what has happened in just 12 months.

In January, the CCO got excited about our dream to start an intentional Christian community for young adults in Norristown. We started the application process with the CCO and started looking into options for a new ministry venture.

By the end of April, we had a great location for the Norristown Community House and an amazing landlord who loved our vision. (In fact, he loves it so much that he's moving in next door to expand the community beyond just young adults!)

In June, our family headed to Pittsburgh for 5 weeks of training as new CCO staff members. The things we learned and the relationships we built were preparation for our new role as directors of the Norristown Community House and campus ministers.

In early August, we took possession of the community house and started working crazy long hours to get the house ready. If it weren't for some amazing volunteers who labored in the heat and filth, we might not have survived.

On August 21st, students moved into the house for our inaugural year, committing to grow in intimacy with God, community with others, and engagement with the world.

During the fall, we continued to invest in the students at the house while starting to build relationships with students at Montgomery County Community College. Just last week, we learned that we may soon be able to expand to Cabrini College as well. We're enjoying building relationships with college students and hope to see lives transformed.

As we look to 2011, we're excited about launching our monthly movie and discussion nights, Behind the Scenes: moving beyond the images to the issues. We're excited about the 2 groups who will be coming to stay and serve at the Norristown Community House in January and February. We're excited to go deeper with college students.

None of these things happen without funding, which is why we're so thrilled that a couple has stepped up and offered a $5000 matching grant for end of the year giving and the first 6 months of giving from new monthly donors in 2011. Those of you on our mailing list may already know about it. If you don't, you will soon. If you're not on our list and would like to follow what's going on, please let me know so you can receive our newsletters regularly in 2011.

We'd really appreciate it if you would pray with us about this exciting opportunity. Pray that God will provide abundantly for our family and the expansion of this ministry. If you are in a position to give financially, please pray about that as well. You'll have the opportunity to be part of something new and exciting. Our hope is that the Norristown Community House will be a catalyst for change in the lives of young adults, Norristown, and the world and that God will transform lives as we serve on local college campuses.

My email is beckybowersox @ gmail . com (without the spaces). We'd love to hear from you, whether you want to give or pray or just get on our mailing list because your mailbox is too empty. If you're ready to give now and don't want further information, you can donate online through the CCO. Just make sure you choose Peter & Becky Bowersox as the staff members.

great gift ideas

2010-12-06T23:42:00.002-05:00

We're currently picking out birthday gifts for Jesus. We will choose gifts that reflect things we believe make Jesus happy and are also close to our hearts. Here are some of the options up for consideration.

We might buy a stove for a family in Haiti or provide clean water for someone in Liberia or give animals to an Asian family because we believe Jesus care about our basic needs.

We might give money to help fund an adoption because we believe Jesus wants to put the lonely in families. We might do that through From HIV to Home or Lifesong for Orphans or Run for Orphans because they are organizations to which we're personally connected.

What do you think would make Jesus happy? What is close to your heart? I challenge each of us to think outside the box the Christmas and look for new ways to give. Whether you're looking for a gift for Jesus or for someone who really doesn't need anything, donations make great gifts and don't create clutter.

Later this week I'll be posting some of my favorite "real" gifts for those who may not appreciate a donation but would love a gift with purpose. Stay tuned.

wonderful song

2010-12-05T20:16:00.005-05:00

I received James Taylor at Christmas as an early Christmas gift, and I'm in love with the song "Some Children See Him." If you aren't familiar with the song, you should go listen to it. It's beautiful.

Some children see Him lily white,
The baby Jesus born this night.
Some children see Him lily white,
With tresses soft and fair.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
The Lord of heav'n to earth come down.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
With dark and heavy hair.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,
This Savior whom we kneel beside.
Some children see Him almond-eyed,
With skin of yellow hue.
Some children see Him dark as they,
Sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray.
Some children see him dark as they,
And, ah! they love Him, too!

The children in each different place
Will see the baby Jesus' face
Like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace,
And filled with holy light.
O lay aside each earthly thing
And with thy heart as offering,
Come worship now the infant King.
'Tis love that's born tonight!

By the way, I haven't forgotten my promise to share some alternative gift ideas with you. I'll probably put the first ones up tomorrow.

world aids day

2010-12-01T11:16:00.002-05:00

Today is World AIDS Day. We all know we should care about the issue, but it's easy to become desensitized to all the important causes and needs in the world. AIDS used to be one of those issues for me, but my perspective has changed drastically in the past few years.

Two experiences changed things for me. One was reading There is No Me Without You the summer after our kids came home. The other was getting to know Jennifer, a fellow adoptive mother and passionate woman. I could tell you how she has inspired me to understand the reality of HIV and AIDS, but it's probably better to hear it straight from her. Check out her blog post today.

Christmas is coming

2010-11-29T21:48:00.002-05:00

I love Christmas. The hopeless romantic in me died years ago, but it is resurrected every December when I revel in the wonder of Christmas with its pretty lights and Christmas music and tasty treats. I'm very sentimental about a lot of things during the Christmas season, but this year I'm especially excited about a new tradition we started at the very last minute in 2009. Now in its second year, I'm anxious to sit down with my family over the next few weeks to choose birthday gifts for Jesus.

I came across the idea on a blog last December, and it just made sense. Why hadn't I thought of it before? We tell the kids that Christmas is Jesus' birthday, but then we give each other gifts instead of buying them for the birthday boy. Kids know that birthday parties don't work that way, but we got it confused somewhere along the way.

So over the next few weeks we'll be talking about what kinds of gifts Jesus might like to receive for his birthday. Then we'll pick a gift or two or three from our family and put them under the tree. I'm pretty sure Jesus will be excited to see them waiting there until December 25th, even if he does already know what's inside.

As we go through the process, I'll share some of the gifts we discuss in case you want to buy Jesus presents as well. Or maybe you want a unique gift for someone who already has everything they need. I have ideas for that, too.

happy day before thanksgiving

2010-11-24T16:25:00.004-05:00

I know I won't have time to post tomorrow, so I thought I'd take a moment to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.

I love having a holiday that centers around remembering to be thankful. As I look back through our year, I see so many reasons to give thanks. It sometimes overwhelms me to realize, even in the midst of our struggles, how greatly blessed we are.

So Happy Thanksgiving from Peter and I and our 3 greatest blessings. I'll be back sometime over the weekend to post about some Advent and Christmas resources, but I'll be hanging out with family until then.

turkey hunt

2010-11-23T14:16:00.004-05:00

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, we're definitely ready around here. Yesterday after school, the 3 kids invented a new activity. 2 turkeys would hide while the hunter, outfitted with bright orange safety goggles, searched for them with a Nerf gun. If not immediately found, they would let out a few gobbles to move things along. Once the turkeys had been shot one or more times, they passed the gun and started over with a new hunter.

Evidently you can move the kids to the city, but you can't take the hunter out of little Krahn children. After all, their tribe is known for being great hunters. Of course, I only lay partial blame on their heritage. The rest goes on the unnamed relatives who took them to the garage last fall to see a hanging deer carcass, as well as the ones who polluted our gun-free home with a Nerf gun in the first place.

alternative gift market

2010-11-16T17:18:00.002-05:00

Last year one of my dear friends decided she was tired of status quo Christmas gifts. She wanted to find ways to give more meaningful gifts and to help others do the same. Our of her passion, an Alternative Gift Market was born. This year she is far away, but the gift market will continue. If you live anywhere nearby, I encourage you to come check it out this Saturday. Whether or not you decide to buy, you'll have the chance to enjoy some tasty treats while you check out some wonderful local, national, and international organizations. We'll be there all day, so you can chat with us to learn more about the Norristown Community House, our new ministry endeavor, and From HIV to Home, one of my top 10 favorite organizations. If you live nearby, spread the word. If you don't, find an alternative gift market near you... or start your own!

4 year old genius

2010-11-11T13:00:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Garty and I stopped at a supermarket that had a giant blow up piggy bank out front. When we picked the other kids up from school, Garty was telling them about it. He explained that we saw a huge piggy bank at the "butt money store." I couldn't figure out why he would say something like that until I realized that the store was called "Bottom Dollar Food." Evidently he's really good with synonyms.

national adoption month

2010-11-02T13:44:00.005-05:00

It's National Adoption Month, which reminds me how fortunate I am to know so many amazing families who have been willing to think outside the box and experience the tremendous blessing of adoption. I have so many friends (in real life and the cyber world) who have loved and sacrificed until they thought their hearts would break for beautiful children who needed a forever family. I consider it a great honor to experience the ups and downs of adoptive parenting with them.

I love that my kids don't think they're unusual because they know so many other adopted kids. I enjoy seeing them get excited about welcoming home new friends. I can't wait to watch them as we celebrate our friends' first Gotcha Day later this month. I'm thrilled that they think we should adopt more kids and that they talk about doing it when they grow up.

Today I'm especially excited because they're downstairs making cards for their three cousins who will be staying with us for the weekend. They're always incredibly excited when any of their cousins come to town, but this visit is unusual because they have a brand new cousin that they're not going to be able to hold on their lap like their other new cousins. This cousin is way too big for babying, but he reminds me again that families are formed in all kinds of ways. It makes me smile (and cry a little) to think about it. I'm pretty sure God feels the same way.

P.S. Welcome to the family, John!

another reason to love Norristown

2010-10-07T20:48:00.006-05:00

Some of you think we're crazy for living in Norristown... and even crazier for loving Norristown.

I'll admit that Norristown has certain qualities that drive me crazy. I don't like the fact that neighborhood kids destroy my plants. We weren't happy the day someone smashed our car window to steal our CD player and Peter's Leatherman. Graffiti isn't my favorite art form. I hate having to move our car for street cleaning day.

HOWEVER, I love this place for so many reasons. It's become such a part of us that it's hard for me to imagine living anywhere else. (Except France. I can always imagine living in France.) What I love most is the diverse population and all the beautiful things it brings to our lives. A few weeks ago we came home around 9pm anxious to put the kids to bed, and this party was going on next door.

How cool is that? How many of you have heard a live mariachi band outside your window recently? Did I mention that I love Norristown?

I'm back... I think

2010-10-04T12:56:00.004-05:00

If you're wondering why I haven't posted anything at all in 6 weeks, it's because I have too much to say and not enough energy to say it. We've spent the past few months dealing with major life changes, and I can't seem to feel settled long enough to sit down and focus. I feel like I need to post a long update about all the crazy and exciting things going on in our lives, but such a post seems like an overwhelming project right now. Instead, I've decided to start small and simply let you know that I'm back. I have many blog posts written in my head to share with you. I hope that at least a few of them will make their way here in the near future. We'll see how it goes. For now, you can prepare yourself to hear updates about these wonderful cuties.

You'll probably also have to hear about these two rapidly aging folks.

And if you just can't wait for the updates, you can see a quick glimpse of the fun we had the second half of the summer by checking out some pictures here.

fascinating

2010-08-24T19:12:00.004-05:00

I enjoyed hearing Andy Crouch speak at Biblical Seminary this spring on The Use and Misuse of Power. He forced me to think a lot, which doesn't happen as much as it used to. Ever since that night, I've pondered purchasing a print of this amazing painting.

Now you can listen to Andy share about this beautiful piece of art. If you're interested in why I'm so fascinated, click over and watch the first half of Part 2: The Creative Image.

supermommy

2010-07-31T10:44:00.003-05:00

This morning while I was cooking breakfast, I heard Joshua say, "I wish Mommy had 6 arms. Then she could do everything." After a few minutes of discussion amongst the 3 kids, the image had become even more bizarre, as they decided that my arms should be able to stretch all the way to the store to get everything we need. Just listening to their plans made me tired, and I realized that the real me must be terribly dull and disappointing. I fear they may try to turn me in for an upgraded model.

a worthy motivation for parenting

2010-07-22T07:26:00.004-05:00

Last night over dinner Joshua asked a new friend about his plans for having kids. When our recently married friend didn't give a definite answer about future plans, Joshua offered a suggestion: "Adopt kids from Africa! They talk funny."

There you have it, folks... the true reason why we adopted 3 kids from Africa.

breakthrough

2010-07-19T23:02:00.002-05:00

Tonight our oldest son had a meltdown. He went to bed a bit unhappy, but fine overall. 5 minutes later, he had worked himself up into an angry but controlled state. Knowing that he had himself under control, we gave him 3 options for how he could proceed. Unfortunately, he chose the option that ended with significant consequences.

Usually in these situations, consequences lead to full blown rage that goes on for quite a while. This time was different. Instead of reacting angrily, he reacted with deep sadness. As he cried and tried to get away from us, he kept saying, "I don't want to be your son anymore!"

As Peter assured him that the 2 of us love him very much and will always be his parents (whether he likes it or not), I realized that before bed I had talked with him about how our week would be very busy. I told him that we wouldn't have a lot of time to spend together, but then we would be going home and have plenty of time together next week. I suddenly wondered if that conversation had triggered his meltdown.

I told him that I wondered if his "big mad" (a phrase we picked up from our therapist) was really a "big sad." I wondered if maybe he was sad that we were so busy and if he really wanted us to spend some time with him. To my complete amazement, he calmed down and agreed that he was indeed sad. Then, with a little coaxing, he used words to tell us that he was sad and that he wanted us to spend some time with him this week.

Maybe this story seems insignificant to you, but I'm pretty certain that in 3 years we've never heard Joshua say he was sad except in therapy with help from the therapist. Not only did he let go of his "big mad" tonight, but he claimed to have feelings that he's never expressed before. On top of it, he wanted to be affectionate with both of us as soon as the conversation ended.

So tomorrow morning one or both of us will be up much earlier than we like to spend time with our little boy, but tonight we're celebrating a huge milestone while he sleeps. (If you can say that sitting here crying at the computer is a form of celebration.)

cow appreciation day

2010-07-09T14:49:00.000-05:00

In 2008, we went to Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A with a bunch of other mommas and kids. Last year we were out of town and didn't make it. The kids ask regularly when cow day is coming again, so today we ran out over lunch with a bunch of friends from New Staff Training. As much as I hated putting 5 costumes together for our crew, we all had a great time and a yummy free meal.

plenty of books

2010-07-08T09:21:00.003-05:00

Between preparing to open the Norristown Community House in August and required reading for New Staff Training with the CCO, we're doing quite a bit of reading right now in the midst of everything else. I just updated our book list on the sidebar in case you're interested. We're always happy to give you our opinions about any books on our list.

lots and lots of pictures

2010-07-05T14:01:00.002-05:00

I have finally uploaded pictures from the past 6 weeks of our lives. They've been an extremely full 6 weeks, as we are in the middle of a huge life transition and still trying to have fun with our children in the midst of the chaos. Things are moving at a crazy pace, but I hope to sit still long enough to write a more detailed report on the state of our lives and ministry before long. For now, I hope you can take a few minutes to enjoy our pictures of the fun side of life. (I went all out and even added some captions for you. I'm sure you'll be impressed and amazed.)

another Garty-ism

2010-07-05T10:59:00.002-05:00

As we were walking down to the riverfront to see the fireworks last night, Patience looked behind us and said, "Daddy and Joshua are slowpokes." Garty responded with, "But we're fastpokes!"

our ego boost for the day

2010-06-29T09:32:00.002-05:00

I just walked in the room in time to hear Joshua say, "Everybody's little to God." Garty emphatically responded, "Except Mommy and Daddy!"

2 new websites

2010-06-07T16:33:00.004-05:00

After months of hard work, Worldlink just launched its new and improved website! Peter was heavily involved in the writing and design, logging countless hours. Becky edited the majority of the site. You should check it out!

We're also super excited about our much smaller brand new website for the Norristown Community House, a great new opportunity for young adults 18 and up! We're still looking for 2-3 more participants before our 2010-11 launch in August, so please look over the site and then share it with young adults who may be interested. Someone may have a life changing experience because you took the time to share, and we'll be so thankful for your part in kicking off our new ministry.

happy 4th birthday to Garty

2010-06-03T14:44:00.004-05:00

Our baby doesn't seem like much of a baby anymore. Today we celebrate 4 years of life for our little man.

Do you remember our fear and helplessness when he was hospitalized and we feared that we'd never meet our baby?

Do you remember how God preserved him and turned him into a pudgy little boy by them time we got to Liberia?

Can you believe that last weekend that pudgy little boy was climbing around in a tree all by himself?

weekend quotes

2010-06-02T15:23:00.003-05:00

On Saturday, Garty was practicing his drop kick with a soccer ball. When he doesn't completely miss, he kicks it pretty high. After one particularly good kick, he said, "I kicked it higher than God."

In the car on Sunday, Joshua said, "I wish the dinosaurs were still alive-- but not the meat eaters, the plant eaters." In an effort to console him, Patience replied, "But the groundhogs are still alive!"

so true

2010-06-01T11:23:00.002-05:00

I just read this brief but significant observation regarding Jesus feeding the 5000.

"God never asks us to give what we do not have... But he cannot use what we will not give." (Richard Stearns)

reliving the memories

2010-05-24T19:26:00.004-05:00

Grove City College's alumni magazine did an article about our family this spring. (We show up on the cover and page 5, but our story starts on page 20.) After reading the story, I've been feeling nostalgic about the waiting days and our trip to Liberia and our early days home. Today (when I should have been working), I flipped through some old pictures and videos that I haven't seen for a while. As I haven't been up to posting anything new recently, I thought maybe I'd share a few memories that never made it on the blog.

The day we first saw our kids' pictures, we were with Grove City friends at a pool party. After driving around to get a wireless signal and downloading the pictures to our laptop, we returned to share our joy. Marcy thought we should have our pictures taken with each of the kids. At the time, I thought it was weird to have our picture taken with a computer screen. Tonight I'm so happy we have these shots!

By the way, if you really don't care to look at us and prefer to see close ups of our first pictures of the kids, we understand. Here's the link.

a day in the life

2010-05-13T08:42:00.004-05:00

Some of you are a bit worried about us because we've been out of communication lately. I want to reassure you that we've got everything under control. Here's proof from this morning's to do list.

Wake up at 6:45 to remind Peter that he was going to get up at 6 and go to work early. Check.

Turn off my alarm at 8:09 and fall back into a sound sleep. Check.

Wake up at 8:46 and jump out of bed in a panic. Check.

Put out clothes so Joshua and Patience can get dressed and brush their teeth. Check.

Make Garty drag himself out of bed and put sneakers on. Check.

Pack 2 lunches while feeding the 3 kids leftover waffles and milk. Check.

Do a quick repair of Patience's hair. Check.

Run out the door in my PJs and socks. Check.

Drive to school. Check.

Tell my kids how proud I am of them as they head to the door right before the 9:10 start of school. Check.

And the best part of the whole morning? (Besides managing to be gentle and encouraging and not losing my cool during the 24 minute process.) On the way home, I was telling Garty that we were going home to make a grocery list so we could go shopping. In a slightly concerned tone, Garty asked, "Mommy? Are we going to get my clothes on before we go to the store?"

pondering spiders

2010-04-24T17:15:00.003-05:00

All 5 of us were just out digging in the flower garden. We found a huge spider with a very large egg sack. After studying her for a bit, Joshua asked if the other spiders would have a baby shower for her.

kidney & liver disease update

2010-04-20T13:20:00.004-05:00

We had our regular 6 month visit to the nephrologist today to check Joshua and Garty out. In the middle of the exam, the doctor turned to me and randomly said, "The best thing that could happen is for you to feel like your visit was a waste of time." He then proceeded to remind me that one day the visit might not be routine, and that day will be a scary one.

But for now things look good. Garty's blood pressure meds seems to be working. They both had blood drawn for a bunch of tests, and everything looked good. We'll go back in October, hopefully to "waste" more time.

here's a winner

2010-04-20T08:13:00.002-05:00

Patience often says "she" when she means "he" and vice versa. We've always assumed it's because English is her second language. This morning, however, she offered a different explanation.

She was telling Peter something and referred to me as "he." She quickly realized her own error and changed it to "she." Then she immediately told him that she gets confused because Peter and I are both white. She has to look to see who is wearing glasses to tell the difference.

Wow. That really makes sense of it all and proves that all white people really do look alike... even a 6' tall male and a 5'2" female.

spring, glorious spring

2010-04-17T10:57:00.002-05:00

We're a bit picture happy these days. I'm blaming it on the gorgeous spring days and all the outdoor fun. Some of the pictures were too fun not to share, so we hope you'll take a minute to check out our spring photo album.

from the first day to now

2010-04-09T21:28:00.004-05:00

April 9, 2007

April 9, 2008
April 9, 2009

April 9, 2010

happy gotcha day to us

2010-04-09T13:53:00.005-05:00

3 years ago today we met our 3 beautiful children. It was the end of a long journey and the beginning of a very different long journey. Both journeys were stressful and exciting and hard, and we wouldn't trade either for anything in the world.

Tonight we will celebrate the anniversary of our first day as a family. We will set our mouths on fire with Liberian food. We will watch the video from the orphanage that day. We will look through all our pictures of Liberia. We will take a family photo and compare it to last year's photo and the year before that and our very first family photo ever.

I'll get back on to post the family photos later, but for now here are a few random pictures from our first few minutes with each of our kids.

quotables

2010-04-05T12:42:00.004-05:00

On the way home from church, Patience was talking about what God is like. My favorite statement was, "God is nice." There's a warm fuzzy for you.

And the best quote of the weekend... The 3 kids were talking in the car Saturday evening about their futures and who would live where and have how many kids. As Joshua was sharing about his future family, he wasn't sure if he would "adopt kids or get babies out of bellies." I think it's sweet that he wants to consider adoption, but we're a bit concerned about the potential baby harvesting operation he's plotting. Do you think we should worry?

a weekend of Easter celebrations

2010-04-04T20:25:00.003-05:00

A beautiful weekend of family fun with a few friends thrown in for good measure. I uploaded plenty of pictures to make up for my long hiatus. We hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend as well.

good reasons to watch TV

2010-03-27T11:57:00.004-05:00

We had the chance to watch Law and Order: SVU a week and a half ago and were surprised and pleased to see that they were drawing attention to a real and serious crisis in Africa. Peter wrote about it in a special Prayerlink, and I want to share it with as many people as possible.

The world can be an ugly place. Most of the time we in the US can ignore much of the ugliness if we so choose, but I believe we need to face it head on and take it seriously. Jesus certainly would have.

Christ has no body on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ's compassion for the world is to look out;
yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good;
and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.

(Theresa of Avila)

world water day

2010-03-22T13:57:00.003-05:00

I didn't realize until this afternoon that today is World Water Day. I hope many of you will join me in remembering the need for clean, fresh water throughout the world. Here are my 2 very quick thoughts about things you could do today.

Make a donation... $5 or $50 or $500, the size isn't the important part... to your favorite organization that is providing water for those in need. We love to donate to Water for Christmas at any time of the year.

Read a book about water. A Cool Drink of Water is a great picture book for all ages. Ryan and Jimmy is an inspiring book for older kids and adults. There are plenty of books about water, but these are 2 we really like.

exhaustion and sadness

2010-03-16T16:34:00.003-05:00

This will be short because I can barely see straight to type.

I realize I've been out of touch. I realize I still haven't reported on Joshua's surgery as promised. I realize that I haven't returned phone calls to a bunch of you. Life has been crazy here lately. Mostly in good and exciting ways that I look forward to sharing with you. However, the past 24 hours have not been good, and I'm hoping that you'll pray with us.

You may remember 2009's busyness surrounding a Liberian family that was being resettled in the US. The 10 of them came in February and then became 11 in June when one of the daughters had a baby. Knowing them and all their struggles to settle in to their new life has been quite a ride.

Sunday the family left for FL in 2 vehicles to live near old friends. Monday morning they had a car accident in NC, but no one was seriously hurt. As the 16 year old daughter was climbing out of the vehicle after the accident, another car hit her. She died in a local hospital.

It seems so senseless. Mattu showed so much promise. She was a truly great mom, something you don't expect to say about a 16 year old. She was full of life and hope. She was well loved by many. I'm trying to reconcile the truths I know about God's character with the reality I can currently see, and it's tough.

I spent much of last night and most of today on the phone with people who knew and loved her. We're trying to figure out the best ways to support the family and honor her. Please pray for Mattu's family, her 9 month old son, and all the friends who are trying to process this terrible news.

love this quote

2010-03-11T13:51:00.003-05:00

I just copied this powerful and convicting quote from a friend.

To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.

(Mohandas Ghandi)

surgery tomorrow

2010-03-04T09:17:00.003-05:00

Sometime tomorrow morning Joshua will have his 3rd (and hopefully final) surgery to close the hole in his eardrum. This time will be a much bigger deal than the last 2. We have to go downtown to the main campus of Children's Hospital because they need better equipment to do a longer more complicated surgery. He'll have a more difficult recovery because he'll be under sedation longer and because they'll be cutting through the back of his ear instead of going through his ear canal.

Last night a friend asked if he was nervous about it. I said I didn't think so. As far as he knows, it's no different than any other time. My theory was confirmed at breakfast this morning as I listened to a conversation between Joshua and Patience. I couldn't write it down at the time, so I can't pass it on word for word as I usually do, but you get the idea.

J: Tells P that he's having surgery tomorrow.
P: Asks if it's fun.
J: Assures her that it's really fun because you get to ride in a wheelchair and have a special treat. (They gave him an Icee last time after he woke up.)
P: Says she wishes she could have surgery, too.
J: Tells her she can't. She has to go to school. Then proceeds to describe in more detail how fun surgery is.

Despite Joshua's enthusiasm for tomorrow, we would appreciate prayers for him. The 2 of us will be fighting rush hour traffic to get into town. Then we'll have a long wait plus however long surgery and recovery take. I'm hoping to get caught up on my reading and finish one of the many books I'm in the middle of. We'll see.

I'll post a report once we're settled back at home.

a great reminder

2010-03-02T10:26:00.003-05:00

When you move with God, He always shows up. It's just difficult to predict what He will do or how He will do it. If you wait for guarantees, the only thing that will be guaranteed is that you will miss endless divine opportunities-- that you can know for certain.

***************

What is it about our conversations with God that we seem to hear the no more readily than the yes? Many times when we claim we are waiting on God, He is waiting on us. It is true that Jesus instructed His disciples to wait in the Upper Room until they received the Holy Spirit. But then He instructed them that once they received the promise of God's Spirit, they were to move out and change the world. We, too, have received the Spirit of God and are expected to move out with confidence that God is with us.

(Erwin McManus)

great article

2010-02-18T13:51:00.006-05:00

Every adoptive parent should read this short article. So should everyone who knows an adoptive family. Frankly, there's wisdom there for all parents. You should probably just go read it... Becoming More Real to My Kids

it's snowing... again

2010-02-16T09:50:00.005-05:00

The roads are slick again this morning as snowflakes dance past our windows leaving a thin fresh layer of snow to brighten up the the piles of snow from last week. Despite the inconveniences and the extended school vacation, I enjoy the simple beauty of the snow. Here's my favorite picture from last week of the path Peter shoveled through our yard to the garage and the large tree branch that fell in storm #2.

tonight's dinner conversation

2010-02-15T19:09:00.002-05:00

A conversation between a son and his father...

Joshua: Why are you starting to have so much gray hair?

Peter: Because when kids cause a lot of trouble, their parents' hair turns white.

Joshua: Noooo. It's because you're almost a grandpop.

the power of memory

2010-02-10T11:37:00.002-05:00

This morning I've been listening to Gordon Lightfoot and Peter, Paul and Mary. If I close my eyes during certain songs, I'm suddenly 45 minutes away from Norristown watching my dad rock slowly in his chair while he reads. I'm guessing most of us have those memory triggers. Sounds, foods, activities, places. I have lots of them for my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Things that take me back to another time in my life. As I flipped pancakes and pondered the amazing way our memories work, I started wondering what those triggers will be for our kids when they grow up. What will make them think of me? Will they be happy or sad things; things I did intentionally or things I never even thought about? Although it's an impossible question to answer, it's interesting to ponder.

birthday performance

2010-02-06T20:44:00.011-05:00

First thing this morning the kids wanted to put on a show for Daddy's birthday. Here are the performers ready to go.

Garty quickly decided that he prefered to make phone calls. After all, he's evidently a bit of a celebrity. He pretended to call several family members. After a particularly long chat with Aunt Christy, he told us he was going to call Liberia. He dialed and said, "Hello, Liberia!"

The show went on without him. Joshua drummed.

Patience danced. She spent much of the time watching her reflection in the TV, but she was also happy to have her picture taken. She's become disturbingly excited about seeing her beautiful self.

And at some point there was a costume change.

7 and counting

2010-02-02T23:31:00.006-05:00

As of yesterday afternoon, the kids have a new cousin, and we have a new niece. We can't wait to meet little Sophie.

we interrupt this regularly scheduled program...

2010-01-28T18:17:00.002-05:00

There are those moments in life when reality rears its ugly head and interrupts my happy little existence. Hearing about the devastation in Haiti was one of those moments. Today was one of those moments, too. As I sat in therapy listening to my son talk matter of factly about the death of his mother, I was overwhelmed with a sense of how screwed up the world really is. Kids shouldn't have a personal story that involves death and fear and pain. And they definitely shouldn't tell the story as if they were talking about their day at school.

I'm not having a new revelation. It's just something that's easy to lose sight of as I make dinner and pick kids up at school and supervise the daily chaos. I don't look at my kids on a daily basis and ponder the pain they've experienced in their short lives. I look at them and think that I wish they would obey the first time I ask or that they look funny in the red clown wig. I think about how blessed I am to be their mom. What I can quickly forget is that my blessing came at a terrible price: a mother who didn't live to see her kids grow up, a father who had to make an unbelievably difficult decision, kids whose lives have been turned upside down and now need to be pieced back together.

By the time it was my turn to hold my sweet boy and tell him how I felt about what he said today, I couldn't hold back the tears. I told him that it made me so sad to know that he was probably scared when his Liberian ma died. I told him that it made me so sad to know that she didn't have the chance to see her kids grow up. I told him it made me happy to know that his Liberian pa wanted to take care of him so much that now I get to have 3 beautiful kids.

I felt like a baby for crying all over my son, but it was actually good. His reaction to my tears took us to a new level, and now we know what we need to work on in our next session. And as much as it hurts, it's good for me to remember that life is hard and the world is a disaster and I know the only one who can look at the mess and make sense of it.

Honoring Christmas: reflections

2010-01-20T11:36:00.003-05:00

I don't know why I haven't been able to get my act together and post my thoughts about our Christmas celebration. It's probably that my mind has been going in so many different directions since the holidays, and I wanted to give Christmas some focused reflection as I consider what happened and what we might do differently next year.

Overall, I was very happy with the way we honored Christmas in 2009. Life in December ended up being a bit more crazy than I envisioned because I was mildly ill for a while and Peter's grandmother spent most of the month in the hospital. However, life would have been out of control if those 2 things had happened and our December calendar had been full. Having plenty of space built into our schedule gave us the ability to absorb the extra chaos without losing too much sleep or forgetting what the month was about. I'm thankful for Simple Mom's 12 Weeks to a Peaceful Christmas. It was a useful tool for preparing holiday details even if I didn't complete it 100%, and it definitely contributed to my sanity in December. (And my sanity helps translate into peace and happiness for the rest of the family as well.)

The kids really enjoyed lighting our advent candles at dinner each night. Joshua initiated several conversations about hope in relation to advent. We all looked forward to reading our Christmas cards and praying for the family and friends who sent them.

We all liked our Jesse Tree as well. I loved using the ornaments from The Glorious Coming, but we were disappointed by the accompanying devotionals. Most were far too complicated for our kids. Instead Peter read the scriptures, and I paraphrased helpful reflections from the devotional. (The link says that the devotionals are being rewritten. I wonder whether they'll be more kid friendly.) Our only other problem is that being out a few evenings left us playing catch up. I think next year we will plan ahead to skip a few selected passages here and there so we don't fall behind.

Peter and I weren't very faithful doing evening prayers, so I can't really comment on whether we liked Phyllis Tickle's arrangements. We'll have to try again next year.

We loved thinking more about gift giving and considering what and how we give. We gave and received some very cool gifts and had fun in the process. It was very fun to be involved in an alternative gift market.

I'm especially glad we decided to choose birthday gifts for Jesus. We will definitely do it again but try to start earlier in December so we have time to wrap the gifts and have them under the tree. Talking with the kids about what kind of gifts would make Jesus happy led to our first discussion about homelessness and a more in depth discussion of HIV. We let each person vote on the gift they wanted to give. In the end, we had 2 winners and gave 2 smaller gifts. Joshua was certain Jesus would want a picture more than anything, so he drew this picture of himself helping someone with HIV who needed help in a storm.

As we head now into the new year, we will be considering how our experience will shape our lives apart from Christmas. Peter and I are talking about taking the kids to serve at one of the homeless shelters in town, as they really struggled to comprehend what it means to be homeless. I'm continuing to think about gift giving and all the great ideas I received from some of you over the past 2 months. As I process the ideas, I'll try to share them here from time to time. I'd love to hear your post Christmas reflections as well.

Previous Posts
Honoring Christmas: a series
Honoring Christmas: the hard work
Honoring Christmas: advent
Honoring Christmas: giving better gifts
Honoring Christmas: the cards are coming
Honoring Christmas: a baby is born
Honoring Christmas: gifts for the birthday boy

books

2010-01-19T10:49:00.003-05:00

I just updated our current reading list on the sidebar. I, who hate reading more than one book at a time, just finished a novel and am in the middle of 4 other books with several others that I'm anxious to start. I'll admit that I'm not making much progress, but it's fun to be reading at least occasionally. I missed it. Peter's been up late reading several nights recently, but he jumps back and forth between reading and remodeling.

My Honoring Christmas recap will be up by tomorrow morning. I should definitely win some kind of award for blogging so consistently.

Haiti

2010-01-13T20:25:00.006-05:00

I must confess that I've become so desensitized to pain and suffering and natural disasters that I really wasn't even upset when I first heard last night that there was an earthquake in Haiti. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but it's true. Today, however, as I listened to the news on the radio, I was overwhelmed by the tragedy of it. The loss of life. The devastation to a country already experiencing great poverty. The need for more help than I can imagine. The fact that I have friends here in Norristown who are Haitian and likely are still waiting for word from their families back home. What happened in Haiti is horrific, and it's not OK for me to ignore it.

I think Scot McKnight said it perfectly today:

I make no claim to know what God is doing in Haiti, but I do know that God's intent is to reconcile all things to himself and so, in prayer, in giving, and in mobilizing humans to help the suffering of Haiti, we commit ourselves to enter now into the work of binding up the brokenhearted and healing the wounded.

May we crawl, with God, into this rubble and be the presence of God, bring the presence of God, and lead Haiti into the healing presence of God.

redefining faith

2010-01-12T21:25:00.007-05:00

I haven't been very communicative so far this month because life is full. It's mostly the good kind of full. We're dreaming some new and exciting and a little bit scary dreams. Maybe I'll get to share some of them with you sometime soon. We're at another one of those points in the journey where God is stretching us just a bit, and we're waiting to see what he wants to do. I like that feeling even when it scares me. Then I read about Katie, and I have a new definition of living by faith. I feel challenged to dream bigger and expect more. It's a pretty overwhelming feeling. Peter might get home from volleyball and regret that he left me home alone to dream for 3.5 hours. Thanks, Alanna, for introducing me to Katie. I had seen the Amazima badge on friends' blogs before, but I never knew the amazing story behind it.

I found it!

2010-01-06T23:32:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday morning we realized my engagement ring was missing, and a desperate hunt began. I had several logical theories regarding its disappearance, but we weren't having any success with the search. I was giving up hope of ever seeing it again, and I've been struggling with the fact that it's just material stuff and shouldn't be the most important thing to me... but it's my engagement ring!

A few minutes ago I was hanging up the picture Joshua drew in children's church on Sun. I had taught about Jesus' miracle at the wedding in Cana, and we talked about how God still does miracles, both big and small. Each student drew a picture of a miracle that could happen today and wrote, "God's miracles surprise us." As I hung the picture on the fridge, I told God that I'd really appreciate a miracle, even if my ring isn't the most important thing in the world.

It couldn't have been more than 3 minutes later that I found my ring! It was nowhere near where I left it with my wedding band and was likely relocated by one of our cats. Now, you could say that the ring was there all along just waiting to be found. There's nothing miraculous about it at all. I, however, will chose to believe that God does miracles every day, and it's up to us to pay attention and acknowledge them.

Water for Christmas all year long

2010-01-06T14:27:00.007-05:00

Several of you got excited about giving the gift of water after my first gift post back on November 13. Others bought yummy Christmas goodies from me and donated the cost to water or came to the alternative gift market in December and bought water gifts. While I do not intend to turn our family blog into an advertising campaign for all my favorite charities, I wanted to mention an opportunity for those of you who are excited about the simplicity of making a difference through giving water. We've been doing it for the past year, and I just signed up to do it again this year. It's so easy. Water for Christmas, a movement through charity: water, has a monthly recurring giving option. $20 gives clean water to one person for 20 years. That means $20 per month for 12 months changes the lives of 12 people forever. (What makes me especially excited is that it changes the lives of 12 Liberian people, and you know that we're big fans of Liberians.) I could tell you how enthusiastic I am about this simple opportunity, but I'd rather let you hear the enthusiasm from the woman who started the Water for Christmas movement in November 2008. Click over and read her dream of changing the desperate situation in Liberia 12 people at a time. Then consider whether you should be a voice for water starting today. If you want to join us, it takes about a minute (2 if you're slow) to do it with a PayPal account. If you don't have an account, you can make monthly donations by credit card or check.

Christmas pictures

2010-01-05T19:55:00.003-05:00

A full report on our Christmas celebrations will have to wait a bit longer, so I'm hoping that lots of pictures of our 3 day Christmas marathon will suffice for another few days. Stay tuned for pictures from the New Year-ish celebrations soon.

simple but important things

2010-01-04T14:00:00.004-05:00

We now have hot water and heat for the first time in 74 hours, and I just took a wonderful hot shower! As I hear the news about the "code blue" here in Norristown and Philadelphia and the efforts to get homeless people indoors during these frigid days, I am reminded how blessed we are that our chilly few days were only a temporary inconvenience while others a few blocks from here are in danger.

happy new year from the Bowersoxes

2010-01-01T14:18:00.004-05:00

We've been very busy visiting and celebrating for over a week, and the fun doesn't end until tomorrow evening. I just wanted to check in long enough to say Happy New Year to all of you. I'll be back to blogging after the weekend with lots of pictures from our holiday festivities and a report on how our plans to honor Christmas worked out this year.

the truth about Christmas

2009-12-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

God so loved us that for our sakes he,
through whom time was made, was made in time;
older by eternity than the world itself,
he became younger in age than many of his servants in the world;
God, who made man, was made man;
he was given existence by a mother
whom he brought into existence;
he was carried in hands which he formed;
he was nursed at breasts which he filled;
he cried like a baby in the manger in speechless infancy-
this Word
without which human eloquence is speechless.

(Augustine)

the best birthday gift

2009-12-24T08:53:00.008-05:00

So we picked out our birthday gifts for Jesus last night, and it was great to talk with the kids about why Jesus came and what kind of gifts he would like. They insisted that he would really want a picture, so they're drawing pictures to put under our tree of the gifts we're giving.

But just a few minutes ago I realized that at midnight last night, as I watched our dear friends exit the airport terminal with their two new beautiful daughters, I witnessed one of the best gifts anyone could ever give Jesus. What a privilege for Peter and I to be present for the homecoming of two girls who will know the love and care of a family this Christmas and forever. I'm feeling a little teary and overwhelmed by it right now (and I'm sure sleep deprivation plays in a bit), but I just know that Jesus is seriously enjoying his birthday present.

Honoring Christmas: gifts for the birthday boy

2009-12-23T09:32:00.007-05:00

As mentioned in my previous post, we want our kids to understand that Christmas is about Jesus. It's his birthday. Kids may not have the capacity to fully understand the implications of Christ's birth, but they definitely understand birthdays. Yummy food, lots of fun, and... gifts!

I don't know why I never thought of this before, but I was reading a blog about another family's Christmas traditions this week and adjusted their ideas to suit our situation. So tonight after dinner we're going to pick a gift for baby Jesus. We're going to talk about what Jesus would really want for Christmas and then pick a gift that we can put under the Christmas tree for him. We could summarize by saying that Jesus would want world peace (along with every stereotyped beauty contest competitor), but that's not in our budget. Instead we're going to try to come up with a gift that encapsulates one piece of his love for the world and the reason he was born. Maybe we'll show love to an orphan living with HIV. Maybe we'll help a Worldlink missionary share God's love or send a homeless kid to camp. Maybe we'll fund an orphan's education for a month. Maybe we'll bless a family in Asia with warm blankets or an animal that will give them new opportunities. Maybe we'll give the gift of clean water. Or maybe our kids will have an even better plan. Once we all agree on a gift, we'll take something that represents it and wrap it up together.

Our family has already chosen to give in different ways throughout the year and this Christmas season, but I think choosing a gift for Jesus and symbolically placing it under the tree is an incredible way to honor his birthday. At this point in the season, it would be easy to say that we don't have time to research another project or money to buy something else, but then I look around at the time and money we have spent on gifts for our families and celebratory food and festive decorations and think, does it make any sense to say I can't do one small thing for the guest of honor at this week's party?

I don't know if this idea will excite any of you the way it did me, but I figured it was worth sharing. Better late than never, right?

Our Christmas festivities start tomorrow, but I've already scheduled several random posts to go up over the next few days. Then sometime after the weekend I'm going to post a final post for this series and share what worked well for us and what didn't this year. I hope you'll come back for the conclusion.

Previous Posts
Honoring Christmas: a series
Honoring Christmas: the hard work
Honoring Christmas: advent
Honoring Christmas: giving better gifts
Honoring Christmas: the cards are coming
Honoring Christmas: a baby is born

Honoring Christmas: a baby is born

2009-12-21T21:41:00.005-05:00

So this is it. It's Christmas week. All the shopping and baking and singing and partying and wrapping are because of this week. And this week is about one tiny baby. Except many times Christmas week doesn't feel like it's really about that baby. It's an incredibly fun week, and we're thankful he was born so we can enjoy it. But he's not really a big part of our activities except for the hour or so many of us spend at church on Christmas Eve.

We've made a big deal with our kids about Christmas being Jesus' birthday. We have a nativity set that doesn't have Jesus attached to the manger, and we don't put Jesus in when we set it up. The kids know it's because he won't be born until Christmas. As Christmas morning gets closer, they check the manger for him (while I remind myself where I hid him). After they are in bed on Christmas Eve, Jesus is miraculously born and laid in the manger. So far he has been the first thing they look for every Christmas morning. I don't know about you, but I personally prefer to have my kids running downstairs to look for baby Jesus than running to see all the stuff that's under the tree.

The other way we've honored Jesus' birthday is by singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus at Christmas breakfast. We put a candle in whatever we're eating... a muffin, a sticky bun... and we sing. Then everyone blows out the candle on Jesus' behalf. It's fun, and it reminds us all why we're celebrating.

But my absolute favorite way to celebrate Jesus' birthday is something we've never done before. In fact, I just read about the idea tonight, and we've already decided to do it this year because it's such a great idea. So tomorrow I'll share with you our very exciting new family tradition that allows us to honor the baby born to change the world.

Previous Posts
Honoring Christmas: a series
Honoring Christmas: the hard work
Honoring Christmas: advent
Honoring Christmas: giving better gifts
Honoring Christmas: the cards are coming

this time I mean it

2009-12-20T22:52:00.004-05:00

OK, so I way overestimated myself last Sunday when I said I'd be back to blogging. I was in a fog most of the past week, as life has been quite a roller coaster lately. I'm hoping that you'll forgive me for my absence if I post a few pictures of our cute kids playing in the snow, and then we'll try again tomorrow. Really. I promise. And it will be good because I'm going to tell you about some of our favorite parts of our Christmas celebration.

an unplanned blogging break

2009-12-13T20:09:00.003-05:00

My blog counter tells me that some of you were expecting some blog posts this past week. I was expecting to write some posts this past week, but life doesn't always work the way we expect. On Tuesday I finally succumbed to the illness that had been trying to take hold, and I had a few unpleasant days. It's mostly over, though my voice hasn't returned yet. Peter's grandmother was admitted to the hospital this week, which means he has spent quite a few hours driving to and from the hospital and visiting her. We'd appreciate your prayers for her, as it looks like she's unlikely to make it home before Christmas. Between hospital trips and putting in a 12 hour day Saturday for Worldlink, I've been feeling the stress of being home with 3 kids who are "in a stage." Throw a few more unexpected thing in the mix, and the week was over. But tomorrow's a new day. One in which I plan to get back on track with much of my life, including blogging. I won't promise, because that's a dangerous thing to do, but I am hopeful.

alternative gift market

2009-12-06T21:08:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow we will be at the Alternative Gift Market at the Plymouth Meeting Mall from 4:30-7:30pm. If you're in the area, please consider coming out to support this great event in its first year. There will be cookies and shopping and kids' crafts and coffee and 5 Bowersoxes who would love to see you.

Honoring Christmas: the cards are coming

2009-12-03T19:01:00.015-05:00

We received our first 2 Christmas cards in the mail today, so I thought tonight would be a good time to change my intended order of posts and share a Christmas tradition we started 2 years ago.

Those of you who send Christmas cards know it can be time consuming to send out a stack of cards, even if all you do is sign your name or write the address. If you compose a family newsletter or write personal notes, it's a huge task. The year our kids came home, I was so frazzled that I was barely even looking at the cards as they came in. It bothered me that I wasn't acknowledging the effort and expense that went into each greeting, so Peter and I figured out a new plan that we really like.

When we get a card or letter, we set it aside. After dinner each night we sit around the table and read the ones that have come in. Then we take time to pray for the people who sent them. If we know specific needs, we pray specifically. If we don't, we just pray a general blessing. Later the photos go on the fridge and all other cards are hung in the living room to beautify our Christmas season.

The whole process only adds a few minutes to our dinner time, but it's good to read the cards and talk about our friends and family together. And we're assuming no one minds being prayed for.

Previous Posts
Honoring Christmas: a series
Honoring Christmas: the hard work
Honoring Christmas: advent
Honoring Christmas: giving better gifts

Honoring Christmas: giving better gifts

2009-12-01T21:04:00.007-05:00

I'm back, and I'm certain some of you are wondering why I didn't post about gift giving before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The answer is simple: I was busy with Thanksgiving family fun, and I'm not that organized. Until such a time as I get paid to blog, please keep your expectations very low.

But Advent has started, and Christmas has now captured the attention of nearly everyone. We have 24 days to finish getting ready, and I'm guessing that gift shopping is high on the to do list for many of us. As for me, I'm a fan of giving and receiving Christmas gifts. There are those people that are difficult to buy for, and I'm not so fond of that part, but I like Christmas gifts as a general rule. I know people who no longer exchange gifts and generously donate all the money they would have spent to worthy causes. We've talked about becoming those people, but we've decided not to go that route. Instead we have a modest Christmas budget with defined spending limits, and we try to give the best gifts we can with the money we have available.

I realize that every family is very different in their approach to gift giving. I'm sure that some of our favorite gift giving options would never fly in your family and vice versa, but I'm sharing some of what we like to do in hope that it will help us all to think creatively about giving better gifts. Please comment and share your ideas as well. I love getting new inspiration and new options to check out.

So without further ado, here are some ideas we love for giving better gifts.

1. Give gift certificates for interesting things to do. They never add clutter or end up stuffed under the bed or break after 3 days, and they allow people to spend time making happy memories. Find interesting restaurants the gift recipient would enjoy. Send someone to the spa for pampering. Check out local arboretums, historical attractions, theaters, bowling alleys, zoos, gardens, museums, etc. If you're willing to spend more, consider buying a membership for a full year worth of fun. Since our kids came home, we've enjoyed numerous trips to the children's museum, McDonald's, the children's garden, and the zoo that were all gifts. We love these gifts and look forward to using them. This year we added two new things to the wish list we gave our family: tickets to The Crayola Factory and gift certificates to attend workshops at ACPPA, the community art center 2 blocks from our house. Some people feel that a gift certificate isn't a "real" gift, but we think enjoying special activities is one of the best gifts.

2. Give gifts with purpose. If you know someone who loves coffee, buy some high quality fair trade coffee that also supports a great cause. If you don't already have a favorite organization that sells coffee, we'd recommend Gobena Coffee. Everyone wins: the gift recipient, the coffee farmers, and the organization receiving the profits. Find out if your favorite charitable organization is selling anything as a fundraiser. For Mother's Day Peter made a donation to an organization I love and received my favorite necklace in return. If you want to buy home decor for someone, buy it from a fair trade store or online retailer so you're supporting artisans around the world. Ten Thousand Villages has very cool stuff in a wide variety of price ranges. Thanks to the internet, it doesn't take long to find oodles of purposeful gift giving options.

3. Give previously loved gifts. I know some of you will think the idea of giving used gifts is terrible. I've struggled with it, too. A few years ago Peter found a used high end drill on craigslist. He knew my brother would love it. All the siblings had a debate about whether he would be OK with a used gift, and I was the most hesitant. We finally decided to go in together and take the risk. Phil was so surprised to get such a great drill. He didn't care a bit that it was used because he knew he would have never gotten one new. This year I decided to make a quick stop at the Thrift Store to see if Garty's desired Bob the Builder movie was there. Sure enough, I found it for $1. By the time Garty is old enough to understand that I bought him a used VHS tape instead of a new DVD, he'll be years past his Bob the Builder phase. Giving previously loved gifts obviously isn't always a good choice, but when it works well, it frees up money for other useful purposes.

4. Give alternative gifts. Most of us really don't need a lot more stuff to put in our house, so consider making donations to charities that the gift recipient will appreciate. There's a non-profit organization for almost any interest your friends and family members may have.

If you really want to give a "real" gift, make a donation and then give something related to the donation. Since our kids came home, an animal has been donated on behalf of our family to another family in need each Christmas. The gift we open is a note explaining the gift and then one these handmade ornaments. This weekend when we decorate our tree with the kids, we'll talk about the goat and pig we received. We'll wonder what the families who received the real animals are doing now. We'll be thankful that they are benefitting from our gift. It will be a good memory, and our tree will look cool. I realize that this kind of crafty creativity isn't for everyone. You won't find me trying to fashion a cute little animal out of modeling clay, but I could order Beatrice's Goat for a family to read to understand the significance of a goat I donated on their behalf.

If I still haven't convinced you, consider buying a "real" gift and then making a very small donation on behalf of each gift recipient. An alternative gift market is a great place to do this, as gifts often start as low as a few dollars. You can buy as many little gifts as you want, but you only have to make one payment at the end. Search for one in your area or come to the alternative gift market at the Plymouth Meeting Mall on Dec 7. Peter and I will be there representing Worldlink and 2 other organizations we support. You can stop to say hi as you check out more than 20 great organizations, nibble a few cookies, and sip some tasty coffee.

I'm sure there are other great ideas I've missed, but I need to stop and get this posted. I hope to hear about all the great gift ideas you have so I can add them to my list for next year.

Next up: making the most of family traditions.

Previous Posts
Honoring Christmas: a series
Honoring Christmas: the hard work
Honoring Christmas: advent

first Sunday of Advent: hope

2009-11-29T15:31:00.002-05:00

O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. (Psalm 130:7-8)

Honoring Christmas: advent

2009-11-25T10:00:00.008-05:00

Growing up in a church that didn't make much of Advent, I pretty much assumed that Advent was a fancy word for the Christmas season and sometimes included a fun Advent calendar that helped with the Christmas countdown. It's only been in the past few years that I've come to appreciate Advent for what it really is: the time of expectation and waiting for the birth of Christ. Nothing helps me to honor Christmas more than observing Advent in our home. When I have weekly and daily reminders of the reason behind the shopping and baking and partying, my heart is full and excited for Christmas when it comes. We're still making adjustments from year to year on the way we observe Advent, especially with the addition of 3 kids, but we're slowly finding practices that work for us. If you're not in the habit of celebrating Advent in your home, I'll share some ideas, and you can surf the web looking for more if you don't like mine.

One of the simplest ways to start is to use an Advent wreath. I always throw mine together last minute because I don't prepare before Thanksgiving, and the first Sunday of Advent catches me by surprise. (Not this year though. Writing this post reminded me that we need to pick up candles when we're out today.) In our family we don't particularly care if we we use the traditional color candles. We just make a ring of 4 candles with a white candle in the middle that is reserved for lighting at Christmas breakfast. We put the wreath in the middle of our dinner table. Each Sunday of Advent we do a short reading, pray, and light a new candle after we eat dinner. On subsequent days of the week we relight the candles before we sit down to eat. (We learned the hard way that thin taper candles won't last all the way through Advent if you light them every day, so plan accordingly.) We enjoy watching our Advent wreath and considering the significance of each candle as Christmas nears. Our only complaint is that we've had trouble finding kid-friendly readings and prayers we really like. We still haven't chosen ones to try this year, so I'll have to do some searching over the next few days. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

We have tried to find daily kid-friendly readings in addition to the weekly candle lighting service. So far we've been disappointed with our choices 2 years in a row, so this year we're going to try a Jesse Tree. We know many people who use a Jesse Tree, and there are a variety of ways to do it. The name comes from Jesus being the fulfillment of Isaiah 11:1-2 ("A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him..."). The daily readings take you all the way back to Genesis and trace the way the entire story of the Bible is really about the coming of Jesus. If you search online, you'll find all kinds of Jesse Tree resources and ideas for making your own Jesse Tree ornaments. Last week I went wild and purchased a widely recommended ebook by Ann Voskamp that includes readings for each day and printable ornaments that I can just laminate. I don't do crafts, so it was money well spent. I've skimmed the readings, and I like them pretty well. We'll see how the kids respond.

Peter and I have also come to appreciate liturgical readings and structured prayers as a powerful way to prepare our own hearts during Advent. I realize that some of you had your share of liturgy in the past and have developed negative associations with it, but neither of us were even exposed to it as kids. If structured readings don't work for you, you could probably find some less "churchy" daily readings that you prefer. For us, we've found that liturgical readings help us to focus on the coming of Christ in deep and powerful ways. This year we'll be using Phyllis Tickle's Advent prayers on a daily basis. Sometimes we read them together at night after the kids are in bed, but that's a matter of personal preference. We've also been blessed last year and this one to be part of a small group that enjoys doing a weekly Advent service that Peter arranges from the Book of Common Prayer. (If you're interested in seeing or using the services, Peter would be happy to send them to you.)

There are countless ways to observe Advent. Finding ones that connect for you or your family may take some experimentation, but the work is well worth it. Bringing focus to the Christmas chaos allows all of us to move from mere celebrating to honoring Christmas in significant ways.

Up next in our series: giving better gifts.

Previous Posts
Honoring Christmas: a series
Honoring Christmas: the hard work

did he read my mind?

2009-11-24T15:10:00.005-05:00

As I was reorganizing my desk and trying to figure out how I can get even close to finishing my tasks for the day, I opened a random book in the pile and read:

We have hints that there is way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. If only we could slip over into that center!

(Thomas Kelly)

What an appealing and un-American concept. If only I understood how to live it out.

an important tip

2009-11-23T16:17:00.002-05:00

Every year the kindergarten class at our elementary school compiles a Thanksgiving booklet. All the teachers ask the kids how to cook a turkey, and they record the kids' responses word for word. This is what Patience told her teacher:

Hunt for the turkey at the turkey store. Take it home. Put it in a pot. Put peppers, onions, and strawberries all over it. Cook it for 31 hours at 36 degrees. When it is done, put it on the table. Eat it with cookies and milk.

I hope this helps you all as you prepare for your upcoming holiday dinner.

Honoring Christmas: the hard work

2009-11-18T19:26:00.010-05:00

Some of the feedback I've received since I started this series a few days ago has gotten me really excited about upcoming posts. This post, however, isn't one that's exciting to write. I'd love to skip over the tedious hard stuff and go straight to fun stuff. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. Christmas doesn't either.

The truth is that deciding in our hearts to honor Christmas and to make the most of it is one thing. Living out that decision is another. No matter where our hearts are, Christmas still brings lots of busyness that most of us can't escape. We have places to go. We have gifts to buy and wrap. We have food to make. We have decorating and cleaning to do. And if you manage a lot of these tasks at your house, the Christmas season can be a stressful time.

The year our kids came home I made the decision to finish all my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. I figured that I'd be able to relax and celebrate Christmas with my family much easier when such a time consuming (and sometimes stressful) task could be crossed off my list. It really did help. In fact, the experiment was so successful that they were kicking me out of the stores at 11pm on Thanksgiving Eve the following year as I finished off my last few purchases.

Unfortunately, finishing the shopping didn't erase the rest of the busyness. I was still pulling late nights baking and sending Christmas cards and decorating and cleaning. As much as I love many aspects of the Christmas chaos, it's much harder to focus on honoring Christmas when I'm looking at my to do list after only a few hours of sleep.

So this year I committed to working harder before Thanksgiving so I can relax and honor Christmas in December. I'm a procrastinator by nature, but I know that every task I force myself to do now will free me up to enjoy the season later. One resource that has helped me to stay on track has been Simple Mom's 12 Weeks to a Peaceful Christmas. I realize it's a bit unfair to introduce you to it with less than 6 weeks to go, but you could pull an all nighter to catch up or do 2 assignments each week from now until Christmas. Better yet, you could read it, find a few ideas that will help you, and start small this year. Trying to change everything at once may create more stress than it alleviates anyway.

The most important thing is to consider for yourself what holiday tasks distract you most from honoring Christmas and take action to minimize the distractions. Focus on working ahead and simplifying the work. As we all prioritize these 2 goals, we will be more free to enjoy the season in significant ways.

In my next post I'll start sharing some specific ways we honor Christmas in our family. I hope you'll check back and add your input to the conversation.

Previous Posts
Honoring Christmas: a series