Posted by Posted in Bible, faith, holidays, Jesus

3 Things To Help You Celebrate CHRISTmas

Remember to focus on Christ this busy holiday season.

Remember to focus on Christ this busy holiday season.

It’s not about the lights or the presents or the snow….blah blah blah. We say that but what are some real, practical ways to celebrate Christ during the Christmas season? It is easy to get distracted with Christmas parties, gift giving and holiday busyness. Below I have three ways for you to celebrate CHRISTmas.

1. Bible reading leading up to Christmas
So instead of just reading the Christmas story start reading things leading up to it in the month before Christmas to give you a big picture of what God was doing. This year I am reading the book of Isaiah and then I will read the Matthew, Luke and John version of the Christmas story. I picked Isaiah because that prophet foretold a lot about Jesus’s birth. Below are some other ideas.

-Isaiah, then the Matthew, Luke and John version of Christmas story.
-Genesis, then Christmas story (from the beginning of time look for promises like the “He will bruise the serpents head” passage and others.)
-Revelation, then Christmas story (look at the mighty lamb slain for us)
-A gospel read the whole way through then double back and read the Christmas story again. (See how Jesus came with the purpose to die)
-1-2 Kings then Christmas story. (Look at the different kings and then look at King Jesus born in a manger)
-Psalms (selected) then Christmas story (Find psalms that point to His birth and read in a poetic style)

With any plan you do try to look for the truth about Jesus coming as well as the promises of His coming.

2. Give your time (and money)
This time of year there are so many opportunities to serve and give so take them! Here are a few ideas:

-serve at a Soup kitchen or homeless shelter serving a Christmas dinner.
– volunteer at the Operation Christmas Child processing center
-order something from the Samaritans Purse, or Food for the Hungry gift catalog
-buy gifts for needy kids/families (I have heard good things about hopematch.com or a local project works well)

Just remember to focus on giving not getting and look to Jesus’s example-He gave His life!

3. Enjoy some good ol’ Christmas carols
Christmas carols are awesome. They proclaim the truth of Jesus’s birth and the gospel. So dwell on that truth. Below are some ideas:

-Go Christmas caroling with friends
-Learn Christmas carols on an instrument if you play one
-Listen to Christmas CDs. (Chris Tomlin and Andrew Peterson’s are some of my favorites-very worshipful)
-Go to a Christmas concert and enjoy the music (We went to a Celtic Christmas concert this year- what a treat!)

I hope you found some good ways to keep your eyes focused on Jesus during the holiday season!

Merry Christmas!
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in character, Family, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things

On Teenagers and One in Particular

Me and my beautiful thirteen year old sister, Celia.

Me and my beautiful thirteen year old sister, Celia.

Last Saturday was my sisters birthday. She turned 13. Wow! My lil’ sister just turned thirteen! This post will be half about how great God made my sister and half about teenagers.

First off, I made a C-E-L-I-A acrostic for Celia.

C- Creative: You are such a talented young lady and even though you don’t think that you are very artsy or musical I do think you have a creative side to you.
E- Eclectic: You define this word, Celia. I don’t think of this word in any way but with you in mind. I love your stars, stripes and polkadots and who but you would put red and pink together. Although it makes choosing a color for our room difficult I love this crazy quality of you.
L- Loving: On the toughest days you are there with a kind word of encouragement or a thoughtful note. You give great gifts and the people you love know that you love them, which is great knowledge.
I- Interesting: If a stranger started talking to you, they would come away amazed. You are such a cool person. With your cupcake business, love for kids and special needs kids and other things you make a very interesting young lady.
A- Always smiling: Or in other words very cheerful. Your disposition is always sunny and you brighten peoples days.

Second, I want to say 13 quick things I love about Celia.

1. your laugh
2. your hugs
3. your gifts
4. your initiative
5. your verse 4 the day
6. your loyalty
7. your cuteness
8. your ease around people
9. your love for others
10. your thoughtfulness
11. your joy
12. your faith
13. your love for Jesus

So there you have it. And a big hearty HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER CELIA!!!

Now on a different note I want to tell a quick story and move on to the topic of teenagers.

When someone was talking to our family and found out it was Celia’s 13th birthday the next day, this was her remark. “A teenager! Now I can’t talk to you until you are 20!” She quickly recovered with a quick…”Not ALL teenagers are bad, but…”

This story saddens me. She could have been joking but the main truth remains. Our culture doesn’t look too fondly on teenagers. Why?

First, let us start with the common perception of teenagers. (Fun fact: the word teenager was originated rather recently… in the past 65-75 years)

When people think of teenagers what do they think of? Some popular answers may include: lazy, rebellious, sleeps in, adolescence, punk, drugs and many others. Why does our culture think this?

Lets look at some history…. Think of some of the great people in the Bible and world history. Lots of them were young. Here are some examples: Daniel, David, Esther, Mary, Josiah, (moving into history) Joan of Arc, George Washington, Clara Barton and Alexander the Great.

Your average young person say on the frontier could manage a household, protect thier family, go on long hunting trips and more in thier early teen years. They were mature and responsible. Hard working and not wimpy.

I am not saying that all teenagers were perfect then and horrible now. What I am hinting at is that the culture back then (frontier as my example) expected more of their teens. Nowadays as we learned from the above conversation the teen years are expected to be bad.

Lets take a final look at how the Bible talks about teens (young people).

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
1 Timothy 4:12

Teenagers are supposed to set an example!

What about this one?

“The glory of young men is thier strength.”
Proverbs 20:29

The teenage years are special years to serve the Lord. You are young and strong and God wants you to use your teen years for something special!

the teen,
Priscilla

P.S. A lot of the ideas about teenagers I got was from the book “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris. If you are intersted feel free to read that book to learn more. Or go on their blog: therebelution.com

Posted by Posted in Family, holidays, Home, memorys

Thanksgiving!

First off, I am sorry this is late. I am writing this ater thanksgiving. But hey thats ok. 🙂

Second off, I want to tell you about my thanksgiving. We went to our grandparents house in Asheville NC. We slept in on thanksgiving morning and then watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. Then my mom took our school pictures and we had the big lunch. We had all the classics plus zuchinni casserole (a new menu item).

After the meal we ususally go on a thanksgiving walk and take family pictures. It is such a pretty area! Most of the family watched the Panthers game but I read a book. We served the pie (I made an apple pie) and then played a game of family football. We also shot off the bb gun in there somewhere. We had leftovers for dinner (of course) and all in all we had a great day.

Next I want to tell you five things I am grateful for:
Nature and beautiful weather on Thanksgiving!
I love the beautiful nature God made and it continually shows me the awesome power of God, the Creator!

My amazing family and friends
Celia, Jace and William, you are the best siblings a girl could ask for. Mom and Dad, you guys are the best parents, teachers and friends in this whole wide world. My friends, you know who you are and know that I thank the Lord for our friendships!

Books and stories
You all know I am a book-lover! I am so grateful for the good stories and books out there that enrich my life and give me a window into other worlds.

A Bible
I get updates from Wycliffe Bible translators and every time I see an update I thank the Lord that I have a Bible in my languaage that I have the freedom to read. My faith always grows stronger when I am in the Word!

The Grace of God
I saved the best for last. 🙂 I thank God that I do not wallow in my sin anymore but I am saved by grace and this is not my own work but it is a gift from God.

There you have it! Five things I am grateful for. Comment below with five things you are grateful for!

Lastly I want to give you some ideas for how you can celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving.

1. Make placecards/placemats.
We have a tradition of making the placecards or placemats each year. It is really fun to do fall crafts and you can make simple ones to do with little kids or more complicated ones to do with older kids. Maybe I will post about some ideas later…

2. Study the Pilgrims
So the Pilgrims started the first thanksgiving. They worked really hard to get there though! It is always fun to study the Pilgrims and thier hard journey to that Thanksgiving day. We can learn a lot from those amazing people.

3. Sing a hymn
Sing a hymn around the table. We chose “For the Beauty of the Earth” this year.

4. Start a gratitude journal
Thanksgiving is a great time to start a gratitude journal. Just get a memo book and write down a few things you are grateful for each night. It will help you develop the habit of gratitude. I think it is a great way to really focus on the true meaning of Thanksgiving- giving thanks.

Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving!
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in Family

To My Younger Siblings: On Growing Up

Celia- I saw you yesterday go on a long shopping trip with a friend. Perfect because you come from a family of no-shoppers. 🙂

I saw you come home and talk about how you eye-bounced through the mall.

You are so wonderful and I love you and I am so proud of you. You are growing up.

(read this girls blog! celiafaith.com)

William- I saw you hosting your friends, wrestling with your buddy and I smiled. I love seeing you being a boy with other boys and being a boy with other girls. You are respectful with girls and tough with boys.

You are sweet, tough and funny. A perfect combination. You also are leaning so much and growing so fast. You have a deep sense of conviction and I love that.

To both of my siblings: I love you!

Love,
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in character, God, Living for God, me, womanhood

My Journey to Womanhood

Today I am writing a testimony from my life about my journey to womanhood.

I grew up as a shy girl. I could play rough with my brother. I could be tough. But I also like my baby dolls, dresses and other “girlish things”.

Around 11 years old, I became a tomboy. I hated the color pink, left skirts behind, and loved to show my toughness.

I would only wear darker colors and didn’t like ANYTHING girly. I wouldn’t paint my nails for the world!

If you knew me when I was about 11 or 12 you would know, I was a tomboy. I was forsaking my womanhood.

I realize now, that was a mistake. You see, I thought girls were wimpy, they liked talking and painting thier nails and other wimpy things. My adventurous spirit had no place in that.

Then my mom started doing a devotional with me and my sister. It was called “Becoming God’s True Woman” by Susan Hunt and Mary Kassian. The book was pink, the pages had flowers all over them and I was skeptical.

But as the book progressed, I learned something about womanhood.

I learned that women are equal but different than men.

I saw examples of womanhood in Eve, Mary and other women from the Bible.

I learned that women are helpers, life-givers and support pillars.

All of those are very strong positions, pillars? life giver?

You can’t be a wimp to be those things. Now I strive toward womanhood.

Now instead of fighting my womanhood, I embrace my God-given roll.

I am not perfect but God has done a great work in me.

God convicted me that I need to start wearing skirts and dresses more. I don’t wear them every day but I wear them to church, nicer events and on days where we are out in public a lot. I found that I love to wear denim skirts. (I love denim!)

And the thing is I am still not your typical woman.

I still don’t like painting my nails, the color pink is not my favorite color and I don’t wear make up, fancy clothes or beautiful hair styles.

I still have a fiery, adventurous, warrior spirit and I am still tough. I still love building, farming, outdoor survival, weapons and other “boyish” activities.

But now my perspective is different. I now have a strong belief in things like modesty and purity. Not that before I wasn’t modest and pure but I didn’t really care about it.

The thing is I am the becoming the kind of woman God wants me to be. God designed me to be a mission minded woman, an adventurous woman, a I-will-go-anywhere-in-the-world-for-you woman, a warrior woman, a pioneer woman, an OK-I’m-trusting-you-Lord woman as well as a gentle, kind, compassionate, gracious, pure, modest, joyful, honest, tender and faithful woman.

(Note: I am not there yet! God is still working on me but He has helped me a lot in becoming that woman!)

I am His warrior and I am His princess. I learned that I don’t have to forsake the princess to be the warrior, the two go hand in hand.

God has shown me great examples of true women and has taught me that true womanhood is running after Him all your life.

There you go!

To God be all the glory!
Priscilla