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

Posted by Posted in Bible, songs

A Sailor Diddy

Here is a sailor “diddy” that I made up. Enjoy…. and you can laugh if you want. 🙂

The sun is shining as I sing this song.
The sky is smiling as I ride along.
God is with me though the days are long.
The waves are still, though the wind is strong.
The waves are still, though the wind is strong!

When God is with me, I won’t despair.
With Jesus by me I have no doubt or care.
I am smiling as I sing this prayer.
Because the winds are strong but the waves are fair.
The winds are strong but the waves are fair!

So if you ever in an ocean, remember that though the winds are strong, with Jesus, the waves are still!

Based on Matthew 8:23-27

Posted by Posted in gospel and outreach, holidays, missions

Changing A Life Through A Shoebox

Yesterday was a big day. For all of you who don’t know it was the start of National Shoebox Collection Week!

Millions of shoeboxes pour in every year to an Operation Christmas Child processing and distribution center. Then they are shipped out and handed to a child and then… that childs life is changed.

Operation Christmas Child was started by Franklin Graham (the head of Samaritans Purse and son of famous evangelist Billy Graham). Operation Christmas Child is a program that goes on every Christmas to give children all around the world a shoebox full of gifts. Sometimes whatever is in the box is the only possesions that child owns.

Here is how it works:
1. Individuals choose what age and gender they will make a shoebox for. You can choose girl or boy ages 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14.
2. Then you take a shoebox (or box shoebox sized) and fill it with gifts. Items to pack include hygenie items (toothbrush, toothpaste, washcloth, hair brush/comb, soap and soap dish), school supplies (notepad, coloring book, pens/pencils, crayons), hard candy (no chocolate!), other useful items (flashlight and batteries, t-shirt, sunglasses, mittens, water bottles, plastic plate etc.) and toys (for boys: soccer balls are a favorite and for girls: jump ropes, dolls and jewelry)! Things NOT to pack include: army related toys, liquids, glass/breakables, chocolate and complicated toys and games kids won’t understand.
3. Write a letter to your child and include a picture (this step is optional). Make sure to include your address in case they want to write back!
4. Add $7 to the box to cover shipping, or you can donate your $7 online and they will track your box for you.
5. Take your box to a drop-off center near you!
6. Pray for the child who will recieve it. This is important!

Tips and tricks:
-Dollar Tree is a great spot to shop for shoebox items. They have lots of great stuff there and everything is only $1!
-With the $7 donation and shopping at Dollar Tree, our boxes usually cost about $20 per box.
-The older children (10-14) are good ones to pack a box for, lots of people choose the younger children so I choose the older ones a lot.
-Boys LOVE soccer balls so you can buy a deflated one and add a ball pump in for them too.
-We usually buy a pack of hard candy (smarties, lifesavers and jolly ranchers are good) and then scatter it through the box after it is packed to save room.

My History with Operation Christmas Child:
Operation Christmas Child has been a huge part of my Christmas every year. We almost always packed boxes as kids and now I always put money aside to pack at least one shoebox. Here are some other ideas that you can try.

1. Packing Party
My sister and I have birthdays in early December so for a birthday party (my 10th) we wanted to do a shoebox packing party. We sold cookies all fall to raise $120 to make six shoeboxes. We each invited two friends and went shopping and then came home and put them together. It is always better to give than receive, isn’t it? You could do a packing party with your church, school, friends or family.

2. Shoebox Drive
Last year I was president of our 4H club. One of my responsibilities was to help our club leader plan activities, service projects and programs. I organized a shoebox drive for November. We had boxes, labels, and information in October and the club members brought the shoeboxes back in November. Our club made around 15 boxes.

3. Shoebox Gift
This year I had a friend whose birthday was in late October and for her gift I gave her a shoebox outing. She picked the age and gender and we went shopping together and then out for a treat. This is a great gift to give your giving friends who you want to bless with a meaningful gift.

4. Volunteer at a Shoebox center
Our youth group has gone to volunteer at the shoebox processing center for the past three or four years. It is soooo fun! The shoeboxes go through an assembly line, you take out the donations, go through the box (make sure it is full, take out any inappropiate items, etc.), tape the box up, box the boxes up and send them off. It is very fun to see all the thoughts and prayers put into each box. You must be 13 or older to go and you need to have 1 adult for every 4 youth.

I hope you have the oppurtunity to bless a child with a shoebox this year. It is amazing, beautiful and heartwarming. After the children are given a shoebox, some are entered into a discipleship program and presented with the Gospel. Lets hear it for Operation Christmas Child!

Lovingly,
Priscilla