Christmas adventures....

 This year we ended the Christmas season in a wave of activity.  It filled me with such joy.   Goldenrod organized two carol sings at senior centers nearby.  They were nervous but prepared to sing their 5-6 songs.  Happily, one guy recognized the song from KLUV, "Nobody," which seem to really hit home with the older folk.  The girls got blessed with a free lunch!  One lady send their carols to her family in Mexico!  They were so kind to the girls.

Girls sing for Senior Center on Kedzie

We joined 4 pastors in a joyful posada on 47th St. passing out candy and invites--latino style...check out that portable speaker!!

This MC was out of this world, an inspirational motivational speaker, he pumped up everyone in the room!

Who has matching head bands?  These ladies encouraged our girls so much!!

The "Mother" of the Englewood Senior Center, at 94 she loves people tangibly.  She shared with me the book she's reading on prayer.  LOVE that.

At home we continued our Snip Snap Dragon tradition of eating flaming raisins.

Visit with Precious CC--she's trying to gurgle some words now!

Advent 2019

Here is a beautiful new advent book/calendar for the advent season.  The  wonder  of the Greatest Gift: An Interactive Family Celebration of Advent: Ann Voskamp

Celebrating Epiphany 2013

We love to do the 12 days of Christmas and end with Epiphany... it makes ending the holidays easier.... we may have to add one more day to our season as we just discovered that Ethiopian Christmas is January 7th!!  But this year the 7th marks the start of our church fast.

Chad found the baby in the bread.. (made in china?!)

I was delighted to hear from a friend about this 3 Kings cake in the hispanic tradition for our celebration.  We also awed ourselves with this movie:

Fighting to remember the poor....

Bethan made this bracelet made from my bulging craft room.

Bethan takes a photo--a "leftover" camera was her Christmas gift last year.

Its that time of year when the catalogues & mailers fill the mailbox--where the inundation of toy ads begins to slog my mind.  The culture of materialism and  myopic self interest pushes me.  My self interest includes my kids.  I want--for them more than for myself.

The hardest part of teaching my kids to love the poor, is to give up giving them the idyllic childhood.

This year the children will give their Christmas money to Compassion and Samaritan's Purse.  Each week one child will pick out what they want to give--a chicken for a needy family.... an emergency medical kit etc.  I have already made a few recycled gifts/handcrafts for my 4 instead of spending money.  The overflow of my craft room will supply enough for them.  A few toys given to us will be cleaned and squirreled away.

We can't FORGET the poor.  But I forget when I see the hinged limb Barbie and want it for my kids, or the Jonathan Park adventure audios....  And we all get caught up in Ipods and Iphone's for preschoolers because we are inundated by ads, mailers, friends who miss His heart. ...Help us Lord.  Forgive us Lord.  Help us in this season to remember those that have no phones... no digital photos of their most loved ones, no clean clothes, no security for when storms blow.

This week my children and I are praying for our shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse children.  We get to track our boxes this year and see where they go: Mongolia, the Phillipines, Guatemala...who knows?  But we are praying for one girl and one boy.

St. Nicholas' Day

 

 

 

 

I like celebrating St. Nicholas' Day because he worshipped Jesus and he lived a life of generosity to the poor and zeal for the Lord. Persecuted under Diocletion, pastor under Constantine, he lived in an unusual and profound time in history. Our family has a special heart for Turkey, the land he was from, as well. Its a reminder to pray for that land to return to its Maker. So the children received new Christmas books and a Nativity puzzle along with chocolate coins (like the ones Nick threw in the 3 poor girls' window)in their shoes.

Often my brain feels split in different directions...

Some of the topics we've covered in school this last week...

Doctrine, Character and Government of the Early Church
Writing our compassion child a birthday letter
Learning Amharic
Hiawatha, Heidi, Nathaniel Bowditch...
The Letter I
Cranberry Thanksgiving, New England...

Rearranging my house, making special doc's appointments, researching about the next trip to Ethiopia, making video of A...

Thanksgiving prep and Christmas prep and buying gifts

This is a busy time and somehow I need to slow down, live each moment, and experience the presence of God in it. Or else my life will be just tasks and not people.

I do love this life though. I love being my own manager of my own time, the freedom to study with my kids what I think is important (Compassion for the poor is a great school subject; they are getting exposed to language #4 up close and personal)and the adventure of the call of God.