Take Time for Thanksgiving

It's Nov. 1, the unofficial start of the holiday season. Some radio stations start playing Christmas music today. Stores will begin inundating us with Christmas sales flyers. We'll begin making plans for spending Christmas with friends and family. Our calendars will quickly begin to fill up.

And somewhere in all this hustle and bustle, we'll fly through Thanksgiving and straight into Christmas. Thanksgiving tends to be the forgotten holiday. It's the holiday we skim through to get to Christmas. There's no big hype about Thanksgiving. It's become a day where we get together with family, eat Turkey, watch some football and read the ads for the big sales on Black Friday.

But Thanksgiving is important, and it offers an opportunity to focus our families' attention on all that we have to be grateful for. We can choose to use the month of November to create grateful hearts in our families.

Like we did last year, Everyday Truth is going to offer a daily family devotional that will focus your families' hearts on being thankful. Starting tomorrow, we're going to focus on one thing we can be thankful for each day. It is my prayer that by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, you'll have a family that really celebrated giving thanks.

Today, I want to give you the tools to get ready for this year's series of devotionals. A thankful heart is an attitude that comes when we look around and instead of seeing the problems and bad things in the world, we find ways to give thanks for all that we have. Being thankful creates joy in our hearts and can completely change our outlook on the world.

God has given us so much, and He loves to hear our praise and thanksgiving. Too often, we simply accept His blessings and forget to be thankful. Instead our attitude should be like David in 1 Chronicles 29:13, "Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name."

Spend some time today thinking about all the things for which you are thankful. Write them down on a piece of paper. Add to the list as the day goes on. Pray and thank God for each of those things as you write them down. It is only when our own hearts are full of thanksgiving that we can show our children how a thankful heart contributes to a joyful home.

Take a minute to create a "Thanksgiving wall" in your house. In years past, we've made a Thanksgiving tree out of grocery sacks. Simply cut out a trunk and some branches out of brown paper or brown grocery sacks. Use colorful construction paper to cut out leaves for your tree. Each day, your family will write down what they are thankful for on the leaves, and you'll attach them to the tree. Younger kids love the tree.

A simpler version of the "Thanksgiving wall" and one that appeals to kids of all ages is to grab a pad of sticky notes. Whenever you do your devotional for the day, hand out a sticky note to each family member and have them write what they are thankful for on the sticky note. Then stick the sticky note to the wall.

We'll use the "Thanksgiving wall" every day until Thanksgiving. By the end of the month, you should have a wall covered with things to be thankful for.

Don't miss Thanksgiving this year. Take the time to offer up praise and thanksgiving to God. Focus your family's attention on the things God has given you. Make this a month of praise and thanksgiving before you rush into the Christmas season.

Memory Monday: Turning Chores Into Joy

I hate cooking dinner. Oh, I don't mind the actual cooking part. I just hate being responsible for making a meal every night that is nutritious and everyone in my family will eat. Squeezing that meal into a time slot that means we can all sit down together is another challenge in the cooking dinner process. If I had my choice, we'd eat out a whole lot more. Unfortunately, our entertainment budget tells me that's not going to happen.

I've been pretty discontent about the whole cooking dinner process the past couple weeks. Because of soccer tournaments and other weekend commitments, most of the money in our entertainment envelope has gone toward eating lunch on the weekends, which means six nights of cooking dinner every week. (In this house, everyone fends for themselves on Sunday night.)

I haven't had the best attitude about feeding my family. There's been lots of mental grumbling in the kitchen around 5:30 every night. To me, cooking dinner is a chore. It's a task that has to be done every day. Some days, I'd honestly rather clean the toilets than figure out what we're having for dinner.

In our lives, there are lots of things that fall under the category of "chore." They are those things that must be done but that we simply don't enjoy. Those things are different for everyone. Some of you think I'm weird because I don't like to cook dinner, but picking up after your kids is a chore for you. Some of you may not care for doing mountains of laundry every week.

Our kids suffer through repetitive tasks they don't enjoy as well. Some of our kids don't like a certain subject at school. Some of them hate cleaning up after the dog. Some don't like practicing their instrument.

Whatever the task, God wants us to do our best. He doesn't want us to whine and complain about the things we don't enjoy. He wants us to do even the tasks we don't care for with a joyful heart. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Even in the midst of those "chores" we find less than enjoyable, God asks that we find joy in Him.

So, how do we change our attitude and the attitude of our children when it comes to things we consider drudgery? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 has the answer:

• Rejoice always. Find something in your task to be joyful about. If you're scrubbing the kitchen floor, find joy in the fact you have a floor to scrub. When your child spills their full bowl of cereal all over that clean floor (as mine just did), find joy in the fact you can get down on your hands and knees and help her clean it up. Many people have physical ailments that prevent them from doing that simple task. When your child grouses about doing their chores, remind them to find joy in the fact they get to help out and be a contributing member of your family.
• Pray continually. Add prayer to the equation. While you're doing that thing you dislike, pray. As you fold your sixteenth load of laundry for the week, pray over each family member who wears those clothes. As you cook dinner, pray for the health of your family. Encourage your kids to pray during that class they dislike. Show them how to pray for their teacher and to thank God for the ability to learn.
• Give thanks in all things. It's almost impossible to have an attitude of thankfulness and a grumbling heart at the same time. Replace your grumblings with thankfulness. As you clean the toilets, thank God for the miracle of indoor plumbing. As you vaccuum, thank Him for the ability to live in a clean home. Get your kids into the habit of practicing gratitude, as well. When they grumble, ask them to find one thing about their situation for which they can be thankful.

Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and use it as a guide for making those unpleasant tasks in your life jobs filled with joy. Your family will grumble less, your attitude will improve and your life will be full of joy.

Trumpet Envy

We have a case of trumpet envy going on in our house. This is the first year my oldest daughter can play in the band. She's never played an instrument before and decided she wanted to play the trumpet.

My husband played the trumpet, so we had an old one in our basement. It's not the prettiest trumpet in the world. It has some bumps and dings, and the valve slides are a bit sticky. But it works, and it's paid for.

My daughter was happy with her trumpet and excited at the prospect of getting to play her dad's instrument. Until everyone else opened their trumpet cases in band yesterday.

Last night at dinner our daughter was telling us how ugly her trumpet was compared to everyone else's. Everyone else has a shiny, new trumpet. She told us how much she wished her trumpet was shiny and new, too.

Until yesterday, my daughter was thrilled with her trumpet. But the minute she compared her trumpet to everyone else's trumpet, her excitement about her instrument faded. She let envy strip her of joy.

Envy is one of those emotions that hurts the person feeling it the most. I think that's why God made it one of the 10 Commandments. He knew how destructive it can be. Proverbs 14:30 says "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." That's not a pretty picture, but it's an accurate one.

Envy eats away at us. It steals our contentment and our joy. Nothing good ever comes from envy. It destroys relationships and causes us to make poor choices. Envy can leave us in financial ruin.

Learning to avoid the envy trap is important to maintaining our joy. When envy rears its ugly head in your household, be wise and get rid of it quickly -- before it has time to rot the bones.

• Counteract envy by counting your blessings. When one of your kids is envious of something another person has, take a minute to help them count their own blessings. Ask them to list five things that they do have for which they are thankful. It's hard to have a thankful heart and an envious one at the same time.
• Talk about the difference between envy and desire. It's OK to want something; that's desire. It's not OK to want something so badly that we are unhappy when someone else has it; that's envy. We all have things that we would like to have. It's when that wanting crosses the line to unhappiness that we are letting envy get the upper hand.
• Take a piece of bread and let it sit out until it gets moldy. Show the bread to your kids. Explain that envy is like that mold. The mold takes over the bread until eventually there's nothing left of the bread. Envy can take hold in our hearts and take over until there's no room for anything else.

Envy is a destructive and useless emotion. It steals joy. It hurts relationships. And it takes over our lives.

As my daughter walks out the door with trumpet in hand today, I'll be reminding her of all the beautiful music her trumpet has already made, hoping to slay the envy dragon before it takes hold.

What shards of envy do you need to pluck out of your family's life today?

Friday Introductions: Jesus and My Orange Juice

A couple of years ago, I bought a new Christmas decoration for our home. I was at a craft fair, and I fell in love with a big, wooden cutout of the word JOY. In the center of the O, there is a wooden cut out of the manger scene. It stands about 2 1/2 feet tall.

I brought it home and set it on the mantel at Christmastime. The first time my husband saw it, he looked at it and said, "It screams joy." That decoration reminds us of the source of our joy. It's big enough that it's not overwhelmed by our 10-foot ceilings and our 7 1/2-foot Christmas tree. It's the first thing your eye notices when you walk into our family room.

That decoration captures the source of our joy and reminds us that because Jesus came to earth as a baby and died, we no longer have to be separated from God. And that brings us joy.

We want our lives to reflect that joy. We want to be like my Christmas decoration. We want our lives to "scream" JOY.

Because joy draws people in. It makes people want what we have -- a never-ending source of joy. Even in the midst of difficult times, we draw our joy from God. Psalm 30:5 tells us "weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning." While the world may seem bleak, God promises joy will come. All we have to do is tap into the source of that joy.
 
My friend Shannon Milholland provided some great insight into this verse this week in her blog Jesus and My Orange Juice. Shannon is a mother to four girls, wife to her husband Scott, and a talented speaker and writer. Her blog gleans spiritual wisdom and truth from the everyday events in her and her family's lives. Usually short, her devotional style writing offers a scripture, a story and a Biblical truth in each post. I know you'll love reading her blog as much as I do.
 
Check out Shannon's blog and as you go through this weekend, assess whether your life shouts JOY to others. If not, spend some time with God, simply tapping into the source of our joy.

Joy Busters

I was tempted this morning not to finish out this short series on joy and contentment. It’s not been the best week with a sore body and a wrecked car. On top of that several things have broken, my kids have been at each others’ throats because we’ve been stuck at home and I’ve struggled to get anything done.


I got up this morning thinking today would be easy. My kids are spending the next four days at GrandCamp, their annual summer camp with Grandmommy and Granddaddy. My days are open. The only other creature I have to look out for is the dog.

Ah, yes, the dog. Our beautiful German short-haired pointer who never has accidents in the house. The first thing I got to do this morning was clean up a lovely present he left for me in his crate. I really don’t think he was any happier about it than I was, but I have to tell you my attitude of joy and contentment has already been sorely tried this morning.

After cleaning up his mess, I sat down here at the computer to write only to discover that my Internet isn’t working. My whole day today revolves around catching up on my freelance projects, which requires an Internet connection. Joy and contentment were not the first words that came to mind.

I don’t know about you, but it seems the more I focus on having an attitude of joy and contentment, the harder it becomes. Satan loves to throw things in my path that make me work for that attitude.

And, you know what? I can’t have an attitude of joy and contentment on my own. I’m simply not strong enough, nor focused enough. Joy and contentment come from God and only through His strength can we achieve a consistent attitude of joy and contentment.

Philippians 4:13 tells us “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” That includes finding our joy and contentment in Him.

There’s always going to be something trying to tear our focus off of God. When we lose our focus on Him, we lose our source of strength. When we rely on our own strength to find contentment and joy, we fail. When we rely on God’s strength to find contentment and joy, we are filled up with His strength and we can remain focused on Him, the source of joy and contentment.

Illustrate this for your kids by hanging a picture on the wall. Tell them to walk from one end of the room to the picture while looking at the picture. Repeat the exercise, only have them look at something else in the room while walking toward the picture. Lastly, blindfold them and have them walk to the picture.

Explain that when we keep our eyes on the picture, we can walk in a straight line to it. When we lose sight of the picture, either by looking at something else or not being able to see it, it’s much harder to walk toward the picture.

God is the picture. When we take our eyes off of Him, we wander away from the source of our strength. We want to keep our eyes on Him so He can give us the strength for whatever comes our way.

Don’t let whatever frustrations that come your way today rob you of joy and contentment. Keep your eyes on God and let Him fill you with the strength and joy that only come from Him. In that, you will find contentment.

An Attitude of Joy

It isn't easy for adults to be joyful in the midst of difficult circumstances. It's even tougher for kids. Children, with their concrete-thinking minds and lack of maturity, live in the moment. They often can't see beyond the immediate. Often they act like the crisis of the moment will never end.

So, living with an attitude of joy in the midst of difficult circumstances is hard. We need to help our kids see that joy is a choice. It's not dependent on what is happening to you. It's dependent on knowing that God is in control and that He loves us and wants a relationship with us.

Paul says in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" He doesn't say "Rejoice when things are going well" or "Rejoice when everything is just the way you want it." He says "Rejoice in the Lord, always."

That seems impossible. Crummy stuff happens in our and our kids' lives. Someone makes fun of your child at school. Your daughter doesn't make the soccer team she tried out for. Your son strikes out three times at his baseball game. People get sick. Finances are in a shambles.

Yet in the midst of those trying moments, the Bible says "Rejoice!" Because we know that this is not all there is. We know that the eternity we gain when we accept Christ into our hearts is so much better than this troubled world. When we live with an eternal perspective, we discover that we have reason for joy.

Joy is a condition of the heart. It's not dependent on anything going on in our lives. We can be joyful even in the midst of the most dire circumstances because we know that God is in control and we have a relationship with Him because Jesus died on the cross for us.

Teaching our kids the difference between joy and happiness when they are young will give them an eternal perspective from which to approach the trials and frustrations of this life.

• Have your kids make a list of the things that make them happy. Think of Maria in "The Sound of Music," singing "My Favorite Things." That's the type of list your kids are creating. Have them write down the things that give them a pick-me-up. Talk about how all of those things are external things. They are things we can do or see or touch or eat. While they may make us happy for a few moments, they won't give us a long-term joy. Explain that our joy -- a long-term attitude -- comes from knowing God and having a relationship with Him. That type of joy lets us have a joyful attitude even when our external circumstances stink.
• Give your kids a Goldfish cracker or some other type of easily crushable cracker. Put the cracker on a paper towel. Tell your child to crush the cracker with his fingers and look at what happens. Then give your kids a wooden block. Ask them to crush the block with their fingers. The cracker will break into a bunch of tiny pieces, but unless you have a child with Herculean strength, the block won't even budge. Explain that bad things happen in our lives, and we can choose to either let those things crush us or we can choose to find joy in God despite our circumstance. If we choose to let external circumstances dictate our attitude, we're like the Goldfish -- easily crushed. But if we choose to find our joy in our relationship with God, we are like the block, and we can stand firm in the face of difficulties.

Help your kids understand that happiness is fleeting, but joy gives us strength. An attitude of joy lets us face whatever comes our way strong in the knowledge that the God of the universe loves us and He wants to have a relationship with us. That is the source of our joy, and no outside circumstance can take that joy away.

Memory Monday: Being Content (Philippians 4:11-13)

I’m teaching on joy at our Women’s Summer Series at church tonight. We’re going to walk through the book of Philippians and discover how our joy comes from knowing God and all that He’s done for us and not from our circumstances.


I received lots of opportunities this weekend to practice what I’m preaching. Saturday morning started out great. I got the best night’s sleep on Friday night that I’d had in weeks and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to strike things off my to-do list on this rare open Saturday in our family. I even decided to take my youngest daughter rollerblading.

About a quarter mile from home, I did something I have never done on my rollerblades. I wiped out – badly. Road rash on my leg, a badly bruised shoulder and a knock on the head. Without my helmet and wrist guards, I probably would have broken something. I spent the rest of my day trying not to move too quickly.

Yesterday, still feeling sore, we went to a different church to hear a friend speak and had the opportunity to enjoy lunch with our friends. On the way home, we got in a car wreck. Everyone was fine, but the front of my car is a mangled mess.

This morning, my shoulder is still sore, my car is still undriveable and my to-do list is as long as it was when the weekend began.

Yet, in my brain, I hear the words of Paul in Philippians 4:11-13, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

Now, Paul’s circumstances were way worse than my weekend when he wrote those words. He was under house arrest in Rome, dependent on friends for his well-being, unable to leave his home and guarded around the clock by Roman soldiers.

I have to tell you that as I was lying on the pavement trying to decide how badly I was injured, I wasn’t content. Nor was contentment my first reaction when I first got a glimpse of the front of my car after our wreck.

As I studied for my teaching time, though, I realized that my source of joy isn’t found in whether my car works or my body doesn’t hurt. My joy comes from knowing God and all that He has done for me.

Paul found joy despite his circumstances because he knew his joy came from his salvation in Christ. He found contentment because he relied on God’s strength and not his own.

When we find ourselves in circumstances beyond our control that threaten to rob us of our joy, we need to refocus on God and ask Him to give us the strength to be content despite our circumstances. We must find our joy in knowing that God loves us and sent His son to die for us.

The rest of this week’s blogs are going to focus on teaching our kids how to find joy in Christ and contentment through God’s strength. As you memorize these verses this week, keep your hearts focused on the joy of knowing Christ died for you – and not on your circumstances.

Joy Shared

I'm sure the neighbors heard us celebrating last night. My beloved Boston Bruins brought home the Stanley Cup for the first time in 39 years last night.

I didn't have to console my 8-year-old with a speech about how sometimes we work really hard for something, but it just doesn't work out and the important thing is that we do our best. Instead, we got to watch Bruins captain Zdeno Chara hoist the cup over his head, then give it a big kiss. It was a wonderful moment, made even sweeter because I had someone with which to share it.

You see, I've been in this spot before. Besides being a Bruins fan, I'm a Red Sox fan. When the Sox ended their 86-year World Series title drought in 2004, my parents were out of the country, my daughters were too little to care, and my husband thinks my sports obsession is a bit over the top. When the Red Sox won, there was no one with whom to celebrate. While the victory was sweet, it was lonely.

Last night, my daughters were granted a bedtime reprieve to watch the game. When the final seconds clicked off the clock, we all cheered together. We discussed the great plays of the game and watched the Bruins goalie pick up his well-earned MVP award.

Even had the Bruins lost, it would have been easier to bear with the commiseration of my girls. We would have discussed what a great run it had been and dissected the missed opportunities. Sorrow shared would have been sorrow lessened.

Life is a lot like our hockey celebration. It's much sweeter when it's shared. God never intended for us to go about life alone. One of the first things God said after He created the world was "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18)

God knew that life lived by yourself is a lonely existence. We were made for companionship -- the companionship of a spouse, friends, children and family. Shared joy is sweeter, and shared sorrows are lighter.

Sometimes, we thinkt that we can go it alone. We don't need companionship to grow spiritually. We don't need anyone to share in our lives. But God never intended for us to be Lone Ranger Christ-followers. Even Jesus surrounded Himself with companionship in His disciples.

If you're trying to go it alone, stop. Find someone with whom you share some common interests and begin sharing your life. This requires openness and transparency, and it's not always easy. Opening ourselves up to others brings with the inherent risk that that person can hurt us. But if we shut ourselves off from the rest of the world and make no effort to connect with others, then we condemn ourselves to a life half-lived. A life where there's no one with whom to celebrate the joys or share the sorrows.

And, if we live a life without reaching out to others, we teach our kids to rely only on themselves as well. We rob them of the opportunity to share their joys and lessen their sorrows. We teach them that living an insular life is good because it lessens your chances for hurt. But they lose the opportunity to enjoy the amazing diversity of people God puts in their path.

God intended for our lives to be shared. He doesn't want us to walk alone. If you have created a life where there is no one to share your laughter or your tears, reach out today. Ask God to show you people with whom you can connect.

And if you are connected with others, look outside your small circle of friends to find someone who needs connection, too. Draw them in and begin to share in their lives. Life will be sweeter for both of you.

Playing in the Rain

It rained here on Friday -- a good, soaking rain that my garden loved. Apparently, so did my oldest daughter. As we were driving in the car, she said "I hope it keeps raining, so I can play in the rain."

My kids don't play in the rain on a regular basis. Kansas is home to severe thunderstorms in the spring and summer, which negates the possibility of playing while it's raining. Lightning tends to put a damper on the playfulness of the situation. The only other type of rain we get is generally the cold, freezing kind, which doesn't make for good playing either.

But one day last summer, we had a passing shower. It might have rained for about 20 minutes with no threat of lightning. My daughter had some friends over, and they went out and danced in the rain. They splashed in puddles and generally had a fantastic time. They got soaked, but they dried. My daughter remembers that as one of the most fun experiences she's ever had. And she's been looking for another opportunity to play and dance in the rain ever since.

Too many times when figurative rain falls in our lives, we don't view it as an opportunity to rejoice. We let the situation suck the joy out of our lives. And we teach our kids to do the same.

Sick kids, lost jobs and other crises don't, at first glance, seem like a time to rejoice. But, neither does a rainstorm look like an opportunity to dance. The thing is that circumstances should not have the ability to suck away our joy because joy is not dependent on our circumstances. We can dance in the rain because our joy is found in God, not our circumstances.

Paul says in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" This statement from a man sitting in a Roman prison at the time. The rain was pouring on his head, yet he was encouraging others to rejoice in God.

Use your next rainstorm to teach your kids to find joy in God even in the most trying situation. Choose a "safe" rain and take your kids outside. Let them play and get soaked. While you're out there, talk with your kids about how the rain is like the bad stuff that happens in our lives. It comes down and it soaks us. If we let it, it can rob us of our joy, just like the rain makes us unhappy if we're stuck inside all the time or it cancels an event we've been looking forward to.

Explain that we can choose to dance and play in the rain in spite of those things. And, we can choose to find joy even in the most difficult circumstances. Talk about how happiness and joy are different. Happiness comes from things that happen around us. Joy comes from God. We can choose to be joyful because we know that God is with us. Our circumstances may be difficult, but God is bigger than our circumstances. We can always be joyful because He loves us and is always with us.


So, when the rain is pouring down on your head, turn your face toward the sky and let it soak you. Turn your back on your circumstances and find your joy in knowing God keeps His promises. Your situation may not change but your heart will.

At the End of My Rope

I pray in the shower nearly every morning. Some days, it's the only time of my day that I get entirely to myself. Yesterday morning, my prayer went something like this:

"Dear God, I appreciate the confidence you have in my ability to handle things, but don't you think we've had enough? My hands are rope-burned from slipping down this rope, and it appears the knot at the bottom that is holding me up is beginning to fray. Could you please make my kids well, my deadlines met and make me be a nice person again?"

Perhaps not the most inspiring prayer, but it was honest. You see, I can't remember the last time both my kids went to school for an entire week. I think it was sometime before spring break. Amoxicillin has become the sixth food group around here. I haven't had a full night's sleep in a while. I'm behind on my deadlines for a freelance project. I'm not sure when the last time my kitchen floor got mopped was. And our family is dealing long-distance with all the emotions involved in moving my grandmother into a nursing home facility today.

Our Easter Sunday started with my husband and I going to church mad at each other. Despite the beautiful exterior of our family in their new Easter dresses, we were defnitely not in a joyful mood. The stress of the past few weeks has definitely caught up with me. Many evenings, I don't want to treasure the moments with my kids -- I just want them to go to bed.

None of the things that have happened in our family are huge or terrible, but the combined weight of all of them has turned this once loving and happy mom into something of a shrew. And you know what happens when mom's attitude is out of whack, right? Everyone's attitude begins to need an adjustment.

Now that I've shattered any illusions you might have had about what goes on in our house, I want to share with you the verse that I'm clinging to these days. It's a short verse, but a great reminder of from where our strength comes. Ephesians 6:10 says "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."

You see, that rope I'm clinging to? It's going to fray and swing with the trials of life. No matter how many knots I tie in it, they're going to come undone. All the little burdens of life are going to eventually be too much weight for my grip to handle, and I'm going to fall. Unless I'm letting God put his hands over mine, and I'm using his power to give me strength.

So often, when trouble heads my way, the first thing I try to do is solve it myself. You know what these past weeks have taught me? I control very little, and I certainly don't have enough strength to keep from falling. I don't even have enough strength on my own to control my attitude. I need God. I need the power that He offers because on my own I will fail. Every. Single. Time.

So, when life has you feelling like your rope is fraying and you feel like you're headed over the cliff, tap into the only source of power that's going to keep you going. Join me in throwing up your hands and letting God take over. Because His power is more than enough to handle the accumulated weight of all those little things that are causing your rope to fray. It's His power that will allow you to once again find joy in your role, and your family will thank you.

Learning to Be Content

Our church's women's retreat is coming up in March with a theme of "Rejoice!" I'm helping to set up the breakout sessions, and in preparation for that, I've begun studying the book of Philippians. Yesterday, I was struck by these words from Paul in Philippians 4:11-13:

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

I have read those words many times before but yesterday the word "learned" struck me. I began to think about how you would go about learning to be content. We live in one of the most materialistic cultures in the world. We have so much in this country, yet we are always wanting more. Many Americans live on credit that so overextends them that their lives are one big ball of stress caused by trying to figure out how to make ends meet.

Imagine how much less stress we would have in our lives if we learned to be content. I don't know what happens in your home, but it seems that as soon as Christmas is over, my kids start talking about the things that they want for their birthdays, which are four and six months away. The only way our kids will learn to be content in all circumstances, with both their material possessions and with their life circumstances is if we teach them how to do that.

The tempation is to remind our children how good they have it. Did your mother ever tell you to clean your plate because "there are starving children in Africa?" Did you ever wonder how those two things were related? Was your mother going to scrape the stuff off your plate, put it in a box and send it to those kids in Africa?

Kids need concrete, non-preachy ways to help them understand the idea of contentment, which is simply finding joy in your own circumstances. Because our joy does not come from our situation but from knowing God through Jesus, we should be able to find contentment in any circumstance. Open your kids' eyes to the way other children in other parts of the world (and even in places near your home) live, but do it in such a way that it teaches them contentment--not makes them wonder what the connection is.

• When your kids start to get the "gimme's" for things that are well beyond their reach, help them to focus on the blessings in their own lives. Gently turn the conversation to the things they have to be thankful for. Play a game to see who can name the most things for which they are thankful.
• Participate in service projects that allow your kids to help other kids, both locally and abroad. Help out at a local soup kitchen. Collect books for a local school or homeless shelter. Get your kids involved in choosing the people they want to help. If at all possible, let your kids tour a facility that helps kids in some way, whether it be a homeless shelter or a ministry partner in the inner city. Give your kids an up-close look at how some other kids live.
• Work together to sponsor a child through a Christian organization. Most child sponsorships cost only $30-50 a month. Talk about all the things that your sponsored child receives for that small amount of money. Find out all you can about how your sponsored child lives and compare it to how your children live.
• Talk about contentment with your kids. Read Philippians 4 with them and talk about how Paul was in prison when he wrote those words. As a family, make a list of the things that make you content. Focus on the intangible rather than the tangible. Make up scenarios that take away material things and ask your kids how they could be content. For example, "You live in a tent in the forest, how can you be content?"

Contentment is learned. The most important way you can teach it to your children is to be content yourself. If your kids see you constantly striving to "get more" and never being content with what you have, then that is what they will consider normal. If you have never learned to be content, spend some time with God asking Him to show you how to be content in your current circumstances. Remember that our contentment comes from our joy in Christ, not from any material possessions. When we focus on that, we, too, can learn to be content.

Rejoice!

There's less than two weeks until Christmas, and I still have Christmas presents to buy and make. We haven't taken the kids on our annual trek to look at Christmas lights or to see the penguin house (a house in our city that has more penguin blow-ups than you would imagine existed). We haven't made a trip to see Santa yet. Every day this week is packed with activity from sports practices to school Christmas parties to church obligations.

I know many of you are in the same boat. This is the time of year when the Christmas season goes from joyful to stressful for so many. It seems like there's so much to be done and not enough time to do it. Despite all our best intentions, the stress of family interactions, Christmas traditions and our own expectations begin to weigh us down and suck the joy out of our celebration of Christ's birth.

So, today, take a moment to rejoice. Whether your house is clean, your baking done or your presents wrapped, take a few minutes to focus on the reason for joy. The angel told the shepherds "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." (Luke 2:10) That joy isn't dependent on your circumstances. It doesn't matter if your in-laws drive you crazy or if you haven't finished that last Christmas present. That joy doesn't depend on whether your tree is picture perfect or your Christmas cards have been mailed.

The only thing our joy depends on is Jesus. So, spend a moment or two rejoicing that Jesus, the King and Creator of the world, came to earth as a baby and died so that you and I would no longer be separated from God.

• Gather your kids and sing some Christmas carols -- ones that celebrate Christ's birth.
• Have a birthday party to celebrate Jesus' birth. Have some cake and ice cream.
• Spend some time reading the Christmas story aloud from the Bible as a family. Talk about why the angels declared Jesus' birth a cause for joy.
• Remind your children that joy is not dependent on circumstances -- it comes from knowing that Jesus' died for us, rose again and bridged the gap between us and God.

So, today, I say to you "Rejoice, and again I say rejoice!"

Don't Forget to Have Fun

The winner of my prize for offering feedback on the blog goes to Ginger in Texas. Ginger, use the contact us link on the right to send me your address, and I'll send the book your way. Thanks everyone for all the feedback. Don't hesitate to continue to let me know how I can serve you through this blog. Enjoy today's post.

Our Saturdays have been packed lately. We've had company and soccer tournaments, hockey tryouts and Girl Scout ice cream parties. But, this past Saturday, we found ourselves with an open day on the calendar, so we decided not to jump into a home-improvement project or fill the time with errands. We took a day to have fun and took our kids to the Old Settler's Day festival. We rode rides, watched the parade, wandered around craft booths and ate cotton candy. We enjoyed each other's company and spent time laughing together.

I don't know about your family, but we sometimes get so busy doing our "stuff" that we forget to make time to just have fun. We have three nights a week of sport practice, one day every other week of Girl Scouts, and one night a week of AWANA. Sometimes it seems like it's hard to fit any fun, family time in. But it's those fun, family moments that your kids will remember. Those moments are the glue that binds your family together. Think back on your own childhood. You probably don't remember every soccer game or dance recital, but I bet you do remember the camping trip where your brother fell in the lake or the bike ride where mom got a flat tire.

Making time to have fun with your family might seem hard, but it doesn't have to be. On nights when we don't have some kind of activity, we try to do something together as a family. Some nights we watch TV (my kids love that crazy show WipeOut), others we play games, and some nights we go out and shoot hoops or play street hockey. Some evenings, we just take the dog for a walk. You may only have an hour together as a family some nights, so make the most of it. The dishes will wait, but your kids won't.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 says "there is a time to weep and a time to laugh." Make sure that your family's life includes those moments of laughter. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Get a joke book from the library, and spend one evening reading jokes to each other.
• Go camping together. There's nothing like getting away from the TV and the distractions to enjoy some time together.
• Go for a walk together.
• Surprise your kids by going out for ice cream.
• Have a video game tournament. Pick a game you all enjoy, and let the winner keep the controller. See who can hold onto their controller the longest.
• Read a book out loud together.
• Play board games together.
• Tell a silly story together. Let one person give the first sentence and everyone has to add a sentence after that.
• Announce a topic and have everyone draw a picture of it. Vote on whose picture is the funniest, the most realistic, the most colorful, etc.

Whatever you choose to do, make the most of whatever moments you have together. Be intentional about having fun together because those shared moments of joy will bind your family together in ways you can't begin to imagine.