On my drive to work this morning I heard a new song, or at least new to me, which describes Christmas in Australia.This song was written by the group Revive and can be found here. My first reaction upon hearing this was that it was a fun song set to the tune of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I would ask that each of you take the time to listen to this song before I continue and see if you can determine the 1 problem I have with it....... Go Ahead Listen, Really, I'll Wait........
Waiting.........
Ok, now that hopefully you have all listened to the song, you can tell me the one problem with this song? The one problem (in my opinion) of this song is that when listing the 3 things that are common between Australia and the United States is that: 1. We like to get new stuff 2. Jesus' Birth and 3. We eat too much. No this isn't a huge deal but it still shocked me that number one of their list was"we like to get new stuff" and then "Jesus' birth". It amazes me that as Christians we still put "stuff" ahead of Jesus even if its not intentional. Please everyone remember that stuff isn't the reason for Christmas. Don't let stuff get in the way of celebrating Christ.
I know everyone is probably posting something similar to this about not focusing on the gifts, but have you ever thought about what giving gifts to your children could be teaching them? Do they really know the real meaning of Christmas? Are they more excited to celebrate Jesus' birth then receive gifts? Are we?
I have no intention of hurting anyone with this post. Jacob and I still give gifts to each other as well as family members. We have just been re-evaluating Christmas and this is just another thing that makes us think. Everyone can make their own decisions regarding Christmas and gifts, I just wanted to share some thoughts Jacob and I are having.
Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Our Christmas Traditions
I have been thinking a lot of the past few weeks on how Jacob and I will celebrate holidays, particularly Christmas when we are away from our family and someday have children of our own. We know of many couples that have waited to start Christmas traditions and waited to start thinking about how they would celebrate until they have a child who is old enough to understand. Jacob and I have thought much differently. We want our Christmas (and Thanksgiving) traditions to be instilled in us by the time we have children. We want to know how we will celebrate this as a family and start now, well because we are a family. My husband and I are a family. No matter how small and even though we don't have children yet, we are a family and need to begin our traditions now.
Last year, 2009, was our first Christmas together married and we spend it celebrating with my parents in the usual Christmas traditions I grew up with. This year, our last year in MI before seminary, will be spent with Jacob's family celebrating their usual Christmas traditions. I am very excited to be a part of these Christmas traditions and all the while learning and praying on how WE will spend our Christmas.
As a future pastor family we have to think a lot about how we SHOW God's love and LIVE what the Bible teaches. I believe that everyone should be living what they believe but over the past year it has become so much more important to me to LIVE it since I will be a pastors wife (God willing) and will be able to show many others how to live. Please remember this has been my personal conviction at the moment. I believe that I am suppose to be active in my husbands ministry and be a family that can lead others in our congregation. As such, I want our home to be a safe and open environment for anyone to come in, but I also want it to be a place of worship especially during the holidays.
Do we give presents to each other to give to those we love and teach our children how to give joyfully? Do we not give presents to each other but instead give to those in need? Do we donate something we own for every new item that enters the house? Do we spend the day in service to others, or as time with family? How do we celebrate advent? Will we celebrate advent?
There are SO many questions that we have and issues we have been praying on. How we chose to spend our Christmas Eve and Christmas will have a major impact on us and our future family and future generations. Everything Jacob and I do now has an impact on not only our children but also the future generations of this world. The traditions we instill now will be those that will (hopefully) be carried on through our children and their children.
Take a moment today to think about your family traditions and what these traditions are teaching your children, or have taught your children. It's never to late to start new family traditions. I would encourage all of you to pray for those you know who don't have family close by to celebrate with and maybe take the extra step and invite them into your family traditions.
Last year, 2009, was our first Christmas together married and we spend it celebrating with my parents in the usual Christmas traditions I grew up with. This year, our last year in MI before seminary, will be spent with Jacob's family celebrating their usual Christmas traditions. I am very excited to be a part of these Christmas traditions and all the while learning and praying on how WE will spend our Christmas.
As a future pastor family we have to think a lot about how we SHOW God's love and LIVE what the Bible teaches. I believe that everyone should be living what they believe but over the past year it has become so much more important to me to LIVE it since I will be a pastors wife (God willing) and will be able to show many others how to live. Please remember this has been my personal conviction at the moment. I believe that I am suppose to be active in my husbands ministry and be a family that can lead others in our congregation. As such, I want our home to be a safe and open environment for anyone to come in, but I also want it to be a place of worship especially during the holidays.
Do we give presents to each other to give to those we love and teach our children how to give joyfully? Do we not give presents to each other but instead give to those in need? Do we donate something we own for every new item that enters the house? Do we spend the day in service to others, or as time with family? How do we celebrate advent? Will we celebrate advent?
There are SO many questions that we have and issues we have been praying on. How we chose to spend our Christmas Eve and Christmas will have a major impact on us and our future family and future generations. Everything Jacob and I do now has an impact on not only our children but also the future generations of this world. The traditions we instill now will be those that will (hopefully) be carried on through our children and their children.
Take a moment today to think about your family traditions and what these traditions are teaching your children, or have taught your children. It's never to late to start new family traditions. I would encourage all of you to pray for those you know who don't have family close by to celebrate with and maybe take the extra step and invite them into your family traditions.
Friday, December 10, 2010
November Newsletter
Here is a little bit from our November Newsletter. If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter to hear more please send us an email and we will add you.
November
November has held many changes. The month has gone by in a flash, and at the same time this month has crawled slowly towards an end.
*A Flash-
In November Jacob secured a transfer from Hobby Lobby in Michigan to Hobby Lobby in St. Louis. Amy worked diligently finding addresses and sending out literally hundreds of letters. We found housing in a wonderful spot of St. Louis, with a neighborhood atmosphere (and plenty of neighbors with dogs for Wallace to play with!). We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to see both sides of our great big family, which was truly special. Not everyone has a family to celebrate with, let alone two wonderfully supportive sides. November saw multiple safe trips to St. Louis and during each trip we were had clear specific examples of God’s particular grace shed on us.
*Crawling Slowly-
Between so many exciting things happening and our efforts to move to St. Louis one would think the month of November felt like a whirlwind. Yet God had several challenges which forced both of us to slow down, and prayerfully consider both the ongoing and upcoming challenges. For all the efforts in preparation of moving to St. Louis, we still weren’t in St. Louis. Throughout November God provided several instances where both of us were confronted and convicted about patience and God’s timing. November certainly was a flash and a crawl.
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| Taken by Kaleigh Calogero |
Thursday, December 2, 2010
String Cheese and Snow
Hey everyone! We have been busy packing and preparing for our move, as well as working on prayer/support letters to send to all of those that we love and love us. Although I haven't been posting as much as I would like (I now have a page of ideas to post about), I am still keeping track of all my blessings throughout the day. If you missed my earlier post, I am trying to write as many blessings a day as I can and see how long it takes for me to count 1000 blessings.
Today I am blessed to have a job that allows me to show God's love to children and the ability to post during nap. String cheese and snow... 2 fun exciting things to start off December. It was so fun to wake up and see snow on the ground! Now given its less then an inch but still snow!! I've been waiting since August for snow and it's finally here!!!! Now string cheese is just a fun thing to eat and something I have learned "my boys" will eat without complaining. Its so nice to have semi-healthy snacks for kids that they won't complain about.
Here are some of the blessings I've recorded over the past few days:
7. car to drive
9. mother in-law
13. stop and go traffic
18. water paints
19. the technology to record sermons and share them with everyone online
22. Our lap dog :)
25. Family celebrations
38. Cars with heat
39. houses w/ heat
40. First snowfall of the year
So far I have 40 blessings! Not to bad only 960 left to get me to my goal! I would encourage all of you to start writing down the blessings in your life each and every day. Its a nice reminder that we are blessed and God is ever with us through everything.
Today I am blessed to have a job that allows me to show God's love to children and the ability to post during nap. String cheese and snow... 2 fun exciting things to start off December. It was so fun to wake up and see snow on the ground! Now given its less then an inch but still snow!! I've been waiting since August for snow and it's finally here!!!! Now string cheese is just a fun thing to eat and something I have learned "my boys" will eat without complaining. Its so nice to have semi-healthy snacks for kids that they won't complain about.
Here are some of the blessings I've recorded over the past few days:
7. car to drive
9. mother in-law
13. stop and go traffic
18. water paints
19. the technology to record sermons and share them with everyone online
22. Our lap dog :)
25. Family celebrations
38. Cars with heat
39. houses w/ heat
40. First snowfall of the year
So far I have 40 blessings! Not to bad only 960 left to get me to my goal! I would encourage all of you to start writing down the blessings in your life each and every day. Its a nice reminder that we are blessed and God is ever with us through everything.
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