family favorites

I mentioned in my last post that we have a small selection of Christmas themed books that stay tucked away in storage for all but one month of the year.  Some of them are silly, some of them have meaning, some are just colourful retellings of the Christmas story.  

As I pulled them out one by one, my heart was full of happy memories reading together.

Here are our top 3 faves:

find it!

This sparkly board book was a treasure when I came across it because it provides a beautiful way to share the real meaning of Christmas while enjoying popular Christmas traditions.

best line from the book:

"The tree that's green when others die

Tells us Jesus came and why...

To give us life, and so we say,

'This Christmastime and every day

Live in us, dear Lord we pray.'"

find it!

A dear friend gave us this book long before our elephant-crazed daughter was born.  The illustrations in this book are the most adorable, and it was the book that caused us to fall in love with little Humphrey!

best line from the book:

"Lottie draws a lovely letter for Father Christmas,

remembers to leave a treat for Rudolph,

then puts her babies to bed.

Mummy reads a special story all about baby Jesus

and has an extra long cuddle."

find it!

We discovered this book at the public library and immediately went out to purchase a copy.  This book was "our story" in 2006 and it made us cry. (and i mean us).

best line from the book:

"Mortimer sniffed.

Moritmer snuffled.

A tear rolled down his furry cheek.

'There was no room for you in the inn. 

But I know where there is room,' he said.....

...He laid the baby in the manger.

'This belongs to you,' he said.

Mortimer smiled.

'You look warm and cozy now.'....

....There was no place for Mortimer to go except back to the cold, cramped, creepy hole.

As Mortimer scuttled down the tree, he said a prayer:

'Jesus, you were born to save the world.

Perhaps you could also bring me a home?' .....

...'Thank you Jesus,' said Mortimer.

'You've made room for me, too.'"

(ok, so that's WAY more than a line....)

What truth from a child's story.

He makes room for us, too.

call it what you will

We started a great discussion yesterday, and I've responded to some of the comments on yesterday's post in the comment section.  Today is part II - written at the same time as yesterday's post (but I didn't want to break any records for the World's Longest Blog Post!).

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I know a person who always seems to see the bright side of things.  Who always seems happy to see you - and everyone else, who loves kids - even the annoying ones - and loves to bring fun into any and every situation.  People sometimes think this person is goofy or oblivious or a pie-in-the-sky Pollyanna.  I have thought it must be exhausting to feel compelled to be so positive and optimistic.  People - Christians - I know have openly mocked this happy-go-lucky attitude and I have rolled my eyes (to my shame) at this person's unending enthusiasm.

Are some people naturally like this?

could be.

I am not naturally positive and optimistic - does that mean I'm destined to a life of negativism, of being a life-sucker rather than a life giver?

maybe not....

In chapter 11 of Gretchen Rubin's book, The Happiness Project, in discussing keeping a contented heart, she comes around to idea of choosing to "give positive reviews."  By her definition this means to be more enthusiastic and to become one of the "joyous ones."  She quickly realizes how very difficult it is to abandon a lifestyle of  enjoying the "delicious satisfaction" of criticizing.  She readily identifies how being critical made her "feel more sophisticated and intelligent" and how studies have shown that "people who are critical are often perceived as more discerning."[p. 268]  As she seeks to keep her resolution to "Give positive reviews," she attempts an intensive approach - no negative comments for one week. 

Could you do that?  I'm not sure I could (certainly not without the Lord's help!)....

Here's what she learned:

"Once I started trying to give positive reviews, though, I began to understand how much happiness I took from the joyous ones in my life - and how much effort it must take for them to be consistently good-tempered and positive. It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light. We non-joyous types suck energy and cheer from the joyous ones; we rely on them to buoy us with their good spirit and to cushion our agitation and anxiety.  At the same time, because of a dark element in human nature, we're sometimes provoked to try to shake the enthusiastic, cheery folk out of their fog of illusion....instead of shielding their joy, we blast it." [p.270]

And I thought of the person I know who is consistently good-tempered, who is one of the joyous ones.  And it occurred to me that this person might not "naturally" be like that.  Perhaps a lifetime of choosing to be positive and enthusiastic has led to the seemingly effortless fun and delight that defines them.  As I continued reading, I was convicted by the realization that it takes a great deal of humility to lay aside the desire and impulse to use "sarcasm, ironic asides and cynical comments" to make myself appear smart and discerning. "A willingness to be pleased," Rubin says, "requires modesty and even innocence - easy to deride as mawkish and sentimental."

Having "ready laughter" is something that I've valued in others and have desired to bless others with.  For me this often means delighting with someone in the "obvious" joke, rather than just smiling out of courtesy.  To be there for those around me, laying aside my personal preferences in humour or entertainment styles.

I've never preferred the word "happy."  Something in me has always considered it unspiritual.  JOY - yes that is good and godly, but it isn't something that is necessarily reflected on the outside.  It's a deep sense of peace and satisfaction that comes from the security of a relationship with the Lord - but doesn't mean you'll be happy.  Happy is fluffy.  Happy is circumstantial.  Happy is for morning people.  Happy isn't necessary for Christians....

found it here
notice the vacancy sign??

I'm thankful for this book because through Rubin's writing, the Lord gave me peace with this little word.  Happy is ok.  Happy is not a feeling in and of itself, it's an external view of my heart.  (Be joyful in hope... Rom 12:12)  For me, happy is the outward display of being joyful.  Happy will draw people in instead of pushing them away.  Happy will reflect the character of a loving God as it reflects that deep sense of joy that comes from a meaningful relationship with Jesus. Happy will enable me to speak joy into the lives of my family, friends and community.  And maybe I'll never achieve the kind of happiness displayed by "the person I know" but I am sure that every time I lay down my pride to show more of what God can do in a person like me, I will make Him happy (pleased, joy-filled, delighted, glad - call it what you will) too.

May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God;

may they be happy and joyful.

Psalm 68:3

choosing

It's been a while since I've posted and I'm not entirely sure what's been stopping me...

ok, as soon as I finished typing that line, I realized that I do know, I'm just not going to talk about it.

Regardless, I need to return The Happiness Project to the friend who let me borrow it but before I do, there are a couple of things I feel compelled to process a little further - and have on "paper" for me to refer back to. 

If you've taken a peek at my "new gadget/widget/whatev" you have seen that I really identified with the author (Gretchen Rubin) of this book, but there was one chapter in particular that actually made me stop reading and think.  This was followed by re-reading, more thinking, reading aloud to my husband and discussing in small chunks for several days (with 3 kids, that's how you discuss just about everything!).

Each of the chapters in this book is a month dedicated to a specific goal - of course, this I love!  In my world goals = gooood! (but more on that in another post).  The November chapter was called: Keep a Contented Heart.  As a Christ-follower, this is not a new concept - who hasn't memorized Philippians 4:11-13 at some point or another?  But one of the things that really struck me as Rubin unfolded what keeping content was going to look like in her life, was how far off the mark I really can be!  I mean, I'm content with my home and possessions, my appearance (most days of the month), my lot in life, my ministry and spiritual gifts - so that's it, right?  Well, look at this....

She breaks down her monthly goals into sub-goals (and of course, this I love!): i) laugh out loud, ii) use good manners, iii) give positive reviews, iv) find an area of refuge.  The first has been something I've been working on for quite a while.  If you have kids, watch their faces when they are able to make you really laugh, with complete abandon - you've never seen such delight!  Choosing to find the fun/funny in things is a gift you give to others.  Here's a quote that will take you right to the point:

found it here

"Responding with laughter meant that I had to give up my pride, my defensiveness, my self-centeredness."

 (page 264)

This is one I had to chew on for quite a while. This doesn't just mean being able to laugh at yourself, though that's part of it.  It means making the choice to let go and just enjoy instead of seeing the down-side of things, or thinking that this world is all about me. 

Yesterday after school, my kids were talking about how they'd spent their indoor recesses, and the younger two were demonstrating their "mad skillz" in dance having played Just Dance 2 on the Wii in the gym.  Please believe me when I say I'm not usually so indulgent, but I actually went out and got the game, just so I could see them dance.  As we broke out some moves (myself included, I'll have you know!) my oldest kept choosing a game and then refusing to dance to it.  This poor sweetie - first born, potential perfectionist - could not let go.  She heard us all laughing together and assuming we were making fun of her.  My heart broke, because I know what that feels like.  It can be so hard to let yourself just be silly for the sake of fun.

As I quoted a while ago (and Rubin quotes often in the book):

It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light

G.K.Chesterson



Do you think it requires giving up pride, defensiveness and self-centeredness to be more fun and laugh out loud?

Do you think making this choice would help you feel more content in life?

I've always thought it was a personality-related thing - that there are just certain types of people that do this naturally and easily.  But is that really the case?

More on that next time....

dun, dun, duuunnnn.....

(cliff hanger music!)

new gadget

what's the difference between a gadget and a widget?

it's not a joke, i literally don't know.....

Either way, I added a new "something" to my side panel to keep track of the books I'm reading.  Last year I resolved to read more (and better) books.  I think I did pretty well with that resolution.  I discovered a new fiction writer that I LOVE named Lisa Samson.  

Quaker Summer was so inspiring and Embrace Me was very moving.

I finally got around to reading some Donald Miller 

better late than never?

I read two of his books backwards 

(which isn't say from back to front, but in the opposite order to when they were published...)

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years made me think about my story

and Blue Like Jazz made me think about my faith.

I read some biographies and more memoirs - these are my favorite books to read.

A Year of Living Biblically was a fun read that convicted me of how little I know of levitical law and how much discipline it really takes to live as a faithful follower of Jesus.

I read a little book that was on our shelf called Churched about a guy growing up in a fundamentalist church and how's he reconciled it with how he understands his faith now.

I read some really great parenting books, the best being

Grace Based Parenting.

Probably the best book I read all year.

I hope that book has made me a more gracious mom - with the Lord's help!

I read some books on worship and even a marriage book that I didn't think I'd ever read.

{and of course, I read alot more fluffy fiction}

Books make me feel smarter....

or a least more well read - go figure.

They give me things to think about and help me in my endless pursuit at improving my small-talk skills.

So, my resolve remains and I will track my reading with my new gadget.

do you judge me if this is fun for me?

or maybe you're inspired to track your reading too?