A night like no other....

Pardon the blurry photo, but I just had to share.  I was driving this stretch of road on Saturday night.  This picture was taken at the Illinois-Wisconsin border.  Last Saturday was a freezing cold December night and it was dark.  It reminded me of three years ago when I was driving home from the NICU with very precious cargo in the car on this same road.  We had been released from the hospital with one healthy baby and the other was to follow in three days.  The entire experience of adopting the twins was a whirlwind for us.  We had suffered 5 miscarriages of our own and after the last one, decided to look into adoption.  Right away we were miraculously matched with Micah and Mariah's birth mother.  She gave birth a quick 3 weeks later and here I was leaving the hospital with them, (only 6 wks post partum myself.) As I drove this stretch of road I cried tears of joy and as I crossed the state line. I let out a huge breath.  A sigh of relieve and peace overcame me.  It really did happen, God kept his promise.  For 10 years I had prayed for a large family.  God kept asking me to trust Him.  It was easy when I gave birth to a healthy child, hard when I lost an unborn one.  Everyday I stared at this picture on my bathroom wall. 

Everyday I reminded God of my desire.  Finally, here I was driving home with my tiny twin bundle, a double portioned gift straight from God above.  Our family was finally complete with seven darling children.  

I'll never forget that moment of driving home with Mariah.  I'll always treasure that memory in my heart.  Christmas is a special time of the year for us, 2010 we were given an amazing gift.  Here we are in 2013, and I'm still so very thankful.

A Cure for the Gimmies.....

It is that time of year again, time when the advertising giants succeed by turning our sweet contented kids into little greedy monsters with a bad case of the 'gimmies'.  Just hand your child a Toys R Us catalog and watch them say on every page, "I want that....I want that....I want that....Hey Mom, I want that!"  It causes parents everywhere to wonder if they are doing something wrong, some go crazy and provide as much as possible for a perfect holiday, and some just want to scream, "HELP!!!"  I found this object lesson that I think will be an easy way to curb the gimmies.  It is easy to do, understand, and makes a beautiful point.  All you need is a bowl, cereal, and some milk!  Here it goes:

1. Have some store adds or catalogs out on the table.  Let the kids 'dream' and make mental lists as to what they are hoping to receive for Christmas.  Do not censor them, let them make long want lists and get caught up in it.  (I told them to circle with a marker whatever they are hoping to recieve for me to look at later :)

2. Pass out the bowls and milk ( but DO NOT pass out spoons).  Someone will quickly say they need a spoon.  Ask them what would happen if they tried to eat the entire bowl with out a spoon.  Talk about how it will be messy, uncomfortable, to much to handle or hard to swallow. 

3. After a conversation about eating without a spoon say, "Well, good news!  I have a spoon for you!"  Give out spoons.  Ask them to listen to you explain an important thing about God and presents as they enjoy their cereal.

4. Explain to them that God is like the spoon.  He knows we can only handle small mouth fulls of blessings at a time.  To many gifts at one time are like our bowl of cereal without the spoon.  It is unhealthy for us to receive to much at once just like it would be difficult to handle our cereal without the spoon. 

Proverbs 30:8-9 says,

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.


Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

5. Share with your child how God's Word reminds us that if we receive to much at one time we will forget God and His goodness.  We would take for granted what He has done and provided for us.  We do not want that to happen!!! 

6. End the lesson by asking them how we can be careful not to get caught up in the Gimmies and be thankful for all God has given us.

I hope this blesses your family during the Holiday season and helps to keep us all focused on Jesus, not presents!  Merry Christmas!