One of the primary reasons God sent His Son to earth was to bring tender salve and relief to those whose hearts were broken.
~ Beth Moore

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
Psalm 34:18 {NCV}

A child has been born to us;
God has given a son to us.
He will be responsible for leading the people.
His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God,
Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.
Power and peace will be in his kingdom
and will continue to grow forever.
Isaiah 9:6-7 {NCV}

I’ll be forever thankful for the saving power found in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For His joy.

His strength.

His grace.

His mercy.

His blessing.

His peace.

And His mighty love.

Wishing you all the merriest and most blessed Christmas ever!

Emmanuel means God with us, which is just one of Jesus’ many names. Thinking about it humbles me to my core. God, who created the universe choose to come to earth as a child and sacrifice Himself for my sins. I will never, ever deserve it and yet He, who could have come as a conquering King choose to come humbly and do the one thing I could never, ever do. What amazing grace, and incredible love!

I dare you not to cry …

“Let it be as you say!”  A few simple words of faith uttered that day.  Do you think Mary had any idea that her baby boy would one day be the Great, I Am?

Do you think she had any idea that agreeing to deliver this Child would cause her pain, trials and suffering?

This Christmas song gets me every.single.time I hear it.  I can’t listen to it without being covered in chill bumps.  “When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?”

Do you think she had any idea of the Glory to come through her simple words of faith?

By trusting God, accepting His wishes for her … her Son was Lord of all creation.

What an incredible story … example … of faith.

Oh how I could learn from Mary … “Let this happen to me as you say!”  In our human understanding and knowledge, we simply have no way of knowing what glory beholds us.  But what if we simply believe?  Believe that His plans are far greater than we could ever imagine?

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!
Luke 1:45 {NIV}

Won’t you believe with me today?

Mary Did You Know?
:: Clay Aiken ::

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Mary did you know …

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you’re holding is the Great, I Am.

On “Christmas” morning, once the girls were all awake and we headed to open gifts, I ran back to my room for my camera.  When I came out, this is literally what I saw.  Think they were excited?

We had a nice morning opening gifts.  Different.  Surreal.  A bit lonely.  But nice.

One little tradition that did keep our spirits up was Mr. … ahem, Mrs. Rosy Cheeks.  Our elf came back this year as a girl.  That required quite the explaning to the girls!  And we still called him her a him.  Follow?

Anyway … the girls had a blast this year discovering all the fun our mischievous he/she elf was up to!

I have to share about the last photo.  The elf had put lipstick on Hunter’s nose one night before the “elf” went to sleep.  And when the elf I went to wake Hunter up the next morning, in the low light of morning, it looked like the lipstick had rubbed off during the night.  So I quickly went to Mrs. Rosy Cheeks and took away the lipstick and note {which says, “look in the mirror”} and put them away for another night.  Only problem was … in the full light of day, she still had remnants of lipstick on her nose!  Before she could see it, I started rubbing at her nose while she’s complaining and asking what I was doing.  Humpf.

As luck would have it, Hunter slept with me a few nights later.  Perfect!  Since she was in bed with me, I waited til early morning to rub the lipstick on her nose and then put Mrs. Rosy Cheeks, lipstick and the note in her bed and waited for her to wake up.  She loved the trick so much, she went to school with the lipstick on her nose.  Simple pleasures.

Lastly … here’s a peek at this year’s Christmas card.  Once again, many thanks to Suann for creating the lovely letterpress design for me.

Interested in having {tsj} photography posts delivered right to your inbox?  Click here to subscribe.

Not sure why I didn’t think of it … but a brilliant reader suggested I have blank cards to write in your own RACK … so here goes!  There’s a girl version and a boy version!  :)

Click on each image to take you to the download.  Have fun!  Be blessed!

Original Advent posts:
random acts of christmas kindness :: advent 2010
random acts of christmas kindness :: summary
rack :: download edition

With my last glance at the calendar, I can’t ignore the fact that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner!  Literally.

So what’s a mom to do?  Make the best of it of course!

The girls are blessed this year with a pretty hearty Christmas break, so I decided to completely change things up this year.  Christmas won’t be … can’t be … like our previous Christmases … so instead of feeling the pain of the difference, I’ve decided to make it fun.  We’ll be getting out of dodge going out of town mid-month to our heaven on earth and will enjoy the time hunting lizards and soaking up the sun.

We’re also celebrating early.  Like early.  Like I-already-have-presents-under-the-tree early.

{apparently I do let my children climb very high ladders}

{the teen was not inspired and facebook was calling}

{babygirl’s taken to putting on make-up with markers}

{our family sign works in all seasons}

{almost 80 degrees yesterday! light up the palm tree!}

This isn’t my normal MO … I’m all about taking one holiday as it comes, but given that we don’t really have a “normal” anymore … I’m currently tossing tradition to the wind and basically doing what I can to fill any holes the girls might feel in this land between we’re currently walking.

I’ve gotten a few emails and cards {thank you!!} with prayers and thoughts of the upcoming holidays … friends knowing we don’t have a normal this year.  Heck, with this land between … not knowing what next year holds … we can’t even start a new tradition.  And that’s okay … I know there’ll be a time for new traditions … there’s peace in that fact.

So right now my momma heart is focused on buffering anything the girls might be missing, be it physical or emotional.  And I’m thinking a change of scenery to their little lizard haven will be just what the doctor ordered!

#######

As I think about the purpose of this post … other than explaining why my Christmas cards may or may not be in the mail next week … I’d like to encourage you, as parents …

If you find yourself in the land between {basically walking a path of uncertainty}, I encourage you to push through … hold your head high … let the joy of the Lord be your strength.  Definitely you want to do these things for yourself, but almost more importantly, I encourage you to do it for your children.

Parenting is sacrifice.  Sacrifice of our emotions.  Of our wants.  Our wishes.  Our desire to climb into bed and sleep for years.

I think it’s a true testament to living out the joy of the Lord, when I see my girls happy, laughing, living.  No one would know the pain that hides around the corner.  And sure … there are tears.  Plenty.

But I’m working my bootie off to build our foundation on solid Rock, so when the pain comes … we know Who to give it to.  We can give it … and leave it.

Let your past make you better, not bitter.  And all that.

I think about what I’m modeling for my girls.  I pray they look back someday and say, “you were going through all that?!”  We had no idea.

Does that make any sense, or am I just rambling now?  :)

I’m not saying to cover-up or gloss over your pain.  My girls know I hurt … I get plenty cranky, impatient and irritable.  And I try to always go back to let them know I’m sorry, or what I’m feeling and why.

You have sorrow.  You have pain.

You have to feel it.  But you don’t have to swim in it.

Or maybe … just maybe you do take a swim.  I guess what I’m encouraging you with is … you don’t have to drown in it.

Well.  There ya have it.  The post that went every-which-way!

Be blessed.  Be safe.  And have an incredible Thanksgiving holiday!

Collections are being taken through the end of this week … sooo … I loaded up the girls this weekend and headed to Target!  The girls {and Piper’s friend} each picked a child {boy or girl, and age group} they wanted to bless and away we went.  And can I just say … Target’s $1.00 bins kinda rock my world!

This is a super easy way to bring joy into a child’s life this Christmas season.  In fact, I dare you to watch this video and not want to go out and pack a box.

As part of the instructions, we’re asked to pray over each box as it’s packed.  The girls were agreeable to let me record their prayers to share with you.  And um, yes … one of my girls does walk on the drama side of life!

OH! and one other cool thing … if you make a donation online to go with your box {they ask for $7.00 to help with shipping, etc. costs}, you get a label with a tracking number so you can follow where your box goes. What a perfect way for kids to see how their efforts and prayers are making an impact in the world.

I’ve had tons of emails asking for the download, so I thought I’d put together a recap post of our Random Acts of Christmas Kindness {RACK} activity from last year’s Advent season, as well as a couple of bonus downloads!

You can read the original post of our activity here, and a wrap-up of the activity here.

The girls and I loved every minute of this activity.  It definitely took some time and commitment to stick to it, but I’m so glad we did … we walked away so incredibly blessed … and I promise you will too!

So … you ready for the downloads?  Here’s the download for the “you’ve been RACK’ed” card.  And as a bonus, I put the individual RACK’s into one file, and you can download it here.

I’ve also noticed that this Advent activity has been circulating, so as a bonus, bonus … I’ve put together a pdf of the Bible verses we used.

OH! and I also found a site selling cute library Advent cards that you can write individual activities on … perfect for this Advent project!

Praying God’s blessings over each of you during this Advent season!

Here’s an iPhone photo of our mission completed!

As with my handmade Christmas gifts … I didn’t want to make this RACK activity about “blogging” it … I wanted to be truly “present” with each activity and the girls, so instead of bringing my camera and worrying about blogging shots … I’d grab a random iPhone photo when I could.

Some of our activities included in the photos below:

• Taping candy canes to ATM machines around town
• Bringing the girls riding instructor {and barn manager} hot cocoa and a muffin early one morning
• Taping quarters to vending and toy machines around town
• Grocery shopping for the sole purpose of putting it in the “Food for Families” box in the entryway of the store
• Plugging meters around town {and lots of fun explaining to the girls what “plugging” a meter meant!}
• Donating 72 stockings with treats, candy and a craft for second graders at a school in need
• Ringing Salvation Army bells
• Handing out Starbucks gift cards {$5.00 value each}

Some of our activities without photos:

• Paid past due library fees for 5 people
• Donated a poinsettia to the girls school
• Bought and donated toys for “Toys 4 Tots”
• Brought the girls teachers their favorite Starbucks drinks
• Brought treats to the employees of our local Post Office branch
• Purged from the girls personal “library” and donated to a school library in need

Originally, our plan was to hand out flowers at the mall, but the day before this RACK was planned, CJ had his company program and shared with everyone how we were celebrating the Advent season … that they “were about to be RACK’ed” … and had the girls go through and hand out Starbucks cards to everyone.  We had a ton left over, so decided to hand them out at the mall instead of flowers.

I have to tell you … I experienced an incredible surge of emotion and thoughts as we were handing them out.  Either people were so shocked and happy, or people would ignore us, shaking their heads and walking by.  As people were ignoring us … or more significantly, the girls, I made a solemn vow to grab whatever anyone was trying to give me from now on!

The next day, I received this message …

Hi Tracie! Just wanted to share this with you..
Bennett and I were at the mall yesterday
and of course, I was kind-of rushing through
the holiday crowd to pick something up
(wanting to get in and out) and Bennett tugs o
my hand and said, “Mom, did you hear that?
Someone said they have free Starbucks cards.”
Not even turning around, I told him that it
was probably someone wanting you to buy
something, that nothing is ever for free.
Long story short, when I got home and read
your status, I explained to him that he was right
and it was the perfect opportunity to talk about
all the good that people have in them.
So I wanted to thank you for 1. Reminding me
that there is “good” out there, and
2. That I need to slow down and really listen!

I LOVED this note!!  It’s exactly what I experienced from the other side of giving out the cards.  And seriously, what another amazing lesson in how when you do something selflessly to bless others, you end up being blessed yourself!

The girls were watching TV recently and something came on explaining Advent … this particular activity was using candles to countdown Advent.  I took the opportunity to talk about all the different ways people celebrate, and I even reminded them of our activity last year.  When they asked what we’d do next year, I asked what they wanted to do.

Hands down and with excitement they quickly answered, “our kindness activity.”  Yep! just like I always say … it’s far better to give than to receive!”

Praying a happy and blessed 2011 for you all!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

UPDATE {11.28.11}
I’ve created a blank RACK’ed activity card … the download can be found in this post.  At the end of the post, you’ll find another link to other downloads.

Thank you … SO much … for the response to this little activity we did last year!  I’m amazed and excited to think how many people will be blessed this year because of it!  If you have a moment, be sure to stop by and let me know how it went for you!  Have fun and be blessed!!

While I was working on my projects, I was tempted to take photos so that I could post about them and share … but then decided that 1) I didn’t have the time and 2) I just really wanted to focus on what I was giving and not worry about posting about it.

All that said … there’s one gift that I really wanted to share.  I made it for someone that I love dearly, and who I really wanted to encourage.  I decided to photograph and share it because it might encourage you or someone you know.

I put together twenty Scripture verses relating to fear … or rather … fearing not!  I had them printed and mounted on matboard and housed them in a pretty fabric-covered box.  I’ve put them all together in one PDF document for you and it can be downloaded here.

And … since I’m doing this post … I thought I’d share a few of the other things I made too.  Hee … lucky you!

I sewed a couple of these gadget cases … put together about a dozen of these journals … made a couple of these snowglobes … and put together a few of these quick bread mixes … and special just for you dear readers, is the download of the labels I put together for the quick bread mix.  And the link where I got the milk bottles.

I especially scored some major points with my nephews for modpodging the edge of a wad of dollar bills, with a cardstock cover that read “dolla dolla bill y’all” … SO cool {the gift that is!}! :)

And last but not least … I sewed this dress & coin purse for my precious blessing, EJ.  I ended up calling in the recruits, so snapped an iPhone pic to show her the project when I completed it.  Not bad, huh?  Although from the video and photos I received Christmas Eve day, it looked like her 1 1/2 year old sister nabbed her gift!

Anyway … I really enjoyed these projects and I think they were special to the recipients as well … I’ll definitely be planning another handmade Christmas next year!  Can someone just remind me to start earlier? ;)