I'll Pray For You.

To my kiddos,

You:
Hop on the bus at 6:40 am
Hop off the bus at 3:30 pm
Eat snack
Watch a little tv
Eat another snack; and another
Do homework
Eat dinner
Bathe (if i'm lucky)
and then.......bedtime.

You guys spend a total of 9 hours a day at school and only 4- 5 hours at home (depending on bedtime) every weekday during the months of August through May.  I know you are still learning math but the time you spend at school is double the amount that you are at home.  The time you have with your teacher is twice the time you have with me.  The time you spend with your classmates is twice the amount you spend with your siblings.  If you add all that together that simply equals me praying for you, your teachers and your classmates.

I can't seem to get you to pay attention to me any longer than about a minute and a half  but I wanted you to know how important prayer is to me and to your daily life.  You mean the WORLD to me and because of that your teachers mean the WORLD to me and for that I pray.

We have done our "Back to School Prayer Chain" all week long and you guys totally didn't "get" it but one day you will.  Because of our commitment to prayer this could be the year Jesus uses you to change someones day and this could be the year your teacher makes a huge impression on you, not only academically but also on your heart.

Back to School Chain idea courtesy of: http://happyhomefairy.com/2013/08/06/back-to-school-countdown-prayer-chain/

We removed 2 chains a night and prayed over whatever or whomever was on their chain.

                   

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask what whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  John 15:7

I am not all that interested in you being the next scholar.....sorry to shock you (insert sarcastic look here). I just really don't care about that.  What I care about is that Jesus uses you to change a life through kindness, sacrificial giving or just by simply opening your mouth to say thank you to your teacher when you know they need to hear it.  I pray that this year isn't about you and it isn't about how you will improve at your hobbies and sports.  I pray that this year you learn that the love that God has for you is huge and because of His love for you, you begin to love Big!

Kids for Christ

Happy Summer ALL!
I hope that the heat or your kids being out of school isn't killing you! :)  To wrap up July, I wanted to share a few stories that absolutely stole my heart - both very personal and dear to me.  Last June, I was able to spend a week in Swaziland, Africa where we visited a care point. The carepoint feeds and takes care of about 300 or more children daily.  It is ran by the GOGOs (grandmothers) and a mission team.  This team includes two couples from my church that reside there permanently and other missionary families.  They have the awesome responsibility of feeding these children spiritually and physically on a daily basis.

On my trip, I was able to love on these kiddos and provide clothing and food.  We also were able to participate in music, bible stories, and games and some of our team provided medical treatment to those in need.  I forever will be changed by what I saw and what I felt.

Living on mission has the potential to impact lives around us.....like two little precious girls named Lola and Pearl (age 7 and 5) who organized a "Carwash for Swaziland".  They, for the past two years, have had a carwash locally in their hometown to raise money for the kids in Africa.  I just love the pictures below showing how children are serving and making a big impact at such a young age.

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.  1 Timothy 4:12

The verse above says "but set an example".  What joy must come their parents hearts to know that because of their example their kiddos are following suit.  It also encourages me in my walk and to wonder - what is MY example?  What I teach isn't enough, but my actions must follow.

During VBS this year our church was raising money for missions in Belize and Swaziland.  This story makes my heart happy!  The kids were asked to bring in their loose change/allowance to raise money for the 2 ministries.  During this week I had asked my kids when they wanted to set up a lemonade stand for some "summertime fun".  With great excitement and eagerness my two oldest wanted to do it right away and give all the money they made to VBS that week.  So we did just that.  No time to plan, (no NEED to plan) we just set up a table and prayed.  Prayed together that God would bless a cheerful heart.

You can get this cute sign over at
http://thecraftingchicks.com/2012/07/lemonade-stand-printables.html

I am always amazed at what God can do with a quarter.  He has the abilities to make that sucker's value a whole lot more than twenty five cents.

Although those two events made money it taught our kids as well as us alot more than the "art of making money".  

We learned a lot about God that day and who He is in our daily lives!




I would love to hear your stories and see your pictures of any activities that your families did through "Christmas in July" or this summer in general.  Please share them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Christmas-Angel/110247819027599?ref=hl

Talk It Up!

(blog subject coincides with 4 WEEKS OF SUMMER GIVING by The Christmas Angel)

If you know me and you know me well, you know that it only takes being around me a few times to realize that I love to ask questions, random questions. Patrick has even coined phrased them "Lisa questions". They are random, completely out of the blue and normally have nothing to do with the subject at hand. To me they are a way to get to know someone, you know the good, fun  stuff. My mom and I joke that it only takes about 30 minutes for us to learn everything about someone: where they grew up, their favorite food, music, weird talent, etc etc etc.  It is fun to me. It's kinda who I am.

Question day evolved from me feeling like we as a generation do not take the time to communicate, get to each other- even our own family.  Typically we focus a lot on the surface level stuff and we lack to dig deeper!  My oldest the other day said "Yay mom girl talk"!   I was so excited she wanted to talk to me.....I had no idea she was interested in my childhood and all the other stuff she asked that day.

  If you decide to interact with your kids this month and from now on, I have included questions that you are more than welcome to use. This will require talking.....just sayin.  Answers like "I don't know" are not allowed (ahem...you know who you are).  Make a game out of it!!!

Cook dinner one night and sit at the table.....novel idea huh. Get a jar or basket and write the questions on a slip of paper and start going around the table one by one. Use this with your friends and family and you will become very annoying....nooooo, you will just become interested in what they are all about.

You ever see those poor couples that sit across from each other at restaurants? They could use this!

"Question Day" is one of the 4 Weeks of Summer Giving Ideas by The Christmas Angel

Ok for fun.  Pick your favorite question and comment your answer so I can get to know you!

I will start:  Question #16- It is Well With My Soul...hands down.  I have many reason for it being my favorite but mostly because even through the writer's despair he glorified God.  Look up the history of that song....pretty cool!

Don't Blink!

My kids are 8,6 and 4 and one common thread I have heard from seasoned moms and dads out there is "don't blink" they grow up too quickly!  Oh goodness, how this is so true in so many ways.  I was looking through my camera on my phone just the other day and came across a video of my youngest that I had totally forgotten about.  He was at our kitchen table with a diaper on listening to music as we cheered him on to dance...aka "bouncing" in the cutest possible way that any 2 year old in a diaper can.  I teared up knowing that was literally just yesterday and now he is my big boy.  No diapers, big boy bed, can brush his own teeth, Hudson.

Believe it or not this blog is not to make you sob or wish to have your babies back. It is a huge wakeup call to me as a parent to make these "moments" last, have impact, an eternal difference.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. 

Psalms 127:3

As I approached coming up with ways that families can "give back" with our Christmas in July calendar of events, I felt like the month should not only include giving to others but also ways to show how we can individually as parents/grandparents GIVE, SERVE and LOVE our own family.  Do not get me wrong. We are commanded to give to others and there are many examples on how you can do that as well, but this is an added benefit...if you will.

A few ways include:

1.  Get Unplugged

My husband meets with a group of guys at Chick-fil-a once a week.  He told me that a few times they have met, there has been a guy and his son eating breakfast.  During breakfast, the dad stares at his phone the WHOLE time not paying his son any attention and completely ignoring a perfect opportunity to communicate with him!  Cellphones, TV,  Facebook,  Pinterest,  all can direct our attention away from our little blessings and we can become an example for our kids that none of us are proud of.  

The Lord reminds us in Deuteronomy 6:5-9

You shall love theLord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

I have a phone, TV, Facebook, a Pinterest page (ah hum...a blog).  This isn't necessarily about deleting these items, although if you feel like it is getting in the way of your life, by all means send it on its way!  I catch myself more times than I wished viewing a screen instead of soaking up time with my family, instilling in them things that will have an eternal impact versus pinning the newest recipe that I probably will never cook.  There is a time and place for "all of that" but our first priority is to Love the Lord with all your heart, soul and might.  What does this look like in our lives?  Our family?  As a mother, a father, sister, brother or a friend?  How can we use the time He has given us wisely to instill in them an eternal purpose that will far outweigh the importance of the newest status from a friend on facebook?

Spend a day a week and announce it "unplugged day".  No gaming, texting, computers, phones, tv....awww "they are going to hate me", you say.  Yeah they will probably complain and whine but explain to them the why behind the day.  Kids like to hear why things are the way they are instead of just hearing "because I said so"....And by all means admit your faults!  Son, mom is calling it unplugged day because I have________.  They will appreciate that.  If not that day - one day!

2.  Devote time to prayer
Prayer is how we communicate with our Heavenly Father and are in tune with Him and His Spirit.  In next months activities, one includes devoting time to pray for this upcoming school year. Use this time to pray for who our kids will have as teachers, their peers and upcoming opportunities for them to share the love of Christ to one of those peers.  How we so neglect the important impact that prayer can have on our lives as well as our relationship with the Father!  What will you as a family begin to pray about today?

3.  The Word
Get in the word, aka the bible, if you aren't doing so now.  Teach or act out bible stories with your children if it is hard to keep their attention for a span of time.  The internet is full of great videos and resources for children in starting to impress scripture on their hearts.  See, the internet can be used for good! (sorry for the rant earlier)  In my life when I have been off the path that God had planned for me, the Holy Spirit would remind me of scripture - completely out of the blue!!  That is his Holy Spirit speaking to me through His word.  How I am thankful for that but also know that there is so much more for me to learn and not to depend on what I learned as a kid or what my parents taught me.

So if you choose to use The Christmas Angel next month for Christmas in July or not, use the month to be a reminder of who God calls us to be as parents.  Summer is flying by - who will you be able to say you loved, gave to and served? 

for updated information throughout the month of July

http://pinterest.com/heartboxllc/4-weeks-of-summer-giving-activitieschristmas-in-ju/

There are some things money can't buy!

We had a great time celebrating our daddy this last weekend.  This year's father day was a bit different than the past few years.  Patrick (aka daddy) played in the Rick and Bubba tennis tournament and due to not knowing the win/loss schedule we really didn't know when we would be able to celebrate how awesome of a dad he is.  Another reason it was different was because Patrick knocked out his teeth (yes by playing tennis).  As you could imagine the dentist bill was quite healthy, so the kids decided, ok I decided, that they could make him a good ole fashion homemade gift.  We collectively came up with a memory box that would just quite simply include pictures of them as babies to currently pics.  I found a box that was a gift we had received in the past and it was white.  Thoughts to myself- this is perfect because not only will daddy get a memory box but he will get personalized artwork on the box as well. That ladies and gents is what we call in the south a "twofer".  Little did I know that this little gem would become even greater- a triple threat.
There are some things money just can't buy, the old saying goes, and oh how this is so so so true.  I find it comical how we search the stores to find dad the perfect present which typically ends up being a tie or a can of tennis ball.  He opens it up and grins and goes on with his day but it just never makes the impact that we wanted out of a $30 gift.  This freebie had impact folks.  Never have I been so proud of my daughter for her poor spelling skills as I was this past Sunday.

Please slow down and read carefully.....

Ha! You go on with your bad self and spend money on your fathers and husbands but this kiddos- this is priceless!  

YOU ARE THE BEST FARTER EVER

On the way to church Patrick asked if we should correct her and teach her the correct way to spell "father".  I said nahhh lets let her think that is correct.  We will tell her after she has to write a paper on her "FOUNDING FARTERS" or her "HEAVENLY FARTER".

Happy Father's Day!

Shout out to my mom the English teacher.  This blog is called Creative Outlet in which the writing is "Creative" so your grammar rules do not apply...

Springtime = Yard Sales!!!

I love spring for the weather,  for a newly motivated spirit to "clean out" but most of all its the ultimate season for yard sales!!!  I love how easily we all get "tired" of our "stuff" and will sell it for as a little as a dollar to a new owner.  My hopes on a Saturday morning is that I am the new owner to a lot of this "stuff".  

In the above picture is my cherished surfboard that I bought for $2.00 that my husband thinks is ridiculous..... quirky, yes but I had to have it!  The red rockers were owned by some grandparents and I just fell in love with the paint color.  Last but not least is the distressed white ladder that I would put just about anywhere in my home. 

I love all these things "as is"- a little rusty, chipped, and dirty.  Giving it the best character a $1 or in this case $2 can buy!