My Backwards Bucket List - December

Hey friends, remember at the end of last summer I shared my backwards bucket list here and here??  Well I'd thought I'd share my December with you in that same format!!  Like I've said before, I would much rather look at what I have accomplished instead of list that's not been accomplished....this seems to work for me!!

 Ready?  Okay....here we go!!

1.  Rest....yep, among, perhaps the CRAZIEST time of the year, we found plenty of time to rest!!

We watched Christmas movies and enjoyed laid back dinners on the couch!!  We've even continued that into January!

2.  Family Night Out - Thanks to some generous, anonymous gifters, we were able to go the movies and have tickets for the six of us AND refreshments covered by Regal Cinema gift cards!!  We don't go out on the town very often at all, because, well, six people equals a costly evening!!  It was fun getting ready knowing that I was going out for a fun night!  We saw "The Hobbit", which was very good, even though I'm not a fan of the dark side of good vs. evil.  We also had our very first experience with YoGo!!!  It was yummy!!

3.  Putting my word of the year into action!! On December 31st I started a ridiculous project of literally simplifying my home!!  We took down Christmas decor' and I thought it appropriate to tackle the attic before putting Christmas items back up there!  It went on from there and we've tackled everything from cabinets to bedrooms and the detached garage attic!!!  We will be selling our stuff at a yard sale coming very soon....I cannot wait!!!

4.  My first real cookie order!!  My Pastor and his wife asked us to make sugar cookies for their oldest sons' engagement party!!  I was freaking out!! We make these for ourselves or holidays all of time and we've done them for fundraisers, but this time there was a little bit more pressure!!  I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out!

 

5.  Christmas & Programs-Our chidren's choir worked very hard on about 5 songs that they shared at three sunday services and at the Children's Christmas Eve Flashlight Service!  My hubbs and I also participated in the childrens Christmas Eve service; we played a spoof on Hollywood Squares.  My hubbs was a contestant and I was one of the nine squares!!  It was a blast!  Now that my oldest lives elsewhere, him "coming home" for Christmas is always a highlight <3

my girl all the way on the left 

 younget and oldest (8 & 21)

 My five heartbeats playing games together...a gift on so many levels <3

 

6.  Disney Movie Night- as per Jessica and her Senior Class Trip, they have been doing a montly disney movie night....December?  Santa Claus 1 & 2, Christmas cookie snacks and a fun photo shoot!! 

 

7.  Outreach-the month wouldn't have been complete without opportunities to get outside of ourselves!  We had new friends over for dinner, I was invited to have lunch with some sweet girlfriends that I haven't seen in way.too.long, I was asked to decorate for the Ladies Tea that our church staff puts on for some of the women in our congregation and we held our first big student leadership training & service weekend.  We hit the streets of two local cities with hot coffee, donuts and hats/scarves/gloves for those in need that we encountered.  All of these opportunities were a wonderful way to be the hands and feet of Jesus <3 

 

8. Chalkboard Art - I had moved things around enough to pull my chalkboard out of the garage and find a home for her!!  I've had alot fun with this and love the inspiration that I find on-line!

 

9. Christmas Shopping-thanks to friends!  Our wallet is very, very, very tight and we had come to terms with the fact that we just couldn't swing Christmas gifts at all this year!  I can hear some of you gasp!! lol  I know, the horror!!!  Thanks be to God that He moved some friends of ours to give a generous gift to us so that we could buy our children a few gifts.  It really made Christmas so much more special and meaningful and these were small tokens of our thanks and appreciation to these families <3

10. Seeking the Light -something that I always do!!  He is always present and where there is Light, there can't be darkness....that is my focus!!

11. Date Night-an unexpected opportunity to have a small night out with the hubbs <3

12. Face Mask Fun -we decided to try a recipe from Pinterest!!  Boy was that fun!!

13. Teaching Opportunities-teaching Senior High Sunday School has become a highlight!!

14. Family Walks-they started out as family walks but quickly ended up to be just the two of us!!

15. Don't/Did shave december-hubbs wen all through November and most of December before shaving...he had such a blast shaving it off, I'm sad that I can't share the pictures!!

16. The end of soccer season-Our boys had one make-up game that took us to the first weekend of December!!  They ended up in second place for their division!!  It was a great season and we are so proud of our boys and the team - they have grown tremendously in one season!!

17.  Hot Cocoa Station-it was so much fun to see all of the different cocoa stations out there in blog world!!  Each one is so unique to its creator...what a fun thing to have for the winter months!!

19. Advent-for years I have wanted an advent calendar, something to count up to the weeks of Jesus' birth and every year I go without!  This year I made my own unconventional advent candle"wreath" using a wooden box and candles.  I also had the opportunity to make a calendar or countdown, with empty match boxes.  I strung them up in an empty frame and each night that we were home for dinner we would have a reading from that days box and take part in the family activity included on the paper.  We did anything from performing a random act of kindness (leaving gingerbread men in our mailbox for our mail lady) to heading outdoors to play flashlight tag!!  It was a blast and a beautiful way to worship our Creator!!

20.  Baking-another aspect of the holiday season that we didn't plan on participating in was baking Christmas cookies, sad, but true.  We are learning to accept these things and God is blessing us for our willingness to say "yes, okay Lord, take it".  A dear, sweet, precious friend of mine, Denise, wouldn't hear of us having a Christmas without cookies, so she provided a way for us!  We went nuts baking!!  We were in the kitchen for three or four days straight!!  We were all so very thankful for Denise's kindness and gift!!

 

 

So there you have it!!  My backwards bucket list!!  It's amazing to see just how many things we can pack into 30/31 days!!!  God's goodness is everywhere - you just have to slow down enough to see it!!  What were some of the highlights of your December?  I'd love to hear about them!!

 

 

God Bless <3 Lorraine

 

Merry Christmas!!!

I'm sure that blogging will be the last thing on anyone's mind next week so we just wanted to leave you with one last post before the New Year!!

Today our plan was to bake....allllll day!!  We weren't planning on baking this year, because, well times are tight but a dear friend of mine wouldn't hear of it!!  So thanks to her kindness, we are in baking business!!

Here is our Christmas Cookie Must Haves:

Peanut Butter Blossoms
Chocolate Chip
Sugar Cookie
Gingerbread (new to the list)
Buttercreams (not a cookie)
Molasses

So far we've accomplished Chocolate Chip, m &m, molasses, ginger snap, dough for sugar cookies and buttercreams!!  We are breaking for dinner and then more baking!!

I may not be able to move tomorrow :) But I'll have plenty to snack on when I'm stuck on the couch!!  Haha!

What's on your list??

A Different Perspective on Christmas

My husband sent me an email yesterday, I wasn't expecting it and I new immediately that I had to share it.  The hubbs, as I like to refer to him as, doesn't express a lot of thoughts or emotions, he has them, don't get me wrong, but he's a get-er-done kind of guy...he doesn't spend a lot of time standing still talking, he's a doer.  So when I get a glimpe into his heart and mind, I'm always surprised and appreciative.

 

I've been wanting to write about our situation, but haven't figured out how to word things so that it doesn't sound like complaining or like we're looking for handouts....we're not.  I think that "the hubbs" has done a beautiful job.  So without further delay......I present you with a guest post by Bill Richie (aka the hubbs)

 

 

So this Christmas finds our family in a different place than we have ever been.  It’s been 22 months since I was laid off from a company that I had worked at for nearly 20 years, the company I always thought that I would retire from.  Fortunately, I was hired as a contractor and have been employed for about the past 9 months.  Throughout the past 22 months, we have been fortunate enough to be able to pay all of our bills through receiving a generous severance package, NJ unemployment insurance, generous gifts and donations from friends and family, and my current contracting position.  The most recent struggle has been with the fact that there has been and is no extra cash.  So this Christmas we find ourselves without the “normal” Christmas celebration.

The “normal” Christmas for us has been to celebrate with a multitude of gifts for the kids under the tree, being able to provide an Angel Tree family with a Christmas meal and gifts for their kids, being generous in providing for others during this season, and being able to make multiple batches of Christmas cookies with our kids.  Our normal family traditions have been to purchase Christmas pajamas for all seven of us, having a Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls (homemade or store bought), and enjoying the opportunity to celebrate with the extended family in the afternoon with an appetizer dinner.

This year is going to look different.  It has to look different because we have nothing extra for all of those things.  We have no cash set aside or saved for Christmas.  We have no room on our one credit card (yes we only have one left).  About a week ago we had a family over for dinner and during our discussions we ended up talking about Christmas and our financial situation (we are not embarrassed and not ashamed to talk about it, and we are not looking for donations either).  In turn that family and two other families in their extended family decided to provide us with $300 in gift cards to Walmart.  We took the time to go shopping and were able to buy each of our kids something for Christmas with that money but there is nothing left over.  It is hard to split $300 between 5 kids but we did it.  We are so grateful to that family for their generosity.  It means the world to know that we have friends who care enough to make a sacrifice for us, even though one member in the family has recently lost a job as well.

My heart is broken by the things around us that are pulling for everyone’s attention this Christmas season – toys, lights, trees, presents, and decorations.  My heart is broken by the events that are shaping this season too – the economic situation and the “fiscal cliff”, the tragedy in Newtown, CT, the devastation left behind by Hurricane Sandy, and the discontinuation of a long standing live nativity at a military base due to an atheist group’s complaints.  I am torn on how to serve and how to provide for those that are struggling even though I myself am financially strapped.

Well this Christmas we are going to have to do things differently.  Christmas is a time to celebrate.  We need to celebrate the fact that we are able to be together, that we have good health, and that we have a Savior who has fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament and cares for us.  He loves us even when we don’t deserve it.  We quarrel, complain and doubt out of the same mouth that we praise His name.  We need to change our focus from internal and temporal to external and eternal.  He came to give us freedom from the things that bind us, from the things that hold us back from fulfilling His promises for our lives.  We are called to be His Ambassadors and His Disciples.  We are called to serve those in need with our hearts, with our souls and with our talents.  If we do not have the financial abilities to provide than we need to focus on what we do have that can be used for His purpose.  This year our Christmas is going to be different.  It has to be.

 

*Thank you, my dear husband, for sharing your thoughts and heart with us <3  Our situation has provided us with the challenge of accepting being stripped down from the chaos of the season and has offered us, instead an opportunity to really count "the gifts", the one's that truly matter <3

 

May your family be blessed this Christmas with quiet times to reflect on His goodness, I urge you to count your gifts as well, no, not the ones under the tree but those around it <3

 

God Bless <3  Bill and Lorraine Richie

Winter Break Resoultions

I'm in the last week of classes and I'm pushing through. The majority of my free time has been taken up by Western Civilizations and it's terrible. But I keep telling myself that in less than a week, I'll be done, for over a month! Yay for college breaks! So I thought that I'd make a little "Christmas break resolutions" list. I have until January 22nd until my next semester starts up, let's see what I can get done in that time!

Winter Break Resolutions

 

1. Reorganize my room!

I need to move things around, decorate for Christmas, and clean EVERYTHING!

 

2. Wrap gifts!

I've been going a little Christmas crazy this past month and have an abundance of gifts to wrap.

 

3. Finish LiveLifeOnPurpose...

... and write a review for the blog (keep your eyes open). This book by Claude Hickman is a great follow up to my weekend in Indiana, but that was like a month ago. The book is so good that I want to take my time with it but I've also started to lose interest... not good!

 

4. Schedule the second half of Joe's school year

I don't know that I've ever written about this before, but I homeschool Joe, the 12 year old. The year has gone really well, but I want to schedule out the other half of the school year and add in some fun hands-on activities.

 

5. Get my GED

I have yet to get my GED and it's killing me. I feel like I have unfinished business with highschool, which is never a good thing. So hopefully over winter break I'll be able to go and take the test and pass!

 

 

Well, that's my Winter Break Resolutions! I'll try to update the blog more and let you know what's going on in my life. Hopefully I can share the finished resolutions with you guys!

 

Jessica

    

We are the body & social media

Happy Friday friends!!  This week, like every other week, has had it's share of crazy moments and I sit here on this Friday morning, amazed.  Amazed at how God works in the details of our lives, whether they are good details or tragic details.

My week has been traced with sickness!  Two kids down in one week, and of course as one is on the mend, the next one begins!  Such is life, especially with more than one child in the house!! My mom was willing to come pick up my sick child and take her back to her house for a little R&R while we went on with our busyness.  The next day, I dropped sickie number two off at mom-mom's as well.

My little sickie on Monday night

I see the hands and feet of Jesus, as well as His heart, displayed daily in the way my parents conduct themselves.  They are never unable to help someone in need.  I admit, there are times when it drives me crazy!!  How in the world can  you always say yes, you have to say no once in a while, don't you???  Well, no - you don't.  When you walk in the footsteps of Jesus, not only do those footsteps lead you in the right direction, but they provide the restoration for your soul that you need when you live a life of servanthood.   I appreciate that Godly example in my parents and it's one that I am working on setting for my children as well.  To be flexible and be in God's will is exactly where we need to be at.all.times.!

We talked about God's will at youth group on Wednesday night - it was an awesome lesson to dive into.  We are far too easily captivated with the things of this world and oftentimes we are just clueless to all that God's way has to offer us.  If you think of the most perfect situation that you could find yourself in in this world, God's way trumps that......tenfold!  To the untrained eye, God's way looks ridiculous.....how do your empty yourself and yet find yourself full?  How do you put yourself at the back of the line and yet, find yourself being crowned as first? I admit, it doesn't make sense, until you take that step.

taking that step to follow him....prepping for teaching opportunities

Anyway, I sat here this morning, contemplating my day, *which has put me in the position of having two children at home and two at my parents.  I did my devotionals, got my cuppa joe and hopped on the computer to read my favorite blogs and saw another example of God's hands and feet being displayed in a community.  Sasha, of www.lemonademakinmama.com shared a frightening story of what this week offered her, her family and ultimately her neighborhood.  I want to encourage you to jump over there and read today's post.  It is a heart-wrenching and heart-warming story of how the body comes together to support a hurting member.  It's a story of God's redemption, His love, grace & forgiveness.

It left me feeling so many different things, but the thing that I wanted to share here about this was not just her story, (which, by the way, is more than enough to stand on its own) but the story of social media & technology.  These things, while they can definitely be a time waster and a distraction, also has the ability to join believers across the miles.  It joins my heart with a sister that I've never met and it allows me to feel what she is feeling and join her in prayer and praise!  It takes me to Uganda where I can share with a sister there, whom I have met, and it puts me in her daily happenings while she serves Jesus with her whole heart.  It takes me over to Hungary, where I can join friends in praying for the people there as they pour themselves into the lives others.

the view on a county road, filled with His glory

It also keeps me right here, in my little county, where I can offer encouragement to friends and family, through the posts of others and my own words.  To help support the body through social media is an extraordinary thing.  I know alot of people scoff at the idea of blogging, I know that it crosses the lines of privacy and that it seems silly to talk about people that we've never met, like we know them personally.  I get that and I struggle with that as well, but I have to tell you.  I think it's a beautiful opportunity to catch a tiny glimpse of God's view from up there.  He is Sovereign, He knows all, and sees all, all around the world.  Social Media gives us that same opportunity, in a way, to get inside someone elses life, to share in their fears & hopes.  To pray for people half a world away and feel like we are connected.  Because, after all, we are the body, and the body IS connected, right?

we're all in this together

a little community of gingerbread people <3

So, today, take notice of how social media is being used for His glory and maybe take a step into that crazy world and see where He leads you!!  (the key word being HE......I recognize that social media has some very dangerous paths, we must be alert and choose wisely)

finally found a home for my antique chalkboard <3

God bless you friends <3  Enjoy the season, prepare your heart for the Advent season, deck your halls and I'll see you back here next week!!

sing His praises <3

 

God Bless - Lorraine

 

*before I finalized and published this post, I ended up with one child at home!!!  My how quickly life changes before you!!!

Merry Christmas

We just wanted to stop back in to wish you all a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!!  We pray that you've been able to feel His peace this season and if that hasn't been the case, that you will be able to do so from here on out.

This year, we've been forced to step way back and really grab hold of what this season is truly about;  the gift of life, freedom and salvation that came to us in swaddling clothes all those years ago.  But those gifts are just as relevent today as they were then.  His gifts are renewed each and every day and we find ourselves daily thanking Him for His many gifts this season.

The love, prayers and gifts of generous friends have deeply touched our hearts and have made us very proud and honored to be a part of such a wonderful family.  We are looking forward to the New Year with excitement and anticipation as we watch and wait to see how Jesus will manifest Himself in our lives.  We know that He is doing a new thing in our family and we are giddy with expectation <3

Our love and prayers go out to each of you, that you will seek and find Him, that you will cast all of your cares at His feet and that you will join us as we watch the night sky and celebrate the New Born King <3

*Lorraine & Bill

Jessica, Joe, Jaysen & Julia