Changing the World One Family at a Time

Our family decided to really focus on Jesus this year.

  Christmas is all about Jesus, but sometimes we get caught up in the lights and trees and presents for others and lists for ourselves.  Jesus gets placed to the side and we remember Him on Sunday morning for an hour in church.  And then life goes on and it is busy, busy, busy.  

So this year I was challenged to really do something special for Jesus.  Something that would help our family look outside our own little world and give to our Savior this year for Christmas.  

I brought this challenge that had grown in my heart to my family.  The kids embraced the idea whole heartedly.  They wanted to find a gift to give to Jesus.  I suggested that they raise money to buy an animal for a family through a program that World  Vision offers.  I knew that my kids could make a difference, but had no idea what an impact they could have.  My 5 and 7 year old little girls wanted to raise $200 to buy a sheep and a goat.  I tried to talk them out of it.  That was a lot of money for two little ones to raise.  But they were determined and Daddy and I supported them $100.  I wanted them to see what God could do through them when they gave their all to Him. 

So the girls made brownies.  Lot and lots of brownies.  The girls made these treats all by themselves (with lots of supervision) and they loved every minute of it.

Of course they had to taste test the batter.

Measuring out the ingredients.

The girls also made cinnamon ornaments to sell.  Our home smelled like cinnamon for many days.  They had fun mixing up the dough, rolling it out and cutting out the ornaments.

Last week, they raised $200.  I told the girls that we could be done selling things since they made enough for their gift for Jesus.  Hannah looked up at me and asked if they could keep going.  Then they could give Jesus another present for His birthday.  What could I say, but YES!!!  I was so proud of them for working so hard to make a difference.  They ended up raising $240 in just over three weeks.  I was blown away by what two determined little girls ended up doing.  I love that God can take the least of these to make a difference in a few families lives.   Today we were able to buy a goat, a sheep, a family mosquito net, vegetable seeds and medicine for families through World Vision.  Every one that bought a brownie or an ornament, thank-you so much!!!

Here is the mosquito net.

A goat!

Vegetable seeds for a family.

Giving to the Least of These

Last night I was reading Ann Voskamps blog post called The Grateful Christmas Project.  Her words and attitude really hit home with me.  As a five year old child, her son had asked what Jesus would get for his birthday.  Why don't they give up things so that they could give to Jesus on his birthday.  That changed Ann's family that Christmas and every Christmas since.  Now they look for ways to give to others in Jesus' name.  To show love to the least of these and bless them, to bless Jesus.

I want to do that with my family.  We have all we ever need.  All we could ever really wish for.  We don't need more things.  Things that make us discontented and just want more.  I want to change my heart this Christmas and find ways to give to those around me.  To give Jesus a gift for His birthday.

So I read through Ann's blog post with my family.  The girls also wanted to find a way to give a gift to Jesus this Christmas.  Right away the girls said that they wanted to raise money to buy an animal for a poor family.  We talked about what that meant.  That mommy and daddy were not just going to buy an animal that they picked out.  I challenged them to pick an animal they wanted to buy and then raise the money for it.  Bekah said that she and Hannah could raise $200.  We encouraged them to maybe try to raise $25 or even $50, but Bekah would not be persuaded.  She is set on raising $200.  So we are going to support her.  God can do mighty things through the least of these.

Then we looked through the World Vision Catalog to see what we could get for a family in need.  They choose a goat for $75 and a sheep for $126.

Why we choose a Goat

Give a goat. Goats nourish hungry children and families with healthy milk, cheese, and yogurt. Goats also give a much-needed income boost by providing offspring and extra dairy products for sale at the market.

A healthy dairy goat can give up to 16 cups of milk a day. Goat milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk and is an excellent source of calcium, protein, and other essential nutrients that growing children need. Goats are practical animals — flourishing in harsh climates while producing valuable manure to fertilize crops and vegetable gardens. 

Why we choose a Sheep

People love to give sheep. One healthy ewe gives highly nutritious milk for essential protein, vitamins, and minerals, plus plenty of wool to knit warm sweaters and blankets. Sheep often give birth to twins or triplets, which can be sold for income or bred to produce a whole flock of woolly grazers. Plus, sheep’s milk is up to twice as rich as cow’s milk in nutrients like protein, calcium, and B vitamins that growing kids need. It’s the perfect gift to celebrate the birth of Jesus—the Lamb of God. 

And the Birthday Child tells us what He wants: Give to the least of these and you give to Me

How can children, my children, raise this money?  

The girls are learning to bake and cook in the kitchen and are doing a great job.  They will be working very hard over the next month to bake cookies and sell them to raise money for their goat and sheep.  They will make Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brownies (not GF).  They will sell 3 cookies for $2 and a brownie for $1.  Would you like to help them?  Help them to change the world one family at a time.

This Christmas, we are looking forward to focusing on giving Christ gifts.
 Focusing on blessing others to give to the One who gives us all things.

  “When You give to the least of these — you give to Me.” 

We are having a family birthday party for Jesus and are inviting you to be a part of it. 

 

Christmas Magic with Friends

We invited friends over to our house for hot cocoa and christmas cookies.  The cookies and peppermint hot cocoa were delicious and got the kids nice and hyped up.

Jonathan gave Luke a ride to the first house.

We love this guys house in Rohnart Park.  He decorates his house like this and all the rest of the neighborhood too.

Riding in the sleigh with Luke.

I love seeing the lights and beauty of Christmas through the eyes of my kids.

Kelly and Evan enjoyed spending time with us too.  Evan loved seeing the bubbles coming down from the castle.

Snow white can not compete with these beautiful women.

Renee, Kellie, Sarah and Kelly

Luke looked at Wonder Woman and said, "Look at the naked super hero!"  So funny!  

We don't always leave the house with the right number of coats, but our kids will never walk around cold.  Hannah stayed like this the rest of the evening.  At the last house, she came to me and fell asleep in my arms.  It was so precious.

I so love the quaint beauty of this house.   So of course I made my family take a picture in front of it.

I love the simplicity of the nativity.  This is what Christmas is all about.  I am so thankful that God came here to earth to save us.  He gave us the best gift there is, a relationship with Him and forgiveness of 

 our sins.

Watching the cool light show.  

I am so thankful for friends that will do fun stuff with us.  We had an awesome time tonight.

Giving the Gift of Experiences

My sister and I have been discussing how to give gifts of experiences to our children.  Kids get so many toys during Christmas and birthdays.  They play with them for a few days, then many break or they loose interest in them.  However, an experience is something that a child will have with them forever.  You can't take that away.  It can impact them in ways that no toy ever can.

So this year Aunt Megan gave the gift of a trip to the ice cream shop and a pedicure to Hannah.  Since Aunt Megan lives in Texas, mommy got to spend a fun Mommy/Daughter day with Hannah as part of her Christmas present.  

Today was a very special day for my littlest girl as it was her Mommy/Daughter Day.  We dropped Bekah off at school, then headed to Peet's Coffee.  My daughter got a hot cocoa with whipped cream.  We sat at a window seat and read a children's story together.  

After getting some work done at home we headed out for a wonderful day.  We went to Toy Works in Sebastopol.  Hannah had fun playing with the trains while I finished up my shopping.  (Megan, I got the best Checkers Board for Bekah for Christmas from you.)

Then we walked a few doors down to Screamin' Mimi's Ice Cream store.  Hannah got a DOUBLE ice cream cone with chocolate and vanilla ice cream.  I got mint.  Yummy!  On the way there, Hannah told me that she wanted marshmallows on top of her ice cream.  She forgot to ask when she ordered, so she went back to the server.  She asked for marshmallows all by herself.  They didn't have any, so she got sprinkles instead.  While talking to the server, Hannah looked at me and told me to go eat my ice cream so she could take care of it all on her own.  It was so cute!

I got chocolate sprinkles!!!!

Then we headed to a local nail salon.  Hannah wasn't so sure about getting her toes done.  At first she said that she would go if I would do her toes.  I said," No, the nice ladies would do our toes."  So after a long, hard choice picking out the color we settled in to our chairs.  I loved every minute of my pedicure.  It was a very new experience for Hannah.  She was super quiet and kept whispering to me.  She told me that next time she wanted my nice lady, since her lady hurt her toes a little bit with her fingernails.  The high light of her trip here was the lolly pop at the end.

Snuggling with mommy was so nice!

Cute toes!  What a fun and special day we had.  After our pedicure, we went home and had lunch while Hannah got to pick a special show to watch.  There is nothing like spending one on one time with someone you love.   Thanks for a wonderful experience Aunt Megan.  What great memories we made today!!

Just Loving This Christmas Season

Hannah ran to the Christmas tree and got her favorite ornament, a simple nut cracker.  

I love the little things that bring happiness to those that seek it.

Daddy loves his littlest girl.  She begged him to sit next to her for pictures and he did.  

I just love this sweet photo of my baby and my husband.

I also loved a picture similar to this one on pinterest and tried it tonight.  I turned off every light in the house besides the tree.  Then I had the girls stand very still in front of the tree.  It was fun seeing the different poses that we could get.

As a child I always loved lying under the Christmas tree.  I had my girls do that tonight just for fun.  Christmas time is so fun.