Hello again!

Thanksgiving has come and gone- and in its wake are memories of cousins wrestling, good food, calculated shopping excursions, and time off from the usual schedule. Tomorrow brings cleaning, grocery shopping, and more laundry. It also brings preparations for advent. I am determined to both be more deliberate in my own season of expectation, and in sharing those experiences with Grady and Finley. I want them- especially Grady- to FEEL excited and to SERVE actively as we look at Scripture and seek to help those that we can.

I want my kids to have "wow" experiences at Christmas- you know the kind- where they rip off the wrapping paper and their mouth drops open and they gasp or scream. I want them to be excited to hear that God is an even better giver than their mom and dad. To get that electric sparkly feeling on Christmas morning, and still know it is a silly faint echo of the real deal, the real gift.

Still brainstorming how I can help my kids experience abundance in a way that leads them to gratitude and generosity, rather than entitlement and greed. I know, I know- model, model, model. So... how do *I* keep from getting wrapped up in the list of things I want under the tree for ME? From caring more about how our house is decorated than how our hearts are doing? From getting more pleasure from compliments on the appetizers I bring to the parties than from the act of anonymous giving to the truly hungry? I think the place I need to start is prayer- getting help from the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, to keep raising me up out of the pit of lifeless selfish materialism.

Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel. And ransom captive Israel...