Christmas cards are a funny thing. Our house is full of them. We love seeing the updated photos of your children, your grandchildren, and your dogs. We love hearing about what is going on in everyones life, what has happened in the past year, and what you are looking forward to. For those of us that send out Christmas cards, we all run that risk of trying to position ourselves as if everything is great. As if we are just slaying it in all areas of life.
If you were at worship yesterday, I shared that Sarah’s Aunt and Uncle send Advent gifts every year to hang on a homemade calendar that we proudly display in our house. Each year Sarah’s Aunt Linda and Uncle John send these gifts that we tie to each one of the corresponding numbers, we video our kids opening the gifts, and send the videos to Aunt Linda and Uncle John. It’s a really fun thing to go back through our phone to the same date in previous years and see how much our boys have changed, see how different Sarah and my ever changing hair is, and all the different places we’ve lived in the past 11 years.
Too many Christmases and Birthdays I am sneaking out the day before trying to buy really meaningful gifts for people. There is really no way to get a meaningful gift at the grocery store or pharmacy on Christmas Eve. My first Christmas with Sarah I bought her a build a bear and wrote her a poem, in which I think I said I would write poems for her forever…I’m pretty sure that was the last poem I ever wrote.
On Friday nights we often play games with our family as a part of our Sabbath. It has become a thing in our neighborhood where the other kids show up as well to join in on the screen free fun.
Which I am regularly surprised by.
One game the kids love to play is Beat The Parents.
I’m pretty sure it’s a game that is designed to make kids cry…because the adults make a wager and the kids make a wager.
Several years ago I tried doing the Whole30. In case you don’t know what it is, you probably will not want to pay attention for a few moments. The idea is that you take all the fun things…sorry…I mean…processed foods and foods we don’t “need” out of your diet and eat only lame things…sorry…I mean…whole foods for 30 days.
I love making chocolate chip cookies. When I was a kid my mom regularly made chocolate chip cookies on a slow day or when she was craving some chocolate. I remember helping her some…but of course no matter how much I helped, I remember always eating what she made.