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NOTE: Sorry I'm so late in posting this. For some reason, I had to think through it a lot this year.
This year will be a year of changes. I feel like I say that every year, but it's particularly true this year, because this is the year, Lord willing, that my eldest daughter goes off to college ( Did I just type that out loud??). It is an exciting chapter in her life, but inevitably this change will bring about some sadness as we miss her everyday presence in our home.
As we plan this big change and go through all that it entails, my biggest prayer is that I will respond correctly. I don't want to wallow in despair or self-pity and thus miss opportunities to minister to my daughter still at home or my husband. I want to encourage Alyssa from afar as she spreads her wings and learns to adjust to college life. I also want to spend more intentional discipling time with Hannah and more intentional relationship-building time with Jameel.
So my word for 2013 is RESPOND. Another aspect of this is my everyday words. Each word that we speak is a choice. I want to weigh my words carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully, so that they will edify their hearers. That means no words spoken in haste or anger, thinking before I speak, and intentionally ( carrying over my word from last year) speaking words of encouragement to others.
You can tell a lot about a person's heart by the way they respond to both trials and blessings. Luke 6:45 says, " A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." The only way I will respond rightly is if my heart is in the right place, which means more time in the Word and in prayer. So my official verse for the year is Luke 6:45. However, I will also put the following verses on the back side of my bookmark as additional reminders:
But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (Matthew 12:36)
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29)
The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil. (Proverbs 15:28)
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:8)
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4:5-6)
Click on the images to enlarge. If you would like to print a bookmark for yourself, feel free to download them and print your own.
Here is the list of books I read in 2012. I will be clearing out the sidebar and starting fresh for 2013, but I want to keep previous years' lists so I am putting it into a post. If I reviewed a book, a link to the review is next to the book title below.
As you can see, my reading was a pretty light this year. I guess it took me a while to get my schedule normalized after starting to work full-time. Or maybe I haven't done that yet. I'm not sure. At any rate, I did complete 9 books last year, and I hope to read more this year.
January (0)
February (0)
March (4)
April (0)
May (1)
June (1)
July (0)
August (1)
September (0)
October (0)
November (1)
December (1)
Non-fiction total =5
Fiction or biographies total = 4
Total books read in 2012 =9
If you've known me very long (or read my blog for very long), you'll know that we always give out gift mixes at Christmas time to friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, and teachers. This year is no exception.
Right after Christmas last year, I got a call from my friend Gina, who found some adorable Christmas-y Chinese take-out containers on sale. I went straight to Michael's and bought 110 of them for my gift mix containers! I was pretty happy to have such a head start. However, it took me until the week before Thanksgiving to actually come up with the mix I would use this year.
I bought the holiday Ziplock bags for the mixes. I didn't realize they were red until I opened them, but here are the mixes all out on my table, ready to be packaged.
And here are 100 mixes all lined up on our play room cabinet. The total this year is around 110, but I had only bought 100 Ziplock bags, so I had to buy more before finishing them.
When I first found this recipe, it was labeled "White Christmas Cherry Bars." I switched the cherries to cranberries and tried them out, but the texture wasn't quite right. After several tweaks and test batches (The ladies at work were very happy when "sample day" came around!), we came up with this recipe. They are really similar to the Cranberry Hootycreek cookies, but in a bar. Very yummy! Below is the front and back of the tag we used. Feel free to print it out to get the recipe. (Click on the images to enlarge.)
Oh, and to reward those who made it to the end of this post - I already have my gift mix picked out for next year! I'm so excited! I'm pretty sure this is the earliest I've ever had a gift mix picked out! Now I have all year to work on packaging. I'm envisioning something with gingerbread men...
You might remember that earlier this year, I walked my first half marathon with Alyssa. I said it was a good experience, but not one that I would want to do again. Well, about that...
After that race, I didn't set foot in the gym for TWO MONTHS. What I realized is that I really need a goal to motivate me to get into the gym. So I signed up for the Soaring Wings Half Marathon and started training. This was a much smaller race, and the proceeds benefit Soaring Wings Ranch, a "Christ-based home for children needing a chance."
Alyssa originally signed up to run this one, but mid-way through training, she decided it took too much time away from her school, so she backed out. That was okay, though, because I got to walk this one with my good friend Stephanie. :) Here are our obligatory before and after photos.
Poor Stephanie finished the last few miles with HUGE blisters on her feet. She was such a trouper! We finished at 3:37, just 5 minutes slower than my first attempt. I was pretty happy with that!
These are some friends of Steph's that I met at the race. Four of us did the race and the other 2 met us at several points in the race to cheer us on.
Best. Cheerleaders. Ever.
Physically, this was a much easier race for me than the first one. Some of that was probably because I knew what to expect. Some of it might have been because I was introduced to GU on this race (It's pretty amazing stuff.). I still don't like the amount of time it takes to train for these races, though. I would love to find another way to stay motivated to go to the gym without having to put in quite so many hours. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.
 In order to be more intentional this year with the girls, I had some books that I wanted to read and discuss with them. One of those was Voddie Baucham, Jr.'s book What He Must Be... If He Wants to Marry My Daughter, which I intended to use to discuss with Alyssa.
When I picked up this book, I thought it would have a nice little list of characteristics to look for in a potential suitor, which would be great to use as a springboard for discussing how we want to handle boy/girl relationships in a college setting. ( If you know me at all, you know I love lists!) While the book did discuss those desired qualities and characteristics, that was really a small part of the content. The real meat of the book discusses the shortage of godly young men and how we should be raising our sons and daughters with a view toward marriage.
I often walk away from a Christian book feeling challenged and convicted. This is the first time I recall walking away from a book feeling downright discouraged. I think it's because the intended audience for the book is really FATHERS. Clearly, I'm not one of those. I kept thinking he would get around to discussing how someone without a Christian father in the family would be able to implement the ideas he proposes in the book, but he never did. Thus, I was left wanting more.
Not surprisingly, I think this would be a great book for a father to read when his children are young, before the "dating" issues spring up. ( Why do we wait until we are facing the dating years before we start looking into these things?!) What might surprise you, though, is that I also think this would be a great book for a father with SONS to read. Baucham spends a lot of time talking about the shortage of godly young men. This would be a great challenge for a dad to read when his son is young so that he could take some intentional steps to mold him into a godly young man that would be a good husband and father for the next generation.
THE VERDICT: Recommended for Christian fathers
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