Christmas Jars

Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I'm crazy about Christmas. That is, I love the entire season, and the true meaning of it all. Christmas Eve is the most special day of the entire year to me...it is mystical, magical, delightful in every way. My heart is full of nothing but love on Christmas Eve as I think of all it means to be celebrating.

I start my Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving. I pick a "theme" every year and decorate one of several trees for fun. I get fully into the spirit of it all and I'm on a high for about six weeks non-stop. Everything I can possibly squeeze in, I do, from making home-made cards, baking cookies, shopping,wrapping, going to concerts, hosting and attending parties, keeping Advent, reading my collection of Christmas books, driving around to see all the lights, and of course, contemplating the miracle of the Christ child which is what the season is really about.

Just recently I heard of a tradition that began in 2005 when Jason F. Wright authored a novel called Christmas Jars. You can read all about it here:

http://www.christmasjars.com/main.php

Currently Christmas jars have made their way around at least 37 States and 6 countries outside the U.S.

I'm getting a late start, but from now till Christmas Eve I am saving all my loose coins (minus pennies) in a mason jar which I will decorate. Between now and Christmas Eve, I will be prayerfully on the lookout for a person or family I want to anonymously bless with my filled jar, and I will find a way to leave it for them as a total surprise. I cannot WAIT to do this!

A friend has offered some additional suggestions to add to the value of the jar:

* hide a gift card in the middle of the coins

* hide a roll of quarters or rolled up bills

* put the jar in a gift bag, and include a copy of Jason Wright's book. (New and used ones can be purchased through Amazon. (Go to the website above and click on Amazon.com)

* enlist your children or grandchildren to join the fun, and teach them the spirit of giving in a very tangible way. Have them help you decorate the jar; have them help you search for "lost coins" around the house, such as under chair cushions or in the car.

Here I thought I had to wait till the day after Thanksgiving to start preparing for Christmas Eve. But the jar on my kitchen counter reminds me daily that the big day is coming. Next year I will use a larger jar, and work on filling it all year long.

I hope you will be inspired to start filling a jar too. Let me know if you come up with additional ideas to make this tradition even more meaningful.

I'm on the waiting list at our local library as all the Christmas Jars books are currently checked out. That's WONDERFUL, isn't it?

Have you heard my crib story?

I've told this story so many times, but I never tire of it, it is so special to me. It was also published on my other blog last March, but I thought it belonged here also.

This is the baby crib we bought thirty years ago, second hand. Nothing special about it except it slept my two babies...so how much more special can it be than that? About seven years ago a friend was collecting baby supplies for a young Russian couple who were living in married student housing at Kent State, expecting their first baby, and with very little money, needed just about everything. I offered my crib, which I was hanging on to in the event I ever needed it for grandchildren, who were not even on the radar screen at the time. Tonya and Sergi once had us over to their place for dinner and we so enjoyed seeing their little girl using our crib. We told them to use it as long as they needed it, and we would get it back eventually.

Time passed, the Russian students moved to another city, as well as our mutual friend. I wistfully said "goodbye" to my crib in my mind, and really never thought any more about it. Until in 2005 when I found out we were going to become grandparents! The sentimental thought of "oh my crib" quickly ran through my brain, and I felt a pinge of sadness that I had saved it all those years and now wouldn't have it when I wanted it.

If you've ever doubted that God cares about the tinyest things in our hearts, doubt no more. That VERY DAY I received an email "Hi Jacque, it's Tonya. Remember me? I have your crib. We used it for two children! I want to return it. We will be in your area this weekend." I'm not making this up!

But wait...there's more! A couple more years passed, and while walking through the atrium at our church, who do I run into but Tonya and Serji? They've now moved back to the area and are new but vibrant, growing Christians, and Tonya is now in my Thursday morning ladies bible study, sitting right next to me. I thought I'd recovered a crib, but really I gained a friend.

After all this time my eyes still fill with tears to remember what an awesome God I serve, One who desires to bless me and who knows the plans He has for me, down to the smallest detail. My fourth grandchild is now using the crib when he is at my house. How could I have ever imagined this 30 years ago or even 7 years ago?

When I was pregnant with my first child and feeling pretty sick most of the time, my husband bought my a plaque with a very special Scripture verse on it to cheer me up:

"...I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future." Jer.29:11 NIV

Easy Coffee Cake

This is one of the easiest cakes I've ever made and it is so yummy. I hope you will try it and let me know what you think. Don't you just love recipes where everything just gets mixed up in one bowl?

Easy Coffee Cake

2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

Filling: 3/4 c. chopped nuts, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 Tbsp. sugar

Beat all the cake ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Pour 1/2 of the batter into an angel food or fluted pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray such as Pam. Sprinkle half of the filling on the batter. Pour the balance of the batter in, then the remaining filling on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. Start in a cold oven.

When cool, sprinkle cake with powdered sugar or drizzle frosting on top if desired.

Happy Fall to One and All

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin.

God picks you from the patch, brings you in,

and washes all the dirt off of you.

Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.

He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed.

Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.

"...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16 NIV

Virginia's Autumn Soup, with a story

This is quite a simple recipe and one that brings precious memories every time I make it. It was given to me about 15 years ago by an elderly pastor's wife who had co-labored with her husband for more than 50 years in the ministry. She used to bring it to our church soup suppers. In the early years of their ministry when they served a small rural town, many folks supplemented their tithes and offerings with fresh produce, meat, and dairy products from their farms. Virginia told me that while they didn't have a lot of money, they always had plenty of good food. I think of how different life is today, and part of my heart longs to know more of the simple ways of days gone by. Let me know if you try this recipe...it is very hearty and all you need to go with it is some good bread and butter. You probably have everything you need in your kitchen already.

Autumn Soup

1 # ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

4 cups water

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced potatoes

1 qt. tomatoes

2 beef bouillon cubes

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 bay leaf

1 Tbsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. sweet basil

1 tsp. chili powder

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup pearled barley

Brown meat and onions, drain off excess fat. Add browned meat and onion to slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Turn cooker to low. Cook 4-5 hours.

Jacquelyn's notes:

*notice the ingredient "quart tomatoes" - I use a large can of crushed tomatoes

*ground turkey can be substituted for the ground beef if preferred

*I go heavy on the sweet basil and chili powder, using about 1 Tbsp. each

*I usually make this in a pot on the stove instead of in the crock pot. It's done in about an hour, but tastes better every time you reheat it!

Margin

I don't know about the rest of the world this morning (literally, as I have not had time to watch the news) but I am feeling quite tired and overwhelmed. My days and weeks for the past several months (or is it years?) have been flying by at break-neck speed, and I'm feeling a bit out of control and out of order. This is NOT a good thing. I've got to get a grip and get my life back in balance.

We all know better. I know better, and you know better. Why is it then that it is all too easy to allow the tyranny of the urgent to overtake our common sense? Our bodies, minds, and spirits scream for rest and restoration, but we keep pushing to the outer limits. Achievement becomes something of a god. It also can become an addiction. Our culture rewards it and so we become hooked on always striving for more. Busyness is the black plague of our society today. It steals our energy and sense of well-being and can literally kill us like a terminal disease when we never stop to regain our center.

Richard A. Swenson has written a really good book about this subject from a Christian point of view. It is called Margin. Just as a letter or other document is easier to read when it is uncluttered in appearance and has lots of white space around the print, our lives need appropriate margin to be healthy. Here is an overview from Google Books:

Overload is not having time to finish the book you are reading on stress. Margin is having time to read it twice. Overload is fatigue. Margin is energy. Overload is red ink. Margin is black ink. Overload is hurry. Margin is calm. Overload is anxiety. Margin is security. Overload is the disease of our time. Margin is the cure. Margin is the space that once existed between ourselves and our limits. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations. In Margin, Dr. Richard Swenson provides a prescription against the danger of overloaded lives. Focusing on margin in four key areas-emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances-he offers an overall picture of health that employs contentment, simplicity, balance, and rest. If you yearn for relief from the pain and pressure of overload, take a lifelong dose of Margin . The benefits of good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships, and availability for Gods purposes will follow you all your days. I don't know how you are faring, but I need to find some green pastures today and allow my soul to be restored. I need to look at my calendar and block off some white space. I need to take one day at a time and ask the Lord to order this one day for me. When I've asked Him in the past I've always been amazed at how faithfully He has done that for me and how much better I felt at the end of the day than I did at the beginning. May God order your day today as well. "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 A peaceful scene I saw this morning just 10 minutes from my house... What a confirmation to the majesty of God and His creation!

On losing a baby...

My heart is really hurting today for a precious young couple I've never met. They are on the staff at my mom's church. Today they will bury their tiny baby boy. They don't have any living children yet, and this is the second one that has died before birth. The first one was in the first trimester, and so when this baby passed the six month mark they felt it was really going to happen--that they would finally be blessed with a child.

The church had a large shower for them just last week. How well I remember 30 years ago how excited I was after being given several baby showers for our firstborn. Bringing all those gifts home, going through them and just bursting with joy while waiting...arranging things in the drawers and on those little hangers, feeling the softness of the little pastel receiving blankets and imagining a baby the size of those cute little outfits.

They don't know what went wrong, and perhaps never will. Everything seemed fine until a couple days ago when no movement was noticed. A check up confirmed the baby had died. The mother was induced and had to go through a very difficult labor and delivery. The parents named their child and held him briefly while waiting for the preparations to be made for a private family burial service.

This couple's family live out of town, so the Church will really need to be the Church in the coming days, weeks, months to help see them through this ordeal. They are hurting so badly and totally devastated right now. I can't even imagine their pain. Meals that have been sent have been delivered through the pastor because they just can't bear to see anyone yet. I think in our society today where abortion is legal and so many make that choice, those who lose pregnancies and have a difficult time bearing children are wounded all the more.

For all the strong faith that believers in Jesus have, for all the wonderful Bible verses that have been memorized and quoted, and for all the encouraging words we like to give one another, this is, as we say in Akron, where the rubber meets the road. Christianity is no longer merely our "religion". It either works or it isn't real. God really has a plan for us or we are just wasting our time.

I don't have all the answers when life throws these kinds of curveballs. I cannot presume to know what God has in mind in a situation like this. But I do know one thing for sure: when we cannot see the hand of God, we can trust His heart. He is nothing but good, and our understanding of His goodness is incomplete. His ways are beyond tracing out. His Word tells us that, and His Word is trustworthy.

Please pray for this young couple today. Pray that God will be very near and dear to them. Pray that their brothers and sisters in Christ will be able to comfort them with the comfort they themselves have received. Pray that God will use this testing of their faith for His glory. Pray that they may be healed in body, mind, and spirit.

Thank you for sharing this burden today. God bless you and make you a blessing.

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ"

Galatians 6:2