The Hush Among the Hustle
Published December 17, 2010Monday Morning Note: This post will be left up until 3:00 pm EST to give more of you the chance to enter. New post & winner announced then. 
Merry Christmas to you who’ve clicked here by way of my Encouragement for Today devotion. If you haven’t read it yet, click here so you’ll be on the same page as the rest of us. Don’t forget to come back for the giveaway!
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A hush among the hustle.
Could we find it this year at Christmas?
Could we model it for the children in our lives?
Here are some ideas to try!
(Be sure to read to the end for a Christmas sale on signed copies of my books and the holiday hush giveaway too!)
Making the Nativity Real & Remembered
The nativity scene and story of Jesus’s birth ay be the most dramatized, reenacted, painted, composed about, and otherwise depicted event in history. But how can you write the story on your loved ones’ hearts, not just plant it in their heads? These ideas help, and the moments experienced with the nativity can be living memories.
~ Tell the Story Over & Over
For a keepsake to treasure in years to come, record your children each year telling the nativity story into a tape recorder. Toddlers will be able to articulate just the basics about the Christ child, the manger, the angels and the shepherds. As they grow, more details will be added to their narration. Once they are old enough to read, let them read the story from Luke 2 out loud to be recorded. It will be fun to hear how their voice changes from year to year. A great present to give grandparents!
~ Give the Nativity
When each of your children are young, purchase a nativity set for them to have when they are grown and leave your home. Figure out how many pieces are in the set. Then, each year, give them one piece in their stocking, timing it so that they get the last piece the year they are 18.
~ Live the Nativity
Take in a living nativity experience. Many churches reenact the first Christmas by having church members dress up like the characters found in Luke chapter 2. Children especially love to drive by and see the holy family, the angels, shepherds and wise men. Return home for some hot spiced cider or hot chocolate.
~ Go on the Hunt for Jesus
Hide a baby boy doll and on Christmas morning crank up a yuletide tune to awaken the kids. Then hunt for baby Jesus, just like the Wisemen of old. After He’s placed in a makeshift manger, read the Christmas story from Luke 2, before opening your presents. Reiterate the point you’re illustrating: Jesus before ourselves!
~ Build Suspense Along with the Story
Place your nativity set out piece by piece, telling the Christmas story as it is found in scripture.
The first night, place Mary out all alone, as you come to the part of the Bible where she is mentioned. The next night comes the angel who appears to her. The following night, Joseph appears and so on.
You’ll soon be placing the animals, shepherds, baby Jesus, and finally the wise men, who arrived a few years after Christ was born. This is a great way to make the Christmas story last over several days and the kids will look forward to the new character put out each night.
~ Light the Way
Many cultures place a candle in the window from dusk to dawn on Christmas Eve signifying the star that guided the wise men to Jesus. For fire safety reasons, I’d suggest using an electric candle.
~ Trekking for a Tree
For a unique family outing after Christmas, get a hold of a copy of the wonderfully illustrated book The Night Tree by Eve Bunting. It tells of a family’s annual outing to decorate a tree in the forest with popcorn strings and fruits and other treasures that the animals will be delighted to find and eat.
After reading the book, your family too can trek out to the woods to decorate your own night tree. Then return home for a round of hot cocoa, just like the family in the story.
NOTE: If you’d like to get any of my books (with no tax & free shipping!) personalized for Christmas gifts, click here for more info.
Now for the giveaway! It includes:
~ A composition book to use as a journal, recording thoughts, musings & ideas.
~ A set of my favorite writing pens–Sharpie fine tip.
~ Some note cards with whimsical decals for you to record favorite verses to memorize or quotes to inspire you. Place them where you’ll see them throughout the day to ponder.
~ Two heart-shaped Post It notepads for jotting down those “to dos” that are sure to pop in your mind when you are trying to contemplate or meditate on God. Write those thoughts on the sticky note and get your focus back. When you are through, the notes will remind you what you need to take care of.
~ A notecard & envelope set to write an old-fashioned note of encouragement to a friend, family member or even a stranger!
~ A box of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Tea by Celestial Seasonings. Herbal & caffeine free!! Sip, savor and slow down.
~ An assortment of Lindt chocolate truffles. To enjoy with your tea.
~ A tube of Bath & Body Works Vanilla Noel body creme. Well……just because!!
Okay—leave a comment today letting us know what you will be up to this weekend. Shopping? Wrapping? Parties? Do you have any ideas for how you can take a moment to slow down and hush, instead of rush? If time is tight, simply say, “I’m in!”
The winner will be announced Monday when we’ll have another giveaway and a special guest! Oh, and speaking of winners…..the winner of the decorating giveaway is:
Courtney: timestamp: December 16th at 8:39 pm.
Congrats! Send your mailing address to me at karen@proverbs31.org.
Hushing-not-rushing Blessings,
149 Responses to The Hush Among the Hustle
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My Family
My goal this weekend is to get presents wrapped, find some Christmas jammies for my girls, and maybe make something yummy with my toddler.
I intentionally took the whole day off today so I could have time to finish up the details and prepare my heart. As I finish up levi quilts for my 3 grown children, I will be watching my favorite old Christmas movies today. Tomorrow, I will enjoy time with my baby girl (11) as we make a couple batches of Christmas Candy.As always, I will begin my day with my Savior.
This weekend is the cousin, kid craft and cookie at a favorite Aunt’s home and again this year they are calling for snow. Last year it had to postponed until after Christmas.
We are praying snow holds out!
Christmas Blessings,
kareng
We have basketball games but I would like to make a gingerbread house with my boys.
Thank you for you devotion. Luke 2:19 has become my verse this Christmas Season. It has helped me slow down and remember was it is important this time of year.
This weekend I’m baking and spending time with my family. My husband and I are trying to continuously explain the real meaning of Christmas to our 2 year old and we work on this everytday by reading the Christmas story. This weekend just slowing down and taking in each moment will be a nice change of pace.
Tonight my hubby is taking me to our local theater’s rendition of my FAVORITE all time Christmas movie….”White Christmas”. I am beside myself with excitement! Tomorrow, we will take our children to “Bethlehem Breakfast” at our church and finish up the shopping. The kids will go get small gifts for each other from each other. Sunday, we will worship together and Sunday night will go listen to my In-law’s Christmas Music. Next week…we will slow down and savor the week! Aaaah!
I will be going to a cookie exchange tomorrow!
I am baking and packing for a trip to meet the family in the mountains for a VERY WHITE Christmas. Pray for traveling mercies and that we all will be blessed as we celebrate the birthday of our King togther!!
Christmas dinner with my husband’s family and then our Christmas Play at Church where my 10 year old niece has a solo!! What a blessed weekend.
I want to go out with my little boy and purchase backpacks to fill up with warm stuff,like hats blankets and gloves and then drive through neighbohoods and give them away..There is always someone pushing a grocery cart somewhere or maybe park our vehicle in a church paking lot and see what happens…..MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
I am looking forward to a relaxed weekend. Plans are to wrap presents, bake and decorate cookies while having a christmas movie marathon….in our PJ’s….can’t wait!
Actually this weekend I will try to rest. I really did a lot this week which is why your post made complete sense.
Shopping, wrapping, and hopefully cookie baking
Shopping and getting the house ready for Christmas.
This weekend our extended family (about 25) is getting together to have dinner. Then we’ll have a white elephant gift exchange. We do that because none of us is really in need of anything in particular and we like the fun of it. It’s become a special family time we’ve had for the past 6 or 7 years. The sense of humor in this family is amazing!!
To slow down in the evening before I go to bed I pray for my extended family and read Luke 2 and write a little blog. It’s my way of spending time with the Lord and then giving Him away.
I will be wrapping, shopping, waiting for my son to come home from college and listening to my husband give the sermon at church. He is a seminary student, second career after retiring from the Air Force. And helping host a Christmas party for our high school Sunday School class at church. So… just a few things. I might throw in a load of laundry or 2 also!
I love the idea of hunting for baby Jesus like the wise men. I will have to add that this year. Our favorite activity so far is the Jesse advent tree…love this!!!
We’ll be heading out to the Hollywild Animal Park with several families from church Saturday night! It’s a fun time and the kids LOVE it!
Sunday night we’re going caroling then heading back to our pastor’s house for games and refreshments!
Looking forward to spending time with our church family!
Also gotta find time for wrapping and baking!
Birthday Celebrations!!! Two of my girls have a birthday before Christmas. Maybe a little baking and wrappping. Shopping is done. Time to enjoy the Season!
This weekend, my daughter is coming home from Ghana bright and early Saturday morning, we are celebrating our sons birthday, my dad is coming up from NC to celebrate Christmas, and my in-laws are joining us for lunch after church on Sunday to join in on all the celebrating. Shopping for food today! Whew! Definitely want to make sure that I don’t lose sight of Christ in the midst of all the business!
Merry Christmas!
This weekend is full of celebration! Saturday we are practicing the play that will be performed Sunday evening at our church. We get together with some family after that for Christmas! Sunday will be full of worship!
My family and I will be taking a trip to OK to meet a couple of Pastors and see some old friends. We are currently in the US raising funds to return to Kenya (we came home in June after spending 3 yrs there). I really wanted to be home and not add to the chaos but we don’t have a choice. So, we will be making the most of family time in the van together and I am not going to worry about the shopping and wrapping I still have to do!
Merry Christmas!!!
This was supposed to be our craziest weekend of the month – with something going every minute of both days. However, now my husband has to unexpectedly work extra long days today and tomorrow and my son has a fever. While I’m not thrilled my hubby has to work or my son has a fever, I am thankful for the opportunity to slow down – and for all the extra cuddles I’m getting from my boy:) Merry Christmas!
I will be cleaning the house preparing for Christmas. I still want to put up another nativity scene. It is so beautiful here now with all the snow and the trees covered with their “blanket of snow” I love to just sit and gaze out the window of the Beauty and the birds feeding in the feeders.
I have a very busy weekend…kids homeschool coop party this morning,ladies bible study party (at my house) tonight, homeschool coop MOMS lunch tomorrow, Christmas program at church Sunday morning and evening!!
This weekend I am mailing gifts to far away family and friends, going on a date with my husband, and going to our church’s Cantata on Sunday morning!
Today, I am going to finish shopping. The mall is 90 miles away from home one-way! Tomorrow, I will put the Christmas tree up and decorate, tidy house, wrap presents. Sunday is a day of rest at church and our Christmas Program Sunday evening with our precious children. Your ideas in this devotion are precious. I plan to share your ideas with a young couple at church with a newborn baby.
May you have a blessed CHRISTmas.
My husband and I will be shopping this weekend. Christmas is only 8 days away. That makes this mama want to yell AHHHHH!!! However, in the midst of all the hustle and bustle and last minute details I must pause a moment and focus on the reason for the season. Mary certainly had much to be anxious about that first Christmas, but she chose to focus on who she was with that first Christmas morn – JESUS. There is much pulling at me all around, but I choose to take a moment each day and focus on JESUS – my Prince of Peace.
Christmas blessings,
Pam
I am in a play at my church called “The Christmas Post”. It’s a musical set in the 40s with a message about the manger. It’s our gift to the community surrounding the church. Pray for people to make decisions for Christ. Friday’s performance is full and Saturday’s is getting there. Our desire is to present the real meaning of Christmas to those who may have never heard it.
This weekend I’m baking Snicker bars (yummy) and going to our first family Christmas with extended family. I still need to wrap the gifts! Merry Christmas!
Wrapping presents. Done shopping except for stocking stuff. Spending the day tomorrow sewing with friends.
Thank you for great devotion! You have a beautiful way with words. I’m enjoying my Husband & Daughter this weekend: Breakfast with Santa, Brownie Girl Scout outing to see the Nutcracker, and also movie. If the snow/ice isn’t too bad in our area, we’ll make it to church on Sunday; otherwise, our Pastor will cancel the service for safely precautions due to the rural areas people travel from to make it downtown. We’re really excited for the weekend & officially on Christmas Break! My shopping is complete thanks to all the school fundraisers we’ve had so far this year – great gifts! I feel so blessed to have taken a slower approach to our Christmas this year (online shopping certainly helps & free shipping), and I am truly enjoying every moment. Merry Christmas Karen!
This weekend I will be relaxing which will be nice after a stressful week.
I’m taking a day off next week to spend with my kids before the hustle of the big family gatherings. A day just for us to enjoy together. I love the idea of giving a piece of the nativity scene each year until they have a full set for them selves. Cool idea. I’m in. Your give aways are so much fun.
This weekend I’ll be moving my mom in with me and my family. She’s sick with cancer, still doing well, but needs a bit of extra help. I’ve been begging her to move in with us for a couple months and she’s finally decided to just go with it.
She’ll be able to get into the Christmas spirit now with the tree and the lights. I’m very excited. I am just now learning the story of Christmas and Baby Jesus–it’s enlightening to say the least. I can’t even express how much having His love and support means to me right now.
An exciting week-end starting today with wrapping gifts. Sat we will attend a family members 60th anniversary dinner(WOW) then attend a Christmas cantada. Sunday we will be with family for a granddaughters bday, then to our church youth Christmas play. Yes it will be busy, but the best time with family & time to focus on Jesus.
Merry Christmas everyone.
My weekends are take it as they come. Don’t much planned. I know what needs done but there is no real set in stone. Daughters and hubby work on Sat. and Sunday is Church only day
I’d never turn down a chance to win Chocolate though. And I love Sugar cookie tea. thanks
ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com
This weekend I plan to finish up some last minute shopping and get some cookies baked with my teen daughter. I have also decided to cut some things from my to do list for Christmas to slow down & enjoy the celebration of Jesus! We tend to put too much expectations on ourselves to do it all & make things perfect. Thank you for the reminder that we need to stop & reflect on what we are really celebrating! Merry Christmas!
My plans this weekend tonight dinner at a neighbors, tomorrow night 14 of us are going to Mt Hope Winery DIckens of a Christmas where they are dressed up and do skits from Charles Dickens stories in different rooms of the mansion. Sunday church and rest
This weekend I’ll be enjoying my family as we make a trip to take the kids to see Santa and shop for Christmas dinner together and of course, a little wrapping
We have a Christmas party to go to tonight followed by a late night trip to visit friends 3.5 hours away. Then…we’ll have an early Christmas with them tomorrow and return home tomorrow night. Whew! I definitely need a little “hush” right now.
So excited to share something our family is participating in this weekend. A friend of ours has organized an event called Project Presents. We are gathering and wrapping a trailer full (we hope) of gifts for kids that live in a nearby inner city housing project. I hope we can also join them on Christmas Eve morning when we deliver the gifts to these needy families. We are really trying to focus as a family on giving away rather than the receiving – which is a challenge for all of us – I love buying presents as much as my kids love receiving them. We are doing the Three Gifts idea (from you Karen) this year. I am having a hard time reducing my spending, but we are trying to change the focus slowly off of ourselves and onto giving to others in need. Thanks for the great suggestions on refocusing and slowing down. It was exactly what my heart needed to hear today!
Love these ideas!
We’re going to a free showing of ‘The Polar Express’ Saturday morning and a family party that afternoon, and my daughter’s church Christmas play Sunday night. She has to rehearse all day Sunday, so while the little one naps, I’m planning to hang out in front of the tree and the TV, watching movies and wrapping.
This weekend will be busy for me. Shopping, wrapping and partying. Merry Christmas!!!
Finishing a 20 page paper for school, getting ready for the trip to Georgia to spend Christmas with my daughter, son-in-law and grandkids (haven’t been together for Christmas since 2006).
We are actually taking it easy this weekend. After a busy month of getting ready for the holiday celebrations, we are slowing down as a family to focus on Jesus. Then, we are having a birthday party for Jesus at AWANA on Sunday for the kids. How fun. THank you so much for your ideas.
I will be catching up with my son is who coming home from college today! Then the office Christmas party. Sunday will probably be relaxing in order to gear up for the rest of the week. I intentionally take the week of Christmas off so I do NOT have to rush with the cookie baking and wrapping and last minute gift buying. Merry Christmas everyone! And God’s blessing on you all. Thank you so much for such a wonderful devotional today. I have had more peace this Christmas than I have in a long time. God is good.
Karen-I really enjoyed your devotion today. I have so much going on in my life that I needed the reminder to slow down. This weekend is going to be rainy and I plan to wrap presents and watch Christmas movies. God Bless you and your family. Merry Christmas.
I will be getting a manicure and pedicure. I am sooo looking forward to it.
Tomorrow our church is having a parent’s day out…free babysitting! So we’ll taking advantage of that.
I hope to bake 2 more kinds of cookies so I can at least offer 4 varieties. I’m downsizing cookies this year. The wrapping really needs to start at some point too!
Because of the massive snow we had in Rochester, MN last weekend this weekend is filled with Christmas play rehersal on Saturday and 2 performances on Sunday. We have finished school for the year though, so next week we are off and can focus on preparing!
Boy oh boy did this hit the spot!! I have been pondering this very thing. Seems this past week has been nothing but rush rush rush. Christmas shopping, preperations for parties, programs and parties. I intend to just relax this next week enjoying the time off with my girls. We usually make candy, cookies and snaks for the eventful day. Baking with them is so much fun, they are a delight to spend time with. We may even sneak off and shop for the Daddy.
On Saturday we will be getting the tree, decorating it and the house. Hopefully at a pace to enjoy it all.
This is church program weekend for us. Oh and today my piano students are having a recital. It’s still a bit busy! After Monday, I am hoping to enjoy finishing making some gifts and having time to be home! Thanks for helping us remember to keep Christ First!
Rebecca Ann
Karen…I cannot tell you how much your devotional meant to me this morning…I am going to copy it so I can read it again and again…This weekend I will be sewing jammies for the grandkids and going to church Sunday night for the Christmas program…I can’t wait!!!
My anniversary is tomorrow and we will be staying in a beach house and going Christmas shopping!
GREAT ideas!!!! Thank you so much for sharing!! Even though my son is grown and out of the house, I still think some of these ideas would be fantastic for us when he gets home for a visit.
We will be deep cleaning the house this weekend to be ahead for the next couple of weeks. We’ll also be making the list of Christmas goodies to start on next week. Might have to sneak in a test batch this weekend as a reward for finishing the cleaning!!
Next week and next is “hush” time for me…after this busy week of parties and activities….
I’m in this morning!
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be taking a turn to host coffee and mince pies at the church in town, helping a charity which supports Aids widows and orphans in Tanzania. I signed up for this a while back, not knowing what I’d be doing the last weekend before Christmas – but, amazingly, I have already finished most of my Christmas preparations – with no rush or stress – and so easily have a couple of hours to give away doing this. I’m really looking forward to it!
IM IN
Karen,
My children are all grown and out of the house.As I read your devotion and blog, I thought this is great to pass on to them. My youngest daughter is expecting her first child in March. I thought a perfect Christmas to give her is the child friendly nativity set I bought when she was little. Thank you for reminding me of the true meaning of Christmas.
I’m also volunteering to help with a Christmas dinner and party for the less fortunate families in my neighborhood. Todnight the ladies are getting together to wrap presents and peel potatoes.
Thank you again for being His light!
God bless you and have a blessed Christmas!
Grace
We are heading out of town to be with family this Christmas season. We are going to get to have a long visit and I just CAN’T WAIT! Really enjoyed your blog…it’s my first time here. I love the “realness” and simplicity of what you do. Thank you and Merry Christmas!
This weekend: Friday night- Co assisting a family Christmas party at the church. Saturday – shop, wrap, dinner and lights around town with the family. Sunday – church, lunch with youth group leaders, then afternoon with youth leaders wife and other female volunteers.
I am so thankful that I was able to take a few days off scattered through December to help the holidays be less hectic.
Leaving after school for Grandparents Christmas weekend with 3 1/2 hours on the road. Packing and wrapping today with last minute errands! Got to run!
I’m in!
We start our family celebrations this weekend.
Saturday we will be celebrating Christmas with our children due to schedule conflicts. I opt to have it whenever it suits them so that they don’t feel so rushed to be with all of their family on Christmas eve or Christmas day. My granddaughter tells the Christmas story with our nativity set. I wish I had thought to record it when she first started doing it, that would be a treasure, great idea, Karen.
This weekend we are having a progressive Christmas dinner with my children and my husband’s side of the family. My husband, son and daughter-in-law are preparing a surprise Christmas song to sing to everyone at the last house. They will be singing Labor of Love to us, in which many that will be there are not believer. I am praying that God will soften their hearts through this song and help them to realize the real reason for the season. Please pray that this will help them to come to know Jesus. Merry Christmas!!
This weekend I will be working, decorating, making cookies, and wrapping presents and possibly shopping. Now that I see it all down it sounds like a lot. But the best part of this weekend will be church and Sunday school, and that will be a time of refreshing and a reminder to put the focus where it belongs — on Jesus : )
Love the nativity ideas! Our plan for this weekend is to get the house ready for guests next week and just take time to pause and reflect. Probably a Saturday night movie of ‘The Nativity Story’ and some Bible reading to help get our hearts ready.
This weekend will be a busy one! Tonight I have a cookie swap, tomorrow shopping and holiday parties and then Sunday church and another holiday party! Although I love being busy I do my best to not let it over take me from what’s important
This weekend my husband will be having his employee Christmas party on Saturday night. We will attend. Can’t wait to go to church on Sunday — as always. And we may just go see “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” with as many of my grown children as want to go. Thank you for this post, Karen. You gave LOTS of great ideas! My children are all grown — it makes me wish I was a young mother again. (Can’t apply any of it to grandchildren just yet — don’t have any.) Wonderful ways for making special family memories!
This weekend will be church, shopping and wrapping, preparing something for the carry-in at work Monday, and celebrating my husband’s birthday since he had the audacity to be born right before Christmas! I hope there’s some Jesus with me time tomorrow. And oh yes – my husband is donning his Santa suit for his great nephew.
This weekend we will join my husband’s brother and family for a tradition we’ve been doing for several years now. We go to their church which puts on a beautiful Christmas concert and then enjoy dinner at a local restaurant. It’s something we all look forward to each year.
I took the day off from work today so I can finish all I have to do in one day instead of the usual trying to run errands in the time after work and before daycare pick up. But it’s raining so I might actually just slow down today and rest,
In addition to the normal hustle and bustle, this is my busiest time at work. I will be working part of the weekend and then Sunday, after church, celebrating Christmas with my parents, sister and our kids.
Oh I have a cookie exchange to go to tomorrow afternoon. So that means an afternoon of baking today!
My daughter and I are singing in the CHRISTmas concert at our Church Sunday morning. Our children are going CHRISTmas caroling with kids from the church. And if that isn’t enough we are in the process of starting a church in our town with 3 other families. None of this is stressful to me tho. We make an effort to keep Christ the center of CHRISTmas and not get so wrapped up in the commercialization of it.
We hope to get some shopping done – we’re ALMOST done! And wrapping should be on the agenda, as none of that has taken place yet. However, I mostly want to relax with my hubby. Last weekend was very busy, and I want to SLOW down! So – nothing on the calendar tomorrow!!
I’m in
Love your idea about sending kids off with their own Nativity. Though my kids are older and I can’t do the one piece a year bit, I can start looking for a set to give them when they move out. The nativity was always my favorite part of settng up the tree and I would recount the story in my head as I put the pieces out, even as a little kid.
Thank you also for the reminder of Mary and her ability to be still and know her God.
I’ll be moving. I have a Christmas party tomorrow, then back to house to prepare for movers who are coming on Sunday and Monday… staying at my mom’s until after Christmas… hubby returns on 23rd to take us all to our new home…where we will be arriving the day after Christmas;) I’ll slow down in a few weeks, but sincerly enjoyed the P31 Devo and this post as a “still” moment today:)
I am spending the weekend at my daughters. While she works, I’m going to be spending time baking with my little granddaughter. We are going to bake lots of cookies to giveaway and do a gingerbread house together. I’m really looking forward to it. thank you for the awesome giveaway.
koinonia572001@yaho.com
This afternoon is the Office Holiday Party. Once I leave there I will head home to bake Christmas goodies with my new roomies and prepare a toasty dinner as it is storming here. This weekend I will resting and relaxing as my Christmas celebration will be very low key this year. My children are all grown and out of the house and haven’t included me in their plans for this year. I don’t mind, it’s much less tress for me.
Hi Karen!
Yes I do need to slow down & simplfy
I think God has kinda forced me to do it this year (in a good way)… My husband & I will be watching our son play for Watertown H.S. Basketball tomorrow. Then, I think we’ll do some baking when we get home – yummy!
Karen,
What a wonderful blog. It blessed me.
This weekend I want to spend a lot of time in praise and worship. I will be doing a little shopping to finish up and any wrapping needed. I can’t wait to spend some time with my wonderful husband of 45 years. We will spend time with our grandchildren – love that. I have a new Christmas book to read to them and we will be talking about Jesus birthday.
It is not nearly as rushed as when we were raing our 6 children. Even then we always found quiet time to read the nativity story together. Those are my precious memories.
Hope your weekend will be as lovely as mine.
Merry Christmas.
Karen,
Just staying home and caring for my ill husband, this I do do most of the time. When he is up to it we get out to do the shopping and that is about all. So my weekend is to be taking care of him and getting caught up on some Bible study.
I will be wrapping & baking. My daughter is then coming into town from CA Sat evening, so will be celebrating & talking about the “Reason for the Season”
Saturday night is a grad party and Sunday is church.
Love the ideas! I’m in
Hi all! I will slow down after reading this blog, by reading the CHRISTmas story to my almost 7 yr old girl, from Luke 1&2! She gave her sweet heart to Jesus earlier this year! At school, they wrote down what gift they would give to Jesus and she said she would give Jesus her SOUL, because she loves HIM! Now THAT is deep for a 7 yr old! PTL! It brought tears of joy to think she truly “gets it”! How many times do I NOT “get it”?? THX for all ya’ll do! Merry CHRISTmas! Would LOVE to win this package! Sounds wonderful!
This is a busy weekend for us. Looking forward to the events of the weekend and then to a quieter week next week. We’re enjoying an early snow in coastal Virginia…something we don’t often see. I’m even enjoying it, and I’m a warm-weather girl at heart. Anyway, my younger daughter (9 years old) will dance in her 7th annual production of the Nutcracker this weekend…shows tonight, tomorrow night, and Sunday afternoon. Various friends and family members will attend on different nights, but mom (me) needs to be there for all 3 shows…to assist with wardrobe, hair and make-up backstage, to work the concession stand at intermission. I’m planning to leave the backstage duties to someone else tomorrow night and enjoy the show from a comfy seat in the audience. My little ballerina is also in the choir for our church’s Christmas program, so she has a 3 hour rehearsal tomorrow morning and the program Sunday night. Like I said, a jam-packed weekend…with the hope of a quiet, relaxing few days afterward.
My husband and I get to go shopping without the kids tommorow and I hope we can go to Barnes & Noble, get a coffee and just linger. Make it a productive yet enjoyable date day.
This weekend I have the good fortune of attending my very own birthday party! I have privilege (or curse) of being born just 11 days before Christmas which has made for not so fun birthdays over the years. This is only something that you can truly appreciate if you also share a December birthday. I have had 2 birthday parties in my life (one of which I planned myself) and decided that since this is a milestone birthday I wanted a party! I am married to the best husband in the world who took me seriously and has organized a party that will be held tomorrow. The best part I have had nothing to do with it so know nothing short of the time! So that’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow!
Wrapping gifts, sewing four little girl aprons, baking cookies and babysitting some of the little girls. So we’ll be watching some Christmas TV specials and working on their Christmas gift to their parents and to Jesus – verses being memorized to say and songs to sing!
Spending time making cookies for all our neighbors!
And hopefully getting a lot of cards written. 
This weekend my 92 year old mother, siblings, their spouses, my husband and I will be getting together at a local B&B inn that has a restaurant. It is transformed into the most beautiful great room with a 30 ft tree decorated and well it is just grand to be there to take it all in. The owners are fine christian people and they really put on a wonderful buffet dinner to enjoy too. It will be nice to go there and enjoy family and a wonderful meal during this blessed Christmas season.
This weekend I’ll be traveling back to New Jersey, where we used to live to see family and friends for Christmas. I’ve got gifts to give out and people to spend time with. One way we slow down at Christmas is by staying home all day on Christmas Day. We don’t go to anyone’s home. Our home is open to anyone who wants to stop by, but the day is for us. We stay in a PJ’s all day and play games and watch Christmas movies. We have breakfast together and then dinner to sometimes with family who has stopped by.
It is a wonderful day.