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Category Archives: Resources
He is Near
It’s about time. And I thought I’d give a heads up for those of you not knowing what you plan to do yet, to prepare to celebrate the Incarnation of Messiah (Jesus, the Christ).
For those who are looking for more meaningful, Christ-centered, Christmas, Advent can be one of the most meaningful things you can do with your family leading up to Christmas, to keep it Christ centered. As a child we just did an Advent wreath, lighting the candles and reading Scriptures. This is where we started with our children, and have added to it over the years.
Our current Advent Wreath. Yes I know the pink candle is in the wrong cup.
Advent means coming of someone (or thing) notable, thus looking forward to the coming of Jesus, and it is marked out by the 4 Sundays before Christmas with an Advent wreath – 4 candles in a circle and 1 in the middle. The first outer candle is lit the fourth Sun. before Christmas, (this year Dec. 1,) the 1st and 2nd candles lit the next Sun., etc. Three candle are purple (seriousness, repentance, realizing we need a Savior), 1 (the third lit) is pink (joy). The center candle, lit with the others on Christmas Eve, is white. Emmanuel – God is here! There are beautiful advent wreaths to buy, or you can make your own very simply, by just setting 4 votive candles (in glass holders) amongst a wreath/circle of greenery and a white votive in the center.
Many books have been written to use for Advent, (some good, others not so,) in addition to reading Scripture alone. Some are just general devotional, thoughts preparing our hearts for the celebration of the Incarnation. Others are children’s fictional stories that lead up to Jesus birth. John Piper is offering his Advent devotional, Good News of Great Joy, as a free download. It has readings for each day, not just week. A series of fictional stories, Jotham’s Journey, Tabitha’s Travels, and Bartholomew’s Passage, are about children that meet the Christ child. Each book has daily readings, thus 3 year’s worth in the series. Jesse Tree books and activities are other popular ones (we have not used.)
Some people also count the days (not just weeks) with an Advent calendar. Although many use a calendar to just a count down till present-getting day, without a focus on Jesus, there are Advent calendars available that are looking forward to His birth. You can also make your own Advent calendar, very simply.
An Advent Calendar can be used to just note the day, moving a small item from day to day, or opening a “window” on the picture each day. Adding a Scripture for each day will add meaning, yet still be very simple. Others use a count down calendar to plan activities or give small gifts each day. Rather than giving presents every day till the BIG presents come, in addition to reading Scriptures daily, smaller activities focused on preparation and serving others can be scheduled.
The activities can include simple things such as cut paper snowflakes, color a nativity picture, or sing Christmas carols; or more involved things like: go look at lights, get family pictures taken, or go caroling; or bake cookies for the neighbors or give the mailman a small present; or set up the nativity(s), hang a wreath, or the lights, or address and mail Christmas cards. The ages of your children, and how much time and energy you have, will determine which activities are appropriate for your family this year. Even though our youngest is 9, it is still a big deal for all of ours to determine who gets to read and move the Scripture in one of ours, or open the window of another one. Having the other larger things scheduled will help you spread things out, so it isn’t overwhelming, and also insure that you get the things you want to do done.
Over the next week or so I plan to post some more simple ideas, for making Advent calendars and activities to do. Come back to check them out. Better yet, subscribe to this blog to get the posts sent to your email, so you don’t miss them.
Advent wreaths, books, and calendars are 3 helpful ways to keep our focus on Jesus this holiday season. Find one that works for you.
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Just place an order of $35 or more before 11:59 PM EST on December 5, 2013, enter promotion code 418245, and choose Standard Shipping. Share this code with your friends so they can enjoy Free Shipping too!
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Ytreeide Advent Stories, 3 Volumes By Arnold Ytreeide / Kregel PublicationsThese three Advent devotionals will take you and your family from Advent to Christmas with day-by-day readings and advice for making Christmas a meaningful season of worship. Includes Jotham’s Journey, Bartholomew’s Passage, and Tabitha’s Travels. |
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Fisher Price Nativity Advent Calendar By New Day GiftsUnique keepsake Advent and Nativity calendar, 30″ x 14″ is one the entire family will enjoy. Includes 25 puffy fabric pieces, each tucked into dated pockets, to take out during Advent and velcro to the banner. By Christmas day you will have a complete Christmas and manger scene! Soft Advent calendar is family-friendly and may be used for years to come as a Christian Christmas tradition.Puffy and soft, for children as young as 18 months to enjoy; Little People child-friendly designs; soft handle loops over any doorknob to keep this at eye-level for children. Quality you expect from Fisher Price, to share the best story ever with small children during Advent and Christmas. |
*This post contains affiliate links.
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Giving Thanks for Blessings
ThanksGiving is creeping up on us fast, and I’m getting things planned for our feast that will be held here with 29 of our family. I LOVE ThanksGiving! A Holiday with no mandatory gifts, no candy, just time to enjoy the family God has given us, and the bounty of blessings He has bestowed.
In addition to the abundance of food we are blessed with, I am thankful for so many “modern maidservants” that help me prepare that food. We indeed have been blessed with many things that are wants not needs, but do truly serve us well.
Another kitchen blessing is, of course, my Bosch. I thank God for introducing me to Shelly, somewhere around 20 years ago. She showed me how a flour mill and bread mixer could pay for themselves in a short time for our family. We have been blessed to be able to make fresh whole grain bread for our family (as well as MANY other things), save money while giving our family the best, and do it conveniently in just a few minutes. Whether for kneading bread and dinner rolls, or mashing many pounds of potatoes, or whipping up crowd sized desserts, my Bosch is a huge blessing, that paid for itself many years ago. (Click image or name for our Fall Special!)
Lastly, for today anyhow, is the maidservant that will probably get used more than any other for ThanksGiving–more times anyhow–my Cuisinart Food Processor. I had a hand-me-down old one many, many years ago, and then none for many years, and have been blessed to have one again. I’m so thankful for all the many things this servant does. Grating, chopping, slicing, mixing. We just wash it out and use it again and again, and love that the Cuisinart holds up year after year.
My greatest blessings are not things. We could do without everyone of these. But we are thankful for them. God has provided over-abundantly for us. And we give Him Thanks.
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‘Tis the Season
Yes, the Holidays are upon us. I’m not getting gift lists made as soon as I need to, to get the gifts themselves made, and I need to get on it. Time to pull out my Holiday Planner before time gets away from me and stress creeps in.
You can find Freedom & Simplicity™ in your Holiday Planning too!
Freedom & Simplicity™ Holiday Planning (ebook)
Do you need some help planning and organizing your Holiday activities? These festive Freedom & Simplicity™ forms will make it a snap. Whether it’s your Decorations, your Gifts, your Cards, your Meals, your Calendar, your … – we’ve got a form for that.
Print out as many of each form as you need (for your own personal household only). Put them in a Notebook Binder. And you’ve got your own brain-in-a-book to keep you organized and stress-free through the Holidays. (Well, I guess I can’t guarantee that, but it will help anyhow.)
22 pages of helpful forms and instructions. Forms have the same festive design as the cover.
Click HERE to order. Only $4.95. Immediate download delivery.
Does it Grow on Trees?
This is the biggest shopping weekend of the year, from “Black Friday” to “Cyber Monday”, with Small Business Saturday sandwiched in-between. Sadly, the day after ThankGiving (and now this year, on Thanksgiving itself!), when people are hopefully taking time to Count Their Blessings and give thanks to God for all He has provided, many are shopping long and crazy hours just to get more stuff.
For some, this is a way to afford gifts for others. Some wait and save for months for something that is considered a need, that they know will be coming at a more realistic price this weekend. But many just buy more and more “stuff” – toys for both little and big “kids” – because it’s “cheap”(er) this weekend, and it’s “bigger and better” than what they have.
Whatever your shopping habits, we want to encourage you not to spend money on just “stuff”, but rather to invest in a much smaller amount of truly worthwhile products for the wellbeing of your family – spiritually, educationally (mentally), and physically; products that will truly be helpful, not just “stuff”. Although we are pleased to offer so many resources that fit in the category of worthwhile, helpful products that truly contribute to the wellbeing of your family, we never want to encourage you to spend money when you shouldn’t be. Although it’s green, it is not as plentiful as leaves – and doesn’t grow where they do.
But when you’re ready to buy, whether this weekend or some other time, we hope you’ll consider purchasing from Me & My House, both our Exclusive Resources and those that we have carefully chosen from our partners. We also ask that you consider supporting Small, Family, and Home Businesses (like Me & My House and many others) when you do shop.
IF you are shopping this weekend, consider some of our Partners’ great offers that I’ve shared over the last few days/will be sharing on this blog and our Lifestyle Education through Discipleship blog.
But for one of the best investments you can make for your family’s well-being, watch for another post later today announcing our own Small Business Saturday – Cyber Monday FREE Bonus Gift we’d like to give to YOU.
Full Time Parenting
Full Time Parenting by Israel Wayne. My first thoughts when reading this book were it should be called Full Time Family. It covers so many areas of family life beyond just strictly parenting. So many parenting books right now are nothing more than legalistic steps, mixed with pop psychology, of what to do to have good kids. (Yes, even the ones decrying “legalism” are usually just cloaked in a different form of it.) This book was refreshingly different, sharing life and lessons learned for building a strong family, focusing on following God and His Word. It was like true discipleship, not a checklist for “producing some kind of predictable Pavlovian or Skinnerian behavior.”
The first chapter truly lays the foundation for parenting, Be the Parent. “Because they don’t belong to you, but to Him, you need to find out what He expects of you and how He wants you to raise His children. You can’t just do any old thing you like. … You need to find out what God’s desire is for these children. … The good thing is that He is not silent. He has given us a wealth of knowledge and direction in His Word about parenting, education and child training.”
Although the book is in no way a do-this, don’t-do-that checklist, it does provide practical help, beginning with common sense foundations that don’t seem to be common sense anymore. “You are the parent, they are the children.” “Children need boundries.” “Value your Words.” “Train their hearts, not just their behavior.” “Have a goal.” And most important of all, “Throw your self on the mercy of God.”
From there Israel covers everything from helping the hyperactive child (from personal experience) to techno-parenting to purity, hospitality, the one-income family, and keeping your marriage strong to family business and home education to passing the baton. There’s even a chapter by Israel’s mom, Skeet Savage, on single parenting.
I think you’ll enjoy reading this book and find it a refreshing change from most parenting books available today. Order here.
Christ-centered Christmas – Review
Take a stroll through Winter Wonderland with Hal and Melanie Young. As they walk you through their family’s Christmas traditions, they also share how they do them and why, painting not only warm fuzzy glimpse into their lives, but also a realistic picture of the memorable Christmas celebration you and your family can have. They certainly don’t imply that you should do what they do, but give plenty of ideas that can inspire you in your own traditions.
In addition to the many recipes (and menus) included, you’ll find instructions for simple (and inexpensive) decorating ideas, and thoughts on gifts. This book will encourage you to begin or add to your traditions to make family memories that will last. Purchase from Hal & Melanie Young at Raising Real Men, currently at a great Introductory price.
Need Help with Holiday Planning?
Just in time!
Freedom & Simplicity™ Holiday Planning (ebook)
Do you need some help planning and organizing your Holiday activities? These festive Freedom & Simplicity™ forms will make it a snap.
Whether it’s your Decorations, your Gifts, your Cards, your Meals, your Calendar … – we’ve got a form for that.
Print out as many of each form as you need (for your own personal household only). Put them in a Notebook Binder. And you’ve got your own brain-in-a-book to keep you organized and stress-free through the Holidays. (Well, I guess I can’t guarantee that, but it will help anyhow.)
22 pages – includes instructions. Forms have the same festive design as the cover.
Freedom & Simplicity™ Holiday Planning – $4.95 (ebook)
OR check out our Christmas Special to get it at a Discount or even FREE!
Freedom & Simplicity in the Kitchen
For many people, that know what is good, real food and what is not, the trouble comes when it comes time to prepare it. What do I eat? When? How do I prepare it? How do I keep from spending all day in the kitchen?
Yes, once we know what we should be doing, we need to learn how to do it. And there is nothing like someone walking alongside of us, and personally showing us and answering our questions. That is true Discipleship!
So for those of you that are ready to jump in with both feet and begin preparing and eating foods that are Good for You-Naturally!™ we offer Freedom & Simplicity™ in the Kitchen Workshops. In these Workshops you’ll learn how to make food that is good for your health, quick and easy to prepare, and yummy too.
Our first Workshop in this series is this Saturday, Nov. 19th, in North Platte, NE and the Registration deadline is today (Wed. Nov. 16th) This workshop, Living Foods for Life, is on learning to make the everyday basics and a few extras.
Get more details and Register here today.
GMO Videos Part 2
Our list of GMO (and other food) videos we’ve watched to date this fall. We have watched many. Some were more interesting than others, some included the same interviews as others, some were done better than others, some were idealized, most don’t have a Biblical perspective (only 1 we’ve watched does) so their conclusions lead to agendas (politically or environmentally) that we are not for. We certainly don’t agree with everything presented in all of these. But all expose evidence and the dangers of genetically engineered organisms, which we believe we have both health reasons and Biblical reasons to avoid and educate on. Therefore, they are worthy of watching. Apply a Biblical principled perspective and you will learn much and be able to make appropriate responses, beginning in your own kitchen, by avoiding eating genetically modified foods. (Some of these videos are not specifically on GMOs, but are on other dangers in food production/processing and/or the food and health relationship.)
We’ve been able to watch all of these for free online – most through Netflix streaming, YouTube or Vimeo. But before the movies, the first is a talk show interview on GMOs. The second is an audio of a presentation given by sustainable farmer, Joel Salatin.
Dr. Oz Investigates Genetically Modified Foods – in this 3 part video Dr. Oz interviews those both for and against GE foods.
Food: The Cornerstone of Christian Credibility – audio given by Christian farmer, Joel Salatin, at Patrick Henry College (you’ll see him featured in Food, Inc below)
Food Inc – (Netflix) a great first video to watch, although not strictly about GMOs, about the industrialization and politics of food.
King Corn (Netflix) – The children enjoyed this one. The story of 2 city guys who decide they want to experience being corn farmers and learn how corn grown in Iowa ended up in their hair (hair analysis.)
Deconstructing Supper – (Netflix) a restaurant owner learns about GMOs.
Fed Up – (Netflix) explores the various food production systems of the US, uses old movies clips to add to the entertainment factor.
The Future of Food – free online, also at YouTube and Netflix – documentary on biotech and politics
Life Running Out of Control – (Netflix) explores the effects of biotechnology on our lives
The World According to Monsanto – documentary on who Monsanto is and what they are doing. (More videos listed below this video.)
Food Matters – (Netflix) the relationship between food and health
Forks Over Knives – (Netflix) effects of modern food processing on our health, focusing on the research of Dr. Colin Campbell (cancer) and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (heart disease).
Ingredients – (Netflix) bringing food production back to the sustainable, local farm, and good food back to the table.
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead – (Netflix) another that isn’t GMO, but this one was all our children’s favorite. The story (there’s the appeal) of a man who learns of the relationship between food and health and goes on a fresh juice diet and travels the country, while he’s losing weight and gaining health, and the people he meets along the way.
