Ever Be...

It's rather difficult to explain what exactly happened to me last Sunday morning in the middle of our service at church. I didn't come in with a particularly heavy heart. I'd had a good morning and wasn't frustrated. I was happy to be in the Lord's house and was excited to hear our Pastor bring the Word. I expected to be ushered into a beautiful time of praise via our worship band and I expected to be challenged during the message. What I did not expect was the spiritual drenching I received from the first chord of the first song to the last drum beat of the final song and on throughout the remainder of the day. 

Out of nowhere, the tears came. With each song, I felt something different being spoken to my spirit. We sang "This is Amazing Grace" and I was overwhelmed by the fact that I receive an amazing grace that I can never do anything to deserve. With "For the Cross" I broke down over the sacrifice my Savior made for me - my death that He took upon Himself. With a Fuel original called "Jesus We Adore You" I was brought back to that idea of Jesus being my first love. I remember thinking most girls have the ability to say that their daddy was their first love but I didn't have that. I had it better. Because my Heavenly Daddy, my Savior, truly was my first love. But perhaps the song that resonated with me most and has been speaking to me all week, was "Ever Be."

In case you aren't familiar with this beautiful song from Bethel Music, the lyrics go like this: 

Your love is devoted
like a ring of solid gold
Like a vow that is tested
like a covenant of old
Your love is enduring
through the winter rain
And beyond the horizon
with mercy for today

Faithful You have been
and faithful You will be
You pledge yourself to me
and it's why I sing

Your praise will ever be on my lips,
ever be on my lips
Your praise will ever be on my lips,
ever be on my lips

You Father the orphan
Your kindness makes us whole
You shoulder our weakness
And Your strength becomes our own
You're making me like You
Clothing me in white
Bringing beauty from ashes

For You will have Your bride

Free of all her guilt
and rid of all her shame
And known by her true name
and it's why I sing

Your praise will ever be on my lips,
ever be on my lips
Your praise will ever be on my lips,
ever be on my lips 

You will be praised You will be praised
With angels and saints we sing worthy are You Lord
You will be praised You will be praised
With angels and saints we sing worthy are You Lord

and it's why I sing

Your praise will ever be on my lips,
ever be on my lips
Your praise will ever be on my lips,
ever be on my lips

This song has been my praise this week. But as I sang it (through tears and snot) on Sunday, it hit me. If His praise is always on my lips, then there isn't room for other stuff. I wouldn't have room to complain or grumble. I wouldn't have room to gossip. I wouldn't have room to speak any type of negativity. If His praise is ever on my lips, then none of that other stuff can seep out. And so, that is my goal. My goal is to have His praise always on my lips, whether it be in the form of gratitude or encouragement or positive words...somehow, some way, I will strive to always be praising Him. If His praise is in my heart constantly, then everything I say and do will be filtered through that...and I can think of no better way to live this life. I'm not going to get it right every day. But at least it's a reminder I can give myself when I find myself faltering. 

Lord, help me to ever be...praising YOU.

Image borrowed from http://hecallsmelovely.com/

Temple Building

If you've followed my blog for a few years, you may remember back in 2013 when I wrote about the healthy journey I was on at the time. I lost 20 pounds during that journey. I enjoyed that journey. You can read about it if you like - here or here. As I read over the words I wrote over 2 years ago, I feel a twinge of inner pain, guilt, and disappointment. I was so sure then that the journey I was on was unending. And, in all honesty, it is - it just took a detour for a few years. I'm sad to say that probably a few months after that second post I wrote, I took a wrong turn on that journey of mine which lead me back to my unhealthy habits and subsequently a 30 pound weight gain. Yes, I gained all 20 pounds back plus 10 more. This year was the worst. We had started eating out more than we used to, ordering pizza at least once a week, and I drank more soda than I had in a very long time. 

But about 2.5 weeks ago, that all changed. After deciding before we left for vacation in Alabama that something had to change and I had to get serious, I bought the book - The Daniel Plan. I read and finished that book in about 3 days, pumped and ready for our big change when we returned. I stopped caffeine and sugar cold turkey. The first 3 days were tough y'all - - - like mentally, physically, and emotionally. I knew what I was doing was going to benefit me in the long run but the side effects of a full on detox simply suck! Headache, body aches, extreme fatigue - it wasn't pretty. But I made it through. While I didn't do a pure 10 day detox like it suggests in the book, I did enough to lose weight and start feeling way better. 

What's the difference this time? Well, I am so glad you asked. In my journey before, I had a few of the essentials The Daniel Plan describes and, in essence, prescribes. The 5 Essentials are Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and Friends. In order to be ultimately successful, you have to combine all 5. Our physical health is tied to our spiritual health in a number of ways. I believe the Faith essential and the Focus essential were the 2 that I lacked before. While I prayed about my health journey before, I didn't quite look at my food choices as a form of worship. The Bible states that our bodies are the temple. I've always looked at that as more of a sexual purity sort of thing rather than a health thing as well. In the Bible, God's people were only to bring in their very best to the temple. If my body is the temple now, then I should only be providing it the very best. I must care for it - the Lord's dwelling place. 

I'm learning a lot on this journey. I'm learning how to read labels and understand ingredient lists. I'm learning that support is absolutely critical. I'm learning that the more time I spend with God, the more I crave Him and not certain foods. I'm learning that certain things I thought were "healthy" were really just disguised very well. I'm learning that I will occasionally make bad choices when it comes to food and that's okay. Instead of beat myself up, I make note of that choice and how it effects me. I'm learning that God loves me like crazy, extra weight and all, but He desires more for me. In order to be truly used by Him in my full potential, I have to make sure my body is up to it. 

I've lost 7 or 8 pounds, depending on the day, so far. I have more energy. I'm in a better mood. I'm trying new recipes. Sure I've messed up a few times. I just dust myself off and move on. I hope you'll follow me on this journey. Perhaps the more I blog about it, the more accountable I'll be, and one day you'll see the real before and after - the me that craved toxic, poisonous garbage and the new me that craves healthy, life giving goodness...and Jesus. 

Here's to building the temple up the way it should be....

Photo Credit: Me:)

Full Circle

Ten years ago I met a girl online who would later become my first roommate in college. We were fast friends, taking college by storm. Well, maybe not by storm. But I loved her like crazy and I tried my best to look out for her. You see, she and I came from very different worlds. In fact, the only real thing we had in common was the love of writing...and Jesus. But it didn't matter. We became nearly inseparable for the first several months. I won't get into the nitty gritty of how we started to drift apart; but it happened and soon summer came. Little did I know, I would only be in touch with her for a few more years. She came back to Southeastern for sophomore year but headed to St. Leo University after that. It wasn't long after I married my husband that we lost touch completely. 

I wanted to tell her when we found out we were pregnant, but couldn't find her. I've actually been searching for her for years. Years. Crazy right? Every few months, I'd run a search on Facebook or Google, typing in anything I knew about her or locations that I thought she might be. I could never really find anything. As a matter of fact, my last search of her was just a few weeks ago. 

Then, enter Saturday night. I received a direct message through Instagram (my first ever). I didn't recognize the username as anyone I followed and I was supposed to approve a picture they sent to me. Um, sketchy. But as I peered at the little thumbnail photo, I new I recognized that tiny little side profile. I immediately opened it up and lo and behold, it was HER! I squealed! "You found me!" I wrote back. "I've been searching for you forever." We chatted on Instagram for a bit before agreeing to chat on the phone the following day.  

On Sunday, before I was expecting her call, I ran another search on Google...only this time I ran it with her new last name. She changed her last name which is why I could never find anything. She had been adopted! My search led me to part of her story and as much as I knew about her scarred life before, nothing prepared me for what I read. There was so much more darkness she'd walked, crawled, and run through than I could believe. She called me right after and we talked for an hour about her life...about what we'd missed....and about how wonderful her life is now. 

Friends, my sweet college roommate is a survivor. Of course, I already knew a few things she was a survivor of: eating disorders, cutting, alcoholism, rape...to name a few. But I learned that this sweet friend of mine was a sex trafficking survivor. Sold by her own parents at age 6, she spent the next almost 2 decades living in that lifestyle, perhaps even in the time we lived together...and I never knew it. I was dumbfounded! But by the grace of God, her story didn't end there. As she recounted the last 5 years of healing for her, tears streamed down my face. I only ever wanted good things for her. I wanted her to get the help she needed and oh, did she get it. She's now living in a safe house in California as a big sister and mentor to the girls they rescue. Her adopted mom is a modern day abolitionist doing amazing work for the anti human trafficking movement through her organization Courage Worldwide and I cannot thank God enough for finally giving her the mother and father she deserves.

She has such an amazing story of redemption and grace and I am so thankful that 10 years later, she is doing amazing things and changing lives. She sure changed mine a decade ago. From our first connection online 10 years ago to our re-connection this weekend online, we have certainly had a full circle reunion of sorts. And words will never be able to express how grateful I am!

Teachable Moments...

Okay, first of all, it has been WAY too long since I've posted. January...what?! Life got crazy. We went straight from the holidays into crazy crunch time at school not only preparing our kiddos for the tests to come but purging and packing our classrooms  to move our sweet school to our new campus over Spring Break. Things just haven't slowed down since and I rarely venture into the office for anything other than to retrieve something so sitting and writing took a back seat. But I need to blog. People have been asking. I've been itching to write. So, it's time. Bear with me...I may have forgotten how to form a sentence....ha!

One of my constant prayers as a mother is that the Lord would provide teachable moments in my time with my son. These teachable moments come in the forms of questions he asks, situations that arise, or discipline that needs to be carried out. My goal is to always point it back to Christ. How's that working, you ask? Well, most of the time, if I'm being perfectly honest....I fail miserably. Maybe I'm "too busy" and don't take the time to really answer his question. Maybe that situation I just brush under the rug. And that discipline? Maybe frustration and impatience get the upper hand and I let a teachable moment slip by yet again. It's not intentional but then again, that means I'm not being intentional at all in those moments God provides for me.

Saturday was different though. Hubby was with his brother working a side job so Gabe and I had the first part of the day to ourselves, just the two of us. That honestly doesn't happen too often and I wanted to make sure I spent time with him while also getting things done. I turned up some music and he helped me out around the house. Then we were in his room while he was putting toys away and I was putting his clothes away. I don't even remember what was said but I mentioned to him that he was not being nice. The conversation started something like this:

Me: You are not being very nice.
G: Well....
Me: Well, do you want to be mean? (I'm expecting him to say no of course)
G: Yes.
Me: (Thinking he has not understood the question) Do you want people to be mean to you?
G: No.
Me: But you want to be mean to others?
G: Yes. I want to be mean.

At this point, I need to prove a point and not launch into a lecture to a 4 year old whose eyes will glaze over after 20 seconds. So, I softly but firmly told him I would not be helping him anymore and I left the room. Of course, my child, being the sensitive one that he is, immediately began crying. I waited about a minute before re-entering the room to talk to him.

Me: Did you like it when mommy left?
G: No.
Me: Did you think I was being mean?
G: Yes.
Me: How did that make you feel?
G: Sad.
Me: Well, buddy, that's how other people feel when you're mean to them.

At this point, we moved our conversation to the couch in the living room. He sat in my lap as I began to really use this moment to point it back to Christ.

Me: How does Jesus want you to treat people?
G: Good. He wants us to be nice.
Me: Right. And don't you want to be like Jesus?
G: But I want to be mean.
Me: (Thinking I'm losing him somehow) Buddy, why do you want to be mean? That hurts mommy's heart.
G: Well, when bad guys come, I want to be mean.
Me: (I have realized we were on completely different pages) Ohhhh, so you want to be mean to bad guys. Not everyone?
G: Right. I'm going to be mean to bad guys.

I could have left it there. I could have told him that mommy didn't understand before and thought he wanted to be mean to everyone and that now I understood. But, I felt the Spirit urging me to take it deeper. And, so I did.

Me: I understand wanting to be mean to bad guys. But can I tell you something? You know when Jesus died on the cross?
G: Yeah, when he died and then he came back to life 3 days later?
Me: Exactly. Do you know that there were bad guys that killed him? They beat him and made fun of him and they killed him.
G: There were?
Me: Yes. But do you know that He was never mean to them? In fact, He asked God to forgive them. And He loved them.
G: Wow. So we show love to bad guys too?
Me: Yes. I know that's hard but Jesus wants us to show love to everyone.



(Note: Between the above and below sections, months have passed. I got sidetracked when I started writing this and just now picked it back up. So this whole story is actually like 2 or 3 months old. I apologize.)

It seemed to sink in. Then, he ran to get his little devotion book I got him for Christmas. I turned to that day to read the devotion and the scripture that went with it was exactly what we needed. He got his Jesus Calling Children's bible story book which of course had the story we needed as well. I just love how God orchestrates things. We read the story of Jesus dying on the cross and how they beat Him and spit on Him and He never uttered a mean word. He asked the Father to forgive them instead. It was a beautiful moment that I was able to pause and really take the opportunity to teach my little guy a lesson. Let's be real...even mommy needed that lesson too. 

Thank you, Jesus.

Image borrowed from {http://www.teach-through-love.com/watch-free-trainings.html} 

Being Intentional

I started thinking about my overall goal for 2015 several weeks ago. Last year I made the goal to "finish what I start." I revisited that particular blog post a while back and tried anxiously to reflect back on my year to see if I had indeed achieved my goal. Sadly, I realized that I had not achieved to the level I desired. I did finish a 5k in March that I had on my list of things to accomplish and I believe I became better at communicating in certain relationships. But overall, in several areas of my life, I failed miserably.

So, this year I wanted to approach a bit differently. First, I wanted to have the support of my husband. I wanted to be in it together. Yes, we are always doing life together but I wanted to work on our goals together as a couple. We discussed what we wanted to work on in our individual lives first which actually lined up with one another. We both wanted to be sure we were using our time and finances wisely but we also wanted to make sure we were treating our bodies the way our Creator would desire - like the temples they are. The logical conclusion we came to was that we simply have to be intentional.

Time.

It goes by too fast and once it's gone, that's it. There is no going back no matter how badly you wish you owned a working Tardis to transport you back in time. It is a precious commodity and, I'm sad to admit, too often I squander it by watching multiple episodes of Netflix shows, perusing my Facebook feed, and pinning new recipes, organizational tips, or DIY projects. My husband will tell you the same is with him - he plays video games, watches numerous how-to tutorials on YouTube, or mindlessly watches multiple episodes on Netflix with me. We are both guilty of allowing time to escape. So, we've decided to take back our time. We started studying the Bible together each night. He has read through the entire Word of God but I, shamefully, have not. I decided it's time. I read out loud and we stop and discuss different areas that need further clarification or on topics of personal interest. We do this after our little one is asleep and before we turn any Netflix on or anything else. Before the holidays, we also started a "No Screen Sunday" tradition. On Sundays, we have decided as a family to designate that day as purely a day to focus on God and family time. Other than text messages or phone calls with friends and family, our phones are mostly off limits, the TV stays off (at our house at least), and the computer is forbidden (unless necessary - as it is at the moment because I am finishing this blog after I finished my lesson plans). It has really made me realize how often I reach for my phone without thinking to look at facebook or instagram or pinterest. While none of those things are inherently "bad," they can become like idols if I'm not careful. And nothing and no one deserves that spot other than Jesus. 

Finances.

Hubby and I have come a long long way in how we view our finances. We are no longer the "We want it, let's put it on credit" type of people. Been there. Done That. Got the debt to prove it, thank you very much. We are slowly but surely digging ourselves free from the pit that debt has had us in financially. I can finally see a light at the end of the proverbial debt-ridden tunnel. We still have a long way to go but we will get there with discipline and, you guessed it, being intentional. We are human and naturally we have desires for certain material things. We also know what giving into those means for us and so we desire now to be more intentional with the money we spend, not that there's much left after our bills anyway. Ha! A friend of mine taught me to filter possible expenses (wants) through the lens of "Will this somehow benefit the kingdom of God either through my personal relationship with Christ or the blessing of another person?" So that $5 I spent to let my kid run around at Fun Center yesterday I felt was filtered through that lens. I wanted to let him have fun and I wanted to enjoy watching him have fun rather than sitting at home while I "got something done" and he played video games or watched television. It was an investment in my child and it even allowed for some teachable moments. Whenever other children (who lack some supervision or discipline) are around, teachable moments (especially about grace) abound. 

Body.

Every year. This seems to be a resolution I make every year. And naturally, I'm frustrated that it has to be since I don't follow through. But if we want to keep in line with our goal to be intentional then we must also learn to be intentional with what we put into our bodies. The first 3 days of the new year found us experiencing a 3 day detox. Neither one of us had ever done anything quite like that before and it was an interesting experience. I felt the need to jump start the new year of eating healthy by ridding our bodies of the sugar we had gorged ourselves on throughout the holidays. I tell ya, drinking 3 meals a day for 3 days is not for the faint of heart. I learned some serious self control in those 3 days but I also realized the amount of food I consume when I am simply "bored" because oh, hey, I'm not being intentional with my time. You see, it's a cycle. I lost 6 pounds in those 3 days but I gained much more: motivation, discipline, will-power, desire, etc. Yes, I want to lose weight and I want to look good. But more than that, I want to be and feel healthy. I can do more for others and follow God's call better if I am healthy physically. 


So all in all, I guess you could say that my amazing other half and I are working toward intentional transformation in 2015 - financially, physically, and spiritually. And I think, they all go hand in hand. 

What about you? What are your goals for the year? What sorts of things can you be intentional about? I'd love to hear from you!

Image retrieved from whitpics11.blogspot.com

The Blessed Burden

I firmly believe that God hand picks certain individuals to whom He reveals certain aspects of His heart. Parents, in general, are some of those individuals. Once you become a parent, you most definitely understand a little more about the ridiculously irrational unconditional love of our Heavenly Father. But, I also understand that there are certain people that are just simply privy to more of God's heart. Certainly He reveals Himself to all of us in different ways - but as I worshipped beside one of my dearest friends this morning, I encountered a revelation that moved me to tears. 

This friend and her sweet husband have said yes to one of the hardest things I think I could ever imagine. Not only have they said yes to loving other people's children as their own, but they have said yes to loving children that, if we're being quite frank, don't seem to deserve it. Knowing this precious friend, I'm certain she won't mind me sharing just a bit of what she deals with on a mostly daily basis. These children she has said yes to loving have, without a doubt, wreaked havoc in their home. Holes in the wall, broken beds, torn off blinds, pee and poop in the bathroom (not inside of the fixture in the bathroom to which it belongs), just to name a few. And then there's the spitting, the name calling, the cursing, the screaming, hissing, or growling, and the threats made. Most people would have said, "See ya!" by now. They would have picked up the phone and unashamedly pleaded, "Please, come get this child!" And to be honest, most wouldn't blame them. 

But...they haven't. They have stuck it out and have fought and are fighting for these kids. They aren't just fighting for the kids in a physical sense (for proper psychiatric care, medical care, education, and adoption) but they are fighting for their very souls. As I stood next to her listening to her quiet sniffles as she broke down and cried out to God as she does every day, it became apparent to me that God is revealing Himself to her in a way that I imagine very few are privileged to. The way that she loves those children despite all the chaos and discomfort and emotional stress that it causes has to be the closest earthly example I have seen to how God loves us. 

Oh, friend. How he loves us so. Like those precious children, we can be some of the most burdensome creatures. Our Heavenly Father loves us like crazy and He daily fights for our souls. And yet, so many of us spit in His face, we take it out on Him when things don't go our way. We curse Him and yell at Him and make it nearly impossible to love us. And yet, He does. He loves us so much He sacrificed His only Son. 

I believe my dear friend is getting a sneak peak into the mind and heart of our Heavenly Father as He loves and fights for us. She has such a burden on her shoulders as she tries to love these precious kids to the Father. I can't help but feel though, that what she has is one of the most blessed burdens imaginable.

Love you, sweet friend. And to any other heroes out there loving traumatized children and the children that seem the most unlovable at times, thank you for fighting and loving in and through all the crazy. Your obedience does not go unnoticed.  

Image retrieved from: www.santabanta.com

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

As far back as I can remember...I have loved Christmas - everything about it! Decorating the tree, taking down the yearly decor to put up the gobs of Christmas decorations, looking at light displays, singing Christmas songs, baking (lots and lots of baking), and most importantly, the entire reason we Christians even celebrate the holiday - remembering the birth of our Savior in a humble stable surrounded by animals and hay and everything you would not expect for the King. I absolutely adore this time of year. It is cliche, but I truly do enjoy the sights, the sounds, and even the smells associated with Christmas. God knew what He was doing (obviously, He's God - so duh!) when He paired me with my sweet hubby who shares my passion and adoration for all things Christmas. I mean, when searching for our first home to purchase, how it would be decorated for Christmas was at the forefront of our minds. The planter shelf our village sits on during Christmas was what sold our house to us in the first place. We saw it and simultaneously thought it would be perfect for our ever expanding Christmas village. Yes, we love Christmas. 

How we would "celebrate" Christmas never really occurred to us though until I became pregnant. All of the sudden, we had a little one to think about and we had to decide how we would do Christmas as a family. It seems to me that in recent years (and maybe it's only recent to me because now I'm an adult with responsibilities) there is a growing controversy among Christians over "how" to celebrate Christmas. Do we decorate a tree? Do we sing certain carols? And perhaps the most controversial, do we allow our kids to believe in Santa? The tree and songs has never been an issue. I've always seen the Christmas tree as a foreshadowing to the tree that our Savior would give His life upon. My favorite ornament is even a large nail that hangs near the trunk of our tree unseen by guests as a symbol of this foreshadowing. But Santa? That's been a topic of conversation since Gabriel was born. Do we as Christians allow our child to believe in a fictional character who brings gifts? 

I know several people that have decided for their family that the answer to that question is a resounding "No!" And that is absolutely fine. I mean it. If that is what you have decided for your family, then I applaud you and respect you wholeheartedly for your decision. However, after much discussion, thought, a little research, soul-searching, and of course, prayer...my hubby and I decided that allowing the belief of the big guy in red is okay for us - as long as we can somehow tie even him back to Jesus. I'll be honest, I struggled with this. I didn't want to "force feed" him some fictional character. I didn't want to go through elaborately thought out lengths to "convince" my sweet boy that he was real. I simply wanted to make it fun and at the same time, point it back to Jesus. 

My husband and I brainstormed and we talked and we researched and last year shortly after Christmas I found what I was looking for. I wish that I had thought it up on my own. I wish I could take full credit for it. But I cannot. I ran across a woman's blog who tied in Santa and even the Elf on the Shelf guy and pointed both back to Jesus. 


I know there are mixed emotions about the Elf. Some absolutely love the guy and go all out in their elaborate attempts to create a mischievous elf that comes alive at night to cause trouble and wreak havoc. Listen y'all, I'm just not that creative and honestly, I'm a little lazy. So I'm most likely not going to be creating "flour angels" on my kitchen counter with the elf. Not my style. But we rather enjoy the little guy. I know some of you say he's creepy and perhaps when used the way he is "supposed" to be used, then yes, that's a little creepy. But we actually don't prescribe to the whole "he's watching you" sort of thing. He's a good friend of Santa's that spends some time with our family during Christmas. He does tend to be a little naughty but it's up to Gabriel to teach him about obedience and the grace of Jesus. Gabe received a letter from Santa on Dec. 1st that accompanied Peter the Elf. In his letter, he talks about the myth of the naughty and nice list and how he gives gifts no matter what just like Jesus loves us and gave the gift of Himself despite how good or bad we are. In the letter, he talks about grace and unconditional love, and learning how to be obedient. It was a joy to see his face light up when he saw that Santa Claus had written him a letter and he thought it was so cool that Santa said he knows Jesus. So while he may find Peter in some precarious situations over the next 19 or so days, Peter is not watching Gabe to see if he behaves. It's more like the other way around. 

The other tradition we have started and I have already grown quite fond of is Advent. I've been interested in this tradition for quite some time. The Catholic church down the road always places a huge Advent wreath replica outside during this time and each week a new "flame" gets added to the appropriate candle. Then a few years ago when our church was in its baby stages and we met in the evening, we would visit other churches on Sunday mornings to see how they did things and what we would want to incorporate into our new church. We visited a small church called Journey one Sunday morning in December and they included the lighting of the Advent candles in their service. So it's been in the back of my mind for some time. This year I finally did the research and looked up the meaning of the Advent candles and found scriptures to read each evening. I love it. Last Sunday evening we gathered around the Advent candle holder my husband so graciously made and lit the first candle together after we prayed. I explained what the candle stood for (hope) and read some scripture. Gabe was totally into it. I don't think I realized how in tune he was until I quizzed him the second night when we went to light it again. I asked him what the candle meant and he told me, "Hope!" Then I asked him where our hope comes from and he proclaimed excitedly, "JESUS!" It was a proud mom moment. 

After we light the candle, I let Gabe take down the countdown/activity card from the wooden tree my talented husband also made. The first night we had my niece over too so they both got to make an Advent wreath craft and they both enjoyed it. The second night we welcomed Peter to our house with the letter from Santa and the following morning he was found inside one of Gabe's shoes "sledding" down his toy racer slide. The 2nd morning Peter was playing a round of Candy Land with some other holiday creatures that normally hang out under the Christmas tree keeping the cat company (who every year thinks that the tree skirt is her new bed). The other morning, he was taking a swig of water from Gabe's favorite cup. It's simply fun! Just like he plays with his other figurines and creates little story lines for them, he does the same for Peter and I see no harm in imaginative play. 

With all of this said, I know several amazing parents that don't do the whole Santa and/or Elf gig and that, as stated before, is completely respectable. You do what works for your family, ya know? As for us, we're going to be keeping the jolly ol' guy around here and as Gabe grows older, we will begin the process of explaining the real story of St. Nick. And when he asks that age old question, "Mom, Dad, is Santa real?" Well, we'll tell him the honest truth - no matter what age he is. My hubby and I talked about the fond memories we have of believing in Santa Claus and we simply desire for Gabe to have those fond memories as well. But make no mistake about it - he will always knows the reason we celebrate because in everything we choose to do - Jesus will always be at the center - at this time and ALL year round.