Blog Sabbath
I am going to take a break from blogging this next week. You can check out the Christmas Story posts and enter to win the canvas I am giving away.
On Monday, January 03rd I will have my first One Word (click the button below for more info) post of the year. I’ve commented on Twitter that God is already trying to work it in my life. Have a great week, I’ll see you on the 03rd or on Twitter.
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Story Time : A Family Affair
Our lives are a multitude of stories. Some are sad tales, some are filled with stomach wrenching laughter, and some are family legends that grow more epic each time they’re told. Join me this week as we curl up in our favorite spot in our virtual living room. The tree casting a twinkling glow. Hot chocolate, eggnog, and cookies sit in our laps. Our friends & family sit with us as we laugh, rejoice, & begin to share our tales of Christmas.
Since I was little (aka born) Christmas has always been a family affair. Tucked away in the small house we grew up in or with Grandpa & Grandma & the my aunt, uncle, & cousins in California. We were always with family. Sometimes friends translated into family. I didn’t have necessarily a wonderful childhood, but I remember pleasant Christmases.
We grew up knowing Santa wasn’t real. Our gifts were always under the tree days before. The only thing that wasn’t put out was our stockings. Mom would fill those after we’d gone to bed on Christmas Eve and hang them on the mantle. Every year we received a new one. That was mom’s tradition. And that would be the first thing we’d open once we were allowed to take them down.
Christmas Eve if we weren’t in California had it’s own special tradition. We were each allowed to open one gift. Mom & Dad selected. Even as a teenager my brother and I looked forward to that one gift.
Today Christmas looks different, but it’s still a family affair. We’re all grown up and each of our own families. Time spent with in-laws and our
own family. I have six nephews and a niece due on the 26th. We eat, we laugh, we Skype open gifts with my brother-in-law & sister-in-law in Northern California. And I hope that in the quiet of our hearts and hope even more with the words we speak we remember why we’re gathering.
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I hope you enjoyed these stories as much as I did. Today I’m giving you the opportunity to share your own story. Click Mr. Linky below to share your Christmas tales.
And since we’re sharing stories I have a gift to share with you. It is a little canvas I created using written word. Portions from popular books, including Dracula, various Sherlock Holmes stories, Persuasion, and East of Eden. Leave a comment on this post to be entered to win the canvas. Contest ends: 12.31.10 at Midnight Mountain. One entry per person. Winner will be announced 01.03.11.
Story Time : Cookie Run Season by Elora
Our lives are a multitude of stories. Some are sad tales, some are filled with stomach wrenching laughter, and some are family legends that grow more epic each time they’re told. Join me this week as we curl up in our favorite spot in our virtual living room. The tree casting a twinkling glow. Hot chocolate, eggnog, and cookies sit in our laps. Our friends & family sit with us as we laugh, rejoice, & begin to share our tales of Christmas.
I know it’s coming when I call home and I hear the clanging of pots and pans in the background.
“You guys baking?”
My mom goes silent for half a second and laughs. “Yes.”
My dad, most likely at the stove stirring chocolate sauce or cutting shapes out of cookie dough, calls out from behind her…
“We’ve been baking since yesterday morning.” It’s now my turn to laugh as I think about the piles of cookies on the kitchen table, the flour on every inch of countertop, and my brother stealing Hershey’s kisses out of the bowl.
This is all common place, and I can synchronize my calendar on the events. It’s Christmas, which only means one thing in the Jacobson household.
Cookie Run Season.
We’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember – maybe ten, fifteen years. [and that right there makes me feel really old.]
It started small: a few friends, family members, and our pastor. We usually left the house around 7:00pm and were home by 10:00. Over the years, it got more elaborate. Our list grew. Not only were we delivering to my parents’ friends, but my friends. And then when Blanche and Christina got old enough, we began delivering totheir friends. Which, normally? Wouldn’t be that bad – but there’s a secret about private schools most people don’t realize.
Your friends can live anywhere – not just your neighborhood….not even your district.
We had to push back times of departure because it was just taking too long. My dad, organizer that he is, would start working on google maps weeks ahead of time, charting the most gas-efficient and sanity keeping route.
Sometimes…we would be in the car long enough to drive to Oklahoma.
We eventually added in our own traditions within this night of cookies extravaganza. We’d make up games like “How many Christmas parties are we going to interrupt this year?” or “Who can give the best hint for dinner choices?” or my personal favorite, “How long will mama be talking to this person?”
There were years where stomach bugs hit the Jacobson clan, and so the cookie run was cut short.
There were years where the list was so long, dad cursed the idea the entire time only to celebrate our victorious delivery during dinner at the local Mexican joint.
There were years where, after two days of a diet of entire sugar, we all bit our lips to keep from throwing up on the winding roads of the hill country. [Russ likes to correct me here. He likes to describe it as not "winding" but speeding down roads at elevations not necessarily welcomed by even those with the strongest intestinal fortitude]
There were years where my sisters and I drove my brother and father crazy with our giggles. We couldn’t help it. Locked in a car, for hours on end with nothing but Christmas music to listen to…you’re gonna get a little silly. And many of our inside jokes originated in some way during these mini-roadtrips.
We aren’t the only people who have experienced the joy of cookie runs. Both men married into the family have experienced the trial by fire of Jacobson’s cookie run. [There's been others who didn't fair so well.] They’ve ridden the entire time, eyes wide and mouth ajar, only to look into our eyes afterwards with I’m sure a better understanding of our background. My friends in college heard about these nights all four years – and by the time I graduated – it had become a bit of a campus folktale. It’s the one thing that pops into my head when people ask me about holiday traditions – outside of grandma’s singing bird perched delicately in her Christmas tree.
As crazy as it sounds, and as much merriment and insanity and disorganization goes into one of these events with my family, it’s the one thing I miss the most.
I haven’t been able to be at the last few cookie runs. This year I’m missing it by a thread of previous engagements. I’ll be thinking of them, though. I’ll giggle at the texts my sisters and brother send me. I’ll remember serious discussions my father led while driving through the night roads. I’ll remember my mom’s look of absolute radiance with her entire family in the car – singing, laughing, talking…
And the entire time, I’ll be thinking of future traditions my own family will begin – the stories that will birth out of repetition and clockwork. The stories of home.
Elora is a story teller at heart and DNA. She is the wife of Russ. Her heart longs to see the end of the plight of the orphan and to bring freedom to the slave. You can check out her blog and follow her on Twitter.
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On Friday, Dec. 24th, we will have a link up for all of us to share our Christmas stories, and I’ll have a giveaway.
Story Time : Hope & Grace Birthed by Paul
Our lives are a multitude of stories. Some are sad tales, some are filled with stomach wrenching laughter, and some are family legends that grow more epic each time they’re told. Join me this week as we curl up in our favorite spot in our virtual living room. The tree casting a twinkling glow. Hot chocolate, eggnog, and cookies sit in our laps. Our friends & family sit with us as we laugh, rejoice, & begin to share our tales of Christmas.
Our best Christmas present – without equal – arrived in September 2005, a few months before the holiday.
While it gets lost sometimes in the haze of daily routines and in-the-moment challenges, the the birth of our daughter Jadyn is a milestone which comes into clearer focus at Christmastime. The desire to become parents weighed pretty heavily on Amanda and me in the early years of our marriage. Despite our best efforts, it wasn’t happening.
In June 2001, we experienced our first miscarriage. I took the typical man’s approach and encouraged her to just get over it and drive on. I’m learning better over time.
Four more Christmases came and went without a new addition to our household. Then, around New Year’s Day 2005, several tests showed Amanda was pregnant and it wasn’t a faint positive, it was a strong one.
Due to a work-related relocation, we spent our first night in Starkville, Miss. the day Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast then barreled its way inland. Jadyn was born about two weeks later.
We debated about what to name her and settled on “Jadyn Liana,” which means “God has heard” and “God has answered.”
The gift we have in this talented, smart and beautiful child becomes more apparent when we stop to appreciate her and admire His handiwork. The clarity gets sharper when we compare and contrast the successive Christmas photos, see the maturity over the passing years.
We are grateful for God’s provision of this special gift and we’re glad to get reminded how precious she truly is.
Since her birth we’ve encountered another round of infertility and aren’t sure at this stage whether we’ll have more children. So I write this without pat or cheap answers for those who long for a child or are mourning the loss of one they’ve had.
As we wait on God in this new phase of life, we’ve seen Him open our eyes and hearts in previously unexpected ways to things we didn’t know we needed to understand.
So it is with a refreshed sense of gratitude we look forward to another Dec. 25 watching Jadyn rip open the year’s presents and with grace-filled hope for many more to come.
Paul is husband to Amanda, father to Jadyn. He is also a writer and picture taker. He & Amanda serve with LifeChurch.TV’s church online. You can check out his blog and follow him on Twitter.
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On Friday, Dec. 24th, we will have a link up for all of us to share our Christmas stories, and I’ll have a giveaway.
Story Time : This Year’s Story by Mandie
Our lives are a multitude of stories. Some are sad tales, some are filled with stomach wrenching laughter, and some are family legends that grow more epic each time they’re told. Join me this week as we curl up in our favorite spot in our virtual living room. The tree casting a twinkling glow. Hot chocolate, eggnog, and cookies sit in our laps. Our friends & family sit with us as we laugh, rejoice, & begin to share our tales of Christmas.
When Prudy asked me to write about a story, a Christmas story, I was a bit overwhelmed. Or underwhelmed. I guess I was just a little uncertain because although each year Christmas is good, & I am incredibly blessed, I usually go into it expecting something, whether it’s a certain thoughtful gift or having the perfect holiday experience. Each year I feel slightly let down, and the more I think about it, it’s because my heart isn’t where it should be. Christmas really isn’t about gifts, it’s not about that special someone to kiss under the mistletoe. I’ve been reflecting a lot the last month about what I really want Christmas to mean to me, the actual reason we celebrate it, and have discovered (way late in the game) that it’s not about me. We celebrate it because of Jesus and His ultimate sacrifice for us. He came from glory and lived a sinless life, which is much more than any of us have, or will, ever do, and then to top it off, he suffered a terrible death. He lived knowing that He was going to die for us, and I get upset about not getting the great gift that I wanted, or get disappointed when I don’t get to ‘experience’ Christmas the way that seems perfect. This year, I’ve been purposing in my heart to think on Him, of Him, and the love that He must certainly have for us. I want to remember the greatest gift of all when I reflect on December 2010 and the different things we did to ‘celebrate’. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I want to purposely change the pattern I’m in of expecting unimportant things just because it’s Christmas and change the way that this story will be told. I’m not sure what this Christmas story will look like, but I’m hoping that I can look for ways to see joy and love and to feel His grace in the unexpected places.
Mandie is one of the most crafty people I know. She is wife to Gabe. And is an Albuquerque transplant from Michigan. You can check out her blog and follow her on Twitter. She also has an Etsy shop: Moxie Mandie.
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On Friday, Dec. 24th, we will have a link up for all of us to share our Christmas stories, and I’ll have a giveaway.
Story Time : Dad’s Stories by Russ
Our lives are a multitude of stories. Some are sad tales, some are filled with stomach wrenching laughter, and some are family legends that grow more epic each time they’re told. Join me this week as we curl up in our favorite spot in our virtual living room. The tree casting a twinkling glow. Hot chocolate, eggnog, and cookies sit in our laps. Our friends & family sit with us as we laugh, rejoice, & begin to share our tales of Christmas.
Christmas time is about the only time my side of the family tries to get all of us together, even though most of them all live in the same town. One of my primos is in the navy so he lives near San Diego, and his brother lives in Austin with me even though i haven’t seen him or his family yet, but such is the split of our families. I think we all try to get together mostly for the sake of my Grandparents, which reason enough. Like all families we have our random Christmas rituals, I usually sit around while the guys in the family talk sports, weather, and politics. I am not really in to sports, I can only talk weather for five minutes and they don’t want to hear my views on politics, I subscribe to the anti-political Jesus for President view. You get the picture. All this time my 31 year old sister is snooping beneath the lit up rubber tree plant that we use as a Christmas tree (that is really my favorite part).
The real fun begins when dinner starts, the family has grown to 16 now and the table which only seats six normally squeeze in 10. I just turned 29, I am 6’3″ and weigh around 250 lbs. I am not a small guy. But, Since I can remember I have sat at the kids “table” which is really TV trays sitting on my lap, eating my Aunts latest concoction, of brined-injected-deep-fried-cajun turkey off of “Chinette” plates. At least I have a wife to sit with now.
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The stories start flowing all the same stories that have been told over the years, but there is one story that I love the most, it a little unbelievable. My Grandfather has a habit of stopping at Dairy Queens where ever he travels, he has probably stopped there since they opened in the 40′s. During one of my Dad’s family vacations to the Texas coast for summer fishing they would always stop at a DQ for a ice cream cones, everything was normal on this trip, weather was over a 100 a perfect day for an ice cream cone, only my dad found some thing peculiar about his ice cream. He said, “it had a yellow tinge, like lard. I sat and looked at for a while but it never melted, it just held its shape. So I threw it out the window.” This is about the time that my mom starts groaning, my grandmother puts her head down, and Elora and I start giggling, mostly because we initiated this story. My Dad continues, “the strange thing about that ice cream cone wasn’t that it didn’t melt, but a week later when we were driving back, the ice cream cone was still on the side of the road…and the ice cream still hadn’t melted.”
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But this isn’t ever the end of the conversation, because inevitably, after he finishes he says “but if you don’t believe me, ask my mom. She never lies.”
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And then my grandma, giggling, just shakes her head and quietly says, “it’s true.”
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I don’t know how much of that story is true, but my dad is a pastor, and my grandmother would die before lying, so I tend to believe them. Either way it is the one family story I will keep and pass down to our children, whenever they show up. Our Christmas night usually ends with us reading through Luke chapter 7 and the carol singing by the women (excluding Elora). Which is fun because it’s mostly off key and no one remembers the words. We are lucky if we make it through the first verse and chorus. With Christmas just days away i look forward to this dinner with my family, because I know there aren’t many left with all of us, and I will lead my dad into his DQ story one more time.
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In his own words Russ is husband to Elora, Jesus follower, Private Chef, social activist, church planter, guitar-playing, self imposed hippie who just wants to change the world. You can check out his blog and find him on Twitter..
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On Friday, Dec. 24th, we will have a link up for all of us to share our Christmas stories, and I’ll have a giveaway.
reJOYce
#11 A few weeks ago I listened to a podcast from Austin Stone Community Church, called the History of Redemption. One of their pastors memorized various scripture passages that from Genesis to Revelation telling the story of redemption. From the creation of earth & fall of man to Christ’s resurrection & the glory awaiting us in Heaven. The podcast brought tears to my eyes. They recently put video of this story online. I watched it yesterday and was spurred to even more tears. I encourage you to watch it. There is NO other joy greater than the redemption of man but our loving God. [you can click the picture to take you to the video. click watch sermon.]
#12 No. 12 probably doesn’t look like joy. In fact I’ll be the first to admit, it looks like chaos. But let me tell you what joy lies in this chaos. This is my dining room we’re looking at. I’m standing in the kitchen behind the island. On the table to the left are baby bundts & packaging materials I made & used to give goodies to friends & family. The left side of the table is over flowing with Christmas light boxes from a photo project Shawn is working on. In the middle next to the candle sticks are craft supplies from a Christmas gift I made for a friend. On the island is a tub of dog food. I can tell you my dogs bring me much joy. They are beyond excited to see me when I get home. JOY!!!
#13 I don’t drink coffee cause I need it. I drink it cause I enjoy it. I’m serious. I drink decaf 99.99% of the time. I enjoyed a cup the other day with homemade Christmas cookies a co-worker brought. If only there had been a fire roaring instead of the glow of LCD monitors & florescent lights.
#14 You. The generous people of the world who gave. Clean water. I am so overjoyed by this. (if you want to give you still can through 12.31.10. click here.) [edited: 10:11am / 12.16.10]
What’s It Worth? (A Chance to Give Water For Christmas)
What’s it worth to you? What’s it worth that you can go to your tap, refrigerator, local store or vending machine and get clean water?
What’s it worth?
The $1.00 plus you spend at Starbucks, Circle K, QT?
Every day we have access to clean water. Water that is safe for us to drink and cook with. But around the world every day millions of people don’t have access to clean water. The are vulnerable to disease and death. They trek miles to the nearest sources of water and trek home carrying 40-pound jugs of water that will likely make them sick.
You may be wondering, what can I do?
You can help. You can give someone water for Christmas.
Today I am joined by six wonderful ladies. We are blogging for water. You have the opportunity to give back. To help bring clean water to those that don’t have it.
To donate click the link below. It will take you to Charity Water’s site.
If you do give thank you for the bottom most part of my heart.
Want to help spread the word: Tweet using the hash tag: #PrudyChickH2O
To visit the other bloggers joining me today you can visit their sites listed below:
Jenny Rain
Elora (Love Wins)
Amy Sullivan
Mary Hess
Laura Leigh Parker
Kim Whitten
