What would Jesus buy?

Warning. I'm about to get on my soap box.
This time of year is really hard for me. I love the idea of family, friends, celebrating Christ's birth but I hate the commercial aspect of it that seems to have taken over. Every year I feel empty and a bit depressed when it's all over. More so since reading about the Walmart worker that was trampled to death because a lot of people had to get the best deal after Thanksgiving. Is that who we are as a people? I hope not. I, like everyone else who believes that Christmas is the time we celebrate Christ's birth, struggle with teaching the kids the real meaning of Christmas and not the meaning that is pushed by the commercialism that engulfs our nation. Years ago we switched and limited our gift giving with the kids cause frankly they were bored opening one gift after another. Each kid gets three gifts cause if it was good enough for Jesus it's good enough for them. They love it by the way. They actually get to go slowly and play with what they've been given instead of being rushed on to the next wrapped present. We bake a birthday cake for Jesus, we read the Christmas Story in the bible and if I ever get ahead and prepare, we'll implement Advent.

Did you know that America alone spends $ 450 BILLION on Christmas every year. We shop shop shop, A lot of people rack up debt they can't afford, Suffer the traffic jams and fights over parking spots, face an overwhelming to do list and really we get a lot of gifts that are fun but we can live without. Why? Cause we believe we have to. Did you know that 1.8 million people die every year from water born illnesses. That includes 3,900 children a day. People die cause they don't have clean water to drink? It's one of the leading causes of death in the third world. Did you know that the total estimated cost to bring clean water to everyone world wide is $ 10 Billion. $ 10 billion and people are still dying because they don't have a resource we take for granted. So I found this web site mentioned on another blog I enjoy reading and I hope everyone checks it out. http://www.adventconspiracy.org/ .
Now I realize that it's a little late in the season to plan something different this year but I'm thinking that maybe other people feel the same way I do and may want to make a few changes for next year or thru the year in 2009. As for us, After discussing it with the kids, we've decided to do a lot of stuff different next year. Their excited about it and for once, I feel an overwhelming excitement for Christmas. We're not buying presents for each other. We're making them and taking the money and sponsoring a water project. At our church we have a saying.We pray, we go, we do. I can't think of a better way to honor Jesus on his birthday and to put the focus back on "it's better to give then to receive" then to fund a project that will save lives.
Now I really hope that this doesn't come across as we're patting ourselves on the back or we're doing this, you should to. It's more of a -look, one person really can make a difference, or rather 10 billion differences, one person at a time.
ps-
Imagine my suprise as I did more research on Advent Conspiracy and under the Give Water heading and in the 2008 section, there's a article that talks about the wells and Saah Joseph. We've been supporting Saah since he went back to Sierra Leone. WOW. Small world and God is in control.
If you'd like to read more about Saah, here's a link . He's an amazing person with an amazing story and Willamette Medical Teams is doing some great work in the area as well. http://willamettemedicalteams.org/saahsstory.asp .

See

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.


- Dorothea Lang

I've been going back thru my pictures and organizing them for a class I've been taking. Some of them really just about bring me to tears. Like this one... I remember taking this picture. It was in 2005 and I was walking out the door to get my film developed at Costco. I noticed I had one shot left and called to McKenna. She turned around and I took it. It's by no means a work of art- but it is to me. I remember getting it back and saying to Bill, when did she get so big? Sometimes in a picture it brings it all home loud and clear that time is passing on and things change. She's getting bigger...She'll be off to college in 10 years... She won't be home with me forever. I am blessed to be here with her everyday but yet it takes a picture ever so often to remind me that I better cherish those days a little more because they won't last forever.

10 Years Ago Today...

We got married. Time really does fly when your having fun! We both agreed over dinner last night that it doesn't seem like it's been 10 years but here we are. I'm sure we'll be saying the same thing when it's been 20 years.

For me the last 10 years have been a journey. Marriage isn't easy, it takes a lot of work. There's ups and downs and moments of complete insanity but it's worth every tear, every compromise, every laugh...every everything.

I'm thankful for the family members that I have that have been married for 60 + years. They've walked in my shoes and been great role models and sources of advice about what it takes to be happily married in today's world. They help me to remember the little things that nourish the heart.

I'm especially thankful for a husband that loves me and our kids so well. He has a kind and compassionate heart. He looks for the good in everything. He sees a need and quietly meets it not only for us but for those around us. He even helps in the kitchen ( Grandma Eva would be proud)! He's my everything and 10 years ago today we made one of the smartest decisions in our life... We said "I do".

First Egg Hunt

Every year we spend Easter at my Aunt Ginger and Uncle Terry's house in Salem. It's become a great tradition and it's always a lot of fun for the kids and the adults alike. I have a large family and extended family and once the food has been eaten the men head outside with several hundered chocolate filled eggs and start hiding them. What happens next is pure joy to watch. There's usually no less then 10 excited children that come rushing into the yard to find eggs as fast as they can. The older kids are great with the smaller ones and have as much fun watching them or helping them as they do finding their own eggs.

This year was Jason's first year for the egg hunt and was he ever excited. He had no idea what's in those eggs but it's all about being outside and finding a little something that you usually don't see. He was new to shoes however, and so for every step he took it seemed like he was falling down in the mud and the grass. He didn't care. I took several pictures of him then moved on to snap as many pictures as I could of the other kids before the eggs were all collected. It goes fast! As I turned around to head back to the main yard I see my baby covered in mud from head to toe and my cousins gathering around to see what my reaction would be.( I'm a bit of a stick in the mud about getting too dirty) Bill said he reached for a egg and over he went... But he came up with the egg in hand and a smile on his face... really could you ask for more? I just laughed and captured the moment.


PS- How lucky am I to have a husband like that! Our 10th Anniversary is a few days away and it gets me thinking, but I'll save that for another post. :)

Happy 80th Mr. Rogers

You may not have known it, but today was National Wear a Sweater Day in honor of Mr. Fred Rogers 80th Birthday. As a kid I watched Mr. Rogers and as a young adult I wondered why he was still on the air. Then you have your own kids and Mr. Rogers becomes magical again. Watching with McKenna and then Justin you learn to appreciate him for the good man that he was and the lessons he worked so hard to teach to millions of kids for all those years. You long to live in a neighboorhood like his where everyone knows everyone and treats each other with kindness. You wish you could live in the Land of Make Believe with King Friday, Daniel and the rest of the gang and share in their adventures. It would be nice if tv today had a little more of what Mr. Rogers had to offer.

About 3 years ago there was a Mr. Rogers exhibit in Portland that we took the kids too. I'm not sure who had more fun, them or me. I'm looking forward to introducing Jason to the show someday. If you have a chance you should grab a sweater and spend a half hour with Mr. Rogers. It's time well spent.

Living Life- the good, the bad, and the ugly

Been a rough few weeks here with sick babies. We made it thru and thankfully everyone seems to be on the road to recovery. Ran across this quote a while back and it really seems to grab my attention everytime I read it. Thought I'd share.

I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.
- Dawna Markova.

Like Father, Like Son

It's tough work being a dad of three. Even tougher work being a big one year old that wants to run rather then walk.

They seem to have napping figured out though!