My Daughter Stole Baby Jesus

My daughter stole baby Jesus.

She stole Him from our manger, and He lived with her for an entire Christmas season…mostly in her pocket.

Initially, I wanted that tiny, breakable baby back in the manager. I wanted Him somewhere safe and sound and protected by the wise men. I wanted Him next to that sorry-looking sheep whose ear was chipped off years ago. I thought baby Jesus should be returned to His manger because well, because that’s where Jesus belongs…in a manger. Right?

But, as time passed, and I found baby Jesus in my daughter’s bed, aboard the caboose of the Polar Express, and on the edge of the bathtub, I saw things differently.

See, I started thinking that Jesus was probably happy He was stolen.

Instead of being thought of when someone happened to glance at the Nativity Scene, He was carried around and spoken to often. He was a constant participant in the life of someone He loves. He felt important and special.

Isn’t it strange how much a tiny, stolen baby Jesus relates to our faith?

Sometimes we want Jesus in a safe, predictable place. We want Him at church, when we have time to spend with Him, or during the difficult situations, but I’m pretty sure if given the opportunity, He’d love to hang out in our pocket.

Do you have a Nativity Scene? If so, I'd love to hear about it. Old, new, plastic, wooden? Any special story or memories behind it?

Today I'm hooking up with the girls over at Finding Heaven.

photo credit: Nadia. Fliker, Creative Commons.

Plastic and Disposable

Today I feel down.

Everything about the season seems so plastic, so disposable.

And then, because of one of my faves, I discovered this:

Through this fun site, I read about people embracing Christmas by actively living out ways to help others, or "daring to be the change they want to see".

And guess what?

After reading a few posts and clicking on a couple of amazing ideas and missions, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...". Sing it friends.

Now take a peek at my sidebar for links to other inspiring Christmas related posts. Look to your right. You don't even have to scroll. Yes, yes, that's it. Do you see them? Ann, Laura, and Lora.

If you've read (or written!) a post about returning some of the depth and meaning to Christmas, leave a link in the comment section. I'd love to read your work, and add it to my running list. Do tell. Do tell!

My Girls, My Mission

We all have a mission. We pray. We write. We listen. We read. We blog, and sometimes we discover direction, but often I worry that while in search of the big answers, we dismiss the daily opportunities pitter-pattering across our floors.

*My tiny attempt at poetry. Feel free to throw things at your screen.

And they walk

in a direction that seems

too far away.

Stumbling

on railroad ties and big

problems in tiny lives-

mean girls, independence,"Do you think my teeth are too big?"

Aching

to give them something

to hold

when the bus ride is too long.

Sum it up friends, what are you giving your kids this week? Your time? Your direction? Your example?

Photo credit: Renee Montgomery

Guinea Pigs, Water Tablets, and School Supplies, Oh My!

With Black Friday approaching quickly, there are some of you who may have shopping on the brain...I do, I do!

And there are some of you who have a few tough-to-buy-for recipients on the 'ol gift list...you do, you do!

What will you give the aunt who has it all? What about that sweet, neighbor lady who always returns your naughty dog? Or your child's teacher who finds a way to make everything fun?

If your Christmas purchase includes a coffee cup from Walmart with a stuffed animal tucked inside, I'm begging you to rethink! "You're a Special Teacher" Christmas tree ornament? No, no! Lotion? Nope.

So, what then?

What inexpensive gift can you give someone special? How about a duck. Yes, friends, you read that correctly, a duck. Food for the Hungry's Christmas Gift Catalog is out, and it is packed with gifts that aren't only inexpensive, but will significantly impact lives of others.

One duck is $8.00 and that one duck will produce hundreds of eggs which will not only provide food, but extra eggs can be sold to buy other needed essentials for a struggling family.

Other gift ideas?

A School Supplies Pack is $8.00

Water Purification Tablets for a year are $15.00

Two Guinea Pigs are $15.00

Anemia treatment for a child or pregnant mom is $20.00

So if you just can't find that something special for your someone special, consider checking out the catalog over at Food for the Hungry.

Two Ridiculously, Simple Steps=Giving Heart

Today I'm super excited to be featured over at Outnumbered Mom. Outnumbered Mom is home to Laura Lee Groves, author of I'm Outnumbered!, mom to four sons, and passionate encourager to moms everywhere.

Please take a minute to bounce over and read about two simple steps in growing a giving heart and visit Laura.

*Comments are turned off so you can show Laura some bloggy love.

Stolen Valentines and Compassion

Lately I've been thinking about compassion.

French writer Marguerite Yourcenar says that compassion "inflicts its knifelike pain only on those who, strong or not, brave or not, intelligent or not (such qualities are beside the point), have been granted the horrible gift of looking the world full in the face and seeing it as it is."

And this quote makes me wonder. Wonder about the times I have really looked the world "full in the face".

Here's a time I remember:

I was teaching on the Navajo Reservation at a Bureau of Indian Affairs Boarding School, and I was there for what seemed like seconds before I fell in love. Head over heels completely in love. Yes, madly in love with twenty-five of the naughtiest boys you have ever encountered. Twenty-five boys ages five to eleven who lived in a dorm and only saw their parents on weekends.

I met those boys, and I learned about suffering when I saw the devastated looks in the eyes of kids whose parents had once again "forgotten" that Friday was pick-up day. I learned about addiction when I met families torn apart by alcoholism and the ugliness that often follows. And I learned about finding joy in a place where joy doesn't easily bloom, when one of my favorite troublemakers stole a box of old and already written out Valentines and shoved one card under my door every morning.

The truth is, if given the opportunity, I probably would have looked away from much of what I saw out in that desert boarding school. However, since I was alone and without a phone, TV, friends, or any other means of escape, I was forced to see the hurt, experience the sadness, and cherish the joy surrounding me.

I knew I was looking into the world "as it was", but I didn’t know that at the same time, I was growing compassion.

What about you? Have you ever "looked at the world full in the face" and later found compassion?

Today I'm hooking up with Jen and some friends over at Finding Heaven.

BFFs and Dino Heads

Some of you know my girl Amelia, but for those of you who don’t, I’d like to introduce you to my all-time-favorite-just-turned-eight-year-old who happily (sometimes) blogs for me regarding her thoughts on giving.

Keeping up with her annual tradition, Amelia joined her BFF's family (Thank you Miss Debbie!) in stuffing shoeboxes full of goodies. This upcoming week is National Collection week for Operation Christmas Child. If you haven't participated in Operation Chritmas Child, this is the year to start! It is a fun and easy way to get your kids involved in giving. Here’s what Amelia and Masen had to say about their experience this year:

This is my friend Masen on the left side. We were being silly with dino heads. Some people don’t have food or water or maybe not even a house. So we are giving to people shoeboxes with toys, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair things, and candy. Love, Amelia

ps now here is Masen

I realized that it is good to give for Christmas. I wouldn’t like to get a bar of soap. I like going shopping so that I can give them a good present. I am thankful for what I have. Love, Masen

It's not too late to get involved!

The Hole-A Guest Post by Michelle DeRusha

Blogging over at Graceful, Michelle DeRusha is someone you may not know, but someone who has the voice of a forever friend. I've always enjoyed Michelle's writing, and I've always connected easily with the things she says, but then I read about her Shop-Not Project.

What? No shopping for a year? Was she crazy? Maybe, but after hearing about her project, I liked her even more, and I have a feeling you will too! Here's Michelle-

Richard Stearns’ book The Hole in Our Gospel burned a hole in my heart. I read it last winter, and when I flipped the last page, I turned back to the first and started it again from the beginning. It was that good.

I wrote a series of posts on the book, but when I was done, it didn’t feel like enough. I just couldn’t get the statistics out of my head:

• More than 26,500 children died yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today, and tomorrow and the day after that.

• Almost 10 million children will be dead in a year from preventable causes related to poverty.

• More than 1 billion people live on less than a dollar a day.

For a long time I’ve had an internal vision of God and His work – I’ve been primarily concerned with how He works in my life, for me. I’ve been fixated on myself: Is my faith strong enough? Do I believe? Why do I doubt? Do I love God in my heart? It’s been all about me.

Richard Stearns turned that internal focus inside out:

“Being a Christian, or follower of Jesus Christ, requires much more than just having a personal and transforming relationship with God. It also entails a public and transforming relationship with the world…Living out our faith privately was never meant to be an option.”

I thought for a long time about those statistics on world poverty. I thought for a long time about what Stearns said about having a personal and public relationship with God. And I thought a long time about how much I have -- how much more than enough I have.

On September 1, I launched The Shop-Not Project – a year-long shopping hiatus. No clothes, no shoes, no purses, no jewelry, no accessories. For 365 days. The money saved at the end of twelve months will be used to sponsor a Compassion child.

The thing is, I love to shop. Love it like a Coco Chanel. Love it like a Paris Hilton. It doesn’t even need to be extravagant shopping. A sweater on sale at Old Navy is enough for me; consignment store jeans will light my fire. It’s the shopping I love, the high I get from something new.

The first couple weeks of Shop-Not were easy. I felt virtuous, proud (probably not exactly what God intended).

But then reality set in. I went shopping with my husband – he had a gift card to Banana Republic. While he tried on pants in the dressing room, I breezed over to the women’s side of the store and ran my hand along the fabrics – cashmere, merino wool, tweed, satin. The thought of 11 more months of no shopping gave me nothing short of a pit in my stomach.

My solution for now is to steer clear, to avoid the temptation of Target and Ann Taylor. Out-of-sight, out-of mind helps to ease the urge to buy that fitted blazer or the sumptuous tote. And when in doubt, I page through The Hole in Our Gospel again. Because there’s no avoiding the truth in these words:

“There is no ‘whole gospel’ without compassion and justice shown to the poor.

It’s that simple.”

Richard Stearns

Want to read more from Michelle? Take some time and bounce over to Graceful. What do you think fellow bloggers? Could you give up shopping for a year? If so, what would you do with the money you saved?

My Circle and 1994

This was my circle in 1994. It was a small circle, but it was my world.

Anything outside of this circle went virtually unnoticed.

In 1994, my life was full. I settled into college. I ditched that boyfriend, and I had big travel plans for the summer, Europe baby! Life was busy. Life was good.

Oblivious to the genocide that was taking place half a world away, my thoughts were focused on my future.

Do you remember Rawanda?

800,000 people killed in just 100 days, and Rawanda’s minority tribe, the Tutsis, were almost destroyed.

I was nineteen, and yet, I'm ashamed to say I vaguely remember hearing something about a civil war in Rawanda.

Now it makes me sick, but then, I barely noticed.

It is impossible to have compassion if you don’t have knowledge. I had no knowledge of the Hutus and Tutsis and therefore, sadly, I didn’t have any compassion. Across the ocean were atrocities of unimaginable magnitude, and I was totally unaware. I was happy living life in my tiny circle.

It wasn’t until years later when I read Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza, (an amazing, true story of faith, hope, and survival) that I started to grasp what not only I, but much of the world had missed in Rawanda.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the first steps leading to GRACIOUS GIVING: Gratefulness, contentment, and compassion. For the next few posts, I’ve decided to focus on compassion.

I know compassion starts with an awareness of the needs of others. How do you make yourself aware of the happenings of the world and those around you? Watch the news? Read the paper? Get online updates? How do you force yourself to see the people outside of your circle?

Fa, La, La, What?

You saw them staring at you before the Halloween decorations and candy even left store shelves. Wrapped in glittery packages and multicolored boxes, Christmas lights, snowman cards, and inflatable yard ornaments were plunked upon the shelves just waiting for eager buyers to notice them.

Today I'm guest posting over at Esther's, and I'd love to hear how you take consumerism out of the holiday season.

I'm turning the comments off so you can bounce over and check out what Esther blogs about at For Such A Time As This.

Photo by Mags cat, Flickr Creative Commons.

Who Is Driving Anyway?

My goal: become a family of GRACIOUS GIVERS.

My secondary goal: write a book about it.

Problem: somewhere in between the land of good intentions and that glorious desired outcome, I reversed the order of my two goals.

Yes, mixed up my priorities.

The truth is, I’d much rather write about giving, than pray about it, and I’d much rather map out goals for myself, than really involve God in the whole process.

I mean God is very, very busy, and really, I’ve got this one, right?

Instead of being consumed with giving, I find myself consumed with writing.

I continually have to remind myself this adventure isn’t about my neatly packaged plan, and God desires to be more than just an add-on or participant in this journey, He wants to lead it.

See, I knew I was going to need that dusty, old passport soon, but I wasn’t planning on needing it soon, soon. In MY plan, I’m very organized and together and things don’t happen fast. They happen according to a schedule. They happen logically, and in order. There aren’t a lot of “what ifs", but in God’s plan things aren’t always so neat.

So here’s to me getting my priorities back in order: God, giving, and then writing.

What about you? Do you allow God to steer your life, or do you have trouble giving up control? When you discover you’ve taken over, how to you let Him direct you back on course?

photo by Grant Harder. Flickr, Creative Commons.

Today I'm linking up with Jen over at Finding Heaven. Take a minute and stop by!