Dear
friends…today is the day we remember, with much celebration, that Jesus came as
a baby, many years ago. The look of this day is wildly different from the look
of that day in every way, I’m sure. But the joy and celebration in our
hearts for the significance of this day matter most, and for that, we are
thankful.
Ryan,
Lexi, and I are celebrating together today and we want to pause at the start of
this day to wish YOU a Merry Christmas.
Much
love…
Merry Christmas Eve and a happy birthday
to my sweet niece! Lots of good things to celebrate today, right?
Also
today…I thought I’d share with you some fun things I’ve found throughout this
month of December. I don’t have a long list for you today, but hopefully you’ll
find something useful for yourself or to share with someone else! Let’s jump
in, shall we?
Marvis
Toothpaste. I confess that
Instagram influencers have very little influence over me…when they’re acting in
an advertising capacity. I can’t stand posts that are nothing but ads and
scroll right on by when I find them. But every now and then, I’ll find a good,
old-fashioned kind soul who isn’t being compensated and simply wants to share
something they love – kind of like I do here! And that, my friends, is how I
found out about Marvis toothpaste. One of the ladies I follow mentioned it in a
list of things she loves, and I immediately dropped everything to look it up
for myself.
I’d been using the Hello brand for
toothpaste for the past couple of years, and I liked it okay, but it wasn’t
amazing to me anymore, and in fact, I felt like it was losing effectiveness. I
was casually on the hunt for something new, which is why this grabbed my
attention. It’s free of the things I prefer not to have in toothpaste and the
lady recommending it said she felt the whitening was for real – and the taste
wasn’t bad. (I also have an aversion to strong mint tastes, so toothpaste is
hard for me in general.) I purchased the whitening mint toothpaste (they have
other kinds as well) and as promised, the taste and smell are not overpowering,
and though I haven’t been using it long, Ryan and I both see a difference in
the whitening. So I pass along this find to you!
Progressive
Glasses. Earlier this year I purchased
my first ever reading glasses. I grabbed them from an end cap at Dollar General
and loved them. They were cute and worked great! The only thing I did NOT like
about them was when I used them in church. If I have them on to read from my
tiny-print Bible, and then I try to look up at my pastor, everything goes crazy
blurry. I didn’t want to slide them down my nose to peer over them, and I got
tired of ripping them off and putting them back on and over and over throughout
church.
So, much to my delight, one of my
Facebook friends mentioned one day that she just tried her first progressive reading
glasses – because she was tired of taking off her glasses in church to adjust
between reading her Bible and looking at her pastor! (She is also a speaker,
like I am, so she also feels the pain of trying to read her notes and look out
at her audience.) She raved about these glasses, so I decided to give them a
try! We purchased a four-pack so I could have one in my purse, one by the
couch, one at my desk, and one at work. While they aren’t perfect…as I’m
sure regular glasses would be…they work great for the very issue I have.
They work well if I’m reading and watching TV, or in church. I even wore them
last Sunday to read Scripture at church and was able to look out at the people and
read from the Bible without anything going blurry!
Shoe
Clips. Maybe I live under a
rock and am the last person to know about these, but in case I’m not, here you
go! I read a post a few days ago where the fashion blogger wrote about her upcoming
holiday attire. She had all kinds of fancy dresses to display, and she had some
adorable shoes with blingy rhinestone jewels on the end. When I looked at the
links she shared, I realized all that bling was a CLIP!
She didn’t have a whole separate set
of fancy occasion heels. She just added clips to her regular heels and doubled
her footwear wardrobe in that tiny little accessory. I had no idea shoe clips
were even a THING. You know that I am not a super fancy girl, so I have no real
need to own formal footwear. But it is nice to know that if I needed to make
something I own a little extra, I could do just that with clips!
Perry’s
Tuxedo Ice Cream. I love ice cream, and
if you’ve been reading here for any time at all, you know that about me. I
could probably live on ice cream. And coffee. And coffee ice cream. And that
brings me to my final find for today. I’d never heard until Perry’s ice cream
brand until recently, but I had a wonderful time reading through all their
delicious flavors! (Or at least I assume they are delicious. I’ve never had
it.)
But it was the tuxedo ice cream that
caught my attention! While I love most ice cream flavors, I’m admittedly not a
huge fan of Neapolitan. The issue in that one is the strawberry. I love
strawberries…if they’re real. I don’t love artificially flavored strawberry things.
(It’s so unfortunate that I accidentally grabbed strawberry flavored yogurt
recently. I’m suffering through it because we paid for it, but I do not love it
even a little bit. I also bought two tubs, so I’ll be suffering for a while.
Ha!) So anyway, this ice cream is Neapolitan in style, but the flavors are dark
chocolate, vanilla, and French roast coffee. WHAT?! Now that is a combo
I can support!
So
there you have it: one very random list of fun finds for the month of December.
Hope you enjoyed!
Has this season felt heavy to you? I
have seen a lot of heaviness all around me here, and I thought it might be
great to kick of this busy week with a little Christmas fun! These are some
random questions I chose to answer, and if you want to share your answers too,
please feel free!
Do you prefer a white, snowy
Christmas or do you want to celebrate on a beach with palm trees? I have historically been very grateful to live smack in the
middle of the part of the country that experiences all four seasons. I love the
new life of spring, the warmth of summer, the pretty colors of all, and the glittery
snow of winter. It feels appropriate to see all four seasons, and it’s all I’ve
ever known, so it also feels right and normal. But I must say, after getting
married in Florida and experiencing some warm-weather holiday seasons over the
years as we’ve traveled for our anniversary, I sure wouldn’t mind the white
sand version of Christmas.
What’s your earliest Christmas memory? For some odd reason, one of my earliest memories is from one of the years Mom and Dad helped deliver gifts and meals for the Rescue Mission. We had to get up early a day or two before Christmas and drive around the city dropping off these gifts. I was so tired and mostly slept in the back of the van while they did the deliveries. I have no idea why I remember this, and clearly I was a fairly terrible helper! (Also, I had not yet been issued my first camera, so there are no photos of this event. However...here is a photo of Ryan and me volunteering as gift wrappers for the same Rescue Mission years later!)
What
was your favorite television Christmas special growing up? I watched them
all! Mom would make sure I’d taken my bath and washed my hair early, and then I
would go sit in the basement (which is where our family room with the TV was
located) and let my hair dry by the warmth of the wood burning stove while I
watched Rudolph and Frosty and A Charlie Brown Christmas. I didn’t get to watch
TV too often
What
holiday food or drink do you like the most? My favorite holiday food is
cutout Christmas cookies with tons of frosting. They are so much work, so I
almost never make them, but I love eating them. Holiday drink? Probably
hot cocoa with whipped cream. GOOD hot cocoa. Not all hot cocoa is created
equal.
Do
your parents still have any of the ornaments you made in grade school? No,
because they gave them all to me! We have a storage tub of “vintage Ryan and Bekah
Christmas memorabilia” that includes ornaments like these and our childhood
stockings and other such treasures.
Christmas music: do you love or hate
it? I love it! All year round!
Do you leave the Christmas tree up
for months and months? I actually don’t! While
I love decorating early in November, my plan is always to take it down before New
Year’s Day, because I love the idea of starting the new year with a clean
slate. Alas, that isn’t going to be possible this year, so I’m trying to
retrain my thoughts to be okay with it!
Do you love to hit the clearance sales after Christmas? I really do. Again, it’s not going to happen this year, but it’s one of my favorite things, and I have found wonderful, helpful deals in décor and gift wrap over the years by hitting such sales!
Do you prefer a real Christmas tree
or an artificial one? I never had a real
tree until the year Ryan and I were married. I deeply treasure our visits to
tree farms in those early years of our marriage, because they were fun dates,
and I loved the scent of the real tree in our house. But about five years in,
the prices just became too high for our budget, and we could not justify
spending that money on something that was going to be gone in a month. I think
our WillowBridge Christmases were our last years to have a real tree, and that
marks the first tradition I can think of that we did away with in our marriage.
I’m fine with it, though. I appreciate saving the money and having trees we can
use year after year!
Do
you know how to wrap a Christmas present or does it turn out in a crumpled
mess? My wrapping skills are decent, but nowhere near as amazing as Ryan’s.
He is better at most things than I am, including wrapping gifts!
What traditional Christmas food do you think is yucky? I can’t handle fruitcake or eggnog.
So
there you go! How about you?
A few weeks ago on the Saturday
Suggestions, I shared a resource from Jennie Allen about reflecting on 2024 and
planning for 2025. I have started working through it, and though I have a long
way to go, the very first page pushed my mind to think heavily over the past
year.
She
asked two questions. What things do I grieve from 2024…and what things do I
celebrate?
My
grief list was long, though not as long as the celebration list. Still, I made
room in my mind, heart, and list to grieve the losses of things that didn’t go
as I dreamed. Do we always make enough room for those kinds of losses? Sure, we
think of grieving the losses of people or things that were dear to us, but it’s
also okay to grieve the disappointment of an experience that didn’t go as we
hoped or planned. It’s okay to grieve the death of a dream.
Grieving
doesn’t mean life is over or ruined. It simply acknowledges a hurt and offers
room for healing and reframing. A chance to walk ahead, even if we’re on a
different-looking road than we thought we would walk.
You
know what my favorite thing was about that whole exercise? I loved simply
being asked what I grieved. It wasn’t an in-person, out-loud conversation, but
it was as meaningful as if it had been one. She asked me what I grieved and
provided time and space to document the answer.
Sometimes
that’s one of the best things we can do for grief anyway. Simply asking people how
they feel and then giving them the space, time, and freedom to answer honestly.
I
moved on to the celebration list and enjoyed recounting the beautiful gifts that
found their way into this year. I celebrated the craved and prayed-for answers
as fully as I celebrated the complete surprises that popped up in the year.
Listing
the things that went right and well filled my heart with extra joy, and I loved
having an extra little praise party right there in that moment.
We
have just a week and a half left in this year. Take a few minutes to grieve and
celebrate the hard and the wonderful of 2024. You might just be surprised at
how much it helps your mind and heart!
Happy
Saturday before Christmas, friends! Maybe you’re shopping…or wrapping…or baking…or
doing all three! Or maybe you’re done and enjoying your day! Regardless, I have
a few little treasures for you – whenever you need a break today. Enjoy!
ONE.
Christmas is just four days away, and then in a week and a
half…New Year’s! If you are attending a New Year’s Eve party and have no idea
what to wear, here are a whole bunch of ideas from Penny Pincher Fashion! She has ideas for everything
from super dressy to pretty jammies. Some of the ideas can probably come from
pieces you already own – and others might inspire you for something new to ring
in the new year!
TWO.
Next year I want to do a better job on Ryan’s office tree
than I managed to rustle up this year. (It was admittedly pitiful this year.)
It’s small, and sometimes small trees challenge me, because there isn’t much
room to decorate. But I’m going to save this post which has a ton of super cute ideas for making gorgeous
small/tabletop trees! If you’re downsizing your décor or just need ideas for a
small tree for a small room, save these for next year!
THREE.
Ann Voskamp has such a beautiful way with words…a way that
I will never have. (And that is okay! We all approach words differently, with
our own gifts.) Anyway, this piece she wrote, about peace and finding it in your heart when you find
yourself struggling with judgment toward those who have hurt you, is lovely in words
and sentiment. Perhaps your heart needs it today?
FOUR.
For those of you working last minute on some gifts…here are ideas for stocking stuffers that actually have some meaning behind
them! I feel like stocking stuffers can either become super cheesy or super
expensive. (Just because something is SMALL doesn’t mean it’s cost-effective,
right?) This is a great guide to help you purchase meaningful, frugal gifts!
FIVE.
I was looking for a vintage Point of Grace song this week (This
Day) and ran across this version I’d never seen before. It’s from a wedding and combines This Day
with Great is Thy Faithfulness. Ryan and I used Great is Thy
Faithfulness in our wedding, so it’s dear to me, but I have to say I adore
this mix, and this is now an official favorite. It’s not Christmas music, but
it’s beautiful. Enjoy!
SIX.
Well if you just need a feel-good story to round out your
Saturday, read this one! What a sweet story of a grandson who is taking his grandma to visit
every single continent in the world! (And she didn’t get her first passport
until she was 91!) You’re never too old…
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Monday, December 16, 2024
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Friday, December 20, 2024
If you’ve been reading here several
years, you know that on our first anniversary, we rather haphazardly chose some
wedding photos to recreate. That poorly planned event led to one of my favorite
annual anniversary traditions: photo recreations! The collages take
substantially more time to put together each year, but I have finally finished
the ones that include this year’s recreation photos, so I thought I would share
them with you today!
I’m
so glad we threw this together that first year, and I’m so glad we take time to
do them again each year!
Thank you so much for all the kind
words yesterday! I appreciate your thoughtfulness more than you know. 😊
Since
Ryan and I both had job changes recently, we wanted to go our for a celebratory
dinner. We almost always stick to restaurants with value menus, so choosing a
nice sit-down adventure was extra fancy for us.
We
went to the Olde Richmond Inn Restaurant, which was in a beautiful old
building.
We
never get appetizers when we go out, but we did share some crab-stuffed
mushrooms on this special occasion.
Ryan
chose French onion soup for his meal, and I got a fruit cup. I think this may
have been the most robust fruit cup I’ve ever gotten in a restaurant. (Most of
the time I feel like they’re made up of mushy bananas and a couple of grapes.)
Ryan
got steak and potatoes, and I chose chicken and vegetables. We saved over half to
eat the next day for lunch! (Huge servings!)
We
did share a raspberry cobbler for dessert, and it was so good. Not all
cobblers are worth it, but this one was.
We
had the best time, so much great conversation, and an exceptionally wonderful server!
I have a story to share with you
today!
The
backstory to this news is long and winding, and I won’t dive into all of it
today. I want to give it proper time and space to be meaningful, so I will
circle back to different pieces of the story down the road just a bit. But
today I want to celebrate the news!
I
have a new job.
And
it’s not just a job. It’s what I believe (and others have affirmed) God
has been preparing me to do for the last, well, 46 years. I am excited, I am
passionate about it, and I cannot wait to see how the Lord leads. It is the
fulfillment of a calling on my life that began when God began writing the story
of my days.
Earlier
this month I was affirmed by our church leadership and congregation to become
the Pastor of Congregational Care within our church body.
My
fingers tingle even writing those words.
From
my earliest days, I have always sought to serve the Lord within my local church
and actually started doing so in junior high – teaching kiddos during Thursday
night church services. Along the way and through the years, I’ve had the chance
to serve, lead, and teach in so many capacities, including: teaching Sunday School,
working in the nursery, participating in special music, ushering, greeting,
serving coffee, serving on committees and church boards, leading women’s
ministries, teaching Bible studies, serving communion, assisting with baptisms,
serving as a deacon, and probably a handful of other things escaping me right
now.
In
the last five or so years, I’ve also started speaking in churches now and then,
and as you might remember, I did that at our own church throughout the summer
while our pastor was on Sabbatical.
But
it was just over a year ago when, during a special service at our church, I
prayed for God to clarify my call to ministry, and He did! In a very mighty and
unmistakable way – in that very service – I knew He intended to use me in local
church ministry, and even though I didn’t know how or when that might take
place, I at least knew how to pray over it.
I
began praying and researching and looking for work. I found a few job
descriptions that looked amazing, but none of them were local, and one thing I
knew for sure was that the place we live now is our home. Moving to another
state – or even city – isn’t the answer. So I began to pray for God to open up
a door within driving distance.
The
care pastor at our church is retiring at the end of this year, and they changed
up the job description just a bit to include some additional duties before they
posted it. The entire description made my soul SING (on key!), and I applied as
quickly as I could.
I
went to an interview in October and learned in November that I would be
recommended to the church as the candidate for the job. On December 8th,
the congregation voted, and I was approved for the position. I began work the
very next day.
My
roles are varied, but I’ll be tending to visits and working with different
teams in the church to help our congregation get involved in ways that allow
them to learn and use their gifts. I’ve been making lists and reading books
(and articles) and making Pinterest boards. Along the way, I’m sure I’ll share
some of my projects with you, so stay tuned for that.
Though
I am so excited, I did feel sidelined with weeks of intense spiritual warfare
during the application, interview, and waiting process. I cried buckets of
tears, grappled with blind trust, and prayed intensely that my faith would not
fail as I awaited God’s answer to this deep, deep prayer of my heart. Outside
of Ryan, I’m not sure most people knew how deeply I felt this calling from the
Lord on my heart, and it was hard to act as though everything was fine, when it
felt deep inside like everything was on the line. A tiny little tightrope of a
line.
It
wasn’t flawless. I floundered in fear a few times. But the Lord used so many
people and written words to speak truth over me (sometimes SO hard to hear) and
we made it through that part. I am not so naïve as to think the warfare won’t
continue, but I am grateful to have this pause to celebrate the blessing of one
of the biggest answers to prayer of my life – aside from finding Ryan!
God
wastes nothing, and every single experience I have had in ministry and vocation
will matter in this next season. I am so grateful.
