Goals, kinda. Resolutions, ughh, hate that word, fail every time. I liked it when I heard someone else say "This is my proclamation for 2012. Just stuff I'm hoping to do, and how I want to have an impact."
Me likey. :) Me stealy....
~~~
My Proclamations for 2012:
I will learn more about Jesus this year, and what it really means to love & serve those in need.
I want to make a difference and change the world a bit more this year by impacting my little corner of the universe.
I want to grow in compassion, and increase my giving to those who need it.
I want to grow in loving on our Compassion child, and will send her a letter every month.
I want to remember to serve my husband and take care of our house more, because if I don't do that well, I can't serve others well.
I want wayyyy more of Jesus and others this year, and less of me.
I want to work on so many personal things, but I also know that I can't do it all at once and I have to allow room for grace and time. Like eat less & better, exercise more, stop a couple bad habits, be a better blogger, get better at organizing & printing pictures, remember I can only do so much, tackle my house one portion at a time instead of letting it overwhelm me, and do more to figure out some Fibromyalgia stuff.
~~~
How about you, friends? What do you hope to see, do, accomplish, and change in the world in 2012?
Showing posts with label Discussions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Discussions. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Christmas Traditions
Celebrating together with a couple of our closest friends the Tuesday night before Christmas reminded me of how difficult it can be sometimes to merge two family holiday traditions together. Especially when it comes to Christmas.
Decorations. Ornaments. Food. Celebrations. Timing. Travel.
Family gatherings {which family on which day?}. Opening presents {Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?}. Stockings {wrap or don't wrap?}.
Some of my favorite traditions now are the combinations of family traditions, although to be honest my family's traditions are still my absolute fav. :)
My family always gets together on a time other than Christmas. We always set aside a time though for our "Christmas Eve" and "Christmas Day" to make it special.
Growing up, we always put the tree up over Thanksgiving weekend {unless it was real, then it was closer to Christmas}, then lay on a blanket in front of the tree with candles {don't worry, not right next to the tree!} and sing through a booklet of our favorite Christmas carols each night leading up to Christmas.
Dad & I made homemade pizza & dough for supper on Christmas Eve. My brother was always the last to finish wrapping gifts right up to the time we opened them. We read the Bible Christmas story together. Then we sang through our booklet of favorite carols together. And then it was opening presents time!
When we were really little and played the Santa game, mom would pull out the gifts from Santa after we were in bed and put them under the tree. She'd always stay up past us and fill our stockings. That tradition continued until we moved out of the house. Now each year our family doesn't just exchange gifts, we also buy a little stocking stuffer for each family member - I love it!!
Also now, mom makes her homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. We read the Christmas story from Luke together to start our Christmas Eve each year. This year my niece Olivia read the entire thing and it was so sweet. Mom prays over us all and the evening. We sing Christmas carols together... after my brother & I sometimes try to hide the booklets {none of us can sing very well, try as we might, and it's so off-tune sometimes bro & I catch each other's eye and have to stiffle our giggles... and last year we tried hiding the booklets in the fridge}!
My nieces and I always make a gingerbread house together each year on our Christmas Day.
My favorite place in all the world to be is mom's house over Christmas. She does such an extraordinary job decorating and making it feel special and homey, and her house is so relaxing and like a little getaway. I love just staring out over the lake. At wintertime it's nice to see the ice
Tim's family always has a birthday cake for Jesus and we sing happy birthday to Jesus. It's always been together with Tim's family on Christmas Day. We used to get together late morning to exchange gifts and we used to include a grab bag gift game. It's all much more up in the air the past few years, and there's not really any set thing. We usually only buy for the kids of family members in the area - otherwise it'd be pretty crazy with Tim's 10 siblings and 27+ nieces & nephews.
It took us several years, a lot of trial and error, and sometimes still some miscommunication or disappointment comes as we try to solidify our own little family traditions. But without kids, it's hard to feel like we really have a plan or nail down much of anything.
What about you? Any major challenges you've faced together as you nail down your own traditions and figure out what to do between your two families?
Decorations. Ornaments. Food. Celebrations. Timing. Travel.
Family gatherings {which family on which day?}. Opening presents {Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?}. Stockings {wrap or don't wrap?}.
Some of my favorite traditions now are the combinations of family traditions, although to be honest my family's traditions are still my absolute fav. :)
My family always gets together on a time other than Christmas. We always set aside a time though for our "Christmas Eve" and "Christmas Day" to make it special.
Growing up, we always put the tree up over Thanksgiving weekend {unless it was real, then it was closer to Christmas}, then lay on a blanket in front of the tree with candles {don't worry, not right next to the tree!} and sing through a booklet of our favorite Christmas carols each night leading up to Christmas.
Dad & I made homemade pizza & dough for supper on Christmas Eve. My brother was always the last to finish wrapping gifts right up to the time we opened them. We read the Bible Christmas story together. Then we sang through our booklet of favorite carols together. And then it was opening presents time!
When we were really little and played the Santa game, mom would pull out the gifts from Santa after we were in bed and put them under the tree. She'd always stay up past us and fill our stockings. That tradition continued until we moved out of the house. Now each year our family doesn't just exchange gifts, we also buy a little stocking stuffer for each family member - I love it!!
Also now, mom makes her homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. We read the Christmas story from Luke together to start our Christmas Eve each year. This year my niece Olivia read the entire thing and it was so sweet. Mom prays over us all and the evening. We sing Christmas carols together... after my brother & I sometimes try to hide the booklets {none of us can sing very well, try as we might, and it's so off-tune sometimes bro & I catch each other's eye and have to stiffle our giggles... and last year we tried hiding the booklets in the fridge}!
My nieces and I always make a gingerbread house together each year on our Christmas Day.
My favorite place in all the world to be is mom's house over Christmas. She does such an extraordinary job decorating and making it feel special and homey, and her house is so relaxing and like a little getaway. I love just staring out over the lake. At wintertime it's nice to see the ice
Tim's family always has a birthday cake for Jesus and we sing happy birthday to Jesus. It's always been together with Tim's family on Christmas Day. We used to get together late morning to exchange gifts and we used to include a grab bag gift game. It's all much more up in the air the past few years, and there's not really any set thing. We usually only buy for the kids of family members in the area - otherwise it'd be pretty crazy with Tim's 10 siblings and 27+ nieces & nephews.
It took us several years, a lot of trial and error, and sometimes still some miscommunication or disappointment comes as we try to solidify our own little family traditions. But without kids, it's hard to feel like we really have a plan or nail down much of anything.
What about you? Any major challenges you've faced together as you nail down your own traditions and figure out what to do between your two families?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Answering the "How Are You?" Question
That question that you say in passing.
That question that you don't always care to know the answer to.
That question where it's said so flippantly sometimes that we don't stop to think about our answer.
That question that we respond to in automatic mode.
That question that got me technically caught in a lie earlier this week. And I didn't even realize it. Even after it was pointed out to me it took me a minute to recognize what they were talking about.
It's amazing how quickly we become used to answering the "how are you?" question with a simple and fast "good", "fine", or "great, how are you?"
But how often do we really stop, slow down, process, and respond in 100% honesty?
We wonder if they're asking as a courtesy or because they really want to know.
Like when I recently walked into a 7-Eleven and the lady behind the counter smiled, said "how are you?" and immediately turned to go into the back room. Clearly she didn't actually want an answer.
Now thankfully for me the other night I was caught by one good friend to another, with the one knowing I was doing pretty terribly and the other not having a clue. I responded "good... how are you?" and immediately the one stopped me in my tracks and noted that was not at all true and said "well you little liar... you are so not good!!". The other one and I stopped, processed, and... there was some hugging.
These are good friends and I'm actually surprised it came out the way it did--so automatically whereas typically I'd be completely real with these good friends--but I think I've become sort of desensitized to it.
I always want to be real, especially with those I know truly care about me, but there are still others where the response has just become an automatic.
Why do you think we do this?
No answer from here... just contemplating.....
That question that you don't always care to know the answer to.
That question where it's said so flippantly sometimes that we don't stop to think about our answer.
That question that we respond to in automatic mode.
That question that got me technically caught in a lie earlier this week. And I didn't even realize it. Even after it was pointed out to me it took me a minute to recognize what they were talking about.
It's amazing how quickly we become used to answering the "how are you?" question with a simple and fast "good", "fine", or "great, how are you?"
But how often do we really stop, slow down, process, and respond in 100% honesty?
We wonder if they're asking as a courtesy or because they really want to know.
Like when I recently walked into a 7-Eleven and the lady behind the counter smiled, said "how are you?" and immediately turned to go into the back room. Clearly she didn't actually want an answer.
Now thankfully for me the other night I was caught by one good friend to another, with the one knowing I was doing pretty terribly and the other not having a clue. I responded "good... how are you?" and immediately the one stopped me in my tracks and noted that was not at all true and said "well you little liar... you are so not good!!". The other one and I stopped, processed, and... there was some hugging.
These are good friends and I'm actually surprised it came out the way it did--so automatically whereas typically I'd be completely real with these good friends--but I think I've become sort of desensitized to it.
I always want to be real, especially with those I know truly care about me, but there are still others where the response has just become an automatic.
Why do you think we do this?
No answer from here... just contemplating.....
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Fibromyalgia and Spontaneity
This weekend was full of spontaneity. Something I used to genuinely love.
But now with Fibromyalgia, I can rarely be spontaneous without paying a high price.
And yet, this weekend was amazing. I didn't flare up. I didn't have a reaction. Even when the adrenaline left. Or maybe the adrenaline still hasn't left.
This week at work is insanely crazy, but all in a good way. Perhaps the adrenaline is actually still pushing me on this week. Perhaps my big letdown/Fibro flare will hit this weekend. We shall see.
I'm just really thankful that I made it through the weekend and was able to do so much... and be able to enjoy it immensely! Yay! :)
I have no doubt that my ability to survive having done so much is from the regular exercise. I can never go back to the lump-on-a-log lifestyle. Ever.
How do you handle spontaneity?
But now with Fibromyalgia, I can rarely be spontaneous without paying a high price.
And yet, this weekend was amazing. I didn't flare up. I didn't have a reaction. Even when the adrenaline left. Or maybe the adrenaline still hasn't left.
This week at work is insanely crazy, but all in a good way. Perhaps the adrenaline is actually still pushing me on this week. Perhaps my big letdown/Fibro flare will hit this weekend. We shall see.
I'm just really thankful that I made it through the weekend and was able to do so much... and be able to enjoy it immensely! Yay! :)
I have no doubt that my ability to survive having done so much is from the regular exercise. I can never go back to the lump-on-a-log lifestyle. Ever.
How do you handle spontaneity?
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