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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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Are you singing the song yet? Sorry about that! It is no secret that Christmas is my favorite time of the year. From the Christmas carols, the beautiful trees, the celebration of the birth of Christ…there is something so wonderful about all of it.

So when my friends at DaySpring contacted me and asked if I was interested in getting a sneak peak at some of their newest Christmas items a few months in advance of decorating time, I jumped at the chance!

One of the things I love most about the DaySpring products is that they center around the real reason for the season. Christ has come! Each of the pieces they sent me captures that message in its own unique way.

The Nativity Hurricane Trio Luminary Set has to be my favorite item from the set. I purchased the original hurricane set years ago and have it up in my home year round, but this set is so beautiful. I don’t know that I will be able to put it away after Christmas is over! One of the things that makes it so unique is that it can be displayed and enjoyed from both the front and the back!

On the front each piece has a different word at the bottom. Savior, Jesus and Messiah. On the back are three different Bible verses! Matthew 1:21, I John 4:14 and Luke 2:10. I will be displaying mine on my fireplace mantle but these would be beautiful on a bookshelf or as a centerpiece on your dining room table.

The Christmas Door Banner is bright and bold and fits around your door so that there is a message on both the front and the inside of the door. It was easy to install and could be used on any door in your home!

These Boxed Christmas cards will be donated to a friend at church who has a ministry of making sure that people are given cheer and encouragement through the written word. When I received the cards I knew she would put them to good use. I love getting Christmas cards, don’t you?! We do send Christmas cards/pictures and a letter each year to our family, friends and business clients. The list keeps growing and at times it seems like a lot to keep up with, but people tell us again and again that they love to receive them so we keep doing it! Do you send cards out at Christmas?

If you have been to my house during Christmas you have seen my multiple Christmas trees. They are becoming so heavy with ornaments that I have threatened to buy another tree. I LOVE ornaments. I have ornaments that my mom collected for me when I was a child and now I do the same thing each year with my kids. This Glory to God Porcelain ornament is beautiful. I will be adding the date on the back of it so that I can remember what year I received it and probably will be ordering a few more from DaySpring’s collection!

And finally, I received this fun Christmas Countdown board. I have one of those chalk pens and wrote in a number inside of the star. This could be hung anywhere in your home and every day your kids could help you countdown the days until Christmas. And just for fun, in case you were wondering, it is 95 days until Christmas today!

Here are a few items that I haven’t seen in person but look like something I’d love to have in my home!

The Joy to the World Round Wall Hanging would be a fun addition to my wall space.

We have the Shepherd on the Search Advent kit from last year and it’s a great alternative to the Elf on the Shelf!!

I love the rough wood look of this A Savior is Born plank!

And these hand-thrown mugs are awesome, they have four styles, Jesus, Peace, Joy and Shine!

As you can see there are a variety of items to choose from in a wide price range. DaySpring offers free shipping on all orders over $50 as well!

I love DaySpring products. You will find them all over my home. It was a joy to receive these pieces for free in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own! Affiliate links throughout.

What is your favorite piece from the new collection?!

Keep Searching

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I can hardly believe it is almost Christmas. I don’t know what happened really, I blinked and December was gone. The reality was that late in November our son was sick, then I got pneumonia which wiped me out for days and days and then he was sick again. We had a weekend stuck indoors because the straight temp outside was -25 degrees and now here we are a few days away from Christmas and all the plans I had to slow down and seek God through this month feel a lot like defeat.

And I guess there may be many of you that have found yourself here as well.

We start the season with the best of intentions. This year will be different and then, well LIFE happens, and we come through Advent just hoping to survive until the new year. Can I just say that we should all take a collective deep breath and relax?

I still have gifts en route that will need to be wrapped by Saturday morning. I have cookies to frost and clothes to organize. Our kids are still in school (I KNOW, WHAT IN THE WORLD?) and we have meetings at our office through noon tomorrow.

Yes, Christmas will come and go just as fast and I will wonder what happened there too…but I realized something this morning that helped me to accept where I am at today.

Just because the season will be over in a few days doesn’t mean we have to stop searching for the One, the Gift, that we celebrate during this time.

The story didn’t end with Christmas, we know that. And while we make attempts to focus and slow down during Advent it is still important that we keep seeking Him all year through.

I shared back in November about the Shepherd on the Search kit that I received from Dayspring. I knew it would be something fun that I could use to be intentional with my kids in December. I was excited about the daily activities they had on their web page and had plans to take even 15-20 minutes a night to be engaging in the Christmas story with them.

And then, you know….LIFE.

But like I said, the story doesn’t end after this weekend.

Yes, it is important to teach our kids about the significance of Christ’s birth at Christmas…but they need to keep searching for Him throughout the year as well. I want my kids to seek Him in all things. In all seasons!

Using these recipe cards is one way that I can do that. Day 15 is a lesson on the importance of giving to others. Day 21 encourages us to find ways to bring Joy to others, our neighbors or friends. And throughout the month you will find memory verses that will help place the Christmas story on our hearts over and over again.

I am learning more and more that if I want to know God, I have to seek Him out. I have to spend time with Him, learning about Him, being His light to others. Not just at Christmas but always.

It was a challenge my own heart needed this morning. I could feel frustrated that my Advent season didn’t look like I thought it should….or I can celebrate that the story is ongoing, and so is my search for Him.

My prayer for you friends is that you will be able to give yourself grace today. Enjoy time with your family this weekend, celebrate the Christ child and then continue to seek Him throughout the year! Merry Christmas!

Original Photo Credit: Dan’l Burton

Looking for Him this Season

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shepherd-on-the-search

We have had an unseasonably warm fall here in Minnesota, something that has been such a gift this year. So it has been hard for me to get in the “Holiday” mindset. Maybe it is the impending blizzard watch we are under for later in the week or the fact that every store is decorated for Christmas, but thoughts of Christmas were on my mind this morning.

I was remembering the times we spent at my grandparent’s home and how before we opened any gifts on Christmas Eve my grandpa would pause and read us the Christmas story. As a child, I was filled with the excitement and anticipation of what was in the packages under the tree …not of the miracle of Christ’s birth.

But my grandpa recognized something that I now understand more deeply myself…the season should be a celebration of the amazing gift God sent for all of humanity. 

I try and put myself in the place of those we read about in Luke 2. How must Mary have felt, carrying the Son of God inside her? What was the journey like that the wise men took to travel incredible distances to bring gifts to Jesus?

Or the shepherds, have you ever thought about the shepherds?

Typically the shepherd was kind of the low man on the totem poll. They spent their days and nights out in the field with sheep. And yet God sent His angels to the shepherds so that He could announce the coming Christ child.

Luke 2 paints a beautiful picture for us:

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”[d]

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

As a parent, I would love for my kids to see the wonder of Christmas in the birth of Christ and not just in the gifts laying under the tree.

With wish lists and toy guides and elf-on-the-shelf, often Christmas loses its focus on Christ pretty quickly.  So we have to be intentional during the Advent season to bring things back into a right focus.

One of the ways we will be doing that this season is with Dayspring’s Shepherd on the Search kit. In the kit is a book, a small shepherd doll and a box that creates a manger scene. The book tells the kids the journey the shepherd will be on throughout the month of December.

Inviting the kids to go on a journey of their own, each morning the kids will search for where the shepherd might be. His final destination is the stable on Christmas Eve. One of the things that I loved about this kit was that Dayspring has a website specifically dedicated to sharing ideas on how you can incorporate this kit in your day to day life.

This is a fun, yet focused way that you can incorporate the anticipation and celebration of Christ’s birth every day during the Advent season.

Dayspring also has a Christmas CD that features kids singing some of our favorite Christmas Carols! What a wonderful way to create a worshipful environment all season long!

The excitement of presents and new toys will always be something our kids will have, but my hope is that with a daily focus on the miracle of Jesus, we will help establish them a love for the true meaning of the Season.

What are some of the ways you keep Christ present in the Christmas season for your kids? I’d love to hear your ideas!

 

I was provided the Shepherd on the Search kit for free from Dayspring in exchange for my honest review. All stories and opinions are my own.