I think over the years that Black Friday has become my favorite day of the year. I like it even better than Christmas. Every year, we get up and make a nice breakfast. Then we drag the tree and Christmas boxes up from the basement. We put on our favorite Christmas movies like Elf, Noelle (Disney), The Grinch (the one with Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of the Grinch), Christmas Chronicles (Netflix), and more. We spend the day watching movies while we decorate both the inside of the house and the outside.
We make fun treats like Christmas bread and Christmas cookies and homemade Chex mix, inspired by Pioneer Woman. Matt has perfected this recipe over the year by making it gluten-free and tweaking some of the spices, like adding extra Worcestershire. It’s soo good, and it makes the entire house smell amazing.
Early Black Friday Shopping
Maddie and I early this morning
We usually stay home every year on Black Friday, but my daughter Madison has been begging me for weeks to take her shopping on Black Friday so she can use her money to get Christmas presents for the family. So I caved and took her out early this morning. We had a good time together. She got all her Christmas shopping done; then we got home to make breakfast and get started decorating.
Helping decorate the tree
Keeping Traditions
There’s something about traditions, about doing the same thing each year. It’s predictable and something to look forward to. Sometimes the best traditions don’t cost anything; they’re simply about being together with the people you love. It’s about being purposeful and sticking to the tradition, even when you don’t feel like it.
Whatever your traditions are for the holidays, don’t give up on them this year just because everything is different and more difficult. In a year when everything is topsy- turvy, sticking with your traditions can help bring a sense of familiarity and comfort to you and your family.
With some states shutting down again and others feeling like a shut-down is imminent, and being told how many people we can have over, or if we can have anybody over at all, it feels like maybe the best thing to do is to cancel Thanksgiving this year. I feel your frustration.
While Thanksgiving is going to look different for all of us depending on where you live, I want to encourage you to not give up on the holiday. Find a way to make it work, even if it’s just for those who live in your home. Thanksgiving is too important of a holiday to miss. Satan would like nothing better than for us to miss this holiday altogether.
Thanksgiving is about 2 Things
Thanksgiving is about two things. It’s about setting aside a day to focus on our blessings and give thanks to God for all he has blessed us with. Secondly, it’s about spending time with family and friends and sharing with them how grateful we are that they are in our lives. We all know we should show our gratitude all year long, but with the busyness of life, it’s nice to have an entire day set aside to allow us the time to be grateful.
So even if it’s just the people or the person who lives in your home, make it special. Still make a turkey or a turkey breast, make some mashed potatoes and gravy, and all the fixings that make Thanksgiving special for your family. If you’re not a pie fan, like me, give these pumpkin bars by Pioneer woman a try. They’re amazing!
Setting the Table
My table from last Thanksgiving
Set a beautiful table, light a candle, and play soft piano music in the background. You don’t have to spend a lot. You can see from my table last year that I used paper plates and a plastic table cloth and just some decor items I had in the house. There’s something special about sitting down at a beautiful table.
Sometime during the meal, spend a few moments sharing what you are thankful for. It doesn’t have to be long and drawn out. Before we pray, we simply go around the table and say what we are most thankful for this year. The kids usually say something quick and easy while the adults may say something that’s on their heart that’s a little longer. It doesn’t matter how long or short it is; it simply matters that you took the time to be thankful.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psalm 100:4
Thanksgiving Fun
Our books from the library and crafts from Hobby Lobby
We like to spread Thanksgiving into the entire week. We got to our library and get all the Thanksgiving books we can find. We just took back our last haul of Thanksgiving books that we have read the last two weeks. I think we got all the good ones. These were the ones that were left when we went this week. The week leading up to Thanksgiving and the week of Thanksgving, we tried to read at least one Thanksgiving book every day.
We also get Thanksgiving crafts to do during the week. Hobby Lobby is my go-to place for holiday crafts. I also bought Thanksgiving place mats for the kids to color on Thanksgiving while they are waiting for the food to finish up.
Don’t Cancel Thanksgiving
Don’t cancel Thanksgiving this year because it feels like you’re being pressured to skip it. Hold the line and celebrate this important family holiday with whoever you are allowed to celebrate with. Choose to make the most of it whether that’s with one other person or twenty.
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Macey and me
We just recently got Madison a new bed, so we could get Macey out of her toddler bed and into the bunk beds with Maggie. I took a picture of the toddler bed and sent it to my friend to see if she wanted it. After I took the photo, I looked at it for a few minutes. It kind of made me sad. The bed was the last of our baby and toddler stuff. We had already gotten rid of the crib from when the kids were babies. I can’t believe how fast time has flown. It made me think about what I would tell the younger version of me, the one so stressed trying to keep everything together with four little ones under foot.
Macey’s toddler bed
Dear Weary Mom,
If I could give advice to the younger version of me, I would tell her to relax. The time is coming when I will have a perfect house. The furniture won’t have stains on it, the mirror won’t have handprints on it, there won’t be spilled juice on the floor making it sticky, there won’t be toys everywhere. There’s coming a time when I won’t have to pick up my house twenty-four seven. In the blink of an eye, I know this time will have passed.
Our oldest is already pushing eleven years old. We have seven more years with him. After that, I don’t know what God has for him. I know that I left my home at eighteen, went to college, married right after college, and moved away. Too soon, our home will be empty. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I will wish for toys on the floor. I will look longingly at my mirror and remember the handprints that used to line it.
Malachi and me
I will look back at the craziness and the chaos and miss it. I will wish that our house was loud and messy once more. Even now, I miss the baby stage. Though I don’t miss late-night nursing sessions, carrying a heavy diaper bag everywhere I go, and cleaning up diaper explosions, I do miss the snuggles of a baby. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would choose to spend less time trying endlessly to get the house clean. I would choose more time rocking my baby, snuggling with my toddlers, and playing hide and seek with my preschoolers.
Enjoy this Stage of Life with Littles
The thing is, that exhaustion that plagues you every moment of the day with littles will pass. You will get past this stage. Life will get easier. Those babies will grow up. They will be able to help as they get older.
For now, soak in those baby cuddles. Embrace the time with your littles. Spend time doing the things you can do now that you can’t do once they go to school. You have five years with your first child before they go to school. Once they go to school, things really change. It’s really hard to let them go. That’s one of the reasons we love homeschooling so much. We don’t have to let them go. I get to take an active role in their education. I don’t have to send them away every day, and I love that.
The Days are Long, but the Years are Short
The best phrase I have heard when dealing with littles is this: “The days are long, but the years are short.” It’s so true. The days were and still are at times so very long. Yet in the blink of an eye, the years have passed. I can’t believe our oldest is almost a teenager. It seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. The years have flown by. All too soon, he is going to be leaving us. God has great things in store for each of our kids, and I am excited to see what they are. But I know it’s going to be hard to let them go. So, I am going to spend the time now, while they are still in my care enjoying every minute of my time with them. I’m saying this as a reminder and challenge as much to myself as I am saying it to you.
Choose to Make the Most of Whichever Stage of Life You Are In
Malachi, Madison, me, Maggie, Macey
Whatever stage of life you are in, soak it in. Enjoy it. Too often, we want to just jump to the next stage of life. Choose to love the stage of life you’re in right now and all that goes with it. There is joy in each and every stage, but we will miss it if we have our eyes focused on the next stage.
If you’re single, enjoy this time. Do things you can’t do when you’re married. Travel, experience life, have fun and soak in this time. If you’re married but don’t have kids yet, enjoy the time with your spouse. Take trips together, go on dates often, visit extended family, plan game nights with friends. If you have kids in your home, plan family days and spontaneous trips, read aloud to them, explore new places, and make family memories. If your kids are grown and out of the house, do the things you always wanted to do but couldn’t because of the kids. Write a book, start a business, create the products you always wanted to, learn a new skill, spend time reading or drawing, or whatever brings your heart fulfillment.
We can be sad about leaving a particular phase of life or we can choose to find joy in the stage of life we are in and thrive.
More on This Topic
If you enjoyed this post, another post you might enjoy is My Reminder from a Heart in the Sand. My book recommendation would be The SuperMom Myth by Becky Koptizke. It’s one of my favorite “mom” books. I loved it and marked mine all up.
With the kind of year 2020 has been, we shouldn’t be surprised at how this election is going. Yet, most of us are still shaking our heads saying, “What now?”
I told my ten-year-old and my nine-year-old that there has never been an election like this before. In elections past, if you stayed up really late, you would know who the winner was. If you couldn’t make it that late, you could wake up the next morning and check the news to see who the new president was. But not this year! Because this is 2020- the year of insanity!
I think I speak for most of us when I say this- we are scared right now. There is so much divisiveness in our country, and this election is just stirring up more unrest. No matter who you voted for, there is uncertainty, fear, and frustrations on both sides.
What Do We Do?
There is only one place to turn when life is uncertain and fear is so prevalent—God’s Word. I read these verses in Psalms, and they were a comfort to my heart. I hope they bring you comfort as well.
Hurry with your answer, God! I’m nearly at the end of my rope. Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me! That would be certain death. If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you. Point out the road I must travel; I’m all ears, all eyes before you. Save me from my enemies, God— you’re my only hope! Teach me how to live to please you, because you’re my God. Lead me by your blessed Spirit into cleared and level pastureland.
Psalm 143:7-10 MSG
How do we Alleviate Our Fears?
I love all of these verses, but the part that caught my attention was verse eight. “If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I’ll go to sleep each night trusting you.” David understood getting up early to spend time with God. He makes references to it many times in the Psalms.
If we can make a habit of getting up first thing in the morning and spending time with God, reading His Word and praying, we can go to bed peacefully at night. Getting our hearts aligned with God every morning helps us to sleep peacefully at night.
With everything going on around us, our automatic response is to hide, to not deal with what’s going on. We are tempted to sleep in and not face life or get up just in time to get ready and head out the door for work. But it’s during stressful times like these that we need God the most.
So as hard as it is, (I get it) try to get up a few minutes early to be able to spend time talking to God and reading His Word. I promise if you do, you will find incredible peace.
If you don’t know what to read, start with the Psalms. The Psalms are very peaceful and meditative. It’s exactly what we need right now when stress is running high. Just pick one chapter in Psalms to read each day. Pick a verse or a phrase that stands out to you and write it down in a journal for the day. This will help you remember it, so you can think about it throughout your day. When you start feeling fearful or stressed, think about that verse and let it calm you and bring peace to your heart.
If you don’t know what to pray, follow this simple process.
Thank God for something today.
Confess your sins from yesterday.
Pray specifically about today.
Simply talk to God. Tell Him what you’re scared of, what you’re struggling with. If it’s easier, write it down in a journal. Get what’s in your heart and rattling around in your head down on paper. If you do that and give those burdens to God, you are going to feel so much lighter as you begin your day.
Then as you head to bed at night, pray one more time. Give your burdens, worries, fears, and questions to God. Then sleep peacefully knowing your God is watching over you.
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8 KJV
What’s the Point in Worrying?
So instead of throwing our hands up in frustration asking, “What now?”, let’s turn our attention to the One Who is in charge. The thing is, God already knows who will win the election. He knows what’s going to happen after the election. He already has it under control, and us worrying about it isn’t going to change one thing. So give your burdens to God today and sleep peacefully tonight knowing that God has it all in control.
