Find the first 6 steps in yesterday's post...

Written by Rachel, Contributing Writer

7. Have a Quiet Time with Gratitude and Prayer

We are wives, we are mothers, we are always serving others and sometimes we forget to serve or spend time with the Lord. Having a quiet time helps us to understand the grace He has given us so we can extend that grace to others including our little ones.

We're also able to pour our concerns on Him and we begin to have a healthier positive mindset by getting into the Word. We are able to give Him gratitude and pray as well. This is something I need to work on more and as I adjust my schedule I am going to make certain I do this.

Action step: choose an devotional book or a book of the Bible to read during your quiet time and make it a priority to spend time with the Lord everyday. As soon as you wake up in the morning, give God thanks for 10 things in your life. Here are 3 tips to make it little easier in the morning

8. Set Goals

God gave all of us dreams and I'm not talking about having a million dollars or unattainable dreams that are most likely only fantasies. He put the dreams in your heart and wants you to accomplish them, He wants the best for you! Zig Zigler states it best when he says "Every choice you make has an end result."

When you set goals you figure out your priorities. Some goals include: spiritual, family, physical health, financial, and even how to be a better mother/wife and your purpose. Write your goals out, make a plan, and take action steps or choices towards those goals. For example, if you have always wanted to write a blog, well you need to write that down and make steps towards that goal.

Action step: check out Money Saving Mom's post about deciding your goals and this free printable goal worksheet here

9. Spend Time With Your Family (including date nights and time by yourself)

Family time is so vital. It gives you an opportunity to celebrate, to talk about faith and pray together, time to make memories, and impact your little ones lives. Your children need to know they are heard and loved.

It is not the school or church's job to teach your children. It is our job and what better way to teach life experiences than by doing life with your family, teaching them what is means to be a man or women of God by being an example or showing them how to make healthy choices by choosing to make healthy meals.

photo credit

This goes along with number 4 yesterday, you have to schedule family time or you might get wrapped up in everything else that you neglect family time. We are about to open a new business and we're both concerned about juggling family time with owning a growing business so we sat down the other night and made out schedule which included blocks of family time. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" and I don't want to fail at having family time.

You also need to have time to yourself as a mother as well as dates with your husband to keep your fire burning and to reconnect.

Action step: start with adding 2 hours of family time  every week and try to eat 4 meals (at the dinner table) together. If you already do those, set up some family devotion times or challenge your family in some way. Take a date with your hubby this month, here are some frugal ideas for dates at home

10. Do Your Research

If you are reading this post, it's likely that you do your research and find out ways to better your health and family. Do not just listen to what someone including your mom, your medical doctor, your school or anyone else tells you to do or think. Research what ever it is that you are trying to figure out before just taking someones word for it. Some people may mean the best but may be misinformed.

How and why to research:  I'm sure you have questions, they could be about faith, family, health, etc. Make a plan to figure out answers, ask friends and family, research online and on blogs (most bloggers aren't professionals but write what they do and what works for them, so try to find bloggers whose opinions you feel you can trust).

Once you get opinions from others or professionals, dig deeper or even get second opinions if you have to. Pray about it and make your own conclusions! When you research you become a more informed consumer as well being able to stand firm in your decisions.

Action step: What questions do you have? what are you concerned about? Choose one of them and research about it, find the answers and share about it with us!

11. Get Enough Sleep

It's a no-brainer that getting enough sleep is important to your health and well being. You know this but it doesn't mean you actually get enough sleep or even understand why.

Getting enough sleep helps you to be a happy and healthy mom or wife or both and helps you to function properly and have a good attitude. Here are 8 tips for getting quality sleep which describes the benefits and what you can do to get enough sleep.

Action step: the Mayo Clinic suggests 7-9 hours of sleep, compare how much sleep you are getting and if it's not within the recommended amount write down steps you can take to get more sleep

12. Optimum Nerve Supply

You may be thinking, what in the world is she talking about? God created our bodies in a unique way, he put the power to health and healing in our brains.

For you to do anything, to birth your babies, your scabs or broken bones to heal, to breathe or your heart to beat, your brain sends messages down your spinal cord and out through the nerves to every tissue, cell and organ in your body. All of that is happening now as you read this post. That is your nervous system at work.

photo credit

The proper alignment of your spine is what controls the health of your nervous system. There are all kinds of things that can cause misalignment's in your spine that are not allowing your body to function properly, that could be causing headaches, your children's ear infections, and sickness or even other problems.

Through chiropractic adjustments, the body can restore proper function. Chiropractic care is for everyone including kids, read more about our story here. Our children have been adjusted since birth, so we attribute them not getting sick very much to that.

Action step: start by reading more about wellness chiropractors then get your family's health evaluated from a wellness chiropractor.

I hope you will take some of these steps to a healthier life and live to your fullest. The best things we can do are to write things down, make a plan of action to get goals accomplished, get back up if we fail fall, get support from our friends and family and to start walking those steps towards a more maximized life!

What helps you to stick with goals that you set? How do you intend to work towards your new goals for 2012?

Top image by lachlan

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

• 12 Steps to a Healthier Life in 2012
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• Serving Our Husbands Through a Nourishing Diet, Part 2
• Setting up a cash system- Part 2

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As I shared last week, I think that working-at-home is an amazing and viable opportunity for many women who wish to (or need to) work but still want to remain at home with their children.

Today, I want to get really practical and start sharing some of the things you can do to really make it work for you. There's no denying that it is a challenge to manage the tasks of maintaining a home and a business, while still having time to care for and love on (and even homeschool) your kids.

Goodness knows, I don't have all the answers, nor do I implement all of these suggestions perfectly. These ideas are the result of 4 1/2 years of trial and error, glaring mistakes, reading good books, and learning from others. Most of them aren't revolutionary. They just work. I need to be reminded of them as much as I want to share them with you.

Getting the Help That You Need

I resisted this for the longest time, for two reasons.

First, we often feel that it is a sign of weakness or that it is unacceptable to get help. Admit it. We want to feel like we can handle everything ourselves.

Problem is, we can't. We need to stop trying to be superwoman, change our attitudes about this and be willing to get the help that we need in order to carry on in a balanced and healthy way.

The second is that I mistakenly believed that I had more time than I had money, and therefore should do everything myself. This is a flawed idea.

If it takes me 6 hours and much frustration to do a design project that is mediocre and may result in less sales or a less professional image, but it takes a professional designer 2 hours to create something stunning and highly effective, that money is well spent. I can focus my time on the things that I excel at, the things that build up my business and ultimately make more money, and her superior design may result in more book sales, more clickthroughs, more pageviews on my website, etc. which in turn might generate income that easily makes up for the expense of the designer.

Making these decisions to hire help becomes easier when you calculate your hourly wage. I know, nobody is keeping tabs of your hours and handing you a neat and tidy paycheck in a home business situation. So, you'll need to calculate it yourself. Figure out the average number of hours that you work per week or per month, calculate the average amount that you earn in the same period of time (your profits, after your expenses), then divide the earnings by the number of hours worked. Voila. You have your "hourly wage".

This calculation was instrumental for me in making the decision to hire my first assistant. If I could earn "X" number of dollars per hour, but could hire someone to take some of the workload off of me for less than what I was earning, didn't it make sense to allow them to do those things, freeing me to do more of the things that grow my business? In both of our (very different) home businesses, my husband and I have found this to be true over and over again.

Does it feel like a risk? Yes. Have we ever felt that we truly didn't have the money? Yup. And I would never, ever suggest that you put yourself into any amount of debt to make such decisions. But, if you can do it without going into the red, and you can see that it could be financially worthwhile when you really analyze it, don't be afraid to hire the help that you need. 

(There are also plenty of ways to make this more affordable- barter or trade services, try hiring virtual help from someone in a developing country for less than you would pay here- more on this in the comments section, find someone who is just starting up their business and charging less in exchange for a testimonial or review, hire a skilled high schooler, etc. but this could be a whole other post in and of itself!)

What Do I Hire Out?

I have an assistant, Lindsey, who works about 5 hours per week and helps me with things like moderating comments, emails, research, book promotion, giveaways, and running my private advertising program. I hire out practically all of my design work, as well as my technical behind-the-scenes website issues and upgrades, to a husband and wife team. I'm completing my 3rd eBook with the help of an eBook designer who is also taking care of all formatting and file conversions, plus I hired a wonderful editor rather than attempting to edit the book myself.

I have a mother's helper who comes once a week for an afternoon. She cares for my children and performs one housekeeping task for me each week, like vacuuming or mopping. As I write this post, I have suddenly found my schedule piled up with some unexpected work for the music school we own, in addition to the blog's deadlines and projects, and so this afternoon I will be making some calls for a house cleaner to come for the next few weeks. I don't usually hire someone to clean, but I have no qualms about doing it when needed, either.

Keeping Your Family a Priority

If there's one thing I have learned, keeping my husband and children a priority is absolutely crucial as a work-at-home mom. There have been seasons where my work kept me too busy and distracted, with little leftover to offer my family relationally and I don't want to every do that again.

These are some of the ways that I intentionally keep my family a priority:

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As someone who has a firm conviction that being home with my children and keeping my home is the best thing that I could possibly do in this season of life, I never really considered any sort of career or business work once that first sweet baby arrived.

Becoming a work-at-home mom was not part of my original plan. I love the idea of focusing only on my home, my children and my husband and not balancing hours of other work on top of it all. That's what I always thought that I would do.

When blogging and writing turned from hobby to a small income-earning opportunity to a full-fledged business and career pursuit, it surprised me, at times overwhelmed me, but ultimately thrilled me and became something wonderful that I didn't know I wanted (but am so glad that I have).

In the midst of talking about frugality and money-management this month, it seemed only right to also share about generating an income from home, since I know that this is a desire for so many other moms and homemakers.

Is It Worth It?

Personally, I am so grateful that God had bigger ideas than I did when this little blog began so many years ago. He knew the challenges our family would face and the risks we would decide to take as we pursued our dreams. He gave me an opportunity to challenge myself and serve our family in a way I never anticipated. To be able to do something I love from home, while staying focused on caring for and homeschooling my children and keeping my home, is an amazing thing.

I can choose my own hours, take time off when needed, and have complete creative freedom and control as an entrepreneur. I adore what I do and it would be hard to give it up.

There have been hard times as well. For all those business-owners out there reading this, you know well how easy it can be to push yourself too hard, to let the lines between personal and work time blur too much, to allow priorities to become out of order, and for relationships and health to suffer. I've been there. It was a dark time in my life.

I don't regret the work that I've done or that my children know that their mama runs a business as well as a home, but I have at times regretted how I have done things and I have had to make a lot of changes over the past year to work less and work smarter.

Image by Marina Pics

How Do I "Do It All"?

The short answer is, I don't.

What many people don't realize is that those of us who have chosen to work from home (while being committed to caring for our home and children full-time) is that there are many sacrifices along the way.

• "Free" time (Hobbies? What are those?)
• Having an especially clean or well-decorated home
• A lot of social outings and opportunities (nights spent home in front of the computer, missed playdates or times with friends, etc.)
• Making as many things as I want to from scratch. I buy most (though not all) of my natural skincare products, non-toxic cleaners, Christmas gifts, and some foods, like lacto-fermented sauerkraut, yogurt or sprouted grain breads. I love making what I can, but there's only so much time in the day.
• Internet browsing or social media (I don't do Facebook or Twitter other than minimally for business purposes and I hardly ever have the time for pleasure reading blogs or articles these days)

Things I have sacrificed at times, but have learned the hard way that I shouldn't:

• Quiet times with the Lord. When we think we don't have enough time, that's when we need to make time.
• Exercise. I can't tell you how much better and more energetic this makes me feel.
• Sleep.
• Time with my kids. I'll talk more in the next post about how I have moved towards hardly ever being on my computer when I'm around my kids.
• Time with my husband (another one that is never worth it)

Image by vxla

Time Management Tips for Balancing Home, Family and Business

After doing this for over four years, one of the best pieces of advice that I can give is to keep things separate. By working hard to keep my computer time contained within certain hours and days, and keeping the laptop shut the rest of the time, I have so much more peace and productivity than I did when I was less strict about when I tackled work tasks.

Here's what my work week looks like:

Tuesday 12:30-3:30pm (at coffee shop, while our regular mother's helper comes over to be with the children)

Thursday 7:30-10:00pm (work in my living room, after putting children to bed, while my husband works late)

Friday 9:00am-5:00pm (at coffee shop, while my husband is with the children and does homeschooling-- however, this is just a temporary thing while I finish up a few projects and soon I will only be working 3-4 hours on Fridays)

*I know that many couples aren't able to work out an arrangement like we have for Fridays. This is a new thing for us only in the past 6 weeks or so, as my husband's work schedule was previously much too busy. In the past, I would work one or two extra evenings instead, or try to squeeze some extra work time out of a nap/quiet time. I also chose not to take on any large projects for the past year, because I knew I simply couldn't do them and still keep up with everything else.

Aside from those specific work times, I also:

• Open my laptop once, very briefly, in the mornings to check in with my HelloMornings Facebook group and to put up the newest post on the Keeper of the Home Facebook page. Then I close it as quickly as I can, before I get myself into trouble. :)
• Occasionally go on for 30-60 minutes in the afternoon while kids are occupied/having quiet times or maybe for an hour in the evenings, but only if I really need to.

I try not to touch my computer on the weekends to the best of my ability. I break this rule sometimes if there is a time-sensitive project I have going on (like a book launch, or a website re-design or technical problem), or if I've gotten behind due to unexpected circumstances like illness.

I know this may not be the right strategy for everyone. I have a blogging friend that likes being able to attend to things like her emails, while sitting at the table beside her daughter and being available to stop and offer homeschool help and guidance as needed. It really works for her and that's awesome.

Personally, I get distracted and find that I am not able to be effective in either homeschooling or work tasks when I try to do the same. Knowing yourself and being honest about what is and isn't working is crucial. 

Making Work at Home Work for You

I'm pretty sure there is no magical way to make this juggling act easy, but there are definitely ways to make it easier .

In my next post, I'll discuss things like getting the help that you need, making your work time more productive, creative scheduling, keeping your family a priority, and letting go of things that just aren't necessary (any guesses as to what I think those are?). Sound like fun? Make sure to check in for Part 2 next week!

Do you work from home? How do you keep life balanced and has it been worthwhile for you so far? What questions on the topic would you love to have answered?

Top image by Machine is Organic

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I've mentioned before that I love to listen to the Simple Mom podcasts. Not only do they make laundry or other tedious cleaning tasks go by a little easier, but they're light-hearted, a fun way to get to know other mom bloggers, and feature my sweet friend Tsh from the Simple Mom blog.

I've been a part of Simple Living Media, writing for Simple Organic, for almost two years. This year I got to connect with Tsh even more personally as we travelled to the Philippines together this spring and then spoke at the Relevant conference this fall.

I was honored to be on the Simple Mom podcast this week. We have so much in common and it was easy to chat for an hour-- we talked about homeschooling, balancing daily life when you're an entrepreneurial family, de-cluttering and the struggles related to getting rid of our "stuff", and getting ready for baby #4, among other things.

So pull up that laundry basket, or pile of unwrapped gifts, or Christmas cards to be addressed, and come have a listen! 

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Although I think we would all agree that Christmas is a season for giving, we often restrict that giving to family and friends.

Yet this season offers us a beautiful opportunity to show the love of Christ in a very tangible way, as we give beyond our personal relationships.

Not only do we have the chance to reach out and bless others who might not otherwise receive anything, but we can also do it together as a family, teaching our children about generosity and showing kindness, and even by being thoughtful about the purchases that we already plan on making for family and friends.

On a Local Level

Food banks or soup kitchens.

Offer a monetary donation to help them provide families and individuals with meals at Christmas. Or, choose to volunteer and serve as a family.

A center local to us, packing up Christmas hampers.

Christmas hampers.

Many churches put together hampers for those in need in the local community. Our church has been doing this for years, and each small group within our church will take one family and purchase a large amount of food, dry goods and fresh items (including a turkey), as well as gifts for various family members.

A family that you know is in need.

You don't need to know of a Christmas hamper program to simply help a family in need. One year our family put together a hamper of sorts with about 3 other families from our church. The family in need were recent immigrants from Sudan and we had been trying to build a relationship with them, so it made sense to find a way to bless them in particular at Christmas.

With the state of the economy the past several years, you may also know of families that have been out of work or really struggling to make ends meet, and I'm sure they would be so happy to receive gifts for their children, special foods or Christmas treats, a gift certificate to a local grocery store or anything else you can think of.

Image by Keely Scott

On a Global Level

Compassion International.

Since my husband and I travelled with Compassion International to the Philippines this spring, and we were able to really delve into how they manage their funds, we feel very comfortable putting our money towards the support of this incredible ministry. Not only are physical needs being met, but the Gospel is going forth and lives are truly being changed.

Several ways that you can support the work of Compassion:

• Gift of Compassion Christmas Catalogue. Go through with your children and select specific gifts to give to families and communities in need, like goats or chickens, garden seeds, dental care, medical checkups or safe water for life (these filters are amazing!). Items range in price from $5 to $275, with a wide range in between.
• Donate to help meet specific and pressing needs, like disaster or famine relief, at-risk babies and mothers, or anywhere else that funds are needed.
• Sponsor a child. What better Christmas gift could you give than to choose an individual child and begin to build a relationship with them?
• Contribute towards leadership development of some of Compassion's brightest and most promising young people. We met some of their Leadership Development Program students and they blew us away. What a worthwhile investment into the future of a country!

Operation Christmas Child 

Although it's too late to make an actual shoebox gift yourself and send it in, you can still create one online and customize it, including personalized notes from you and your family members.

I've enjoyed learning more about this ministry at the Relevant Conference, and in addition to a child in need receiving a box full of gifts, lovingly packed for them, they also receive a live presentation of the Gospel message, and many of them receive further information in their own language, including a follow-up discipleship program. This is definitely something worthwhile to consider doing next year (boxes are usually due by late November).

Other Ministries and Development Organizations. 

There are so many amazing ministries and ways to give globally. Simply discuss it as a family and choose to make a donation to any organization or ministry that your family feels that they can stand behind.

Our family has recently discovered Hope International, which provides micro-loans and business training for qualified entrepreneurs in developing countries, and we're excited to decide how we will partner with them as an entrepreneurial family ourselves. Find something that really speaks to you, pray about the options and then just give.

Missionaries

Give an extra love gift towards the work of missionaries that you know of or already support. They may be in need themselves, or may have extra ministry needs at this time of year.

Image from Mercy House Kenya

Through the Gifts You Purchase

Buy fair trade whenever possible.

Whether it's coffee, tea, chocolate... there are so many fair-trade options out there, that are ensuring that farmers are being fairly paid for their work and their products.

Buy speciality handmade gifts.

Looking for unique gifts? There are many ministries, like Mercy House Kenya, where beautiful handmade products are available to help support the work of the ministry, and in exchange, you can buy a truly special gift for someone on your list. I recently bought one of their Large Funky Paper Bead Necklaces (in blue), and I love it!

Emily has a good list of links to ministries like this in her post on shopping green, where you can both shop and give at the same time.

If you're struggling with the cost of products like these, I have found one great way to be able to afford to support both fair trade and speciality handmade stores is to purchase vouchers from deal sites like Jasmere. They frequently feature vouchers for companies that are selling speciality handmade, fair-trade goods, or green and organic products from small business. The vouchers give me a great value for my money, and allow me to make my own Christmas gift shopping intentional without busting my budget.

How Do We Afford to Give Above and Beyond?

Simple. By buying less ourselves.

Keep the gifts exchanged among your own family minimal. Our children are receiving only a small handful of inexpensive gifts from us this year. We do have a minimal budget for purchasing other gifts, I use vouchers like the ones I mentioned above, and we just don't buy in to the mentality that expressing love has to mean spending a fortune.

When we make giving generously to bless those in need as much as a priority as giving gifts to our loved ones, suddenly it isn't that hard.

Lastly, when there is nothing to give financially, we can always give of ourselves. Loving service to others is a gift in and of itself. You may have not have the ability to give monetarily this season, but consider how you can serve those in need instead. Write special letters to your sponsored children. Visit an elderly care home. Invite someone lonely to join you for your Christmas festivities. The possibilities are endless.

What are some of the creative ways that you have given at Christmas? Is this important for your family and how do you make it a priority?

Top image by Impress Your Kids- filling Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes!

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As 2011 comes to an end, we’re sharing helpful lists to help you save money, stay healthy, get organized, creatively repurpose, frugally gift-give, intentionally celebrate and more in our “11 Things for 2011” series throughout these holiday months.

Written by Erin Odom, Contributing Writer

As followers of Jesus, keeping Christ as the center of my family's Christmas celebrations is key. Now, I don't think it's necessarily wrong to decorate with snowmen, buy presents, throw parties, eat lots of (good!) food or even play Santa Claus (although my family doesn't). But if we do all those things and forget Christ, what does that say to our children? And what does that say to the world? 

Over the past couple years, I've been gathering ideas on how my family can truly celebrate Christ during the season.

1. Decorate with Nativity Sets

When we first married, my husband and I started collecting nativity sets from different countries whenever we went on mission trips. Sometime today or tomorrow, we will bring out nativity sets from Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, China, Argentina, Israel--and a few from North America as well--and use them to teach our children the Christmas story and about how God calls us to spread the gospel of Jesus all over the world.

2. Serve Others as a Family

Whether you serve a meal at your local soup kitchen or sew dresses for impoverished girls, use this season as a springboard for serving those Jesus came to save throughout the year.

3. Deliver Treats with Scripture

What do homemade treats or baked goods have to do with celebrating Jesus? If your focus is making the treats a way to show Him to your neighbors, it could be a prime example of keeping Him center! One of my favorite memories from last Christmas was taking my then-2-year-old and 2-month-old girls all bundled up around our neighborhood and delivering banana bread on Christmas morning. We simply attached a card to each loaf with a Scripture proclaiming Christ's birth.

4. Decorate a Jesse Tree

I had never  heard of a Jesse Tree until last Christmas! Basically, a Jesse Tree uses devotionals from throughout the entire Bible, starting with Creation and the Fall of man and ending with Jesus's coming. After reading each daily devotional, you and your children can make ornaments representative of that day's story to hang on a special tree. Last year, I subscribed to Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience, and received a wonderful free downloadable book of Jesse Tree devotionals and printables.

5. Count down the days with an Advent Calendar--or Wreath

Advent refers to a period of spiritual preparation in the season leading up to Christmas. Many families celebrate Advent with countdown calendars for each day of December--or with lighting a candle for each week leading up to December 25.

6. Keep Gift-Giving Simple

My family doesn't think there is anything wrong with giving gifts at Christmas, but instead of lavishing our girls with any and every toy, we've decided to keep it at just 3 gifts--in representation of the 3 gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus. We are intentional about the types of gifts as well: They receive a want (like a new toy), a need (like an article of clothing) and a spiritual gift (like a new Bible). Another idea is to give gifts that give back to others.

7. Throw a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" Party

I've recently heard of families baking birthday cakes for Jesus to eat with Christmas dinner. Another option would be to throw a birthday party for Jesus. Invite all the neighborhood children and use it as an evangelistic outreach. 

8. Dramatize the Christmas Story

My college roommate's family has always put on their own Christmas pageant. An alternate to this would be to watch someone else act it out. The last couple years my family has enjoyed a local "A Walk Through Bethlehem" outdoor live nativity.

9. Watch The Nativity Story

Some Christmas movies are cheesy. The Nativity Story isn't. My husband and I have started watching it together on Christmas Eve while we're wrapping presents.

10. Create a Paper Chain Garland

Richele, from Under the Golden Apple Tree, and her children decorate their tree with a homemade paper chain. Each chain contains one Scripture from the Christmas story, and they spend the days leading up to Christmas opening up and reading the verses. 

11. DON'T Do it All!

Last year, I tried to do it all. I was overly enthusiastic about the fact that my 2 year old could understand more of the Christmas story. But in trying so hard to keep Christ the center, I ended up stressing out and leaving Him out!

The result was a half-made Jesse Tree, an Advent calendar that remained unopened and scrambling to open up multiple Scripture chains several nights in a row when we realized we had missed a few. If you're eager to incorporate some of these suggestions, pray about it and decide which ones best fit your family.

I think Jessalyn of Desiring Virtue said it so well here: "Trying to do too much during the holiday season, even good things, can result in a loss of the meditative spirit we are hoping to cultivate."

Further Reading:

• Resources for A Christ-Centered Christmas
• Wooden Block Nativity Tutorial 
• Cultivating a Christ-Centered Christmas: Practical Traditions

How does your family celebrate Christ at Christmas?

Top image by Matt Ryall 

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Written by Beth Corcoran, Contributing Writer

It is finally Christmas time again!  Oh how I love this time of year!  I love the sights and smells and the time with family.  I love how people seem more neighborly at Christmas, and I love to see how my little ones’ eyes light up when they see Christmas lights.

But one thing my husband and I have grown increasingly aware of over the past few years is that our love for Christmas traditions should pale in comparison to our love for the Reason for Christmas—Jesus Christ.

I have seen many good ways to add meaningful worship into our Christmas traditions.  The Jesse Tree is a great example of this.  However, our family became convicted that we needed to evaluate the worth of traditions we currently had in place before we added new ones. It has, undoubtedly, been a very interesting journey for us.  I’d like to share some of what we have learned.  (Disclaimer: I’d like to note that this is not meant to be prescriptive, but rather just a description of what we have done.  It is meant only as encouragement and edification.)

We want to intentionally point all of our Christmas celebration to Christ, and not to worldy traditions with no value.

Our journey began with a homeschooling assignment.  My children love to make lapbooks, and when I saw an offer for a free Christmas lapbook, I jumped on it.  The purpose of the lapbook was to learn the history behind many different Christmas symbols and traditions and to document them for future reference.

However, in preparing the lessons, I gained a new awareness of just how many of our common Christmas traditions were deeply rooted in paganism. (By paganism, I am referring to pagan cultures—mainly the Druids and Celts.)

After  much thought and prayer, my husband and I decided to move forward with the lapbook assignment, but to tweak it a bit.  As our family discussed each tradition or symbol of Christmas, our kids were to evaluate them and put them into one of three categories.  The traditions could be classified as being rooted in Christianity, as being rooted in paganism but redeemable, or as being rooted in paganism and not redeemable.

You may be wondering at this point what I mean by redeemable.   The word “redeem” stirs my soul like no other word.  It means to buy back or to give value to something previously worthless.

It was God’s plan for redemptive sacrifice that makes Christmas worth celebrating. What a lovely word!!  When I refer to a Christmas symbol as being redeemable, I am meaning that it came out of pagan celebrations, but it can be “bought back” by Christians to make it point to Christ.

Photo credit vl8189

How to Evaluate a Tradition

I was amazed at how our family pursued learning about Christmas traditions with such vigor.  My children, though small, were able to firmly grasp whether something was worthless or could point to the Lord.  Let me give you a few examples.

Many Christmas traditions have a deeply Christian and biblical background.

A great example of a Christmas symbol that has roots in Christianity is the candy cane.  Its colors, shape and flavor are great ways to share Christ at Christmas.  If you are unfamiliar with the story of the candy cane, there are many great resources.  Click here for a cute children’s book about the candy cane.

Many, if not most of the Christmas symbols, for us, have fallen into the “pagan but redeemable” category.

This just means that we have to create a new meaning for them as we explain them to others.  A great example of this is the Christmas tree.  The use of the Christmas tree started in Druid ceremonies. But now we can use this evergreen to point to the everlasting nature of Christ.  The triangular shape of the tree also reminds us of the Trinity.  We think of Jesus at Christmas, but really all three persons of the Trinity were intimately involved.  Other examples of “redeemable” symbols for us have included items such as stockings and ornaments.

The last category included symbols that were rooted in pagan rituals and really had never been adapted to point to Christ.

We were amazed to find how many of these things we had incorporated into our home at Christmas without even thinking about it.  Now that we are thinking intentionally about Christmas, we have eliminated these symbols and traditions from our home.  A great example for us is mistletoe.  Who doesn’t love a good kiss as they enter the house?! But we learned that mistletoe had been a symbol of fertility in pagan worship and kissing under the mistletoe was a Celtic tradition.  Hanging mistletoe in the entryway of the home came from the belief that it warded off evil spirits.  Honestly, our family couldn’t really find a way to make this fit with our worship of Jesus, so we eliminated it.

I won’t lie.  Sometimes purging some of our traditions has been a bit sad because we had fond memories from childhood.  Sometimes, however, we haven’t even noticed something was missing in our home (like the mistletoe!).  But it has been so freeing for us to evaluate our beliefs and traditions at Christmas, rather than blindly conforming to the world.

We were amazed at how many traditions we followed just because that’s what our parents had done.  But when asking our parents why they did them, they didn’t know either.  What freedom comes from being intentional with our worship and celebration!  You may choose to categorize traditions differently than we did.  That's fine!  Really, in the end, it all comes down to bringing God the most glory possible.

Have you ever intentionally thought through your Christmas celebration?  What have you done to redeem your traditions?

**This was originally posted on Nov.30, 2010. I think it's such a wonderful post for helping us to be intentional as we examine and plan for our family's Christmas traditions. The season gets to busy, so this is a perfect time to consider how your family will celebrate Christ's birth this year!**

Top image by Mukumbura

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Written by Brandy, Contributing Writer

It's that time of year again.  The season that many moms dread for their families - cold and flu season.

Each year I review my old list and research new ways to try and keep our family as healthy as possible.  It's hard enough when a family of four or five gets sick.  But when you are a large family of nine or ten (or more), it's even tougher as the illness just seems to circulate through the home, hitting one family member after another, sometimes taking up to two weeks until everyone's well.

That's the scenario I'm looking to avoid each year.  So as best I can, I try to follow a few basic guidelines for keeping our big family well.  Here's my list of do's and don'ts for surviving sick season.

10 Tips to Boost Your Immune System

DON'T:

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1. ...eat a lot of sugar. Sugar suppresses a person's immune system.  Sugar inhibits phagocytosis, the process by which viruses and bacteria are engulfed and then literally chewed up by white blood cells.  The immune suppressing effect of sugar starts less than thirty minutes after ingestion and may last for five hours.  That's a long time to experience a glitch in your immune system, especially if you're considering going into public places where there are sure to be germs all around.
2. ...stress out. Stress is also an immune system suppressant, so manage your stress, keeping it to a minimum using exercise and deep-breathing when possible.
3. ...eat processed food. When a person is malnourished, their immune system is weakened.  In addition to being deplete of essential nutrients that we need to stay well, processed junk foods are notorious for being loaded with polyunsaturated fats, which tend to suppress the immune system.
4. ...take too many antibiotics. Do your best to only take antibiotics when you know for sure they're needed for a bacterial infection.  Antibiotics disrupt the normal flora in the gut, leading to potential health problems and weakened immunity.
5. ...try and do too much. Exhaustion depletes your mind and body, and ultimately weakens your immunity.

DO:

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1. ...eat whole foods regularly. It's best to eat whole grains and plenty of fruits and vegetables.
2. ...get enough rest. Give your body the rest it needs each night in order to recharge.
3. ...give your system an extra boost using natural anti-viral foods. Immune-boosting foods include:  yogurt, oats and barley, garlic, fish, chicken soup, tea, beef, and mushrooms, to name a few.
4. ...stay at home when you can. As impractical as it may sound, avoiding illness can often be as simple as staying home.  Avoid going into places like pharmacies where there may be airborne germs from those waiting on prescriptions.  Don't take children to the grocery store with you during peak flu season, and when you must, push the baby in the stroller instead of risking exposing them to the germs that might be lurking on the cart.
5. ...remember to keep exercising. So often, we slow down in the colder months as we're naturally indoors more.  We need to be careful to get our exercise in somehow.  Exercise DVDs in the living room or home equipment make this easy.  If you have a gym membership, just be mindful to wash your hands thoroughly before leaving the gym (and not to re-contaminate on the way out) so that you don't even bring germs back to your own steering wheel.

If you and your family DO get sick:

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• You can try and keep the germs from spreading by making a simple solution of vinegar and water and misting areas where germs tend to collect, like sinks, light switches, and door knobs.
• Keep sick ones in one room and well ones in another.  This tends to only work in our family with our older children who understand this concept.
• Drink plenty of water to assist the body in flushing toxins.
• Increase intake of vitamin C-rich foods.  Serve extra fruit at meals.  Choose fruit and yogurt smoothies for snacks.
• Make fresh-squeezed orange juice or if you have a juicer, explore nutrient packed juices like apple-carrot-grape juice, or try a blend of spinach, kale and lime.  Drink immediately after juicing to get the most benefit from all those living nutrients!
• Make a big batch of nourishing chicken soup, proven to fight infection and give an overall boost when ill.  It's also warming and soothing when you're not feeling well.
• Drink a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar every day to prevent and fight infection.  I like to mix mine with a small amount of apple juice, which makes it a bit easier to drink.  Decrease the amount to one teaspoon for children.
• Increase garlic consumption.  Make garlic toast using a whole clove per slice of whole wheat bread.  Add extra garlic into as many foods as you can, like pasta sauce, baked fish, hummus, salsa, and guacamole.  Take garlic tablets, too, if you desire.  You can also make a garlic poultice during illness to draw out infection.
• Eat pro-biotic rich foods like yogurt.  A healthy gut is directly linked to our overall health and immunity in general.  Take an acidophilus supplement for extra support when needed.
• Drink green tea for its amazing ability to fight cold and flu viruses.
• Air out your home.  It's easy to forget in the cold winter months, and never more important.
• Make an echinacea tincture or buy capsules and take daily during illness.
• Take elderberry syrup.  Buy at your local health food store, or learn to make your own here.
• Try Meg's Cold Kicker remedy
• Use simple home remedies, like this homemade cough and cold syrup

What are your best tips for keeping your family healthy during cold and flu season?

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