New to Thanksgiving Cooking...

Since I come from a big family {when I say big, I mean huge...just in blood aunts & uncles I have 20!), usually I just show up maybe with a dip or can of olives and ALL the other food is made.  Until this week I really had no idea what a blessing this was!  
Now that our little family is living away from home, I decided to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal from scratch this year.  After 3 days of prep work and cooking, I now have a much better appreciation for all the hard work that goes into the food that I have eaten over the last 37 years.  

As we sat down to eat our spread we went around to give thanks in our life.  Even though our 3 girls are small now, I look forward to the years to come and what they will choose to be thankful for in life.  This year Hope is thankful for our family and school, Keziah is thankful for her Didi (which is her big sister Hope), and Zarah is thankful for mommy.  

Here is a glimpse of our time together...

What am I thankful for?  Too much to list here, but I think most of all it's that which I didn't even ask for.  The little things and the big things that God has put into my life.  Creating these memories with our family means so much to me and hopefully someday they will be meaningful to them.  

Please visit my other blog Creating Life From Scratch for my recipes.

"Winter" in the 90's...?

So it is "Winter" here in Thailand, but when the temperature is in the 90's I have to put the word winter in quotations.  

Since posting about my quiet controversy last week, I decided to post about something a little less controversial...how blessed I am to be a full-time mom!  Here are some of the highlights from this week.  

After some time of wanting to build a sandbox inside this unused water pond in our yard...I finally stopped at the sand store!

And I am very proud to share that Hope is...

Thankfully this is one of those times in life as a parent where the Lord was watching over and made sure I was ready!  You see, Hope's teacher Ms. West doesn't even tell the parents before hand when students receive this award.   From not wanting to get out of bed that morning, to having my camera with me and then ready.  I thank God that I get the chance to be there for my daughter to share these moments.  

Our reason is obedience.

Let me just start by saying that our family does not "celebrate" halloween.  Now you know what to expect by reading more, but if you are reading this blog then you must care about our family and might be interested in the reason.

Living overseas definitely gives a different perspective on many things in life.  Many of my Australian and British friends are surprised that American Christians actually celebrate halloween.  However, this surprised me that it wasn't more acceptable to them, because it is SO acceptable to participate in halloween activities in our American culture...yes, even Christians.

Okay, so let's go back... I did celebrate halloween as a child, teenager, and young adult as most "normal" American's do.  When I came to know Jesus as my Savior, there were many very drastic changes in my life...halloween was not one of them.  Then came marriage and a baby in a baby carriage!  Like all new parents, we were forced to make decisions about how to raise our children.  So when halloween rolled around the first year, we went to scripture like any "good Christian" would do.  Of course there is no mention of halloween in The Word of God, but there are verses to direct our path in this situation.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness..." 

Matthew 6 v.33

"Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.  Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.  Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.  Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word." 

Psalm 119 v.33-35, 37.

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be self-controlled, set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, 'Be holy, because I am holy.'  Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.  For you know that  it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."   1 Peter 1 v.13-19

Of course there are many more verses that could be written here, but I'm guessing you get the point.

To be honest, it is hard for me as a person to not participate because it was a part of how I grew up.  As a parent, we definitely had conviction about spending time celebrating halloween, so for our family our reason for not dressing up our kids, going Trick or Treating, or carving pumpkins into scary faces, etc. on October 31st is obedience to what God has laid on our hearts as we raise children to know Jesus as their Savior.

Also, I want to say that I Am Not Perfect. There are areas in my life that are not in line with scripture that I know of and others I probably am not aware of.  I'm just hoping that if you are reading this you may think twice about what you celebrate and teach your children as a Christian.  I'm not casting stones, just making a point.

I do understand that we as Christians use the halloween holiday to reach out to our communities of non-believers, but that is our job year round.  So have a dress-up party in May and invite the neighbors, or have a bowl of candy by your door year round to give away when visitors come by your house (although for many of us it might empty without visitors ;-)).

This is a quiet controversial topic point, there are many of us quiet Christians who do not participate on October 31st and do not really talk about it.  These are my personal thoughts on the halloween celebrations, and I do apologize if you are offended by my words.

And lastly, one of my favorite Bible verses...

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me - put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4 v.8-9

This is my life as a Traveling Mother,
Jennifer

P.S.  You are always welcome to post a comment...