What To Wear For The Holidays
{With our friends over at FrugalLivingNW today … enjoy!}
One fabulous holiday outfit is really all you need.
That is, that one thing that always looks right. That always makes you feel like a million bucks, that makes you stand a little taller, walk a little surer, the one that gives you the confidence to enter a room and handle whatever it brings.
Because what we wear really does matter, doesn’t it? And sometimes something that seemed like a good idea at the time can later make us want to burn all the holiday photos of that year: The year we wore more ornaments than the Christmas tree. The truth is, we don’t want to look like Christmas trees, but we do want to wear something festive, something that feels good, looks good, and reminds us that this is a time to celebrate.
And, of course, because we’re frugal enthusiasts, it needs to be inexpensive.
I know just the thing. (And it’s free!)
It’s the one thing I try to wear every single year. Every time I slip it on things begin to happen. My kids are happy and behave better. My husband can’t take his eyes off me, insisting that I’m gorgeous. Strangers smile at me, men and women alike. The cashier at the grocery store greets me cheerfully. I half expect the neighborhood cats and dogs to start following me down the street.
You know what it is, right? A smile.
It won’t cost you a dime, and it always fits. It’ll never go out of style or gather moths over time. You don’t even have to take it to the dry cleaner. And yet, it’s hands-down the most attractive thing we can wear.
Yet it’s during the hectic holiday season that it’s often the first thing to go. The crowds, lines, expectations, and stress can sometime leave us desperate for some real holiday cheer.
We know joy came to the world, but then where on earth did it go?
It’s closer than we think. In fact, by changing our faces we actually change our hearts. The same way that a fabulous outfit can transform the way you feel, slipping on a smile can actually change the way you feel.
Don’t buy it? Try it. Joy might come to your world.
{Thanks for reading, and smiling!}
Advent: Let's share ideas.
Have you already made your holiday to-do list? Chances are you’re halfway through your Christmas-shopping, Thanksgiving-prepping, and Christmas-letter-writing. Or perhaps you’re going the simple route by buying 20 gift cards, a Marie Callender turkey dinner, and writing an email-note to your loved ones to let them know you’re still alive. That’s great. Whatever you’ve decided to do, do it for His glory and savor His grace.
But while I don’t like the fact that we tend to stuff everything into one month (visiting everyone we know, writing them all letters, buying them all gifts, and decorating our house perfectly), I do love the fact that Christmas urges me to do the things I really do want to do more of year-round. It’s almost like an annual accountability-check. Have I kept in touch with people I love? Have I written to them lately? Have I given a gift to my husband? Written a note to my neighbor?Perhaps we try to stuff too much in, but I must say I love what the “stuff” is and will continue to enjoy it in healthy measure.
To be fair, it is a season to celebrate. And let’s be honest: Celebration takes some effort. We could just lie around and rest all through December, but this is the birth of Christ! It’s worth a celebration!
So instead of just lamenting the busyness, let’s just be sure our activities are drawing us closer to Christ. Amen?
So this next week Advent begins, the preparation of our hearts for the birth of Christ. What will you do? How will you capture this season in a way that draws the heart of your family closer to the Savior? We’re still deciding what all we will and will not do this year, but might I suggest one fabulous resource?
Ann Voskamp’s Jesse Tree Devotional.
What I love about it: It’s daily, gospel-centered, inspirational, simple, creative.
And it’s done for me. I’m sold.
What will you do this Christmas to celebrate His birth with your family? I’d love to hear your ideas, so please take a moment to share what’s worked and blessed you in the past. We’ll look at another idea tomorrow, before we celebrate Thanks-giving on Thursday.
{Thanks for journeying with me, and thanks for reading.}
PS Be sure to stop in here this Friday for fabulous Black Friday deals! 🙂
Name it and ditch it.
I’m brushing my teeth when I hear her scream from the other room. I close my eyes and wait, since a scream from Heidi could mean any range of things–from just a silly look from brother to a bloodied busted lip. I wait. Her feet patter into the bathroom.
“Bruh-bruh bit me!” Uh oh. Brother knows the line and knows how to toe it. He’ll open his mouth and get near Heidi, taunting her without touching her, just to get a rise. He follows immediately, protesting.
“No I didn’t! I didn’t bite her!” I can see the wet mark on her shirt. I look him in the eye.
“I didn’t bite her … I just … I sawed her …” He pauses and adds, “…with my teeth.”
I display valiant self-control by not laughing out loud.
“You sawed her with your teeth?”
He smiles. “Yeah!”
Needless to say, the same disciplinary measures that apply to biting are applied to “sawing with teeth.”
Call it what you want. It’s still a bite. Amen?
Oh but don’t we do that? Don’t we dance around our sin and use fancy language to skirt real confession?
- “I’m just not really feeling appreciated enough by others.” Pride.
- “I’m just having a hard time because they have so much and I don’t.” Envy.
- “I’m just struggling with getting frustrated all the time with my kids.” Anger.
Don’t get me wrong. I hate admitting sin as much as you do (probably more, unfortunately), but more than that I just hate sin. I hate that it binds us, steals from us, keeps us living at arm’s length from God and from each other.
But we can’t be freed from sin until we confess it. And so often we’re so scared of calling it what it is, amen?
We’re staring at our toes before God and each other, shifting from one foot to the other, saying that we just “sawed them with our teeth.”
Don’t we avoid the biblical words because they just sound so bad? “Bite” sounds so bad, almost as bad as “jealousy” or “fits of wrath.” But the works of the flesh do have names, God’s spelled it out for us. Why?
So we can name it and ditch it.
We’ve all hear the “name it and claim it” movement. Let’s start a better one: Name it and ditch it.
I recently had a refreshingly honest conversation where we did just that.
Named it, ditched it, and prayed it’d never come back.
Isn’t it freeing? Why because Scripture says,
“When we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
But if the confession isn’t real neither is the cleansing! We don’t find true freedom until we call it what it is. Scripture also says,
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:16 NLT)
Don’t we want to be healed? Cleansed? Given great power to see wonderful results? We might find more power when we quit dancing around the sin and start ditching it instead. Amen?
Whew! I didn’t mean for this to be such a hard-hitting post … just know, girlfriends, I write this first and foremost to myself. I’ve used fancy words to dance around a lot of sin …
But I’d really rather name it and ditch it instead.
You too?
{Question: What sin have you “renamed” in your life? Greed? Gluttony? Pride? I hate those words as much as you, but so appreciate your honesty and desire to know Him more. Thanks, friends, for reading, and growing alongside me. Bless you!}
Week's end with thanks
- Blue sky and bare branches.
- Sweet, simple things.
- Early morning snuggles by the fire.
- Coming home late, crawling under covers of each sleeping bug.
- Kisses on still cheeks.
- Cold bedrooms, crawling under icy sheets, waiting for warmth.
- Wood fire crackle.
- Wind rattling windows, trees swaying. Watching the storm from the warmth inside.
- Falling in love again.
- People who listen.
- Friends who edit.
- Being a family of barracudas.
- Merciless tickling.
- Peals of laughter, that light in my boy’s eyes.
- Full, full days. Good.
- Crockpot.
- Introducing people and having them click.
- How God coordinates, orchestrates.
- Her sweaty curls when she wakes up.
- Pillows patched together with great-grandmother’s quilt squares. I love old things!
- New boots via a generous gift. Probably the nicest clothing item I’ve ever owned. Not sure if I should wear them! (But very thankful.)
- Candy Cane Lane green tea.
- Headaches persisting. Able to take the hint: Rest.
- Voice gone. Able to take the hint: Rest.
- Tired, achy. Able to take the hint: Rest.
- Blue whales and polar bears. Documentaries are amazing!
- The wonder of His creation. It all declares the glory of God!
- Soft, warm, lamplight.
- Voucher-payment for guest blog posts. Love that!
- Stocking up on Dr. Bronners.
- Mentor group — these ladies amaze me. Honesty, courage, humility, maturity, grace. So blessed.
- New faces.
- Old friends.
- Jeans worn through in the knee.
- Seeing fruit of the Spirit in my boy!
- Lacey’s pics.
- Finishing our busy season!! Exactly 2 months filled with a house sale, move, 14 speaking engagements between the 2 of us, 2 retreats, Bible study, 2 weekly community groups, and a sprinkling of other joys. God was faithful and we rejoice!
- Celebrating the new quieter season with an afternoon of ironing. Sweet domesticity!
- Sewing pillows.
- Puzzles pieced together.
- Kids silly.
- Dutch, my boy like a baby deer. He skids and stumbles, his growing legs slipping and sliding everywhere as he darts through the house. He runs into walls, doors, bangs into open cupboard doors, trips over his feet. I laugh until I ache, that crazy boy.
- His birthday request: A Pirate-StarWars-Polar Bear party. Trying to figure out what the cake would look like for that.
- Glimpses into people’s hearts.
- Seeing people find victory.
- Seeing He is stronger.
- Daytime date with my man.
- The Paskins.
- New job for a dear friend! Celebrating!!!
- Few leaves hanging on for dear life, clinging to the branches out the window.
- Branches bare.
- Last red leaves close enough to touch, outside our bedroom window.
- The notebook that holds all the pieces of my life.
- Voice coming back!
- Her, shirtless and in bluejeans, curls cascading down her back, bouncing as she runs around, a baby polar bear on the loose.
- That He manages to use us, broken as we are.
- That He makes us new.
You are loved beyond comprehension.
Happy weekend and thank you for reading.