……is not to have a new year’s resolution.

Now that I think about it, I realize that I have stopped trying to make New Year resolutions years ago. I think somewhere along the way I noticed how they never seemed to work for me…or for anyone else that I know. Resolutions are all about us trying to “re-solve” things (Don’t you notice that each year we end up trying to solve the same things over and over again?). It is about all about us trying to make our lives a little bit better than the previous year by “correcting” some behaviors and habits which we think are not really helpful for us. It involves us, using the best of our abilities and the strength of our will power to improve ourselves and consequently improve our lives. That’s where I think lies the problem– it is all about us, our strength, our wisdom, our capabilities. I am not saying that this is all bad (or maybe I am. hehe). I am just saying that once we start each year with this kind of mindset, more often than not one of two things happen: We realize that we really do not have that much will power and determination so we end up going back to our old ways in a few months time; OR, we do get to muster up enough discipline and determinati0n and fulfill our list of resolutions, causing us to totally depend on ourselves and boast in ourselves. To some, this may not seem like a bad thing. I’m sure this even sounds good to most people.  I just happen to be one of those who prefer to depend and boast on Someone bigger than ourselves.

Enough about resolutions. I just said I don’t believe in them anymore. What I have started in lieu of those resolutions, are lists of my faith goals each year.

What are the things we are believing God for this year in the areas of our faith, health, finances, relationships, household concerns, work, and ministry?

What are the top ten IMPOSSIBLE things we want to see happen this year?

What areas do we feel God is stretching us in, or will stretch us in this 2011?

Faith goals for me consist of two major factors: FAITH and OBEDIENCE.

I recognize the fact that I am so limited in my strength and wisdom, and that on my own, I really would not be able to accomplish much. I acknowledge that I need Grace if I am to change some habits and even my character. I am in faith that it is God who will enable me to do the things I need to do, and that it is He who will work on my behalf– to do even the things that are humanly impossible for me to attain.

I also recognize that faith without action is dead. If I am in faith that God will do mighty things in me, through me, and for me…then I have to allow Him to do so by positioning myself in the center of His will— by obeying His Word. There’s no other way around it. My faith will work as I obey. I obey because I am in faith and I have hope. I trust and I obey. I trust and I obey. Faith and obedience. Faith and obedience…

…Faith and obedience….This will be my life’s dance this year and always.

I hope it will be yours, too.

And my free day this month is…was…is….

nada!

tsk.tsk.tsk…

The word I seem to be using a lot this month is “DELIBERATE“.

With all the activities and parties this month, I have to be deliberate in making sure that we and the kids get to to enjoy each other more than we do the parties. I have to be deliberate in making sure that we don’t miss out on the beauty of being still, taking it slow, and just appreciating the love and joy this season brings. I have to be deliberate in sitting down to blog. I have to be deliberate in making sure our scheduled advent nights push through. I have to be deliberate in checking that we are not exceeding our set budget. I have to be deliberate in making sure I get to spend time with my God before the rest of the day becomes chaotic. I have to be deliberate in reminding myself that more than the activities, it is the relationships I have that matter most…specifically my relationship with God.

Yep! My magic word for this month is “deliberate”!

What about you, what’s your magic word?

It doesn’t take very long for parents to realize that humans (i.e. kids) are born with a self-centered orientation. That’s a nicer way of saying that we are generally born selfish. This is one of the things we never teach our kids, but for some reason one of the earliest fights they have with their siblings revolve around what’s theirs.

“That’s mine!”                                                                                                                                                               “Me first!!”

“I was first!”

“She didn’t follow me!”                                                                                                                                                “But I need it!”

“I want that!”

It all sounds too familiar. It’s also no wonder if all of a sudden Christmas becomes about them and what they wish they could get during this season. And who can blame them? They do see a lot of presents under the tree; They would hear songs about making sure they are nice so that Santa would give them gifts; People would always ask them what they want to get this Christmas. What’s a kid supposed to think??

We can be sure that our kids’ will most likely be thinking of the presents they’ll be getting for Christmas each day that they wake up and find those beautifully-wrapped gifts under the tree. It’s like they catch this “All I want for Christmas” bug every year. If there is any hope of beating this bug, then we have to be deliberate about teaching them that first, Christmas is about Jesus’ birth and what that means for all of mankind; And second, this season is a chance for us to mirror God’s heart when He gave us His only Son.

One of the ways we can overcome this self-centered nature is by being generous and coming up with things we can do in order to be a blessing to others.

Here are a few things we can do to teach our children about generosity:

1. Wrap your gifts as early as you can and place all of them under your tree. Assign each kid a pile of gifts that he/she will be giving away. Instead of focusing on the excitement of receiving lots of gifts, let them be extra excited at the idea of having less and less gifts under the tree, which implies that they’ve been giving out more and more of those presents.

2. Instead of making a Christmas wish list of what they want to have, let them make a Christmas wish list of what they wish to bless others with.

3. Before the house gets filled with presents from other people, schedule a “let’s give away!” day with your kids. Mark your calendar before it gets filled with party schedules and set a day or two just to go around the house searching for things you can give away.

4. Go to the grocery with your kids and let them pick out some goodies or snacks that they’d like to buy for street children. Let them be the ones to pack those goodies, and set a time when you’ll drive around town just to hand out those goodies to the kids.

5. Prepare something that you would like to give your guests this Christmas. Have the kids pack those things, too, and let them be the ones to hand out those gifts as the guests arrive/leave your house.

6. Involve your kids as you pray and decide on what and who to give to this Christmas.

7. “Adopt” someone you know is away from his/her family this season, perhaps invite them over for Christmas dinner or on Christmas morning.

8. If you have extra cash, why not buy groceries for a family you know is in need, and just surprise them?

9. If your kids are old enough, set a date when you can help out in a community feeding program. Real Life Foundation is one of those organizations who have this regularly.

10. Organize or be part of an “Operation: Christmas Shoe Box”. This is where kids would each have a shoe box to fill and wrap to give other community kids. They can fill their boxes with toys, toiletries, books….whatever they think other kids would find useful….and when their boxes are full, they can wrap these and take them to the nearest group or church who is a part of this project. In our case, we would be taking our boxes to our Victory Greenhills center at Promenade. We would then be setting a day when all the other kids would be distributing these to one of the kids’ community groups we have chosen to bless this Christmas.

I just shared some of the things we have been doing in our family for the past years with the kids. I’m sure there are lots more you can do (please share what you have come up with!).

I have no doubt that this is one thing your kids will thank you for when they grow up. Even as early as now, Alyanna and Mika would have a different glow in their faces as they smile every time they hand out gifts and goodies to other people. As early as now, they are already experiencing the promise of Proverbs 11:25 that “he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

Merry Christmas!

I have a thing for traditions. I don’t know if it’s the highly-conscientious person in me that prefers things to be predictable and in a sense— controlled; or the sentimental side of me who simply loves the thought of having something to look forward to and look back on through the years. There’s something about traditions that gives me that warm feeling and sense of security knowing that there will always be that one thing that will remain familiar. I think this is a general familiar for most of us— we love traditions!

More than tickling our hearts, though, I view traditions as a tool we use to pass on not just memories of great moments. They are tools that we can use to pass on legacy. What are the things we value? What is important to our family? What makes our family unique?

If you haven’t done it yet, make a list of the traditions that you would want your kids to experience. What lessons about Christ’s birth do you want them to learn? How do you plan to reinforce these lessons, especially to your younger kids? Mark these activities on your calendar so as not to overbook yourself, or worse, overlook these special family activities.

More importantly, enjoy the process of building memories with your family!

As we plan and carry out holiday traditions this season, let us also be deliberate in passing on the reason behind why we do things.

(Then again, there are just some things that we would love to do for fun of it. That’s reason enough!)

Whoa! This is it!!! IT’S CHRISTMAS! IT’S CHRISTMAS!!! *giddy jump*

I woke up this morning excited to do things Christmas-related around the house. The kids slept late last night so I am sure (or I am hoping) I’d have more time to do all the things I want to before they wake up.

- Finalize the Christmas decorations (To this Dennis would comment: “Oh, is it not final yet??”)

- Fix the menu for the dinner parties

We’ve already fixed our calendar so that’s one item off the list (Yay!)

…Oh, wait! There’s one group we NEED to add and invite! Okay so…

*edit*

- Finalize our December calendar

- Finalize the list of activities we would be doing with the kids

- Finalize fixing the stuff we want to give away

- Finalize the gifts we want to give

Wow. Do I have a lot of things to “finalize”!

I wonder if Christmas years ago were this busy. Since when did the Christmas season have to be so full of activities, anyway? I wonder if this is how God intended for us to celebrate Christmas.

Is this really how YOU designed this season to be, Lord?

Maybe God just wants us to celebrate this season to remind us of the one thing He did that finalized everything else we would need in this world:

God sent His Son Jesus into the world to save us. And because of the life we have in Jesus, we are forgiven, we are healed, we are restored, we can experience life to the full, we are brought back in relationship with our Heavenly Father …. Because of the life we have in His Son, we can have everything we would need in this life and more.

Because of the life we have in His Son, we have a reason to celebrate.

And that is really the only reason we celebrate. Everything else we are doing should fall under this reason.

Since when did the Christmas season have to be so full of activities? Since when did it start to become so “expensive”? Since when did people have to rush and stress over many things every time “ber” season came?

I guess since we forgot that there is only ONE reason— the ONE person who finalized it all for us.

What is it with me this week??

- I wanted to cry when I heard christmas carols in the malls (Well, this happens to me every year– everytime ‘ber’ season hits)

- I wanted to cry when I saw Alyanna carrying a furry, girly bag on her shoulder (She’s growing up to be like me!– minus the furry and girly)

- I wanted to cry when Alyanna pulled out baby wipes from her furry, girly bag after dinner to hand each of us some wipes.   

“Mika, here. Wipe your mouth. It’s dirty.”

- I wanted to cry when Alyanna went inside the cafe ahead of us and started to fall in line by herself.

“Dad, what will we order?”

- Lately Mika has been very talkative and I think, “Waaah! She’s really being a toddler now!”

- Lately Mika has been trying different stunts to make us laugh and I think “Waaah! She’s growing up to be like her dad na!”

- Lately Mika has been singing a lot….a LOT! …and I think “Sniff! She’s growing up to be like her sister… ”

- I just saw the red cups (from Starbucks) now and I felt mixed emotions in my heart thinking that Christmas is really here!

…which means that another year is about to end, and a new one is about to begin.

…which means that my kids will be growing up… some more.

…which also means that I’m not getting any younger. (yikes!)

…which reminds me how time flies.

…which makes me think, How have I spent this year? Did I make it count? Did I get to do the things I planned to do at the beginning of the year?

…which makes me think some more: Do I love God more now?” Do I know Him more than I did last year? , Did I get to bond with my kids and teach them the best way I could this year?, Do I love my husband more now? , Did I get to support him and show my respect and admiration for him and serve him to the best of my ability this year??

…Time is the ONE resource that we all have equally and, once spent, none of us can take back– yet it is the resource that so many of us take for granted.

…Yup. These red cups ought to remind us to “…number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

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*Reposted from my 2009 entries

*Special thanks to Google cached files!