Seeing as how Christmas Eve is just two days away (!!!), I am not exactly sure when I'm planning to do our family meeting on the mass readings this week.  I first want to focus on Christmas mass and making sure the children understand the nativity story.  We've been reading it, watching it on video with The Nativity Story (without viewing the scarier parts) and The Nativity, and the girls have been reenacting it with their Nativity play set.  I think I just have to continue to emphasize the importance of the real reason for Christmas, while still letting the girls enjoy Santa and other traditions.

We will probably discuss Sunday's readings on Friday or Saturday, and celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family on Sunday.  It's a great time to discuss with our kids what a family is and the commitment that a family has to each other in good times and in bad.

So without further ado, here is this week's family meeting slideshow:

Keeping Christ in Christmas: Celebrating Advent 2014 {Starting November 30th!}

**This post is an updated post from last year.  All the links and calendars have been updated for 2014.

Even though I am a cradle-Catholic, I never grew up celebrating Advent.  Not intentionally, anyway.  We went to mass during the Advent season, but I guess I just didn't pay much attention, and I figured our family's Advent wreath was just part of our regular holiday decorations.  I honestly had very little understanding of what Advent was up until a few years ago.  Since then, I have been on a slow, but steady, journey to celebrate Advent with my family.  

Ada and Grace at our church's nativity scene

So what is Advent?  

For Catholics, Advent starts the beginning of the liturgical year, and is a season of anticipation for both the birth of Jesus Christ and Jesus' second coming.  It is celebrated the four weeks leading up to Christmas.  What I love about Advent is that it helps us focus on the reason for the season: Jesus.  All those other details (Christmas gifts, cards, baking, decorating, etc) become less stressful for me, if they are put in their proper places, as ways to glorify God and celebrate His only Son.  

This 2 minute video gives a great overview of Advent:


Now, here's some music to get us anticipating the birth of Jesus!

FYI - Only when you try to compile a list of Advent songs, do you realize that pretty much every Christmas song has to do with post-Jesus' birth.  Thus, a 5 song playlist that includes 4 versions of O Come, Emmanuel (which are all pretty awesome, by the way.)  

Being pretty new to celebrating Advent, our family is trying to add one new tradition each year until we have some basics covered.  I do not want it to be overwhelming or feel like one more thing piled onto the already crazy list of "stuff" to do.  The important thing is preparing our hearts for Jesus.  I will remind myself: Advent does not have to be Pinterest-worthy.  

So, here are some simple ways to celebrate Advent with your family:

Advent wreath

Advent Wreath

An Advent wreath is a pretty simple tradition to start.  We bought ours on Amazon.com, along with the candles, for a very reasonable price.  You can also make one quite easily.  Here is a quick read about how this German custom started.  

This page on Catholic Culture provides the blessing, prayers, and explanation of what to do with your Advent wreath, and Our Sunday Visitor has an Advent guide, as well.

On the first Sunday of Advent (December 1st this year) , we will be blessing our Advent wreath and lighting the first purple candle, along with a prayer.  This is done each night of Advent.  By the second week, we will be lighting the two purple candles, and the third week sees the additional lighting of the pink "joyous" candle.  The fourth, and final, Sunday of Advent observes the lighting of the last purple candle.  The Advent wreath is a simple, yet significant way to incorporate our preparation for the birth of Christ into our daily lives.

Advent calendar

This is a tradition that you are probably familiar with.  There are so many different Advent calendars, and you can buy them at stores, online, or make your own.  Last year, my 4 year-old, Grace, looked forward to it everyday, and I'm sure she's excited to get her little sister in on the fun.  Sometimes we end up with more than one, which is no problem for us!  But to emphasize the true meaning of Advent and Christmas, I want to be sure that at least one of my Advent calendars is religious.  

Loyola Press has an awesome online Advent calendar for kids, which is also printable.  

Here is one from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that can be used online or printed.  It includes the Catholic feast days, suggested prayers, and activities that can be done to prepare for Christmas.

Interactive and Printable Advent Calendar
USCCB

I also love this fabric Advent calendar because the kids can add a new piece to the nativity scene each day.  I am thinking of making this with paper nativity pieces.

Fabric Advent Calendar

Jesse Tree

Jesse Tree

Up until a couple of years ago, I'd never even heard of the Jesse Tree.  So what is it?  The Jesse Tree is an Advent tradition that focuses on Jesus' family tree, as shown in the image on the left.  For more information about the background, check out this article.  Similar to the Advent calendar, a new symbol or ornament is hung on the Jesse Tree each day of Advent.  As the ornament is hung, a corresponding bible passage is read.  

There are so many different ways to do a Jesse Tree:  some simple, some complex.  I even Googled it for you.  You're welcome.

Felt Jesse Tree
Catholicseeking

More Printable Jesse Tree Ornaments
Domestic-Church

Last year was our first with a Jesse Tree.  It went over big with my then-4 year old, Grace.  We opted for printable symbols, which can be found here or here.  Then, we hung them on a small Christmas tree that I found at a local crafts store.

Other resources

Looking for some basic printouts on Advent?  Check out this page:

Free Advent Printables
Good Ground Press

Good Ground Press also makes this printable Advent Traditions Game that looks like a lot of fun.

Advent Traditions Game
Good Ground Press

Here is a short video from Catholic News Service with ideas for how to celebrate Advent:

 

May your family have a blessed Advent!  

- Jessica

The Trinity for Kids

Holy Trinity Sunday is coming up this weekend, so I decided to teach my five year old about the Trinity.  To be honest, up until this point I have avoided going too in depth with her on the Trinity because it is a very deep concept and difficult to comprehend, even for adults!  But it is a core teaching and this is a great opportunity to prepare her to better understand what she will learn at church this Sunday.  

To educate myself on the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity I looked here at Catholic Culture (which is such a great website!).

Here are some of the ways I plan on teaching my little girl about the Trinity:

Read about the Holy Trinity

I like the explanation that this bulletin provides on the left side, as it is clear and to the point.  The dot-to-dot on the right will create one of the symbols of the Trinity (some of which are included below).  Just ignore or change the date on it, and you are good as gold!

Printable Trinity Kids' Bulletin
The Kids' Bulletin

Discuss symbols of the Trinity

The following are some symbols used to describe or illustrate the Trinity.  

Trinity Symbols
Catholic Resources

This first one is more kid-friendly version of the Shield of the Trinity, which has been used for hundreds of years.  You can paste it into a word document, print, and have your child color it as a poster or banner for decoration.

Printable Shamrock

Teaching With TLC

The shamrock is also a symbol of the Trinity that was introduced by St. Patrick in Ireland.  The one here can be printed, and your child can attach the labels of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit where they belong.

Triquetra Explanation
About.com Christianity

I've seen this Triquetra before, usually as tattoos actually, but didn't know that it is a symbol of the Trinity.  You learn something new everyday!

Use objects to build a concrete understanding

The concept of the Trinity is difficult for kids (and adults) to conceive of because it is beyond our human understanding.  Using objects, in this case water, an egg, or apple to provide examples of how something can be 3 at the same time as 1.  Of course, this can be an oversimplification of the enormity of God, so I'll be sure to emphasize the deeper points, as well.

Ideas for Teaching the Trinity With Objects
Global Post

Eat pretzels!

I'd heard that pretzels symbolize arms crossed in prayer, but they can also symbolize the Trinity.  We're going to be snacking on some pretzels this week!

Pretzel Explains the Trinity
Jesus Did It All

Make Trinity crafts

Here are a couple simple crafts from Catholic Icing that can be done to help kids understand this complex idea.

Printable Trinity Shamrock Craft
Catholic Icing

Simple Trinity Triangle Craft
Catholic Icing

Read bible stories about the Holy Trinity

There are several passages in the bible that tell explicitly of the Trinity.  

One of the best stories to teach this is the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:13-17.  The following is a video that details the events leading up to and including Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist, the descent of the Holy Spirit as a dove, and God speaking.  If you want just the events of Jesus' baptism, start the video at 19:30.

Another passage I love comes from 2 Corinthians 13:13 "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Spirit be with all of you."  That would be a great quote to frame and hang up!

Hopefully my Grace and I will at least try a few of these ideas out this week.  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you!
- Jessica

Easter is just getting started!

I hope you all had a very blessed and joyful Easter Sunday!  Our weekend was full of family, which was wonderful and busy!  The best kind of busy.  

Most people think that Easter is over, but not for most Christians!  Easter is a season, not a day, and lasts for 50 days.  Woo hoo!

This makes me happy because there are lots of fun Easter things that I did not get done on my hectic (but awesome) Easter weekend.  Now we have about 45 more days to celebrate!

So, here are some ways that our family is going to continue celebrating Easter until Pentecost (June 8 of 2014):

Track the 50 days of Easter.

Just like with an Advent or Lent calendar, we will print out and color in each day.  I got some fun springy stickers with the egg dye kit I bought, so maybe we will cover it in stickers instead!  Yes we are a little late getting started...better late than never, right?!  Here are a couple to choose from:

Free Printable Easter Calendar
Erin Crisci

Free Printable Easter Calendar
Catholic Icing

Watch kid-friendly Resurrection videos.

We read about the Resurrection of Jesus from our various children's bibles and story books, but videos are another great way to teach them about the Easter story.  The one below starts off just after the Crucifixion and follows through to Jesus' Resurrection.  It gives some great information that is good to know before doing the Resurrection rolls below.  And if you google "Bible Stories New Testament", there are a bunch in this series that tell Gospel stories.

Make Resurrection rolls.  

These are so simple, and such a delicious way to teach about Jesus' Resurrection.  I've seen several posts about Resurrection rolls, but I like this one from Happy Home Fairy because it includes a story to tell as you make them that connects it to Jesus' death and resurrection.

Resurrection Rolls
Happy Home Fairy

Complete our Lenten goals.

During Lent our family set some goals, which are detailed in my post Preparing for Lent with Kids.  We have been collecting money for Lenten Almsgiving, which we decided to send to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital because  Grace's school is doing a trike-a-thon fundraiser for it.  

We also collected toys, clothes, and other items to donate.  Some were already given to a homeless shelter, but we will have to figure out where the rest are going. 

We will also continue with our daily rosary. 

Make an Easter prayer jar or chain.

Grace really enjoyed the Lenten chain to count down the days of Lent, where we prayed for different people each day.  

This is a similar idea for the 50 days of Easter.  I love this Easter prayer jar from Wee Little Miracles.  

Easter Family Prayer Jar
Wee Little Miracles

There are 50 free printable prayers for the Easter season that can be cut out and put in a jar to pull out each day or made into a chain to count down the days of Easter.

Set a new faith goal.

Prayers and Praises Chalkboard
Kijsa

A few weeks ago, I posted this prayer board in my Faithful Favorites #1.  I know that I can be a bit of a procrastinator on making fun objects when there are soooo many things on my to-do list.  So, my plan is to choose at least one tangible thing I want to accomplish during the Easter season that will help bring my family closer to God.  Mark my words, I am going to make a prayer board.  Even if it is on the 50th day of Easter!

Color Easter pictures.

My kids always love coloring pages, and many of them can be used to explain the events or lessons of the Easter story.  I'll be printing a few of these!

Easter Coloring Pages
Free-N-Fun Easter

Have a wonderful Easter season!

I want to be like Mary, forgo my own plan, and follow God's plan instead

I love when God times something so perfectly that it becomes uber obvious and a wonderful teaching point just slaps me in the face (a gentle God-slap, of course).  

This past week was the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord (AKA when Mary said "yes" to God's will and became the mother of Jesus Christ).  This happened to coincide with my weekly bible study group's study of Mary.  (Walking With Purpose.  Woot woot!)  And so you could say I've got our Blessed Mother on the brain, and it made me think about how I want to be like her.


In Luke 1:38, Mary responds to the Angel Gabriel, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, May it be done to me according to your word." 

Cassie Pease Designs

 

Mary, a betrothed virgin, accepted God's will as her own, despite the very serious challenges that it would cause in her life, with her future husband, her family, and her community.  I'm sure like all of us, she had many plans for her future, none of which included raising the Son of God as her own and later watching him be put to death.  But Mary is eternally faithful and put her trust in the Lord, knowing that He knows best.

So this made me think of my own journey in faith and my need to focus on God's will.

I spent my teenage years trying to be perfect.  I thought, "If I have perfect hair and perfect clothes, if I'm a perfect athlete and student, if I'm perfectly kind and funny, if I'm perfect, people will love me and I'll be happy."  As an adult, I've often bought into our culture's ideals of being the perfect woman and having the perfect house, the perfect family, and the perfect stuff.   

Surprise!  None of that made me content with life, and striving for worldly perfection just left me feeling even more flawed.  Sure I was happy most of the time and I have loved my life, but I still felt like I was missing something vitally important.   

I've heard it explained that we all have a God-shaped hole.  There's even a song about it.  We try to fill that hole with different things:  money, relationships with people, careers, sex, material goods, traveling, you name it.  But the only thing that can fill the God-shaped hole is....(ding ding.  I'm sure you got it!) God!

All this time, I never asked what God's plan was for me.  I was living for myself and my will.  It has taken several years of growing my faith to get to a point where I'm wholeheartedly seeking to do God's will.  Only when I started to focus on doing what God wants, did I find the peace and joy that I had been searching for.

But of course, this is no easy task.  I can be selfish, impatient, sarcastic, and temperamental, among other things.  (I sound like a doll, don't I?)  I'm a sinner, and I will never be perfect.  But I strive to be holy, and I know that I will not achieve that by pursuing worldly pleasures: driving the perfect car, having the perfect house, the perfect hair, or the perfect children.  (Although, God, I think having awesome hair would sure help me evangelize ;). I will only grow holier by striving to discern and do God's will, and trusting that He will give me everything I need.  I want to be like Mary, forgo my own plan, and follow God's plan instead.  

However, I know that God's plan will challenge me to do things that I won't want to do, will make me uncomfortable and will require patience and persistence, of which I don't think I'm capable.  But 

Many who know me well, know that I am an anxious person, and I grew up terribly shy to the point that the only way to get me to speak in public or assert an opinion in a group was to make it a requirement or part of a grade.  I hid from my own 5th birthday party.  I quit basketball before my junior year because being 1 person on a 5 person team put too many eyes on me.  I needed at least 11 or 12 teammates to blend in.  And I was so excited when my wedding was over, not just because I was married (yay!) but because I would never have to be the center of attention like that ever again. (double yay!)

Now, here I am trying to shove my ideas down your throat share my faith and thoughts with anyone who will read them.  I am not a good writer (as I'm sure you've noticed) and it makes me nervous each time I click publish on a post.  But I feel called by God to share in any avenue He gives me, and I pray each day that I will slow down enough to listen to Him and let Him guide me in my actions and words.  This is merely one small example of how I have seen God working in my life.  

Once I started focusing on God's plan for my life, I began noticing the many ways that He is working on my concerns, desires, struggles, and strengths in a way that I could never understand, but that make perfect sense when they come to fruition.  He gives me everything I need to follow His plan, as long as I am open it.

I want to start each day asking God for guidance in doing His will in my life.  I love this prayer from the Walking With Purpose 101 book, Choosing the Better Part by Lisa Brenninkmeyer: 

"Lord, please help me recognize when You are interrupting my plans with Your own.  

Help me to yield to You this day instead of clinging to my own agenda.  

Help me to follow You with a generous heart."

I know that I will fail, as I have many times before.  Many.  Including today.  But fortunately I no longer live my life afraid of making mistakes.  I know that God will forgive me, and the only thing I need to worry about is always striving to know Him, love Him, and do His will.  He will take care of the rest.

Toby Mac on Facebook

P.S. - Mary rocks.

A Simple St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day will be here in just a few days, and I admit I'm a bit overwhelmed with what to do and how to celebrate this special day with the kids.  So I set out to find some ideas for celebrating a simple St. Patrick's Day and keep the focus on the real reason behind the holiday:  St. Patrick!

from Happy Saints

About St. Patrick

St. Patrick is one of the most well-known saints, as his feast day is celebrated on March 17 throughout the world.  He pretty much single-handedly converted all of Ireland to Christianity, making him the patron saint of Ireland.  Green and shamrocks are important symbols of St. Patrick's day because Patrick used the green shamrock to explain the trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He's kind of a big deal.  

You can find in-depth information about St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, here.  I also love this explanation of St. Patrick from Happy Home Fairy and her poem, "The Trinity":

Here is a fun Saint Patrick's Day Song for the kids that also tells a bit about St. Patrick and other traditions of the holiday.

Easy Crafts and Activities

St. Patrick's Coloring Pages
Catholic Inspired

Printable Trinity Craft
Catholic Icing

If you don't want to paint, you could also just color in a shamrock with crayons or cut one out of green construction paper.

Texture Collage Shamrock
No Time for Flashcards

I love this idea because you can use whatever random green items you have around your house!

Easy St. Patrick's Day Foods

Lucky Charms and Green Milk
Thoughtfully Simple

Who doesn't love an excuse to buy Lucky Charms?!  And dying green milk can be as simple as using green food coloring or green jello mix.

Fruit Rainbow
Saucy Mommy

Love how easy and healthy this one is.  And you can talk about the rainbow as a symbol of God's promise from the story of Noah's Ark.

Shamrock Pizza
Make the Best of Everything

I don't think dinner gets any easier than frozen pizza with some cut up spinach.  Another idea is to just put other green veggies on the pizza.

Looking for even easier food?

Two words, green and shamrock.

Pretty much anything green and/or cut into the shape of a shamrock goes for St. Patrick's Day.  

Green grapes, green peppers, salad, spinach wraps, whatever you have on-hand make it easy to have St. Patrick's Day food. 

Or just use some green food coloring to make some staples, like pancakes, waffles, yogurt, or rice crispy treats green.  (Rice crispy treats are a staple, right?)

Shamrock Rice Crispy Treats
Simply Designing

Green pancakes
She Knows

See?!  I know my little ones will go nuts for even just regular foods that are green.

Oh and here's a fun, free printable Irish blessing for some St. Patrick's Day decor:  

Free Printable Irish Blessing
Sweet C Designs

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lenten Planner for Adults

If you saw my post last week, Preparing for Lent With Kids, you may have seen this Lent planner designed for children ages 4 and up:

Lenten Planner for Kids
Click to print

After using it to plan Lent for Grace, my 4 year old, I decided that I liked it so much, I would make one for myself!  I actually prefer a checklist, so I made a modified one for adults, below.  I'm hoping that writing down my plans will help me stick to them!

CLICK HERE TO PRINT

If you would rather write in all your ideas, here is a blank Lenten plan:

CLICK HERE TO PRINT

I hope you and your family are grower closer to God this Lenten season.

Jessica

I Am Second

Image from Bethel Church

I came across a series of videos from a movement called "I am second" on YouTube yesterday and feel the need to share them.  The videos are of pretty-famous people (and some not-so famous people) giving testimonials about their personal journey with God.  They have all come to put Jesus first (they are "second" - hence the name "I am second").  I was glued to my computer for like 2 hours.  But you don't have to watch that long to feel the inspiration.

They are only a few minutes each, so I started watching a few.  Who doesn't love Tony Dungy?!  

Tony Dungy Image from Iamsecond.com

Maybe John Harbaugh would do one?  Go Ravens!

And then this one caught my eye...

Brian Welch from Korn
Image from iamsecond.com

His name didn't ring a bell, but I saw Korn.  What?!  A guy from Korn?...so I checked that out.  

And after a couple others I came upon Kathy Ireland.  I remember her fondly from back in the 90's when all us little girls wanted to be super models.  Right?  Just me?  Well a super model, Miss America, and a gold medal gymnast AND figure skater.  

Kathy Ireland
Image from iamsecond.com

Kathy Ireland's really resonated with me.  I often feel the same way that she describes; feeling like you want to put God first, but kids and life require so much of us.  Her story really inspired me.  I feel like I was meant to see that video.  

There are athletes, actors, musicians, leaders, and regular people.  Here is a list from Wikipedia of the "famous" people who are "Seconds":  

• Anne Rice, Gothic novelist
• Alex Kendrick, film director and founder of Sherwood Pictures
• Baron Batch, American professional football player
• Bethany Hamilton, professional surfer and shark attack survivor
• Bailee Madison, child actress
• Bradie James, American professional football player
• Brant Hansen, radio personality
• Brian Sumner, professional skateboarder
• Brian Welch, former Korn guitarist
• Chris Coghlan, professional baseball player
• Colt McCoy, American professional football player
• Christian Hosoi, professional skateboarder
• Christian Ponder, American professional football player
• Clayton Kershaw, professional baseball player
• Daniel Sepulveda, American football player
• Darrell Waltrip, former NASCAR driver
• David Murphy, professional baseball player
• Greg Ellis, American professional football player
• Jack Graham, pastor of Dallas megachurch
• Janine Turner, actress
• Jason Castro, singer and American Idol finalist
• Jason Witten, American professional football player
• Joe Gibbs, American professional football coach and NASCAR team owner
• Joe Hagerty, track and cross country state qualifier
• Josh Hamilton, professional baseball player
• Josh Turner, country music singer
• Ken Hutcherson, pastor and former American professional football player
• Landry Jones, American college football player
• Lecrae, Christian hip-hop musician
• Matt Barkley, American football player
• Michael W. Smith, contemporary Christian musician
• Michelle Aguilar, winner of reality show The Biggest Loser: Families
• Mike Huckabee, American politician
• Moriah Peters, contemporary Christian musician
• Scott Hamilton, figure skater and Olympic gold medalist
• Sam Bradford, American professional football player
• Stephen Baldwin, film actor, director, producer, and author
• Tony Evans, pastor and radio broadcaster
• Tony Dungy, former American professional football player and coach
• Trevor Bayne, NASCAR driver
• Vitor Belfort, mixed martial artist
• Wayne Simien, former professional basketball player
• Wayne Huizenga, businessman

Just search here to find their video.

There is something so very wonderful about hearing people speak so passionately about their faith, even if we don't all share the same religion.  

Thanks for reading and God bless!

Jessica