Christmas
Merry Christmas!
I think the phrase better late than never is going to become my new mantra for 2013. Since our little man was born this blog has been on the back burner but now that we’re expecting #2 I really want to try to make it a priority again. It’s such a fun way to document our lives and something I can pull from easily to make photo books for the kiddos as they get older. And that is why I need to embrace tardiness and be okay with it, ‘cuz it really is better to post later than never, right?
I didn’t take many photos at all over Christmas. I am a little bummed but there really isn’t much we could do about it. Our sweet little boy was very sick and we had to go to urgent care on Christmas day to get him checked out. Thankfully they were able to discover the issue and prescribe the proper meds. Simultaneously he was getting his first tooth, so you can imagine the hot little mess he was. Needless to say, our Christmas day photos were not happening. It’s crazy how your heart breaks into a million little pieces when your little one is sick and there isn’t much you can do {believe me, we had humidifiers going, sat in the bathroom with the shower steaming it up, and pretty much bought CVS and it still wasn’t enough}. Both my husband and I felt helpless, but shortly after we got home from urgent care we started the antibiotic and cleared his nose and it seemed like our baby boy was on his way back to us.
The next morning we opened his gifts with him and finally took some Christmas photos. Not only were we excited to capture our little guy more like himself on this milestone day, but we were quite excited to finally make our big news public ;-)
So, a belated but with much meaning Merry Christmas to you and yours!! I hope you were able to enjoy quality time with loved ones and were able to appreciate the significance of the day!
Merry Christmas Card 2012
I am a creature of habit and it seems that applies to my Christmas cards. I used Tiny Prints again this year for our Merry Christmas mail {I also used them for the babe’s birth announcement}. Love their selection, their customer service and that I often have coupons from them. This year I felt like this card was made just for us :-)
Merry Christmas, love the Z Family!
Scenes from Christmas
Gifts ready to be mailed to family in Connecticut
Our tree
We were a little spoiled this year ;-)
My mom (Mome) sent a gift to Baby Z. Love.
I made dessert for Christmas Eve
More Christmas Eve desserts. Santa Hats!
Christmas morning goodness!
One of the best places to be to celebrate Christmas: Church.Read More
Merry Christmas Card
It’s our very first Christmas card {even though it’s our second Christmas married–oops!} and I wanted to be sure all our friends that visit this space got one as well! Wish we could mail out hundreds upon hundreds of them but well, I married an accountant and he’s gotten pretty good at roping in this blogger’s willingness to spend money.
So Merry Christmas from the Z family :-)
I used Tiny Prints for our cards this year and was quite pleased with the way they turned out. I liked them so much that I just might use them for Baby Z’s birth announcements as well.
And, if you like the photo then you’ll love Kathleen Noel Photography as she took the shot. Thanks Kathleen, you’re the best!
Read MoreHope in Action: Christmas
It’s been a while since I posted in the Hope In Action series and thought what better way to dive back in than through a Christmas themed entry—‘Tis the Season!
For those of us who have friends and family that would feel honored to have a gift made to someone else in their name I thought I would share three organizations that I really admire (one I have featured on in this series already).
Bright Hope: Bringing Hope to those living on less than a $1 a day.
A friend of mine, scratch that, two friends of mine, work at this organization. What I really like about them is that their goal is to partner with the local church in the most impoverished areas of the world to provide for their physical, economic and spiritual needs. What better way to holistically care for people in the long term than to equip and empower the local church to be the hands and feet of Jesus to their community?
If that is the kind of mission that tugs at your heart strings you can purchase gifts through their gift catalog.
World Vision and Compassion:
I really appreciate both of these organizations and if your heart is for children, these just might be the ministries for you. Mr. Z and I sponsor a child through Compassion and I trained for the Chicago Marathon this year with World Vision (until we found out I was with child that is).
Both of these organizations have ways to give. Compassion’s program, Gifts of Compassion allows you to purchase items in someone’s name as does World Visions Gift Catalogue.
For those of us who would like to give a tangible gift to friends and family here are a few options for buying with purpose.
31 Bits: Using fashion and design to empower women to rise above poverty.
I LOVE this organization and their products. In fact I’m pretty sure their jewelry will make it on my Christmas list this year. I’ve written about them already in Hope In Action and as I stated before, what fuels this organization is the love of Christ. They believe this love has the power to make positive change and I wholeheartedly agree with them.
They also have a couple items in their Partnerships section of their site that not only benefits 31 Bits but also other organizations that are making a difference. You can double your gift-giving impact through one of those purchases.
These guys produce not only some of the best coffee but they are doing it with a purpose. I first heard of them a few years ago and was quite impressed with their mission. I don’t know of many other coffee producers who organize trips to take their consumers to meet the farmers and help in the community however possible while they are there.
“Every bag of coffee has a story.
We want you to know what that is. And how you play into it. We want to connect you to the children who grow-up among the trees in Honduras, the family who hand-picks the cherries in Guatemala, the farmers tilling the soil in Uganda, the sustainable farming practices in Brazil, the school fees that are getting paid again in Tanzania.
The best coffees tell stories.
Coffee Ambassadors is pursuing transparency, excellence, and relationships equally. To connect the consumer to the crop. To remind us that relational trade is not only possible, but powerful.”
So for the coffee drinker in your life you could buy them a bag or two or perhaps explore their Gift Box option.
And for those of us that might have much purchasing power this Christmas season, you can always participate in this lovely idea:
A21 was started by a mighty woman of faith that I admire greatly. If you haven’t heard her speak before you need to download some of her podcasts and speaking engagements. Her name is Chris Caine and she has a blog on her website. Her heart broke for trafficked women and God called her to do something about it. That’s how A21 Campaign came to life {in a nutshell of course}.
This Christmas A21 is providing people the opportunity to send a Christmas card to trafficked survivors who are currently in their shelters. I thought this was a brilliant idea!
“Did you know that over 1.9 billion Christmas cards are sent each year? That’s right, 1.9 billion! The tradition started over 200 years ago and still continues globally because cards are reminders that even in the midst of the busyness, you’re thought of and remembered.”
What a powerful opportunity to let a woman know she is not forgotten and that you are praying for her. Seriously, I LOVE this idea.
There are hundreds of wonderful organizations out there that will allow you to make intentional purposes or complete intentional acts of love. These are just a few that I am aware of. No matter what we do with our gift-giving this year, let’s not forget why we celebrate Christmas and what it means to follow the One we celebrate.
Read MoreBorn to Die
The familiar tune flowed from the speakers in my car. The lyrics pierced through my heart right to my core. Tears welled in my eyes as I visualized the picture the singer was painting. Such majesty, beauty and purity leaving the splendor of the Heaven He created to be born into a world opposed to all that He is. From glory and light, to mud and darkness—in a bed of hay no less.
I clung to that feeling, the awareness of my life and soul apart from Him. Unable to grasp how He could be born to die.
Conviction swept over my heart. My weak flesh so easily gives in to the cares of my own life, so easily neglecting the Gift I’ve been given. So easily forgetting the cost of my sinful life, redeemed by a baby born to die.
Read MoreBorn to Die
By Bebo Norman
They never knew a dark night
always had the Son’s light
on their face
Perfect in glory
Broken by the story
of untold grace…
come that day
Majesty had come down
Glory had succumed now
to flesh and bone
In the arms of a manger
In the hands of strangers
that could not know
Just who they hold
Chorus:
And the angels filled the sky
All of heaven wondered why
Why their King would choose to be
Be a baby born to die
And all fell silent
For the cry of an infant,
the voice of God
Was dividing history
For those with eyes to see,
the Son would shine
From earth that night
Bridge:
To break the chains
Of guilt and sin
To find us here
To pull us in
So we can join in Heaven’s song
And with one voice around the throne
Chorus:
All the Angels filled the sky
And I can’t help but wonder why
Why this King would choose to be
Be a baby born for me
Be a baby born
Be a baby born to die
