Thanksgiving Thoughts

New ideas and traditions abound this Thanksgiving Day in the Wallace home. We started the day a new way with a snuggle time devotion in our bed.

First we all piled in and David read Psalm 100. And then each of our girls read Psalm 100 from their different versions of the Bible. Even our youngest... with a little help from Mom.

It was so beautiful.

Next, instead of waiting for the big dinner to do kernels of corn and say five things we're thankful for, we each took sheets of paper and listed lots and lots of things from this past year we're thankful for.

Before I share our lists, an idea hit me. What if we took these lists and found ways to make them come true for others in 2010?

So that's our plan for 2010. Want to join us?

First make a list. Then choose as a family which things you're thankful for to make happen for someone else.

I'd love it if you could share some ideas here. We just might inspire each other and others to make 2010 an incredible year of blessings.

Here's my thankful list:

Jesus being real and powerful in my life
My husband and amazing daughters
David's job
Anchor church and participating in the Children's Ministry through drama
Writing
Teaching
WORD~ Writer's of Remarkable Design
Tao Hsieh Wu Shu and the amazing believers we've met there
Writing a new book that I'm loving

The encouragement from readers and fellow authors who have become friends~ you all make my life so much richer!

Lizzy~ a young lady I'm mentoring in writing

Chip MacGregor~ my awesome agent who keeps me striving higher and working happier

Best friends~ Jen, Sharon, Elizabeth, and Carrie. I love praying with these ladies, laughing, and being nudged to keep growing and loving well

Beauty Secrets of the Bible book~ it's made us rethink our definitions of beauty and see ourselves as beautiful

Beach trips with friends~ Stewarts and Medlins. You guys make it soooo much more fun!

Fresh air
Clean water
Abundant food
A comfortable bed
Books
Laughter
Health~ being in better health this year because of martial arts
Our Compassion Children
Freedom

David's list included many of the above plus:

The gift of a car we couldn't afford
Men's Bible study
A mentor
Growth in our relationships

Our girls has these things to add:

My Bible
My toys
Disney trip
Pictures of fun times
Light
Clothes and PJs
Food and treats
Heaven
Life
Nature
Education
Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes
Indoor plumbing
Animals
Snuggle sessions and devotions

Right away, my mind zeroed in on fresh air, clean water, Bibles, and other things we can be part of bringing to people around the world.

Also, church ministries. What are your gifts and how can you use them in your local body?

How about special times with loved ones and welcoming someone without that into your home and heart?

The possibilities are endless. So what will you do all through 2010? Please share your ideas!

And have a Thanksgiving filled with special, heart-filling moments of love!

Thanksgiving mishaps

Now that many thoughts are turning to turkey and all the fixings, I'm gonna share a red-faced Thanksgiving moment.

This holiday humor is inspired by my dear friend Sharon Hinck as we traded Thanksgiving foibles today.

First you should know that two years ago I was diagnosed with gluten allergies as well as an allergy to eggs and dairy. Sort of shoots Thanksgiving recipes out of the water, huh? Yep.

So this year we're getting creative with all new recipes we pray retain the taste.

So far we've tried cranberry chutney which turned out pretty well. And I baked a from-scratch pumpkin pie.

That's my offering for today's holiday chuckle.

To begin with, I made this pumpkin pie for the first time to take to our church's Thanksgiving meal.

First mistake.

But all went well the entire adventure. My kids looked on with awe as I masterfully pretended to know all about these weird flours and other stuff the recipe required.

A little over two hours later, the pie turned out looking great and smelling great. I even put a cute pumpkin cut out of crust on the top of the pie.

Then we loaded up our food offerings and proceeded to church.

The meal was wonderful. The company awesome.

But at the end of the evening I found the dessert table still held my almost intact pie.

Why?

Apparently, the thick pie crust was hard to cut.

As in try cutting a brick.

So it's back to the drawing board for me... I'm still working on allergy free and tasty... minus the bricks.

And I'll try it out on my family first. ;-)

Life lessons

I'm not big on jumping into the deep end with my eyes closed. It scares the daylights out of me.

But my family and I are part of an amazing group of believers who are also martial artists. The head of our school, our Soke, seems to think it's good to grow.

Which I'm all for... except that deep end, eyes closed jumping.

So he sort of shoved me~ nicely~ off that diving board.

And David and I landed in our first martial arts competition this past Saturday.

My hubby not only looked formidable, he also took ownership of his ring and came out with a second place trophy!

Way to go honey!!!

I came out of the entire experience having learned some valuable lessons.

The first is Do Your Best The FIRST time.

Circumstances converged to shake my confidence, and I didn't adjust. I stayed shaken and technically did a good job with my traditional form~ so says my husband. He's sort of biased, though.

But I knew inside I'd not done my best. And I was ticked at myself.

God was gracious and gave me a second chance. I'd tied for third, and a trophy was on the line.

So I got out there and gave it my all. I earned a score I'm proud of and experienced the difference between good and best.

It's a lesson I won't forget.

The second lesson is to never stop learning.

One of my favorite people in our martial arts school inspires me to keep reaching higher and learning more. She's graceful, amazingly strong (I have bruises to prove it) and such a beautiful person inside and out.

Julia is the kind of person who teaches by example and encouragement. I want to be more like her as I grow in martial arts.

The last lesson I'll articulate here is to cheer for others~ loudly.

No matter what you're doing, sometimes the difference between giving up and giving your all is someone in the crowd cheering for you.

I want to be the person whose words spur others on and strengthen them to do their best.

So that's my goal for the next tournament: Do my best the first time, keep learning, and cheer others on~ loudly.

It's my goal for all of life too.

One last thing I learned... martial artist have pretty good taste in books. Don't ya think? ;-)

Twenty years too late for prom

Seeing as I've already passed my twentieth high school reunion, I've had little use for a prom dress.

Until the first part of November, that is.

My family and I were recently asked to be in a wedding and we said yes. That involved a trip back home to Louisville and getting my children and myself all dressed up. Hubby even donned a tux. He looked amazing too!

We practiced and talked a lot about proper wedding manners.

And we survived. No one fell. (I tripped a couple of times.)

No one burped the ABC's at the formal dinner either.

Success! ;-)

But our kids were ready for bed after a long spin on the dance floor. David and I were not.

So we took a nice horse drawn carriage ride and then headed back to the hotel in downtown Louisville.

The girls were given a cell phone and strict orders not to burn the hotel down while David and I did something we've never done before...

We left our oldest (of baby-sitting age) in charge and went out for a very late dinner.

Dressed in prom attire.

I've never been looked at so weirdly in my life.

I mean, really... what's so strange about a guy in a tux and a lady in a huge, billowing purple dress???

Maybe if we were in our teens and it was prom weekend, all would have been well.

But prom was a long time ago and so were our teen years.

Even so, David and I had a great time, a great dinner, and got some extra mileage out of our wedding attire.

So what do you think? Would you have given us weird looks???

Words

I have a love hate thing going on with words. From what I’ve noticed as a teacher, a church leader, and even in my home, lots of folks feel the same way.

We love words when we’re understood and hate it when we’re not.

We love crafting the right response to a sticky subject, sharing a word fitly spoken, and cheering up a friend. But at the same time, we hate when those things we call words fail us.

Aren’t you glad we can pray without words? (Romans 8:26)

This weekend, and into the holiday season, I encourage you to listen closely to your words. Are they saying what you want them to say?

Or are they getting you into trouble?

Either way, God is there with infinite patience and understanding and wisdom to help. After all, He spoke the world into being and is called the Author of our faith.

Talk to Him. If necessary, use words.

Welcome to our Homes This Christmas

A special treat for you all... Noel with the Novelists. Stay tuned for more details about this blog video tour of Christmas wishes from our homes to yours.

Here are some sneak peeks to get you in a holiday mood...

A Beauty Breakthrough

Have you ever picked up a book and knew right then it would change your world?

Well... I've picked up tons of books over the years and many have added depth and richness to my life. Some have even drawn me closer to Jesus and made me love Him more.

But until a few weeks ago, I couldn't say a book changed my world.

I'll share the title in a minute. But first, the big deal...

I have three beautiful daughters who I love with all my heart. Princesses I spend almost every waking moment with being both mom and teacher.

And I love it.

But my oldest and I have always looked at the world through different glasses and never quite found a way to meet in the middle.

That dissonance has reared its ugly head lately and left both of us hurting. And I’ve been unable to just walk away and hope it gets better this time.

Please tell me I'm not the only parent who tried to tuck something under the rug because you had no idea what to do with it!

Enter my best friend. Jen loves my girls dearly and me too. She's also the one to listen to me rant and then tell me I need to go have a talk with Jesus. Kind of a "you need a come to Jesus moment right now" sort of thing.

But last week, she didn't tell me to go talk with Jesus. Instead, she poured out His words until they overflowed my heart.

They stung at first. REALLY stung as she pointed to my aching heart and said I had a big part to play in that pain. As in you need to stop living with guilt and using it as a smoke screen to the real problem.

Ouch.

After about an hour, I was in tears. Something I'm not given to do where anyone can hear me. But Jen was right. And I needed a long stay in my heavenly Father's arms to see the past through His eyes, repent, and see my sins and my children's nailed to the cross.

Nailed there paid in full.

I got up from the floor of my bedroom and couldn't wait to see what God would do next, how He was going to answer my prayers for healing in my relationship with my oldest daughter.

Then I woke up the next morning and felt like a teen on my first date. Shy. Awkward. Wondering what in the world I was supposed to do.

God kept flashing the cover of a book in my brain and started walking my feet down to my oldest princess's room. There I stood in the doorway and asked if she'd like join me in a new beauty routine I'd started from this amazing book: Beauty Secrets of the Bible.

She said yes. And we had a totally normal, girly spa session that opened the door to another long talk. A talk that ended with lots of tears and true repentance.

And my daughter's assurance that I'd not lost her heart, but gained it.

Now there's so much more to this story that a blog couldn't contain. But I'll let my wise daughter's words sum it up....

After we read the ninth day of beauty devotions in Beauty Secrets of the Bible, my oldest looked me in the eye and smiled, saying, "I'm glad you got that book. It's helping me stop thinking I'm not beautiful and see that I am beautiful in Jesus."

We would have never had this ah-ha moment and the breakthroughs before if it hadn't been for God speaking through a best friend, a beauty secret, and an amazing book.

Want in on some of the beauty secrets that led to a bonding time with my daughter? Check out Ginger's website and some sneak peeks from her book, Beauty Secrets of the Bible: http://gingergarrett.com/downloads/

It may be that, like me, you need some time in your heavenly Father’s arms to sort out fact from fallacy and see yourself and your children as beautiful.

I pray you’ll make that time. And give yourself a treat that nudges you down that road. (hint: Ginger’s book is awesome!)