Papa's Pecans....An Object Lesson in Light and Darkness

In our Christmas Advent devotion book this morning, we were reading about the difference in light and darkness, why we need the light, how Jesus is our Light and why we need Jesus, the Light of the World. When God said, "Let there be light," was He foreshadowing The Light of his son and the first Christmas? 

While I was reading, Doodle and Butter were "pickin' out pecans." We've had the bowls on the school table all week....something I highly doubt you'd find in "real school." ("Pickin' out pecans" = carefully separating the pecan meat from the shells.)

As I was attempting to explain our need for Light, the two bowls before us came into sharp focus and became more than just pecans. They became an object lesson.

I had the kids close their eyes tight and attempt to separate pecan meat from pecan shell "in the darkness." It was impossible. The green bowl (pic above) represents lives in the darkness....a heart still filled with yucky, bitter "shells." Sin, if you will. A life without Light.  

The shiny silver bowl is nothing but cleaned, pure pecan meat...representing a life where the Light of Jesus has been shed abroad into the heart of the person...making it pure, new, cleansed. 

"Maybe that's why God has given us both darkness and light on earth - so we can understand that our lives are full of darkness without Jesus, but can be full of light with Him. Wouldn't you rather be full of light?"  ~ The Wonder of Christmas-A Family Advent Journey by Melody Carlson

Play Dough Fortune Cookies

Doodle has been making fortune cookies from play dough every spare moment this week. She was inspired by a handful of real ones she got in her Dorothy basket from our Halloween weekend in the mountains. She has been writing her own "fortunes" on tiny pieces of paper and burying them in the rolled up dough. This one caught me off guard and touched my heart.

A Basket Full of Thankfulness

This is a repost from last Thanksgiving. It was such a simple activity that ended up creating treasures. I kept some feathers for myself...the ones with love-words on them just for me. And I'm not the only one who still has feathers a year later! It's not too late to start your own basket for this Thanksgiving, you know!

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I found a pile of leftover paper turkey feathers for pinecone turkeys and paper plate turkeys of classrooms past. This year, we decided to use the feathers for something a bit different.

We took one basket, added a little sign, the feathers and a marker. For the week leading up to Thanksgiving, we are to write one thing we are thankful for on each feather....excluding toys and electronic games and such.

Digging deeper. Shifting our focus. What are we truly thankful to Father for this Thanksgiving season? What person or people have impacted our lives this year? What truths have been shown to us? What have we learned about His character this year? What fruits? What gifts?

On Thanksgiving Day, we'll take time as a family to pull out every single feather and thank God for what is written on it. I'm really excited about this. I can't wait to see what the kids write on their feathers!!!

Most importantly, I know the Lord will be blessed.

My Beautiful Grandmother

One year ago today. 

I miss her...we all do. I think of her often...when I see her picture on my dresser, when I see the bowl from her kitchen, when I remember our summer vacations together...I smile. She made me giggle at something every time I was with her. Laughing is a good thing. It's the good things I remember. She was loved so much.

My beautiful Grandma at our wedding almost twenty years ago.

The day our long, sweltering summer turned to the cooler, welcoming days of autumn is the day our beloved Grandmother went to spend eternity with Father.  September 23, 2010.

The significance of this day and the changing of the seasons has not gone unnoticed. At the end of our blistering summer, our flower beds were a mess. The day after Grandma's homegoing service, my Hero cleaned out the dried up, floundering plants and replaced them with straw until spring.

The last few years of Grandma's life were hard on her. We watched our beautiful, fragrant flower begin to wither and fade from the blistering heat of pain and a body that wilted but a mind that never forgot a thing. Our rare, beautiful flower dreamed of a new garden. She longed for the heavenly paradise where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears, no more wilting.

On September 23, 2010, our Father very tenderly, very gingerly, very peacefully plucked our beloved exquisite blossom from the earthly dwelling place where she bloomed brilliantly for almost a century.

He planted her in His heavenly garden, where her radiant blossom now flourishes with the newness of spring. And that's how it will stay for all of eternity.....Her face turned towards the Son, arms outstretched in worship to the Father she loved dearly, her voice of praise joining the angels and loved ones who have gone before us....in a divine paradise that will never fade.

"You have been born again,

not of perishable seed but of imperishable, 

through the living and abiding word of God; for

All flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower.

The grass withers, and the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord remains forever."

1Peter 1:23-25

"According to His great mercy,

He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through

the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

to an inheritance that is 

imperishable,

undefiled,

and unfading,

kept in Heaven for you."

1 Peter 1:4

A Scarlet Letter

Recently, I spent the evening with a group of my most favorite ladies. Collectively, these strong ladies have experienced the highest of highs, the lowest of lows and everything in between. Lots of wisdom and faith to move mountains...I just sit and listen.

I've been pondering some things shared that night...some real and raw things.

One friend felt she had a big "C" plastered across her head when she was given a C diagnosis. At first, she felt like all people saw was the BIG C. Not her. 

Another felt she wore a scarlet letter of shame because of a terrible accident involving her son that led to jail time for him. 

Carol Kent, an author/speaker/mom whose words have inspired many of us, speaks of feeling like she had "Mother of Murderer" branded across her forehead.

So, this is what has been rolling around inside of me...

Our circumstance does not equal our identity.

Two completely different things. 

Satan knows where we are vulnerable. Where our cracks, our weak spots are. He throws darts. Lies. He'll do anything to try to separate us from the Body of Christ. He'll do anything to try to keep us from living an abundant life apart from our circumstance.

I have a son with learning struggles...dyslexia, dysgraphia. Certain school work is agonizingly hard for him. Since I am not just his mother but also his teacher, I sometimes feel branded with an F. Failure.

Flaming dart.

And what about my sweet boy? Is he forever branded with a D?  ABSOLUTELY NOT.

We all have a choice. We can choose to wear that scarlet letter...the lie sent from Satan. We can choose to give in and wallow around in that mud hole, worrying what people must think or how alone we feel...

Or


Lift our eyes heavenward.

Rise above the circumstances...to where Jesus dwells. And freedom.

The place where we realize our identities are in Christ as His new creation.

Graham Cooke puts it this way: "We are not in our circumstances....We are in Jesus." 


I choose a life of freedom from whatever my "circumstances" may be. I may have to remind myself of my TRUE identity 57 times in a day. It's hard...and I haven't even experienced the hardest. But I choose it.

My friends I mentioned and the others who were there that night....they have all chosen to walk not in circumstances....but in their true identities found only in Christ.

A life tucked away in Christ.

Satan can fire his darts. The world can even brand with letters. But the darts miss and the letters fall off.

Because that's not who we are.

Remember:

Your circumstance...whatever that looks like right now...does NOT equal your identity. It is not who you are.


This precious children's book, You Are Special by Max Lucado illustrates this perfectly.

08/03/91 is where Our Story begins.....

The happy couple...

On Saturday, August 3, 1991, I married the love of my life. 

My hero.

My best friend.

My protector.

My encourager.

My sweetheart.

Fast forward TWENTY YEARS. I wouldn't change a thing and I'd do it all over again.

We wanted to do something special to commemorate this 20 year marriage milestone. 

Our dear friends generously shared their beach home so we kissed the kids goodbye and took off for the week. 

Special dinner...gift from friends

He knows his steak's coming...

This beach house is special to us. Our friends have owned it for about a decade and they've shared it with us since day 1. Hero actually helped move the furniture into the house when it was brand new.

My favorite spot in the house is way up on the third floor balcony in the wicker swing. So, at 3:00 p.m. on August 3, 2011 - the exact time we got married twenty years before - we made our way to the swing. We had written letters to each other to read in this moment. With a warm gentle breeze and swing quietly rocking, we shared our words with each other. This moment was a holy one...just as it was 20 years before.  We then began reminiscing and remembering and wow, the memories began to flow. One long-forgotten memory led to another. We laughed. We cried. We loved.

We renewed our vows to each other after a great celebration dinner at Tommy Bahama's. We made our way to the same balcony, same swing. Between the Father and the two of us, we pledged our lives to each other once more.

We were both so grateful for this time together. It was a time of refreshing, renewing, and strengthening of an already beautiful relationship.

His own words say it best:

Twenty years later, I see real Love in our midst,

a fairy tale love story only The Divine could put together.

I love you, I love you, and I love you.

I not only say it, but we are living it.

A Divine Love Story.

July Did Fly....

So...continuing my whole Catch Up On the Summer blog fest... July was great! Here's a smidgen of what happened!

The Boy turned 12!!! 

Pirate teeth!

Rayray went to Worldview Academy for the 2nd summer.

What else is there to do but use up eyeliner in July?

I kept my 3 plus BeachMama's 6 at the beach for the week
while BeachMama and BeachDaddy went on a great trip.

FOUR twelve year old boys....
that was a LOT of twelve-ness.

Bodysurfing in the rough, red-flag water...
This day took approximately 2.5 years off my life.