MomminginMinistry

 I know I'm definitely not the only one who has a list prepped for next year...all the things I've missed...the caroling, school concerts, cookie decorating parties with friends, pictures with Santa...but I can't say that the lack of hustle has been all bad. How many years have we lamented the way the business of the season gets in the way of the real reason for the season? Yet we've always felt helpless to do anything about it? What an opportunity many of us have had to dive into the advent books and richer discussions around the dinner table! But for many needing to worship from home for a variety of reasons during this season has been a big block and has left us feeling isolated from our community of faith.  So, we did a thing. This year we put together these Jesus Birthday Kits, which serve as a take-out-church alternative to our typical in-person Christmas Eve service. We had help from those who attend our Spanish service to translate the printed materials so they...

  A really crazy thing happened at our house this week. I made a quick decision on something for the first time in my life. Kind of.  We've been planning new floors upstairs for five years. We secured the finances to cover it a year ago. A month ago we started getting quotes, and wandering around Floor and Décor for hours. We brought home samples, and I moved them around to different rooms in our house to see them in every possible lighting. I walked on them, threw my decorative pillows on them, held them against the wall...This is how I roll.  I figured we'd make the decision after Christmas. Monday, we had our third quote from a guy who showed us approximately 12 (not 250) samples, gave us an excellent price, and said we could start tomorrow and be done by the end of the week. Sold. Before I could second guess myself we were hauling everything from the upstairs into the downstairs. I had no idea what messy hoarders the four of us were until the contents of my kids' clos...

  This virtual learning thing...I'm going to be honest. It isn't all one thing. It isn't one size fits all. It isn't all right or all wrong. One moment I find myself getting extremely defensive when someone paints a picture of the poor children having to learn at home, hidden away from the world, like Rapunzel in her tower, crying in front of screens and forgetting the alphabet. It kind of hurts my feelings. These were hard decisions and we may never know if we did the right thing. I'm sure my kids will have plenty to tell their therapist someday about the year 2020. Won't we all? But, overall I think they're learning stuff. They seem pretty happy, and well adjusted more often than not. We haven't been sick once in almost a year, which is a small miracle in our family, especially with the severe asthma that usually keeps them coughing and wheezing half the year following even a small cold. And our interactions are less frantic and rushed. We spend slow m...

 Dear Sweet Friends, What a year, right?! 2020 will always be associated with some strange things-toilet paper, zoom, and tigers. Masks are required but pants are optional now. People who used to be busy now make sourdough starters, homemade tortillas, and so much banana bread. Puzzles and sidewalk chalk were sold out. It was an all out sci-fi movie.  But, as I put together my boys' yearly Shutterfly picture books, I realized this year was so much more than a series of Netflix binges.  It actually started out pretty exciting for us. Last Christmas we purchased tickets to take the boys to Universal Studios Hollywood specifically to see Hogwarts and Diagon Alley.  We left town New Year's Eve, and rang in the New Year in a hotel room in Blythe. We joined everyone in the entire world in Hollywood for Christmas break. And despite the crowds (which feel like something from ancient history right now),we made some really great memories.  We did the Hollywood walk of fam...