It's finally done! We hosted our Christmas celebration for my Mom and Dad and sister and her family this last weekend. I had a nice long laundry list of things I wanted to get done to have my house presentable for the weekend, but the Lord dealt with me strongly last week and reminded me that what I have is perfect and I need to be content with it. My family isn't judging me by the contents of my house. And I know that's true. But. I wanted to make sure my Christmas Mantle was done before everyone got here. I was looking for the last thing to make it what I was picturing, and I found it at Meijer of all places. I went into the seasons wanting to do a silver and gold mantle. That's way out of my normal realm of decorating comfort, but I was seeing a lot of things I really like and I thought I'd give it a try. Once I started brainstorming, I hit a wall. I had the mantle set totally different and hated it. So, I decided to venture out and see if I could get some cheap pieces to complete it the way I wanted. I knew I wanted our main nativity on the mantle because I want it to be the focus, and I feel like I was able to do that. Alright, here we go... Alright, let's start with my trustly white candle holders. I think they've made an appearance on every mantle I've set in the last year. But I love them. The big white one is from Target. The tall white one was a donation from my mother years ago. The short gold pillar candle I got from Home Goods, and the shimmery tree I got at Meijer. That three was the last piece that pulled everything together. I searched and searched and finally found it when I wasn't even looking for it! So, this is my Willow Tree nativity. I don't even have the complete set, but I love it. I know it's very traditional and very popular, but I love the simplicity of it. The star tree behind it I picked up at Dollar Tree about 5 years ago. The print in the frame I made because I couldn't find anything I like. It's free to download here. I LOVE love love the cable knit candle holder. I snatched it up fast from Home Goods for a mere $5.99. They had a similar one that was a bit taller and was a different knit pattern for the same price. I put it back but I'm planning on going back to see if I can get that one for a steal as well! Oh, and it's ceramic, not actual knit. The tree star I got with the other from Dollar Tree and the glass jar I got from Home Goods as well. (Can you tell I hit jackpot at Home Goods? Love that store!) I picked up the small gold ornaments from Meijer and I used the leftover silver bulbs I had from our tree. All in all I really like the way this mantle came together. It wasn't what I had originally picture, but I'm glad that I somewhat pulled off a silver and gold mantle. I'm including the print from the frame and it is linked for download. Happy Tuesday!
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It's Christmas time! It's my favorite time of year. Most of the time. This year I've had a really hard time getting into the "Christmas Spirit". Growing up, my Christmas season was all about church programs and parties. I come from a pretty large family and we had set traditions. I just knew how it was going to be. I could count on pretty cool gifts under the Christmas tree and nacho dip at the family party. We had movies we watched on certain days at certain times. Christmas was Christmas. It was the same, and I loved it. I'm normally the type of person who's got our Christmas tree up pretty early in November. I listen to Christmas music before Halloween. I'm even ok with snow until the day after Christmas. But this year, I just couldn't seem to get my heart into it. Then I realized something. My Christmas season wasn't about me. It's not about the traditions I create with my own family. It's about Jesus. It's about sacrifice. It's about showing up. I think sometimes we get so caught up in the cuteness of the nativity story. Who doesn't love a newborn baby? And maybe not everyone thinks about this (but I'm a hopeless romantic, so I do) but seriously, the love story between Mary and Joseph. Maybe not that they were pining for each other and gazing lovingly into each others eyes, but that they chose each other. They chose to model love to each other. Love that they hadn't even really seen yet. Man, that's good stuff. When Jesus came into our world, he came knowing he had a death sentence. He lived for 33 years knowing what was going to happen, and still he chose us. He chose to come. He chose his situation and circumstance. He chose to be part of a low, struggling, broken people. He chose sacrifice- sacrificing himself, ultimately (and thankfully not permanently) sacrificing his relationship with his father. Thinking of all that, it kind of makes my Christmas traditions seem silly. Yeah, Christmas caroling and nacho dip are great, but what's the point? Is the point of Christmas to create new traditions with my kids that involve Church programs and family parties and gives me the warm fuzzies? No. It's not. Those things are great and our family and our church are both gifts God has given us. But I suppose THAT'S the point. God gave us a gift. Not a gift we open and shove in a drawer to keep forever, but, a gift that we have to keep giving. This Christmas I'm choosing sacrifice. I'm choosing to show up in the lives of others. I want to teach my kids that Christmas isn't about gifts, or traditions, or parties. It's about loving others so deeply that we are willing to give the gift of Jesus. I want my kids to say, yeah, we had parties and nacho dip, but man did we give. And love. And give. And love. We showed up to be Jesus, and to gift love when people needed it most. Thankfully, the Lord revealed all of this to me at the beginning of our Christmas season. As I sit down and organize our holiday calendar, I have the opportunity to make it look a little different this year. And I'm honestly so excited! THIS is what's Christmas spirit is! Would you consider doing it with us? Consider how you can show up in someone elses life this Christmas and give the gift of Jesus. I made this to hang up by our front door to remind us everytime we leave the house that our goal is to give the gift of Jesus. It's free to download here. Happy Tuesday!
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HEY, I'M JESSICA!
Christian. Wife. Mommy. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. Saved.Redeemed. Beloved.
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