On Thanks and Giving

The last fall leaf will soon be falling from my favorite tree in our yard.  The leaves that have already fallen have yet to see a rake this season.  We enjoy the "messiness" of our yard in the fall.  Something about it is so serene, so quintessentially right (though the strangers who keep coming to the door and asking if we want them to clean our yard for a small fee would potentially disagree).   Fall stirs something up within us that no other season does.  It could be the fact that the air is finally fresh again after the first rain or two...it could be that the season unfolds before us so rapidly that if we blink too long we miss it...or that the cooler temperatures breed the desire for cozying up under blankets with our little loves and a hot drink.

Fall sings to our souls.

And to close out the all-too-short fall season is my favorite holiday...Thanksgiving.   I love enjoying a meal around the table with loved ones.  I love the smells that waft from the kitchen throughout the rest of the house that say "something delicious is coming."  I love teaching our children about gratitude and hearing what Camdyn is thankful for.  Most recently?  She listed off Jesus, shoes, her bed, and her mommy.  With the exception of a Daddy or Max mention, I'd say that's a pretty accurate list.  It's the simple things.  And we have so much more to be thankful for again this year.  After such a big summer, in a way, we began celebrating Thanksgiving in June! We are thankful for health, for a life that sometimes, some might call "boring," for our growing littles, for sharing the season with people we love.  We are thankful for the times that God tell us to just wait, to wait on Him for direction, for an answer, no matter how long that may be...because we are also thankful for His sovereignty.  Over everything.

I was at the store the other day picking up a couple of grocery essentials.  While I was standing in line, there was a woman a few people ahead of me who was speaking to the cashier about Thanksgiving.  As she was putting her bagged groceries in the cart, she said that she really didn't "celebrate Thanksgiving at all, anyway."  She said that she really only liked it "for the food," then proceeded to list off all the food she wanted to eat over the holiday.

Really?  I thought to myself.  It just sounded so pointless and sad.

But unfortunately, it makes sense.  We live in a time where Halloween gets more "screen time" than Thanksgiving.  Where we are unwillingly catapulted from the end of Halloween straight into Christmas...but not real Christmas.  Commercialized Christmas.  They are two very different things.  We see commercials for Black Friday specials left and right...and now "Brown Thursday?"  Stores opening specifically on Thanksgiving night because they want to draw crowds of people who want to get a jump start on their "Christmas" shopping.  Why can't we just have a few solid hours to really celebrate Thanksgiving...without rushing out the doors to catch the latest steal of a deal?  And where are all the Thanksgiving decorations?  They were quickly replaced with all things Christmas immediately following Halloween.

But why?

I have no problem with the idea of Black Friday...I love a good bargain as much as the next person.  I love to get the most "bang for my buck" when shopping for loved ones.  But when did Thanksgiving become about shopping specials?

Our pastor said it right yesterday when he said that it doesn't make any sense to "give thanks" if you aren't expressing that gratitude to someone in particular.  It would be senseless to give thanks to the universe for what some would consider a "cosmic accident."  So what option does that leave?

I remember old song lyrics from my childhood:

Give thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks to the Holy One,
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His son.

And now let the weak say, "I am strong,"
Let the poor say, "I am rich,
Because of what the Lord has done for us,"

Give thanks

So that's what we do.  We give thanks to God with our grateful hearts for all the ways He has worked in our lives..for the things that are really big, like making Camdyn healthy again this year and keeping our baby boy perfectly healthy.  And we give thanks for the things that seem small, like fresh socks to wear, food on the table, piles of laundry left over after a super fun surprise trip to Disneyland (post with photos coming soon!).

But we can do more than simply give thanks.  We can give ourselves, our entire beings, to God.  It's what He wants from us.  It's all we can give to Him.  We can give him ourselves without withholding anything from Him.  It's no easy thing, especially when we firmly believe we have something to offer and that we can do this thing called "life" all by ourselves.  He doesn't want part of us.  He doesn't want the day's leftovers from us.  He doesn't want us for the things we would consider our talents or skills.  He doesn't want us for the good things we do or say.

He just wants us. 

The good, the bad, and the ugly, if you will.  The moment we start thinking we have something to offer Him, we don't.  He will use every ounce of us in ways that we would never consider.  He used Moses to speak, though he was unskilled in speech.  He used a small boy named David to defeat a giant.  He used the apostle Paul, who, before his conversion, persecuted and threatened murder to those who proclaimed Jesus as Lord.

And He can use us, too...but only if we give ourselves to Him.  That's the "giving" part of Thanksgiving to me.  We offer our thanks to God for all that He has done for us, given to us, and has yet to do.  He is full of grace...the "unmerited favor" that none of us deserve, but that we all receive when we turn to Christ.  And in turn, we are to offer ourselves to Him.

Unrestrained.

Without argument.

Unhindered.

Completely.

Not "Ananias and Sapphira-style."  But ALL of us.  Each part.  Every last bit.

That's Thanksgiving.  May yours be filled with heartfelt thanks and family, while giving Him the best offering you have.

Heartfelt Homemade

I love things that are handmade.  In a world where so much of what surrounds us can be made with a machine, handmade items scream "special" to me.  Someone's very hands took the time to create something unique.  Individual.  One-of-a-kind.  These are the things that are "future family heirlooms."  It would be so easy to get something mass-produced, perfect, whipped up in minutes.  But then it loses it's heirloom quality.  Handmade items ooze with history, thought, care...and love.  And just the same way I aim to pass down the family heirloom of faith in Christ to my children, I want to pass down handmade items that will prompt memories of our faith, our life, and our home.

While it always seems as though I have more ideas than time or energy (as any mom to little loves understands), I do love to exercise my creativity when I can.  It's an outlet for me and brings so much fulfillment.  As a child, I watched my mom craft things with her hands, my grandmother was constantly crocheting, and there was never a shortage of craft supplies in our house.  In college, I minored in art for my own personal enjoyment.  And now, being a stay-at-home mom, my creativity needs to pack up easily, away from curious fingers (and because I simply can't stand to have a mess out for long).  But I've always desired to utilize my God-given talents...and I want to honor Him through them.

So I'm opening a little Etsy shop.  A little shop with a big heart.  It is {appropriately} named The Big Red Heart...inspired by my very own {biggest} little love.  It all began with a project for her bedroom that I worked on this summer...but what I love is that I automatically have the flexibility to create...to create whatever flows through my veins.

My first real embroidery project for my sweet pea's bedroom!

And it will provide the chance for me to help fill in any "gaps" in the family budget, to pay off debt, and essentially, to be able to bless others beyond what we are able to do now.

And Thursday is the day.  As in...tomorrow.  And if you're reading this before 10pm CST, you still have the chance to enter a giveaway on Instagram for some lovely handmade items, including a hoop art by "yours truly" and a gorgeous pillow cover by my talented, dear friend, and "fellow etsy shop owner" of Paisley Sprouts!  So hop on over to TheBigRedHeart on Instagram to enter!  

And happy handmade shopping!