She's Baaaaa-aaaack!! Back with a message!

Wow, it seems like forever since I've been writing. I've missed it tremendously. Between schoolwork, moving, cleaning, family raising, etc, it just seems I didn't have the time anymore! But I have made a vow that I will MAKE the time - at least once a week - to sit down and blog. Why? Because I miss it, and I miss my followers (most of whom I follow back!).

We've moved! We left our rent house (which we pretty much hated) and moved into a nice 120 (almost) year old home. There is a lot of history in this house, from a lot of families. Most recently, my husband's family. His grandparents bought this house in the 70's and it's been in the family ever since. We are blessed to be here - rent-free - and we believe the utilities will be a lot lower as well. Those two blessings will enable us to repair our credit and save up some money. It will be nice to be debt free.

Christmas is coming - YEA! I love this time of year. I'll love it even more when we get the Christmas decorations up. The music, the decor, the movies . . . the COOKIES! I have made a promise to myself (and my kids) that I will try MANY different cookie recipes this year. Of course I've already made a batch of my I-wish-they-were-famous chocolate chip cookies. Next - snickerdoodles. Then gingerbread, sugar cookies, candy cane cookies, and Kissy-Thumbprints (thumb prints with a Hershey's kiss instead of jam). Yes, 'tis the season for sweets in the DeMoss house!

Speaking of Christmas, this brings me to a very important message - What is Christmas about?

For many people this year, Christmas is going to be hard. They will scramble and go into debt to make sure their kids get a "good Christmas". But what makes a good Christmas? Is it the gifts? Is it the mountains of food piled up on the table? Is it the decorations, the music, the movies, the cookies?

No. Christmas is about three things - memories, family, and a tiny little baby that was brought into the world to atone for man's sin.

We, as a society, teach our children that Christmas is about how many toys Santa brought, or how many candy canes Billy can fit into his mouth, or how many cookies did mommy bake (yes, I am guilty of this as well). But we should be stepping up to teach our children "in the way they should go". This year, for example, my kids will get one or two okay gifts - nothing overly special or fancy - from "Santa". The rest of the gifts (three gifts to represent the Magi that visited Christ) will be used items from a thrift store or from yard sales. We want our focus this year to be on the REASON for Christmas. They'll get tons of other stuff from their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. It's our job, as parents, to teach them.

I urge you to this year focus on the Christ Child this season. Teach your children about the blessing of grace and salvation, teach them about charity and giving.

This is what the Lord commands of us.