Sacred Holidays: Less Chaos, More Jesus

Sacred Holidays, what started as a ministry to bring advent and lent bible studies & reading plans have morphed into a book about making the holidays sacred. There are some things Becky Kiser gets right and there are still some things I feel she misses the mark on.

So let's start with what she gets right. She offers solid planning ideas and space to plan your holidays and birthdays. She offers grace about being different and doing holidays differently. She's adamant about learning how to say no so that you can say yes to the valuable things. I love that she wants us to plan 30-60 days in advance the holidays and birthdays, which would make my life so much easier, as we have 5 children and birthdays can be quite hectic since they seem to come back to back (March 4, May 3, May 7, May 30, & August 9). 

She helps us tackle budgeting because while some are natural budgeters, some of us are not (*raises hand*).  She helps us set realistic expectations of ourselves because it is easy to try to do it all the first year and it may not happen or it may not be consistent. And the goal is consistency. 

So, baby steps (Becky's words). 

So, with all that said, what could have possibly gotten wrong?  For me, it lies in the chapter on Halloween. That's one holiday I refuse to celebrate. Regardless to how you dress it up as having some Christian roots, it is a day that satan worshippers revere & celebrate as much as we, Christians, do Resurrection Sunday and Good Friday. I can appreciate what she attempts to do by suggesting that we engage our neighbors on the holiday and share the gospel.

Maybe we're those Christians because for us it's simple either you serve God or you serve satan by turning from God. Revelations is quite clear, being warm isn't acceptable to God. You're either all in or you're out.

For what this book intends to do, for the most part, it hits the mark: to have less chaos and have more Jesus during the holidays.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

The Lifegiving Parent

There are some authors I instinctively turn to for parenting advice. Sally Clarkson is one of them. She has a remarkable way of showing parents, especially mothers how our motherhood is ministry work even if we never actually serve in a ministry at church. And here we come to the finale of a trilogy of books (the review for book 1 will come after this one). 

The Lifegiving series is one that seeks to transform the way in which we live, in how hospitable we are, and how we parent our children. It's not pushy as you must do these things but is more of showing different ways that she and her husband are doing it and have been doing it for decades. 

The Lifegiving Parent is a joint effort between Sally and her husband, Clay. Prior to reading, I thought it would be equal writing between them as I absolutely enjoy Sally's writing style. However, after reading, I realize that this is really Clay's book. Sally contributes at the end of each chapter little tidbits of momoirs of her take on what Clay has discussed in the chapter.

I'll be honest, it is a fairly good book when it comes advice on parenting. It has 8 touchpoints of ways we as parents shape and give life to our children. Each one is equally important to the parenting of our children and each one plays a huge part in who they will eventually become. And as parents, especially as Christ-following parents who want to be intentional about raising our children to have a strong foundation and faith in Christ, this book is a good point in the right direction for accomplishing that goal.

My only drawback is that I expected more of Sally's writing. Much of the promotion on this book is that it is a Sally Clarkson book, only to realize once you start reading that it is really a Clay Clarkson book and it banks on Sally's name to draw the audience. Clay is a good writer, however, for me, he doesn't have the charm and drawing in the reader quality like Sally does. Sally's words do more than tell a story and convey a message they illustrate the imagery she wants you to see and helps you to imagine the sights and smells that she's telling you about. Clay's writing does not quite have that effect and that's OK because it's what distinguishes him from Sally. 

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

A Memory a Day for Moms

EEK!! I love, love this book!!! So it's set up as a journal but there are prompts for each day and it is dated. For each day of the year, there are 5 spaces with each space allowing you to put what year you are responding for (see the below).

The great thing is that you can start whenever you like! And it prompts you about yourself, about your kids, and about your spouse. It prompts you to leave memories not just for you to reflect on but ones that you can pass on to your children.

This is a hardcover book with fairly thick pages. There's also golden page marker. Then on each page, there is a bible verse that kind of correlates with the journal prompt as well as a prayer prompt.

I've already started filling in the dates from March (since I got it). I plan to pass it on to my kids when they are older and maybe invest in a second one in order to catch about ten years worth of memories for them.

I do recommend this for mamas, especially busy mamas because it helps us remember to stop savour the little things in life that we often take for granted. 

FYI: I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.