Merry Christmas!



May the love and wonder of the season fill your heart and home this Christmas and throughout the coming year. I pray that God will continue to bless you as you have blessed me by following my work.

I hope you enjoy your free gift below. It is a beta copy of my Simple Lessons for the Journey ebook, a collection of encouraging thoughts from my writings.

I will be taking a short break from posting. I'll see you again next year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ann

Simple Lessons for the Journey ebook (beta version)

Family Traditions

(from the archives)
Ah, the smell of Christmas in the air. The aroma of cinnamon, sugar, and sweet golden cookies baking in the oven tantalizes the senses in our house this time of year. One of our Christmas tradition is baking cookies just as my husband’s grandmothers both did years ago. We even use many of the same recipes handed down for generations.


Some family traditions are fun, like baking yummy cookies or cutting your own Christmas tree. Others are a little different, like my in-laws baking ketchup into their macaroni and cheese. While still others are dangerous, or at best unhealthy, like anger issues, addiction, substance abuse and divorce.

Sometimes we can pass along or create traditions that we’re not even aware of. One year when our daughter was little, she became upset after we put out the nativity scene. To her it was on the wrong table. She didn’t want the position changed because to her its placement was a family tradition.

Unlike the physical traits we pass along to our kids, we can choose which traditions to carry on. We can even start fresh and create new ones. Unlike Hank Williams Jr., there are traditions from past generations in my family that I don’t want to continue. But to do so I need to make a conscious decision to take steps to circumvent them, keeping a watchful eye to take action should they arise. Just because they are part of my history, doesn’t mean they have to be part of my legacy.

Most families, if we’re honest, have a few unhealthy traditions. They may be obvious like: substance abuse, addiction or divorce or they may be more subtle like: prejudice, selfishness, money mismanagement, or irresponsibility. While we aren’t forced to carry on traditions, we do need to give thought to the one’s we’ve inherited so that we don’t inadvertently pass along undesired ones. Are there behaviors, temperaments and attitudes from past generations that you are unwittingly handing down to your children?

Now is a good time to reflect on just what family traditions you are passing along. Are they ones that reflect your values and create a stronger, healthier family? If not, there is never a better time to make a change than today.

While you are considering, please pass the milk. I need to pour a big glass to go along with my delicious sugar cookie.


Message for the Journey:
Family traditions provide us with a sense of identity, comfort and history. They can bring pleasure, but they can also bring pain if they are unhealthy ones. Just because something is part of our history does not mean it must be part of our legacy. May the traditions we pass down only be ones that glorify the Father.


©AnnWilds

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Just Keep Swimming


The animated movie, Finding Nemo, is a heartwarming tale of love and friendship. Watching it on tv recently with my daughter, we reflected on the memorable lines from the film. There are many to choose from: fish are friends not food, you guys made me ink, find a happy place, jelly man and Dory’s timeless mantra, just keep swimming.
No matter her circumstances, Dory keeps swimming. When she is lost or confused—which happens frequently—she just keeps swimming. When she is overwhelmed and doesn’t know what to do, she just keeps swimming.
Like a long distance runner, Dory presses on. Runners talk about hitting a wall when they run a marathon. The wall is where they’re on empty and feel like they just... can’t… go… any further. If they give in and stop there, they’ll not finish the race. But they know a secret that helps them continue; if they press on through the wall they’ll get a second wind. Their strength will be restored.
Our lives are like marathons—although we often try to run them as a sprint—where at times we too feel like we’re hitting a wall. We’re confused, stressed or overwhelmed: running on empty. But like the runner, if we press on, our strength will be renewed. God promises new strength for those who trust in Him. Through Him we'll be able to continue to run the race and not grow weary. All He asks us to do is simply take the next step out of faith.
Message for the Journey:
When trouble comes, just keep swimming. When you're overwhelmed, just keep swimming. You have an even better friend than Dory. With Him by your side, you never need swim alone.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great crowd of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Heb.12:1
                                                                                                                                      ©AnnWilds2011

Repairing Broken Treasures

Crack! The sound reverberated across the room. My family and I watched in horror as a slow motion scene unfolded. Our beautifully adorned Christmas tree crashed to the floor sending shattered ornaments everywhere. 



At a craft fair many years prior, my husband and I had discovered a booth selling handmade ceramic ornaments in the midst of summer. They were lovely so we bought four, but one was especially beautiful. A shimmery pale blue in color, it showed an idyllic scene of a snow covered family home. Every year since, we have purchased a new ornament to add to the collection.

The special blue one has hung on our tree every year since we bought it, although it is no longer as beautiful as it once was. We repaired it as best we could after the tree disaster but it will never be the same. 

When cherished treasures are broken they can often be put back together with glue. Sometimes the seam will be visible like the one that stretches across the face of the blue ornament. Other times the repairs will be invisible, but the structural weakness remains. No amount of glue can undo the damage and make it as good as new. No human glue that is.  

More than our possessions can be damaged in life. Even our treasured relationship with our spouse, family and friends may be wounded, sometimes so much so that they shatter. In the midst of the broken remains, healing and restoration seem impossible. The damage runs too deep. But nothing is impossible for God. He spoke all of creation into being; He can speak new life into dead relationships. 

If you love a person, don't give up on them, or your relationship, instead give them to God. Take responsibility for your actions, let them know they are still important to you, and leave the rest to the Great Restorer. It will take time but, unlike my fractured ornament, your idyllic family home can be made new. 


Message for the Journey:
When damaged, delicate treasures can rarely be restored by earthly means. The broken pieces can be glued but it is never as good as new. Yet, when the damaged treasure is a precious relationship, there is always hope. He that resurrects the dead can give new life to dead marriages and relationships. He makes all things new.

And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!"
Rev 21:5a
 ©AnnWilds2011


Do you have a praise report on a relationship that God restored? I invite you to share it below and spread hope to others.