The LifeGiving Home {Oct, Nov, Dec}

As we talk about the cooler months, it will be a great opportunity to plan ahead!

Home is Best

What makes your home the best and what could you do to make it even better?

What repeated rituals, rhythms of life, words spoken have become the ways that shaped your family culture? What do your children think of when they talk about your home? Shaping home culture takes time and forethought, but also shapes the foundations of faith and strength of relationship by what is practiced every day.

Warm fires blazing, candles flickering, music wafting softly amidst people chattering gives a picture of a home filled with life, beauty and fullness of daily celebrations in these lovely chapters. The cold of fall and winter weather mean more hours in doors, a season designed by God. But to occupy little and big minds and bodies sometimes requires planning.

When the places inside a home are intentionally crafted, these seasons can become the places where stories are read to inspire the heart, ideas discussed over hours of munching breads with body-pleasing warm soups. Discipleship is vibrant with time to discuss stories of Biblical heroes and quiet times to reflect on what one will become in their own life. These "pulling in" seasons can build deep souls, vibrant imaginations, close friendships.

Meals do not have to formal or fancy. Limited time to cook has made me craft my home meals with simplicity.  Sally emphasized that since meals are shared 365, three times a day, it is a time to captivate the attention of all who share these times with discussions of ideas, sharing of stories, listening to opinions shared, and cultivating a family community around friendship and sharing of hearts, souls and minds.

Personalities differ and circumstances change and so shaping these important rhythms of eating together can be planned to suit your own personal life demands. Simplicity is the rule for our family.   I don't have the time I used to in order to create new, delicious meals that most my family would enjoy as often as I used to in another season. Some of my young ones are still developing their palettes and don't appreciate new creations as much as I do.

Yet, regular meals shared by everyone over and over again gives children the opportunity to develop tastes that will eventually become welcome to them over time.

In my home, I keep things simple and we still enjoy our meals. :)

I also place my focus on keeping the home clean and organized and clutter-free, while it seems an obvious endeavor, is one I strive to stay on top of because it brings peace to everyone and makes being home much more enjoyable.

Sally says,

It is the giving rhythms of home that provide the right atmosphere for passing on the essential heart attitudes and warm relationships in life.

Blessed and Blessing

November is the season of giving and gratitude. We use it kind of as a refresher to remember to give and be thankful all year 'round.

Some ideas shared in The LifeGiving Home book include:

• Harvest Festivals, where everyone brings food to share
• Meals or plates of cookies or fruit breads for Friends
• Handwritten expressions (notes, cards, etc)
• Giving to missions or other non-profit
• Serving as a family in a soup kitchen
• Developing a heart for prayer by focussing each day on thankfulness

We must learn how to nourish a heart that is keenly aware both of God's abundance as it comes to us and the needs of the world around us. The grace of home is that it is a place where we are deeply nourished and given the capacity to be givers in our turn. -Sarah Clarkson

The Rhythm of Celebration

Christmas is a wonderful time for celebration. Everything feels different as joy often takes over the home and lights and sparkle brighten up the room and spirits.

We aren't just celebrating a season, but a Savior. The air is filled with wonder and worship. When you celebrate Christmas in love and service, you don't need to explain what Christmas is "truly" about. Simply live it and your children will know.

Create and strengthen those beautiful traditions during this season. Bringing close friends  and daughters together over traditional lunch fare year after year, having carol sings where families share baked goods, celebrating a simple "Shepherd's" meal only with candlelight, garners memories that cherish the astonishing event of "God become man through a tiny baby," and the amazement of children is cultivated while faith is shaped through the loving atmosphere is cultivated around the grace, love and artistry of the ever-living Christmas story.  Some ideas include:

• Observing daily Advent readings and weekly candle-lighting of advent wreaths
• Going to or having a yearly Christmas Tea
• Reading Christmas books and watching great Christmas movies, snuggled together on cold evenings
• Having a family gathering of the closest friends with a progressive dinner, traveling to homes over different courses of a meal.

It is in celebrating these rhythms that souls are shaped into habitual worshippers. Familiar traditions speak to adults long after they have left home because of the deep  imprint of God's love and family culture shared over and over again over seasons.

Make a place at home that means to belong.

Christin Slade

How to Choose a Good Book for Children

Sitting by the fire, squished up 5 deep on the couch, we all shared souls, hearts aflame and minds engaged in hundreds of captivating stories over the years. My daughter, Sarah, who is studying in Oxford, wrote 2 books about our experience as a family. (Caught up in a Story (aff) and Read for the Heart)

Many years ago,  I read every article I could about how to form the minds of children, how to cultivate genius. Every article I read said to simply read to children every day. And so, every day, we shared time together reading God's word, discussing the truths of His character, taking in His stories. Then, each day, we read and read and read.

Many have asked me what special focus I had, what curriculum I used to prepare children who would be accepted into the top universities in the world--Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, etc. This was my secret. I read to them almost every day of their lives, engaged their little minds in ideas and encouraged them to discuss what they had read. Then, often, I would have them write a story or poem or ideas of what they had learned. That is my secret.

And now, the thing I miss the most is our reading aloud because I became educated as I read to my children. Even though I had a degree from a university, I did not truly begin to become educated until I read with my children and learned so much of what I had never learned.

With so little time in a lifetime to read so many books, there is no time to waste on mediocre or meaningless books.  This truth is even more important during the brief years of childhood, when the spirit and mind are being shaped and appetites are being established.  Older teens and adults will need to read a wide variety of literature, but childhood is the time to feed developing hearts with the best of literature that will create a high standard of goodness and godliness for wider reading later in life.  Saturate their minds with good books and avoid teaser books that would dilute the standard of goodness.  Here are some qualities that help define a "good book" for your children.

Ageless: The story and/or illustrations are appealing to both children and adults.  The book possesses a distinctive verbal power, visual beauty, or both, that is recognizable by an eight-year-old or an eighty-year-old reader.

Timeless: The characters and themes of the book transcend time and culture.  It appeals to the higher ideals nad virtues of the human heart, mid, and experience that are meaningful from one generation to another.  It is not dated by too many passing cultural terms and references.

Living: It is filled with concepts and ideas that touch the heart and mind.  Whether fiction or nonfiction,it holds up a mirror to real life and living ideas.  It makes its subject come alive with enlightening insights about real people, real places, and real things.  It captures the imagination.

Literary:  It is well written with a natural flow of narrative, dialogue, and description.  The writing is engaging, clear, and grammatically acceptable.  It is a worthy model of the English language used well.

Whole:  It tells a compelling story that is interesting and satisfying.  The characters are developed and believable, the plot is clear and understandable, and there is a satisfying story arc that carries the reader from beginning to ending and ties together the characters and plot.  It appeals to both the heart and the mind.  There is a sense of satisfaction and closure when it is finished.

Redemptive:  The best books reveal literary glimpses of redemption, even if the author is not overtly Christian.  Those who reject the redemptive end up with despair, nihilism, or empty humanism.  Redemptive literature communicates an underlying reality of hope and the enduring power of good over evil.

Inspiring:  A good book is morally uplifting and provides literary models of sound moral character.  It feeds the moral imagination and inspires the reader to higher ideals and virtues.  It touches the Christian's spirit, regardless of its Christian-ness as a literary work, because it depicts true, honorable, and noble ideas.

Creative:  It stimulates the imagination through a creatively developed concept, characters, plot, and action.  It reflects the creative spirit of the image of the Creator God in the writer.  The author's creative use of words, themes, metaphors, description, and writing style draws in the reader.

To read more on the importance of books, check out Educating the Wholehearted Child!

Don't Be a Victim in your Own Story: Own Your Home--& a new podcast

If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.

Matthew 10:38

Slipping through cold, dark streets, threatened by the ominous shadows, my friend and I searched in the darkness for an apartment number we had memorized when we crossed the border from free Austria into communist regions where Christianity was forbidden.

Finally, we found the right building and climbed dark stairs, walking one step at a time from the tiny flashlight that shown on our feet, and found the door we had been seeking.

"Knock softly three times and they will know they can trust you." was our assignment.

Just as we finished knocking, the door slowly opened.

"He has risen," a small, thin woman said to us as she barely opened the door, just wide enough for us to see her dark eyes.

"He has risen, indeed," we answered as instructed.

A smile, lit from within herself, filled our space and she embraced us warmly and said, "Welcome."

As we tiptoed into the room, we could barely move.

Women filled every inch of space of the tiny apartment. On the floor, in the corners, stuffed on an old couch. And all of the sweet ones in the room also smiled and waved silently and bowed their heads in respect towards us.

This was an evening I will never forget.

As we opened the Bible and shared the messages we had prepared, the women sat spell bound for 3 straight hours, tears coming down their faces. They were so happy to be together and have the opportunity to hear the word of God being read, the joy and happiness spilled over.

Many had husbands in prison for their faith or because they taught children the Bible on Sundays. And yet, the humble reception and gratitude with which they welcomed us, will always stay in my heart.

Very little food, no heating in the frigid winters and scant books was the norm for all who called themselves Christ followers. Yet, I have rarely been in a place where the faith was so vibrant and the people so joyful.

As a young missionary, living behind the iron curtain, I was often taken aback by the difficulties of living in a country where Christianity was against the law. And yet, these women and their daughters considered it a privilege to suffer for their faith, where Christians were persecuted by losing jobs, having education refused, and having husbands put in jail.

Because I was young in my faith, I had to go through a process of growth from being weak and inexperienced, though sincere in my faith, to becoming wise, experienced and long suffering through the trials of my life. Spiritual strength does not come all at once.

However, because I was taught early in my Christian life, as a college student that Jesus wanted me to pick up my own cross and follow him. Then, thrown into Eastern Europe at an impressionable age, I saw carrying a cross with joy as a way of life in Missions.

(“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.)

As we enter holy week, the week when we  ponder Jesus' death and resurrection, it is a time to remember that we are called us to a life of sacrifice, to take up our crosses, to follow Him, to die to self--to overcome obstacles, to purpose to be steadfast in the life we have been given, to learn not to complain, to glorify God and to bring His life to our circumstances as an act of faith.

The Christian life is an exchanged life.

We no longer live for ourselves, but for the glory of Jesus, who bought us with a price, that we might live for him every moment, every day.

Yet, often, I see that cultural voices give us an excuse to fall victim to our difficult circumstances, to excuse complaining attitudes when life is hard or children are difficult or marriage is not what we expected to be, or or or.

"I cannot build a home that brings life and beauty because my children are too hard or my husband does not cooperate."

"I do not want to read one more article that calls me to ideals because I am limited and failing anyway."

This week, after having a couple of weeks or reprieve from the cold and snow, with buds beginning to show on the trees, we had unexpected frigid weather and 6 inches of snow.

Just like life!

Seems I never know when a storm will come into my life interrupting my plans, my days, my expectations. I had a reasonably planned expectations of what I would do for my Friday, and all sorts of challenges small and big, have interrupted my plans today!

Even as I have been writing chapters of my new book with Nathan, we are both remembering some of the heart-breaking times of his growing up years, the battles, the struggles he had on a daily basis, and the ways it influenced all of us.

Yet, if I am a true disciple of Jesus, as a young mama, I had to accept his exceeding difficulties as a part of the life in which I needed to bow to Jesus, accept my cross and glorify God right where I was.

I learned to accept every twist and turn in the road as a part of God's allowed circumstance.

And this hardship, difficulty that sometimes seems too challenging to mount of over, becomes my place of worship as well as an opportunity to see his resurrection power to help me overcome the darkness that comes my way.

I am "the mama," the one who helps right the wrongs, listens to hearts, prays, laughs, gives all of myself, even on a "stormy day" or "stormy season" because it is part of my learned role--to care for those in my charge as Jesus did--even in the midst of an unexpected storms of life.

Sometimes we resist ideals because we do not want them to make us feel as though we are not doing enough. Or we might avoid a book or a person that we think will cause us to feel we need to give more, try harder.

And I meet women all the time who would rather live as  victim in their own lives, because of difficulties and children who are difficult or a husband who is a challenge or financial stresses that are a burden, than to become heroes in their own stories by God grace and provision.

Yet, I have learned that it is exactly when life is difficult that our faith and hard work mean the most--when we could have given excuses about why we do not have to try hard or work more or pursue righteousness when it just feel impossible to do so.

As we enter Easter season, we must consider the words of Christ.

"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."

Mark 8:34

Jesus made a point of this in his own life.

Right in the smack dab middle of Jesus loving, teaching, encouraging, and training his disciples, they simply embark on crossing the familiar lake where they have lived all of their lives, and suddenly a life-threatening storm overtakes them.

What could Jesus possibly be thinking? Does he want to lose all of his disciples at once? Is he trying to discourage them? Afterall, they had given up their whole lives to follow Him. Their hearts were dedicated to worshipping Him. They were busy serving other people---really, now this? Is this any way to treat those who are following you?

And so sometimes the "whaps" on our lives feel personal, invasive, too much.

Have you ever felt that way? I have cooked. I have washed dishes. I have lost years of sleep. I have loved and served and given--does anyone notice? Does it matter? --and now this? Another storm? Another problem? The relentlessness of life is about to drown me, Lord. "Do you not care that we are perishing, Lord?"

That is the question that we, like the disciples, have on our hearts.

Just when we have the ideals of our lives in place, and we have defined what the Kingdom of home is,  and we determine to commit to creating our homes as a place where the life of Christ will flourish, storms  and battles begin to overtake us, and we feel that we may be overcome.

If you are experiencing weariness of discouragement, it just means you are engaged in the battle. The battle and its raging are not a measure of your success or failure--but how you respond in the battle will determine the outcome. Often, people have said, "Well, I am glad Sally has ideals, but that is not what my life looks like and I don't even know how to get there."

My life was a constant swirl of ideals and reality, grace and storm, walking in faith, and railing against heaven--this is the picture of fighting amidst storms to bring light into a dark world, and the home is no different.

I know I am  mixing  metaphors and have moved from storms of life to the battles, but hopefully you know what I mean.

But, when we determine to make our homes a place of life, Satan is determined to thwart us.

Satan knows that the most precious treasure in God's economy are His children, his handmade creations--those who have souls that will last for eternity. And so the battleground for our future is at the soul level of life.

We are living in homes where the laws of thermo dynamics take place every day--that energy is depleting at a constant rate and everything is moving toward disorder. Knowing this--understanding that it will never change--and give yourself grace. Do not expect perfection. Do not condemn yourself or become angry at your children because they are not perfect.

.Walk in grace and celebrate life.

Look for joy in the corners of your life. Always find a friend to pray with, to share life with, who holds your ideals and values. Know that all moms have the same issues--just different puzzles to put together.

Our children are sometimes selfish and sinful, our husbands (and even we) are fallible and imperfect; things fall apart, get broken, cost money, people are unloving, we are unsupported by the culture around us, and we lack support systems to support the ideals we believe.

In order to know how to raise godly children, we must have a refined picture of the ideals we are aiming for, but the second part of being productive in this venture of motherhood is understanding the battle.

All of our homes are broken, our children are broken, marriages hard, financial situations sometimes impossible and without the grace of God, we will not be able to make it. But, I believe, and have seen, that with God on our side, and with faith, our labor is not in vain, and becomes a story of His power and goodness throughout eternity.

This is the Easter story--That Jesus saw us and felt compassion. He knows we are inundated with the darkness of a fallen world in every area of our lives.

And so He came to put things right for eternity. He came to redeem the lost, to fight our battles, to bring light to our darkness. This is the resurrection message.

We are his servants, his warriors to fight evil in this world out of our deep love for Him and what He has done for us. Warfare gives us such great examples. A seasoned general becomes astute in battle because he has been successful in weathering many years of battles, and has learned to fight valiantly and enduringly. An officer at war will also not be able to advance in experience and victory if he does not understand and know how to fight against his enemy.

And so, the kingdom of our home is a battlefield, where life who would steal our dominion over our family, threaten spiritual life, destroy relationships.

Feeling weary or discouraged or inadequate or guilty from failing is a normal part of the process. You are in training.

Engaging in the discipleship of my children became my personal training grounds where little by little I learned what it meant to become a more mature Christian--to take up my cross for the sake of my love for Jesus.

But remember this---it is not the people who start the race who win, but those who finish the race.

So, if God calls you to ideals, and you begin running, don't give up--don't quit.

Keep building a picture of your ideals, fan the flame of your vision.

Plant seeds of faith and cultivate faithfulness and you will find a garden of beauty growing in your life over time as you wait on His faithfulness.

 Love and prayers going your way today!

Build a Home as a Legacy of Faith!

Own Your Home by Owning Your Life!

The LifeGiving Home {July, Aug, Sept}

Home is Where Quiet is Cultivated

As we continue through the LifeGiving Home Book Club, we're entering into the summer months which opens up so much possibility!

A Heroic Heritage

We love history in our family (as do the Clarksons) and one place we have really enjoyed visiting each summer is a local historical village called "Greenfield Village". There sit old houses from the early 1900s to mid 1900s, some are actual and some are models.

Some are even live exhibits where there are people cooking meals inside the home as they retell the history of that home and it's previous occupants. It is such a delightful time!

On Memorial Day weekend they have a Civil War reenactment where people set up camp all around the village, soldiers on horseback and on foot march down the streets, and cannons and gunfire are common.

For weeks following, my boys pretended to be soldiers in the Civil War, under the orders of Abraham Lincoln.

In addition to reenacting pieces history, it's important we allow our children time to explore and form an imagination. I love what Sarah says here,

Heroism isn't an act that begins in a moment of crisis. It is an atmosphere, a sense of self, an identity formed through many habits of thought, memory, and experience. Because the home is the center place of life, the ground in which action begins, you have the opportunity to create an atmosphere in which the heroic is valued, rooted, and grown.

There are several ways to achieve this heroic mindset: read great books, memorizing great literature, quotes, stirring speeches, and music, watching historical films, traveling to historical places if you have the means, remembering celebrations such as Independence Day, Memorial Day, President's Day, etc.

The Story of Us

It's also good to shape and celebrate our own family culture. How do we determine what that is?

Consider what sets you apart from our culture. What are your values as a family? What do you do that many other families don't do? What is unique for your family? This is part of your family culture.

Maybe you're a family of technological geniuses or you have several interested in humanitarian efforts or scientific research or any number of gifts! Writing, reading, and music is only part of the many gifts God has bestowed upon His people.

Our family definitely has a gift for writing, art, dance, and music for sure. It's not surprising to me as I grew up with many of the same interests and they have automatically passed down to my children. This isn't always the case, but so far it has been, and it could certainly change in the future as my children continue to explore their gifts and interests.

How are you writing the story of your family culture?

When Seasons Change

When summer begins to come to a close, it will be time to shift gears a bit to traditions back in the home as the weather cools. Sarah says,

The point of home in all its fullness--the point of good meals, full cupboards, or ordered rooms--is not just to provide creaturely comfort or to prove some sort of competence. The point of hime is to be a refuge for the soul, a place where beauty can be encountered, truth told, goodness touched and known. It's why home needs hush as well as bustle, silence as well as song.

It's a time for each to find a cozy spot in the house and make it their own for times of quiet or creativity.

It's also such a great season for reading aloud. If this isn't already a habit in your home, it's definitely one I recommend adopting. But prepared! Your kiddos may need to learn to become used to the idea, so you may have to start off with 10 minutes bursts and work your way up.

I can read aloud for a good hour to my children, ranging in age from 5 up to 13 years old. I often print a coloring sheet for them to color while they listen. Some will draw. Sometimes my littlest ones get antsy and I allow them to roam in and out, as long as they are quiet. It's such a sweet time!

Another ritual we do is have a quiet time each afternoon for one hour. Each child goes to their bed with a book and can either read or sleep for one hour. This gives everyone (including me!) a chance to catch their breath, have a break from one another, and rest in the afternoon.

These ideas didn't just happen over night, though. They took time to develop and train my children to mold into and some days they are even happy for and welcome it!

What are some ways your family finds rest as the weather cools down?

Christin Slade

The LifeGiving Home

LifeGiving Home Book Club square

A Recipe for Your Lifegiving Home on St. Patricks Day: Irish Feckle Bread!

Celtic stories and music have always been a favorite in the Clarkson home. We attend a Scottish festival each year that we are able and hear the Celtic bands, watch the sheep dogs work the herd and watch the young dancers compete. Every St. Pat's Day, we go to our local Irish Family Pub and order lots of fish and chips and watch all the teams dance to the live bands. It is noisy, fun and a little of what some of our heritage might have been.

Scotch-Irish, English, and pure Scottish background gives us a love for all things Celtic. Clay is related to Thomas Boston who was a Christian leader in Scotland and believe it or not, my Aunt traced my maiden family back to the mother of John, Richard the Lionhearted and the whole clan. So somewhere there is a vestige of royalty in my blood.

One of the best biographies we read out-loud to our children was an old several hundred page book filled with stories about St. Patrick's faith to a totally pagan Island. His faith, his travels, and the peril of his sea journeys kept us intrigued all the way through his life history.

St. Patrick's story is a wonderful one and my children loved to read of him again every year.  Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland is a lovely choice if you're looking to familiarize your children with his story this year--you can find it by clicking that title.

Feasting on soda bread is lots of fun. Warm out of the oven and slightly sweet, we love to gobble ours down with raspberry jam.

Baking bread is such an especially wonderful smell when we have long days indoors, and this one is a favorite!  Enjoy!

Irish Freckle Bread

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

This is a pretty heavy dough, so if you have a stand mixer with a bread hook, I'd suggest that--you can even double this recipe!

In a large bowl, place:

2 cups hot water           

1 cup unbleached white flour

2 Tbsp. yeast                                    

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey (or raw sugar)

Mix thoroughly.  Then add:

2 slightly beaten eggs  

1/2 cup dried currants or craisins

1 Tbsp. Real salt             

1 cup of grated carrots 

1/4 cup oil            1/2 cup dried pineapple, snipped in small pieces

3/4 cups golden raisins

Next, add:

4-4 1/2 cups freshly ground flour, enough to very slightly clean the sides of the bowl.  If you add too much, it will be too dry--so just slowly add it  until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl as it is mixing. The dough should be a bit sticky.  Knead 5 minutes. Shape into a free-formed round loaf, or place in loaf pan.  Brush with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1Tbsp. water.) 

Let bread rise until double in size.

Lower heat to 350 degrees.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Having a Martha Home the Mary Way! And a gift for you!

Dishes, pots and pans, doggie paw prints, stacks of books and papers, used coffee and tea cups, pairs of shoes, and stuff laying everywhere are the messes in my home that create stress over and over again through all the years.

Though I love having a straight and lovely environment, I am not natural at doing routine tasks over and over again. I just wish for a full time maid to follow all of us around and make sure that things are always in order.

Sarah Mae and I love being inspired about life together, but we are twins and kindred spirits when it comes to keeping our messes at bay and having an organized home. It does not come naturally to either one of us!

That is why I am excited about her new book, Having a Martha Home in a Mary Way. This book has easy, doable assignments to help your home become more organized, straight and put together slowly over 31 days. When you follow a plan and tackle your housekeeping one task at a time, you will find you are not as overwhelmed. But the best part is this book also leads you to ways of having a satisfied soul--to also plan for yourself in the midst of caring for others.

Each of the 31 chapters has two challenges for that day, a Mary (heart) challenge and a Martha (get it done cleaning) challenge.

Join Sarah Mae's giveaways at her launch page. She is giving away 6 months of FREE house-cleaning to one winner. (Hope I win! :)) Go HERE to find out more about this giveaway.

When you buy the book this week, you can get the PDF version of her new journal, 31 Days to a Satisfied Soul for FREE. Go HERE for all the details (and other launch week gifts).

You can find the book HERE

The Journal HERE

What a great way to get into spring. I need some help to get my home back in order before Sarah comes home for her spring break! Starting tomorrow.....!

Don't miss Sarah Mae Rocking Out below. Enjoy!

And tell me what is your most hated regular task?!

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Will I Ever Fit In? Probably Not! & (A New Podcast)

OLSON MICROGRAVITY FLAME

The world was not worthy of them.... Hebrews 11:38

They will be a shining star in the story of God's light and glory on earth.

Is it possible God has called you to be a hero in your own story, in your family, in the life of your choices? The world is longing for leadership--to find those who are following hard after wisdom, the right ways--God's ways. Those who are willing to endure many challenging seasons and still stay faithful. Those who are willing to lay down their lives that others might have life, hope, beauty, faith. Maybe right when you despair, you are living the most holy season of your life with the possibility of changing the world for eternity. Who would want you to give in or give up, Satan or God?

This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice, be glad in it, plant a flag of faith that says, I will not give up today.

Maybe today, you are writing your place into the hall of faith in Hebrews and your children will call you blessed. Most of the heroes throughout history did not know they were living lives that would be heralded as great. They just lived lives of integrity and made courageous choices that others were not brave enough to make.

Just remember, faith is profoundly more important than fitting in, or being conformed to this world.

"I have felt alone for so many years, I am not sure I can keep going with my ideals. I need someone who understands, I need to know I am making the right decisions."

This letter verbalized the feelings I had many times--often in the dark of night when despair or fear threatened to smother me.

On this day,..., tears spilling over from my eyes wetting my face, my throat becoming so thick I could barely swallow, deep sobs welling up from some place deep inside, found me sitting alone in the darkness of a late afternoon home alone, wondering if my life had mattered, again.

This happened often through the years. "God, do you see me? Do my choices of faith mean anything? Does my effort matter? God, I just wish I did not always feel so alone, with no one who cares about me personally."

Often, I would find myself amidst a fire burning in my heart when I read scripture and wanted to live boldly for my precious Jesus. I would feel convictions deeply inside me, swelling my heart. Yet, even amidst feeling so strongly that I wanted to follow God and do what He wanted in my life, my family, with my children, I would feel the pain of doubt swell over me.

"Why don't others feel the way I do? What do they not come to the same conclusions? Are they reading the same Bible? If I am believing the right things, shouldn't I be able to find others with my ideals?"

"Why has our world, our people gone mad? What am I to do?"

So often, and even in the past couple of days, I get notes from sweet women who doubt their decisions. for years they have worked to exhaustion and wonder if their labors of love and serving others have made one whit of difference. There is a feeling that they can't keep going.  Often doubt and insecurity comes because other Christians question their idealistic lifestyle or their decisions that separates them from popular culture.

How often I have doubted my own decisions in the midst of exhaustion or discouragement. We all have our critics if we are trying to live a life committed to God and committed to His holy values.

Often, the very discouraging circumstances or the difficulty of a high calling can seem wrong when we forget that it was God who called us to our Biblical ideals.

Culture will always give us permission to compromise our lives, as the cultural voices have always done through out the centuries.

As fallen people, many do not like to be called to a "very high calling" because it means we have to sacrifice, be the odd one out in our cultural circles.

Depression

Doubt

Fear

Despair

These are common amongst the heroes of faith in scripture. You are not alone in your feelings, you are in good company. But the decisions you make in darkness will become the reflection of your faith in a God who promises to be faithful. It may take longer than you think to see His goodness lived out--but faith says you believe you will see His goodness come like the rising of the sun.

Loneliness is another common feeling in Biblical history, and  seems to be a part of the journey for many in scripture when they were living for God and His kingdom.

Even now, I have begun to realize in my 60's, that I may always feel that hollow hurting in my heart, the longing for others who seek after Jesus and want to live passionately for Him, and for a close by friend to walk side by side with me.

Godly friends feel sometimes few and far between--those kindred spirits walking the same path, in sync with our feelings and convictions.

I am understanding that often, loneliness is the companion of those whom God has called to live an idealistic or holy life--but not a sign of living life wrong.

I do not feel better than others who disagree with my decisions, as I know my weaknesses. But when I read His word and pray, I have this desire, this fire that wells up and I want to do more, be more, write more, be a redeeming part of His spirit--it drives me toward His Holy ideals. The Holy Spirit plays the role in our lives to remind us of what was on the heart of Christ, to convict us, to encourage us to righteousness.

The drive to seek God and to be hungry for a more righteous place comes directly from the Holy Spirit--Christ living through us.

The word holy means to live a life set apart for God--for His purposes, for His kingdom and for His glory.

As I have pondered the whole idea of being alone amidst ideals, I have found plenty of Biblical models to give me encouragement.

My desire in writing this article and doing this podcast is to say,

stay the course, be faithful, find a way to rest, to become encouraged.

If God has driven you to a course of high ideals, then you might just be called to play a great role in the heavenly hall of faith with others who felt alone while they were living stories of faith.

Consider these:

Elijah was called to be a prophet in very godless times when Jezebel and her husband, Ahab, were leading all of Israel astray--even the  so-called prophets of the gods. He gave and ministered and performed miracles and engaged in spiritual battle, finally defeating the prophets of Baal. But at the end of his great faith accomplishments, Elijah, exhausted, ran away. He said it would have been better if he had not been born.

He ran away--and God gave him rest, touched him, fed him, because God knew he was totally drained living amidst such strong spiritual warfare. (I Kings 19:4)

Job was chosen by God to be tested by Satan because he was the most righteous man who lived on the earth and he was pleasing to God. As a matter of fact, when Satan found Job, he was seeking God, offering sacrifices and praying for his children--he was also a great parent. (Job 1:5) Yet, Job was allowed by God to be caught right in the middle of spiritual battle because God trusted that Job would be faithful to him even amidst trials.

Jeremiah, the great prophet, was depressed, discouraged, felt alone, and wondered if God was listening to him, when he was proclaiming the truth of God to the Jewish people in His generation. (Lam. 3: 1, 5, 8, 14, 15, and more.)

Mary, the model of faith as she excepted what the angel told her about becoming the mother of the son of God, responded to Him, "I am your bond-slave. Be it done according to your will." Her faith was willing to allow God to work to his fullest. Yet her life was filled with difficulties, the loneliness that comes from being a refugee in a foreign country, and then the heartbreak of seeing her own son crucified on the cross by the Jewish leaders. (Luke 1:38)

John the Baptist, passionate, calling for holiness and repentance in a world that was more concerned about man-imposed rules and wisdom than a heart for God. Died a lonely death in prison--yet Jesus said there was not a more righteous man on the face of the earth.

Jesus, the son of God, the very representation of God as we are told in Hebrews 1:3, was ostracized by the very leaders of His own people. He was questioned, called a fraud and killed by a violent death. Yet, he was perfectly righteous.  Even Jesus, in his prayers before death said, "If it is your will, take this cup from me. But not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)

So, what about you? Do you doubt yourself? You are in good company, because many heroes of the faith spent days in doubt, fear, loneliness, insecurity. Yet they were the ones who were making the story of Jesus real. Jesus did not pick perfect people, but those willing to live by faith.

May an angel of God, the Holy Spirit and the love of precious Jesus touch you today, encourage you, give you rest, show you His love. You are a delight to Him and your story is going to be told through all of eternity, that when you had the chance to compromise, you chose to love Him, dance to His song, wait on His timing, stay fast in righteousness--even while alone.

And because of your faithfulness, all of those who come into your life and into your home, will learn the ways of faithfulness by watching His life spill through all the days of your faith lived and love given.

May your home, today, this year, be a picture of His faithfulness lived through all the days, in a fallen world, of those who had faith enough to believe in what they hoped for, standing on convictions of what they could not see. You are God's heroes and today is your glory--even if the world does not see or understand, angels rejoice in your choices of faith.

Today, you can also find me writing at TheBetterMom.com about freedom from legalistic standards.

The LifeGiving Home {April, May, and June}

Spring is just around the corner and it's the perfect time to begin planning to create some fun, new traditions for your family!

April: Heritage of Faith

One of the most important habits or tradition we hold to is getting into God's Word daily. We do a devotional in the morning and read through a chapter of the Bible in the evening together.

Sarah's chapter for April on A Heritage of Faith is so crucial to the foundation of everything else we do.

Spring is a season of renewal and new birth. It's such an ideal time to revisit or begin the journey of building up faith in our children. Oftentimes, I think we overcomplicate this and believe we have to do some elaborate things, and because that seems overwhelming, we can tend to do nothing. Don't fall into this trap.

Building up faith in our children only requires we be intentional and maybe a little creative.

I am very particular about what Bible study tools and devotionals I use with my children and I just rotate through them.

Along with breakfast devotions and evening Bible reading, you can involve your children in whatever ministry you are involved in. For 10 years, my husband and I were youth pastors/leaders and we simply brought our children along in what we did.

Building a foundation of faith doesn't mean you or your children will never stumble. This is the whole purpose of the Gospel and how we help our children understand it!

Teaching our children to be loving doesn't mean they will always be loving. Making the tradition of praying together doesn't mean you won't ever miss a day or that missing a day makes you a failure. Not at all! We keep running the race everyday!

Sarah shares some of the traditions they made in their own home and while you don't have to adopt them exactly, they are a great starting point and you can adapt them as you see fit for your own family.

The truth of the matter is that no matter how far along the path of faith we walk, the reality of fallen human nature will always get in the way of perfection. -Sarah Clarkson

May: Days to Commemorate

It's so fun to be able to celebrate special days and milestones within families. And of course they can be as simple as making and sharing a special meal or giving a gift. If you have children in sports or dance or other recreation, celebrating their accomplishments helps them build confidence, encourages and honors them.

Of course, your children don't need to be gifted in the arts! There are all kinds of areas our children can be celebrated. Maybe they are a profound speaker or builder or writer. How can we, as parents, encourage, support, and celebrate them in their areas of giftedness?

These journey markers reminded them to walk in His ways and to be faithful to His role in their lives. Stopping our normal activities of life to commemorate a special day or person can play the same role in our lives. It brings honor to the person or event and highlights significant accomplishments. It also reminds us of the many ways God has guided and helped us and of our responsibility to both live for Him and uphold others as they try to do the same. -Sally Clarkson

June: Times of Delight

Play, valuable play, can often be overlooked as a time waster. I assure you, play is invaluable for children. Make believe, fort building, dolls, trains, Legos...these are all excellent ways to help children's brains develop and also helps them relieve stress.

Play is the way children learn. By setting the narrative of life in the relatively safe world of play, they discover how to interact in real-life situations and embody character qualities fitting for great people. In the process, they expand their palettes of imagination, curiosity, and intuition. -Sally Clarkson

Living in the age of technology has actually robbed our children of creative play. When television and video games and the Internet bring such instant gratification without having to make the brain work, children struggle to learn how to really play.

That's not to say these things can't have any place in a home, but they should definitely be limited.

I've found that when we keep TV and games limited to the weekends, it helps my children focus better on their school work. This evidence has been proven over and over again in my own home (with seven children).

So, if you find your children are struggling with focus and concentration, it may be time to scale back on the television and electronics and encourage more creative play. With the warmer weather approaching, outdoor activities are great for exercising the body and freeing the mind. Endorphins work wonders!

Instead of an evening movie one night, try a family board game or card game.

Remember, play is productive!!

What did you gain from these last few chapters? What will you add or change in your own home this spring?

Christin Slade

Stories Shape the Imagination that Feeds Faith & Heroism

Snow swept the pines and peaks out the windows of our Colorado home, but we were warm round our fire inside, about to use the wintry storm as an excuse to take the afternoon for one of our favorite activities: reading aloud. That day, we were deep into a reread of Narnia, imaginations alight with fauns and lions and dancing trees. We sprawled on couch and floor, or curled in a blanket by the fireside, sketchbooks in hand, hot chocolate nearby, and together we formed both soul and mind by the power of the beautiful stories we read.

Clarksons and books go together. You can’t really have one without the other, and our home is a place crammed with the books we loved. The shared stories of our home, the evenings of read aloud, the picture books we all first knew, have a power to create both camaraderie and identity that I delight in to this day.

Camaraderie first: I have often pondered the special power, the heightened delight of stories when they are shared. In the same way that a week’s visit at a friend’s home brings you closer than any number of coffee dates or bump-ins at church, the sharing of a story accelerates the comradeship of souls.

When people inhabit a realm of imagination together, it is inevitable that a bit of their own imagination and spirit are revealed to the others who sojourn with them in that marvelous place.

I think I am especially aware of this because of the way that stories have helped me to be close to my siblings, shaping our history, our memories, even the language we use to talk about life to this day.

When I think back over my childhood, I realize that many of my favorite memories come from the sharing of stories.

My Dad reading Patricia St. John’s Treasures in the Snow aloud, we four kids piled all over the living room at night, drawing, fiddling, and inevitably begging for one more chapter. The sibling fit of Scottish enthusiasm during which we kids took it upon ourselves to read Stevenson’s Kidnapped  aloud in the afternoons, and got swept into the drama of Jacobite Scotland. We’d finish our chapter and gulp the last cup of tea and head out for the mountains to enact the adventures we had just read aloud.

The hot chocolate dates I made with my sister when she was just learning to read so that we could savor A Little Princess together. The countless books my Mom read aloud to us in mornings of study (that didn’t really feel like school at all), The Winter Cabin, The Trumpeter of Krakow, Rilla of Ingleside, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. The stories we read within the community of family made a common thread of thought and viewpoint that I share with my siblings to this day.

And then identity. I have written at length in Caught Up in a Story about the power of story to form a child’s perception of self. To encounter heroes or heroines in imagination is to begin to imagine the possibility of becoming one as well. Stories form the way we understand courage, truth, kindness, and love. In our home, great books were an integral part of the way we formed ideals and gained a sense of identity as people who, together, wanted to be the heroes and heroines in the stories of our lives.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a particular favorite. It’s not uncommon in my house to hear someone refer to Frodo, the elves, or Gandalf as part of a deep spiritual observation or to make a solid point. Middle Earth is talked about almost as if it were a real place. We think about ourselves and our lives in terms of “fellowship” and “quest,” and talk about making a Rivendell of our own. But other stories shaped us too; we talk about loving Aslan and God being “not a tame lion,” and the minute anyone brings up the subject of grace, the name of Jean Valjean is sure to follow (from Les Miserables , another family favorite.) The stories we shared provide our metaphors for living courageously and well.

After my Christmas visit at home this year, I found that stories once again, were foremost in our family conversation. Because a story experienced together creates a small and vivid world of fellowship. Stories reveal the souls of those who share them and knit them together for life. And a home crammed with just such stories… well, it becomes a great story itself.

Get our recommended book list in our new book and read about our traditions of read alouds to build brains, hearts, morals, souls and consciences.

Special books, movies and music uniquely listed in the above book, The Lifegiving Home Experience--and places to write down new books.

Traditions and stories built around books and read alouds in The Lifegiving Home. 

Happiness That Comes from Liking Yourself: Living Beyond Self-condemnation

Snowflake Bently

"My kids could never be like your kids," a young mom said to me at a recent conference.

My answer was, "I hope not--they were made to live fully into the extraordinary design that God gave them."

God did not give me children who fit into cultural boxes. Two are introverts, two extraverts, all with differing personalities, preferences, strengths, weaknesses--and yet all so very precious to me. Why is it we want to our children to conform to the cultural expectations of others and why would we compare ourselves to others, when God created us to be different than every other person ever made?

Condemnation must always arise from comparing ourselves to others. We can never live up exactly to the expectations of others because we were made to please only one--our heavenly Father. And we please Him by resting in His love, living in the freedom to be who He made us to be.

There is great freedom and happiness that comes from liking ourselves, accepting ourselves as we are and living in the grace we were created to experience every moment of life. When we compare ourselves to others we will either judge ourselves to be superior and become pharisees in our hearts or we will find ourselves falling short of their standards and live in condemnation.

So often, I meet precious ones who feel that they are a failure or somehow inadequate in their roles as believers, as mothers, as wives, as human beings. All of us fail and cannot be perfect no matter how we try. Remember God says in Psalm 103, he is mindful that we are but dust. He understands our limitations--and that is why He came to redeem our lives.

However, if we live fully into the fact that He loves us unconditionally, that nothing can ever separate us from His love, (Romans 8:31-32), that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (Romans 8:1), then we can live into the freedom of who we are, as we are, and breathe grace and peace every moment of our lives. We are in process, little by little, given a whole life in which to grow into the likeness of Jesus, bit by bit.

Galatians tells us, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

We are told not to live by someone else's false standard for who we should be because to compare brings a yoke of slavery.

Last year, searching through piles of books amidst Christmas music and crowds, I was seeking a book worthy to add to the library of my children's homes and apartments. Each year, I have tried to find a book that would uniquely express something of my heart that they could keep in the form of  message found in a book.

A lovely, limited print book of the photography of snowflakes captured my attention. Each photo displayed elegance of design, perfectly crafted and equal sides, shapes, contours, delicate twirls and corners. Yet, each flake was absolutely unique, extra-ordinary from every other flake. As I began to read about these lovely designs, I found that no two are alike--and that no scientist has ever been able to find out how to imitate the creation of snowflakes.

Who could compare the elegance of a snowflake and say one is superior to another? Or one was better when all are beautiful

What a reflection of an attribute of God's artistry in creation. Diversity is at the core of all that He creates--no two alike, all their own magnificent song, none to be compared because of the intrinsic beauty in each one.

As I pondered this over the weeks ahead when we peered through all the pages of the books I bought each one as a Christmas present to place on their shelves, I thought anew about how this truth of God's design applied to us as humans--no two alike, no one that we are expected to be like--God sees each of us as uniquely beautiful.

Great freedom comes from accepting ourselves as we are--all of our unique quirks, preferences, personality--loudness or quietness, large or small, whatever defines us as we are.

When we accept the fact that God made us uniquely, separate from any human that will ever be born, we understand that He does not fit us into a box where we must conform to the expectations of others. Instead we are quite free to be ourselves as we seek to know and understand His love, His righteousness and wisdom that He will reflect through our unique personalities.

Elegant and complex by design, each of us has a unique possibility of reflecting God's amazing creativity if we live and breathe His freedom and grace into the oxygen of our hearts every day.

Our children will be free to develop at their own rate, to become who they were made to be, to blossom as a unique picture of God's reflection through them only if we accept the unique design God has given them.

Join me today as I talk about why we often live in self-condemnation--and how to live beyond the boundaries of other's expectations and into the freedom of being ourselves in motherhood--grow little by little, choose joy daily, live in grace moment by moment.

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Is your home a place where your children are encouraged to be themselves? Accepted with the personality that God gave them?

Is your home a place where people are affirmed and loved with their stories and baggage as they are because the love of Christ is the standard for relationships?

Are you a conductor of the magnificent love of God through you so that all who come inside the walls of your home may encounter His boundless affection for us His children, and live to learn about His redemption through all the seasons of life?

Is your home a place where "I'm sorry. Forgive me?" and "I love you so much just as you are, you are a blessing to me," is spoken often because we have grown into a place of understanding His mercy and grace for us?

Of course all of these places of accepting His grace and freedom is a journey from our own feelings of inadequacy to the rest that comes from knowing He desires us to know His compassion and grow in knowledge of His grace little by little every day.

Today, live forward into the elegance of His design of you. Breathe in His unconditional love. Believe that who you are as you are is precious. Celebrate this freedom in your home every day.

Be free inside your walls at home to be yourself, and to relax in His acceptance of you as you grow from your own toddlerhood of life, toward maturity in Christ, with His hand of blessing leading you and blessing you.

Breathe grace into your home today--find the Lifegiving Home HERE.