Christmas 2013

December 7, 2013 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

Christmas has always been a special season for me. My mom used to buy Christmas gifts all year and squirrel them away. Each year she selected one gift to be the gift. It was for only one of us, but we were all excited about what that gift would be and whose it would be.

We woke up Christmas morning with a tree that was decorated over night and surrounded by gifts. We took turns opening the gifts one at a time so everyone could enjoy the thrill of seeing what each one got. Then the moment would come for the gift to be given and opened. It was always perfect! We all celebrated!

Christmas was about giving. We always found some way to make someone less fortunate than us happy too. A few years, we went to an orphanage and brought Jean home to share our Christmas. We each bought her a gift from our allowance and we tried to make her feel like a queen for the day. Some years we bought gifts, wrapped them, and took them to some family who lived in the poor part of our community. We always took food, as well as gifts.

Most of all, I remember the Advent Wreath and how the story of the first Christmas came alive to us little by little through the month before Christmas.

Here are some of the things we have practiced in our own family that you might like to incorproate into your own celebrations:

1. Do not go into debt for gifts. When we didn’t have enough money to buy expensive gifts, we bought ‘meaningful’ gifts. Sometimes the nicest gifts were the homemade coupons we made offering our services to those we loved that could be redeemed throughout the coming year.

2. Make the emphasis giving rather than receiving. Help your children learn to enjoy the delight their gifts give to others.

3. Find ways to reach out to those in need during the season. Get your kids involved in Angel Tree or Shoebox or some other outreach to the needy. Have them help buy, pack, and wrap the gifts; and when possible deliver the gifts. These encounters really leave a lasting impression on youngsters.

4. Remember to tell the story of Jesus’ first coming to our world so it becomes a part of their foundational beliefs. Then teach them to anticipate his second coming, too. The hope of heaven helps us through rough times we will face.

If you have stories of your Christmas, past or present, that you would like to share, please email me at: Diane

May you have a blessed Christmas season. Delight in the preparations and may your faith be contagious!

Blessings!
Diane

The Power of a Look

October 15, 2013 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

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I’ve been reading a book by Elisabeth Elliot called, Let Me Be a Woman. It is a compilation of letters she wrote to her daughter before her marriage. In one chapter she tells a story about a time she was too busy and her daughter knew it. Here’s the story:

“When you were small there were always Indians around us, and I had many things on my mind in the running of a jungle mission station. I was sometimes tempted to pay little attention to your small needs. You knew it at once. You knew whether it was an opportune time to get away with something. You would try it, and my preoccupied, “Val, leave that alone,” you would ignore. You knew you could safely ignore it because my attention had already turned back to the thing at hand. I learned very soon that I had to give my full attention to you when I spoke. I do not mean that I gave you my full attention twenty-four hours of the day. I see mothers who very nearly accomplish this and they do it to the destruction of their poor smothered, harried children. I mean that when a matter needs the mother’s attention it must get her full attention for that moment. I had to turn from my work and turn to you.

“Your eyes would open wide when I stopped what I was doing and looked at you. Slowly, slowly, your hand would drop when I said your name. In the moment of pause and silence you assessed my seriousness. Either I meant it or I did not, and there was no dissimulating with you. You knew which it was and acted accordingly.”

I experienced the same thing with my children and now again with my grandchildren. That look says, “I see you and what you are doing. I have something to say about that and I expect you to listen and obey.” That look has some important components that I want to talk to you about:Your attention, your authority, and your child’s development. [Read more…]

A Song Louder than Regret

August 20, 2013 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

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**We know we can’t possibly cherish every moment.**

We know it’s not realistic to neglect our life responsibilities to soak up their every word and every expression.

We know that telling ourselves to savor every stage of their childhood is just setting ourselves up for failure.
So what do we do? How do we realistically live life now to avoid the pain of regret later?

And that’s when I looked into the rearview mirror and saw my daughter’s chocolate brown eyes staring back at me. She was still singing at the top of her lungs, but the song was half over. I felt a sudden urgency. “Stop thinking about ‘what if’ and sing! Sing before the song ends!” my inner voice pleaded.

So I opened my mouth and joined in.

“When I’m gone
When I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me by my hair
Gonna miss me everywhere
Oh, you’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.”

Anna Kendrick’s “Cups”

Surprisingly, my daughter didn’t give me an exasperated look.

She didn’t roll her eyes and beg me to stop.

She didn’t chuckle and say, “That sounds terrible, Mom!”

My daughter smiled and kept right on singing.

[Read more…]

A Promise Delivered

August 13, 2013 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

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Tammy Darling wrote a wonderful article for Today’s Christian Woman. com. She puts the job and outcome of parenting in the right perspective. Why not take a few minutes and check your parenting perspective with A Promise Delivered.

“When a child is born, I often wonder what God knows that we do not. Could it be that this child is meant to cure cancer? Care for those with AIDS/HIV? Evangelize millions?

“For those brought up to know the Lord, the possibilities are as limitless as God’s purposes for us. Yes, children raised in ungodly homes go on to do great things. But those raised in godly homes will likely go on to do great things for the glory of God.

“Every child is a promise, a seed. For a seed to grow it must be planted, nurtured, and cared for—daily.

“And it is that dailyness that gets to us—to me, anyway. As a homeschool mom, I’m not always up for “weeding” the seeds I’ve planted. I let attitudes slide, behaviors slip. And before long no one in the house resembles Christ, myself included. I have lots of reasons (or are they excuses?)—deadlines, schedules, headaches. My self-absorption causes me to let the weeds in my children’s lives get out of control.”

Toys and Play

August 7, 2013 By Diane Constantine Leave a Comment

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This past weekend we had the honor and privilege of having our adopted daughter with her husband and 7 month old boy stay with us for two days. What a tremendous joy to see her baby! He is the solid-pack type boy like both of mine were. He is attentive, inquisitive, and very easily pleased. Though he is teething, most of the time he beamed a gorgeous smile whenever we caught his eye. I thought a lot about toys and playing with babies and small children. So this month I’m going to revisit the topic of play and toys.

Play is a child’s work
The first thing to remember is that though play is fun for children, it is also their work. They are learning something constantly. They are learning that no matter what they do, they cannot get the attention of the powerful people around them, the adults. Hopefully none of the children represented by those of you receiving this letter are learning that lesson! Or they are learning something new or practicing what they have been learning. They learn by observing, by trial and error, by testing the results, and by practice. There is much we can do as the adults around them to help them learn. [Read more…]