A couple of nights ago we offered free babysitting for parents who wanted a night out. The parents could go on a date, wrap presents, or finish up shopping. Whatever they wanted to do. We made ginger bread houses with the kids, crafts, and read story books. My favorite was reading, A Tale of Three Trees. The older kids (mid-elementary) took turns reading the pages to the younger kids. In the spirit of my manifesto of approaching Christmas with a child-like spirit, I played duck, duck, goose with some of the kids. I don’t think I will ever forget one of the 8 year old’s comments, “It’s funny watching old men run around playing duck, duck, goose.” It was a joyful evening and a win/win for parents and children alike. I think I particularly love the fact that it was a very intergenerational evening. There was no television or electronics, just children and adults joyfully interacting.

This past week we also opened our home to our congregation in several ways. Our church board members, called the Session, and their spouses came for dinner one evening, the Choir came the next night for a potluck, and the youth came on Sunday. I feel that many seeds of hope, love, and joy were sewn in our time together. There is something about eating together that is so very binding for a family of God’s people.  Jesus chose a meal to be the foundation for one of the sacraments. He gave it to us to nurture us in our faith and draw us together as a body. Sitting at table with one another is a very good thing.

Tonight I shopped for my family. I can’t say much about what I got just yet, but I can  my gifts are very motivated by my manifesto intention to buy gifts that honor God and to make some hand-made gifts. Tonight I bought gifts for my children that will help them grow in their faith.  I will be personalizing them and enhancing them  I don’t want to say more than that just yet, but will share what I did after Christmas.

Lastly, I have been very intentional about greeting as many strangers as I can with a wish for a Merry Christmas.  Many seem to appreciate it.  Also, I have continued to read and journal daily on stories about Jesus.  A daily dose of Jesus, not just scripture, but specifically reflection upon Jesus has been wonderful and I am seriously considering making this a regular part of my devotional diet once Christmas has passed.

I know none of these actions are very earth-shattering.  Nevertheless, cumulatively they have made my experience of Advent more full of love, peace, hope and joy.  When all is said and done, I think this will have been an Advent where I have experienced and hopefully offered many touches of grace.  This Advent has been more Jesus full.  What more could I ask for?  Advent blessings to you.

For those of you who haven’t read my Christmas Manifesto, click here.

When I start a new spiritual discipline I have a lot energy around it, but after a couple of weeks when the novelty of newness wears off I find that I start resisting doing it.  I discovered this past Sunday many of our youth are just like me.  They are still working hard at their prayer journals, but the second week it was harder to be motivated.  We are at the intersection of “wanting” and “committed”.   The difference between wanting something and being committed to it is whether or not you are willing to do whatever it takes to get it.

My experience has been that in every new discipline you reach a crunch point where you gain enough experience that you start questioning whether or not your really want to continue. Most people don’t consciously process this.  They tend to just start resisting the discipline.  If you start missing a discipline you may not be committed to it.  Another possibility is that you may just need some strategies to keep your momentum to get you past a very natural resistance.  In today’s brief video, I reiterate and review the importance of triggers.  You might not have found that necessary starting out, but now it could be your best friend for consistency.  You can also maintain momentum by altering your discipline slightly.  So, today’s video ends with a new addition to your journaling process.  Check it out and blessings to you as you strive for commitment.

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Related Posts:   Prayer Journaling Orientation and Prayer Journaling 2, Difficulties and Solutions

Our youth have been prayer journaling for a week now using a method that I outlined in the Prayer Journaling Orientation video posted a week ago.  Last Sunday we discussed their experiences.  In today’s brief video I share 5 common difficulties they encountered and 3 “triggers” for being consistent.  They have had some really awesome God-incidence stories happen because of their prayer journaling.  I can’t wait to see what a couple more weeks of journaling is going to yield.  You can expect more video posts on the lessons they learn.

On another note…Today’s video has a cleaner , crisper audio signal with more volume range over prior videos.  Unfortunately, in my efforts to improve audio I ran into a technical difficulty resulting in audio coming through only the left channel.  My apologies to any of my readers who happen to be listening via headphones.  I know it’s annoying. I hope to resolve this issue prior to the next video.

Lastly, some of my email subscribers had issues with the last video not coming through with the post.  That is probably a hosting issue, but for your convenience, you will find a link below going directly to the post.  Enough about this stuff. You are here to learn about discipleship.  Go enjoy the video.

Click here if the video did not appear in your subscription

• Matthew 6:5-8
• Psalm 100
• Philippians 4:8-9
• Matthew 6:25-26
• Luke 17:12-19
• Luke 1:46-55
• Philippians 4:4-7
• Mark 14:32-42
• Psalm 46:1-5,10-11
• Luke 11:9-13
• Psalm 34:1-8
• Luke 18:10-14
• Jonah 2:1-10
• Genesis 28:11-19

Also, I mentioned in the video noting the subject of the passage you are journaling on, but I really didn’t say much more than that about “subject”.  Once I am done with a journal entry, I note at the top of the page, the main idea or topic of a passage.  For example, my first entry said at the top of the page along side the date and text, “Gratitude in Adversity.”  Being able to thumb through my journal and skim topics is sometimes really helpful.

Blessings from The Practical Disciple