Young mom's Christmas party

This past Wednesday, we had the Young Mom's Christmas party.

Sarah and I gave each girl a candle and journal.

You can see labels on the backs if you look close.  We put Christmas related words on their backs and they had to guess what the word was by just asking "yes" and "no" questions.  Words like "caroling", "wisemen", "great with child".

There was a guessing game to figure out how many chocolates were in the jar.  Can you guess?  Answer at end of this post.*

 We had lots of yummy food!

We played a Christmas Mad Lib.  You take a song, in this case "Let it Snow".  No one knows that, but you ask for parts of speech, like "noun", "verb", etc.  They give you those to fill in the blank to make a totally new song.  You can find Mad Libs on-line to come up with stories.  Children really enjoy this!

I elected Allison, a former music teacher, to sing this new version.

 Of course, any good Christmas party needs a gift exchange!

We set it at $5 limit. Amazing what one can do with only $5!

Then the girls surprised Sarah and I with these GINORMOUS gifts!

 These are Allison's creations!  She has a shop on Etsy!

Thank you so much Allison, Amanda, Andrea, Becca, Beth, Heidi, Jill, Julie, Kari, Kendall, Kelli, Laura, Rachel, Sarah F., Sarah Ha., and Sarah He.!!!!

***** * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There is a hymn called "Take Time to Be Holy".  We have been reading in Galatians that we truly can only be "perfect" in Christ alone, but here are some words from Chuck Swindoll that are good to think on:

It takes time to cultivate a walk with the Lord that begins to flow naturally because the enemy is so much more assertive and powerful than we....and so creative, so full of new ideas on how to derail us and demoralize us.

We need to lock onto the power that comes from God's presence and invite Him to cleanse our thoughts, to correct our foul speech, to forgive us completely, and make us holy vessels, who, like the winged seraphim, spend our days bringing glory to His holy name.

1.      Take time to be holy, 
 speak oft with thy Lord; 
 abide in Him always, 
 and feed on His word. 
 Make friends of God's children, 
 help those who are weak, 
 forgetting in nothing 
 His blessing to seek. 

2. Take time to be holy, 
 the world rushes on; 
 spend much time in secret 
 with Jesus alone. 
 By looking to Jesus, 
 like Him thou shalt be; 
 thy friends in thy conduct 
 His likeness shall see. 

3. Take time to be holy, 
 let Him be thy guide, 
 and run not before Him, 
 whatever betide. 
 In joy or in sorrow, 
 still follow the Lord, 
 and, looking to Jesus, 
 still trust in His word. 

4. Take time to be holy, 
 be calm in thy soul, 
 each thought and each motive 
 beneath His control. 
 Thus led by His spirit 
 to fountains of love, 
 thou soon shalt be fitted 
 for service above. 

*****************************

We are so glad these young mothers are desiring to take the time each day in the Word, in God's presence. It isn't easy with chasing after little munchkins.  And of course, He is with them all day long, always to help them through each day.  The best thing a child can have is a mother who loves the Lord and prays for her family.

Answer to how many chocolates in the jar:
*57