Holidays
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Why I Disappointed my Daughter for Christmas
BYes, I disappointed my daughter for Christmas, and I think it was the right decision. But it was so hard to stick to my guns. Why would I deliberately disappoint her for Christmas? When she was five, she had asked for a $5 set of orange and blue ponies with hair to brush and braid, a minion toy, a Barbie that rides a horse that really walks, and a big white horse like her friend has. Every night for a week before Christmas, she reiterated her list. I had shopped for her gifts months ahead of time. All the gifts sat tucked away, all ready for Christmas. There would be…
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Giving Tuesday
Today we started Advent, marking days toward the celebration of the greatest gift mankind has ever known, celebrating the birth of Christ. How fitting that this year, today is also Giving Tuesday. We follow days of gluttony and excess, perhaps self-absorption and consumption with a sweet day of being focused on doing good. How do you find your heart for Giving Tuesday? Giving Tuesday only started a few years ago, but is growing as more and more people recognize that we need to focus outside of ourselves. While, a calendar day set to tell you to give can make it feel compulsory, God doesn’t specify what to give or who…
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Thanksgiving Attitude – More than a Day
Do you have a Thanksgiving attitude just on the fourth Thursday in November or should thanksgiving be an attitude we have for more than just one day? In 2015, Thanksgiving was a contradiction in our home. While most of the country celebrated with large meals and loud boisterous gatherings, our table was be quiet. (Heaven not Harvard is as a participant in affiliate programs including the Amazon Associates Program. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.) It was just another day without daddy in a long month of long daddy-less days. But instead of sadness and bitterness over his responsibility to the army, I was able to react and…
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Are your Expectations Ruining your Life?
Expectations are sneaky buggers. They are often so engrained into our ideas of normal that we forget we have them at all. We have all these cultural expectations that we don’t even question. For example, think about the 4th of July. Most Americans immediately picture patriotic picnics and hotdogs on the grill. If our day looks different, we can feel a little let down. And when these ingrained expectations aren’t met, we can experience real costs in our lives. I sometimes don’t even realize I had expectations until I find myself disappointed. And then I’m upset, angry, sad, etc. because I set myself up for failure. My expectations were ruining…
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50 Shades of Green Valentine’s Day
Do you picture a 50 Shades kind of Valentine’s Day? Are you doing Valentine’s Day wrong? I was for years and didn’t realize it until recently. The gift that made me realize just how much I’ve changed wasn’t really for me and involved new socks. And real love isn’t 50 shades of grey; it’s one shade of dark green, trust me. This year my husband has to work late, may not even make it home for dinner, and will probably barely drag himself through the house and to bed after the week he’s had, and I’m okay with that. In fact, when my husband “warned” me he has to work…
