Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

Do We Have to Ditch December?

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DecemberChristmas dork.  That’s what my family affectionately calls me.  At least I choose to believe it’s affectionate and not mocking, anyway.  I don’t believe anything is quite so magical as twinkling lights and I love the decorations in my house.  I pick out coordinating rolls of wrapping paper and cover the floor under the tree in festive colors and ribbons.  The music, the traditions, sweet movies and time with family all have me asking,

“Do we have to ditch December”?  Every year I dread the post-holiday let-down.  I don’t have a blue Christmas, it’s a blue January in this house.

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So hang tight while I relive the last 30 days.  I’ll start with Christmas on 5th.  My daughter was invited to Baylor University for a tour and meet and greet with other upcoming Freshmen.  We decided to drive down the night before to attend the school’s annual Christmas tree lighting, concert and other festivities.  Allie connected with a few friends who already attend school there and stayed the night in a dorm while I called an old friend and spent the evening with her and her family.December

 

The next day we met students and professors at Top Golf for good eats, fun and networking.  Baylor knows how to court students and I so enjoyed being at my alma mater and spending time with my girl.  Afterward we rushed back to get her to theater rehearsal.

 

The Gift of Family

 

The first Saturday of the month we hung out with our nieces to give my sister and her husband a date night.  Chuck and I took them and Shelby to a Christmas light drone show on Main Street.  You may not know this, but I live in the self-proclaimed Christmas Capital of Texas.  Pretty fitting, I know.  We played games and tried the new peppermint Frosty at Wendy’s.  And all the while Allie delivered singing Christmas cards with her jazz choir.

 

Speaking of choir and nieces, we went to see two of mine sing in concerts at their school and enjoyed both nights of Allie’s Winter Wonderland themed concert at her school.  So many family and friends came to support her.  The hubs and I could not be more proud of her talent – among other things.  And at the end of the weekend the jazz ensembles from her school entertained at the annual party for the senior citizens from the city recreation center where I work.  Same songs.  Equal enjoyment every time.  And in between all these shows I got Shelby to see Santa Claus.  She was struggling with some seizure activity so I didn’t get a great photo, but she still lit up at the prospect of seeing her “Claus”.

 

A bigger seizure kept me from being at a Life Group brunch on time a few days later, but she recovered beautifully to attend a Best Buddies party with her sister.  Where she again got to visit “Claus”.

 

Mid-December

 

About mid month I tried to separate my pinkie toe from the rest of my foot on a piece of furniture in the middle of the night.  This had me hobbling and elevating for a few days.  My supervisors at work were kind enough to allow me to wear house shoes for a shift.  It was Christmas sweater day and my holiday slippers did match the reindeers on my sweater.  So there’s that.

 

We ate BBQ and opened gifts with my family on the 21st since I was hosting my husband’s family the 23rd and 24th.  In between I watched my Baylor Bears play a disappointing bowl game.  And that’s all I’ll say about that.

 

 

Chuck’s brother and sister-in-law plus their 3 year old Dylan stayed at our house and my father-in-law stayed close by.  Unfortunately, Chuck’s mom got sick and had to stay home.  My other brother-in-law and sister-in-law came over with their kids on Saturday and we ate, played games and enjoyed each other’s company.  We also snuck in a Christmas Eve service.  I always love our church but service always feels a little more magical on Christmas Eve.

 

The Pinnacle of December

 

For the second year in a row we spent the entirety of Christmas day in the car.  Not fun, but my bonus son and grandkids are on the end of that drive.  So it’s well worth it.  The girls and I only got to stay in Colorado for 2 days so we could get Allie back home for the Passion Conference.  Chuck stayed the rest of the week to help his son with childcare and flies back home tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow evening we host PJ New Year’s Eve.  It’s a semi annual tradition for us and some friends and neighbors.  None of us really want to go out on NYE, but neither do we want to do nothing.  So we all wear our pajamas, eat, play games and call it a night early.  Can’t wait!

 

I pray you have something to look forward to soon as well.  And I want to offer my deep gratitude that you have shared your time with me this year.  You will never know how much it means to me that you take the time to read.  As always, I thank you, I love you and I hope 2023 treats you well.

 

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

Just in case you set a reading goal for the new year, I wanted to highlight Grace and Truth’s own Lisa Burgess.  She gave us her 20 favorite books of 2022.  10 fiction and 10 non-fiction.  So there’s something for everyone!

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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 Now Let’s Link Up!

 

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If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

Do we Need a Festivus for the Rest of Us?

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Festivus for the rest of us“Frank:  Welcome, newcomers.  The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of the grievances.  I got a lot of problems with you people and now you’re gonna hear about it.”  With this, the TV show Seinfeld introduced the world to Festivus for the rest of us.

 

If you are, or were, a Seinfeld fan, you probably remember this holiday made up by George Costanza’s father as an alternative to Christmas.  In the show, the story behind Festivus is that Frank “reigned blows upon” another man over the last doll on a shelf.  As a result, he decided there must be another way.  So he concocted his own bizarre holiday.

 

What you may not know?  Seinfeld writer Dan O’Keefe’s father invented and observed Festivus in real life in 1966 and continued to celebrate it through the 80’s.  It appears to have been as much of an embarrassment to Dan as it was in the show for George.

 

What Exactly is Festivus?

 

A few minor details were changed for the TV episode, but almost every aspect of its meaning and rituals came from the writer’s true childhood.  According to themanual.com, I present the key tenets of Festivus:

  • Put a clock in a bag and nail it to the wall (which is considered “the true symbol of Festivus”).
  • Sit down for dinner.
  • Before eating comes the Airing of Grievances, an opportunity to tell others how they have disappointed you in the past year.
  • Enjoy Festivus dinner (which on the show was meatloaf on a piece of lettuce).
  • Amid dinner, the Feats of Strength begin, where the head of the household must be pinned by other family members. The honor goes to someone at the table.
  • Festivus is not over until the head of the household is pinned.

 

While a not so happy Festivus makes for an outrageous and funny episode of television, it makes for a lousy way to live our lives.

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But all too often, complaining and fighting find their way into our Christmas celebrations.  Holiday gatherings can be stressful, painful and even anxiety inducing.  I get it.  They can be for me too.  But in opposition to Festivus, I’m choosing to try to abide by Philippians 2:14.

 

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing;” NASB

 

After all, Christmas celebrates the day love came down.  Jesus temporarily gave us His home in heaven to live among us and die in our place for forgiveness of our sins.  This is reason for unmeasurable joy!  Even if our Christmas doesn’t look the way we hoped it would.  If your house isn’t ready or you couldn’t find the right gift.  If someone you love is no longer with you.  Maybe distance is an issue or family differences make gatherings difficult.  Whatever the challenge may be, we can have hope of a forever home in heaven because of God’s great sacrifice.  It is that hope we cling to when our present circumstances disappoint.

 

I know I don’t stand a chance of going the whole holiday season without grumbling or complaining.  I messed that up on the first day of December.  But God’s grace allows me to get closer to that goal every day I walk with Him.

 

Do you know personally the Jesus we celebrate at Christmas?  If you aren’t sure, I would love to tell you about the greatest gift you will ever receive.  Comment below or message me at lauren@laurensparks.net.  I will call or message you back.  I would much rather talk about Him than shop or bake or wrap.  And I have a feeling that the more I talk about Jesus, the less grumbling and disputing there will be.

 

Even though the Costanza’s celebrated Festivus on December 23, I prefer to wish you a Merry Christmas today.  May God bless you richly and may you enjoy your time with Him and others.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

I learned so much from The Twelve Days of Christmas from Penny’s Passion.  Fun trivia!

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

If you liked this post, do me the huge honor of using the buttons below to share it to your favorite social media accounts. And if you want to get these essays emailed to you once a week, subscribe!  Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

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