Keep CHRIST in Christmas!!!!

Today I sent this email out to all the leaders and coaches of GBF's Children's Ministry Team! I think all could benefit from this aritcle...........

Just recently my husband and I saw a billboard that said KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS....which sparked us in a conversation on this very subject. I like the idea behind the billboards, however my husband thinks the money on the billboard could be spent somewhere else..... So therefor, I have been thinking alot about WHY I support this advertisement! Here is a article I came across today that I found very interesting and worth reading.

Getting Christ Back into Christmas Your Ministry

There is a danger in ministry that is easy to miss. During the Christmas season, we often hear the phrase, "keeping Christ in Christmas," or reminders that He is the "reason for the season." But these sentiments have as much to do with our ministry all year long as they do with the celebration of Christmas. While it is certainly disappointing how little of Jesus we see in our culture's celebration of Christmas, and frustrating to see our Savior being systematically squeezed out more and more every year, there is something far more gradual and eternally dangerous than seeing Christ steadily removed from Christmas. And it is happening every month of the year. It is the slow and unintentional removal of Christ from ministry – or at least the removal of a vibrant relationship with Jesus in the midst of Christ-centered ministry.

I have no doubt that children's ministry leaders and volunteers will keep "Christ in Christmas" during this season. I am more concerned about whether we will keep a relationship with Jesus at the center of our life and ministry. Christmas serves as a perfect object lesson on this topic because Christ slips away from our ministries the same way He slips out of Christmas. When it comes to the purpose and focus of Christmas, it is true that there are those who are intentionally and strategically trying to remove Christ from Christmas – but they are easy to identify. However, there is a more subtle attack at play. Too often Christ gets lost, not because of overt attacks, but because He just gets drowned out in the midst of many other good things. Shopping for gifts to express love is a good thing. Decorating to make the world a brighter place is a good thing. Cooking up special recipes to make life taste better is a good thing. Playing with children, volunteering to help the poor, giving to the needy, playing music focused on joy, and promoting peace and expressing love are all good things. They aren't "bad," and they even please Christ – but at the same time, they can distract us from the very One who inspired them.

The same is true with our lives and ministries. We do have an Enemy who seeks to remove Christ from the center of our lives, and often his distractions or downright seductions work – and we sin. But more often, it is all the GOOD in our lives and ministry that can cause Jesus to be lost in the shuffle. We are about so many good things! Creatively teaching the Bible is good. Getting kids to come to church is good. Making the environment fun and inviting is good. Preparing fun games, engaging crafts and yummy snacks is good. Providing resources is good and staffing our classes and programs is good. Developing safe policies and creating attractive bulletin boards, brochures and websites is all good – and most of it is inspired by our desire to lead children into a saving relationship with Jesus. But just as Christ slips out of Christmas while we are busy sipping the eggnog, so Jesus can slip out of our ministry while we are restocking the resource room with apple juice.

Here a few warning signs that Jesus may have gotten buried in the busyness of ministry:

* You haven't read the Bible for yourself in awhile. (Lesson prep doesn't count!)
* If you pray, it's at meals, or when you need something for the ministry.
* Your spouse or kids are starting to resent the ministry. (Or perhaps you are.)
* What used to bring you great joy now seems like a burden. (If you are honest.)
* You aren't really as happy as you appear on Sunday. (You thought no one could tell.)
* You can't remember the last time you got to lead someone to Christ (one on one).
* You are feeling stressed and overwhelmed with the ministry. (His burden is light.)
* You are exhausted most of the time.
* You feel unappreciated, undervalued and overworked.
* You don't like who you are becoming privately.
* You have sin in your life that if anyone knew...

How does it happen? How can you be doing so much GOOD and seeing LIVES CHANGED and have so many people impressed and pleased with you… but Jesus seems like a stranger to you?




Friend, Jesus is not only the "Reason for the Season," he is the Reason for your Ministry, too. "Keeping Christ in Christmas" is not the main challenge – keeping your relationship with Him central in your life and ministry is!

Thanks for letting me share this!!!!! Love yall!!!

Christmas Treats for the Inexperienced

Year after year I tell myself I want to learn to make some fun Christmas treats to share with friends, relatives and co-workers. But time and time again, it gets busy I usually end up settling with handing out gift cards instead.

But this year I am a bit more free....which I am thrilled about. So this weekend I want to start playing in my kitchen and making some fun treats.

So for all your bloggers, please share some of your favorites with me! But please NOTE, I am not a homemaker and don't spend alot of time in the kitchen. So easy/simple is best!!! HAHAHA! Plus, I am hoping the kids will help me in there this weekend too!!!

New Room, New Attitude

I know it is not new news about our recent add-on to our home. And, it's not technically an add-on but we closed in our garage!

But I can't explain how this has changed the Turner Household for the better!! It is almost as if we aren't the same family! HAHA!

First of all, my family of 5 sat at a small area in the kitchen. The original kitchen table only had 4 chairs and we usually have to pull up a step stool or an office chair if we all want to sit together. And to be honest, usually I would feed everyone and wait on them or we would have kids in the kitchen and Todd in the living room! It is also a tight area to have the family in. NOW: We have a huge table in the new big room that can sit up to 8, maybe even 10 and we have 6 chairs! We eat together, we do homework or work together and even clean together! NO JOKE!

Secondly, that small kitchen area and table was in constant use, which was tiring and very frustrating... not to mention it caused me to yell more than I wanted to! Mainly out of frustration at the time. Our table schedule was much like this.....
Morning: breakfast and folder signing
Midday: Cleared
After School: full of backpack, lunch boxes, papers and homework
Dinner Time: move school stuff and do dinner or do dinner around the school stuff
Nite: clean food and pull out backpack again and do homework!

NOW: This big new table is big enough to eat at and have homework at. We have plenty of room to have several things out and we have a nice refrigerator that has the cereal stuff and other easy access snacks ready to go! Now the kitchen stays clean and we use it for more of a adult conversation/dinner time! No more kids!! No more homework (unless they need quiet), no constant cleaning it several times a day! LOL!

I have more reasons... so if your with me, I am going to keep on telling ya!!!

Next, I love the space. We have a big U-shaped couch (with a pull out sleeper), this big table, a TV, a frig and a freezer. This takes up a little more than half of the room so the rest of the room is open and is great for playing games, doing puzzle, or for doing cart-wheels (my Addie does that none stop).

And last but not least, I love how we are always together as a family all the time. Tonight, Todd and Zander were watching a baseball game, Addie and Gabe were coloring and helping me match socks, and I was doing laundry, all at the same time and all TOGETHER! On the weekends we let the kids pull out the sleeper and have little slumber parties...and yes, last week the whole family had a slumber party in our new room! HAHA!

It seems that our YELLING has become a minimal now! And we seem to have our family all together majority of the time.

So you ask me what I am doing right now....well I am sitting at the BIG table typing this. Zander and Todd are having an coaching session while watching the baseball game, Addie is cartwheeling and Gabe is reading his book!

The money we have spent on this room as been so worth it. We should have done this years ago!!! But I am so happy we did it period!

Awkward Family Photos

Ok.... I am feeling silly today!!! I have been looking at OLD PHOTOS and I have to say we have found A LOT funny ones! Now, if you're anything like my family, we get a kick out of that website called AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTOS! It is hilarious! They are consistently finding new photos and such that get posted frequently! And yes, we get a kick them each time!! LOL

Well, lucky for you, I am about to post some pictures of my OWN AWKWARD FAMILY PHOTOS! LOL! Yes, I am feeling brave! But I hope you get a good laugh at them like I do each time I see these!

So here goes............

Literally....

Thought I would share a couple things that Gabe has said or done in the last week. He is so LITERAL!!! These are just a couple of things, but keep in mind he is always doing and saying things that just make you laugh!

1) As most of you know, recently Todd and I were on a vacation without the kids. My mom and dad watched the kids for us while we were away. But today, while visiting with my mom, she shared this story.....

Gabe apparently wanted a "snack" but it was dinner time. The whole family was at the table and he was trying to negotiate how much more he had to eat from his dinner plate to get his special snack!!! Mom finally got sick of trying to compromise with him so she told him he must "clean his plate". So about 2 minutes go by and mom is not certain what he is doing yet...but he puts away his plate, drinks all his drink and puts it away, and then cleans his area with a wet rag. Everyone is still eating and talking when he finally announces that he is ready. Mom still didn't get it, but he says to hear "but I cleaned my plate, like you said...." LOL

2) Another story..... Todd and I returned from our vacation late Sunday evening. The kids were very excited to have us home and tried really hard to have us let the play hookie on Monday. But I could not stay home with them, as I had a staff meeting to attend to Monday morning and Addie had a few test to take. And Todd would be home but he would be working from home!!!

Anyhow, Gabe understood that I had prior commitments. So Monday morning rolls around and he walks into class. His teacher, Mrs. Price is aware of us being out of town and realizes that we should be back by now. So she says to Gabe, "Gabe, is your mommy and daddy home now?" Gabe replies "My daddy is, but my mommy is not!!!"

LOL! I bet Mrs. Price thought she would hear about this story on 20/20 there for a few minutes!!! SO FUNNY!

I will share more later..... HAHAHA!

Pictures from our Cruise

Been Away.....on VACATION!!!!

I know. I know. I have been very quiet on here the last couple of weeks. You know why??? Cos I was out of the country!! YAP!! My dear husband took me away for my first CRUISE and first MEXICO trip ever! It was so awesome! The trip alone was awesome, but being with my man for 10 straight days was even better!

On Sept. 5 we left DFW, flew to Los Angelas....spent almost 24hours with Todd's sister, then boarded our cruise out of Long Beach that would last 8 days! We were at sea for a day and half then had our first stop in Cabo San Lucas!

We had the most amazing time there at Lover's Beach snorkeling. There is something so romantic about being in deep blue waters, hand in hand with your spouse, seeing hundreds and hundreds of tropical fish surrounding us! We spent 3 hours swimming and snorkeling together!!! Then ended our day there with a light lunch and people watching!!! LOL!

Our next day was at Mazatlan. Here we rented a van a took a private tour of parts of this area. We learned lots about the history of Mexico and saw lots of new and old!!! The tour was very informative....not to mention we were told exactly where to go to do our shopping!!! We also took a fairy to STONE island where we ate a great shrimp lunch!!!

Our last stop was in Puerto Vallerta! I have never seen a place more beautiful and unique as here. Being in a real rainforest was so cool. The streets were made of cobble stones and the air was so fresh!!!! HUMID, but fresh!!! Here we took a taxi about 30 miles outside of town...which was an awesome scenic drive. Lots of mountains, beautiful cottages, old villages, winding narrow roads, etc. It was almost movie like! We finally got to our destination....CHICO's. This was an old Mexican restaurant way out in nowhere land. It was in the middle of the mountains with a river and waterfalls that over look from the restaurant balconies. Not only did we enjoy the scenery there but we also ZIPLINED from mountain to mountain and over the rivers there! It was sooo cool!!!!

The last two days were sea days of traveling back. We took lots of naps, worked out, layed out by the pool, and just rested alot! The ship itself had plenty to do.....and plenty of great shows too (Ron, my brother in law performed 2 times while on the boat)!!!!

It was a blast!!! I have made a brief video of some of the pictures! Take a look at the blog posting that will soon to come above!!!