My Mosaic (Dec 15)

Five Things: "Mom" edition / books, articles / WATCH: A nativity shadow play

Amber Thiessen

Dec 15, 2023

Content: This Week...

Five Things ("Mom" Edition)

On the Blog

On my Shelf

In Articles (my curated content just for you)

In Snapshots

A Nativity Shadow Play

Previously on My Mosaic

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Let me know what you liked or clicked on from the newsletter this week

Five Things: "Mom" Edition

1 "Mom, I forgot..."

The phone rings. My caller ID tells me it's the school. I answer with surprise because it's only 9:08. She forgot she'd planned to bring a snack for her classmates on a long presentation day.

"So....can you make something and bring it for second period?"

I'll confess, in a lot of ways, I wanted to say no. My day was already set and getting blindsided by baking wasn't exactly what I had in mind for the moment. However, I knew this was important to her and it was a simple way to serve. Releasing my plans and living in the moment, I whipped up 2 dozen cupcakes and delivered them to school.

I'm reminded that interruptions often don't feel good, but they're often the Lord's way of getting me off my own track and onto his, away from focusing on myself, to blessing and enjoying others.

2 "Mom I'm allergic to winter"

"...and I have evidence. Once the snow comes I get a runny nose and a cough."

We look at our circumstances, then our symptoms. It's not hard to link them together, but sometimes it's not quite the connection we think it is. I'm learning this lately, particularly in the area of joy and happiness. It's easy to link joy as an emotion, something we feel, so we slide into conclusions that if I don't feel joyful, I can't have joy. When we consider that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, a state of being rather than an emotion, we realize that even in the tough things, God is gracious, he's present with us and given us the gospel, and in these truths we can always know joy.

3 "Mom, maybe Dad could just cancel work for today"

We need to organize the garage now that the snow flies. I guess we were talking about when and since we had activities that evening, it would have to happen another day.

So, my youngest thought Dad maybe just wouldn't go to work and stay with me to shuffle things around.

In her eyes, there was a simple solution. Something needed to get done, so make it a priority.

(However, going to work is also fairly high on the list)

I've enjoyed a reflective last few days looking over my priorities this past year, what I've learned, what I want to let go of and carry into the New Year; generating ideas and creating goals.

So I continue to ponder, what are my priorities? Then, am I living in a way that shows them to be true?

4 "Mom, look!"

A call I'm used to hearing, but less so when i'm driving.

She was gazing at a flock of swans flying overhead. Geese are the usual, but she'd noticed these were majestically large, white birds.

I'm glad for these moments, pulled into life around me. Sometimes I feel like a race car driver with tunnel vision on the task ahead, but when I look around, it's truly amazing what's visible.

I notice when expressions change during a conversation and something caused sadness. The way snow covers and clings to the trees. Someone sitting aside, feeling lonely.

Jesus heard the cries of the lepers as the noisy crowd surrounded him outside the city, he felt the touch of a weary woman reaching out in faith when people around him pressed in tight, he sat with and blessed the scampering children in his midst.

He saw people, he sees me. May I also see fix my gaze on him and where he's working in my day.

5 "Mom, where is...."

In a perfect world, all the things would have a 'home,' right?

I mean, it's what I try and teach the kiddos. Put things where they belong, you know, the-place-where-everyone-knows-where-they-are-so-you-don't-have-to-ask.

But in reality, our home is a revolving door.

A friend's gloves got thrown into our winter bin, another friend forgot their package of plastic plates and I thought they were from my mom, so they went into my pantry. Lego pieces and barbie shoes show up in the boot tray. Your toothbrush...really?

Astoundingly, "over there" is usually my answer, with "where did you look?" in close second.

What's your favourite "Mom" moment?

On the Blog

We can spend a lot of time in judgement and self-righteousness when we compare our “small” sin to the “big” sin of others.

"Search me O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps 139:23-24)

Yet, the path to Christlikeness doesn’t view sin in this way. Here we dig deep to unravel the the sin in our own hearts that we’ve come to label as acceptable in my review of Respectable Sins

On My Shelf

This week I started my yearly trek through On the Incarnation by St Athanasius
Still really enjoying and working through these short missionary biographies in 10 Women Who Changed the World
I finished these two Christian suspense stories: Brooke by Ronie Kendig (trigger warning: human trafficking, including children) and Fatal Witness by Patricia Bradley

In Articles

Celebrate Advent—Long For It, Too | Ashley Anthony (Gospel Centered Discipleship)

"Like a master storyteller, God crafts all of human history to reveal a deep need for his Son. When we see the brokenness of those throughout human history we see a need for a savior. The past doesn’t only anticipate the birth of a baby—it longs for the birth of God’s Son and Messiah."

God Loves-Loves the Local Church | Benjamin Vrbicek

"Certainly, there is a lot of junk that happens in the local church. Please also remember that God still uses the church to bless the world in beautiful ways. He may discipline his church to make her more holy, but he loves his church. His sons and daughters are always his sons and daughters, even when they live less holy lives than he desires. God even calls the church his bride, dying to purchase her and make her radiant. And one day we will see her in all her splendor. God loves-loves his church." Read this article and catch a renewed appreciation for your local church.

The Weary World Rejoices | Cheryl Balcom (Pursuing Otium Sanctum)

Read Cheryl's journey through the hymns during Christmas and how impactful they've been particularly in the weary ones.

Use the Psalms to Teach Kids About Feelings | Courtney Reissig (The Gospel Coalition)

In our parenting, we likely waver between trying to protect our kids from their feelings and not wanting them to be ruled by their emotions, so we inadvertently encourage stufing them. Here's a way to model and equip our kiddos when they've got strong feelings.

Finding Grace in Infertility and Loss | Amy Medina

"I am 47 years old and I haven’t thought about becoming pregnant in years. I long ago lost the hope of bearing a child and eventually lost the desire as well. But somehow initialing my name next to that sentence compressed the last 20 years, and I was suddenly a young wife again, crying over Dollar Store pregnancy tests that stubbornly refused to show me two pink lines."

Christmas Should Humble Us | Seth Lewis

"Christmas shows us more than Christ’s humility—it also shows us our own." I enjoyed this reflection on how Christ came to us and how we come to him.

Talk to One Stranger A Day | Heather Holleman

So, here's an interesting challenge for a New Year's resolution.