Kookie Cut-Outs by Rachel Britz

Delivering cookies and good news.

Book Review: Nearing Home by Billy Graham

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What an honor and privilege to review Billy Graham’s most recent book, Nearing Home. A book dedicated to rallying it’s readers to finish their life strong and with purpose. While focusing on what life has been like post-retirement, Graham also looks back in recollection of his ministry and faith journey. The most beautiful undertone is the way Graham honors his wife Ruth throughout the book. Now as a widower, he poignantly shares his sorrows and ache for her presence, all the while, longing for the day they will be united together with Christ.

Nearing Home primarily speaks to an audience in the later years of life. The Golden Years, as some would call it. A correction made by Graham himself, that the Golden Years aren’t always so golden. Yet, his challenge to rise above the sufferings of this life through personal stories of perseverance and heroic examples of great finishers cheers us on regardless of our season of life.
My favorite point to ponder is this, “Are we joyfully giving thanks in all circumstances, or are we making our last years on earth unbearable for ourselves and those close to us? Are we obediently setting things in place so that others will know that we were responsible followers of Christ?” Simply stated, Graham’s call to consider, to plan, and prepare for our legacy is a reoccurring theme emphasized over and over throughout the book.
I would recommend this book for all ages and seasons of life. Nearing Home reaches across generational lines by offering practical insight into living a peace filled life, finishing strong with the final destination in mind.

Time to Put Your Big Girl Panties On!

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I recently read that women are most interested in learning about organization, relationship tips, and how to save money. Well ladies, this ones for you!

I haven’t always been very good with this money thing. Let me rephrase. I haven’t always been very smart about this money thing. I’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way but the pendulum has swung and I think I’m finally getting the hang of a thing or two.

I entered the working world in the mid-90’s. A time when business was booming, the economy was soaring, and life was one big party. I took that liberty to spend most of my money freely (carelessly). Usually on myself. I’ll admit it…it sure was grand! My investment advisor even told me that if I kept up investing I’d be a millionaire by retirement. So naturally, I believed that I was set for life.
Except that life was only beginning and after a short while I began to see that it wasn’t all stars, and hearts, and rainbows. Nope. This girl needed to take a few swift rides down the roller coaster of life and learn a few lessons in hard knocks. It was hard. Then it got a little harder. At times we were desperate, without hope. Yet, each time we made it through. Another lesson learned, passing the test.
A lot of folks these days are slinging around the word entitlement. Maybe you’ve heard it used and maybe you agree that this is the root of our problems. Entitlement for me was the hardest death to die. Shopping spree’s and mani–pedis, trips and travel, and all the spend it and forget it behaviors that I believed were owed to me because I work hard and darn it, I deserved it!
Well, I don’t buy it anymore. At least I don’t buy it until I’ve saved up my money to buy it. So how do we learn how to save more of our money? Well, I thought I’d share a few very basic money saving ideas that we have implemented at our house. I believe it’s the little things that over time will make you feel like your making a significant difference in your pocketbook .
1. Haul your trash and recycling. This wasn’t my idea. It was my husbands. I hated it and I really, really didn’t want to do it. Gross! But we went ahead and got ourselves 2 bright and shiny 30 gallon receptacles, one for trash and one for recycling, and now we haul it ourselves. Our only expense is the special trash bags that our garbage must be dumped in. They are sold for $20 for a pack of 20. This equals $1 per week for our family.
2. Cancel your cable. This wasn’t my idea. It was my husbands. I hated it and I really, really didn’t want to do it. I mean, what about the news, weather, and entertainment. But we went ahead and cut the cable anyways. At first we went to Best Buy and bought a $30 HDTV antenna. Our hope was to pick up the local HD channels for free. Unfortunately for us, our country home nestled into the bedrocks doesn’t allow for any reception. So we settled on Plan B, a monthly subscription to Netflix. For $7.99 a month we get unlimited streaming hooked right up to our television. It’s great!
3. Cut the land line. Seriously, who calls the land line anymore? I’m proud to say, this one was my idea! But what about emergencies? Well, I found all of our sitters have cell phones and if we bopped out, leaving our kiddos at home for a short while, we would just leave one of our cell phones with them. Additionally, if you choose to cut your land line you can contact your police dispatch center to schedule a test 911 call. This allows you to confirm, from your home, that your correct address pops up in their system in case of an emergency. Total monthly savings $30.
4. Thrifty-is-Nifty. If you’ve followed this blog or been my friend for any amount of time you know that I am a sucker for thrift stores. When I consider all the things that need purchasing as the seasons change or another child goes through a growth spurt, the thrift store is always Plan A. Boots, coats, mittens, sweatpants, jeans and more. All of these items can really add up! My suggestion is to find a thrift store that you like. Believe me, I don’t like all of them. You know the ones that leave you itchy when you leave, those I avoid. Most stores also have discount days, slashing their already thrifty prices by half. I’ve even found (in the Twin Cities) a few designer consignment shops. I love these for days when mama needs a new sweater or pair of boots!
5. Then save what you save! Now that you’ve gone through and made some hard choices, eliminating things that you’ve really wanted to keep but realizing at the end of the day that the difference lies between sacrifice now and freedom later. So go grab your calculator and add up your monthly savings. Take this number and stick it into your savings each month. Over time this can really add up!
Okay ladies, are you ready? Get set. It’s time to get your big girl panties on and save some money!

My ONE Story

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{revised from an earlier post}


Stories inspire us, teach us, move us. We have all experienced a time or two in our lives when that ONE story was so overwhelming, filled with such a powerful emotional feeling, that the yearning in our gut shook us and caused a movement unparalleled to anything we have ever known.

About two years ago our family began sponsoring a child from The Raining Season. His name is Musa and he is 8 years old. Like most child sponsorship experiences we first received a picture. Standing in my kitchen, I devoured every detail of this picture. From his smooth skin, to the color of his shirt, I just waited for the story in his eyes to leap into my heart. We tacked the picture to our fridge and thanked God for the privilege to be a part of this boys life.


A short while later I received a notification informing us that we could have the opportunity to Skype our sponsored child from Sierra Leone, Africa. All we had to do was sign-up. For those unfamiliar with Skype, it is basically an online application that allows you to dial in (make a phone call) from your computer to another computer. It’s like having a live conversation along with live streaming video to the person on the other end of the line. Absolutely techno-amazing! From America to Africa I set up our first Skype session on a morning the kids would be home from school. I was tickled. My children were clueless.


Then came Skype day. Sitting at our kitchen table we met face to face with a little boy on the other side of the world. It was Musa. We watched him blink and breath and smile. His face was so timid yet he was so alive. During our time with him he showed us pictures he drew in school. He spoke in English. He told us that his favorite color is blue and that he likes to play ball. Even through broken sentences, a story, a life was being put together through the fragment of time we shared. In a short 20 minutes, our time was coming to a close. We waved good-bye, grinning from ear to ear. Then, in those last seconds Musa leaned into the camera and clearly said “I love you!”


And that’s when it happened, my heart shattered into a million pieces. Love sorta does that do you, especially when its staring you right in the face. It comes in softly and unexpectedly sweeps you off your feet. Sending $40 a month to help pay for an orphaned child’s basic needs and schooling is one thing. An opportunity to look into the eyes of some ONE God has given you the privilege to cover is completely overwhelming. So that’s my ONE story. What is yours?

OMG…Set Me Free!

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I’ve been afraid most of my life. I remember in particular a certain season of my young adult life when it attacked me with such a force. At this time I was a single mom raising my one-year old and working full time. From the outside, life was neat and put together. Sorta. On the inside, crippled with torrential fear.
Alone. Living in a corrupt, unsafe neighborhood. Vulnerable and succumbing to a barrage of temptation, I suppose it began with a series of poor choices. Looking back now it’s clear that I had made a deal with the Devil that he was ready to sign, seal, and deliver. And so began the night terrors.
It wasn’t long after that I met my husband. Calm, gentle, and wise; we worked through a lot of stuff in those early years. But the fear has always been mine. It clings to me. The adventurer in me is always in pursuit of finding it’s root, digging it up, and burying it for good. Only to turn around and find another thorn growing. Rinse and repeat. And so goes the fear factor of life.
It’s the stuff of sorts that has left me wide-eyed in the middle of the night, paralyzed with grave indecision and despair. Sounds rough. Hopeless. Yet, I do believe that the more I age the stronger I become. With each passing wave I’m learning how to wage this war. More equipped to rise up, defend myself, and rely on one sure thing.

“My rock & my fortress. God alone. For this reason I shall not be shaken.” (Psalms 62:1 Paraphrase mine)
For most of my sons life I have sensed a similar seed of fear. It hasn’t warranted a whole lot of concern or attention. I’d say he’s a normal kid. Except last week something changed, the seed had grown. Having locked eyes with the likes of this sort before, I felt my Mama Bear instincts rise up. No way, no how! Time to get digging. So after a serious heart to heart with my R & F, I was certain that my petition had been made crystal clear. I spent time talking about the subject of fear with my son. We talked about God’s word which tells us over 360 times “Do not be afraid!” (which must be a pretty important statement worth repeating). Then, we prayed together. Asking together that God would dig it up and defend the prayers of his sons and daughters.
The timing for all this is good. It’s a new year. A season in which we resolve to dissolve the old ways. Hoping to create something new or better for ourselves. One pointed realization in all this has been the way fear has been grappling all of my decisions. It’s gotten old and I’m ready to kick it to the curb.
For 2012, I long to be set free from the fear that ties me down. Causing me to be less than the woman, daughter, mother, sister, and friend that God has created in me to be. Fully and completely. How shall I fulfill this resolution? OMG! The only place I know where to start.
P.S. Here is one of my favorite singer/songwriters, addressing the issue of fear in his song No Thief Like Fear
Enjoy!

The True Spirit of Christmas

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I must confess that this has been the ultimate-easy-joyful Christmas on record. In the past I would do my darndest. Making lists, sorting, and containing all the things I could fathom wrapping my mind and heart around. It never worked. By the eve of Christ’s birth I would become an hurried, hassled mess. But not this year.

So what’s the difference? For the past couple weeks I’ve taken a mini-sabbatical from my day job. Historically a slower time of year, I went to my boss (aka: the hubz) for permission and he said Yes!
Here we are just a few days from Christmas and I’ve been able to quiet myself during long hours of baking, spend time reading that ole’ Christmas story, and ponder what the true spirit of Christmas really is.
As I reflect, I consider all the wonderful details in the story. I come to imagine, placing myself within the scene like a love-struck fictional bystander. I’ve found myself catching my breath a time or two…and with each passing year a new discovery unfolds.
This year I delight in the Magi. These scholarly, well-to-do foreign men traveling from the East. They were simply following their religion (astrology) and where it was leading them. In this case they were following a star (well, duh) when their journey just so happened to divinely collide with the greatest story ever told.
“When they saw the star , they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they open
ed their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”
(Matthew 2: 10-11)

Enter the True Spirit of Christmas.
Imagine the kind of faith it takes to journey into a foreign land. If you’ve done it before then you know what I’m talking about. It’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. To cross over cultural lines rocks our comfort level and requires an extreme act of inner faith. This is the character we find in The Wise Men. On a journey so filled with conviction that they could not rest until they found the king they set out to find.
And when they came upon the house and discovered the child, they bowed down and worshiped him. That’s odd…don’t you think? When was the last time that you became so tripped up, flat on your face humbled, that all you could do was bow your head in worship? In my experience, this usually happens to me when I’ve been blown away by the overwhelming power of something only divine nature could unfold. Almost always completely unexpected. Something mighty, a long hard journey, and the beauty before them caused them to fall in favor of the child before their eyes.
Their story could end here and it would remain magnificent but it doesn’t. Instead they add one more element to the saga. They came giving gifts. Precious, valuable, symbolic gifts. I won’t go into the symbolism of each gift (Google it if your curious) but what I find most fascinating is what is left unsaid. Later on post-Jesus’s birth we see the dynamics shift from sheer bliss to dire circumstances. With little warning, awoken from a dream from God, Joseph is told that he must flee to Egypt to escape King Herod who is on a quest to kill the new King Jesus. I imagine the significance of those gifts. A means of survival. Life sustaining gifts.
So as we embark on this Christmas journey, that we have traveled so well over the years, what gifts do we bring this season? World Vision, a Christian Humanitarian Organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and families around the globe offers one such solution. Titled none other than The True Spirit of Christmas, they offer folks like ourselves an opportunity to make a difference in the life of someone else through the gift of a livestock animal. Are you looking for a way to play a part in the story this year? Consider the True Spirit of Christmas. Make a gift today. Change a life.