Mr & Mrs Smith

Many may know I've battled with family traditions, specifically Christmas ones for awhile now. I  don't fall in love with most traditions, especially those that are just for the sake of tradition and Mr Smith even more so. However, I do believe the scriptures make reference to righteous AND unrighteous traditions of their fathers, so we can filter for our own families. I only want our heart in it. I want our kids to enjoy time as a family and traditions are great for them.  With Christmas, I also need Christ in it. We are celebrating Him and that's why "happy holidays" makes me a little squeamish. So it's Hanukkah too and some Christians are beginning to wonder if it's best to celebrate with them vs the pagan roots of many Christmas traditions (or are they, it is debatable?!). I think there is a balance with no need to go to the extreme. While other cultures are fascinating, we do have to find a way to celebrate Christ. While our daily efforts are ess...

I've never been good at being concise. I like words too much. I think outloud. And I haven't had time to blog all these conversations & posts & mental thoughts and it's eating at me to write it all down, to get it out there. These are some words that no one understands anymore: love, tolerance, faith, forgiveness, covenants, judgment, respect, moderation, self-worth, humility, equality...at least if they say they do, I wouldn't believe them. In truth, I think we should be forever understanding what these words mean. Yet I hear people affirming over & over again in their actions & with their voice that they want to be right and they want you to know it & accept the choices they're making. So much for democracy & freedom. They might say "to each his own" but I'm not idealistic anymore, people don't really believe that.  I reference "the world" a lot. Let's clarify what I mean. We can start with Holly...