Christmas thoughts....

In 2007 Daniel and I decided to start doing Christmas different as a family. We were so tired of the "stuff" that consumed Christmas instead of the reason for Christmas, (CHRIST) consuming us! We sat the kids down, then 7 & 12 and told them we were mixing Christmas up and were no longer doing Christmas presents. They would not be getting any gifts from us anymore and we were talking to Grandparents and friends and encouraging their gift giving to our children to look different too. We told them Christmas needed to be about Jesus and not about the stuff we get. --- They did not freak out :) They actually liked the idea of giving gifts to Jesus and to those in need...they were game! Now does this mean inside they didn't twinge or have some feelings of sadness? Not sure ,but they jumped on board and from that year on things have looked different around the Herzog House. The first two presents they wanted to give to Jesus were to memorize a verse and to get along with each other and obey more. We sure loved those gifts!I am sure their answers this year will be lots different. It is amazing what kids will come up with if you give them the love, space and guidance needed to do it on their own.

The first year we gave to different organizations like the Gideons, we bagged up clothes for orphans in Uganda. We made homemade goodies for family members instead of store bought things. Each year looks a little different. One year we played Santa and helped a family in need meet their needs for the Holidays. Last year we bought chickens and feed for a village in Africa. It changes every year. And it is fun! The saying is true; It is so much more fun to give than to receive!

This year we are buying athletic shoes for kids in Ethiopia. Each family member gets to pick a pair out for a specific child! This is such a great and tangible way to make a difference. The movement is called Operation Sole Connection and started within our church this year. We get to send the shoes off with a letter to each child and a picture of our family. Here is a link to learn more about it: http://journeyweb.net/osc/

Again I don't share all of this with you to tell you we have it all figured out and we just are so holy for doing so....not the case. I do share though to encourage families that are thinking of doing it differently. The facts are, my kids survived! :) As far as we can see we have not scared them for life by taking away the presents under the tree. We hope we have helped them build treasures in their heart instead. Eternal presents!!! We also have never indulged our kids with Santa or the Easter bunny etc. We just never wanted to mislead our kiddos. Now I don't think that if you do these things with your kids that your a bad parent or anything, there is no judgement on our part. That is just the way we have handled it in our family. It was quite humorous as our kids grew up having them keep some of that quiet. I remember when Chase was little he always wanted to share with his friends the truth...one year he asked if he could tell his friends at school that Santa was just a fat guy in a funny red suit. We told him no you can't tell them that and spoil the fun for them :) Again I don't think we have seen any everlasting scars in our kids because they never got to believe in Santa or the Easter bunny, although some members of our family still give us a hard time.

I do have to say it can be hard at first to share this with those closest to you who are used to lavishing your family with things at Christmas. The first year or so it was a bit awkward with Grandparents and such when we asked them not to give to the kids like in years past. The first year they received engraved Bibles from one set of Grandparents. We loved that! Now I can't say that everyone in our extended family has stuck with it every year....sometimes that is the way people love....gifts can be others love language and we understand that. I can only encourage them to love on my children in different ways....but I can't be angry if they end up buying the kids something. I just know for our family of four and growing that we do it differently and will continue to do so every year.

Again our resolution was to make and keep CHRIST the center of Christmas for our family. Every year it is fun to find new ways to do that and incorporate this spirit all year long.

This year Chase and I are doing a Jesse tree. The Jesse Tree is a unique Advent tree that is useful for teaching children about the Bible at Christmas. The Jesse Tree represents the family tree or genealogy of Jesus Christ. It tells the story of God's salvation plan, starting with creation and continuing through the Old Testament, to the coming of the Messiah. Each day of Advent a homemade ornament (ours are paper) is added to the tree. The ornaments represent the story and prophecy foretelling of Christ. So cool to explain to the kids that lots of stuff was written about Jesus in the Old Testament and that the Old Testament was written 400 years before the New Testament. Jesus was Gods plan right from the beginning!

Here is the link for the Jesse Tree devotional we are using: http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/11/free-jesse-tree-advent-devotional-book/

You just need a outline of a tree to hang your ornaments on or a felt tree etc. The picture in this post is my attempt of a tree. You can't tell from the picture but it is about three and a half feet tall on the wall.

We hope and pray that this year we can be incorporating more of who Christ is and why he came on Christmas. We hope we can be fully grasping the gift that Jesus is to all who believe!!! We hope your doing the same and hope our family can encourage you or spark your creativity to making Christmas more meaningful. We have loved learning and sharing from many families who are trying to do Christmas and the Holidays different every year.

Our special Christmas wish is for our children far away, that they stay happy and healthy until the day comes when we come to pick them up! Did you know that Christmas is celebrated on Januray 7th is Ethiopia. I can't wait until next year when Lord willing we are all together and we can start incorporating some Ethiopian traditions into our Holidays as well :)

I want to close with one of my all time favorite Christmas Poems~

NOT ONLY CHRISTMAS DAY
By Mary Fairchild

Lord, this is my prayer
Not only on Christmas Day
But until I see You face to face
May I live my life this way:

Just like the baby Jesus
I ever hope to be,
Resting in Your loving arms
Trusting in Your sovereignty.

And like the growing Christ child
In wisdom daily learning,
May I ever seek to know You
With my mind and spirit yearning.

Like the Son so faithful
Let me follow in Your light,
Meek and bold, humble and strong
Not afraid to face the night.

Nor cowardly to suffer
And stand for truth alone,
Knowing that Your kingdom
Awaits my going home.
Not afraid to sacrifice
Though great may be the cost,
Mindful how You rescued me
From broken-hearted loss.

Like my risen Savior
The babe, the child, the Son,
May my life forever speak
Of who You are and all You've done.

So while this world rejoices
And celebrates Your birth,
I treasure You, the greatest gift
Unequalled in Your worth.

I long to hear the same words
That welcomed home Your Son,
"Come, good and faithful servant,"
Your Master says, "Well done."

And may heaven welcome others
Who will join with me in praise
Because I lived for Jesus Christ
Not only Christmas Day

Paper pregnancy and Taylor to Haiti

Well today was a lot of hard work, about 8 hours of paperwork and had to do it all while dealing with a migraine! But we did accomplish a ton and our list of Adoption to do's is a lot shorter. We also wrote and printed our Christmas/Support letter that we will be sending out next week. Excited to share the news with lots of friends and family.

Well as most of you know Taylor returned home just last week from a mission trip to Haiti. She went with her Bible Study leader and two other girls from her Bible Study. They had an amazing time there and God did great things through the team. It was so great to see her love for others and for the poor blossom even more. They really connected with an orphanage there and plan to continue a relationship to help support ground operations. They are going again and plan on spending a month or so this next trip! Next up Taylor is going to Portland with her college group to attend a Winter Conference there through Campus Crusade for Christ. Daniel and I are playing taxi and taking her and a few friends out there. We will be gone the 27th through the 2nd and looking forward to celebrating a late Christmas with my brother and his family. We are hoping to see lots of our Oregon family while there :)

Thank you all for praying for Taylor and for her safe travels. God took great care of them! I am encouraging Taylor to put some thoughts down and make a blog post here to share with you all how letting love lead got her to Haiti!

We continue to ask for prayer for finances as we hope to send our dossier out at the end of the month and it requires a big stack of mula! We are moving along in faith and going as quickly as possible, wanting our kiddos under our roof again!

We love you all and hope your finding unique and special ways to celebrate Jesus this month.

Hugs, The Herzogs

*PS- Don't forget to put your name into the box on the right hand side to follow us via email.

Back....

After a long break of blogging we are back! We had to disable our blog at the beginning our adoption journey due to strict limitations from the Ethiopian government on what is allowed. We are excited to again be sharing our journey with you. We have been so thrilled with the amount of love and support our friends and family have given us so far and overwhelmed with the response of many wanting to follow our journey....so here it goes! We can not mention the names, sex or ages of the children we are in the process of adopting or share any photos :( but most of you by now know a bit of our story and know the details of the kiddos God has asked us to have join our family. We are currently finishing up our home study and beginning the overwhelming process of collecting our dossier. (A huge number of papers and documents that will be sent to the Ethiopian government through our adoption agency.)

Our local TV news station recently covered our journey of adoption as they highlighted National Adoption Month. (November) Here is a link to read the article and see our video interview:

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/29836419/detail.html

Also our church is just finishing up a series called Kingdom Come which focuses on our need to help and love the poor, needy, widows, orphans and those left behind. At the beginning of one of our services many families with us included shared a little of our adoption story. Ours is through the lens of Chase as becoming a big brother and acquiring siblings. You can see that video here:

http://vimeo.com/32556613

We are thankful and blessed by those who have given to us along the way either financially, through pray and emotional support! All of which are equally important.

*Our current prayer request- Be praying the God continues to provide financially as our next goal is a big one! Our next set of paperwork requires about 8,000 to go along with it. Also be praying for the hearts of our children far away and give them peace that we love them and are coming for them!

*Praise- As of now ever check we have had to write we have the resources thanks to God providing through donations of others and our savings we have had through selling our vehicle etc. He is good and we know he will continue!

Till next time....God Bless! And don't forget we always want to hear from you with your personal prayer requests!!!

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2