Your 24 Simple Advent Devotions All Right Here in this Blog!

Don't you love passing along something that is really good — and I'm not just talking about a good recipe! Would you like to help your husband from getting overwhelmed at trying to find Advent readings? Keep reading today's post! 

{All the links to your Advent devotions are in this blog!!!} 

Did you know that Advent meant coming? We can use the days in December leading up to Christmas to think about Jesus second coming and to celebrate His first coming!

Today I want to give you 24 simple Advent devotions from Anne Hibbard's book, Family Celebrations: Meeting Christ in Your Holidays and Special Occasions.

My good friend, Macon Newby, gave me this book 20 years ago! I started right in with it back then, when my oldest was just three, and have used it for our family all this time! It is that good! Now you can just purchase her book, Family Celebrations for Christmas, to just get her devotions for Christmas.

You will have 24 family times in Advent.

If you miss one, just start on the day you're on! 

They are divided into 4 categories about Jesus: 
Jesus — Eternal with the Father
Jesus — Sent to Save Sinners
Jesus — Spoken of by the Prophets
Jesus — Born of the Virgin Mary

You can also have an optional (easy!!) family project to enrich your devotional time during your 24 readings. It is a simple felt Advent Banner. Here's ours:

Jesus — Eternal with the Father
1.     Jesus the Alpha and the Omega (alpha and omega)
2.     Jesus the Word (Bible)
3.     Jesus the Creator (creation)
Jesus — Sent to Save Sinners
4.     Jesus died for our Sin (black heart)
5.     Jesus took our punishment on the Cross (Cross)
6.     Jesus is the Lamb of God (lamb)
7.     God loves Us (red heart)
8.     Jesus is the Greatest Gift (gift)
Jesus — Spoken of by the Prophets
9.     Jesus' Light chases away Darkness (candle)
10.   Jesus is the Light of the World (sun)
11.   Jesus is the Good News for the Earth (trumpet)
12.   Jesus is the Prince of Peace (dove)
13.   Jesus is our King (crown)
14.   Jesus is the Good Shepherd (shepherd's staff)
15.   Jesus is the Branch (stump with branch)
16.   Jesus was born in Bethlemhem (Bethlehem)
17.   Jesus' birth was a Miracle (manger)
18.   Jesus' mother was Mary (Mary)       
Jesus — Born of the Virgin Mary
19.   Jesus's Earthly father was Joseph (Joseph)
20.   Jesus born as a Baby (Baby Jesus)
21.   Jesus's birth announced by Angels (angel)
22.   Jesus birth announced to Shepherds (music notes)
23.   Jesus had special star to lead Wise Men (star)
24.   Jesus received gifts from Wise Men (wise men's gifts) 

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥ 

I'd love to connect with you on your favorite spot:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube or Google+. 

You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'. 

  

Walk by Faith,

Happy Thanksgiving from all the Mikels!

A very Happy Thanksgiving 2013 to you and your family 

from all the Mikels!

L to R: Me, Alex (19), Mary (16), Terry, John (21), Blair (24) 

& our ever-loyal dog Petey!

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, 

and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him 

in every place." ~2 Corinthians 2:14

As we smell the delicious foods around the Thanksgiving table 

for those in the U.S., and for us all as we eat around the globe today, 

may we have the aroma of Christ to those around us in every place God puts us.

"The best place is wherever He puts us, and any other would be undesirable ... 
We must leave to God all that depends on Him, 
and think only of being faithful in all that depends upon ourselves." ~Fénelon

Dear Lord, we thank you, that your Word tells us 

that you always lead us in victory in Christ! May each reader reading this, and myself included, Lord, be faithful to You, releasing the sweet aroma of Christ in every place You put us. Amen!

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥ 

I'd love to connect with you on your favorite spot:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube or Google+. 

You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'. 

  

Walk by Faith,

Giving Thanks in Circumstances You'd Never Choose & Wednesday's Link-up Party!

This Thanksgiving week, maybe you like me, are stopping to ask yourself, "do I really possess a thankful heart?" I know Thanksgiving is a wonderful time with families, but for many, holidays are a difficult time. I want to speak to you today if you are facing a difficult time in your life this holiday season, or know someone who is.

I remember so well when my daughter, Mary, was born totally blind. Her story is here with a letter I wrote when she was born. No one but God knew that she would be born without eyes. It was as if God was saying to me ... 

Will you trust me, Juana? Will you praise me, Juana? Do you believe that I know what I'm doing? Will you believe that I'm trustworthy? Will you have a thankful heart?

I can tell you with certainty, while I didn't feel like trusting Him, I did. I did not trust him based on my feelings. We do not have to be slave to our feelings! Don't listen to the culture's bombarding messages to follow your feelings! I trusted God by a sheer act of my will. Obedience always lies in the will.

Thanksgiving is Obedience's brother—so to speak. We choose to have thankful hearts. The will of God is a course we choose, and we choose it by faith.

When my daughter was born, two well-meaning friends came to visit us on two different occasions. They wanted to pray that Mary would grow eyes.

God had been challenging me and teaching me for years before Mary was born to live with a thankful attitude. I knew in my heart, He wanted me to receive the gift of suffering that He had allowed, and to be thankful. I even talked with that dear saint of our faith, Elisabeth Elliot, about it when my little daughter was only 3 days old.

She said that when her second husband Addison Leitch was dying of cancer, many people told her that he would get well and the cancer would go away. She told me that she thanked them for their prayers (knowing that God could do a miracle, but thinking that they were setting themselves up for disappointment). I took her cue, and thanked our well-meaning friends for their prayers for our daughter.

More than anything, I wanted her, like my other children, to serve God wholeheartedly, and I wanted to thank God for all He was doing in spite of what Psalm 139 calls her "unformed parts." It was enough that her Creator God knew her even before she was born we're told in Jeremiah.

    "Thou hast given so much to me, Give one thing more, a grateful heart..." 

~George Herbert

Perhaps you know someone going through a difficult time with something in their life they never would have asked for or wanted. My friend is coming up on the one year anniversary of her son's death. He died just before Christmas last year. Another acquaintance lost her daughter this year in a car accident. Please pray for these families this Thanksgiving and  Christmas. You too, may know of someone who is facing a heartbreaking, unfathomable loss.

I pray for myself, too, that no matter what may befall me, that God will give me a grateful heart. I need God's grace in my life, too. I often write out of my own need!

Read the prayer below by Robert Louis Stevenson on giving thanks with a grateful memory.

We thank Thee, Lord, for the glory of the late days and the excellent face of Thy sun. We thank Thee for good news received {Juana: Excuse me for butting in on Robert but I can't stand not interjecting my good news here: I was praising and thanking God in the hospital after Mary was born blind to find out the next day that she could hear very well out of one ear! Two weeks later I was praising Him over the good news of a normal brain MRI. Her whole brain was there! Normal? She is in fact so smart that she can remember dates for up to three years ago!!! Philippians 4:8 became a Psalm in my heart! Whatever is true...noble...right... lovely...excellent...praiseworthy.... think about these things!}. We thank Thee for the pleasure we have enjoyed and for those we have been able to confer. And now, when the clouds gather and rain impends over the forest and our house, permit us not to be cast down; let us not lose the savor of past mercies and past pleasures; but, like the voice of a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memory survive in the hour of darkness.

I'm going to write a note to my friends I mentioned, and give them Robert Louis Stevenson's prayer. Perhaps there is someone you'd like to share the prayer or this post. My share buttons are at the bottom of this post below my signature.

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You might also enjoy this clip.
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                                ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧ ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧ ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧

Now it's time for 

Wednesday's Prayer Girls & Link-Up Party!

Each Wednesday I like to offer to pray for your non-confidential prayer request or praise in the comment section below. Please enter a prayer if you would like me to pray for you (and pray for one another!) and I will reply to your prayer there or if you just have a comment (click the word "COMMENT" located below my signature below, under the colorful social media sharing squares:-)

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If you're a Christian blogger, we all would love to see what you've been writing! Enter your blog link below to join the party! For readers, enjoy the blog party below!

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As always, I'd love to connect with you wherever you most like on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube or Google+. You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'. 

Walk by Faith,

Elisabeth Elliot on Power to Give Thanks

     "Often I pray for someone whose circumstances or needs are unknown to me. There are many prayers in Paul's letters which may be used for almost anyone. One of my favorites is in Colossians 1:9-12. A part of this prayer asks, 'May he strengthen you, in his glorious might, with ample power to meet whatever comes with fortitude, patience, and joy, and to give thanks to the Father' (NEB).

     That seems to cover every possibility. It does not ask for instant solutions or reversals. It does not call on God for miraculous deliverance out of any trouble that might come. It asks for a truly Christian response, by the sufficient power of God: to meet whatever comes as a true Christian should meet it, with the Holy Spirit's gifts of fortitude, patience, and joy. It asks for the power to give thanks. It takes power, doesn't it, to thank the Father when everything in us protests? But we find in Him (not always in what happens to us) plenty of reason to thank Him and plenty of power."  

~ A Lamp for My Feet, Elisabeth Elliot

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My Gift to you this Thanksgiving is my latest YouTube Video on Thanksgiving and Christmas Traditions. I give our family's favorite resources!

I'd love to connect with you on your favorite spot:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube or Google+. 

You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'. 

  

Walk by Faith,

Thanksgiving and Christmas Traditions {YouTube Clip}

After telling a couple traditions that didn't work for our family, I cover Thanksgiving and Christmas Traditions in our family that did work to keep Christ the center of the celebration in the video below. Listen how you can make it easier for your husband to lead. ☺

{Note: The above YouTube clip was updated Nov 23, 2013, 2:15 p.m. with an edited version. The unedited version incorrectly posted earlier}

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Don't miss these great tips from Ann Hibbard's book in the video for your family!

Other books included in the video clip:

As always, I'd love to connect with you wherever you most like on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube or Google+. You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'.  

Walk by faith,

Free Watercolor Thanksgiving Place Cards Template & Wednesday's Link-Up Party!

Aren't these watercolor Thanksgiving place cards below that my friend Judy made beautiful? She is a talented artist and she painted these and added scriptures for your Thanksgiving table! She made 9 different ones with 9 different Thanksgiving scriptures for you to print onto card stock for your table to make tent cards! ♥

Judy is a beautiful, mature Christian who lives out her faith. She made these for our entire Bible study to share, and she wants us to share them with whomever would like them. Thank you, Judy!  ☺

To get the template, just click >> here <<

• Drag the place card matrix to your desktop
• Print them onto 8 1/2 by 11" card stock paper
• Cut along the lines
• Tent the cards so they will stand upright

Watch for more Thanksgiving ideas to keep Christ the center of our family's celebrations coming on the blog! I'd love to hear about any thanksgiving traditions you have!

Feel free to share the watercolor Thanksgiving place cards by clicking your favorite social media colorful button under my signature below!

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                                ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧ ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧ ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧

Now it's time for 

Wednesday's Prayer Girls & Link-Up Party!

Each Wednesday I like to offer to pray for your non-confidential prayer request or praise in the comment section below. Please enter a prayer if you would like me to pray for you (and pray for one another!) and I will reply to your prayer there or if you just have a comment (click the word "COMMENT" located below my signature below, under the colorful social media sharing squares:-)

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If you're a Christian blogger, we all would love to see what you've been writing! Enter your blog link below to join the party! For readers, enjoy the blog party below!

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As always, I'd love to connect with you wherever you most like on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube or Google+. You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'. 

Walk by Faith,