the party

I spent 2 hours late afternoon yesterday

sweeping sawdust and insulation debris

out in the house,

so dinner got started late, 

which meant we ate late,

and would have no need of birthday cake for dessert.

Also, 

I didn't want to be rushed,

so we pushed our birthday celebration 

off 'til today.

After I made the cake

(low carb Italian cream cake)

I found my master money paper 

(genius idea, if I do say so myself.

only took me, what? 4 5 years to figure out ;-)

and made 8 copies,

one for each person,

and one for the finder of the pickle

(Lily)

then cut the money apart,
and secured each person's 'cash' with a clip.
All money earned was paid in a single 'bill'
in the appropriate amount
(for example - Lexi got an $18 bill,
because she earned $10 wrapping presents
and $8 doing extra cleaning jobs)

We played a few games
(Farting Pig and Bananagrams)
then read from Matthew 25

and started shopping.

The kids had all earned extra giving money,

and some dipped into their savings.

I was kinda bummed 

that I didn't have anywhere to pull a few extra dollars from, though.

As usual, we went back and forth between catalogs

and hunted for the best price on the item we wanted to give.

This year there was some doubling of animal gifts

(thank-you special donors for Heifer!)

and some 'your dollar multiplies x times' 

through World Vision,

which this thrifty family especially likes.

All together,

we spent $511

and gave Jesus

$108 for books and school supplies

Honey bees for 4 families

Ten flocks of chickens

 (each flock is anywhere from 10-50 chickens,

depending on location)

Mosquito nets for an entire family

$150 for emergency food

$888 worth of warm clothing

Food for a refugee child for 1 week

2 flocks of ducks

1 Rabbit
(here's hoping some other family gave a rabbit too... ;-)

15 fruit trees

Seeds for a family

2 soccer balls

and

$50 cash to be used where it's most urgently needed.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

We love You.

Happy Birthday, Jesus

3 flocks of chickens

1 dairy goat

5 adorable stuffed lambs that play 'Jesus loves me'

(samaritan's purse)

mosquito nets for a family

$396 worth of warm clothes

6 insect shield blankets

10 fruit trees

seeds for 3 families

5 ducks

(world vision)

and from 

Heifer International,

bees with beekeeping supplies and training 

and

an investment in an alpaca project in Peru.

That's what we gave to Jesus today

in honor of His birthday :-)

I got smart this year, and instead of my fake money being life sized,
I made it so I could fit all of the bills for each person
on one piece of paper.
The blank 'bill' was used to write in the amount that each person earned by doing
extra chores for Christmas cash.
Now, I'm going to be super smart, and save my original for next year :- )

Fancy; I know...

(Josiah got the pickle this year)
(I never posted our party last year.
I saved all the envelopes for months,
then finally  tossed them in June or July during a cleaning spree,
after admitting I was probably never going to get the post typed up.
I regretted it almost immediately.
but not soon enough to rescue them from the trash.

Previous birthday celebrations for Jesus can be found here:
2010   2011   2012   2013)

We love you, Jesus!

Thank-you.

the annual birthday party

This year's party for Jesus was pretty much the same as the past few years'

except this year we had brownies and icecream,

and

the pickle was found so quickly

(by Jeremiah again)

that there was a torrent of tears by the youngest three

and harsh words hollered (for several minutes straight...) by the littlest.

We're re-thinking the whole pickle thing.

~

The kids earn extra money for Christmas giving (both for siblings and Jesus) by doing extra jobs around the house.

Problem was,

this year,

I wasn't on the ball

at all.

(shocker.)

I offered up double the pay from previous years (which was generous already) until I got my chart made.

Only, 

I never got my chart made.

So they ended up being compensated quite nicely for their work.

Next year - I'm getting a chart made up nice and early.

Amazingly enough,

even though it would have earned them a ton of money

(money could be earned daily for some jobs...)

nobody

ever

not one time

washed the bathroom floor.

That is one hated job, I tell ya!

~

This year

we bought Jesus' gifts through Heifer International, World Vision, and Compassion.

I didn't keep track of each person's gifts - there was a lot of 'going in together' on things,

plus it was kinda fast and furious there for a little while.

We were especially happy to find that Heifer had bees, a hive, and training for only $30,

so we gave 2  gifts of bees

3 flocks of chickens

2 flocks of ducks and geese.

5 fruit trees

and a rabbit

(I'm really hoping somebody else gave a rabbit, too...).

We gave to 3 different clean water projects

and 

a safe playground.

We gave a newborn care package that included a toy, as well as basic necessities,

and fed 2 mommas and their babies for a month.

We gave parasite protection for 3 children

and 

a mosquito net.

We gave to an emergency fund to help mommas and babies survive,

to emergency food funds that will multiply 5 times

and

a nice chunk of money that will multiply ten times to an emergency clothes fund.

We still haven't found affordable safe heat to give,

but maybe next year...

~

Happy Birthday, Jesus.

We love you!!!

happy birthday, Jesus!

*this is always a very hard post for me to write. I really considered not writing it this year; I don't want to be misunderstood. 
But the simple truth is, this blog is the record for our family. We want to remember. We want to remember what we gave to Jesus 
as much as we want to remember the funny things we say, and how to make the foods we like, and when somebody got baptized. 
I don't mean to offend, condemn or brag. I just want to record. so we can remember.
 If you are encouraged, I'm glad. and grateful. If our annual Christmas post makes your skin crawl - skip it*

I woke up Christmas morning not feeling real swift,

so we ended up postponing our birthday party.

I'm feeling much better today, 

but sadly, a few of the kiddos are sick now.

We decided to go ahead and have the party anyways,

'cause if we wait 'til everyone in the house it totally well,

well, it might be awhile...

We did things just like last year, except there was real cash in the envelopes instead of fake money. (The bank loved me this month ;-)

and we didn't have any cake (I don't think it was missed)

We've had a small chunk of 'Samaritan Money' set aside for a few months now, but we never felt led to use it, 

 so Tyler said we could spend it on gifts for Jesus, too, in addition to the money we had earmarked, 

which made me happy. 

My sister gave me some money;

she wanted to give to Jesus, but trusted me to spend her money for her :-)

I could have just added her money to mine, but I really tried to pick something that she would be passionate about.

She owns a small shop in Rogers (and has an etsy shop) where she sells, among other things, her hand made jewelry.

She works with beads and gems, common metals, and even gold and silver.

She loves to learn new skills. (Fortunately for her, her brain actually works...)

All of those thing combined, made my choice easy:

I went in with her 50/50 and we gave a hard-working woman (maybe even a jewelry maker?) a small business loan!

What's especially cool about that, is,

when that woman's business is up and running, and she repays the loan,

the money is then loaned out again, to another woman,

and the cycle will continue to repeat, and the gift will keep giving. Indefinitely.

I'm so tickled!!

(anybody else want to send me some money to spend?? ;-)

So.

What else did we buy??

lots!  :-)

I love how our choices reflect us.

We bought:

A dozen baby chicks (Lexi)

10 'Greatest Gift' booklets to be included in shoeboxes (Lily)

Food  for 2 children for a week (me and the girls)

Food for 4 hungry babies and/or nursing mommas for a week (Lily and Lex')

A pair of chickens (Lily)

Training for an evangelist (Brandon)

5 fruit trees - these will provide food and income from selling both fruit and saplings (Brandon & Jeremiah)

2 shares of a fish pond (Tyler)

Help for children with disabilities (Brandon)

Mosquito nets for a family (Brandon and Lexi)

2 Bibles (Brandon)

A sewing machine (girls and I)

 (before the seamstress takes home her machine, she will receive 6 months of sewing training and Bible teaching :-)

and 

A goat. (Josiah)

Lexi really wanted to give bees, but a beehive was very expensive this year, so we passed on that.

Brandon wondered if there was any way to give safe heat (beyond clothing) because many deaths and injuries are related to unsafe heating practices. I think that is something we'll need to research this year, as that is not something that was in the catalogs we have.

Tyler and Brandon gave money to World Vision's Maximum Impact Fund, so they can use it where its most urgently needed.

I gave money (which will be multiplied 5 times) for emergency food

and we all put money towards emergency clothing.

The money given for that will multiply twelve times :-)

So our combined $90 will buy $1,080 of warm clothes and boots and such to protect people from harsh winter weather.

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Happy Birthday, Jesus; we bought these presents

just for You.

the party

We changed things up a bit from last year

and had the birthday cake for breakfast.

Once again,

we read from Matthew 25 to find out what gifts Jesus would like.

Without knowing how much money we were contributing,

each kid dug deep into their piggy banks

(which are really just sad wrinkled envelopes)

so they could give too.

Then

we passed out envelopes of homemade cash in assorted bills.

There was an extra envelope with a glittery pickle on it.

A few years before she died,

Granny started the pickle tradition:

She'd hide a pickle ornament in the tree

and whoever found it 

got an extra gift.

While ornament shopping,

we found a pickle just like hers

and decided we'd carry on the tradition.

with a twist:

the pickle finder would get an extra $50 

to spend on birthday gifts for Jesus!

 Jeremiah found it! 

I grabbed a stack of envelopes

and a piece of paper.

As Tony determined where to buy what,

I quickly wrote it in a chart.

As people decided what they wanted to purchase

I'd stick the money in an envelope

neatly labeled with the item, how much it cost

and which charitable organization we'd buy it from.

From Compassion, we bought Jesus

1 cow

3 goats

a swingset

and

a skilled birth attendant for 1 birth

(guess who chose that ;-)

We purchased

5 chickens

from Partner's International Harvest of Hope

(I also ordered their book!)

From  Samaritan's Purse we got

bees for a family, so they could start a honey business

and Lily and Lexi got food for a week for 9 hungry babies

or their nursing mommas.

We kinda hit the jackpot with World Vision.

We gave $73 for clothes and that gift will be multiplied 

11 times - providing $803 worth of warmth!

Our gift of $21 for emergency food will be quintupled.

I kinda wanted to specify the food go to Haiti,

since that's where the Hendricks are,

but the money would only have been quadrupled,

so it seemed wiser to just give to the global food crisis.

We also got mosquito nets for 2 families

and gave 50 bucks to the Maximum Impact Fund,

so World Vision could use the money where it was most needed.

This Christmas, all together,

wait - I've got to add it up.....

Oh, YAY!!

All together

We gave $691 to feed, clothe, and look after Jesus!

(I feel like it seems like I'm bragging,but that really isn't my heart!

I just want us to be able to look back later and see what we gave,

 as encouragement and also as a challenge to live even more generously)

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Thank-you, God, for giving the unimaginable gift,

Your Son. Your only Son.

Happy Birthday, Jesus

You have to admit,

giving gifts to folks other than the 'birthday boy'

 is an odd way of celebrating the birthday boy's birth.

I struggle with being in the world and not of it

in lots of areas, Christmas included.

It's not that I'm a Scrooge.

Really, I'm not.

In fact 

I love giving just the right gift!

And wrapping it up all pretty, too!!

It's just really hard for me to keep 

'the Reason for the season'

as the most important thing

when so much other doing and shopping

is part of 'the season' also.

For several years,

we've been 'cutting back'

but still,

when you have an above average-sized family,

not much

is still

a lot.

Taking a cue from beautiful Ann 

we included gifts for the Birthday Boy

in our Christmas festivities.

After the family gifts had been opened

and played with

and worn; 

and the meal eaten,

we

had a party!

It was a little backwards, though;

instead of bringing our gifts to the party,

we shopped for them

during our party.

We divided up the money we received for Christmas

from my dad and my grandpa,

(thank-you so much!!)

and after reading Matthew 25:34-40

and explaining what we were doing,

everyone (generously!) added in some money of their own.

Some were more adamant than others

about what their purchases would be.

Lily wanted to give chocolate

- no surprise there ;-)

but once I explained that Jesus had no use for chocolate (gasp!)

she was insistent on using her money for milk

and water

and no amount of trying to talk her into going in on other purchases

could talk her out of her milk and water

so

milk and water it was!

We shopped from most of the places Ann mentioned,

going back and forth between sites

to choose the very best price on each particular item we wanted.

Lily, Tony, and Brandon all spent their money alone.

Jeremiah, Josiah and Lexi put theirs together,

and so did Tyler and I.

Well, actually, Tyler spent $25 of his

 and just gave the rest to me to spend,

since I'm such a savvy shopper :-)

We ended up
spreading our purchases out between five different organizations.

Tony thought it seemed a little weird to 'comparison shop' such giving

but agreed we wanted to give as much as possible.

All together

(this is so exciting!)

we spent $452 

and bought Jesus

a week's worth of milk

clean water for a family

SIX goats (yay!!!)

Chickens for TWO families or orphans

1 beehive with bees and supplies

6 mosquito nets (with natural insecticide :-)

seeds, tools, and training for an orphan

and some emergency food 

(Tyler thought it was all good and well to feed them in the future

but thought we really needed to feed the hungry now, too!)

Our Birthday Party for Jesus

was the best part of the day for me

and I think it will become a new tradition.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!