Who are the main characters in the Christmas story? Well, there’s Mary, Joseph, Jesus, the angels, the shepherds, Herod, and the list goes on. But what about the story that precedes Mary and Joseph? Have you ever spent any time considering the character of Elisabeth who was the mother of John the Baptist? Let’s take a look at the life of Elisabeth and what the Lord reveals to us about her character so we can learn from her in this important narrative leading up to the Incarnation.

Take some time before reading further and just read with fresh eyes the account of Elisabeth and Zacharias in Luke 1:5-80.

When studying the life of someone in Scripture, it is good to start with some background about the person. Names in the Bible had great significance. Elisabeth means “God is my oath” or “a worshipper of God.”

Sometimes it’s hard to write about what’s going on in your heart and life while it’s happening. A testimony is easier to share when you can give it an ending that makes everyone say, “Amen!” Recently, though, God has been teaching me that life isn’t always about resolutions. Sometimes He teaches us the most when it seems like every detail of our lives is “in-process.”
​
Early in October, my husband and I learned that we are expecting our first baby. I think I experienced a mild shock. It took four tests and a doctor’s appointment to convince me that I was, in fact, pregnant.

Over the past few years, I’ve gone from terrified at the very idea of having kids to a great desire to have children. On October 1, my 29th birthday, I even wished that this year would be the year. 

I will be honest with you, friend, I am not much of a planner. I'm more of an "I'll think about that tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day." (thank you Scarlett O'Hara) kind of girl. Sometimes, that's ok, but most of the time, it's not! However, I do know that being intentional about planning is what I need to produce faithfulness—especially in the spiritual areas of my life.

I had all but given up on planners for 2022 until I found the Faithful Life Planner, and I am so excited to share it with you today! I'm equally excited about diving into 2022 with this planner!

The Faithful Life Planner combines a quiet time journal plus a weekly planner into one, beautiful resource to help us live out the kind of life God has designed for us. It's Christ-focused, and I love that about this planner! ​You want to keep Jesus at the center of your life, don't you!? I know you do. This planner will help us do that!

Last month, we looked at "2 Basic Principles to Help Us Use Our Time Wisely."

Elisabeth shared with us some wisdom from her sister-in-law: “We often feel like we have to keep all the plates spinning all the time, but we really don’t. Pick the plates that absolutely must keep going, and learn to be okay with letting the rest fall.” I love this! It's so true. ​

​This month, we're following up that helpful blog post with "3 Key Considerations to Help Us Use Our Time Wisely."
​
While we see that it’s both okay and necessary at times for us to say no, the question remains — how can we know when to say yes and when to say no?

I am so excited for this holiday season! All of our children will be home for Christmas this year. We have our annual Christmas cookie bake off scheduled for Christmas Eve. This will be our thirteenth year gathering around my mom's kitchen island baking Christmas cookies together, sharing laughter, loving on one another, and this year there will be four generations of bakers! There's even a photographer coming to capture the day.

But Christmas will be here before we know it, friend, and with all the supply-chain and shipping issues we've had lately we need to get right on that Christmas list!

Speaking of supply-chain issues, I recently read this thought-provoking quote:

​I have long loved the book Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. But today, I am more in love with it than ever because of what Kristen, over at Joyfully Thriving, has done with it.

This past summer, my friend Joy introduced me to Kristen's site. I love what she's done with Oh, the Places You’ll Go, Guess How Much I Love You, and I Wish You More. She writes meaningful, thought-provoking Scripture in the pages of these books! ​Kristen has a free printable you can download here for Oh, the Places You’ll Go. You can buy the printable in her Etsy shop for Guess How Much I Love You. She also sells all three books—with Scripture writing in them—in her Etsy shop.

I downloaded Kristen's free printable for Oh, the Places You’ll Go. Then, I purchased the printable from her Etsy shop for Guess How Much I Love You. These guides helped me create Scripture books for our grandsons.

We don’t know a lot more than we do know. For this reason, we spend a large portion of our lives preparing for things that may never happen.

•  We have car insurance in case we crash.
• We have life insurance in case we die before our loved ones.
• We have smoke alarms in case there is a fire.
• We wear a life jacket in case we fall into the water.

 
We make these kinds of plans because it is responsible to prepare for the future the best way we know how. 

We don’t always just plan for the unknown, though. Often, we worry about it too. “The Big Unknown” becomes more worrisome to us than death and taxes because we don’t know what it is.