Welcome to the 25 Days of Simple Christmas! Each day I will be posting an idea about keeping the holidays simple- so that we can focus on Christ and the real meaning of Christmas!
While Christmas is such a special day, so much of the joy gets lost in the busyness.
Each day I will be writing about a simple way to celebrate the season. To focus on family, joy, and memories, without the elaborate extras that can bring added stress. Simple can be more meaningful if it gives us more time to focus on the huge GIFT we are awaiting-Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Ahhh…..I love Little House on the Prairie. Something about the simplicity that I just love. I know the work was hard, the wolves were prowling, the medicine was scarce, but its the feeling of simplicity I just love.
For Christmas this year we just finished reading A Little House Christmas Treasury
. It was wonderful and the kids and I all loved it. Each day was a new story from a different period of time in Laura’s life growing up.
It was perfect for us, having been studying the pioneers. It really brings history alive, since it was written by a pioneer! So much to be learned.
We also were able to tie in our learning about pioneer Christmas this month by seeing how they celebrated Christmas back then.
We love hearing how the kids received such simple gifts at Christmas. The little girls were ecstatic to receive their very own tin cup one year. Such a stark contrast to the world we live in.
It is great to read these stories to help us to
appreciate the simple things.
This
whole blog started back when I was pondering these things. As we studied history I realized how hard people worked long ago, how little they had, yet they were joyful. Reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, you
feel their joy.
Joy in family, joy in the Lord, joy in community.
I often think about what those people would think of us here is 2011. We have it so easy in so many ways. Yet, do we have that simple joy?
We are running around, busy, distracting ourselves. I imagine if those pioneers had the modern conveniences that we do, they would be so grateful. Perhaps we have gotten so far away from that hard life, we don’t appreciate just how easy we have it. In turn, we make life difficult in areas where it doesn’t have to be.
We don’t have to work so hard, just to survive. We don’t think about surviving, we take it for granted. We don’t always appreciate the simple things.
Today we also watched some of the television episodes scenes on YouTube. I was pleased that the Christmas episode scenes are very similar to the book. The kids really enjoy seeing what we have read come alive on screen.
We also watched the first episode, Country Girls, of Season 1.
The end had me in tears {most episodes do}, but this in particular really struck me.
Laura read an essay about her ma and she stated that her ma’s smile is the last thing she sees before she goes to bed and the first thing she wants to see when she wakes up.
I want to be that kind of ma.
That my kids would feel the same about me…
I am grateful for this simple reminder today…thanks to Little House on the Prairie.
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Join me on my journey to clear the clutter as I am simply living...for Him! I am a homeschooling mom sharing about my faith, family, hobby-farm life, and Jesus. I am also an author and speaker and love sharing my journey with others- and I am all about keeping it real and authentic! Join me as I seek less of this world and more of Jesus!
Karen DeBeus is a homeschooling mom learning to live more simply and keep God at the center of it all. She is the author of three best-selling homeschooling books and writes at Simply Living for Him. She speaks nationally at homeschooling conventions and recently was a speaker at the Family Bible Conference in Washington, DC. Her passion is to help others clear the clutter from their lives, seek God first, and to encourage women and families to get in the Word every day.
In 2016, she founded the Simply Living for Him Retreat, which is a time of rest and renewal for all women seeking Jesus. She enjoys life on her hobby farm with her husband and four children. Together they are a work-at-home family pursuing a simple life with purpose and, above all, seeking to glorify God in all they do.
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