by Barb Roose | Nov 20, 2018 | Holiday
Ladies! We all know how stressful the Holiday season can be for some of us. Please welcome my friend Ginger Tarkowski as she shares some of the ways she gets into the the spirit for the season!
Ginger is a mom of 2 and she loves her kids more than anything. She is a Christmas fanatic who loves spending time with her family as much as possible.
How to Get In the Spirit for the Holiday Season
The holiday season is finally here, and it really is the most wonderful time of the year. There is so much excitement in the air that everything can become so hectic. If you’re ready to get into the holiday spirit, read on for some ways you can get ready for the season!
Listen to your favorite tunes
There is nothing better to get you in the mood for Christmas than bopping along to some festive music. Turn on some of your favorite classics when you’re cleaning around the house or cooking dinner (or even getting started on your holiday baking)! You’ll instantly feel a sense of cheer with Christmas carols as your background music for whatever you’re doing. If you want an update for your music collection, check out some of the 2018 Christmas albums that recently came out.
Watch Christmas movies
Another really simple way to get in the mood for the holidays is to spend a lazy Saturday night watching Christmas movies. Bake some cookies and sit back to enjoy some family-friendly Christian movies that you and your kids will love. With so many options, you’re sure to get in the spirit after watching a couple of feel-good holidays flicks.
Start decorating
If you’re ready to start celebrating Christmas, that means it’s time to decorate! It’s quite impossible to not be in a holiday mood when your house looks so festive. If you don’t know where to start, utilize some of these decorating tips to give you some ideas. Start simple and add in minimalist pieces to bring some spirit into your home, that way you can add more later if you want. You’ll love coming home every day to your lovely decorating, and you’ll feel very holly jolly!
Set up a hot chocolate bar
Getting ready for the holidays can be done through so many simple actions, like a hot chocolate bar. Opt for a homemade hot cocoa recipe to keep the flavors authentic, set out an assortment of mugs, and get started! Make sure to include lots of extra treats to add to your hot chocolate, like peppermint sticks, mini marshmallows, and whipped cream. With the colder weather this time of year, your mug of hot chocolate will warm you up from the inside out!
Host a holiday party
Not all holiday parties have to be over the top. You can plan a really simple gathering for your closest friends and family to spread your excitement for the season. Encourage everyone to wear their festive attire, make festive Christmas treats, and cozy up your house so everyone feels welcome! You can invite your guests to bring a small gift to exchange or simply just bring a dish to pass.
Do you have any favorite Holiday traditions or any fun ways to get into the Holiday spirit? Share them in the comments!
by Barb Roose | Nov 26, 2017 | Christian Living/Discipleship
At midnight on the day after Thanksgiving, my oldest daughter sailed down the stairs with her iPod on full blast with Christmas music. “It’s finally time!” she proclaimed.
In my house, all Christmas music is banned until the day after Thanksgiving. I don’t have anything against Christmas music, but I can only hear Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” so many times before I feel a little Grinchy inside.
Now it’s Christmas season.
This year, I’m grappling with a few tensions that most of you understand: First, how do I celebrate the holiday without making myself crazy?
Next, I’m dealing with the recent loss of my father, so I’m still adjusting to that new normal in my life. How do I balance the time that I need to grieve with desire to spend time celebrating one of the wonderful times of the year with friends and family?
For the past few years, I’ve worked on actually planning how I want to experience the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years’. This planning isn’t about what I want to do, but who do I want to be during this amped up, non-stop season.
Here are a few goals that I try to hold onto each Christmas season. Perhaps, one or two of these might inspire you:
1. Let Christmas begin IN you.
People talk about letting Christmas begin WITH them, like taking the first step. But, what if you and I decided that our Christmas was already complete because of Christ? If our Christmas was already complete, then we can reject the pressure of to-lists, unrealistic expectations, and the materialistic allure of more, more, more. Letting Christmas begin IN me is the attitude that Jesus came to fill in my deepest longings and each day I will celebrate that over everything else.
2. Be JoyFULL.
The perfect Christmas family photo will look great on Facebook, but it won’t fill your heart. Planning the perfect Christmas dinner might make you happy in the moment, but what about after the meal is over?
Gratitude will fill the empty place in your heart, even if the kids can’t make it home this year or there’s less on the tree. Gratitude keeps you from chasing the crazy of Christmas.
Start filling up with joy by listing 25 blessings each day, like enjoying a hot cup of coffee or a well-timed hug from a friend. Making a list of 25 causes you to dig deep and really pay attention to what God is doing all around you that you’ve likely missed.
3. Be PeaceFULL
Be filled with calm that comes from knowing that you are only in control of one thing this Christmas season: you.
We get all crazy during the holidays because we think everything needs to be done. Everything doesn’t need to be done and we don’t need to do it.
If you want to do something, then do it. If you have to do something, that’s another thing. But, we don’t need to be Christmas martyrs. If someone at school doesn’t sign up to bring cookies and you don’t like to bake them, don’t sign up. The kids won’t die without the cookies. Same for the office or family gathering.
For all you self-proclaimed martyrs out there, here’s one of my favorite movie lines every from Dolly Parton’s character in the movie Straight Talk: “Get off the cross, honey. Somebody needs the wood.”
4. Be HopeFULL
Even as our world feels crazy and out-of-control, the people in Jesus’ time felt the same about Roman rule. Yet, hope was born in manager and most of the world never knew it. The same applies today. We have hope and the world doesn’t yet know the same hope that we have. When you live with hope, those around you take notice. One of the greatest gifts that you can give this Christmas season is to share Jesus’ hope with those around you.
I’d love to hear from you! Post a comment below and share: Are you dealing with difficult circumstances this year? Which one of the four suggestions above is most helpful for you to focus on this year?
Pssst…looking for a gift idea for your daughter, niece, granddaughter or friend. Click here for a special gift offer!
by Barb Roose | Dec 29, 2016 | Scripture Devotional, Women's Topics
Has holiday overeating left you feeling horrible? Here’s five positive ways to wrap up your holiday.
By Barb Roose
Anyone feeling guilty over the Mt. Everest-size mountain of food that they’ve consumed over the last couple of weeks?
Are you disappointed that your best intentions for self-control fell apart 88 cookies, 23 pieces of pie, a bazillion wings and 10 glasses of eggnog ago?
Maybe you’re wearing a Charlie Brown-sad face. Maybe not. A few days ago, I asked myself where I was at because frankly, I was feeling a little out of control. Which one describes where you’re at right now:
- Can’t. Stop. Eating.
- Doing okay.
- I’ve had fun, but I’m back on track.
- I can’t answer this question right now.
- Holidays don’t change my habits.
Honestly, I started out on track this holiday season. Yet, a single crockpot of rich, creamy, tangy buffalo chicken dip derailed all of my good intentions.
I attended a Christmas cookie exchange a week ago. When I entered the beautifully decorated home, I smelled the air and saw a crockpot on the counter. My heart fluttered with hope. My mind snapped to alert because I knew that a temptation that lurked within. Could I resist?
I grabbed a plate and made my plan. I scanned the counter. A giant bowl of Asian salad caught my eye. That’s it! Salad would be my salvation. Why do we women believe that salad will save us?
Let’s be honest: A salad is like wearing shorts during a snowstorm. Technically, you’re wearing something, but you really want to wear something that actually gets the job done. That salad wasn’t going to save me from buffalo chicken dip because I REALLY wanted buffalo chicken dip.
Still, I heaped my plate full of Asian kale salad hoping that my healthy food choice could change my heart’s desire.
Not a chance.
As I neared the crockpot of my downfall, my fork magically pushed back the hopeful avalanche of vegetables to create room for what I really wanted.
But wait. I paused to create a failsafe (kinda). I asked a woman that I’d just met that night to be the light of accountability for me: “Honey, I LOVE buffalo chicken dip. Can you make sure that I only have one serving?”
She agreed, but with a knowing smile on her face. We both knew that I wasn’t going to have just one serving, but I still gave myself an A for effort.
When I removed the lid, the rich, tangy smell hypnotized me with its heady scent. I scooped a not-too-big, yet not-too-small dollop of dip on my plate and quickly surrounded it with the wall of sturdy nacho chips.
Friends, I sat down, placed my napkin across my lap and proceeded to ravage that dip like a starving man who found water in the desert.
To be fair, that kale salad was amazing, too! But once I finished the salad, I immediately started thinking about how to justify getting another serving of Buffalo chicken dip. In fact, my life would no longer be complete unless I had another serving of that rich and creamy dip.
My name is Barb, and I am obsessed with buffalo chicken dip.
Filled with glee, I pranced back to that crockpot ‘o delicious wonder and loaded up again. However, the sweet ending fell flat. That second helping was too much and my tummy started to rumble. It sounded like, “You idiot! What have you done to me?” Remorse and guilt settled atop the once desired, now demonized substance. All I felt was the weight of rich and creamy regret.
What now?
For many of us, our relationship with food turns the most wonderful time of the year into the most horrible time of the year as we near the new year. The holiday food preparation and celebrations that brought us joy before Thanksgiving are occasions tinged with regret. How many of us feel anxious or regret over our lack of control. How many of us are tempted to shout, “I give up! I’m just gonna keep eating all.the.food because I’ve blown it already.”
I wrote this post, because I know how you feel. Just because I write to encourage women to see themselves as God sees them, doesn’t mean that I don’t have to fight off the feelings of overwhelmed and out of control.
There’s one thing that I want to say to you: Beating yourself up won’t change a thing.
Beating yourself up doesn’t burn calories.
Beating yourself up won’t change your behavior.
Beating yourself up will make you feel bad enough about yourself and drive you to consume much more.
5 positive ways to wrap up your holiday
We’ve got just a few days left in the holiday season, and I want to share with you five tips to help you move away from beating yourself up to blessing yourself with kindness. Treating ourselves with kindness is the only path away from shame and guilt.
- Stop your stinkin’ thinking!
When you hate yourself for your behavior, you undermine your ability to see what God wants to do in you. Here’s something else: Shaming yourself with self-hating talk won’t help you make lasting changes.
Here’s a tidbit from my Enough Already book: “Stop blaming yourself for what you’ve allowed to happen. Whether because of gaining weight, letting your appearance fall apart or allowing yourself to become bitter, shame isn’t going to dig you out of the hole.”
Sweet sisters, self-hatred obscures the revelation of God’s love in our lives. When we see ourselves as God sees us, we’ll treat ourselves like women who are loved and valued.
ACTION STEP: If you’ve gotten in the habit of talking badly to yourself, try saying this each time you look in the mirror for the next seven days: “I am God’s beautiful, unique daughter.”
2. Get real about the real you.
Comparison is killing us, sisters! We’re so busy criticizing ourselves for not being like someone else that we’ve forgotten how to celebrate who God created us to be. Stop comparing yourself to other women, their diets or exercise habits. Comparison is a killer of self-esteem, motivation and joy.
ACTION STEP: Make a list of 10 things about yourself. Celebrate what you do well and where you aren’t perfect. God loves the real you. It’s time for you to love yourself like He loves you.
- Pick ONE thing.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So, instead of tackling weight loss, new eating habits and a new workout all at once, just pick ONE thing to do for the next 30 days. You’ll feel better about yourself for doing one thing than the avalanche of failure when you blow it trying to do too many things.
If you need a few ideas for your one thing, consider choosing ONE from this list:
-Eating some fresh fruit and fresh/steamed vegetables each day
-Drinking 8 glasses of water per day.
-Eliminate one unhealthy food
-Taking 10,000 steps per day or working out
(By the way, this list is actually from my own personal experience. On days when I’m overwhelmed or feeling blah, I simply choose to focus on doing one thing that day. Today, my energy was low so I focused on 10,000 steps.)
- Phone a friend
Don’t your friends get mad at you when you beat yourself up? Yes! So, let them hold you accountable to stop stinkin’ thinking or hold you accountable for the one healthy behavior that you choose. Give her permission to text you so that you can let her know how you are doing.
ACTION STEP: Choose a friend to help you stay on track. It’s best to find a friend who also wants to be held accountable. Make a pact to text each other for 30 days and then re-evaluate if you want to continue.
- Make imperfect progress
This phrase “imperfect progress” is taken from best-selling author Lysa TerKeurst’s book, Unglued. This brilliant phrase captures how we can continue to move forward while recognizing that we may stumble or even fall on occasion.
No one’s perfect! Friends, it’s time that we stop using perfection as the standard for our dietary or weight loss lives. I’ll never eat perfectly. I’ll never workout perfectly. Neither will you.
But, we CAN make imperfect progress. We can hold yourself accountable to the goals that we set. We can follow the conviction that God has given us about our health and lifestyle. That doesn’t mean that we’ll be perfect, but it does mean that we’ll be committed to “imperfect progress” and always moving forward.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE: Do you struggle with holiday eating? Which one of these five tips encourages you the most today?
