Enjoying Special Days With Your Family

You've read accounts in the Bible how Christ so many people, but we really know very little about the lives of those early followers of Jesus chose and I've called you by name imagines what life was like those who followed Christ based on the widely acclaimed TV series. The chosen this Focus on the Family book by best-selling author Jerry Jenkins rings color and depth of the people surrounding Christ. You can find out more@focusonthefamily.com/chosen Dave to celebrate with your friends and family, especially if the price is right on today's Focus on the Family sharing how you can use every holiday throughout the year to draw yourself closer to God, your spouse and your kids as well. Your house is focus president and author Jim Daly and I'm John Fuller. John this is a great day of celebration for fun. That's the key thing fun fun fun/as anybody ever thrown a surprise birthday party I reviewed wasn't a big, big surprise, but I just cannot office one time and the addicted all out with the decorations they had food.

They had a gift of very special gift and I was really blown away. How about you yet Jean threw me 1/40 surprise party.

It was a surprise and we had friends where in Southern California at that time that weekend and got totally came out of nowhere. So my old buddies showed up Jeff eves.

John shows that others all your flywheel along old buddy thing about you never feel worthy of something like that. Why would people do this, I feel awkward in the spotlight.

I did two ways to celebrate birthdays and other events as well. Absolutely. It's important to celebrate those events and working to talk about that today, birthdays, holidays, Christmas, Easter, all of it and what kind of thoughtfulness should go into that and I think it's a great reminder of be thoughtful about how we celebrate these events. I love how the writer in Ecclesiastes says it so I commend you for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. And that's kind of the thing. Today we want to rejoice. You want to be joyful especially throughout the calendar year and we can celebrate these things we can and to help us do that. We have holiday expert wife and mom Becky Kaiser with us and she's married to Chris they have three daughters, Becky is written the book sacred holidays, less chaos, more Jesus. Of course we have that here you'll find the link in the episode notes and in addition to having Becky with this, Jim. It's always a delight to have Jean your wife here with us to absolutely and this area of celebration and and parties is Jean's forte so I thought wow this is the perfect time to have Jean come on then it's not about being organized some of the shows we had judging so this is great to have you welcome. Well, thank you. It's always great being here Becky, welcome to use well so this question on the gate. Why is this important wire celebration. Why is it important to just read shows that it's a part of God's intent for our life this year. In 2020 2020 land is just the actual movie trailer 2020 we need more than ever we need to know how to intentionally and joyfully celebrate Easter and birthdays and all the other holidays that happen because there anything even in the next style and chaos there things to sell, celebrate and Sam.

I'm hopeful that this that will help bring some joy and light. Let's start with Easter you mentioned that it's the one right around the corner for us and you say this is the event that Christians should be celebrating most of all, it's kind of falling to Christmas and that's a good one to celebrate, but actually the early church celebrated Easter and far bigger ways than they did the Christmas we now it's an important holiday net site marking a greater extent any Christmas that's mighty just that extra special questions. I think we don't know how to celebrate it beyond going to the Easter service in South that's one of my biggest hopes because Easter is the foundation of our faith. Easter ranges of coming Easter is very lean into the fact that Jesus came to perfect sin with life and he died on the cross rest stopped.

We have nothing. There is not a story.

It's all a lie beauty at the greatness of this gospel message Jesus rose from the bad but we all have even in the midst of crazy times.

We are constantly things a new life in grace to me for Easter.

Describe the book and Easter that came that really ended up being disappointing to you because of the celebration of that. I think most moms, wives just leaned then because they had that experience what happened for you, why, why did it fall apart every perfectly clear needed outfit that you can post on Instagram and leave and when you're out this awesome service based on arena. Jesus is risen from the dad, you're really just focused on the hands of people coming and that's true the way the Senate were celebrating Jesus being raised from the dead and worried about what time the hams come in and how long I can maintain this sugar Jean you have expressed a few chaotic easterners.

I happen to be there. How do you feel about those celebrations Easter particularly and then what was that catastrophic one that comes to mind well and I share Becky's passion for trying to integrate both the traditional secular traditions with the celebration of Christ's stirred and of God and I've always tried to do that and we have had dark our first set of foster children had just moved the day before they were 11 and so I was close. Yes, this is what we call chaos way and are our adorable little young grandniece celebrates with seven had several children there and some friends popped as they walked into her kitchen immediately helped me to see what they were seen and I'm on the floor with all these kids there's being mean delight but still screaming, there was probably 200 plastic Easter eggs opened apps and the contents written all over the kitchen floor that was Easter grass. I have these giant plastic eggs they had that they had the haves on their heads. Then it was it was chaos there was no celebrating the red cry that moment. We think God feels in that moment when you are feeling like I just let II blew it.

This was Easter and I'm listed as we had we had moments like that. You think everyone has had moments like that and how does that feel I think is fair lending. We would probably our first got reaction that would be so disappointed in me but the truth is, that's not the gospel message right when God says I just want you to lock your eyes on me and follow me. That repent and that lame probably are thinking… You had been sick and switches happen for every person listing and everyone at this table. Let's find new ways of doing things and that's where all that now is how to be pitted from many traditions that we just carried on to have nothing to do with Jesus and find new ways of implementing rights of those practical ideas of your book what you do for Easter specifically because it's right around the corner. What are some things that party perfection person to do a good job balancing okay and let the number one thing I think all of us need to do is use this opportunity celebrating Jesus to lean into the gospel. I write everything you can just grab your own copy of the Bible. Make it a goal to redo the job before Easter Sunday. We have to be leaning into Jesus.

Remind let's remind ourselves after the craziness of this past year we start a powerful God who heals the sick who raises the dead at his feet. Thousands of people that just a few left that Brad and when you do that, your whole perspective on Easter Sunday will truly be celebratory because you'll remember what your celebrating so never mind getting that's regular style and everything I say make the most of whatever is your situation last year. All of our churches in Texas were shut down. They were here Islam, check everything down and write, but spiritual and Easter party like a birthday.

We did streamers break through the stream is everywhere. We try to make it a day of celebration to Tyler girls is worth celebrating a fraction each year of their life until mom celebrated the biggest money. That's what made the biggest understatement Makes the state important.

Okay, let's move in.

That is good. Let's move to the next one summer vacation. Around the corner. While this could be religious. It's wild, but this can be also require some planning if you to be thoughtful about what we used to do a lot of camping during summer you know, typically I rent the campsites to go to do that when Henry first. In most cases all that, think what you do with summer vacation you have. You have a quite a few good ideas in the book you now some indication that something you have young kids and humming like that for paying a second, except for after the craziness in this fashion is a lot all the time children alive and traditionally we do a big bucket list of these things that you can deal and I gave you every idea in the sacred holiday specs of any order that you have a list to get you going on for I swear I'm not always the activity planner and she is something to also say going back to give yourself grace is last year after the allotted time together. By the time summer and it was right now. I just encourage everyone listing whatever your year has been like is to look at your summer and ask yourself what's the best way our family can stay connected and loving one another. The prior little bit more because of the book talked about the summer is coming to fill out control this summer, but a summer you were really ready for. That's where most people are going to be so what happened, what was the out-of-control nature of the how did you get it under control. Mom well I don't know if any along with them because we had been together. Martin the first week of March we went on spring break forever and I felt like I didn't get a hold on them and we started doing something.

My girls still ask my really good mornings with mom and Sally got like to study the Bible and each had a clipboard and we think about our story in the story that Bible and they can have coffee or hot chocolate or tea and it was this never done. Family devotionals are the choices chocolate hot chocolate or tea girl is not upon you, and you can do and chocolate always go back to hocking you intentionally connect and give yourself grace that process because it's not but is very very helpful. Okay, let's go to birthday celebrations know about the moms in your circle bucket with Jean is like birthday mom. It's the big deal to say. Can we just like give him a sandwich and a candle in the footnote. This was extraordinary links Jean do you remember birthday party that sticks out that you really had little stress maybe I'm sure there was only one I love throwing birthday parties and know what I was getting stressed about to clean Michael out. People just saw the kitchen. It was word you say this is where friendship shows up with Mike and Angie would, I think they knew the rhythm of a graduate come over early enough to give Gina hand lately, which really help because it freed me up and have good friends help you in that way that you emphasize that you can make someone feel special for less than $10. Now all the guys just leaned one box that's great is always under $10, but that is no matter what your budget is you can make really really special and the number one way we do in our family as we tell over celebrate the kids at Christmas is over celebrate Easter because those holidays aren't about. Then we made it about them, but it's not about them but I have lineage everything we go under $10. If you're on a tight budget you can get streamers and balloons for under $10, and we do this, just like tacky paper streamers Oliveira living in the kitchen and blow the hold into plans with my husband and amazing chatter. All the streamers he is taped a high ceiling little thing makes the girls so excited now because they just all day and date turns into a wholly likely you do have birthdays you mentioned that you go with half smiling yeah is that we've always celebrated half birthdays. Now there's deftly been times I've forgotten about it and I never let we don't like the presence of each identified meal just like talk sandwich with Becky. Also with birthdays you do a word of affirmation what is yes. My favorite tradition we do things under every birthday. We make sure that you spend some time either before or after the Exxon spent time telling a person something we really love about them at our family and friends ever begin to set birthday parties on the side with me and we share went something that words of affirmation holler for in a society where words are just dividing us constantly to speak alive in life, and 10 other persons that hands down my favorite we should do that. Your people do it with staff. Sometimes you can do at your office any place your app or you just intentionally stop that person God created them to be and what he's done in their life. John, you have an awesome voice will think you should wait another year you will Becky Kaiser is our guest today on Focus on the Family and all of these ideas and many many more are in her book, sacred holidays, less chaos, more Jesus and get your copy. Just give us a call 880 family or click the link in the show notes Becky one thing I certainly see this with Jean is it's hard. I think for women to celebrate their birthday.

It sounds odd even say that but a lot of women are so man is really recognizing the way I would like my brother to be right but speak to that self guilt really that so many wives moms about celebrating their birthday That a Little Bit That Linen Wheel I'm Going All out for People Celebrating Dad That We Genuinely Struggled to Receive Any Form of Last Letter You Give Us a Compliment. He Brushed It off and Be Celebrated Feels Uncomfortable Because Were Typically the Line Celebrating Others and Putting It All Together. I Laid Encourage Teachings of Linux Day Your Expectations Realistically. So If You Don't Think That Things Just Happen Expectation. I Let Him Know If You Are Special Let's Do Something Fun Together. Or You Could Tell Your Best Friend. Please Make Sure My Husband Something Does Tend to Detract from It, but It's Wise to Do Training and Thinking As You Can Celebrate Yourself, Which I Know Sounds Super Lame.

Maybe Reading Yourself. I Mean I Always Try on My Birthday to Pull Away for a Little Bit of Time Reflect on the past Year but Is What I Want to Improve on This Coming April, at Half for This Next Year of My Life. Let's Something I Want to Achieve What They Want to Put into Place and so That Alone Makes a Significant Even If You Don't Have Family or Friends Who Can Celebrate with You. Okay, after Summer We Have Thanksgiving and Christmas. We Did a Previous Broadcast, the Listeners Would like to Check That out More in Depth Thanksgiving or Christmas You Will Will Link over Their Goods and What I'd like to Get to Is How Can We Find the Balance between Sacred Part of Thanksgiving and Christmas and Then the Fun Part. This Is Always the Trick Right Can't Extended Family Members Went to Is to Focus Your Heart on Gratitude Is Not Just Possible That Lead to Gratitude While on Our Homework to Our Kids Will Write on a Note Card before Every Game Taped to the Wall and Fill up a Whole Wall and the Month of November Right and Thanks Giving Day While Your Celebrate Thanksgiving with Family Go around the Circle Are at the Table and Share Less Painful for Expense and Time Actually Being Restarted Jean Something. Okay, Let's Do Genes Tradition What Are You Thankful for What We Do It with Silly Times Just in Time. Reflecting Is so Important.

Bring It Back to New Year's Day Were Rattling through This Pretty Quickly. New Year's Day Can Be Difficult to Celebrate His Family Because A Lot Of It Happens Later Tonight at the Turn of Midnight You Do Something You Both Caught. I Wish We Would've Thought about It Is the Noon Celebration Now 10 O'clock Is That They Think Is Actually Here with Me Now Together and Sometimes Other Friends As Well. Regular Class and the Older You Get the Earlier You Can Be like This Is the One That Most Men Have Fear and Trembling Valentine's Day.

I Am Guilty. I Mean It's like What Day Is Today. John John Will Cite Today's Ballot and I Got a Run to the Store and Get the Flowers and Find Something That Jean Will Think Is Very Meaningful. First of All, Just the Pressure That We Could Have for the Address Were Some Things We Can Do It Now.

I Actually like the Pressure on the Sublime Day to Creatively Express the Person You Love How Much You Everything 10 Times the Price. We Have Three Girls Who like Lavender Tea Actually Taught Can Be Significant and Special That We Focus on Banning Grandpa for the Kids That and All That Meal and Something Different Things That Are Bad to Make It Sending Each Other Nets. The Mailboxes and You Need Each Other. No Time for Thinking Creatively to the Message to Their Door Every Morning or Whenever You Can Get It and Just Trying to Intentional like You A Lot about the Person Go through Life so Fast That We Forget to Talk Right Now I Just Want to Say to Jean I Thought You Were Having Lunch Nearby Focus Here and I Knew Juergen to Be There with Her Girlfriends.

I Was Going to Go over and Put a Note on Your Window but I Was Also in My Car and I Had No Pen or Paper Writing.

I Need Some Sticky Writing Emergency. It Was Hard to Read This You're Doing Was Going to Be in Town until like Two Days before That She Wasn't and so I'm Thinking Oh, She Was Ahead of Her. She Had Something Ready for Me and It Was Showed Me up for Once It Was Competition for Home. Becky, at the End Here. One Thing We Haven't Covered. It's Been Fun Talking with You and You Have Some Great Ideas Book. Obviously, but Some People Are Going through Tough Times This Year, Maybe More Than Ever, and the Next Set of Holidays Go through with Easter and Summer and Thanksgiving and Christmas and so on There Going to Be a Little Different There. Maybe They Are Separated Divorcing. Maybe They Lost a Spouse, Maybe through Covert Speak to That Person's Challenge of Finding Joy in a Time When It's Hard to Find Joy.

I Have a Whole Chapter in the Back As I Realize There Is A Lot Of Common Obstacles That Kept Happening for Each Holiday and One of the Chapters Is a Brief Chapter Because I Think As Christians We Do a Really Poor Job Allowing Ourselves to Feel Sad Disappointment. I Do Feel like an Expectation.

We Have To Think and so I Would Just Tell Anyone Listening What the Book Says That It's Okay to Not Be Okay. It's Okay to Not Feel Okay on a Certain Day. It's Okay to Feel Lonely Because so Many Still Are, like My Mom Severe Chronic Asthma That She Has Been Isolated for Almost a Year Now and Every Holiday. It's Just a Face Time Is All She Gets an Answer I Let Be on a Snow Cave Is Where If You Need Counseling Get Counseling Because That's so Important and Vital and Then through the Back and through the Shell and Some Things That You Can Do to Still Make It Feel Special to Yourself and Know That Every Emotion Essay for the Lord. He Saw Jesus Shows Us Constantly That He Cried When Lazarus Died He Cried in the Garden That He Experiences Emotions and I Guess That's Present to Not Be Okay with Certain Things Not Been Okay and I Think Lastly the Key Here and I Hope People Have Heard This Laughter. But It's Really to Put the Right Emphasis on Each of the Holidays You Experience Were Birthdays Know When It's the Lord's Focus on the Lord. Let's Teach Our Kids to Focus on the Lord and I Think That Just the Recognition Is Really Important If You're Trying to Achieve. One Thing throughout the Year and the Different Holders Unigroup the so Important That We Get so Caught up in All the Things Are Supposed to Do the Things That We Can Trust Others to Damages by Parties and Gone Next Level or What We Want to Post on Amsterdam and Instead It's so Important That We Say Father in Jesus and before You Do Anything Else That You're Getting into.

Got Your Talking to Him All throughout the Day on Your Mind Is Fixed on What's Most Important. Your Mind Is Fixed on the One Who Rose from the Dead, That Changes Your Perspective so You Can Handle the Highs and Lows All between throughout the Holidays Class the Creator of All Good Things Will Give You Creativity to Make Each of These Ideas That We Give You in the Book and Think of New Ways and New Traditions for Your Family and Tested Becky, Thanks for Being with Jean. It's Great to Have Your so Good.

Well, It's Wonderful Being Here. Thank You Becky Thank You for Your Book Sacred Holiday. It's a Wonderful Resource Turned to the Listener Focus Is Here. We Are a Resource Rich Organization of the Donors Underwrite All of the Development of Resources, Etc. and Get in Touch with Us.

We Have Actually Some Great Things for Easter, Particularly the Easter Story Scramble T-Shirt Activities for Older Kids in Your Home. There's Lots of Ideas and the Course. Becky's Book Is a Wonderful Way to Get A Lot Of Great Ideas for the Holidays, Sacred Holidays, Less Chaos before Jesus and How Many of Us That a Mental Get in Touch with Us If You Can Make a Gift of Any Amount Will Send You Becky's Book Is Always Coming Partner and Focus You Contact Us Today Get a Hold of Those Resources Can Help 800 K in the Word Family and the Link Is in the Episode, and Next Time on This Broadcast Will Commemorate Good Friday's Lee Strobel Shares His Personal Testimony along with Evidence That Supports the Easter Account. If There Is No Heaven or Hell, Judgment. If There Is No Ultimate Accountability and the Most Logical Way for Me to Live My Life Would Be As Someone Who Just Pursues Pleasure and That's What I Did Jim Daly and the Entire Team. Thanks for Joining Us for Focus on the Family. I'm John Fuller and Putting It Back.

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