• Blog
• About Us
• Join The Team
• Local Events
• Virtual Groups
• Hurting Marriages
• Media
• Resources
• Connections
• Store

Leading and Loving It

Lookalikes … and Backhanded Compliments

Fun Friday … What Not To Buy Your Child’s Teacher

Posted by: Jessica Cornelius

Every Christmas I struggle to find the perfect gift for my children’s teachers. I don’t want to get them another coffee mug, apple decoration, or candle. They get all of those items in droves. I want to get them something special, because they are such a large influence in my children’s life during this time.

I was a teacher before I had kids, and one of the things that touched my heart the most was a long thank you letter that one of my student’s mother wrote me. She wrote about specific ways I had helped her daughter throughout the year.

Christmas is a busy time of year to sit down and do that for all their teachers, so I included this sweet poem for you to use if you are searching for something sweet to add to your teacher’s gift this year. Warning, you may need a kleenex when you read it.

I need your help!!!! What are some special gifts that you have given to teachers.?If you are a teacher, what are your favorite gifts to get at Christmas?

A Loving Teacher

Things our grown-up mind defies
Appear as giants in children’s eyes.
A gentle touch upon her head
A simple word when kindly said.
Complete attention when she calls.
Her knowing you have given all.
Correcting in a loving way.
Instilling trust in what you say.
Making her believe unique
The tiny flaw upon her cheek.
Admiring old and faded dresses.
Reminding her we all make messes.
Words of comfort you’ve softly spoken
A promise you’ve made she knows won’t be broken.
Your knowing her doll that was lost today
Is just as important as bills you can’t pay.
Helping make her plans and schemes
Giving her hope and building her dreams.
All of this and so much more
Is in her mind forever stored.
They who touch her life awhile
Can either make or break that child.
Education is important, true,
But so much more, her faith in you.
You’ve weathered through the storm and strife;
You helped to build a small girl’s life.
You’re truly one to be admired.
For you gave more than was required.

- Pat McClain

I need your help!!!! What are some special gifts that you have given to teachers? If you are a teacher, what are your favorite gifts to get at Christmas?

My Bare Christmas Tree

Posted by Tiffany Cooper

I  love my family intensely. I cherish their presence, enjoy our time together and wouldn’t want to live life without them. In the midst of busyness, I’m committed to keeping them a priority. But there are moments when I fail at putting them ahead of less important tasks. If I’m honest, I do a good job (most of the time) of keeping my husband a priority but sometimes fail at doing the same for my kids when I feel overwhelmed with what needs to be done. Thankfully, I get jolting reminders at just the right times. In fact, this week I had one of those jolts!

Tuesday night I had the luxury of enjoying alone time with my 7 year old son while my husband took the younger 3 kids to basketball. In my mind I had planned to finish my Christmas decor, I’m behind schedule this year and it was starting to bother me. But my plans quickly changed when I saw how excited my son was to spend alone time with me. He was smiling so big, hugging me and asking me to play a card game with him. We immediately turned on the Christmas music, grabbed some Oreos and spent an hour playing cards together. In that moment, nothing else mattered to me. My to-do list vanished, the tasks weighing on my  mind became less necessary and my priorities were put in place as we laughed and talked.

While tucking him into bed that night, he grabbed me for one more big hug and said, “Mom, thank you for playing cards with me tonight. It was so much fun. I love you.”

My Christmas tree is still bare and I don’t care! Every time I look at it I think about that one special hour with my precious son and everything feels beautiful and right in my world.

How do you keep your family a priority? How do you keep them a priority during busy holiday season?

Don’t Forget …

Posted by Lori Wilhite

I remember it very clearly. It was a late Sunday, winter morning. I was sitting on my blue retro couch, folding laundry, and waiting for Jud to get home from church when my phone buzzed. Of course being the easily accessible and also easily distracted lady I am, I grabbed up my phone to check my texts. I was shocked to read:

Please pray for my friend, ****** and her family. Her body has been found, murdered. She attended Central with me as a guest not too long ago. She reached out for help, so I took her to church. I didn’t know what else to do for her. I just wanted you guys to know that she had gone to Central. She was a beautiful, sweet girl.

Stunned. What in the world?! I quickly texted back including a ridiculous “You ok?” We exchanged several texts, I started praying, and then I turned on the news.

It was everywhere. Every. Where. In fact, it was a national story that I’m sure hit your local news as well. An incredibly brutal, horrific tragedy.

Fast forward about 6 months.

It was a bright, sunny, crazy-busy Sunday morning. I was zipping in and out of the church when a sweet lady grabbed my arm and asked to talk for a minute. Absolutely. Of course.

That is when she asked me to pray for her friend that she had been bringing with her to Central for the last few months. She told me her friend just sits and cries and cries through the whole service. Could I help her friend connect with a Pastor because her trial was coming up that week? And then, the bomb. Remember that murder … you know, that murder … oh yes, I knew exactly what she was talking about. Well, the body of that “beautiful, sweet girl” was found at this woman’s apartment. She hadn’t committed the murder, but was being tried for her involvement. Oh. My. Gosh. Two sides of the same hideous coin.

Two women. Both broken. Both hurting. Both needing Jesus. Both sitting in our seats.

And that is when I felt the Holy Spirit so heavily impress this in my mind and in my soul:

Do not ever forget the level of brokenness of the people sitting in these seats.
Do not ever close your eyes to how incredibly immense their need for Me is.
Do not ever underestimate the level of desperation that they have for Me.
Do not ever become desensitized to the importance of introducing them to hope, grace, love, acceptance, and forgiveness.

You never know who God is drawing to Himself and who He has pulled into the seats of your church.

The calling that God has put on our lives, to connect the unconnected with Christ, Himself, is … well … crucial, paramount, life and death, and a long list of other words that seem to fall short.

So.

Just … don’t forget …

Merry Christmas to…. Baby Moses??

Posted by Brandi Wilson

A few weeks ago when we started pulling down Christmas decorations Pete and I had a little conversation with our 5 year-old, Brewer.  Trying to enforce the “reason for the season” from the time we plug in the first strand of lights, I asked him, “Brewer, why do we celebrate Christmas?” He quickly replied, “Santa.”  Being a little guy that’s a pretty typical mistake so I tried to lead him into the correct answer… “But Brewer, who was born at Christmas? Baby _____” He confidentally answered, “Baby Moses.”

At that point my mouth probably hit the floor… so I did what any good mother would do. I immediately unpacked our Fisher Price Nativity Scene to start quizzing him on the other characters included.  I pulled out Mary and Joseph and showed them to Brewer.  “Buddy, these are Baby Jesus’ Momma and Daddy… what are their names?” He rolls them around in his pudgy hands and answers, “I don’t know, Momma. Can I have a tree in my room?”

So not only did my “preacher’s kid” incorrectly identify Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph… he didn’t care!!!

What’s the point of this story?  There’s not one really.  Except to say that my house is beautifully decorated for Christmas and now I’ve got plenty of time to quiz Brewer on Christmas season trivia.

I’m sure I could go in a direction of creating some perception of how beautifully our family Bible study works.  I could tell some story of redemption where Brewer ends up retelling a heartfelt story of the night Jesus was born. I could create some guilt by talking about how sometimes I get caught up in the big things and forget the small things.

But honestly I was just telling the story because I thought it was funny.  I think it’s funny my husband is a well respected pastor and I’m an active part of this community for pastors’ wives and my kid confused Baby Jesus for Baby Moses. And to let you see that things don’t always go as smoothly as they should inside the Wilson home.

Have a great start to the Christmas season, ladies.  And every time your preschooler talks about Baby Jesus remember you’ve got one up on me!