Can you believe that there are only 6 days until Christmas?! It is that time of year, the kids are thrilled as their Christmas countdowns signal there is less than a week to go and the parents (especially the moms) are hustling to finish up a million last minute things. Sending out the Christmas cards, making and distributing Christmas cookies and treats for neighbors, laying out acquired presents for the kids while they are at school and making sure you got everything and that presents seem "even" per kid, finalizing stocking stuffers, attending Christmas programs, sending in goodies and supplies for elementary school parties, doing White Elephants and Christmas parties with friends, driving around to see the lights, preparing for company, planning special meals...and on it goes. I love this time of year! It is fun and magical with a good dose of hectic and crazy mixed in.

So, as we all prepare for Christmas day, I would like to share with you 3 of my

favorite things (move over Oprah) along with a gift from me to you!

As I've mentioned before, I am a quality time kind of girl. Give me a "thing" and I will certainly appreciate it, but give me the gift of quality time together and my soul is filled. Laughter, a deep conversation with a friend, bonding time with my kiddos, an awesome date with my hubby, sweet prayer time in the quiet morning hours with a hot cup of coffee, a family vacation to build lifetime memories...these I love. Hence my three things have a theme of promoting quality time...quality time with your family, quality time with your spouse, and quality time with the Lord.

Favorite Thing #1: Family Fun Jar

My first “favorite thing” is also my gift to you, something that I made for my family that I’d like to share with you! The link below will give you a document to print to make your very own "family fun jar"! I created this for my family last year for Christmas. In it are 20+ ideas for an at home family fun night to spend intentional time together. How easy it is to physically "be together" and yet not really "be together." This little jar will help you to remember to play together and then to press in to continue to get to know each other more. Each family fun night idea has a description of an activity to do together along with "wrap it up" questions. I have attached a google document where you can see all of the ideas and print them off. For our family I grabbed a jar, printed out the document, taped the directions to the front of the jar and then cut out all of the different family fun nights, folded them up, and put them in the jar. But you can be as cute as you want. ;) We have had fun with this! My kids’ favs are show and tell night, family talent show night, indoor snowball fight, and trust walk night to name a few. These are geared toward younger kids but make it your own, cut ideas, add ideas...may this be a springboard for you to remember to grow together and pursue the hearts of the people you live with!!

Family Fun Jar Document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18jaMs74MAqteyXXoyBh7Su13XlhxptR64En53rThU88/edit?usp=sharing

Favorite Thing #2: Table Topics

This deck of cards filled with various conversation starter questions is one of my favorite things to promote quality time with my spouse. My husband gave me this years ago for my birthday, he knows me well. :) When go out for a date night, he will grab a stack of cards and bring them along. We will slowly work our way through the questions as we enjoy a nice (kid free) dinner out, taking time to get sidetracked and discover new things about one another. I love these because they get you away from talking about work, kids, things done and things to be done, and they get you talking more about hopes, dreams, memories, and the like. When you are dating you do this naturally, but it is easy to stop pursuing the heart of the person God put in your life and start working on the task list together. These remind us to continue to get to know each other in new and fresh ways, even after being married for 14 years. So whether you buy a deck or just pull up some conversation questions on your phone, remember to date your spouse!

Favorite Thing #3: Prayer Journal

One of my favorite ways to spend quality time with God is through prayer, and specifically in writing down my prayers. While I know God hears me whenever I pray, the act of writing it out is significant for me. It slows me down to actually form my thoughts and articulate them. It provides me a space to write down verses and truths He brings to mind as I pray to Him. It also records my prayers so that I can go back and see the faithfulness of God as He answers those prayers and continues to draw me closer in relationship with Him.

I recently bought this prayer journal and am so excited to work though it this coming coming year. (I know they have it at Amazon and Target if you are interested) It guides you through different types of Biblical prayer and provides scriptures, prayer prompts and reflective questions. I have just started it but so far I love it! So if you feel like you need a little guidance or just something to help keep you on track, feel free to give it a try alongside me! Or just grab a blank journal and go! Remember, prayer is not about saying the right words or following a specific formula, it is a conversation between you and the One who made you, the One who already knows you better than anyone else, and the One who invites you to come near. The Bible says in James 4:8 to "draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." It is not that He is absent if we don't make time for prayer, but we miss the benefit of spending time in conversation with Him. Think of it this way, you can be in the same house as your spouse, but if you never talk, interact, and connect with one another your relationship will not feel very intimate. Make time to connect with Him through prayer this year and you will be blessed!

So there you have it, 3 of my favorite things! Merry almost Christmas to you all! And may you remember as you bustle about and finish up all of the last minute details that truly the greatest gift of all this Christmas is Jesus!!