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Stewardship and God’s Abundant Grace

STEPHANIE FORMENTI|CONTRIBUTOR Have you ever been to a birthday party with a piñata? One child is blindfolded and tries to smack the piñata while all the other little kids stand around watching and waiting for it to break open. And when it does, it’s pure chaos. Kids start diving on the ground, pushing others out of the way, and desperately scraping together a hoard of candy. Inevitably, someone ends up in tears. Well, it can be tempting to think of life like a piñata. We live as though we must fight and scratch to get the things that we need, the relationships that we want, and the opportunities we desire. We look at our bank accounts and expenses and are tempted to worry or hoard. We consider our schedules and the demands on our time and withdraw from others and responsibilities. But, for children of God, there is a better way. We have a different framework for understanding our money, our talents, our homes, our education, our gifts, our abilities, our bodies, and our families. In understanding this framework, we are freed from the constant grasping and fighting; instead, we live with open hands, ready to receive and to give to others...

Celebrating Advent with Your Family

ELIZABETH SANTELMANN|GUEST While I was pregnant with our first son, I dreamed of my near Christmas due date. The fresh smell of a newborn combined with the hymns of the season to make the Christmas story real in a new way for me. However, when it arrived, the joyful expectation I had anticipated was drowned out by the needs of a baby. Nighttime feedings, a tender body needing to heal, and learning what it meant to be a mother consumed my energies. Rather than the breathtaking euphoria I had anticipated, I was overwhelmed with panic in December when I realized that I was now responsible for the traditions and culture of the Christmas season. Growing up, my parents tried to focus on “Jesus is the Reason for the Season." As a first-generation Christian, my mom wanted Christmas to be deeply meaningful. She or my dad would read us the Christmas story before we opened presents. We also had a HUGE cookie production. We would bake hundreds of cookies and take them with a gospel-centered Christmas card to all our neighbors. In church, I remember hearing rumblings of anger about how people in the would say, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” and concern that people were “taking Christ out of Christmas.” With our kids, I knew I wanted faith and Christmas to flow together more positively and naturally. But how? Discovering Advent The year after my first son was born, I discovered Advent. I had settled into my husband's childhood church. It frustrated me because none of the songs they sang in early December were familiar. I wanted the achingly beautiful songs of Christmas, the ones I remembered from my childhood. This was also the year I joined the choir at our church. One day, the choir director explained to us why and how the hymns in Advent season were chosen each week. The songs from the first Sunday in December until Christmas Eve were picked to reflect the building desire of the Israelites’ longing for a Messiah...