I’ve never done a “Works for Me Wednesday,” sponsored by Shannon of Rocks in My Dryer, because — frankly — I’m still learning from all of you out there what works for you. I don’t have my act together enough to offer much that works for me.

But in the spirit of Christmas, I’ve decided to jump in this week. Mainly because I want to go read through everyone else’s nifty Christmas ideas and try some new things this year.

What works for me?

A couple of years ago, I really became interested in trying to incorporate some type of simple Advent ceremony in our home. I remember doing this growing up — Mom had an Advent wreath and candles on the coffee table in our living room, and we’d take turns reading from a little Advent book and lighting the candles once a week.

But I didn’t want to do an adult-oriented ceremony with our young children who, at the time, were all eight and under. So I started asking around for ideas.

As it turns out, I got an assignment from HomeLife magazine to write an article on Advent, which gave me a reason to call everybody I could think of who might have some good advice. It was of course in the heat of July when I needed to do this!

One day, I was dropping off our pet hamster at a neighbor’s house who had agreed to “hamster-sit” while we were on vacation, and I happened to ask her about Advent. She’s a homeschooling mother of four, whose kids are some of the nicest people I know.

She’s the one who told me about Jotham’s Journey.

This is book one of a trilogy by Arnold Ytreeide, who has a website telling about each one. My neighbor said this is the best book for her family because it’s perfect to keep kids’ attention and the Advent ceremony is contained within each of the nightly readings. She said every night during Advent, her husband reads out loud to their four kids, then she lets each child have one whole week where they’re in charge of lighting the candle (so there’s no bickering.)

Then on Christmas morning, they all come down to the parents’ bedroom (so they won’t see the toys in the den) to light the white Christ candle and do their reading BEFORE the kids even go discover all their presents. “This keeps their focus all day on the celebration of Christ,” she said. “He’s the reason we give gifts to each other; He’s the reason for our JOY.”

She said they alternate every year between Jotham’s Journey and the sequel, Bartholemew’s Passage. Well, I also discovered Arnold Ytreeide has a third book out now, Tabitha’s Travels. We went ahead and bought all three. I loaned out Bartholemew’s Passage to a friend last year (who remembered to return it — YEA!), and we did Jotham’s Journey as a family.

Here’s how one reviewer describes it:

“Jotham’s Journey is an incredible family read for Christmas time. Each night you share a portion of the story with your family. And each nightly reading leaves you hanging ready for the next night’s passage. Follow Jotham’s journey, a story of a young boy, separated from his family by his neglect and selfish attitude. This separation leads him on a journey to find his family. Will he ever find his family again? Hold your breath when Jotham faces thieves, robbers, and kidnappers. Rejoice in his encounters with wise men, shepherds, and innkeepers until at last he finds his way to the Saviour born in Bethlehem.”

Each of the nightly readings includes a devotional thought with scripture, a prayer, and instruction for lighting the Advent candles.

We enjoyed Jotham’s Journey last year and plan on using Bartholemew’s Passage this year. I placed a very simple wreath on our coffee table, and bought three purple candles, one pink candle, and one white candle for the center.

I like this because it’s simple, all contained within one book — and it’s interesting enough to hold everyone’s attention. I’ve learned to let my 3-year-old color or play with some quiet toys during the reading because he’s not good at keeping STILL for 20 minutes.

***

Since this post is on the topic of Christmas, I’ll also add in one more “Works for Me” we’ve decided on for our family. We gave the Santa issue some serious thought a few years ago and didn’t feel right about telling our kids a big fat man in a red suit will come down our chimney to bring them toys on Christmas Eve. It just seemed too weird — when we’re completely honest with them on everything else.

If we tell our kids that Santa is real, how will they believe that Jesus is really real?

We don’t make a big deal of it, and we tell them that a lot of children like to play this Santa Claus game, so let’s keep it a secret so we don’t spoil it for them.

We’ve got a book about the real St. Nicholas which we read together, and we do pretend like Santa visits — but they run give their Daddy a hug to thank him because they know he’s the one who paid for everything! (Five kids on one income, you get the picture that our “Santa” is a little bit thrifty.)

Thankfully, with the politically correct atmosphere these days, most people tend to understand. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a big shift at our children’s Christian preschool. There’s a lot more emphasis on “Jesus’ Birthday” than on “What’s Santa bringing you?”

I’m hoping to pick up some more good Christmas ideas at Rocks in My Dryer. Here’s the link to Works for Me Wednesday — Christmas edition.

Does this picture crack you up? I absolutely LOVE this book cover. This was my life 20 years ago. I didn’t own a Trans Am, but there were dozens of them in the parking lot at my high school. And I DID attend a Duran Duran concert (and spent hours lip-sync’ing “Rio” in front of the mirror in my basement.)

Well, guess what? This book can be YOURS! I’m having a Book Give-away here — my first ever. I have an autographed copy of Tricia Goyer’s book, Generation NeXt Parenting, that I want to give away FREE to one of you! All you have to do is write something, even just your name, in the comments here, and I’ll hold a drawing on Friday, November 17th. I’ll email you for your address, then I’ll pop it in the snail mail to you.

I’d love to know what you were doing 20 years ago. Are you like me, one of the 41 million Gen-X’ers, born between the years of 1961 and 1981? This book is written for those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s — and are now trying to raise the neXt generation.

What was I doing 20 years ago? Well, I was 17 years old, in my senior year of high school. I was slowly becoming aware that the world didn’t center around my suburban so-called life, and I felt off-and-on panicky that I wouldn’t be accepted into college, or if I did, that I would fail miserably.

Meanwhile, I spent my afternoons after school at cheerleading practice, and I worked every weekend as a receptionist for a time-share company. I also had a fantastic English teacher who introduced me to a book I’d never heard of, Wuthering Heights. After reading that book, I decided to major in English.

How about you? What were you doing 20 years ago, in 1986?

My ten-year-old son loves origami — don’t most kids? He’s made hundreds of paper airplanes, perfecting his technique to figure out which ones fly best.

His next favorite thing to fold from paper is a cicada. I find these all over his room, made from every kind of paper imaginable. He really loves making these things. They look good if the paper is different colors on both sides, like origami paper. But newspapers work fine too.

I found a video showing how to make them, and found her hands easy to follow along. Origami is something fun to do together with your kids when it’s cold outside. It’s cheap too — that’s important! And when you’re done, you can throw everything away without adding to piles of clutter in your house (if you have that problem too.)

Click here for more on “Origami”

This colorful site also has nice diagrams of how to make a paper ship, rabbit, frog, and other animals.

We went and saw the most incredible movie last night, FACING THE GIANTS. If there is ANY possible way for you to take your family to see this movie, I can’t recommend it enough. We were absolutely stunned it was playing in the big movie theater because it has a strong Christian message, and the Gospel is presented clearly throughout the movie. We can’t wait to own it on DVD so we can show it to all of our kids’ friends who haven’t seen it yet.

We hardly ever take our kids to see movies at the theater — it’s just so expensive. The last thing we saw together was Curious George, back in February! But when I was working out at Curves a few days ago, one of the staff ladies kept going on and on about it. She said, “You HAVE to take your kids to see this movie. It’s only playing one more weekend here. It’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.” So that’s why we went.

It’s a huge ordeal for us to go to a movie. We arranged childcare for our two younger kids, (thankfully the grandparents don’t charge us!), then we spent nearly $70 on five movie tickets, popcorn, and drinks. (See why we can’t get out to the movies much?) But now I feel good about spending the money because I read that all the profits from this movie will go to build a 40-acre youth recreational facility in Albany, Georgia — my home state.

The movie is about a Christian high school football team that keeps losing. Everything seems to be going wrong in the life of the coach. His team has had six terrible seasons, and it looks like he’s going to lose his job. His car keeps breaking down, and he and his wife have been trying to have a baby for four years. Both of them go to visit the doctor, and hear the sad news that they won’t be able to have a family. The scene when they talk about this just makes me weep.

So what does the coach do? He prays. His wife prays. He walks out into a wooded area beside his house with his Bible, and he praises God, reciting verses from the Psalms out loud. He says, “I need you, Lord. I won’t lose faith in you. I know you can do something with my life.” I have never seen or heard something like this in a movie. And our theater was packed — full of several rows of teenagers.

I won’t spoil the plot, but the whole experience will build your faith in a strong, mighty God. This would be a wonderful movie to show to a youth group — and it may even inspire a future generation of film-makers.

I read a little bit about the Kendrick brothers who made this movie. They’re both on staff with a church in Albany, Georgia, and they’ve always had a hobby of making home movies. But this one was a BIG idea, and they got financial backing from their church to make it. The budget was only $100,000 (donated by church members), and the actors were all volunteers.

Many of the extras were church members — and we stayed to watch the credits and read that food was provided by various Sunday school classes. You can read the background story here (although the site is tiny white font on black background and hard on the eyes to read).

Here’s why it has a PG rating; according to the Motion Picture Association of America, the movie needs parental guidance because it’s too “evangelistic.”

From Scripps Howard News Service:

“But the scene that caught the MPAA’s attention may have been the chat between football coach Grant Taylor, played by Alex Kendrick, and a rich brat named Matt Prader. The coach says that he needs to stop bad-mouthing his bossy father and get right with God.

The boy replies: ‘You really believe in all that honoring God and following Jesus stuff? … Well, I ain’t trying to be disrespectful, but not everybody believes in that.’

The coach replies: ‘Matt, nobody’s forcing anything on you. Following Jesus Christ is the decision that you’re going to have to make for yourself. You may not want to accept it, because it’ll change your life. You’ll never be the same.’

That kind of talk may be too blunt for some moviegoers, said Kendrick, but that’s the way real people actually talk in Christian high schools in Georgia. Sherwood Baptist isn’t going to apologize for making the kinds of movies that it wants to make.

‘Look, I have those kinds of conversations about faith all the time and I’ve seen young people make decisions that change their lives,’ he said. ‘The reason we’re making movies in the first place is that we hope they inspire people to think twice about their relationship with God.

‘So we’re going to tell the stories that we believe God wants us to tell. We have nothing to hide.'”

Writing a novel can make you feel crazy … but I’m in so deep there’s no way I can stop until I finish this thing. But it will definitely NOT get done in a month.

Here’s how it feels for me. One minute I’m pouring cereal into a bowl for one of my kids. The cereal is going into the bowl, and I’m watching it go in, but my mind is thinking about the title of my book. Something’s not right; the rhythm’s off … it’s just not working.

Then!

I’m pouring the milk, and the perfect title comes, except it’s not just one title, it’s the whole series — three books. Then I’m turning around to get the spoons, but I’m also dying for a sheet of paper to write the titles down before they slip away.

I find a sticky pad and write them down. Then my son wants to read what I wrote. Should I let him? Will he think I’m weird? I show it to him. Then I explain, “These are the titles of the children’s books I’m writing.”

He reads them, and asks, “What are you packing in my lunch today?”

*sigh*

I’m not crazy. Really, I’m not. I’m just realizing that the mental energy behind plotting a novel has nothing to do with words. At this stage, it’s all ideas. It’s the characters. Are readers going to care about my characters? Enough to hang with them a whole book? And then another and another?

That’s what matters. The plot is secondary to the characters. It’s taken me two weeks to start getting to know my characters. How am I supposed to know what they’ll do if I don’t even know them?

But it’s coming along. I can’t go back now. On Monday, I had a phone interview with an author I totally admire. I’ll be posting it here soon. We chatted for nearly an hour, and I almost forgot that I was supposed to be listening instead of talking.

I held onto her every word. That night, at dinner, I showed my kids her book, and her picture. I said, “While you were at school today, this is what I was doing. I talked to this nice lady who writes books. She writes stories like you write at school, except when she writes a story, it’s read by millions of people around the world, in different languages.”

They seemed to be listening. Holding that book up, I felt like I had a friend, a kindred spirit. Another person who thinks about book titles while she’s pouring cereal. Who grabs for a notepad along with the spoons.

Like I said, I’m in deep.

Here are a couple of good resources for novel-writers, in case you’re in deep too:

Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method (Hat tip to Scribblings by Blair for passing along the link.)

How to Write a Novel in 100 Days (These little posts are full of choice morsels from famous novelists — very inspiring.)

Robin Lee Hatcher guest blogged for Novel Journey a few days ago about characterization. Hope you can read it — she just published her … um … 50th book and had some great things to say, including this:

We are all the sum total of what has happened to us in the past. We behave as we do because of what happened to us last month, last year, and when we were children.

If I know my characters intimately, if I know that when Sarah was five she was in a runaway wagon and that when she was nine she saw an actor fall off the stage and die, then I will know how she will react when certain things happen to her in my novel. Her actions will ring true because she will not behave out of character. I am aware of her history and her motivations.

Of all the tools that I use as a novelist, writing first person autobiographies of my characters is the most vital. When I come to know my characters intimately, then my readers can know them that way, too.

Robin Lee Hatcher is also a blogger. Another mentor, I see.

OK, fellow NaNoWriMos, how did it go last week? Did you get started on your novel? I admit, I felt a little daunted when the first of November rolled around, not thinking I could do it. I “wasn’t in the mood” to write — but I forced myself to sit in front of the computer and look at my file. I’d written a one-paragraph plot summary and a few brief character sketches of my main characters.

Then I read an email from the director of NaNoWriMo, Chris Baty, encouraging me to get started on “Act One,” along with 70,000 other brave souls attempting to write a 50,000-word novel in a month.

Baty said the first week of writing is epic. “We step onto its stage clutching a few crumpled lines of dialogue, and bearing only the haziest notions of setting and story. And, when the curtain closes on the seventh day, we’re improbably directing a strange and wonderful cast of characters, all of them eager to make their mark on the tale unfolding around them. ”

I love that image. I’m like the playwright, hunched over a desk behind stage; my feather-quilled pen scribbling wildly. My characters have shown up for play practice and aren’t sure where to go, and they only have a few lines to say. But soon, they’ll know who they are, where they should stand, and have more to say! It’s exciting, exhilerating, even.

I could get into this novel-writing thing.

I’ve decided writing this novel is for me. It’s like creating art for art’s sake. Nobody has to read it but me; in fact, I’ve only told one other person what I’m writing. I’m having fun with this, and we’ll see where it goes.

If you’ve read Anne Lamott’s classic book on writing, Bird by Bird, that’s exactly how I feel — I’m taking it scene by scene, with a vague mission in mind, and letting my plot unfold as I get to know my characters. (Note: Lamott’s book does contain some foul language, but it shines light on the writing process and has become one of my favorites.)

Yet, I’m also thinking, well if my novel turns out OK, maybe I’ll show it to somebody someday. I know this rough draft will eventually have to be completely rewritten — but it’s the rough slab of clay I have to create so I’ll have something to work with, to shape in the months to come.

Last weekend, I found a new writing mentor. Several people mentioned I should read Brandilyn Collins’ Forensics and Faith blog where she shares her first novel publishing journey. The urge to go read her story was so compelling that I went and read it, heart pounding, post after post, almost forgetting to breathe. Although she’s now a bestselling Christian fiction author with Zondervan, her journey to publication took nearly a decade, step after step, year after year.

Brandilyn persevered when most of us would have given up. She read everything she could get her hands on, interviewed real people to give her insight into her characters, then wrote and rewrote — again and again. She kept studying the craft. She flew to New York. She flew to Chicago. She attended major writing conferences. She kept on and kept on and kept on.

The amazing thing is to see how God changed her heart in the process of her writing. Although she was a Christian when she began writing, she didn’t devote her fiction to God until a few years into her writing journey. I also learned about the crucial role her agent played in the process. It seems to me that finding a good agent is important these days. Brandilyn’s agent worked with her until the novel was perfectly polished and ready to send out to publishers.

Through her user-friendly blog, Brandilyn has now become one of my writing mentors.

Well, my NaNoWriMo goal is to write 2,000 words a day — which probably means I’ll have little time for blogging this week as I get deeper into this work. So I’ll catch up with you soon.

Maybe the whole purpose for my writing is that I’ll inspire one of YOU to write. So, have you started yet?

Miss ya already!

I’m still writing my women’s health blog at b5 media and learning a boatload about blogging in the process. Barely anyone where I live knows what blogging is, but how would they respond if I said I’m a “problogger.” Say what?

There are several ways to get paid to blog; you can run ads on your own site, or you can write for someone else who does all the legwork for you. That’s what I’m doing now. All I have to do is write, and b5 now has full-time employees who take care of advertising.

I’ve been writing my Lively Women blog for five months, and it’s still fun. The b5 media home page has recently undergone a major facelift, making it very easy to see what the company is about.

If you’re passionate about a particular topic and wouldn’t mind writing about it several times a week, you can visit the b5 media job board and see what’s open. The network has over 150 blogs, 14 vertical channels and two million unique visitors a month, with new blogs being added all the time.

For me, it’s an interesting way to stay up on the latest news in women’s health and wellness, a topic I feel passionate about. And being part of a network makes me feel like I’m not alone. It’s not a bad way at all to build a writing platform while I’m staying home with my children.

It’s also nice to know that my efforts are being validated … with a paycheck.

The Royal Family has joined the blogosphere. Yes, it’s true. I heard about this from Melodee at The Amazing Shrinking Mom.

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, has joined the ClubMom blogging team. Can you believe it? Take a deep breath. If you’re a blogger, you’re now in royal company.

For some reason, I feel validated. Blogging is hip. Maybe the Queen herself will be posting one of these days — or at least leaving a comment.

Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, is passionately committed to improving the lives of children. The Duchess travels the world to build support for a number of children’s causes …

The Duchess of York balances being a mother to two daughters, Princess Beatrice of York (age 18) and Princess Eugenie of York (age 16), and charity work with a diverse international career.

Pour yourself a cup of hot tea and check out The Duchess Diaries. And remember, in England, they call us “mums,” which doesn’t mean a flower. Say that with a British accent, “I’m a mum. Would you care to join me for a cup of tea?”

Maybe I’ll invite her for a visit here someday, if she’s not too busy doing duchess-y things.

P.S. I left a comment at Duchess Diaries. hehe. I wonder if she’ll read it. I feel like I’ve chatted with a royal this morning (don’t tell her I’m in my bathrobe and slippers).

I went to the dentist this week, and the hygenist asked if I had any children.

“Yes, I have five.”

“Five? Well, you look pretty good for having five kids.”

Am I supposed to take this as a compliment?

– – – – –

My 18-month old loves to pull books off the bookshelf right next to my computer. Today, she walked around the house carrying a paperback book she couldn’t let go of. She sat in the floor and “read” it for a while, babbling and turning the pages.

The book? One I keep meaning to read when I have the time. The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. The subtitle is “How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.”

I thought about how my baby daughter is a little thing who’s made a big difference in my life. I wonder how many parents feel the same way. Becoming a parent is often a “tipping point” for many of us — we suddenly realize we can’t get through a day (a minute?) without God’s strength.

The new issue of Christian Women Online is hot off the press. I think the covers just keep getting more and more amazing. Can you tell editor/publisher Darlene is an artist? I’m so blessed to be part of this wonderful publication.

I hope you’ll plan to bookmark this issue and amble your way through it when you have time. There are so many great articles, far too many to read all at once. In the cover story, Darlene interviews Australian worship singer, Darlene Zschech.

My Book Buzz column this month features Barbara Cameron, the Hollywood mom who managed the acting careers of her two famous children, Kirk Cameron (“Growing Pains”) and Candace Cameron Bure (“Full House.”)

I tried to tame my exclamation points and not gush during our interview — but here I can just let loose. Wow!!!! The Camerons are an incredible family! I feel like I really got to know Barbara through reading her book, A Full House of Growing Pains. I wish every mother of grown children could write a memoir like this. She doesn’t hold anything back. She tells you all the heartache and insight she gained from raising a family in Hollywood — and how she discovered the life-changing Message of the Gospel that totally, completely transformed her life.

You can read about how a friend first encouraged Barbara to take her cute All-American kids to visit an agent and how this led to TV commercials, mini-series, movies, and the sit-coms that brought her children into everyone’s living room. It was a complete new world to me, and I loved having a front-row seat, smelling the homemade chocolate chip cookies that Barbara always brought to the set to share with everyone.

It’s hard for any mother to raise a family with good moral values, but Barbara did this while her family was being escorted to ritzy parties in limosines and flying around in private jets — and even being stalked by fans. Her two non-acting children never got jealous of their siblings, and the family stayed close all through the years of being in the constant eye of the media.

Now Candace is a beautiful mother of three and has become the newest columnist for Christian Women Online. This month in her Candid Candace column, she talks about how to keep your faith and also how to lose postpartum pounds — two topics I’m always interested in!

I found out that Kirk Cameron and his wife Chelsea have been married for 15 years and have six children. You can read his inspiring testimony in this Christianity Today article, The Rebirth of Kirk Cameron, and see how he went from being an atheist to totally committing his life to Christ. Kirk stays busy with his award-winning reality TV and radio show, The Way of the Master, and acting in the “Left Behind” movies.

Kirk and Chelsea also run a week-long retreat for seriously ill children, called Camp Firefly. They invite the entire family for an all-expense paid week at Callaway Gardens, which is in my home state. I had no idea about this camp, but what a blessing it is to these families. The camp has been in operation since 1989.

Barbara Cameron’s A Full House of Growing Pains is this month’s CWO Book Draw. You can click here to enter in the drawing. Darlene graciosly allowed the interview to continue to a Part 2, where Barbara Cameron answered my questions about her involvement with helping feed hungry children in Africa.

In a world where there are very few celebrity role models, it’s a rare blessing to discover a family who has used their worldly fame and success as a platform — all for the glory of God.