Tag: Advent

Memories on Mondays

Today, Larry and Rachael’s daughter-in-law Kimmie, Kep’s wife, describes her relationship with Larry & Rachael.

Kimmie: I came into the Crabb family in 1992 and then married Kep (Larry and Rachael’s oldest child) in 1994.  The love that Pop-Pop (Larry) and Nana (Rachael) have shown me is hard to put into words.  I remember a story that really impacted me with Pop.  I was having a hard time and like many of you the first thing I did was want to talk to Pop (Larry).  I called him and he answered.  I didn’t call him too often and he happened to be in a meeting with the faculty of the university he was teaching at.  He told everyone that he had to leave and came to be with me and Kep as he gave us advice and his wisdom.  You always felt like a priority to him.  

Nana and I have a special mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship. She has been like my mother and fully accepted me into the family.  The marriage example that she and Pop provided us and everyone who knew them is priceless.  She continues to show us how to follow the Spirit even now as she does it without her soul-mate.

Worship & Welcome: The Rescue Candle

On this second Sunday of Advent, open your heart to welcome God’s deliverance. As you light the second candle of Advent, the Rescue Candle, join together as a family to study Psalm 103 and how God describes Himself there.  

• How has God revealed these characteristics of His nature to you and your family? 
• How has His salvation been visible in your life?

Spend some time singing together and praising God for Who He is as well as what He’s done for you.  We have included a playlist with options for you to consider, and we’ll be adding music to it as Advent continues.

As you sing or listen, let the beautiful truth of these words sink deeply into your heart.

Saturday Self-Awareness

It’s easy during this time of year to be overbooked and stressed.  Add the challenges that the entire world is facing to those the uniquely personal ones each of us navigate, and we can lose sight of the One Whose coming we celebrate.  Take a moment to ask yourself:

• Where is tension present in my body?
• When have I acted out of frustration and impatience?
• What’s beneath that irritability? Fatigue? Anxiety? Sadness?
• Am I overcommitting my time and energy?
• Am I making good sleep and other healthy habits a priority?
• Are there resentments that I need to talk through with God?
• Am I avoiding conversations with others that need to take place for loving relationships to grow?
• What gives me joy during this season?
• Am I giving time and attention to the people and things that I value most?

Create some space to share with God the things that surface as you ponder these questions and to listen to Him.

Friendship on Fridays

Anthony Vartuli is one of our LargerStory spiritual directors.

A while back, my wife Diane and I were going through a firestorm in our marriage. We had come to a place where we simply could no longer connect relationally. We were still committed to each other, but I remember feeling a distance and coldness within our relationship. I remember thinking, “Is this how divorced people feel?” 

I told my wife, “We are at a significant fork in the road. Which way do we go? If we choose the foolish road, I don’t think we’ll make it. If we chose the wise road, while we still may struggle profoundly with each other, we will make it. The problem is I can’t discern which is the foolish road and which is the wise one.” That’s when I called Larry. 

A few days later we were sitting on his couch in his office. Larry had walked with us for many years and already had a feel for how we related to each other. I knew he could be trusted. He had seen me at my worst and never backed away. 

 So, he began to ask questions. As he continued to ask, it became gradually clear that I was trying to control Diane’s spiritual life. In my foolish understanding of things, I wanted her walk with Jesus to look like mine. Because it looked so different, I thought I was failing as a man, as a husband. I began to realize that I was forcing Diane into a mold that was not meant for her.

It was the questions Larry asked that were so powerful: “Anthony, why do you feel that Diane’s walk with Jesus needs to look like yours?” “Anthony, are you aware of how you’re controlling Diane?” “Anthony, do you really think that’s your job?” “Why don’t you let her be and see what the Holy Spirit can do?”

 Something in me shifted in that meeting. I turned to Diane and said, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.” Diane breathed a sigh of relief. Things gradually began to change. Now, I sense a deepening joy as I become more aware of how the Holy Spirit continues to work so creatively in Diane. It has brought more rest to my soul, knowing that I am not the one in charge of her spiritual life. “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” (Psalm 127:1)

Larry honed in on my relational sin as opposed to my behavioral sin. Behavioral sin is normally defined as the things we do wrong: addictions to alcohol, pornography, food, exercise, and so on. Relational sin has to do with the way we impact people in relationship. 

The best we can do with behavioral sin is seek to manage it, which usually never works. Yet, as we begin to see our relational sin, as we begin to own it, the deeper power of the Holy Spirit can be released gradually changing us from the inside out. 

The coming of Jesus made this kind of relational change possible. God used Larry to help me see it a bit more clearly. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Thankful on Thursdays

We need never compete for God’s love; His heart is toward us. While we live out different threads of His magnificent Story, we are each part of the glory of the redemptive epic that He is writing.  

In the hardest seasons of my life, I discovered that the act of writing down the many small, ordinary ways that God was caring for me served as a visual reminder of His presence. 

Take some time today to celebrate the ways He shows up specifically in your life.  You can use these snowflake templates to make decorations on which you can write things for which you are grateful. 

Worship on Wednesdays

While we often think of singing when we talk about worship, Scripture describes worship as so much more.  Worship is the way that we respond to God that values Him for Who He is and as the Source of our greatest joy.  Here are just a few ideas for offering yourself in worship to God:

• Go for a walk, giving your attention to the beauty of the world God created.
• Spend time with someone who is often alone or isolated, focusing on listening to, seeing, and affirming the image of God in them.
• Since God is the Source of all creativity and vitality and we are made in His likeness, draw, paint, sculpt, sew, or practice some of form of artistic expression of beauty as as expression of His nature. 
• Make a list or vision board of some of the ways that you’ve seen God’s presence at work in your life as a tangible reminder of His involvement and grace.

We also have a Larger Story playlist on Spotify to help you center your attention on Jesus this season, and we’ll be adding music to it as Advent continues.  Here’s one sample of what you’ll hear there.

Tea Time Tuesday

From the time when my children were small, I’ve looked for ways to make special occasions memorable.  I crafted unique, creatively themed birthday parties (Veggie Tales Kitchen Science Experiments Extravaganza, anyone?!) and hosted large feasts for the holidays. Like most moms, I wanted my children to feel loved and celebrated and to give them a comforting sense of being part of family traditions.

However, I came to realize that it was too easy for me to get so caught up in entertaining and attempting to create “a moment,” that I could miss being present with my family.  When I later became a single parent, financial, energy, and time limitations made it even harder to create “exciting” occasions for them.  Those challenges slowed me down and presented the opportunity for me to become more thoughtful about the kinds of celebrations that I shared with my kids, which resulted in making me more intentional and aware of how to connect meaningfully with them.  As I allowed the Holy Spirit to speak to me about what was motivating me, my time with my kids became more about knowing and loving them than about trying to create meaning for them.

• How are you tending your heart today so that you can connect with God and others?
• When you were growing up, were holidays times of peace and connection or chaos and heartache? How did your formative relationships shape your ability to create and maintain healthy attachments with God and others?
• How does that impact your ability now to be present in your life and relationships?
• Trauma, grief, anniversaries marking loss, or strained family relationships can make the holidays especially painful.  Where do you need to re-shape your expectations to be more realistic, lament deeply before God regarding what has been lost, or give yourself freedom to do things differently in order live with integrity instead of demanding performance from yourself or others?
• Take some time today to be still and listen to the Holy Spirit.  Share with Him where you are, what’s really true at this moment, and allow yourself to be present with Him, to let Him show you His tenderness for you.

My kids and I really enjoy our time in the kitchen, which we try to keep healthy as well as delicious, fun, and simple, especially this time of year.   I’ve included our recipe for an easy treat that is gluten-free, sugar-free, quick, and tasty.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Bark

Ingredients

3 cups of pecans

1- 9oz bag of *Lily’s milk chocolate baking chips

1- 9oz bag of *Lily’s chocolate salted caramel baking chips

Mediterranean sea salt

 

Directions

Melt milk chocolate baking chips in the microwave (approximately 1 min).

Mix with pecans, and spread on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Melt the chocolate caramel baking chips in the microwave, and drizzle on the chocolate pecan mixture.

Sprinkle with Mediterranean sea salt.

Put the baking sheet into the freezer for 5 minutes, and then break into serving size pieces, and store in the fridge in a sealed container.

*Lily’s chips are sweetened with stevia instead of sugar, but regular chips can be used as well.

Memories on Mondays

Today, Larry and Rachael’s oldest 2 grandchildren, Kep & Kimmie’s children, share some of the ways that their grandparents have created meaningful connection with them.

Josie:  I remember more Thanksgiving times than Christmas days with my Pop-Pop and Nana. As I think back about Pop-Pop, I remember the times we spent together.  He would often ask me to join him for breakfast or coffee – I would have a macchiato.   He always talked to me as an adult.  I could tell how much he wanted to get to know me.  During our breakfast times he would ask me deep questions, sometimes he’d tell me what was going on in him (his red-dot), and sometimes we would just enjoy each other’s company.  I remember driving through the parades of lights while listening to Elvis Christmas music – and Pop knew every word of each song.

Nana and I have a special bond since I’m the first of her grandchildren, which is probably why she likes me the best.  My Nana always loved a bigger crowd than Pop for the holidays, especially Thanksgiving.  She enjoyed coordinating a large feast for all the friends and family she had over.

As I remember Pop during this holiday, he always pointed us toward Jesus. His life and love has left a mark on my life and I can’t wait to see him again in glory.

Jake:  As I look back on Crabb family holiday times, I remember sitting with Pop in front of the fire-place as he would read stories to Josie and me.  For many years each Thanksgiving Pop would place handwritten 3×5 card letters under each person’s plate.   We would all read our letter to ourselves before Pop blessed the dinner.  I still have my letters from those times today and often read them and remember my Pop-Pop.  Of all the many letters he wrote me, I recall one the most.  I was in high school and going through a rough patch in my walk with Jesus.  Pop sent me a letter and it said this: “I know the man you are, live to be that man!”  I still have that letter.

I recall for most birthdays that we lived close to my grandparents going to dinner with just me and the two of them.  Nana and Pop would then each ask me questions about my life and future.  Nana would write down my answers and later would give me those birthday questions.  I also remember sleeping over at Nana’s and in the morning having HoneyBell Oranges with sprinkles for breakfast.  She has always been the quintessential grandmother, and I know she loves me.

• Is there a child or teen in your life for whom you can offer non-demanding attention and affirmation?
• What would it look like for you to spend time with that person with no greater goal that being attentive to and reflective of the unique way that they are created in the image of God?

Worship & Welcome: The Beauty Candle

On this first Sunday of Advent, open your heart to welcome in the beauty of God’s great love story. As you light the first candle of Advent, the Beauty Candle, join together as a family to study the splendor and celebrate the glory of God’s original design for us. Take time to share with each other what part of the story is most beautiful to you and what that beauty stirs in you when you observe it.

Worship together by singing or listening to a hymn praising the beauty of God. 

We have included a playlist with options for you to consider, and we’ll be adding music to it as Advent continues.

As you sing or listen, let the beautiful truth of these words sink deeply into your heart.