Homespun Memories for the Heart

Karen Ehman, Kelly Hovermale

Description

Beyond birthday parties, anniversaries, holidays, and holy days, there is the every day. And while the loss of the first tooth or the first day of school may seem like normal, ordinary occurrences, these authors show that even "just because" events are enough reason to celebrate the One who gives us life each day.There is spirituality behind all celebration. With more than 200 inventive ideas plus Christian inspiration, brief reflections, and biblical examples of everyday celebrations, the authors give concrete, practical, and tangible ways to bring that spirituality into everyday. Readers will be encouraged to create their own family traditions and bring faith to life by making home a place where Christ, family, and friendships can be celebrated openly and often-because life doesn't have to be ordinary.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2005
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781585585083
• Langue: English

Extrait

H OMESPUN M EMORIES for the H EART
More than 200 Ideas to Make Unforgettable Moments

Karen Ehman, Kelly Hovermale, Trish Smith
2005 by Karen Ehman, Kelly Hovermale, and Trish Smith
Published by Fleming H. Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. Except for the tags , no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ehman, Karen, 1964- Homespun memories for the heart : more than 200 ideas to make unforgettable moments / Karen Ehman, Kelly Hovermale, and Trish Smith. p. cm. ISBN 0-8007-5983-4 (pbk.) 1. Family-Religious life-Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Family recreation-Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Amusements-Religious aspects-Handbooks, manuals, etc. 4. Entertaining-Planning-Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Hovermale, Kelly, 1963- II. Smith, Trish, 1969- III. Title. BV4526.3.E36 2005 249-dc22
2004025839
Scripture is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
They will celebrate your abundance and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
P SALM 145:7
To those women who have shown us the importance of building memories:
Karen-To my mother, Margaret Patterson, for the dozens of cakes lovingly baked, the scores of gifts cleverly given, and the many sacrifices unselfishly made, it is to you I dedicate this book.
Kelly-To my mother, Kathy Ginter, for the investment you made in my life and the encourage ment you graciously give to me as a wife and mother to my four precious children. Thank you for being not only my mother, but my mentor and friend.
Trish-To my aunt, Frances Underwood. From Easter baskets to Sunday dinners and family vacations, thank you for giving me an example to follow of how to celebrate every special day.
And to those with whom we continue to build these cherished memories, our families:
Todd, Mackenzie, Mitchell, and Spencer Ehman, Greg, Steven, Austin, Jonathan, and Autumn Hovermale, Doug and Zach Smith.

C ONTENTS
1 Make Homespun Memories An Introduction
2 Celebrate the New: Spring Mud Puddles and Galoshes, Passover and Prayer
3 Celebrate Golden Days: Summer Bicycles and Berries, Fireworks and Flowers
4 Celebrate Turns and Changes: Fall Apples and Oak Trees, Backpacks and Blessings
5 Celebrate Light in the Dark: Winter Snowflakes and Candy Canes, Holidays and Hearts
6 Make Birthdays Bright Cake and Candles, Presents and Parties
7 Celebrate the Milestones Brides and Blessings, Anniversaries and Adoptions
8 Celebrate Your Faith Rights and Rituals, Purity and Prayer
9 Celebrate the Extraordinary Everyday Rainy Days and Road Trips, Bedtimes and Books
10 Make the Finishing Touches Labels and Tags, Certificates and Coupons
Personal Dates
Acknowledgments
About the Authors

1 M AKE H OMESPUN M EMORIES AN INTRODUCTION
They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
P SALM 145:7
M emories. The mere mention of the word conjures up images and emotions. For some folks, memories are the warm feelings they get as they remember Christmas mornings tiptoeing down the stairs still dressed in flannel pajamas, hoping to catch a glimpse of the treasures waiting below. For others, just the smell of a familiar fruit can evoke the memory of time spent with Grandma in the kitchen, waiting to sample her famous strawberry preserves. The sound of rain on the window can bring memories of a book read by flashlight under a makeshift blanket fort, an ordinary night turned into an adventurous yet safe time to treasure years later.
A scent, sound, sight, touch of something-most anything can trigger such recollections and transport you back to another time and place. Whether good or bad, these moments of the past-your memories-have shaped you into the person you are today.
Your Fingerprint on Celebrations and Memories
Now fast-forward to the present. Look at the people in your life: your circle of friends, immediate and extended family, even your casual acquaintances. Though your lives have converged at this point in time, the journeys that have brought you here are as unique as the whorls and loops of each individual fingerprint. You all have come from different places, experiences, and backgrounds, bringing to each new relationship a sample of what you ve experienced along the way.
As coauthors and friends, Kelly, Karen, and Trish share lives that are a reflection of this truth. Each of them comes from a distinctive background, bringing to the table whatever memories and traditions they have experienced-sharing them with you here in the pages of this book. But look for that common thing they-like you in your circles-share.

KELLY S STORY OF SIMPLE THINGS
Growing up in a small town, Kelly s life was simple, but the celebrations were rich-and these are what continue to sustain her in a life that can grow complicated and crazily busy.
One of her favorite celebrations was always the Hanging of the Greens, a Christmas tradition in her small village church. Church members of all ages gathered for one evening to deck the halls with beautiful decorations, sing carols, and munch a tasty cookie or two. She remembers looking through the boxes of Christmas decorations that were pulled out of storage for just the right ones to take back to the Sunday school classroom.
There were yards and yards of glittery gold and silver tinsel, and old Christmas cards portraying the important scenes of the Christmas story. Long, tangled strands of tree lights with those large, old-fashioned colorful bulbs, and a well-worn, misshapen tree were ready to have little hands create on it a masterpiece of holiday beauty. Looking further she found an eclectic assortment of ornaments used throughout many a Christmas past. And it was always a treat to find just the perfect Christmas angel to don the treetop.
Meanwhile, the men from the church would bring in a real pine tree that seemed to touch the ceiling. Then the ladies busied themselves by hanging homemade ornaments that would symbolize the story of the very first Christmas. The highlight of the evening was seeing the nativity scene being assembled outside on the church lawn. Children gathered round, anxiously awaiting nightfall and the illumination of the baby in the manger.

The best part was that my family lived across the street from the church, Kelly remembers. I would often ponder the quietness of the snow-blanketed nativity scene as I looked out the window of my house.
These precious memories of Christmas have inspired Kelly to incorporate the tradition of a Hanging of the Greens in her home today. As she and her children decorate their little house in the suburbs of Detroit, they reminisce about each ornament-who gave or made it, when it was given, what was happening at the time, the first Christmas it hung on their tree. These decorating days are filled with Christmas music and the smell of warm gingerbread baking in the oven. And just as the nativity scene took center stage in the celebration in her hometown church, a miniature version now adorns the Hovermale living room. My children s four little pairs of eyes look wistfully at the baby in the manger just as I did so many years ago, Kelly says. With celebrations, a family s love can be brought full circle through the generations.
These simple times and ordinary things bring Kelly great joy and comfort; she says the way they just happened encourages her that they can be recreated and reclaimed every year. My mother never consciously had a plan. She didn t set out to make each day different and unique, but she did set aside the time to involve our family in those simple things that would create lasting memories.
The celebrations and memory-making activities seemed to come naturally to her. She never owned a planner like many moms use today, or went to conferences to hear speakers teach on building memories with your family. Certainly books on celebrations and memory making were few and limited back then. Living in a small rural town, she found that many resources and entertainment opportunities were unavailable. They simply relied on making memories around home as a family. Whether it was going ice skating down at the park on a brisk winter evening and returning home to mugs of hot chocolate and freshly baked cookies or making homemade ice cream on a warm summer day after swimming in the family s pool, these were the normal things they did to build memories.
Making memories for her children was always a part of her thinking. She had a mind-set of building memories that included most often the simple things in life. These are the memories Kelly wants her children to remember about their childhood-the simple things celebrated as a family.
KAREN S STORY OF A CREATIVE MIND
Neither expensive gifts and elaborate celebrations nor grand family vacations made memories for Karen. In fact, she says, none of these things were part of her upbringing in any way. Out of necessity, her mother was forced to get creative when it came to making wonderful memories for her children.
As a single mother of two small children, Karen s mother lived on a budget so tight it squeaked. Her gifts on birthdays may have been the most inexpensive, but they were often the most clever.
To this day I still think I might find something hidden in the breadbox on the morning of my birthday, Karen says, telling about scavenger hunts more fun than any one gift. There were always just because treats lovingly baked specifically for the return home from school on a rainy afternoon, or poe