Hello, my friend!
Well, three out of four of us in our household had a sick weekend. And I don’t mean “sick” in the hip Generation Z sense of the word, but in the old-school “coughing, sneezing, hating life” sense. There’s nothing worse, as a parent, than seeing your child struggle through sickness and not being able to take their pain upon yourself. It makes me think of Christ, actually; He saw our sin-sickness, with all its horrible and heart-wrenching symptoms of depravity, disillusionment, hopelessness, and separation from Him…and He took all of it away by suffering, and dying, in our place! What a mighty and compassionate God we serve!
I’m on the mend, just in time to get Christmas gifts ordered and cards in the mail! I can’t believe there are less than 2 weeks till Christmas! Do you have everything crossed of your to-do list? If so, don’t reply; you’ll only make me feel bad about myself 
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Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this week’s Top 4!!
Katie Wells of the incredible Wellness Mama podcast and blog introduced me to the life-changing concept of giving “experience” gifts instead of the more common “material” gifts.
While the latter often adds stress and clutter to our lives, the former enriches our lives with lasting memories and awesome opportunities. According to Katie, “an experience gift can be easy to arrange and thoughtful, even if it’s last minute. They’re also rewarding to both the giver and the receiver.”
Check out 53 ways to give experiences this Christmas HERE!
FIX YOUR FOCUS
“If you focus on loss, you will feel grief. If you focus on fear, you will feel afraid. If you focus on those who hurt you, you will feel angry. If you focus on gratitude, you will feel grateful. If you focus on those you love, you will feel loved.
“Where you bring your attention always determines how you feel.
“Choose wisely.” – Dr. Daniel Amen
BUILD A BETTER BRAIN
Speaking of Dr. Amen, this podcast interview between him and Steven Bartlett is fascinating! Don’t let the title fool you; it’s about FAR more than ADHD – just watch the intro at minute 02:15!
MORE IS CAUGHT THAN TAUGHT
“What we are teaches the child far more than what we say, so we must be what we want our children to become.” – Joseph Chilton Pearce
This applies to ALL leaders, not just leaders of children.