Scattered Seed Books

Tag: holidays

  • A Pocket Full

    A Pocket Full

    Over the weekend, my husband and I joined up with a group from our church to hand out food.

    And each time a transaction took place.

    While we lifted bags into back seats, they deposited chronicles of heartbreak at our feet.

    While we passed gift cards through car windows, they left whispered tales of broken homes at our fingertips.

     Tears streamed, unashamedly, on both sides of the door that day.

    And then she showed up.

    From her large truck, a small woman looked down at us, waved an aged spotted hand, signalling us to stop and spoke.

    “I want for nothing, I have all I need. Yet, I have something for you.”

    An uncertain pause to our outreach hung in the air around us.  No one knew what to do. We eyed her suspiciously, until another volunteer approached her truck and timidly held out a gloved hand. She released a handful of small, plastic Jesus figurines.

    We pocketed them and giggled awkwardly.

    It was during my last car, that I remembered the figurine. As the car pulled away, my husband reached into his pocket and handed his Jesus to the woman behind the wheel.

    And she hesitated, just a second, as if wondering what to do with Him.

    “”Don’t you know that you can’t just give Jesus away,” I teased my husband as we walked back to the table.

    “I thought that’s what we were doing,” he said.

    He’s not wrong.

    As we handed over bags of apples, we were giving away Jesus.

    As we asked for Divine Favor in their situation, we were giving away Jesus.

    As we ministered to the weary and heavy laden, we were giving away Jesus.

    And you know what else..

    When we offered them Jesus, some eyed us suspiciously. 

    When we gave them Jesus, they weren’t sure where to put Him.

    When we placed Jesus in their hands, they didn’t know what to do with Him.

    And maybe that’s on us.

    Maybe He has sat too long in our pockets for us to feel Him, or clutched too long in our gloved hands for us to work with Him.

    I never did catch her name. I wish I could thank her.  I wonder if she knows just how important those words have become.

    The next opportunity to give Jesus away might look different on the surface, yet the internal need remains the same. 

    The need for a lifted load.

    The need for some gentle joy.

    The need for a Savior.

    “Come.” Jesus says, “Come.”

    He has something for you.

  • A New Christmas Tradition, Part 2

    A New Christmas Tradition, Part 2

    Hello, again!  

      Before we take a look at additional books we used this year in our Christmas Advent tradition, I feel like we should talk about reading to children.

      But first, a word about screen time.  With only a few days remaining until all that Christmas joy gets unpacked, and a to-do list that gets longer by the second, screens have been our constant companion lately.  As I type, we are knee deep in a day long movie marathon, complete with phones and tablets. There have been video games, texts, and books.  There should always be books.

      According to this study, the Nations Report Card found a decline in the national average for reading.  In some cases, that drop was as much as 2 points.  Now, that might not seem so bad, unless you factor in the near 3 point decline in the years before.

      In another study, referenced here, we see a correlation between screen time and the decrease in what they are calling “reading stamina”. That article highlights how a deeper, slower connection needs to be made between the brain and the words on the page, in order to understand what is being read. While  Ohio State University, found a large discrepancy between children who were read to and those who were not.

    Here are a few we’ve unwrapped lately.

    One of my boys, loves this movie, but some in the family feel it’s a little much. The book though, is just right. Ours even comes with a free, downloadable reading done by a famous actor, complete with sound effects.

    Of course, no Christmas book list would be complete without this timeless poem. This version happens to be our favorite. The illustrations switch between simple and beautiful, to stunning, full page, colorful spreads.

    Another Christmas classic, and one of my personal favorites! When my girls were younger, and we would watch this online, we would jokingly say that one did not simply watch The Nutcracker. Complete with tutus, crowns, and even a Nutcracker Doll, this always became an interactive event for 3 little girls in our house.

    That’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with a few more of our favorites.

    If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. But! Be sure to subscribe and receive posts delivered straight to your inbox. It’s not as fun as the way Santa delivers things, but its close.

    In the meantime, remember, there should always be books, and tutus, and movies, and twinkly lights, and dancing, and…..