Hopeful Homemaker

Victory Candles

November 3, 2010 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

Many years ago I read about something one mother did to celebrate the little victories in the life of her family.

She kept a candle on her kitchen table, called a victory candle, and on days when a family member had accomplished something noteworthy, they lit the victory candle and talked about the achievement. She wrote about how her children would come home from school sometimes saying, “We need to light the victory candle tonight!”

I’ve tried to do this over the years, but for some reason my husband and children haven’t really latched onto the idea of lighting a victory candle.

I light them anyway, but they have come to represent a different sort of victory for me.

On the days when we’re running crazy, when I’m not very organized, when the meal isn’t what I wish it was, when the children seem at odds with one another, I light the victory candles. Yes, I light them on the days when it most feels like we’re losing the battles of life.

I light them to help myself pause and celebrate what we’re doing. In spite of exhaustion, chaos, or just the lateness of the hour, we are having family dinner. We are gathered at the table to pray, eat and talk together. And that is a victory.

So on the nights when my failures are the most glaring, I turn down the lights and we eat dinner by candle light. It brings a mood to the table that fills in the gaps and helps smooth over my inefficiencies. Instead of sitting at the table feeling like a failure, this simple act allows me to sit at the table and say to myself, “We are doing it. We are having family dinner. We are being consistent. This is a victory.”

It’s my simple strategy for fighting off the feelings of discouragement that come knocking at my heart on the tough days. And it helps, it really does, which makes it a victory all over again.

Candles, anyone?

Hopeful Homemaker

One comment abundance, parenting

Baptism Invitations

November 2, 2010 jennifer Paper

This beautiful daughter of mine turned eight last month, and will be baptized on Saturday.

She is blessed with a golden heart. We marvel often at her sweet and sincere goodness. We’re so excited for her special day. This means that there will be a flurry of activity in our home this week as we prepare for family to gather in honor of her decision to enter into this sacred covenant. Among those activities is the creation of her invitations, something that should have been accomplished at least 10 days ago, but at least I’m doing them!

Projects like this are created from my old stash of scrapbook supplies. I went with a simple design, printing the information on the photo and mounting the picture on a piece of white cardstock. I then cut pieces of my favorite vellum to cover the entire invitation.

After some experimenting I settled on a simple white ribbon woven back and forth across the top to hold the two layers together.

I’ve said this before, but there is something beautiful in stacks of paper and supplies all lined up together.

I love the shades of white, the subtle gray produced by the vellum over the photograph, the shadows, the way white helps you see texture. I never tire of white. Simple and elegant.

I added a simple strip of white cardstock with a charcoal gray design stamped across it to cover the text on the photo below. This makes the invitation easier on the eye as you aren’t drawn to try to read two layers of text on top of each other.

And underneath the vellum…

This is a project I was tempted to skip when I missed the window to mail them at an appropriate date. I’m grateful for telephone and electronic communication! Still, I felt like I should do it, and now that they’re finished I’m so glad that I did. When the children came home from school and saw them, I was so happy to present my daughter with her own invitation to keep. Interestingly, my almost twelve year old daughter ran immediately to her room and returned with the invitation I made for her baptism four years ago. My heart whispered to me that what I had done was important, and I’m so glad I followed that prompting.

Now they are en route, and although they’re late, I hope they will still serve as a reminder and a memory.

Flashback

November 1, 2010 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

I was sitting across the table from my little guy while he worked on writing some of his letters. We’re working on learning all the letters in his first name.

As I watched him work on letters, then scribble, then go back to his efforts, I was suddenly reminded of another little boy doing the same thing years ago. Unexpected tears pricked at my eyes as I thought of my second son at age four, sitting at the kitchen table with pen and paper, the same blond hair and the same smile pulling at his mouth, the same sunlight filtering into the room. I thought of that second son and remembered hearing him walk into the kitchen behind me recently. His walk sounded heavy, like his oldest brother, and I realized how fast he’s growing.

I looked back at my four year old with new appreciation. With all the curve balls this little guy throws at us, I sometimes shake my head and wonder. Moments like this remind me of his sweetness and desire to be good. They also remind me how quickly this mischievous little smile will change as he grows. And I think, “I love this.”

I’m so grateful to be a mother.

Jennifer