FaithLifestyleHomestyle

FaithLove ‘em Anyway ....................................

LifestyleGift-Giving on a Shoestring Budget ..........

HomestyleHoliday Tables .........................................

Carla Ives

Elaine Mizuo Doreen Mytryshyn

Crystal WackerDiana FaruquiDiana FaruquiElaine Mizuo

Doreen MytryshynCrystal Wacker

Tabl

e of

Con

tent

s

Contributing Authors ........................ Graphic Artist ..............................Photos ..........................................

When I

w

as a little girl,

my mom

always cele-

brated every

holiday,

whether it was

Valentine’s Day,

E

aster,

Memorial Day, o

r

th

e Fourth of July.

You name

the holiday -- we

had the table decorations and

traditio

nal meals

to celebrate

it. I r

emember she’d even buy

candy in the colors of each holiday and set it

around the house in

candy dishes. She would always say, “

We’re making memories.” And

even as I grew older, th

ere was no stopping celebrating holidays. It

just got b

etter and bette

r.

Because of these special tim

es, the years weren’t ju

st passing us by.

The memories we were making went with us wherever w

e traveled or

whatever came our way. I

t’s true th

at the details of m

emories may

fade, but th

e essence of what m

akes a memory & the love th

at goes

with it can’t b

e taken from you even if y

ou lose your job, your h

ealth,

or your loved one. G

ood memories become the fabric th

at weaves a

family together th

roughout the generations.

In this issue of R

each UP, our write

rs and contributors give us ideas

about how to

set the “m

emory temperature” for T

hanksgiving

and Christmas.

The reality is, you as a woman are key to

making those memories.

But doing it d

oesn’t have to

be overwhelming or costly. You’ll s

ee

ideas for gifts

you can make, tables you can set – even ways to

dis-

guise what you already have to create a fre

sh look in your home. Ta

ke

little steps, start p

lanning now, and your Thanksgiving and Christm

as

celebrations can be as enjoyable and memorable for you as they are

for your family.

One more thing. W

hile you may be key to making th

e memories,

the main ingredient of any family celebration is Jesus. W

ithout Him,

memories can go flat or even horrib

ly wrong. Keep it r

eal. Keep it

with Jesus.

C rystal Wacker

Editor-in

-Chief

Crystal WackerChristina Williams

Jodi-Kay EllisMona Ré Shields

Editor-in-Chief .........................Writing Editor .......................Spanish Translation ...................Spanish Editor ......................

Page 2

Page 4

Page 5

www.reachupmag.com

1 Reach UP

Love ‘em

Celebrating Christmas with Difficult People

I had never known a lonely Christmas like this one.

There I was sitting on the floor beside our beautiful Christmas tree, weeping. I felt overwhelmed by the quiet. Earlier that year, my husband and I had opened our home to a family member who was in crisis. We had sacrificed to make it a helpful, positive opportu-nity for her to change her life. By Christmas, she had broken my heart, placed a wedge between my parents and I, and managed to strain all the other family relation-ships as well. That morning, she was enjoying Christmas with my extended family -- without me.

It all felt so. . . wrong!

I learned something that holiday -- the value of family. Even difficult, imperfect, and frustrating family is better than no family at all.

During that year I had tried to avoid family gatherings because they felt so awkward. She made every situation stressful. Though I loved her, I found her embar-rassing and would usually have a big headache before the day was done. Many times, I thought how much easier and better life would be without her presence at these gatherings. I thought that I missed the days when she had been separated from our family.

Two years later, she was placed in an assisted living situation where she could receive the help she needed. She had refused change. There was nothing we could do.

Yet the first Christmas she was absent from our family gatherings, to my great shock, I missed her! As difficult and hard to get along with as she was, she was family. She brought stress and strain to every family holiday, yet she be- longed there around the Christmas tree. Not having her there also felt so wrong!

The holidays are a wonderful opportunity to gather with those we love. Yet for many women, they are the most dreaded times

by Carla Ives

When I

w

as a little girl,

my mom

always cele-

brated every

holiday,

whether it was

Valentine’s Day,

E

aster,

Memorial Day, o

r

th

e Fourth of July.

You name

the holiday -- we

had the table decorations and

traditio

nal meals

to celebrate

it. I r

emember she’d even buy

candy in the colors of each holiday and set it

around the house in

candy dishes. She would always say, “

We’re making memories.” And

even as I grew older, th

ere was no stopping celebrating holidays. It

just got b

etter and bette

r.

Because of these special tim

es, the years weren’t ju

st passing us by.

The memories we were making went with us wherever w

e traveled or

whatever came our way. I

t’s true th

at the details of m

emories may

fade, but th

e essence of what m

akes a memory & the love th

at goes

with it can’t b

e taken from you even if y

ou lose your job, your h

ealth,

or your loved one. G

ood memories become the fabric th

at weaves a

family together th

roughout the generations.

In this issue of R

each UP, our write

rs and contributors give us ideas

about how to

set the “m

emory temperature” for T

hanksgiving

and Christmas.

The reality is, you as a woman are key to

making those memories.

But doing it d

oesn’t have to

be overwhelming or costly. You’ll s

ee

ideas for gifts

you can make, tables you can set – even ways to

dis-

guise what you already have to create a fre

sh look in your home. Ta

ke

little steps, start p

lanning now, and your Thanksgiving and Christm

as

celebrations can be as enjoyable and memorable for you as they are

for your family.

One more thing. W

hile you may be key to making th

e memories,

the main ingredient of any family celebration is Jesus. W

ithout Him,

memories can go flat or even horrib

ly wrong. Keep it r

eal. Keep it

with Jesus.

C rystal Wacker

Editor-in

-Chief

Reach UP 2

“Love of Jesus, fill us,Joy of Jesus, surprise us,

Peace of Jesus, flood us,Light of Jesus, transform us,

Touch of Jesus, warm us,

Strength of Jesus, encourage us.”

by Angela Ashwin

The Book of a Thousand Prayers

of the year. Family gatherings can mean awkward moments, difficult conversations, and unavoidable confrontations with frustrating family members. It becomes a re-minder of the family they wish they had, but do not. Old wounds are cracked open and new wounds inflicted. Skipping the holidays can seem like a great idea. . . .

But instead of skipping the holi-days, we can learn to enjoy them. It is possible! Here are a few tips I’ve learned that may help you face your difficult friends or family members as you gather together.

• Prepare yourself. Before any-one walks through the door, spend time talking to God. Ask Him to show you how He sees each person. Ask for His love to fill your heart toward them. He can give you the peace and inner strength you need. It’s amazing how differ-ent everyone will look and sound to you when you do that!

• Pray for them. You can pray that they will be blessed with joy, truth, and love. Pray peace over the time you will spend together.

• See and hear beyond the sur-face. It can be difficult to hear their rude comments or put up with wrong behavior. Often it’s those words and actions that offend us. Remember that some-times their behavior is the result of an inner wound or empty place. Ask God to help you to hear the cry of their heart rather than the focus on the hard words or the silence. Ask Him to give you the spiritual un-derstanding this person needs to experience Jesus and His love. You will find that you won’t be as easily hurt. You may even feel a deeper bond with your family than ever before.

• Be yourself. Many of us find ourselves going back into old fam-ily roles, speech, attitudes, and behavior at family gatherings. We follow the lead of those around us. But you don’t have to join in the family gossip, defend yourself, or accept what is said as truth. You can choose to be the strong Chris-tian woman you are –- even there.

• Bring Christ to Christmas. Even if your family will not allow you to pray or share about your faith, you can live your faith! Bring your family His kindness, gentleness, and love. Look for ways to serve and bless them without expecting gratitude. You are never alone anywhere when you have Christ in you. His Presence goes with you wherever you go!

• Let your heart love them. We sometimes close our hearts to friends or family members due to past hurts and painful memories. We might be polite and respect-ful, yet remain distant. The key to loving people who are difficult is to accept them as they are. Wishing they were different is a waste of time. They are who they are -– until Christ brings change. You can’t change them. Even while they push your love away, they need it! Loving them doesn’t mean you have to make yourself a doormat to them. It simply means you are opening your heart to them. You are letting your expecta-tions of them go. You are loving them as people. Loving them will feel so much better than bitterness and hate.

Being a Christian means you have been “adopted” into a new family!

You have the stability and security of a heavenly Father, Brother, and Friend Who loves you uncondi-tionally. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will not hurt you or neglect you. He will never favor another above you. You have a new family tree! Knowing this will help you take the bumps on the road of earthly relationships. You are loved! Remember, long after the holidays are ended and you have returned to nor- mal life, you will be en-j joying the richness of relationship with your heavenly Father.

And if you haven’t accepted Jesus into your heart, but you want to be adopted into this new family, it’s not hard to do. Just tell Jesus that you believe He is God’s Son and that you know you’ve sinned and ask Him to for-give you of your sins. Tell Him you want Him in your life. He’ll take it from there.

May this be the best Christmas you have ever known!

How does God see

them?

You have the stability and s

security of a Heavenly Father Who loves you

unconditionally

3 Reach UP

Gift giving is fun but can quickly become costly. It’s easy to get trapped into using credit cards to buy gifts, but don’t! (That’s a budget killer.) Instead, try your hand at making your own gifts. It’s true -- the very best gifts are homemade!

A clean dry jar with a lid (or substitute a zipper bag) A piece of holiday fabric or wrapping paper (optional) ¼ teaspoons of ground cinnamon 2 boxes of apple juice (children’s juice boxes) ½ cup dried apples 2 cups Bisquick® Ribbon 1. Measure out 2 cups of Bisquick®.

2. Sprinkle in ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.

3. Add the dried apples.

4. Pour this mixture into your jar or Ziploc® bag.

5. If you are using holiday fabric or paper, wrap

the jar or bag. Tie a festive bow around the

neck of the jar or the Ziploc® bag.

6. Attach the directions that are printed here,

and include the boxes of apple juice.

1. Pour the powdered mixture in a medium bowl.

2. Add the juice from the 2 boxes of apple juice.

3. Add 2 eggs. 4. Stir until just blended. Note: Do not over mix; this will

make the pancake mix tough.

5. Cook on a lightly greased pan, over medium heat.

*Makes 12 pancakes

Who says a broken chair isn’t good for anything? Take the backs of an old wooden chair and cut the wooden posts to the desired size for a candle holder. Mount them with screws onto square wooden bases. With just a little paint you can make these eye-catching candle holders.

Here is a simple but yummy gift that is sure to please.

Reach UP 4

by Elaine Mizuo

5 Reach UP

Reach UP 6

Serve the salad and add extra color to the table. A place setting is always a lovely touch, especially if you have lots of family and friends over for din-ner. Whole cinnamon sticks wrapped with pretty ribbons are a little gift they can take home to remember the night by. See the effect of having the napkin in the glass in the next picture. It’s the “wow” factor and takes less room on the table.

This centerpiece is a variation on using a glass with Christmas ornaments, but with a candle set in for evening light. You can place a number of small candles around the table and turn off the bright lights to create a warm glow. Add Christmas lights in the window and the memories only get better when you bring on the food and talk around the table.

7 Reach UP

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