For the Generation To Come

My husband and I decided that 13th birthdays at our house are to be a special. Here is a post I made a couple of years ago (on a blog prior to this one). Thought I’d repost….we are now trying to figure out what to plan for my son’s that is coming up in two months. 

September 18, 2005
Labor Day week we took off from school to prepare for two special birthday parties. My youngest turned one year old and we celebrated with a dinner luau style. My oldest child turned 13 and we celebrated in a different way.

I have a book entitled “Spiritual Milestones” and it discusses ways to celebrate, well, spiritual milestones. It made me think about being intentional in passing on a spiritual heritage to my children. Well, a Rite of Passage ceremony is outlined in the book that got me started and thinking, but mine didn’t really look quite like theirs.

First my husband and I sent out a request to family and friends to write a letter to Ashley for her birthday and sharing any wisdom, encouragement, etc to her. I put these together in a scrapbook type book to give to her at a brunch I planned. I invited grandmas and aunts, and friends of mine that were all to be godly examples to Ashley to the brunch.

Here is how the brunch went:
1. First we ate a delicious spread complete with waffles, crepes, fresh fruit, bacon, sausage, egg & cheese quiche, hashbrown casserole, and biscuits. (All prepared by a friend that happens to be a great cook!)
2. Then I thanked everyone for coming and let them know the reason I asked them to come. I knew that the world would surround Ashley with all sorts of examples, but I wanted to put godly examples in front of her. I reminded them that Titus 2 says the older women are to train the younger women and told them today was the day they could act on that!
3. I had an idea for them to share on the back of each of their placecards. For example: “Share any practical helps you’ve discovered for making Bible reading a regular, refreshing habit.” and “Share about your own family and what made the most impact on your spiritual growth.” (these I did get out of the spiritual milestone book, I just used them in a different way than they had laid out) This turned out to be a neat time of sharing.
4. I then shared with Ashley the book of letters for her to read later.
5. We then went around the table and prayed for her.
6. Last, she opened gifts. (I didn’t really intend for people to bring gifts, but they did anyway…and who doesn’t like a gift!)

It turned out to be a very special time, although I could have done without all the tears!

I guess a bit of an update is in order since it’s been so long since I posted. I started a part-time job that has thrown my schedule for a loop! School has been a mess and I look forward to after the holidays when I know things can get back to a normal schedule!

Also, we’ve had such allergy/sinus issues here that we finally decided to try an elimination diet. From what I can tell there are many ways to do this. I bought this book on Amazon a couple years back to do this but we never made it through. You can read a small summary at this website from the same author. We eliminated the major foods that cause allergies including wheat, dairy, corn, sugar, and citrus. We also tried to stay away from foods with lots of preservatives and colorings, but we didn’t totally make it on this. After 7 days we (me and 2 kiddos that are most bothered) felt much better. So we began to reintroduce items one day at a time to see if we had any type of reaction. We started with milk…affected 2 out of 3…sinus issues started returning and stomach cramps. Next day we just did wheat…slight reaction to 2 out of 3. The next day I figured our bodies needed a break so we didn’t eat any of the common allergy foods. The next day we tried corn…major reaction from 2 out of 3…sinus drainage, headache, swollen lymph nodes. Of course, the 2 out of 3 was a different mix of people each day. So….now what? That’s what we are wondering. As we read labels for every food over this 2 week period we realized that avoiding corn seems virtually impossible!!! Corn products must be super cheap because they use them in everything. I’ve basically decided that I have to start cooking more…from scratch…with better, safer ingredients. It’s been about 3 weeks since we finished the elimination diet. We’ve just gone back to eating whatever we want while I try to figure out what in the world we ARE going to start eating. It all seems overwhelming for the moment!

I did just get my Christmas gift…a KitchenAid Mixer! I figure with all this cooking I’m fixing to be doing…I need all the help I can get!