make time for family
A Classic Christmas
By Jane Delaney
At Christmas time, I like perusing pretty magazines, pretending briefly to myself that I might actually re-create a decorating idea or bake the 10-layer cake pictured on the front cover. And there are countless holiday recipes that may make my own mouth water, but at a real table with a real family most of those recipes just won’t fly. Give me some traditional, good recipes that will entice everyone from Aunt Eunice to my own ten year old. Leave out the weird ingredients, please! The last thing I want is to go to the trouble to fix a dish only to find three fourths of it left alone and rejected.
So this year at E-Mealz, we decided to boycott all those elaborate recipes and compile a “straight-up,” complete menu that a typical family will actually eat! The turkey, all the sides, trimmings and desserts are included with a corresponding grocery list, organized aisle-by-aisle. No long recipes with pages and pages to print – just a 2-page concise menu and a 1-page grocery list.
For those brave ones who may be preparing the entire feast or even the designated hosts who have to delegate every dish, this menu-done-for-you may be better than your own personal staff of elves. Take the holiday stress off your plate and put a delicious tradition dinner on it for everyone to enjoy!
FAMILY DAY:
September 24, 2007
There is growing concern about the disintegration of the family in our country. It is in the family where children are molded into the adults they become. Families are a source of love, inspiration and strength. There is no substitute in one?s life for the powerful impact of the family.
Compelled by the staggering reality that most families, caught up in their own activities and distractions, are tossing family time, and especially dinner, out the window as an imposition on their schedule and time, President George W. Bush proclaimed September 24 as FAMILY DAY. His call goes out to all peoples of the United States to observe this day, to reflect on the value and blessings of family and to participate in activities that strengthen those bonds.
Everyone at E-mealz deeply believes that dinnertime is a natural and consistent way to connect with the people you love, giving our kids a repeated message that they matter to us, that we want to spend time with them and that we will go to the trouble to make that happen. We?re happy to offer our service to families who would like to make this more of a reality in their lives. Let E-mealz help you make everyday a family day!
Mothers as Artists
Jane DeLaney, President
As I reflect on Mother's Day, I know that one of the greatest ways I can live out my gratitude for God's sacrifice
is to simply love those around me. There is verse in the Bible that says, "We know love by this, that He laid down His
life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for each other." This is what it means to love my family: to lay down
my life for their good – on a daily basis. It is not easy.
It often reminds me of when I took portrait painting in college. It was not like any other class. It took a lot of time, thought, and spending hours and days working stroke by stroke. I couldn't "cram" the night before an assignment was due. If I put it off, it would be too late. There was simply no feasible way to speed-paint a painting worth turning in. I remember the long, quiet hours alone in the run-down art building, sitting on the old wooden stool – painting, painting, and more painting. But that's what it took.
Raising a family feels like I am still sitting on that old wooden stool. Alone in the reality that I have to keep painting no matter how tired, no matter how insignificant each brush stroke may seem. It’s in the here and now, seizing every moment possible, knowing that a thousand days, one by one, will be the substance of who they become. It began the day they each were born, that first stroke on the canvas, and then thousands of strokes to follow.
Remember that all the things we do for our children, for the thousandth time, to us may be tiring and routine. Yet to a child, it's their very security. It is the repetition and routine that makes their world predictable, safe and secure. It's the being there day in and day out… waking them up, tucking them in and praying, helping with homework, and eating dinner together.
It all adds up. It adds up to what we are painting their portrait with – the very paint we are using – the oils of God's unconditional, sacrificial, unwavering love. Remember that every loving brush stroke you make will strengthen the canvas of your family – giving them a lifelong picture of God's great love.
Give Yourself a Raise
By Jenny Cochran - March 2007
A few years ago it dawned on me that when I freed up money from our budget, I was in essence giving myself a raise. Financial experts tell us that the #1 way to cut a household budget, save money or start getting out of debt is through our food expenses. So I hired myself and went to work at my new “part time job” of making that happen. It actually worked! Here are a few of my secrets:
#1 The shaving principle: Shave a little $ here, a little $ there. It will add up!
Example: 40 items in your grocery cart, each reduced by .50 cents = $20
$20 each week = $80 a month = 2 new pairs of shoes!
#2 Order coupons on-line. I order the exact coupons I need in multiples, ie Jiffy peanut butter. When those items go on sale, I power-buy! The coupons come in the mail already clipped! Go to Jane's Coupon Tips for coupon links.
#3 Eat at home! The obvious benefit of this determination is the quality time and connection with your family!
#4 Have a meal plan and grocery list! Going to the grocery store without a list is money down the drain. You can save hundreds of dollars a year by keeping a meal plan with a list at your fingertips, ready to grab & go grocery shop. E-Mealz does this for you for a mere $1.25 a week, which is recouped many times over with the time and money you save. Most of the E-Mealz meal plans are budgeted for about $75 per week for seven family dinners! Now, that's how you give yourself a raise!
The Beauty Buffet
By Jenny Cochran - November 2006
How many moms are out there, working hard to support and serve their families, all the while feeling they are losing themselves in the process? The messages we get are, “You can have it all”, “Keep trying”, “Don’t give up”. You feel the pressure to be coiffed, composed, disciplined and smiling. But, the truth is, you feel overextended, spent, tired, and hardly ‘beautiful’.
In John and Staci Eldridge’s book, Captivating, truths are put forth in a refreshing way. Did you know that you are the crown of God’s creation? When He was finished with Adam, something was missing. That was you. The heart of a woman tells us unique things about God, none the least of which is that beauty is essential. He is beauty and He is expressing it through you. External beauty is just the evidence of a deeper beauty that is given by your very heart. Beauty comforts. Beauty heals. Beauty inspires. These are the precious gifts you bring to your family. So, forget about the Martha Stewart version of what life should look like! Let the beauty of your heart adorn your table tonight.
Whatever Happened to Family Dinner?
Jane DeLaney - October 2006
In Old Testament days, “the city gates” were referred to as an important place where the affairs at the end of the day were discussed and where the old taught the young. In pioneer days, the “hearth” was considered the center of the home. In fact the Latin word for hearth is focus. In the modern world, “the city gates,” or the “hearth” of the home is now the kitchen – where a good meal is served and the family gathers at the end of a busy day to focus on each other.
Suffice it to say that when a home gives up its hearth, it gives up its focus. It gives up a rare opportunity for nurturing familial relationships as well as a time to pass on values to our children.
In the book Twice Adopted, Mike Reagan (featured in this issue of the Birmingham Christian Family Magazine) gives “seven focused , proactive things you can do to make the most of the quality time and quantity time you spend with your kids.” One of the seven is to “make time for family meals together!”
Reinstate the “city gates” in your home. Reclaim the dinner table as your “hearth”, as a place to gather at the end of the day - to discuss, recount, enjoy good food, laugh, linger, and pass on a heritage that will one day go beyond the gates of your home.
Dinner Is Not a Waste of Time
By Jane DeLaney - August 2006
All the countless things we do for our children to us feel so routine. We even deem them “unspiritual” simply because they feel tedious. Let’s face it, in the moment it doesn’t feel spiritual to prepare dinner, help with homework, or pick out clothes for the next day. It didn’t “feel” significant when I was little either. But it was.
Yet what feels “unspiritual” in the moment, in reality is the very opposite! To a child, it’s their very security. It’s the “over and over” they need. Repetition. Routine. Making their world predictable, safe, secure, unconditional. It’s the being there day in, day out - waking them up, pouring their cereal, eating dinner together, tucking them in. All the things we do, thousands of times.
Raising a family is much like painting a portrait. It has to be done slowly, one brush stroke at a time. You can’t fast forward or rewind. It’s the here and now, seizing the moment, knowing a thousand days, one by one, will be the substance of who they become. Every effort you spend making dinner happen for your family is another loving brush stroke that will strengthen the canvas of your family – giving them a lifelong picture of unconditional, steadfast love .
Less Means More
Jane DeLaney - September 2006
I feel constantly beckoned to simplify my life - to simplify the life of my family and stick to the things that really matter, letting the rest slough off.
Instead, I jump on the hamster wheel with the rest of the world, only to add more, crowding the plate already full. More stuff, more activities, more phone calls, more money, more goings and doings, more fast food, more promotions, more buying, more busyness, more house, more decorating, more, more, more.
Yet less of this stuff really does mean more, more of the right stuff – more time, more enjoying, more embracing, more capturing moments, more memories, more eternal perspective, more reflection and prayer. It means more of all the things that truly matter - the people we love, the God to whom we belong – the things that will last and stand the test of time.
With my oldest off to college soon, I can’t freeze-dry these moments, but I can slow down so they don’t pass me by. This is it. Time is of the essence. We’re on the last verse of the song before she sets sail.
And on the dance floor of my life period, I better step out there now. I can’t change how long the music will play, but I can slow down and make sure I don’t dance so fast. I don’t know what tomorrow will hold, so I’ll dance for today and hold fast to what’s dear. Sticking to what matters, loving my family, loving my God, and living out the Hope that’s meant for all