Be Present

The holidays often bring about feelings of nostalgia as we look back on Christmases of years past. While reminiscing can be enjoyable, it can also lead to comparison between our present life and our memories from years gone by. When this happens, take a moment to remind yourself that today is different from yesterday—and that’s okay! Enjoying the present moment is key to finding rest in the Christmas season. Try putting down your phone or tablet during family gatherings so that you can focus on being present with your loved ones instead of scrolling through social media or checking emails. Find some new traditions to refocus your days on the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

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Take Time for Yourself

The holidays are all about celebrating with others, but make sure you leave enough time for yourself as well. Whether that means taking a walk around the neighborhood alone or going out for lunch with friends—it’s important to pause amidst all the festivities and give yourself permission to relax and recharge. A great way to do this is with a Bible study or audio Scripture app. Everyone needs some quiet moments throughout their day where they can be free from obligations and distractions in order to connect with themselves and the Lord again. And if those moments come during Christmas break—all the better!             

Spend Quality Time Together

Making quality connections this holiday season doesn’t have to involve expensive gifts or extravagant decorations; simply spending uninterrupted quality time together will be more meaningful in the long run. Set aside an evening where everyone puts away their phones and devices so that you can engage in meaningful conversations without any digital distractions getting in the way—or plan an afternoon outing with your family or close friends where you can truly enjoy each other’s company without worrying about anything else on your “to-do” list!

The days and months of the holiday season are full of excitement and anticipation but can also be overwhelming at times; don’t forget to pause amid all of the hustle and bustle so that you can find rest in this special time of year! By remembering what the Christmas season is all about, focusing on being present with loved ones, taking some much-needed quiet time when possible, and having quality conversations without digital distractions getting in the way—you will be able to fully appreciate this magical season full of joyous celebrations! Wishing you peace & joy throughout this merry Christmas season!

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God bless you. Stay hopeful!

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Pranks For The Kids

1. Breakfast: Instead of eggs, put yogurt on your kids’ plates with half a canned peach or apricot as the yolk. Or, if they’re cereal eaters, put a little food coloring at the bottom of the bowl, cover it with cereal and let them pour their own milk. Have your camera secretly ready to catch that reaction!
2. Lunch: Put a fake bug in their lunch box or backpack. If you have an especially realistic-looking bug like the one in the picture, leave them a note reassuring them the bug is fake, and their sandwich is safe to eat…or else they might skip lunch altogether! 

3. Dinner: Make cupcakes out of meatloaf in foil cupcake liners, then pipe mashed potatoes on top as the icing, and use veggies chopped really small as sprinkles, OR use mashed potatoes and gravy and make it look like an ice cream sundae. You can use a cherry tomato to look like a cherry, or you can even put it all in a cone. Tell the kids they get dessert for dinner!

Pranks at Work

4. Poke holes with a needle in the first few cups at the water cooler. 
5. Wrap each item on someone’s desk in wrapping paper. Recruit some help and get it all done on their lunch break for extra points! 

6. *Especially for fans of The Office: Pretend a fax came in for one of your coworkers…”from himself…from the future.” 

Dear *coworker’s name*, At 8 am today, someone poisons the coffee. DO NOT drink the coffee! More instructions will follow. 

Cordially,
Future *coworker’s name*

Pranks For Roommates 

7. Put food coloring in your roommate’s toothpaste tube. Use the same color as the toothpaste for better chances of avoiding detection. *This will change the color of their teeth for 20-30 minutes, so keep that in mind*

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8. Fill an empty mayonnaise jar with vanilla pudding and eat it in front of your roommates with a spoon. Offer to share. 
9. Replace the pictures in their picture frames with print-outs of cats, celebrities, or pictures of yourself. 

Wedded Bliss Pranks

10. Bring your honey their favorite drink, but plug the end of the straw with a marshmallow. They’ll be so happy you thought of them, then annoyed about the prank, but then happy again that they have their favorite beverage! Win-win. 

11. Put a “For Sale” sign in the front yard or on their car. 
12. Rearrange their drawers or closet. This is even better if you start gradually with one piece of clothing, then intensify to everything being in the wrong place. 

And a Bonus Prank for the Whole Family!

13. Super glue some coins to the sidewalk outside your house, then hide behind the curtains and enjoy the show! 

Happy April Fool’s Day! Enjoy some extra fun and share below your favorite pranks!

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God bless you. Stay hopeful!

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“It’s not you; it’s me. No, I mean that. It’s not you; it’s me. My name is CJ McKay. According to a recent survey, 55% of Americans think they are smarter than the average American. A humble 34% of citizens say they are about as smart as everyone else, while 4% say they are less intelligent than most people. Men are more likely than women (24% to 15%) to say they are much more intelligent than the average American. Not good. What does the Bible say? There’s a warning here. The Bible says we shouldn’t think of ourselves more highly than we ought to.”

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Do you find yourself thinking you’re smarter than everyone else? Or better than everyone else? Or maybe more spiritual than everyone else? Even the calmest of us can lose our cool on the roads, where we find ourselves thinking, “Am I the only driver with a brain these days?” We can get ourselves in a trap of pride when we allow ourselves to think like that. Thankfully for us, the Bible has plenty to say about pride and humility. 

Look Up

The only way we can ever defeat pride and arrogance is through the power of the Holy Spirit. By taking our eyes off our accomplishments, our good deeds, our circumstances and turning them instead to Jesus, we can put praise where it belongs- firmly on the One who has given us every good gift and is the only reason we can do anything worthwhile in the first place. 

Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Proverbs 3.7

You can recognize if you’re struggling with a lack of humility towards God if you find yourself ruminating on how God hasn’t given you what you’ve asked for, or if you bitterly blame Him for circumstances, yours or someone else’s. If you recognize yourself in these descriptions, stop now and ask for forgiveness. Find a few Scriptures to pray and repeat to yourself to remind you that God is for you, He has good things for you, and He knows what is best. 

Look Around

It’s been said the hardest sin to see in yourself is also the easiest sin to see in someone else…got a guess? Yep, it’s pride. We can learn a lot about the results of pride and the rewards of humility in Proverbs.

Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 11.2 

Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.

Proverbs 29.23

True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life.

Proverbs 22.4

Monitor your thoughts. When you find yourself thinking about how you’re better at something than someone else, smarter, or better looking; or on the other hand, if you’re prone to thinking “these people are idiots!”, take a minute and think of all the good things about that person. Think of what they’re better at than you. Pray for them. Tell them what they’re good at. This is the essence of taking our thoughts captive. 

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 

Romans 12.2

Take some time today to think about what areas of your life you’re most prone to prideful thoughts or words. The Scriptures in this blog are only a small percentage of what the Bible has to say about pride and humility. Do you have any practical ways you guard yourself against pride? 

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God bless you. Stay hopeful!

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Darren from We Are Messengers

Mark Hall from Casting Crowns

Matthew West

Natalie Grant

Don’t forget to check back for more installments in “A Word of Encouragement From…” If there’s someone you’d like to hear from, let us know in the comments and we’ll see what we can do!

God bless you. Stay hopeful!

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