Our Trip to Phoenix and the Boys' First Flight

We had a blast last week visiting my sister, Morgan, and her husband out in Arizona. Jonathan stayed with my mom, and Caleb and Luke eagerly ventured out west with us. A few highlights from our trip...

The boys' FIRST airplane ride!

Looking for our airplane

Luke is buckled in and ready to go

Caleb's favorite thing about the airplane ride was the snack break

They LOVED going to the Train Park which included a train ride, carousel, huge playground, western town, model train museum, and a real train to browse inside.

Riding the kid train.

Hanging out with Aunt MoMo in the train museum.

The three story Phoenix Children's Museum was amazing!

Caleb called this the "pirate ship" and it was so tall it made my stomach turn so daddy went up!

"CACTUS!" We heard this over and over and over :-)

Caleb took his picture with the tallest cactus he could find to show his teachers and friends at school.

Desert Dirt

 The boys didn't seem to mind the lack of grass. They could have dug in the dirt for hours in their aunt and uncle's backyard. There is something about little boys and dirt!

Headed to home sweet home

Why and How We're Celebrating Epiphany Today

ABOUT EPIPHANY:
I'm not an expert on the liturgical calendar, but in studying it, I've found it a helpful tool in creating intentional times throughout the year that we remember and celebrate the life and ministry of Christ. Many Protestant churches don't celebrate the various seasons of the church calendar beyond Christmas and Easter, but there is a long history of using it in the Christian faith. "When most of the people in the church were poor and had no access to education, the church festivals and the cycle of the church year provided a vehicle for teaching the story of God and his actions in human history. Even in the Old Testament, the concept of sacred time became a vehicle for teaching the faith (for example, Exodus 12-13)." (Season of Epiphany - Bratcher) Since reading Noel Piper's book "Treasuring God in Your Traditions" I've become even more intentional in creating traditions and celebrations that tell a story as a way of teaching our kids the truths of God.
Before moving into the meaning of Epiphany, let me back up because you can't talk about Epiphany without talking first about Christmas. In the church we begin the Christmas season with Advent which is marked by expectation. We are anticipating the coming of Jesus. The traditional Christmas celebration begins on Dec 25 and according to the church calendar last for 12 Days of Christmas (ever wonder about the song!). It ends with Epiphany on January 6, today! Epiphany is the climax to the Advent/ Christmas season. The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." It's a time of focusing on the mission of the church in reaching others by "showing" Jesus as the Savior of all people. "As with most aspects of the Christian liturgical calendar, Epiphany has theological significance as a teaching tool in the church. The Wise Men or Magi who brought gifts to the child Jesus were the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as "King" and so were the first to "show" or "reveal" Jesus to a wider world as the incarnate Christ. This act of worship by the Magi, which corresponded to Simeon’s blessing that this child Jesus would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32), was one of the first indications that Jesus came for all people, of all nations, of all races, and that the work of God in the world would not be limited to only a few." (Bratcher)

EPIPHANY DEVOTIONAL: (beautifully sums up the heart of celebrating Epiphany.)

And suddenly - You appeared among us! You could have stood afar off, but You came in vulnerable love, revealing the nature of the Father. You proved once and for all that God's love "reaches to the heavens" by reaching from heaven to us. What an extraordinary act of abounding grace! 
     Your birth seemed insignificant, even trivial, to most of the world. Yet Simeon prophesied You would be "a light to the Gentiles"... and the Magi were the first to fulfill that word. Overwhelmed by Your royal yet modest love, they tenderly laid gifts at Your feet. They knelt down and worshipped You, "revealing" You to the world as Lord and King. 
     I will observe these days by asking for a personal epiphany, a sudden revelation of who You really are. By bowing down, laying my gifts at Your feet, and worshiping You, let me "reveal" You as the Savior of all people. - The Book of Worship (John Randall Dennis)

ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS:

1. Read Matthew 2:1-12. Sing 'We Three Kings'

2. Make and decorate cardboard crowns and then act out the visit of the Magi

3. Let them pick out a special gift to give to someone that would honor that person as the Magi's brought gifts to honor Jesus

4. Pray for missionaries that are "revealing"to the nations Christ as King and Savior 

5. Make a King Cake (a Mardi Gra tradition as well)

6. Make star shaped cookies to remember the star that the Magi followed to find Jesus

These are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

Two of My Favorite Ladies

Beth, Me, Brandi

This picture was taken New Year's Eve and got me thinking about how thankful I am for the special friendships I have with these two ladies. I will forever be grateful that Beth and Brandi took the time to invest in my life.

You don't realize how much you have to learn as a newlywed wife about what it really means to love your husband, and Beth took me under her wing to show me the ropes of being a godly wife. I would always leave her house so excited and inspired to get home and love/ serve my husband. She was also there to shine the light of truth speaking in grace when I was blind to my own faults.

I got to know Brandi around the time I was becoming a new mom. Not only does she have a heart for young mothers but she is full of parenting insight! On several occasions, she would call me with words of wisdom and encouragement when only the Holy Spirit could have known how desperately I needed it!

My time with them wasn't a Bible study though scripture almost always was naturally in our conversations. It wasn't a how to lecture though I got lots of great practical advice. It was all about our relationship. You see they made me love being a wife and mom. Their lives and their hearts for the roles of wife and mom as God designed were contagious.  That's why it's said that discipleship is more caught than taught.

My husband and kids are probably the most thankful for Beth and Brandi! Having tangible, wise, godly women in your life is one of the most transformative things you can do. There are great female authors and speakers that have been very influential in my life as well, but if I had to choose, I'd go with Beth Bryson over a Beth Moore and Brandi Holbrook over a Stormie Omartian EVERY TIME! Praise God for discipleship and women willing to sacrifice their time and energy for the spiritual maturity of another!

Our Christmas Box

Inspired by a blog written by Francine Rivers, our family decided to make a Christmas box for a homeless person and pray that the Lord would lead us to the right person. We went shopping at Target to find things we thought someone on the streets would need and would also put a smile on their face. We let the boys brainstorm about what they thought would make our recipient "feel special." They picked out some fun Christmas socks, gloves, a hat and also their favorite Christmas candy as well as some of our homemade Ginger bread cookies. 

A few other items we included: bottle water, deoderent, first aid kit, anti-bacterial wipes, hand sanitizer, gold bond powder, multi-vitamins, energy bars, and toothbrush/paste. We used a plastic shoebox that can be reused and will keep things dry.

We taped on top of the box coupons for two nights of food and lodging at the Memphis Union Mission. These are great to keep in your car for when you see panhandlers on the streets. You can purchase the coupons here. Hopefully this will give someone a safe, warm, peaceful place to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day night where the light and love of Christ is present.

As Francine Rivers did, I wrote the following on an index ca, let the boys color the back of it, and placed it in the box:

“The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.  I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.  Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:  The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!  By HIS mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.  Great is HIS faithfulness; HIS mercies begin afresh each day.  I say to myself, ‘This LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in HIM.’”  Lamentations 3:19-20

We have the box in our car today as we're out and about and trusting the Spirit to lead. I hope you will pray with us and even join us in this new Christmas Eve tradition!

This night 7 years ago changed my life

On December 23 seven years ago Kennon asked me to be his wife, and every year since has only gotten better. I know we all think our proposal story is the greatest and rightly should! If you would enjoy hearing another one that is also kind of a tear jerker, here is ours as I wrote it soon after we were engaged.

Kennon LOVES surprises and made sure this was the best one ever! Clueless to what was coming... I headed to Memphis December 23 for a white elephant Christmas party with all Kennon's friends. We were leaving the party early, but the host (Chris Hill) insisted we still pick a gift. Kennon, appearing to randomly grab a bag, unwrapped a simple, red Christmas ornament. A friend pointedly told Kennon looks can be deceiving and not to judge a book by its cover. After getting in the car, I started shaking the ornament and popped the top but stated I didn't see a thing. Kennon said, "Are you sure? I think maybe I see something!" After a couple of looks, I found a small note inside. "Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart... proceed to Wilson Chapel where you'll find your gift" I excitedly thought it was a scavenger hunt for the Christmas party.

Upon arriving at the chapel we found a shoe box with a hammer and another red ornament reading "Remember When..." Breaking the ornament, I found another note. "Let's walk down memory lane and remember God's faithfulness in our relationship." The chapel doors were open with candles lining the center aisle and hanging down the pews were 7 red stockings and 7 red ornaments representing the 7 months we'd been dating. Every stocking held unique memorabilia from things we'd done each month and after breaking each ornament...inside were two pieces of paper...a red paper with a scripture for me to read and a green one with a Psalm for Kennon to read.

After the last ornament, Kennon told me he wanted to look back and thank God together for what He'd done in our relationship and for the future. So we went down to the front of the church and knelt at the alter to pray. Before praying, he pulled a piece of paper out of his Bible and shared with me a list he had made a few years ago of Biblical "must haves" for his wife and a list of "icing" traits.  After thanking the Lord for His faithfulness and asking his continued blessing and guidance in our relationship, Kennon took my hand to lead me up the steps of the front platform.

He begin to tell me why this chapel was so special to him. His father passed away when he was in high school, and Wilson Chapel was where the memorial service took place. He pointed to where he had sat during that very service thinking of how he was losing his best friend. Then Kennon turned to me and said how special it would be to gain his new best friend for the rest of his life in this same place. He read Genesis 2 about the Lord taking a rib from the man to fashion the woman and creating her as a helpmate for him. Suddenly Kennon was on one knee proposing! After about 2 seconds of absorbing the utter joy and surrealness of the moment, I confidently and excitedly exclaimed YES!

Before leaving the chapel, Kennon told me he had one more thing to give me. Knowing how much I love to journal, he had a baby blue leather journal with "Kathryn Vaughan" on the front cover. He had written me a note on the first page that the gift was for me to record every special moment of our engagement.

When we got back to his house, he opened the front door and shouted "she said yes!" as our families starting cheering. In shock I stood staring into a video camera surrounded by my family, his family, and Emily Brooks who had first introduced us. The perfect ending with our families...to a perfect night that was the beginning of becoming our own family.

Sixty-three Years of Marriage & Capturing a Family Legacy

My grandparents recently celebrated 63 years of marriage! A few years ago I video taped an interview with Papa and Mimi. In a time where divorce due to "irreconcilable differences"plague our country, my grandparents passed on some wise words to me and my siblings on what it takes to develop a marriage that will last a lifetime. Celebrity Scarlet Johansson was quoted on ending her three-year marriage to Ryan Reynolds saying, "I wasn't fully aware of the peaks and valleys. I wasn't prepared to hunker down and do the work." She got one thing right. Marriage is work. Love is so much more than a feeling. Love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object. Below is a clip of my grandparents talking about their marriage. You will want to get a kleenex before you watch!



Papa is currently in the last stage of Alzheimer's. He doesn't know any of us, even Mimi. He is still as kind and sweet natured as ever, but it breaks my heart to see him unable to complete a sentence, a phrase, a thought. He keeps asking to go home... his childhood home. After spending a few weeks under observation by Alzheimer's specialists, it was recommended he go to an Alzheimer's home. But Mimi said she couldn't live with herself if we didn't let her bring him home and try one more time at caring for him herself. Mimi has always been the picture of faith, and this is the first time I can ever remember seeing her discouraged. But she asks for our prayers, presses on, and shows us all a picture of true love. Love that is a selfless action grounded in commitment and faith and yes still accompanied by emotion. I am so thankful my dear Papa has her as his wife, and I'm thankful for the standard and example she is setting for me.

If your elderly loved ones are still alive I hope you too will consider creating a video legacy of memories that can be passed down to future generations. I am so grateful I made our video before Papa's Alzheimer's set in. A few questions I asked them included: What was your home like growing up? What were your parents like and how did they meet? I also had them tell me every one's full names and asked questions about their great grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins. How did you come to know Christ? What did you do for fun growing up? How much did things cost? What were the major technological advances in your generation? How did you meet? What have been the greatest joys and greatest struggles in your marriage? What advice would you say to every future generation of your family legacy? So many others questions will naturally snowball.

Take advantage of the holidays with family and make some memorials to pass on to future generations!

Got moves like his daddy!

Luke could not leave the Children's Museum until he got to hit the disco room. Break it down Luke!