Whew!  Very full week with a lot of great things happening!

• I’m totally sucked into Downton Abbey.  I really believe I should have been born in England.  The Brits get me every time!  We watched the entire first season in a week!
• Had the privilege of going to Elevation for a night of Code Orange Revival.  Grateful for our friends there.  Bonus was dinner with Lysa Terkeurst!
• Being an aunt is a blast.  My sister sent this picture to me this week.  Sweet little Charlotte had craft time at daycare and made this little penguin with her foot print.  Charlotte’s cute little chunky toes turned into a penguin’s hiney… brilliant! (as the Brits would say… see I told you I should have been British and I am drinking a cup of English Breakfast tea right now too) 

• The countdown for our trip to India is on!  Just got my visa back and realized I only have 2 1/2 weeks before we leave.
• The JustONE Conference starts Monday.  Are you planning to join us?
• Why do your biggest growth moments and your worst days have to be so closely linked to one another?  I had a few of those this week.
• I think I get to run with Ashley today!   Honored to steal some of Ash’s time since it’s sweet Audrey’s 2nd birthday!!

Ok, sorry today is just a bunch of rambling.  Have a great weekend everyone!

We got our first little smattering of snow last night.  I use the word smattering because what we got doesn’t even qualify as a dusting.  60 degrees on Wednesday.  28 degrees and snow on Thursday.  Nashville weather is so weird!

What’s more weird is that schools are closed today.  I love the drama of the South!

Today I’ll be camped out in my sunroom with a cup of tea, a cozy candle and my computer pounding out some writing projects.  I woke up with ideas flowing this morning.  I love those days when the anticipation and expectation overflows.  I hope it’s indicative of what God has in store for this year.

While I’m thinking about it, there are a couple of great things going on this month that you should check out:

My friends at Leading and Loving It are hosting JustONE, a virtual conference for Pastor’s Wives and Women in Ministry.  Four consecutive weeks of some amazing speakers including Kay Warren, Holly Furtick, Lysa TerKeurst and Lisa Young.  The conference begins January 23rd.  Get all the details and register for FREE here!

Cross Point is going to be a host site for The Elephant Room on January 25th.  Seven pastors will agree to disagree on some of the biggest issues facing Christianity today.  Get all the details here.

Ok, that’s all for today.

What’s the biggest thing you’re looking forward to this month?

C O N T E N T M E N T

Here I go again… choosing a word (my One Word) that I don’t even remotely resemble on a day-to-day basis.

I’m a little bit of an anxious soul.  It’s probably the single biggest conversation my husband and I repeatedly have. I hear the words “Jen relax” pretty frequently and with good reason.

“For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”  Philippians 4:11

That scripture makes me laugh out loud!  Really Paul? 

Paul’s life was far more difficult than mine and yet contentment eludes me most days.

I choose “contentment” because it’s the opposite of the emotion I tend to most feel – anxiety.

In the midst of yet the busiest season of my life I don’t want to miss the blessings and unique opportunities God is giving me.  I don’t want to turn good things into just another task on the ever-growing “to do” list.  I want to find contentment in the madness and enjoy every part of this crazy journey because I have no idea how long it will last.

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”  Psalm 139:23

“What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?”  Ecclesiastes 2:22

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

Ok, 2012.  Here we go!

I’m spending the week at my Dad’s house catching up with family and getting some relaxing time before we go racing into the New Year.   This is always one of my favorite weeks of the year.  It seems like all of life slows down a bit allowing for some good planning and reflection.

Family time at my Dad’s house includes relaxing by the fire, playing games, lots of sweets and always, always a family project.

This year it involved cutting down 3 VERY LARGE trees in the backyard.  My dad doesn’t do anything small scale.  He rented a lift, recruited a crew of 11 and had a job for each of us.  I was tasked with burning all the brush and I sufficiently managed to singe my eyebrows and eyelashes.  Wouldn’t be a good family project without a little drama.

Enjoy this little snippet of our family fun!

Family Time from Jenni Catron on Vimeo.

What does your family do for “fun” on the holidays?

H U M I L I T Y

Wow, this word has been a journey!

I chose humility as my One Word for 2011.  I figured I wouldn’t finish the year in complete control of this word… if I believed that I had… well that would be a problem.

I chose humility because I wanted humility to be something that is at the front of my mind all the time.

I wanted to be aware of moments where I was anything but humble so that I could be more aware of how frequently pride consumes me.  (That was painful!)

I wanted to observe humility in action through others.  (This was inspiring!)

But what I found was conflicting.  The emotions were extreme.  There were things that were embarrassingly humbling and then others where I was humbled by feeling too honored.

Here are a few journal entries from my humility moments:

“I found myself feeling a little left out and envious of the others who were involved in a leadership meeting.  I had feelings that I should have a place in the program because of my role.  God immediately convicted me for this prideful thought.  As a leader my heart should be to exalt those around me.  I shouldn’t be seeking places of honor.  I should be thrilled to see others shine.”

“I’m humbled by the opportunities that have come my way already this year.  Lots of writing and lots of speaking.  I’m overwhelmed by the need to prepare and the fear of inadequacy.  It’s funny sometimes how the very things that can make you prideful can also make you feel so small.”

“I was wrestling with feeling a little lost.  There wasn’t a campus that I had to be at.  Everything was covered.  The campus I ended up going to had been left a bit messy from an event and so the most important thing I could do at that moment was sweep the floor.  I wish I could say I did it with great joy but honestly it was simply humbling.”

“In the Sept/Oct issue of Outreach Magazine I was listed as 1 of “30 Emerging Influencers who are Reshaping Leadership”.  This is a pretty exciting list to be a part of.  My picture and a quote are in the magazine… it kind of looks and sounds like a big deal and yet no one on our staff has noticed or said anything.  They just probably aren’t aware but it’s also not that big of a deal for them… they see me everyday, they know my good and bad and they aren’t terribly impressed.  Impressing your core team is hard work.  Impressing your core team goes way beyond the surface and comes down to character and consistency.  It’s much harder work and it’s the stuff real leaders are made of.”  (By the way, after I wrote this sad little pity party, Pete had this issue of the magazine framed for me… humility whiplash.)

Humility is a funny thing.  I’m glad for the journey of this year and yet I don’t feel any closer to being the humble person I I hope to be.

The journey continues…

I love Christmas music!

For a short time in elementary school I took piano lessons.  I spent the entire year preparing to play “O Holy Night” for our church Christmas Eve service.  I still remember how nervous I felt as I sat down at that piano bench and nervously plunked out a primitive version of one of the Christmas songs I most revered.

As hundreds of us belted out that song yesterday at Cross Point, the lyrics still moved me the way they did my little eight year old heart many Christmases ago.

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Til He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees!
O hear the angels’ voices!
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born;
O night divine,
O night, O night Divine.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord!
O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Other, not-so-sacred favorites for me are…

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

What’s your favorite Christmas song?

“The scales of life seem so radically off balance and I don’t even understand where I should begin.”

I wrote that quote this summer after spending my first day in Honduras on a medical missions trip with Mission Lazarus, the ministry Cross Point supports in San Marcos.

I’ve been on a lot of mission trips in my life and each time I go I get overwhelmed by the disparity between my world and theirs.  I often really don’t know where to begin. Every attempt seems so feeble in the grand scheme.

I waffle between the extreme emotions of an utter meltdown to calloused indifference.

Today I head back to Honduras for a week.  We’ll be delivering Christmas gifts to many of the same children I first met this past July.  I’ll reconnect with Emely who I met on that trip and absolutely fell in love with.

She stole my heart so much that I began sponsoring her meals and education each month.  My gift from her will be seeing that beautiful smile in person once again.

Honestly I don’t know what I was thinking by booking a mission trip in December.  It’s such a crazy month to be away.  I second-guessed myself every day leading up to this trip.  How could I add another thing to my already unbalanced world?

But really how could I not?  To stay home, amidst the hustle and bustle – the parties… the shopping… the decorating… the baking – would actually feel more out of balance this year.

How do you balance the craziness of the Christmas season?  What helps you have a balanced perspective amidst the madness?  It may not be as extreme as leaving the country for five days, but be sure to pause and reflect to find some sacred moments.  I hope to find some this week!

There are not enough kids in my life… or more accurately I don’t make enough time to spend with the sweet kids in my life.

That was my Sunday lesson yesterday. 

After a very long and challenging day, I was racing home to meet my sister and two of my little friends to bake Christmas cookies.  Both my sister and the mom of one of my little friends asked me if I was too tired or spent to still bake cookies.  They each graciously offered to reschedule if I wanted to.

I didn’t even hesitate… NO WAY!  I had been looking forward to this all day!

These little bright spots of sunshine brought with them lots of joy, laughter, new arrangements of Christmas songs including…

“Frosting the Snow Man” and “Frosty the Dough Man”

and a kitchen covered in red icing!

They were the highlight of my day!

Sometimes in my busyness and responsibility I forget that the seemingly simple things are sometimes the most profound. 

It’s all things

C H R I S T M A S

my friends!

Christmas decorating.

Christmas shopping.

Christmas cookie baking.

Christmas movie watching.

Christmas light hanging.

Christmas party going.

Christmas cleaning.

Christmas laundry.

Well… okay, not the last two.  But they sound better if you put Christmas in front of them.

That’s what I’m up to this weekend.  How about you?

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

I like Thanksgiving alright, but mostly for the fact that as soon as it’s over I have full license to break into all things Christmas!  If it weren’t for Thanksgiving I would probably be decorating in August… or worse yet I would find a reason to be celebrating year round.  You can all thank Thanksgiving for that.

I must admit.  I’m actually a bit behind on all of my decorating.  Moving into a new house this year has changed my Christmas game a little and I’m trying to get acclimated to a new canvas.

I have some big decisions to make like:

Outdoor lights on a few bushes or go Griswald on the place?  Should I ease into it with the neighbors or just let them see what their in for in the future?

One nice tree in the front window or tree in every room of the house?

One party with a few friends or festivities every night of the season?

What holiday do you go all out for?