Last Christmas, my husband surprised me with a special gift. A beautifully bound copy of the first two years' worth of writings from "Treasure the Ordinary." His thoughtfulness took my breath away. I was especially thrilled when I learned he had bought five copies, one for me to keep and four for me to give my mom, my sister, and my grandmothers. His gift to me allowed me the privilege of being a gift giver to the women who have impacted my life the most.
This year, he's taken it a step farther. I received in the mail today thirty copies of "Treasure The Ordinary, Volume One." He bought them for me to offer readers of my little quiet corner, for we have learned that some people would treasure having the printed version to hold in their hands.
If you are one of those readers, I am pleased to make this beautiful copy available to you. You can click below to purchase your copy on our ministry website.
I would also like to offer any new readers the chance to win one copy in this year's holiday giveaway! To enter, just follow the directions in the upper right hand corner to subscribe to "Treasure the Ordinary." Once your free subscription is activated, you will receive all further posts directly in your email box, and will also be entered in the giveaway drawing. All entries must be submitted by Monday, December 2.
On one final personal note, I would covet your prayers as I travel to India tomorrow for ten days. Pray that the Lord's plans and purposes for this trip come to pass and that I will follow His lead to touch the one, and then another, and then another...
My husband and I have had the wonderful privilege of traveling quite a bit in our seventeen years of marriage. Most of it has been one of us at a time for missions, but a couple of trips have just been for the sheer joy of experiencing new places together. We love it.
What we don't love is leaving each other or the children behind.
And that part never gets easier for the one who is boarding the plane.
But, we have found a small way to make it a little easier for the ones left behind. And this simple family tradition, going on a decade strong now, is still loved in our house when mom or dad is saying goodbye for a big trip. All it takes is a little time to prepare, a few dollars, and some brown paper lunch sacks. Sounds exciting, right?
Well, when our kids were toddlers, it was extremely exciting. Now that our house is tipping the scales in the teenage direction, I would say its mildly enthusing. But, even if it doesn't incite what it used to, it still tells the hearts left at home that they are important and missed.
All we do is count up the days the traveling parent will be away from the family. My upcoming trip to India is ten days long, but I will see them the morning I leave and the evening I get home, so this time, the trip day total comes to eight. Then, the traveler fills up a sack for each day they will be gone with small surprises, and lines them up in a place they can be seen, but not reached by baby hands. Either every morning when the kids wake up or every evening after supper, the kids get to open one bag, making a wonderfully visual countdown until they get to hug mom or dad again.
When the kids were little, the bags would hold a McDonald's gift certificate, stickers, or small pieces of candy. Now that they are bigger and don't care for McD's anymore (can I get a Hallelujah???), it tends to cost a little more to fill the bags. But, the point really isn't to spend a lot of money. It's just meant to say, "I love you."
And now that I have begun to prepare for getting on that plane next week, I'm just wondering if I can talk them in to making me some bags to go in my suitcase.
Ten whole days.
I'm going to miss these people.
Author's Note: All funds for the trip to India have come in, and I'm looking forward to what God has in store for me to do there! To read about the purpose for the trip, click here.
