The winner of the Husband Project giveaway is Sonya! Congratulations! Please email me at erin {at} homewiththeboys {dot} net to claim your prize!
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I’ve mostly stepped back from doing any reviews of books other than ones my children would enjoy, but this book and it’s subject matter really caught my eye.
Putting God Back in the Holidays – YES PLEASE!
This new book by Bill and Penny Thrasher is perfect for this holiday season, but it is not just about putting God back into Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Thrashers offer ways to invite Him back into twelve different holidays throughout the year.
What I love about this book is it is NOT just a list of activities to do and traditions to start. While there are some wonderful resources and ideas listed, the book focuses on many different ways to honor Him during the holidays including time for rest and continued daily disciplines – areas often lost in the holiday shuffle.
The holidays covered in the book include sections on:
*New Year’s
*Birthdays
*Good Friday and Easter
*Thanksgiving
*Christmas
And chapters on:
*Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
*Valentine’s Day
*President’s Day
*St. Patrick’s Day (YES! MY FAVORITE!)
*Arbor Day
*Mother’s/Father’s Day
*Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day and Fourth of July
*Labor Day
*Halloween
Since Thanksgiving is just days away, I’ll share a few of my favorite tips from the Thanksgiving section of the book:
*Get a Psalter and learn one of the Praise Psalms together (Psalms 145-150).
*Read Washington or Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamations – loved this idea! The text of each is included in the book!
*Buy or make thank you cards and send to those who have blessed you, especially those who don’t usually get cards.
*Look back through photos from the year and remember God’s kindness and goodness.
And the list goes on and on!
Nothing incredibly fancy or complicated, but all centered on the One who deserves all of the thanks! I am thankful for this resource that guides us through a whole year of God-focused holidays – a legacy we want to leave for our boys.
And I can’t wait to focus on their Christmas suggestions – especially the rest part!
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To celebrate this holiday season, I have two copies of Putting God Back in the Holidays to give away to two special readers!
Just leave a comment below – tell us how you keep God at the center of a certain holiday or which holiday you struggle with this the most!
If you WANT extra entries, share this giveaway with your friends – Twitter, Facebook, whatever – and leave another comment saying how you shared!
Special request: If you tweet about this, please tweet the following: I entered to win “Putting God Back in the Holidays” from @MPSpiritual at @homewiththeboys! http://bit.ly/hjk6VQ #PGBH
This giveaway will be open until Monday, November 29th at 9:00 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen by random.org and announced Tuesday.
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Thank you to Moody Publishers for providing the review and giveaway copies of this book at no charge! As always, all opinions are 100% my own! If you would like more information, their website is www.moodypublishers.com and their Twitter is MPSpiritual. Anyone who is interested in receiving news about upcoming titles and other promotional offers can write to grow@moody.edu and be placed on their e-mail list.
I'm Erin, a wife, boy mom x 3, writer, and runner in Nebraska! I'm excited to share all my favorites relating to faith, family, fashion, and fitness in this space! Enjoy! 
Christmas is the easiest holiday to keep Him the center of…for us anyway. We make sure our daughter knows that we are celebrating Jesus’ birth and it is not about Santa and presents. We read the Christmas story Christmas morning before opening any presents. And, we always try to give something(s) to those less fortunate than us!
Thanks for this awesome giveaway!
I tweeted! 🙂
Christmas is in one way easier to making God being the focus, but it is also very difficult with balancing God, gift giving, indulgent (but so yummy) cookie and fudge eating, and especially Santa Clause. We have never been really big on the fat man, but I am struggling with the idea of him and whether he is becoming like a god instead of the one true God. I may have to reread The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to revisit CS Lewis’ take on him.
I facebooked!
The easiest holiday to keep Christ in the center for us is Christmas. Our kids understand birthdays and that it’s a special day. They also know Jesus is very special so it makes sense to them to celebrate with gifts to others, including a few special gifts from people who love them like Christ loves us.
I love thanksgiving and christmas as much as I love easter! anything celebrating the King is a wonderful tradition in my book and each year I try to make the truth of the holiday sink in a bit deeper.
We are working on ways to show what thanksgiving is right now to my small children. the thanksgiving tree has helped a lot and we have enjoyed various poems and such this holiday season.
Christmas is around the corner. I am planning and praying how I can make it all point to the KING and the greatest gift ever given to us. I did a manger scene once in church with the cross behind it. What a powerful image it was in celebrating. This year we are focusing on WHY we give gifts, to remind us of the greatest gift… hopefully it will be a great visual reminder!
What a great idea for a book!! I struggle with keeping Him the center at birthdays. Any ideas for that would be welcome!!
Just tweeted it also 🙂
I popped this book on my wishlist when Courtney held a giveaway for it, in case I didn’t win. And I didn’t.
But hey, I have another chance now!! This book looks SO GOOD!!!
I tweeted. I’m @brandycormier
One thing that we do at New Year’s is to write out 1 yr, 5yr, and 20 yr goals. They are spiritual, physical, emotional, financial, and family goals. This is all in the context of how we are serving/seeking/sharing God.
I could totally use this. I’ve gotten to where I dread the holidays. NOT good.
I would say that Easter and Christmas are the easiest and hardest at the same time. On one hand Christ IS the center of these holidays, on the other hand there is SO much out there battling for our childrens attention, trying to focus it on ME ME ME and not our awesome Lord.
We have always celebrated Christmas as a celebration of Jesus Birth. We do not do Santa in our home. Easter is all about Jesus and his resurrection, no bunnies here. Thanksgiving is usually all about how we are thankful for what God has done in our lives. But as for other holiday’s we never really looked at them in that way. This would be a great book to have.