Life Applications for Princesses

We have an exciting lesson for your kids this Easter!

Should we tell you what it is all about before the book comes out?  Yes?  I think so too! Just don’t tell our publisher!

Like a scrumptious crock pot dinner, A Royal Easter Story has been brewing slowly in Jackie’s and my heart over the last couple of years, and we are thrilled the story is finally here, in color, for all your children to enjoy.

Just like all the books in the Princess Parables Series, this latest edition is full of lessons and character examples.  I am going to take this week and next to expound upon the two verses and parables we used to create this inspirational story.  Our hope is when you order the book and read it to your princess, these lessons can be brought to life. 

The reason the Princess Parables was created in the first place is we wanted your daughters to love God’s word and the parables of Jesus.  We wanted to help create a conversation at bedtime when they are sitting on your lap reading their favorite princess book. 

This is our hope and goal.

Here is the first part of the focused verse of A Royal Easter Story.

Luke 11:9-10

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

ASK:  If your kids are anything like mine, they ask A LOT of questions.  I have always encouraged them by saying “You can ask me anything!” I believe this verse does not mean if we ask God for anything, he will give it. He is not a genie waiting to fulfill our every desire. For as any good parent knows, not everything my kids ask for is good for them.  Just like my father in heaven knows what is good for me.  Ask and it (the answer) will be given to you.  The answer to a prayer is the biggest way we ask.  Sometimes the answer is yes.  Sometimes it is no and sometimes it is wait.  In A Royal Easter Story, we have Princess Charity asking her father a question and he answers.  It is symbolic of our heavenly father answering our prayers.

SEEK:  Hide-and-seek was a favorite for my kids for years.  They had just as much fun hiding and they did seeking. However, seeking was the only way to find the reward.  In the same way, God wants us to seek Him. He is not a hovering, demanding parent who controls us like robots, but he has allowed free will.  Within this freedom, He desires us to seek His salvation, His will, His wisdom and His plan. A three-fold promise is found in this scripture.  God says “You will find me!”  In A Royal Easter Story, we find the princesses helping a lost little girl where they promise to SEEK her family and not give up.  They were persistent in their promise, just as God is to us.

KNOCK: One of my kids went through a Knock-Knock joke phase.  Did any of yours? Funny as they were, it was never just one joke, but as many as they could say in a short period of time, until they were out of breath. I was reminded that when we knock, we never rap just once, but it is a series of knocks that open the door.  As we look at Luke 11:9-10, we can see Jesus’ idea building: first we ask, then we seek and lastly, we knock – showing repetition. Jesus wants us to pray repeatedly, not because He didn’t hear us the first time, but because the practice of prayer is saint-perfecting.  In our Easter story, the princesses are supposedly lost, and as they return they KNOCK.  The door opens to a worried father who is relieved to see them.  As promised, if we knock, the door will be opened.

Fun Fact:  Just so you know we have “hidden” this parable in the story.  We have used all capitals ASK, SEEK, KNOCK in the text so you can ask your kids, why is this word capitalized?  It will make sense in the end and be a great teaching tool.

In just 6 six days, A Royal Easter Story will be released.  We can’t wait for you to make this book part of your Easter traditions and stories.  You can order it here if you haven’t already! Enjoy it!  Let us know what you think too.

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: Raising an Alert Knight

Little boys are born with an adventurous spirit!  They see themselves as trusted warriors with swords whittled out of sticks and pieces of wood.  They visualize heroic acts of valor.  God designed them that way.  As parents, we want to encourage our little men to be strong and courageous. They will grow to know a God who is mighty and has a defined plan and purpose for their lives. 

Since we moms spend the bulk of our time with our little boys, God’s plan is for us to be the “movers and shakers” in shaping these young knights-in-the-making.  The responsibility of being alert to unpredictable dangers that will hinder our efforts is crucial.  What would you say is the key to being alert? 

Would you like that key? 

The pre-requisite to raising an alert young knight can only be accomplished as we walk in a consistent, intimate relationship with God.  When we are mighty in Spirit, little hearts learn how to watch and respond to the dangers in life. 

Are you mighty in spirit?

Are you alert to signals of danger in the life of your son?

Alertness is the awareness that a deadly enemy is stalking us. Being alert is acting quickly on signals of danger. “A wise man will hear danger and increase learning.”  Pro. 1: 5   Dangers come in many forms. We are called upon to be alert to physical, spiritual, moral, mental…. hazards in life.  Preparing our little guys to face life’s temptations is an immensely inclusive charge.  Sometimes danger seems harmless at first…a nuisance, but once we compromise a little we find it consuming us!  Little ones read our spirit and will follow our example.  We have a responsibility to act on what we know and to teach our little ones to obey God and their authority (us!).

Young Sir Alexander exemplifies the character quality of Alertness.  He is the youngest of the five brothers.  His valor and alertness are tested when he guards the palace and fearlessly and vigilantly responds to the dangers transpiring around him.

A valiant knight is alert and acts quickly to dangers in life that creep in unaware.

We trust Sir Alexander will encourage and inspire your little knight as you teach him the importance of being alert to the predators that will try to rob him of the life God has planned for him. Jeremiah 29:11

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Life-Giving Home

2016 is off and running . . .

Have you taken a moment to sit and create a framework for your home this year?

Yeah, I know.  When?

Most of us are trying to create home for our kids to grow up where they will feel creative, loved, inspired, and nurtured.  We want them most of all to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus.  We want them to feel protected, valued and encouraged to take on the world.  Whew, how do we do that with all the running around and crazy schedules we keep?

Are you all idealists like me?

When reality kicks in, my ideals are pushed to the side in the face of TODAY.  If I don’t have a plan for my family and my home, my great intentions are just that – only intentions.  So how can we create this environment for our family?

I am excited to tell you about a new book coming out from my friend, Sally Clarkson, called The Life Giving Home this February.  You just have to read it!

I love that God has both of our books coming out about the same time and we are both busy launching what God has called us to do – writing books for the life-giving home.

I am just reading my copy of Sally’s new book. I feel energized and inspired by its pages.  The book is divided up into months.  There is a chapter for each month of the year with a planner to go along with it.  What better way is there to take my intentions and make them reality?

In one of the first chapters of the book (January), Sally gives a framework for getting your home into routines and rituals of your family’s life.  In the chapter, she gives ideas for de-cluttering, celebrating, daily planning, establishing a devotional and household routines.  She speaks my language when she talks about “The Morning Blessing”. My favorite part of the chapter is about establishing a "reading-hour" routine, which has saved me over the years!  Also I find my kids have kept the reading hour well into the rest of their lives, just like Sally suggests!

Our new book, A Royal Easter Story, is the perfect book to add to your children’s shelves for their “reading hour”. They can revisit the parable story over and over again, bringing them into the world of imagination and words, but also see an example from the princesses’ lives of a real life-giving home.  These princesses are the ones you want your girls to be like - full of character and virtue.  Won’t you consider filling their library with some new princesses to emulate?

You can find Sally Clarkson’s The Life Giving Home here.

You can find our newest book, A Royal Easter Story here.

Both inspire greatness and God’s ideals.

Here is a quote from Sally to close:

“So plan your days, allow flexibility, and keep moving in the direction of your ideals a little at a time. I believe you’ll see that your intentional investment of time will promote valuable habits in the lives of all those who share your home—you included” – Sally Clarkson, The Life-Giving Home 

How do you build into your family life-giving ideals?

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: Raising a Loyal Knight

“In medieval times, all knights lived by a code.  Loyalty to this high calling formed the core of every knight’s identity.  It also served to define the progress of his life.” Raising a Modern Day Knight by Robert Lewis

Raising little knights can be challenging.  Little boys are born with an adventurous spirit!  They have a desire to be empowered.  These little men dream of being courageous conquerors; they are the hunters and providers.  They sense the need to become strong…the champions of good over evil…defenders of the universe! 

As you raise your little knights to be loyal, here are some practical steps that will cause learning in your little man and make loyalty a reality in his life.

My life has been filled with four little boys for the last fourteen years!  I have observed the challenges that come with raising a “modern day knight”, and I call you “blessed” if you finish the course with young knights who are loving, respectful and loyal!

Loyalty is a foundational block of our faith and calls for designated attention.  In a day when it is the least valued and our children are absent of conviction, inundated with political correctness, following their own wills, peers, Hollywood celebrities, our bad examples… the desperate need for understanding the importance of having loyalty to God, His Word, His commands, His Plan and His purpose are imperative! Teaching loyalty through respect for authority (parents, grandparents, pastors, teachers…) should be celebrated.  Blessing and protection are the promises and fruit of exercised loyalty. It should dominate all teaching opportunities with our little ones as we encourage, correct and lovingly discipline.   

A loyal knight will use difficult times to demonstrate his faithfulness to God and those he serves.  He respects those in authority and sees and responds to events in his life with obedience, understanding that protection is the blessing in the end.  Sir Andrew proves his loyalty to King and country and is given the King’s blessing for his loyal dedication and hard work.

In our newest book in the Princess Parables series, A Royal Easter Story, we introduce five valiant young cavaliers and brothers.  Each embodies a different character quality.  Sir Andrew is our example of loyalty.  His story is based on Matthew 25:14-30 and the Parable of the Talents.  We hope we will be able to bring his story to you in the next couple of years.  These chivalrous adventurers are part of the original vision we were given when the Princess Parable Books took form.  We always envisioned a series of books for those of you who have little boys and are looking for books that will challenge them to exercise honorable thoughts and actions.

We hope Sir Andrew will encourage and inspire your little knight at home as you teach him the importance of loyalty.

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

What My Princesses Taught Me

I was raised without a sister in a world of boys.  I, myself, was a tomboy.

I never wore dresses as a child.  I played tackle football on the beach with my brothers and their friends.  I refused to wear a bra until 7th grade. (I needed one in 5th grade).  I had a Dorothy Hamill haircut (need I say more?). I never wanted to really be a girl.

I didn’t have lavish tea parties. I didn’t like pink. I was not into sparkly glitter at all.  Somewhere inside I hated all the silly girlie stuff.  Don’t get me wrong, my parents loved me and my mom tried.  Somewhere along the line, I missed the grandeur of being a girl.

Luckily for me, God had begun to refine me in my teen years.  I had become quite sophisticated.  I had come a long way from my custom Vans tennis shoes and Jordache jeans.  I had begun to like the finer things in life and the beauty in event planning in my 20’s.  In some circles, I was down-right “girlie”. Eventually, I got married and did get all girlie for the big day. Not that any of these things are the end-all-be-all, for sure, but the Lord was softening me for what came next.

I was going to have a girl.   

A daughter.

Not only one, but eventually, two.

Deep down inside, I was still the greasy haired, arm-twisting spitfire in 6th grade with a fresh coat of paint and fancy clothes on.  I was sure I was not prepared to raise girls. In 2 Peter 1:3 it says God has given us everything we need for this life.  But I was a skeptic, at best.

The baby years were pink.  She was darling, and I began to relax thinking, “I can do this girl thing”.  Then one day when my daughter was almost two, it happened. 

My little girl became a princess overnight. 

She wanted everything glittery, everything pink and every fluffy tulle item to wear.  She twirled and danced around like the world was her oyster.  These were uncharted waters for me.  Her singing lit up my life and her imagination made me smile.  My life would never be the same.

As I watched her naturally glide into this world of make-believe with ease, I felt the Lord pulling at the cords of confusion in my past.  You see, my daughter was not taught how to “be a princess”, she just came out that way.  Something inside her knew she had come from royalty or at the very least, she wanted to know she was beautiful and loved by the King of Kings.  At two years old, she was more confident in who she was than I ever had been.

I was somewhat jealous.  I wanted what she had. I had felt awkward and confused growing up.  I was always trying to fill this big giant hole of uncertainty with things, people and life.  You never would have caught me dead in a princess dress. 

But raising two princesses made me a fan of all things royal.  Not because Disney had fun princess stories or I like to be girlie now, but because GOD is the author of royalty.  He is the one who made it up in the first place.  He is the one who fills scripture with these noble examples.  And it was in these days of discovery that the Princess Parables were birthed.

 With God ushering me along, I began to see His love for me through my girls.  I never before owned the fact that I am a daughter of the King, who reigns on high.  I was still clinging to the “I’m a tomboy, and are you sure they are really going to let me in the gates of heaven, Lord?”

Here is what I learned about God’s love having princesses: 

• As a daughter of the king, I share in His glory as one of His heirs (Rom. 8:17).
•  He calls me beautiful (Ps. 45:10-11).
•  I am chosen to be His girl (1 Peter 2:9).
•  I am valuable because He has made me and woven me together.  He calls me wonderful (Ps 139:12-14).
• He has made me a crown that will last forever!  I get to be a real princess forever! (1 Corinthians 9:25)
• I am a treasured possession.  His Princess!  (Ex. 19:5)
• He created me – His Princess – for a purpose (Eph. 2:10).

I have started to own this royal calling He has given me over the years.  It is not about wearing the dress or donning the crown.  There is nothing wrong with being a tomboy.  As long as in your heart, you are HIS girl, God’s princess.  As long as you know whose you are and whom you serve.  There was a disconnect for me all those years, but today, I have come a long way as the author of the Princess Parables.

Thank you, my King of Kings, for entrusting me with princesses who have shown me your love in a royal way. This unrelenting love lavishes upon me a new confidence in my position as your girl.

As my girls mature, they may take off the princess dress, but may they never forget the King’s love for them.  Here is a blessing from my friend and mentor, Sally Clarkson for your family as you raise them as children of God:

May God’s richest blessings be with you as you dream, create ideas for your own family, and flourish in the creativity of mind and soul that comes with being God’s child, made in His likeness, and destined for an eternal home with Him.- The Life-Giving Home by Sally Clarkson

May God’s richest blessings be with you as you dream, create ideas for your own family, and flourish in the creativity of mind and soul that comes with being God’s child, made in His likeness, and destined for an eternal home with Him.- The Life-Giving Home by Sally Clarkson

 How are you teaching your princesses and knights God’s love for them?

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: ...Got Purpose?

A New Year!   Another Opportunity!

When you get to the end of this year, what do you want to look back on and say you accomplished…Personally? Professionally?  Spiritually? Relationally?

Would you like to make this year your most successful ever?

How fruitful would you say you were this past year?  Did you attain the goals you set?  How did you do with keeping Godly priorities?

So often we think to be successful we need a sense that we are getting more out of life…more me time, vacation time, more quality time with our children, more opportunities to develop a more mature relationship with our husbands, more exercise, less weight… “it’s all about me”!  We are blinded by kids’ schedules (practices, meets, tournaments, tutors, recitals, award ceremonies and more).  We live in a maze of taxi driving (pick-ups and drop-offs), carpools, careers, vacations, parties, sleepovers, play dates, fears and circumstances that keep us from seeing the clarity of our designed purpose.  We are forever seeking balance…

This is the opposite of what God envisions for us.  We are to live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility… not as (women) who do not know the meaning and purpose of life, but those who do…making the best use of our time, despite all the evils of these days…not being vague, but grasping firmly what we know to be the will of the Lord.  Ephesians 5:15-17

Fulfillment in life is not deciding what we want to do or become, but discovering and completing the purpose for which God made us! (Gothard)

True Success in life is measuring what we are by what we could be (always seeking His purpose and meaning of life) and what we have done by what we could have done (by His grace).  “Faithful is He who calls us who (HE) will also do it (if we get out of the way, relinquish our will and yield to His!). It is achieving the full potential God planned for us. (ATIA)  We are destined with His purpose on our life. (Col. 1:28, 29)… “it’s not about me”!

Are we focused on what God is focused on or are we hastily and thoughtlessly doing our own thing?  If we have not realized our life purpose and set eternal goals for this coming year, our present priorities to reach that goal are superfluous!  Our focus is blurred by the demands of the immediate on the altar of the permanent.

The key to a full and rich life is determined by our commitment to pleasing God.  The alternative is failure…and I hate failure!

When I was a young Christian I was challenged by Betty Scott Stams’ declaration of purpose.  She was a missionary to China and was martyred by Communists in 1949.

“Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life.  I give myself, my life, my all utterly to Thee to be Yours forever.  Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit.  Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.”

While at the University, I stapled that statement of purpose inside the flap of my Bible and it is still there today…a reminder of my commitment to my God, who gave His ALL for me, to “die daily”.  “If anyone would come after me (Christ), he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  Luke 9:23

Taken from Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die (to my will, rights, ambitions, entitlements, etc.) is gain.  It has carried me through life and has been my comfort while serving in the jungles of Panama until this day…

Where is your heart? 

What is your declaration of purpose?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey: Courageous....I Am Not!

Once upon a time a family embarked on their first vacation that was not directly connected to ministry.  This is significant because they found themselves in the middle of a huge lake on a 75’ houseboat with six bedrooms; three bathrooms and a massive open kitchen/dining/living room, a Jacuzzi, and water slide on the second story!   The amenities are mentioned here because this family was flabbergasted at the comfort and convenience.  They could have moved in permanently!  

We are that family and this houseboat was perfect for all of us!

We had arrived the evening before and boarded just in time to load our things and find a place to fall asleep.   Some slept on the upstairs deck watching shooting stars, while others found comfy bedrooms.  Early the next morning, we headed out onto the lake.  

Ralph, my husband, Philip, my son-in-law, and I took the houseboat and everyone else loaded into the Ski boat to find a place to moor both boats for the week.  We got a late start and headed in the direction of a specific cove that had been pointed out to us on a map because we were so large and it would give us the best protection from the elements (wind, storms) that we were warned popped up unexpectedly.

We passed the entry to our cove and circled around…we missed it again…and again…  It all looked the same to us.  The sun was beginning to slip behind the mountains.  Darkness was now pressing in on us.  Somehow we had gotten separated from the Ski boat.  We needed to find our destination.  Adding apprehension to my new set of unknowns was the need to find that Ski boat!  The wind was kicking up and dusk was riding on it.  We needed both boats anchored on a sandbar and there was only one that would meet the need we had for our floating ark!  

I would like to think that I am a brave and courageous person.  After all, I had taken our two year old and delivered our second child in a foreign country as a young missionary.  I left the familiar and comfortable to live among an unreached tribe in the middle of a remote jungle.  When there was no one to suture a machete wound, give T. B. injections or deliver babies, I, with fear and trembling, stepped up to the plate!  So I must be courageous…right?

Courage is the strength from God that enables us to endure any circumstance, trial or danger with gratefulness, understanding His sovereign will.  It is demonstrating the confidence that harmonizing with God’s will brings ultimate victory regardless of present circumstance or opposition. 

“Deut. 31:6“Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord your God goes with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you.” 

God miraculously guided us into the exact place on the map that was the only “secure” spot for our houseboat!  The boys jumped off and took the iron stakes, crossed them and anchored them deep in the sandbar.  Hastily my grandson, Christopher, ignited the BBQ and soon we were settled in and looking forward to a Bible Study with Grandpa Ralph before we headed to bed.

Morning came early and everyone, except Ralph and I, loaded onto the speedboat to water ski, wake board, etc.  The day was perfect.  The lake was smooth as glass and our vacation was now in full swing.  We watched the fast boat disappear.  For hours Ralph and I enjoyed the silence and beauty of the lake.  Another boat had pulled onto our ridge sometime in the night and we were looking for an opportunity to meet them.

Out of nowhere, our solitude was interrupted by a swift and strong wind that came over the waters.  The waves were rapidly peaking at 5’!  Our boat began to sway and the moorings pulled loose from the sandbar! 

As the boat rocked… my first thought was,  “Where are the kids?!” and then…as we slipped backwards into the unknown lake, “Could we replace this massive beast if it crashed into the jagged cliffs surrounding it and sunk!?” 

Ralph was on his feet and immediately took off like a bullet!

On a dead run, he looked back and in an effort to calm my fears, yells over his shoulder, “Don’t panic, Jackie…safety is in the Lord”.   He jumps the ten feet or more from the boat to the shoreline and grabs the rope that has slipped into the lake.  All the moorings were now laying flat on the sandbar!

 “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”  Proverbs 3: 25-26

As I am drifting alone out into the lake, panicked and screaming for Ralph, the neighbors whom we had not yet seen came running toward our landing.  The man leapt into the lake and then jumped on board with me! He grabbed the wheel, started the engine and pulled us back toward shore. He told me to keep the engine running and keep it pointed toward the sandbar.  I instantly obeyed, as he disappeared to help Ralph with the ropes and re-pounding the stakes.

 His wife began yelling at me from shore to hit the sandbar as hard and fast as I could!  That was the easiest command I have obeyed in a long time…I full-throttled that ark up onto the sandbar, not realizing the job was so well done that it took eight people to get us loose the day we left!

The storm was raging and the boat was once again secured, but our children and grandchildren were still out on the open water!  Had they found refuge in a cove or were they trying to get back to us?  My comfort came again from a biblical promise:

 “Those who respect the Lord will have security, and their children will be protected”!  Pro. 14:26

 “Jesus Christ is no security AGAINST storms, but He is perfect IN storms.  He has never promised us an easy passage, only a safe landing.”   L. B. Cowma

Ralph and I watched across the lake… praying.   Within an hour we heard the motor and saw them coming in the distance.  They had fought the waves and strong current and God had brought them to us safely.  The stories they excitedly shared were a Grandma’s nightmare!

As quickly as the storm hit, the wind subsided and calmness was restored.  The next few days were a tranquil dream… and a memory that will last a lifetime.

“We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God.”  Francis de Sales

Lest I fail to put real courage in perspective, listen to the testimony of John Huss:

“When John Huss was about to be burned to death, they asked him to give up his teachings. Huss answered, “What I have taught with my lips, I now seal with my blood.’”

That is Real courage!

Whatever the New Year holds for us…let’s face it courageously…trusting our Sovereign God who is in control and calms the storms in life.

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. ​

Christmas Morning Tradition

I blogged briefly about the Christmas scavenger hunt my family does on Christmas morning.  My kids are all excited on Christmas morning to open presents.  We have always waited to open presents.  We first eat breakfast, read the Christmas story and find baby Jesus – not particularly in that order. 

As I am always trying to incorporate Jesus into all things Christmas, it seems fitting to have created a scavenger hunt based on the Christmas story.  This way my kids can read the story of Jesus’s birth while hunting down our baby Jesus to add him to the nativity scene. One Christmas my husband and I stayed in bed and handed them the first clue, just to buy a couple more sleeping moments.

Here is an example of one of our Christmas scavenger hunts.  The clues change each year, but the story stays the same.  The only rules for the kids are that they must go in order and they have to stay together. 

To prepare the scavenger hunt, I print out the clues and cut them into strips. Then I hide them in the right spots being careful to number them so I don’t get confused.  I save the first clue to give to the kids and make sure that at the last clue, baby Jesus is there also.  I instruct the kids to put the baby in the nativity scene and sometimes I hang around and take pictures.

1. Luke 2: 1-3 “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  And everyone went to their own town to register." Clue: Caesar was a famous Roman ruler with a salad dressing named after him.  Where do we keep the dressing?
2. Luke 2:3-5 “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” Clue: When Daddy pledged to Mommy, he gave her a ring. Where is the box it came in?
3. Luke 2:6  “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.” Clue: If you were a baby in this house, where would you sleep?
4. Luke 2:7 “She (Mary) wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” Clue: We have a manager we are adding straw to each day.  Where is that manger?
5. Luke 2 8 “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.” Clue: Daddy has a “field” he tends to day and night.  Where do you water that “field”?
6. Luke 2:9-10 “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” Clue:  We have many angels in the house.  Which one has the clue?
7. Luke 2:11-12 “The angel said ‘Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’” Clue: There is a small town in our house.  The clue is in someone’s house.
8. Luke 2:13 - 15 “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’" Clue:  Find Bethlehem on the globe.
9. Matthew 2: 1-2  “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem  and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’” Clue: When we listen to worship music, where are we?
10. Matthew 2:9-10 “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed”. Clue: There is a lighted star on the house.  Where is it?
11. Matthew 2:11 "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." Clue:  If we were going to diffuse Frankincense, where would we do that?
12. Matthew 2:19-20 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds (and the wise men) returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Clue:  What gift does God want us to give from OUR HEARTS?  In what Princess Parables book do we find the treasure box?

Hopefully this inspires you to do a scavenger hunt for Baby Jesus! 

What other fun traditions do you do Christmas morning?

Merry Christmas everyone!

~Jeanna Young

When Jeanna is not writing, speaking, event planning, or homeschooling, she can be found scrapbooking her life, redecorating her home, loving on her husband, planning fun events for her kids or eating healthy to stay cancer-free!

Jackie's Journey: "I Surrender!"

The year 2015 is coming to a close, and my commitment to blogging was for one year.  What an incredible blessing to be able to jot down thoughts and rehearse what God continues to teach me through His Word and the people and events in my life.   

All any of us has to share with others is our weakness translated into a life message for the benefit of another.  I trust God has used my flaws to manifest His strength for your benefit. 

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.” II Cor. 12: 9-10

Jim Elliot, husband of Elizabeth Elliot, who was martyred at the hand of the Auca Indians, once said:  “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” 

Listen to the spirit of his devotedness…

“Father, let me be weak that I might loose my clutch on everything temporal.  My life, my reputation, my possessions, Lord, let me lose the tension of the grasping hand…Rather, open my hand to receive the nail of Calvary, as Christ’s was opened, that I, releasing all, might be released, unleashed from all that binds me now.  He thought Heaven, yea, equality with God not a thing to be clutched at.  So let me release my grasp.”

Christmas is a wonderful time to put our busy lives back in Scriptural perspective. We celebrate the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…the One who “gives us everything we need to lead a godly life! “ II Pet.1: 3  

Genuine Christianity is an unconditional surrender to His Lordship!

While attending the University of Arizona I was invited to join Kappa Alpha Theta, a national sorority.  I had a sense of acceptance and grew to love the girls and the accountability.  After a semester of initiation we had a night of mild hazing that culminated in stepping individually behind a veil for the final step of becoming a Theta.   As the pledge of loyalty was read and the words were spoken to me… I was asked to repeat them.  At that time I realized I had already pledged my loyalty to Christ. 

A few months earlier, over the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents and sisters, I had attended a church service and had heard for the first time in my life that I could know God in a personal way through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Standing behind that curtain I was struck, profoundly, when I realized I had already given my total allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ that Thanksgiving weekend!   When He walked into my life everything changed, I had no more allegiance to give.

Time has tested on life’s stage that unconditional surrender I made to my loving Savior and Sovereign Lord in those college days.

What is your present commitment? 

When we talk about a total surrendering of our lives to the Lordship of Christ, we are talking about yielding all our rights and expectations! 

·      A dying to self and self-attitudes

·      A yielding of all entitlements and self-interest

WHAT?...WAIT A MINUTE!

Don’t we run from the people and circumstances that call us into total commitment?  It is much easier to go with the flow as the secular, ungodly world dictates to us relativity, independence and “I have my rights!”   The world’s motto: “Strength only…show no weakness!”  The human struggle wants His power to do OUR will.    

Is humility a position of strength or weakness, in your opinion?

Humility is me… seeing the contrast between my spiritual condition (a sinner) and God’s holiness and then receiving His grace to live Christ-like, not Jackie-like!  

 Phil. 3:10   Grace is doing His will with His power!  It is acknowledging His presence and His power to live the Christian life.  Victory is living in that truth!   

Are you living in Victory? 

Have you surrendered your life to His Lordship?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. ​​