Inspire Ministries

While many people are taking down the tree the day after Christmas…we continue to celebrate. You see, Christmas Day is actually the first day of the 12 days of Christmas. (I bet you thought the 12 days of Christmas were before Christmas)  The last day of Christmas is actually on January 6 which is called the Epiphany.

Epiphany is the celebration of when the wisemen came to see Jesus and bring Him gifts. Did you know that the wisemen did not visit the baby in the manger but rather a small child, under the age of two in his home?  (and actually no where does it say there were three wisemen…just three gifts)

I grew up celebrating the Epiphany and Dan and I have celebrated it throughout our married life. It is always something to look forward to after the excitement of Christmas and it is another opportunity for us to pass on a firm foundation of faith to our children through a fun celebration. (And it is clear from the Old Testament that God loves a feast, party, celebration – especially those that are a remembrance of great things He has done!)

We always serve Shrimp Curry over rice for dinner – as the wisemen came from the East and this is an East Indian meal.  It is unusual but delicious!  The spicy taste of the curry sauce combined with a multitude of condiments is tasty!  We have had many people over throughout the years to celebrate the Epiphany and although it looks and sounds strange to them – most leav loving this dish. (In fact my niece Janessa recently told me it was her all time favorite meal!)  Because we only serve this once a year – it becomes very special and desired!

We decorate the table with the wisemen and with symbols of the three gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh.  This year we had new wisemen on our table that Michelle had brought over from Barcelona, Spain –  where the Epiphany is actually their gift giving time instead of Christmas.

Of course since it is the 12th day of Christmas we use all the Christmas china for one final time before it goes back into storage for another year. And we almost always share our celebration with friends or family members.  This year, the Meiers – Dan’s sisters family joined us for the Epiphany!

After dinner we have an Epiphany service. It is always a great time of discussion and growth.  Here is the outline for our service that we wrote over a decade ago –

• Prayer
• What is Epiphany?
• Read Matthew 2:1-12
• Explanation of the gifts
• Sing – “We three Kings”

 We three Kings of Orient are, Bearing gifts we  traverse afar Field & Fountain, Moor and Mountain, Following Yonder Star 

REFRAIN – O Star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright, Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to Thy perfect light

Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain, Gold I bring to crown Him again, King forever, ceasing never Over us all to reign.  REFRAIN

 Frankincense to offer have I, Incense owns a Deity nigh; Prayer & praising all men raising, Worship Him, God on high  REFRAIN Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume, Breathes a life of gathering gloom; sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, Sealed in the stone cold tomb.  REFRAIN Glorious now behold Him arise, King & God & Sacrifice; Alleluia, Alleluia! Sounds through the earth and skies.  REFRAIN

• Questions & Thoughts

1.  How can we follow the “light of Jesus” (like the wiseman followed the star) everyday in our lives?
2. What kind of gifts can we give to Jesus?

• Think about these things :

1. Is Jesus a true King in your hearts? (do you revere Him, honor Him & desire to know Him and be known by Him?)
2. Do you worship Jesus as your God everyday? ( through prayer & praise, obedience & service?)
3. Is Jesus your Savior? Have you asked Him into your heart? Who in your life needs to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?

• Worship Songs –

Come let us worship & bow down

Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our maker. For He is our God & we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand and the sheep of His hand.

O Lord Here am I,

O Lord Here am I, yes here am I

And I offer my body as a living sacrifice, Holy & acceptable to you.

O come let us adore You

We give you all the glory

For You alone are worthy

• Prayer

 After our service we close the evening with the “King’s Cake” – a yummy cake with an almond hidden inside of it.  The tradition is that whomever gets the almond must host the party the next year!  Michelle made us the most yummy from scratch chocolate cake with mocha icing – apparently she was the birthday cake maker at he YWAM DTS in Australia so she leaned how to make cakes from scratch.  Oh my! Was it ever melt in you mouth deeeeeeeeeelicious! 

Kristen got the almond!  Some day in the future I see this as a very fun thing for all the kids and their families to do together – switching homes from year to year with whoever gets the almond! (yes…I am dreaming that most will live close to each other & to us!)

I encourage you all to consider starting an Epiphany tradition of your own!

Christmas Day at the Lambdins is very relaxed and kick back.  We enjoy staying home with our immediate family…but welcome any & everyone who may want to join us! 

Mom & Dad have filled the stockings to the brim and the girls have filled our stockings as well.  After making some coffee the first thing we do is empty our stockings one at a time and look at all our gift & goodies. The girls are always so sweet and generous to us.  We can always count on getting a Starbucks card and our favorite candy! (Dark Chocolate covered pretzels for me and Rocky Road candy for Dan) Then there is usually a much desired gift for each of us.   We fill their stockings with some traditional items – clementines, hair things, lip gloss, nylons and their favorite candy.  Occasionaly there are a few other things added to that mix.

Then it is time to reveal who their Secret Sister has been!

Let me stop here and unveil the new name we decided upon for our Secret Sister tradition.  We got so many wonderful ideas from all of you – in fact I received over 50 responses to that blog post.  After much discussion the girls and I agreed on………….. (drum roll please!)

The Secret Sisters and the Undercover Brother!

We all had so much fun saying that throughout the Christmas season of course you have to say it with a little bounce and accent that I can’t quite convey in writing.  But it “stuck” very easily and has already become our new name. (and next Christmas we hope it is the “Undercover Brothers“!)

The girls love revealing who they had and they each share from their heart how much they love and care for that sibling and what makes them special. It is a very heartwarming and uplifting time.  Besides their words of affirmation if they were able they get them a gift according to their ability.  The squeels of delight and hugs that we here throughout the openig of gifts is delightful. 

We all enjoy looking over our gifts as we eat some gooey cinnamon rolls and drink our coffee.  The rest of the day is spent kicking back, relaxing and enjoying the day.  We sit down late in the afternoon to our all time favorite Christmas meal:

• London Broil marinated in teriyaki sauce
• Twice Baked Potatoes
• Vegetables
• Rolls
• Salad
• Condiments – pickles & olives
• Ice Tea & Sparkling Cider

It is simply delicious. A few hours later we are ready for dessert options – Derby Pie with whip cream, Pecan Pie ala-mode or a variety of Christmas cookies.  We finish the day with a Christmas Day devotion and worship time honoring the birth of Christ! 

Christmas Eve is the essence of the Christmas story.  In the stillness of the night in a cave in Bethleham, Mary gave birth to a son with only her husband Joseph by her side.  It was a moment in time that changed the course of history but that night I picture it as a moment of majesty as they gazed in awe at this precious and perfect baby who was…the Son of God!  What amazement they must have felt. What wonder. What awe. I want to feel that same way on Christmas Eve. Our evening begins with a candlelit dinner on our fine Christmas china.  We serve a fancy Parisian salad with candied pecans added to it, clam chowder (from the place that makes the all time BEST clam chowder in the world – Buds Seafood Restaurant) and sour dough bread. Our goblets are sparkling with cider and soft Christmas music is played in the background. 

 We are all dressed up in our Christmas best…Daniel even wore his first tie!  

After dinner we head out to a church service at Lincoln Presbyterian Church. (our home church does not have a Christmas eve service so this has been our Christmas Eve church for 16 years – to me going to church on the most holy of holy nights is a MUST!)  The service is always wonderful ending with a candlelight singing of “Silent Night”.  It is the type of moment where you feel the sweet soft Spirit of God in your heart.

We then always go to look at the larger than life nativity that is in front of Alex G Spanos home.  It is magnificent and majestic! We drive home down Christmas Tree Lane (aka – Meadow Dr) and look at all the Christmas lights.

At home we have our family Advent devotional service and serve Christmas cookies, cream puffs, egg nog & coffee. 

Our evening concludes with the opening of the Christmas jammies!  Every year we purchase the girls a pair of Pajamas to open on Christmas Eve.  Even though they know what the gift will be – it does not lesson their excitement as they line up on the couch to open their presents. 

After getting in their jammies we take our traditional stocking photos and then settle in to watch a movie. (For years it was “It’s a Wonderful Life” but this year it was the newly released “The Nativity” – which will now become the first choice.)

For the past several years, I have also attended Midnight Mass at the Cathedral of Annunciation.  A few of the older girls, who can stay up that late always join me. This year it was Michelle, Amy & Kristen.  I can’t tell you how much I love doing this.  Though I was not raised Catholic, my dear darling husband was, and I have a respect for many of the Catholic traditions, liturgy and their strong unwavering pro life position.

The incredibly beautiful and ornate cathedral, the dimmed lights, the smell of incense, the Christmas greenery, the quiet reverence and the inspiring music all come together in the wee hours of the morning to create that mystical moment of awe and wonder that I want to feel and experience on Christmas Eve. The majesty of the King of Kings – the Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – the Son of God – Jesus Christ – my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer and my Friend.

The Cathedral on December 20,1986 – my wedding day

Christmas Caroling – is my favorite Christmas tradition!  I love Christmas. I love music. I love singing about Jesus. 

We have been going Christmas caroling as a family for about 10 years.  We usually head out just as it is getting dark all decked out in our warm & festive Christmas attire.  It is a rare thing (in fact perhaps never) that we are not accompanied by friends or family who join us for this evening of fun.  After caroling to our neighbors, we jump in the van and begin going to the many families on our list to carol to.  We have usually carefully mapped out a plan earlier in the day as to where we are going.  While the stops vary from year to year – some things always remain the same:

• We always stop at Starbucks at some point during the evening and get coffee & cocoa – we also carol for all those in Starbucks!
• We have some regular families that have personally requested an “encore” performance each year – Gloria Grupe, the Krahmers & their parents the Cox’s (who ALWAYS sing along with us – it is GREAT!), Granny Ann, the Hales & the Wards.
• We try to think of those in need – the sick, hurting or elderly and make an effort to carol at their homes.
• We always begin with “Here we come a caroling”     “Here we come a caroling among the leaves so green and here we come a wandering so fair to be seen. Love & Joy come to you and to you good Christmas too, And God bless you & send you a Happy New Year and God send you a happy New Year!”
• We sing two carols (all the verses!) and end with “We wish you a Merry Christmas!
• The last several years we have ended our evening at our dear friends, the Moore’s where we have enjoyed hot cocoa & goodies while staying up fellowshipping until the wee hours of the morning.  Good times!

For the first time this year we were able to sing in two part harmony after I had taught a homeschool co-op choir class and Kristen, Rebekah & Grace learned how to sing in parts.  I can’t wait for the day when we can sing all the carols in 4-part harmony – my dream! 

This year we were joined by Lucas Sherman & DJ Moore – 5th grade boys of close family friends.  They added a little spark & energy to the evening as only boys do.  We don’t have any photos of this year’s caroling (in fact I have never taken pictures of this my favorite event!)…but here is a previous photo (2003)  taken by one of our friends, so you can “picture” us on a Christmas Caroling night.

Nine years ago as we were driving up to the foothills to cut down our Christmas tree, listening to Christmas music and looking at all the Christmas decorations, we passed by this darling little tea house in a small town that was all decked out for the holidays.

 I remarked to my then four daughters (ages 10, 7,6 and 4) how fun it would be to have a Christmas tea party with all of their friends.  And so one of our annual holiday traditions was born!  We went home and immediately made an invitation and a couple weeks later we had our inaugural holiday tea party.  This special event has become one of the very favorite activities for us all as well as for many of our friends.  And it has grown into quite the affair.  From having just three daughters attend (I have a “rule” that they must be five years old to go to this fancy “china” tea party) and several family friends – to now having all six daughters  invite their friends which means we have had well over 50 in attendance the past several years. (and we DO NOT have a large house – but we have gotten very creative to make it work – don’t ever let space stop you from opening up your home to others.)

We serve cookies (from our cookie baking day), scones (served with clotted cream and lemon curd) and  special tea sandwiches that have become traditional  –

• Almond Chicken
• Shrimp Crescents
• Egg Salad
• Cucumber Cream Cheese Slices

We offer a variety of teas – always having cinnamon apple, lemon and English breakfast.  This years we also served – orange spice, nutcracker sweet and sugar plum spice. 

After enjoying the festive atmosphere of tinkling tea cups by candlelight, delicious food and lively conversation we have a time of sharing our talents.  Over the years we have had the young ladies do dance routines, play the piano, sign language, sing songs, recite poems, and memorize scripture.  It is always delightful.  Following that we join together to sing several Christmas carols and close our time together in prayer thanking God for the birth of His Son, Jesus.

 We have several dear friends who have been coming for the entire nine years and we have watched our young daughters  grow from little girls to beautiful young ladies. Someday I can picture our daughters coming with their daughters as we continue this holiday tea party tradition.

One of our fun family traditions during the holidays is – Christmas Cookie Day.  In this day and age of “fast food”, eating out, ready to bake pizza and store bought cookies, it is so nice to take a break from our modern microwave paced world and do things the “old fashion” way.

My love for Christmas baking goes back to my own family where we would all pitch in together to make lots of goodies during the Christmas season.  My personal specialties were lemon meringue pies and snickerdoodles with red and green sprinkles.  We all chipped in on Christmas cookie day – rolling the dough, cutting the cookies and of course decorating!  Although my warmest memories are of my dear Dad and his decorating expertise.  My Dad was a Naval officer and during one of his times of separation from us his family, he took cake decorating classes!  This not only resulted in AMAZING and beautiful cakes throughout my entire childhood but he also decorated wonderful Christmas cookies and my personal favorite the tops of chocolate mints.  Each mint would be finely decorated with a wreath, stocking, candle, holly & ivy or other icons of Christmas. They were exquisite! (almost too beautiful to eat but we did!)

I lost my father 12 years ago and I think of him often and during these special traditions my heart is flooded with love, warmth and joy as I remember our times together.  This is one of the beauties of creating traditions with your family – you give them life long memories that will be with them to comfort and cheer them always. 

Thus I have continued the Christmas cookie tradition in my own family. In case you are thinking – “Ahhh!  How does she pull that off in the midst of everything?”  Well…let me tell you – it’s easy.  You just put it on the calendar as an “event” that can’t get changed.   When I pull out a new calendar and plan the year, I put on all the important family traditions that need to happen.  So “Christmas Cookie Day” has been in bold red and green letters on the calendar for over a year.  When other things try to crowd out these important activities, we simply say – “sorry we have plans that day” – because we do! (Calendar scheduling is one of the keys to living a purposeful life!)

Yesterday, December 8th was Christmas Cookie Day at the Lambdin home.  We had another great day of making, baking and decorating cookies!  Our classic cookies are:

• Sugar Cookies
• Gingerbread Cookies
• Snickerdoodles with red & green sprinkles
• Russian Tea Cakes
• Chocolate Crinkles

We have a perfectly lazy day – often not getting out of our p.j.’s, letting the dishes pile up, the floor collect tiny red candies and flour cover everything.  We play Christmas music, chatter away and laugh often. We eat way too many samples! We have a great day together and it the end of it all we have a freezer full of cookies to be used at our many holiday celebrations and to bless others. The first tray will go out today with Amy who is going to play with the children who are homeless and at the Gospel Rescue Mission.

Here is a copy of our annual family Christmas letter for you my online blog reading friends to enjoy! (although if you read and/or subscribe to this blog – you are already “caught up” and quite well informed on life at the Lambdins!)

“For unto us a child is born and unto us a son is given”

These memorable words from scripture take on a special meaning for us as we hear them during this year’s Christmas Season.  You see, on April 20, we were blessed with another child….a son – Daniel Guy Lambdin Jr. After recovering from the initial shock of having a boy, the girls have become quite the adoring, doting, spoiling big sisters to their baby brother.  We are all enjoying our precious sweet baby boy and give thanks daily for God’s incredible blessings of life! 

Soon after the baby was born, our eldest daughter Michelle graduated (with valedictorian honors!) from Jim Elliot Christian High School and headed off for six months with Youth with a Mission to Australia, Spain and Africa. We have missed her greatly but are so pleased that she has such a passion for those suffering in this world. Amy began her high school experience as a freshman at JECHS.  She is adjusting to the intense academic rigor, has made many friends and ran with the Varsity Cross Country team that won the section championship and made it to the state meet.  Kristen is finishing up her last year as a happy home school student & will begin high school next fall.  Rebekah is in 6^th grade and continues to lead anyone & everyone who will let her. Grace is turning 9 (wasn’t she just “sweet baby Grace”?? – my how time flies by!) and is enjoying being a carefree kid.  Joy at 4 years old is truly a joy to all our lives – playful, funny, cuddly and full of life.  She provides an endless amount of entertainment for us all.  To stay up on our family throughout the year and see lots of photo’s you can subscribe to Beth’s blog. Check it out at – www.bethlambdin.net 

This year is a special milestone for our family – 10 years ago we set out to begin the ministry at Jim Elliot Christian High School. We began with our personal Christmas card mailing list and asked for much needed prayer and support.  You, our dear friends and family came through in abundance and provided the foundation for this incredible ministry to young people.  We want to take this opportunity to THANK YOU for your faith and abundant blessing and to report that the school you helped start is prospering!  Dan continues to minister there as the Bible teacher & Chaplain.  This year Beth decided to jump back into the action as the Director of Development to assist in taking JECHS into the next decade of discipleship.  If you want to be really blessed – check out the new site she has created that highlights the great things God is doing in & through JECHS – www.jechs.wordpress.com 

The newest happening on our horizon is the hope of adopting a baby brother!  We are working hard to submit the extensive paperwork, complete a home study and raise the finances to bring home a baby from an agency in Tennessee.  There is a sense of excitement buzzing around our household as we all are working together to make this happen.  We hope that next years Christmas photo will be a family of 10 – including two boys.  Pray for us. The sisters have created a site that shares about our adoption journey – www.babybrother.wordpress.com 

May the wonder and excitement of the Christ child who was given to you on that holy night over 2000 years ago fill your hearts and lives as you celebrate this Christmas season.  

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:2  

Blessings to you all, 

The Lambdin family –

Dan & Beth

Michelle (18) (not pictured), Amy (15), Kristen (13), Rebekah(12), Grace (9), Joy (4) & Daniel (7 months)

One of the kids favorite Christmas traditions is….

….The assembling and mailing of our annual Christmas letter.  I personally love the Christmas card tradition of connecting with friends and family from throughout the years during Christmastime. I love sending and receiving Christmas cards and especially enjoy when there is a photo enclosed.  Because we have been working with teenagers for over two decades and have been blessed with forming many close friendships through the schoool ministry, our home church and my Creative Memories business – our Christmas card mailing list is quite large.  While this would be a daunting task for me to do alone – with at least five capable young ladies around to help (and often their friends are here too!) – it is a breeze.

 The girls look forward every year to folding, stamping, licking envelopes and adhering labels to our annual Christmas card letters!  They can assemble over 400 of these in less than 3 hours while watching a Christmas movie.  It is also a great time of reminiscing about the year past and commenting on (and sometimes laughing at) what Mom has said in this years letter.  They also love reading each and every name – enjoying memories of those they recognize (either because they know them personally or they “know” them because they have read their annual Christmas letters & photos.) and asking about those they don’t know.

Since our letter always includes an invitation to our annual Christmas Open House, we want to get it out early in the season.  My goal is to have it in the mail by December 1st! Thanks to the hard work of my daughters…the self imposed deadline was made once again this year!

I always save a copy of the letter for the album where I keep all the photos we receive.  It is a great history of our family each year.  After 21 years, we are currently on the second album filled with Christmas photos sent to us over the years.  These albums are out for everyone to enjoy during the holidays and they are quite popular!  It is so much fun to look and see how much everyone has changed from year to year, who has had new babies, or has gotten married and where people have vacationed! 

I am often asked – how do you find the time to do that?  It is easy…we simply read the Christmas cards at the dinner table & then put the photos immediately in the album rather than letting them collect throughout the month & then have another “task” to be completed over the new year. It takes 5 minutes after dinner (ok, maybe 15 during the last five days before Christmas when the cards arrive in greater numbers) and it is done!

 The one Christmas card tradition that I keep wanting to do but have only done sporadically over the years is after Christmas to pull a card out each night throughout the next year – re-read it, pray for that family and drop them a note. (you can even write the note on the back of their card & send it as a post card!)  Now that I have publicly shared this desire, perhaps this is the year I will do it!

I will post our annual Christmas letter for all my online friends to read next.  Merry Christmas!