family | Real Life on Rocky Top

The Christmas Party on Rocky Top

Dec 17 2015

Eight pies made…Check! 10 dozen cookies made…Check! Gifts for 35 under the tree….Check! House cleaned…..check! House decorated……check! Red Christmas sweater on……check! Candles lit…….Check! Christmas lights……..Wait! No Christmas lights coming on??? This can’t be happening. Everything is perfect…..and a breaker blows and I have no Christmas lights. Really??? This is not how this picture perfect, successful staff Christmas party is supposed to go down!

About to have a major melt down…..and I hear a whisper in my ear? Who are you trying to make famous tonight, Donna? Is tonight about you? Or is tonight about ME? Are you checking your list off tonight for your glory? Or for MINE? OUCH!

Let’s keep it REAL up here on Rocky Top! Christmas can be a crazy time of year with our To-do lists long, little sleep, sugar induced hyped up kids, and just everyday life thrown in. It’s hard to think about wrapping 20 gifts when you have 10 loads of laundry to do!

How do we as wives and moms keep Christ in Christmas without having a major melt down?

Make Jesus famous! After all it really is HIS birthday! Ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing……..whether it is baking a pie, wrapping your gifts to all color coordinate, or shopping for that perfect gift? Are you checking things off your list to make HIM famous and celebrate His birth or is to make yourself look good?
Simplify! How many gifts does each child really need? How many Christmas trees does your house really need? Does every room in the entire house need to be decorated in a Christmas theme? Does everything have to be homemade? And how many Christmas parties does one really need to go to? Sometimes a quiet night at home is the best party of all!
Worship! It is Jesus’ birthday! This is not the season to skip your time with Him because you are so busy! Make the time every day to read His word and worship Him. Attend worship services to actually worship! Your clothes don’t have to be the latest trend in Christmas attire. Little Johnny doesn’t have to be the star of the Christmas play! Again, make HIM famous!
Love on someone who is hurting. Christmas can be a really hard time for people. People who have lost loved ones; people who are sick; people who don’t have a big family; people who are financially struggling. Make Jesus famous by doing what Jesus would do……..He always looked for that hurting person to love on. Let’s do the same.

And by the way, the staff party was successful. As preacher said on Sunday during worship, success is achieved when Jesus is made famous. Jesus was made famous at that party but not because of pies, cookies, food, gifts or decorations but through hugs, smiles, shared laughter, shared joy and prayer! As a dear friend said when the lights blew, “Honey, Christmas happens on the inside…not on the outside!”

May Jesus be made famous this Christmas in your home!

“And 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 of great joy that will be for all the people. ” Luke 2:9-10

Generations of Love

Aug 01 2015

I’m sitting on the back porch today at Rocky Top contemplating the last 35 years! Whoa…that is a long time! Yet, that is the number of years I have been married to Preacher.

Remembering our first date at Wendy’s and a movie, this blonde haired, blue eyed guy caught my heart!

After sitting on a swing at Baylor University for several hours talking, I knew he was “The One”! I ran upstairs to my dorm room and proudly announced to my roommate, “I’m going to marry, John Avant.”

And two years later, we walked down the aisle of Miller Chapel at Baylor and pledged our lives to one another and began a wild adventure.

During those 35 years we have lived in four states, eleven apartments/houses, served seven churches and one denominational mission agency, been on mission together in 7 countries, raised 3 children who are now all married, and have two adorable grandchildren. Wow……I’m tired.

We have also in those 35 years experienced death of parents, a grandchild and dear friends; experienced sickness and surgeries; and there were times that we might have called our marriage quits if not for the fact Preacher would lose his job if our marriage failed. Does that shock you?? It shouldn’t!

A good marriage is hard work! BUT a good marriage is full of joy and fun!

It is fun to dance with my husband knowing he has chosen me over and over! It was a blast to dance at each of my children’s weddings with the man who helped me bring them into this world and helped to parent them. And it is a joy to watch my husband throw his grandchildren up into the air as they laugh and squeal with delight.

But I do have regrets and there are things that I want to grow in as a wife to this blonde haired, blue eyed guy who I truly adore…even after 35 years.

If we don’t grow, we regress and eventually love grows cold.

So in celebrating 35 years of marriage I want to leave you with some wisdom from some women who have been married longer or almost as long as I have.……..collectively this wisdom comes from almost 150 years of marriage being represented! Here are some great ways to grow in your marriage!

Love Jesus first…..He is the only one who can truly meet all your needs!
Show affection to your man and have lots of sex!…….Get over your body image…he chose you and thinks you are beautiful. But do choose to take care of yourself…he wants you around!
Keep dating…….choose to have time alone each week without kids!
Go on adventures together…..experience new things together.
Keep communication lines open……..talk it out!
Never forget the bigger picture…working on your marriage is about creating……..GENERATIONS OF LOVE……..and that will ultimately change the world!

A Life Preserver on a Winter Day

Jan 28 2014

It is early in the morning and I’m cold…….cold on the inside and outside. The ice and snow are starting to fade but for some reason my bones are chilled and warmth is eluding me.

I looked out my window toward the mountains and lake and God seemed to place such an obvious sign of his love right in front of me……….it was a bright green round life preserver……..just floating on the water in our cove.

I called the pastor/husband to the window…….What do you see I asked him. “a green life preserver” he says.

I tried to take a picture but it didn’t come out well. But the picture is in my mind and it won’t leave my brain.