Celebrate Christmas with Custom Cards and Support a Good Cause

Hello, everyone! I have missed being on Life as a Youth Minister's Wife! Sorry I have been neglecting you, but things have been busy in the Mustion House lately.

About a month ago, my husband (Jimmy) had weight loss surgery. This is an amazing tool to help him fight his life long battle with obesity. However, it is also a major life adjustment so 99% of my time has been devoted to helping Jimmy adjust and to making his whole surgery and recovery possible. If you would like to know more, please feel free to visit Jimmy Goes Gastric and read all about the procedure, the preparation, and what we have been up to post op!

With the other 1% of my time, I have been working on getting my own freelance graphic design business up and running. I am starting small with a website and selling some things on Etsy. In addition I have done some custom gifts for friends. I love it! It is relaxing and refreshing to be able to sit down and create something that I know someone else is going to love.

Plus, all the money I make from the cards is going toward paying Jimmy's surgery and hospital bills! So it's a great way to support a local minister and his family during the holiday season. If you are interested in seeing some of my printable Christmas Card designs, please visit Mustion Design on Etsy.com .

I hope you have a happy holiday season and a Merry Christmas!

Grace and Peace,

Christiana

Pursuing the Dream

My life has been changing a lot lately. A year ago, we moved. Six month ago, I got a new full-time job. One month ago, We found out the date for Jimmy's Surgery. In a few days, one of my little sisters will be married!

All this change has got me thinking...Am I really doing/accomplishing the things that I want to in my life?

I believe that the answer is that I am on the right track. I love art--always have and always will. I never really considered it as a career choice until a few years ago. So my career is in a totally different field and I have missed out on years of honing my abilities but I am not going to let that stop me!

Instead I have decided to pursue the dream! I am setting tangible goals to help me move in the right direction. I know that accomplishing these goals will only make my dream stronger and more sustainable. I am seeking the advice of friends and family members, and I am spending time in Bible Study and prayer about my future. It's great to know that I am not in this alone!

One of the best things is that God can use graphic design and web design to bring people to himself--so I am still doing missions! There is a day that I could see a healthier, slimmer Jimmy and a more practiced Christiana moving to another country to be an event coordinator and a designer but also be working as missionaries to spread the gospel to a country that is normally closed.

When you are pursuing God's dream for your life then your possibilities are endless!


More Resources: Check out the Printable Christmas Card Special I am running to help support my dream.

Birthdays

December is a month of birthdays in our circle of friends and acquaintances. My birthday was the 4th, my husband's the 5th, Dustin's the 1st, Rebeccah's the 13th, Shelby's the 19th, and most importantly Jesus' on the 25th! There are five or six others that I don't even have the time to mention, but you get the picture. It seems like everyday we have something or someone new to celebrate. For some of us, like Nicholas and Noriah, we celebrate new milestones as they turn 2. For others like Aunt Steiny we celebrate a full life as she turns 70 on the 29th. I was thinking about this today and one particular verse came to my mind...

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in Him.'" Lamentations 3:22-24 ESV

Especially in December I can find myself getting so caught up in what I am doing, what I want to do, what I still have to do, and the next thing to celebrate that I lose track of the things that really matter. I should be celebrating the Christ of Christmas everyday because His love and His mercies are new EVERY morning. They are perfect and without end. It's no wonder that we are commanded to, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thess. 5:16-18 ESV)

So admist this season of rejoicing and celebrating don't forget to enjoy the gifts of God's unfailing love which is new every morning and to rejoice always for this is the will of God.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Holiday Traditions

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Last night I dragged our tree and trimmings out of the basement, cranked up the Christmas music, and started preparing our apartment for the most celebrated holiday of the season. In our house we have a funny little holiday tradition that has developed over the four (going on five) years of our marriage.

Every year, I prepare the place where our tree will "live" for coming weeks. In our current apartment that means I have to haul the loveseat into the spare room/office to make room for the tree. I then get out the bins containing all of our Christmas decorations and turn on some Christmas music -- preferably Bing Crosby to start. Then Jimmy settles down into his oversized recliner and falls to sleep while I piece together the tree that was given to us our first Christmas together. Once the tree and the lights are up (I put the lights on as I go), Jimmy rouses and we put our ornaments and tinsel on the tree. Each year we each buy an ornament to be our ornament of the year. When we bring them home, I write the corresponding initials and year somewhere on the ornament.

It's funny to see our collection of ornaments. We have the glass balls that we bought to fill the tree as we continued to accumulate ornaments year after year. Then we have the chosen ornaments... Jimmy has an ornament for each of his favorite sports teams--St. Louis Cardinals, KC Royals, KC Chiefs, and UCONN Huskies--and R2D2. My ornaments have primarily been Care Bears but last year I did get a Sleeping Beauty ornament. We also have a few that were given to us by family and friends. We have a great time remembering why we chose the ornaments and the memories from Christmases past as we hang the ornaments on the tree.

Once the ornaments are hung, Jimmy puts the star on top. Then we turn off the lights and cuddle up in Jimmy's recliner watching the tree and listening to the music and we are truly happy.


I know that putting up a tree, decorating with lights, and getting presents isn't what Christmas is really all about but spending this time enjoying each other and our family traditions helps us to focus on the Christ in Christmas.