Christmas dinner - I know.... I'm a little behind

We love family gatherings. If there is a birthday, graduation, hair cut to be celebrated we'll do it. Well, maybe not the hair cuts but you get the point. My mom almost always hosts these and having to constantly plan and prepare can get overwhelming. So we decided that in order to lighten the load we would simplify and get together once a month and celebrate all the birthdays/holidays for that month. We would also take turns planning/hosting. My sister Cathy asked to host our Adult Christmas dinner at her house.

She went above and beyond to host a very memorable meal. Every detail was well thought out and executed to a T. I wish I would have taken more pictures to share. Her house was decorated beautifully with another Pinterest project around every corner. It was gorgeous. The meal, even though we were celebrating her birthday, was filled with dishes she knew would be favorites for the rest of us. A cheese tray with like 6 different types of cheese, yummy salad & sides, and a steak that my brother-in-law seasoned and cooked to perfection, so many special touches.

But my favorite part was in the dining room...

At first it looked simple. A photo tree on the wall. But upon closer inspection we saw photos of cherished memories...

 

My Wedding, My Dad's promotion, our beloved dog Berkley, the group at the Coney Island hot dog joint after my Grandfather's funeral, past Christmas gatherings, my Grandma, and so many more.

The photo tree included this photo, one of my absolute favorites, that my Dad recently took of a chair in my grandparents kitchen where my Grandfather would set his jacket and hat. It's been left untouched just as he placed them the very last time he wore them. And he was magnificent :)

Cathy spent hours gathering and printing photos and then sharing them in this special way with the rest of us. Her desire was for us to enjoy and celebrate the things most precious to her.... the family. I was blessed and she did an amazing job. 

Thank you Cathy for making another cherished memory!!

Thoughts to ponder

• Are you Pro-life?
  
  
• A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.
  
  
• The Bible tells us we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” - Psalm 139:14
  
  
• "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." - Jeremiah 1:5 – This would convey to most that even a life in the womb has great value.
  
  
• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion.
  
  
• Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.
  
  
• In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.
  
  
• Each year, two percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion; half have had at least one previous abortion.
  
  
• At least half of American women will experience an unintended pregnancy by age 45, and, at current rates, about one-third will have had an abortion.
  
  
• This year marks the 50th anniversary of “The Pill”
  
  
• Margaret Sanger was an American birth control activist and the founder of the American Birth Control League. She led the fight to legalize birth control for married couples in America.

• This is an excerpt from her work Women and the New Race -
  
  

  “THE MOST serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families. The most immoral practice of the day is breeding too many children.”
  
  

  “The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”

• Sanger pushed eugenics but claimed her views thus broke from those proposing Nazi eugenics—an aggressive, and lethal, program. She wrote in a 1933 letter:
  
  

  "All the news from Germany is sad & horrible, and to me more dangerous than any other war going on any where because it has so many good people who applaud the atrocities & claim its right. The sudden antagonism in Germany against the Jews & the vitriolic hatred of them is spreading underground here & is far more dangerous than the aggressive policy of the Japanese in Manchuria...” It sounds to me like Ms. Sanger is contradicting herself. Jewish life is valuable but an infant’s is not?

• There are 62 million U.S. women in their childbearing years (15–44).
  
  
• Seven in 10 women of reproductive age (43 million women) are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, but could become pregnant if they and their partners fail to use a contraceptive method.
  
  
• The typical U.S. woman wants only two children. To achieve this goal, she must use contraceptives for roughly three decades.
  
  
• Virtually all women (more than 99%) aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method.
  
  
• Overall, 62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using a method.
  
  
• Almost one-third (31%) of these 62 million women do not need a method because they are infertile; are pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant; have never had intercourse; or are not sexually active.
  
  
• Thus, only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives.
  
  
• Among the 43 million fertile, sexually active women who do not want to become pregnant, 89% are practicing contraception.

• What does the Bible say about children?
  
  

  Ps 127: Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
  
  

  Many times we are given the command to be ‘fruitful and multiply’
  
  

  Over and over in Genesis we find being fruitful is used as a blessing. To Noah in chapter 9, Abraham and Ishmael in chapter. 17. Jacob in chapter 28.

• Is God Sovereign?
  
  
• Do you trust him to provide for all of your needs?
  
  
• If he chooses to give you more children would he not also provide a way to care for them?
  
  
• Do YOU use birth control?

Thoughts to ponder……

Additional reading:

Side Effect: How the Pill Altered America’s Moral Intelligence


100+ Reasons to have Children

Notes:
Abortion statistics from here

Birth Control Stats from here

Read the full excerpt Women and the New Race