Posts by karlahagan
Say Yes – part 1 – “Christmas is . . .”
“Christmas has arrived again . . . . Somehow I realized that songs, music, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and many sweet words do not make Christmas. Christmas is saying ‘yes’ to something beyond all emotions and feelings. Christmas is saying ‘yes’ to a hope based on God’s initiative, which has nothing to do with what I think or feel. Christmas is believing that the salvation of the world is God’s work and not mine. Things will never look just right or feel just right. If they did, someone would be lying. The world is not whole, and today I experienced this fact in my own unhappiness. But it is into this broken world that a...
Read More“Our Scavenger Hunt to Advent!” (God card #6 – Christmas)
Our kids love scavenger hunts! So, we tend to move in the direction of things they enjoy when we want to teach or affirm something. As we continued the focus on God card #6 – I believe God is Christmas, we decided to paint the picture of where we have come from and what place in history does the Christmas story rest through the fun of a scavenger hunt! We gave each one of them a slip of paper with some things written on them that they had to find and bring back to the kitchen table. And it was from these things that we painted the picture! Maya: picture of clouds, wrapping paper roll, mirror Ada: people, baby Jesus, cross Carson: sword, dragon, people, rock It was a...
Read More“Immanuel” (God card #6 – Christmas)
We continue this week with God card #6 – I believe God is Christmas. He is a generous giver of great gifts. We weren’t ready to move on, still so much to discuss. As I began the day at the kitchen table, I found my Bible already there waiting for some conversation. So, I just opened it and found myself at the end of Matthew. Strange, I said to Father. The last chapter of Matthew, the death, crucifixion, the resurrection and now the Great Commission. Is this what is on your mind? We are talking about Christmas, you know. Shouldn’t I be at the front end of this deal? But I read on. The Great Commission, some of the last red letters in the Bible. His...
Read MoreThe Story behind our Calendar!
When we talk about the Plan, we are talking about a spiritual formation strategy for the Hagan family. We like to frame this plan around the calendar. But in the midst of the calendar we use, there is another calendar based on the story of our beliefs called the liturgical church calendar. Here is some background on the two calendars. Whether you knew it or not, we follow a Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar (aka Western or Christian calendar) is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on February 24, 1582. The reformed calendar was adopted later that year by a...
Read More“Press Play!” (sing)
Yesterday, Carson was working on an essay in the living room. We were all writing about the book we just finished – Pilgrim’s Progress. I had each of them take a theme from the book and create a paragraph explaining that theme and relating it to their world. We wrote the introduction together. Pilgrim’s Progress shows us through the characters of Christian and Christiana what to do in times of trouble. They are on a physical journey to Celestial City but teach us many things about our own spiritual journey. Through their experiences, they teach us to ‘remember, trust and pray’ when we have a problem. Maya had the great idea to include a...
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