CREATING HEIRLOOMS

I’ve become guardian and protector of many of our family heirlooms. I’ve also begun the creation of new family heirlooms.

Not all of these new heirlooms have great intrinsic value. But to me, the creation of a new heirloom is more about sentimental, than intrinsic value. If it has no sentiment behind it, chances are it’s just "stuff."

So, although my awesome and amazing turbo whisk is incredible—it will never be a family heirloom. It neither has intrinsic value nor sentimental value.

My collection of necklaces and ear bobs may have intrinsic value, but to my son they’re just minerals.

Our collection of Dickens Village houses, however has become a family heirloom in the making. Each house was selected and added to the growing collection over a period of more than 25 years, with each family member in mind.

Daughter Nicole chose the Cratchet family house with the real smoking chimney and the Nicolas Nickelby house to match her nickname.

Doug liked the train station and the mill with the rotating water wheel because—well, wheels back in Dickens’ day were as close to cars as a young boy could get.

Each year the boxes were opened amid delighted squeals and "ooohs." Each house was placed under the Christmas tree with care and adjusted and tweaked until that moment when the power strip trailing 20 cords attached to 20 houses was flipped on, bringing the village to "life."

The memories of the village include the train track that ran around the tree and through the village, the train never quite making it beyond its first rotation before jumping the track and landing in a polyester snow pile, but adding charm to the village nonetheless.

Memories include the daily readjustment of the wobbly trees and fences.

Memories include the white kitty cat who each year concluded we had placed the fluffy snow cloth under the tree for his specific sleeping pleasure.

Memories include sitting in the dark together, looking at the tree and the lights and the village and the cat. Not speaking. Just being together

As we close the end of 2012, once again I look forward to digging out those family heirlooms—only one generation old—and reliving the sentiment behind them. Family heirlooms in the making.

PRAYER: Thank you God for families and memories we can make together. Please give us more opportunities to create memories together and reminders of treasured times past. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you have a new family heirloom in the making?

　

This post is part of the Christian Writer’s Blog Chain. Our theme for November is "heirloom." Please click on the links to the right to see what my friends have to say about our theme.

A NATIONAL HEIRLOOM

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. More than anything, to most people Thanksgiving means a feast. And most people’s Thanksgiving Day feast contains very specific items:

• Turkey – oven roasted, deep fried, smoked or microwaved. The scientific secret to assuring everyone of that superlative afternoon nap in front of the TV
• Mashed potatoes – with garlic, cheese, hunks of skin still attached, or just out of the box
• Gravy – you absolutely can never have enough because, let’s face it, everything tastes better when it’s covered with gravy
• Stuffing – with sausage, onions, celery, raisins, walnuts and smothered in so much gravy it doesn’t matter what you add—or don’t add
• Cranberry sauce – jellied and canned although a few staunch households make it fresh
• Green bean casserole with just enough green beans underneath the fried onions to be able to count it as a vegetable
• Yams or sweet potatoes dripping with brown sugar
• Pumpkin Pie –wait! There’s pie under the whipping cream?

There may be a few variations or additions, but let’s face it, 90% of the Thanksgiving Day feasts in American homes will include most of the above. The standard menu is almost like a national heirloom.

Enjoy.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for occasions to celebrate our blessings with family and friends. Thank you so much for these times. Thank you for making us part of your adopted family. Please be with those people today who have no family or no feast. Please give them an extra portion of your love today. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Which part of your Thanksgiving Day feast is your favorite?


This post is part of the Christian Writer’s Blog Chain. Our theme for November is "heirloom." Please click on the links to the right to see what my friends have to say about our theme.

STEWARDSHIP OF GOD'S WORD

An heirloom is generally a possession that has intrinsic and/or sentimental value and is handed down from generation to generation. Sometimes an heirloom is a piece of furniture, jewelry, china, books, photographs or papers. Usually there is a story behind the item or at least a name of the original owner and who they were in the family tree.

I have become the protector of many of our family heirlooms, but it is my husband who has taken responsibility of the one of the most precious heirlooms of all time: God’s Word.

Our very most precious heirloom of course is Jesus. As believers, we have been adopted into God’s family. We have inherited salvation through our belief that Christ died for us. And by godly teaching and example of right living, by explaining our faith and testifying to it, we can pass that faith from generation to generation.

That heirloom is true and beyond value and although it can be felt and understood, it cannot be touched or held.

But God’s Word can be—in the form of the Bible.

That is where hubby comes in. In our safe, we have several versions of God’s Word. Some of the Bibles were printed before 1800; some after. Many have been enhanced with glorious illuminated script; others with minutely detailed black and white etchings.

Whenever hubby removes a Bible from the safe and shares it with a friend, he does so with reverence and care because, as he says, he does not own the Bible. The Bible belongs to God. He is merely its steward.

And so, the small collection of Bibles in our safe will probably be handed down from generation to generation within the Peterson family. But while we will maintain stewardship of them, they will always and forever belong to God.

As do we.

Praise God that our faith, our lives and everything we are belong to God. We are a living heirloom because we are part of His family.

PRAYER: Thank you Heavenly Father for everything in this world. Thank you for adopting us into your family and giving us salvation as our eternal heirloom. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Is faith an heirloom that has been passed down through your family?

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Today's post is part of the Christian Writer's Blog Chain. Our theme for November is "heirloom." Please click on the links to the right to see what my friends have to say about this theme.

THE STUFF OF HEIRLOOMS

Today's post is part of the Christian Writers blog chain. Our theme for November is "heirloom." Please click on the links to the right to see what my friends have to say about this theme.

Heirloom: A family possession passed down from generation to generation.

Like many folks our age, hubby and I are ready to downsize. We’ve said it for years, but we finally are walking the talk. That means trying to sell this enormous house that we have crammed full of "stuff."

It means getting rid of at least a third of the "stuff" we’ve accumulated over 34 years of marriage, two kids and six moves between two coastlines. It means finding a smaller house and hoping we have gotten rid of enough "stuff" that the rest will fit into the new smaller nooks and crannies.

Somewhere along the line, though, I became the holder of the family heirlooms.

All those family treasures passed down from generation to generation from my mother and father, my mother’s mother and father, my father’s mother and father, along with items from hubby’s family as well.

They were precious enough to have escaped the trash bin for over 100 years and have landed safely in my possession—some with little notes attached as to who was the original owner and a date of ownership, if known, such as:  "Carol’s mother’s mother’s aunt and uncle’s platter received on the occasion of their wedding 1829."

I carry some of these heirlooms with joy; others with a great burden. This was important to someone. This is of value. I am its protector.

But do I care? Do I have enough energy to be its steward for another 30 years? Who will care if I don’t?

What with china, baby clothes, tea towels, hand-embroidered linens, jewelry, toys, books and furniture entrusted to my care, plus my own soon-to-be heirlooms of infinite value (or not), it’s nearly to the point that if we got rid of all of our "stuff" except for the heirlooms, we still might not fit into our planned smaller home of our dreams.

Sigh.

Yet our children are not yet ready to receive the pass on of these heirlooms. The solution? It is time to allow some of these heirlooms to become heirlooms for others. Sold to the antique stores or on Craig’s list. Given to people outside the family who would appreciate their intrinsic value even if they do not understand the family meaning behind them.

Which brings the point to a head.

The value in heirloom "stuff" is not so much in the object as in the memories behind it; the love of the people who treasured them. If stories about the object can be handed down and can become part of the "heirloom," then they are of more value because the love behind it is what is treasured.

When going through heirloom "stuff," if there is a note attached, it usually gets packed back up and stuffed securely in a box. If an heirloom is uncovered without knowledge of where it came from, who originally owned it or without any reason why it might mean something to this generation, if it isn’t loved right now by this generation, it might have to become an heirloom for someone else’s family.

Because the value of an heirloom is often based on the love the object represents. I think my mother’s mother’s aunt and uncle would understand.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, sometimes we get caught up in the value the world places on our stuff. Please help us remember that—just as we should focus on storing up treasures in heaven—that more important than stuff is how we love other people. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you treasure family heirlooms? Do some of them make you feel burdened?

DISCOVERING FATHER'S FAVORITE

Today’s post is part of the Christian Writer’s Blog Chain. The theme for October is "discover." Please click on the links to the right to read what my friends have to say about discover.

Today is Dad’s birthday. He’s no longer with us on this world but I’m thinking his mother might have made him a celestial War Cake for his birthday in the heavenly kitchen—you know that cake that’s so rich you need a swig of milk right in the middle of the first forkful?

Recently I was digging through Mom’s recipe file. Sprinkled amid the frayed-edged index cards were bits of notepads and scraps of ruled paper with hand-written recipes in slanted cursive, the blue ink faded by time and flour.

In their midst I discovered my father’s mother’s recipe for War Cake with Buttermilk Frosting. I made it once for my dad, the year before he died. I’d never made it before—or since. It’s a shame because it’s just that delicious.

So I’ll share it with you at the end of this post. I hope you’ll make it and enjoy it as much as I did and Dad did. It’s a Shartz family heirloom. Maybe it’ll become one of your family’s heirlooms, too.
　

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for family heirlooms. Thank you for making us a part of your eternal family. Thank you for sharing with us the greatest family heirloom of all—salvation through Jesus. Help us find ways to share your family heirloom with others. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What’s the super, uber best heirloom in your family recipe box?

　

Grandma Shartz’ War Cake with Buttermilk Icing

Cake

1 box of raisins stewed in 2 cups water until liquid is half gone. Remove from stove and add, mixing thoroughly:

1 cup cold water
½ cup shortening
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking soda
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Pour into angel food pan. Bake 45 minutes at 375. Cool a few minutes and turn out onto plate.

Icing:
Boil the following together on low heat until it reaches "soft ball" stage (drizzle a small amount into cold water. If it forms a soft ball when squished between your fingers under water, it is at the right stage. If not, cook a bit longer). Cool 10 minutes and pour over the cake. Eat warm or cool.