Here it is the middle of December 2021, and we are just now getting around to recapping November’s happenings!

Can you say B-U-S-Y?

Life for us here has been moving at break-neck speed ever since August when we did a week of G-Ma and Pop Camp with our grandchildren.

September brought The Feast of Tabernacles and a week at beautiful Lake Sinclair, then October found us on a wonderful trip to Guntersville with two of our favorite family members.

We were almost breathless by the time November arrived and it was FULL, both in real life and in blogland.

Of course, the main focus was all about being grateful for so many amazing and abundant blessings. They seemed to be coming down in barrel loads. Thanksgiving was amazing!

As we looked back at our photos of the past year; we could not even begin to count all the blessings. It was all so very unexpected and wonderful in the midst of a nation proclaiming gloom and doom every day on the news.

Yes; we’ve had a tough national year and it has been like an uncontrollable roller coaster ride; but God has blessed us in spite of our problems.

Our hearts are certainly grateful and full of praise and Thanksgiving. November was the perfect month for expressing those feelings.

NOVEMBER 2021 ARTICLES TO REMEMBER

Each category and topic section of the November blog posts were loaded with November fun, suggested activities, thought-provoking theological discussions and new bible study lessons, as well as creative avenues and suggestions for adventures of the season for you and your family to share together. There were lots of seasonal suggestions for home-décor, cooking, travel and crafting.

So let’s take a peek into the review of each individual topic’s section of the blog’s menu for November and review the month that we just passed:

COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDY LESSONS – NOVEMBER 2021

We have lingered in our study of Deuteronomy Chapter 27 and 28 for a long time now. That is because each line of these chapters from Deuteronomy are filled with important things to remember as God is leading the Israelites into becoming a new nation for all nations to be patterned after.

In case you need to get caught up with our progress; here are the links to the lessons that we posted in November: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/cursed-in-coming-in-and-going-out/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/rebuke-in-everything-you-do/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/a-wasting-disease/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/scorching-heat-and-draught/.

We have seen some amazing parallels between ancient Israel’s disobedience toward God and our modern world’s disobedience in these scriptures we have studied so far.

WHAT IS COMING IN THE COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDIES IN DECEMBER?

December will continue with more of the curses of disobedience and some more amazing thoughts and comparisons as well as some predictions that prophetic sources have put forth toward the future of the world.

We would love for you to join us on Thursdays at the blog for each new bible study lesson we post. All of the community here is slowly walking through the bible together with the heart of a child seeking to know more about their Father’s ways. If you click into theinseasonlifestyle.com on Thursdays; you will always catch our posts; but we also e-mail lessons out every week to those who sign up for our mailing list.

MONDAY NIGHT MENUS – NOVEMBER 2021

November is definitely the most popular month for cooking up a feast; and we acted accordingly and filled our MONDAY NIGHT MENUS Topics with delicious seasonal recipes.

Here are the recipes and articles that this topic posted for November 2021: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/the-best-apple-pie-ever-monday-night-menus-sweet-treats-series/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/thanksgiving-recipes/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/thanksgiving-by-the-sea-recipes/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/recipes-and-ideas-for-thanksgiving-in-a-tuscan-vineyard/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/making-some-sweet-potatoes-and-some-gifts-too/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/fall-haystacks/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/tomato-spinach-torte/.

Now that is a LOT of seasonal recipes that will be well-used and enjoyed for the month of November.

If you like our seasonal menus and recipes you might want to keep watching during the following year; as The IN SEASON Lifestyle Cookbook is in the process of being created and edited. We hope to have it ready in time for next year’s Christmas lists for gift-giving. Of course, we will keep you posted with this monthly newsletter.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN DECEMBER 2021 FOR MONDAY NIGHT MENUS:

If you enjoyed these fun seasonal menus and recipes in November (mostly Thanksgiving-related) then you will also love some of the menus and recipes we have ready to publish in our December blog.

Keep watching; we will never let you miss a great food opportunity! There are so many exciting and delicious Christmas dishes to share! We want our readers to cook and taste them all.

PRODUCTS FROM The IN SEASON Lifestyle BLOG FOR NOVEMBER 2021

We love to provide our readers with the information for finding many of the seasonally referenced products we feature in each of our articles every month.

It is best for planning purposes that we stay ahead of the game; so in November we featured our December Community Store. https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/the-in-season-lifestyle-community-store-for-december-2021/.

If you are looking for the blog author’s books on THE GOSPEL HIDDEN IN GENESIS; you can find both books in the above linked store’s products. Please consider making these two books an important part of your Christmas shopping for gifts for friends and family. Anyone who reads them will be blessed.

ARTICLES ABOUT INTERESTING PRODUCTS

We also featured several articles this November that suggested fun products which can be used during the current season for many and various reasons. You can find those articles and product links posted here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/happy-gluten-free-recipes/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/best-reading-recommendations-for-thanksgiving-season/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/start-a-thanksgiving-tradition/.

Be sure to check the bottom of each blog post. Often we give you a way to shop for any products related to our blog posts there.

We are Amazon Affiliates and we might make a small profit from any purchases at no extra cost to you. Why not support the blog instead of ordering straight from Amazon? Every little bit we make helps us to keep our quality articles coming your way.

THE HOUSE DOCTOR FOR NOVEMBER 2021

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year to come up with fun and creative decorating schemes that help us to celebrate the beautiful and traditional season of an American Thanksgiving.

Here are a few of our November articles on that subject. We hope you enjoyed sharing these times with us: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/classic-fall-thanksgiving-decor/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/thanksgiving-in-a-vineyard/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/thanksgiving-by-the-sea/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/thanksgiving-on-the-farm-theme-for-2019/.

There really are a number of ways to share and fellowship with family and friends at Thanksgiving and we hope to find and try each and every way!

THE HOUSE DOCTOR brings us so much delight every season. Thank you for sharing all the fun with us each month.

COMING IN DECEMBER FOR THE HOUSE DOCTOR

December THE HOUSE DOCTOR articles will be all about Christmas, of course. We are anticipating a Glorious Green Christmas this year and we can’t wait to share that with you, along with our Christmas decor used in years past.

Don’t you love how we can share past, present and future here?

I feel like we’ve fallen into a Dicken’s novel and I might bump into old Ebenezer Scrooge at any moment!

SEASONS ARTICLES SHARED IN NOVEMBER 2021

Of course our main focus in the SEASONS topics for November was Thanksgiving. We started out with this article: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/happy-thanksgiving/.

Here are some more reflections on this holiday which were also shared in November: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/giving-thanks-for-a-covenant-keeping-god/

Some people have almost made Black Friday as big a holiday as Thanksgiving. That trend isn’t holding here. We give you a few things to ponder on that subject in this article: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/black-friday-with-the-good-shepherd/.

Thanksgiving wasn’t the only seasonal holiday in November. We also had Veteran’s Day and you can review our article on that subject here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/thank-you-for-your-service-is-not-enough/. We can never thank our Veterans enough for their service in protecting and defending our country. It is our hope that each and every Veteran found honor and encouragement during the past Veteran’s Day remembrances.

SEASONS ARTICLES COMING IN DECEMBER 2021

Two major holidays and/or holy seasons are going to arrive very soon as we begin to turn the calendar pages toward December. They are Chanukah and Christmas. Many articles are forthcoming on both subjects under all topics of the blog.

So; we hope to see you turning the blog-pages with great anticipation in December.

We promise not to disappoint!

AN APPLE A DAY FOR NOVEMBER 2021

You know we try to include at least one (if not more) articles each month that feature the subject of staying healthy. We feature these subjects in our AN APPLE A DAY COLUMN/TOPIC.

This month our post included the health benefits of eating coconut oil: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/coconut-the-superfood/.

COMING ARTICLES FOR OUR AN APPLE A DAY TOPICS IN DECEMBER 2021

December is a mentally hard month for some people. Often this is from grieving a loved one who is no longer with us during the holidays. In some cases it might be simply the lack of light in the winter that has an affect on our physical health. Lots of people deal with symptoms of depression during the winter.

There are many reasons that people lose their positivity, some seasonal and some not so seasonal. We want to help provide some ways to cope in the coming month of December. Be watching for some uplifting articles written especially for those who suffer from depression over the holidays.

THE ALL MY DAYS CALENDAR FOR NOVEMBER 2021

November was very significant in regards to noticing and observing the days of God’s life-giving calendar that was given to the Hebrews long ago.

Did you know that we are currently living through a Shemita year?

It is year 5782. We published an article with many thoughts on this subject. You may ask (as we did) if Shemita would apply to Christians living on this side of the cross. Here is the article. You can read it and decide for yourself: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/learning-how-to-step-into-shemita-time/.

November on the secular calendar gave us the month of Kislav on the Hebrew calendar. Kislav is full of God’s miracles and stories in time of how the people of God have struggled, yet survived by many miracles of God. Here is a link to our article which explains these facts in detail: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/miracles-from-god-in-kislav/

Another part of God’s calendar that comes in the world’s month called December is Hanukkah. We posted an article which explains why we think Christians would celebrate Hanukkah. You may read it here:https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/what-should-hanukkah-mean-to-christians/. This month before is the time for learning and understanding in order to be getting ready for celebrating Hanukkah.

WHAT WILL COME TO THE ALL MY DAYS CALENDAR IN DECEMBER OF 2021

If you have followed our blog posts for long you have begun to notice that we do not celebrate the birth of Christ during December, but we celebrate the CONCEPTION of Christ. Nine months later – during the time of The Feast of Tabernacles in the Fall of the year – we DO celebrate the birth of Christ. So; you might say that Christmas is the very beginning of our celebration of Messiah, from the first moment he entered the earth as a tiny seed, until the moment that He ascended back into Heaven and we began to await his second return to earth.

That brings us to the subject of Advent, which we try to prepare for in November in order to celebrate properly in December.

This, yet another event, that helps us get ready for Messiah and The Kingdom of Heaven, is called Advent.

Our blog celebrates Advent in light of the time for preparation for the birth of Christ, noting that Mary spent nine months pregnant before bringing Jesus into the world. Her time of waiting was a type of Advent.

Each Advent season we ponder that part of the story here.

Every Sabbath in December at The IN SEASON Lifestyle we light an Advent wreath that speaks of this time of waiting on God to provide a Messiah.

CELEBRATING THE CONCEPTION OF CHRIST

On Christmas Day we celebrate the fact that He came down to us in the form of a baby growing inside the womb of Mary, and we begin, like she did, to wait to see what God was going to do next to change the world during this time of growing before the time of birthing. In the growing of the child Jesus inside Mary’s womb during pregnancy, we see our growing by living in God’s Holy Spirit until our time of being “born again.” The December blog posts will share the links to the four Advent meditations we are providing for our community this year. I hope you enjoy each of them and that they are eye-opening to much more of the truth for you in your celebrating of Messiah.

So keep watching the ALL MY DAYS CALENDAR Topics of the blog for all of these coming events.

Time is always moving forward, with the beginnings turning into the end and the end making beginnings start all over again. The ALL MY DAYS CALENDAR helps us to keep God’s time which teaches us this ever-forward movement through the seasons of life.

PEN ART TOPICS PUBLISHED IN NOVEMBER 2021

Pen Art is about making art; and a lot of that art is through using the written word, such as something you would first write down with a pen on paper. We have explored many aspects of literature here, sharing our own creative writing and the creative writing of others. Book reviews are a result of our favorite hobby; reading. Many of those are also shared under this topic.

Also; there are other forms of art, painting, singing, dancing, etc. We are all about sharing those things in this column too. Lining up with those things are crafts that we can make ourselves and share with others. Often we will post a seasonal craft to go along with our seasonal articles.

In November we posted several of our own short stories. Just follow these links to read any of them: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/the-snowflake-and-the-tree/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/just-one-little-star/.

We gave some details on finding books that encourage you to be grateful and help you to find thanksgiving during this season. To read that article; just click here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/best-reading-recommendations-for-thanksgiving-season/.

Recommended by book review was a book called The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson. You can catch our review here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/book-review-of-the-code-breaker-by-walter-isaacson/.

We hope you find these reviews and recommendations to be good and refreshing and different than what the rest of the world is offering.

If you are interested in publishing a short story of your own; why not submit it to us at wordcastlepublications@gmail.com. We would love to read your stories and if they are suitable; we would love to give you a tiny bit of publicity on the blog. No monetary offerings are available however. Perhaps that will change in the future. There are publishing house aspirations being dreamed about behind the scenes here. You never know what God might lead us to do next.

NOVEMBER 2021 TOPICS FOR PIECES OF THE PUZZLE

In our PIECES OF THE PUZZLE posts; we like to publish articles that provide thought-provoking information and opinions for those seeking answers to how they may live a better life as a Christian and a citizen of this world.

So many of our friends have questions about whether a Christian should do this or that. Many of the answers are tough to discern and often all answers do not apply to all people and all circumstances. We try to hit the hard stuff that no one else will touch here.

Since Christmas is coming up; that word seemed to be the theme for November. Everyone wanted their answers clear before the season began; which is very wise indeed.

Many were asking; should a Christian celebrate Christmas, and if so why? Is it right for a Christian parent to allow their child to participate in the materialistic culture of Santa? Should a believer participate in Advent Wreath celebrations and meditations when everyone knows the tradition first started out as a pagan practice? Also; what about Christmas trees; are they pagan too? Is it true that Jesus was born in the fall and if so; why would we celebrate Christmas in December?

These are all good and pertinent questions. No one here claims to be an expert; but we offer our best opinions in the following PIECES OF THE PUZZLE ARTICLES. We hope they are useful to you. https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/truth-about-christmas-trees/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/conception-of-christ/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/st-nicholas-truth/, https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/pondering-advent/

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR BLOG

I think we have covered the waterfront for November publications and December previews.

Thank you so very much for being one of our loyal readers.

If you ever lose us; you can always pull up the blog address at theinseasonlifestyle.com. Put us down in your contacts and your address book so you will always know where to find us. We hope you will share every article we blog that you think others would find worthy of reading.

Here’s to a very Merry Christmas!

God bless you everyone!

Gail Landgraf/Editor/Publisher/Blogger – The IN SEASON Lifestyle