December 30, 2008
My poor, poor neglected blog! :) Traveling to California tomorrow, so I had better get something written before the end of the year! Pray for safe travels for me!
We had a wonderful white Christmas! I ate about 3 dozen too many cookies and bars and goodies, but oh well. Thanks Gramma, it was yummy!
The roads were good getting to Brad's parents house on Christmas eve, which left me with only one concern about Christmas. We couldn't find Keelin the Easy Bake oven she asked for. Brad had gone to about five stores looking for it. We did find the other thing on her list, the Polly Pocket Pool Party thing. But the Easy Bake Oven, sold out. Would Christmas be "ruined" for her?
I was actually somewhat relieved. As an Easy Bake oven owner as a child, I remember the thing being pretty disappointing myself. I remember it not being very "easy". I seem to recall it not cooking right, and having to have it finish baking in the real oven (what good is that?!) and once all the little cake mixes were done, that was it. A useless box with a light bulb in it.
Keelin ended up doing all right for Christmas. We got her some other fun things instead. She was pretty happy with her haul, and never mentioned the missing oven.
I find myself sometimes making a Christmas list of requests to God. I want this, I want that. And I want it when I wake up in the morning, Lord. And God doesn't work like Santa Claus. We don't always get exactly what we ask for on our list of requests, and sometimes that's really a good thing. I know sometimes, God has worked things out much better His way than what I would like to have happen in my way. Much to my relief, His purposes are always greater. Santa does all right but, being "human", he has much potential to disappoint and our expectations can fall short. God always delivers His sweet precious gifts, given best according to His timing, and are exceedingly beyond all that I could ask for.
Know, therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; Deuteronomy 7:9
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
The reason for the season...
December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas :)
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Merry Christmas :)
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas survey
December 24, 2008
I got this in my email tonight. I thought it would be a fun thing to do, in abbreviated form. The original was much longer!
Just click comments at the end of the post, and cut and paste with your answers instead :)
1. real tree or fake? fake
2. star or angel on the top? star
3. do you like eggnog? yes, especially as a latte!
4. favorite Christmas show/movie? Charlie Brown's Christmas
5. best Christmas gift as a kid? The windsurfer was pretty cool.
6. favorite Christmas song? Mary, did you know? and Mele Kalikimaka (my new favorite this year is Big Daddy Weave's Christ is Come)
7. favorite tradition? Listening to Andy Williams' Christmas album while decorating the tree.
This year is my first white Christmas! It's so beautiful... everything seems to be slower, calmer, quieter, cozier... the way Christmas should be!
Wishing you a wonderful, beautiful Christmas filled with joy and peace and wonders and memories,
Jen :)
I got this in my email tonight. I thought it would be a fun thing to do, in abbreviated form. The original was much longer!
Just click comments at the end of the post, and cut and paste with your answers instead :)
1. real tree or fake? fake
2. star or angel on the top? star
3. do you like eggnog? yes, especially as a latte!
4. favorite Christmas show/movie? Charlie Brown's Christmas
5. best Christmas gift as a kid? The windsurfer was pretty cool.
6. favorite Christmas song? Mary, did you know? and Mele Kalikimaka (my new favorite this year is Big Daddy Weave's Christ is Come)
7. favorite tradition? Listening to Andy Williams' Christmas album while decorating the tree.
This year is my first white Christmas! It's so beautiful... everything seems to be slower, calmer, quieter, cozier... the way Christmas should be!
Wishing you a wonderful, beautiful Christmas filled with joy and peace and wonders and memories,
Jen :)
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
"I am stagefright"
December 23, 2008I am finally uploading some pictures of the kids of all their Christmas concerts and snow playing and all that. It reminded me of what Keelin had been worried about the weeks before the concert. She found out that she'd be going in front of an audience for her first Christmas concert and she panicked.
"Mommy, I don't want to go up on the front of the concert. I am stagefright." She tearfully declared.
Well, for someone who IS stagefright, she spent three days picking out the right outfit with all the proper accessories! The music director said to wear green, red, or white. She chose purple.
She did great... she even smiled, sang a little bit, but like a cute little kindergartener, spent most of her time on stage chatting to the girls next to her, oblivious to the audience.
I am glad she decided that what she felt for a while wasn't who she had to be!
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
Monday, December 22, 2008
Walking through winter...
December 22, 2008
We've been getting lots of snow. We're not at all used to snow here, it mostly just rains. Our winter usually consists of a week of snow, and then it rains and melts away. This snow, man, is serious. We had those few inches on Sunday and it brightened up on Monday... and then on Wednesday, we got a good storm. We woke up to almost two feet of snow in our front yard on Thursday. Snow just keeps dumping out of the sky... more snow Friday and about another foot on Sunday. Three feet now.
Brad walks out of the house yesterday to shovel and is up to his mid thigh in fluff. He's 6 foot 4. Keelin is funny, she's like a walking jacket in the snow. It's all you can see of her. Candan loves it, but I think he likes running in the house more. My back being out, I haven't been out very much at all. I am absolutely terrified of falling. I've only gone out when I have absolutely had to. I clutch the stair railing with both hands and gingerly back down the front stairs which are a hard pack of ice, impossible for Brad to chisel. I, oh so carefully watch the placement of my each step along the driveway. I dread walking in parking lots. Inside the mall and in the market, I feel no safer. I look down, watching for melted puddles. I've been looking down at the roads as I drive and focus on where the best path through the slippery roads are (there isn't one.) I watch as cars slide, feeling like they're heading straight for my fenders. It's been a really scary week for me.
Aren't there times when you just feel dumped on? When all you do is look down and see how bad or scary things are? When you feel out of control at what's headed your way?
I had a moment when I was feeling stable and looked up from where I was standing, looked up at all the trees and rooftops and mountains covered in beautiful white, and realized how glorious it all was. I just needed that moment... that one second when you realize that there's a bigger picture. That while where I am standing might be precarious, there's a greater, beautiful something beyond.
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;They will behold a far-distant land. Isaiah 33:17
We've been getting lots of snow. We're not at all used to snow here, it mostly just rains. Our winter usually consists of a week of snow, and then it rains and melts away. This snow, man, is serious. We had those few inches on Sunday and it brightened up on Monday... and then on Wednesday, we got a good storm. We woke up to almost two feet of snow in our front yard on Thursday. Snow just keeps dumping out of the sky... more snow Friday and about another foot on Sunday. Three feet now.
Brad walks out of the house yesterday to shovel and is up to his mid thigh in fluff. He's 6 foot 4. Keelin is funny, she's like a walking jacket in the snow. It's all you can see of her. Candan loves it, but I think he likes running in the house more. My back being out, I haven't been out very much at all. I am absolutely terrified of falling. I've only gone out when I have absolutely had to. I clutch the stair railing with both hands and gingerly back down the front stairs which are a hard pack of ice, impossible for Brad to chisel. I, oh so carefully watch the placement of my each step along the driveway. I dread walking in parking lots. Inside the mall and in the market, I feel no safer. I look down, watching for melted puddles. I've been looking down at the roads as I drive and focus on where the best path through the slippery roads are (there isn't one.) I watch as cars slide, feeling like they're heading straight for my fenders. It's been a really scary week for me.
Aren't there times when you just feel dumped on? When all you do is look down and see how bad or scary things are? When you feel out of control at what's headed your way?
I had a moment when I was feeling stable and looked up from where I was standing, looked up at all the trees and rooftops and mountains covered in beautiful white, and realized how glorious it all was. I just needed that moment... that one second when you realize that there's a bigger picture. That while where I am standing might be precarious, there's a greater, beautiful something beyond.
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;They will behold a far-distant land. Isaiah 33:17
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Improbabilities
December 17, 2008
I made a point of seeing it this time. I usually miss it by a day, as it doesn't last very long. So on Monday, after I walked the kids to school in the morning, I walked down to the beach to see it. Snow on the beach. It was beautiful! A bright sun pierced the heavy gray clouds, illuminating the water and the ground along the beach at high tide. Each log was covered in about four inches of white glitter; piles of seagrass and pebbles disappeared under the beautiful wintertime blanket. Out in the water floated a log, a raft shared by a sleepy sea otter and the biggest seagull you ever saw. Of course, I didn't have my camera.
Snow on the beach seems so weird, so improbable to me and my California girl brain. Improbable, but not impossible. There it was.
A messiah, saviour of the world, a king, born not in a palace, but in a stable? To a virgin? A bright star in the sky. A multitude of angels proclaiming His birth, singing "Glory to God in the highest." Born, why? To save me. Me? Me! And not for the good things I have done, but despite the good things I haven't done. And the for bad things I have. Improbable, but not impossible! There He is.
I've really gotta make a point of seeing Him.
...the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:15b
I made a point of seeing it this time. I usually miss it by a day, as it doesn't last very long. So on Monday, after I walked the kids to school in the morning, I walked down to the beach to see it. Snow on the beach. It was beautiful! A bright sun pierced the heavy gray clouds, illuminating the water and the ground along the beach at high tide. Each log was covered in about four inches of white glitter; piles of seagrass and pebbles disappeared under the beautiful wintertime blanket. Out in the water floated a log, a raft shared by a sleepy sea otter and the biggest seagull you ever saw. Of course, I didn't have my camera.
Snow on the beach seems so weird, so improbable to me and my California girl brain. Improbable, but not impossible. There it was.
A messiah, saviour of the world, a king, born not in a palace, but in a stable? To a virgin? A bright star in the sky. A multitude of angels proclaiming His birth, singing "Glory to God in the highest." Born, why? To save me. Me? Me! And not for the good things I have done, but despite the good things I haven't done. And the for bad things I have. Improbable, but not impossible! There He is.
I've really gotta make a point of seeing Him.
...the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:15b
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
maybe later...
December 16, 2008
My back went out yesterday while I was trying to put my boot on. I had such a beautiful walk in the snow a few hours just before that, and I wanted to write about it, but I can't seem to put anything together in a coherent thought right now! :) Maybe in a little while...
Jen :)
May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.
2 Thessalonians 3:5
My back went out yesterday while I was trying to put my boot on. I had such a beautiful walk in the snow a few hours just before that, and I wanted to write about it, but I can't seem to put anything together in a coherent thought right now! :) Maybe in a little while...
Jen :)
May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.
2 Thessalonians 3:5
Saturday, December 13, 2008
...my true love gave to me....
I just found this on a website, about the origin of the Christmas carol, the 12 Days of Christmas. I've read conflicting stories whether the history of the song is true or not, and so I might just be passing on an urban legend, but I just so happen to like it. Urban legend or not, why can't it represent those things now? :)
"Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. It was illegal to be Catholic until Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England in 1829.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a coded-message, a memory aid. Since the song sounded like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment. The authorities would not know that it was a religious song.
"The 12 Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something significant to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help Catholic children learn their faith. The better acquainted one is with the Bible, the more these interpretations have significance.
The song goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…"
The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earthly suitor, but it refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. i.e. the Church.
1st Day: The partridge in a pear tree is Christ Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them. The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus Christ on the tree of the Cross.
2nd Day: The "two turtle doves" refers to the Old and New Testaments.
3rd Day: The "three French hens" stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).
4th Day: The "four calling birds" refers to the four evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
5th Day: The "five golden rings" represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
6th Day: The "six geese a-laying" is the six days of creation.
7th Day: The "seven swans a-swimming" refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
8th Day: The "eight maids a milking " reminded children of the eight beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.
9th Day: The "nine ladies dancing" were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
10th Day: The "ten lords a-leaping" represents the Ten Commandments.
11th Day: The "eleven pipers piping" refers to the eleven faithful apostles.
12th Day: The ‘twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles’ Creed: belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and arose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting."
source: http://www.appleseeds.org/12_days-christmas.htm
Cool, eh? Merry Christmas :)
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:13-15
"Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. It was illegal to be Catholic until Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England in 1829.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a coded-message, a memory aid. Since the song sounded like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment. The authorities would not know that it was a religious song.
"The 12 Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something significant to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help Catholic children learn their faith. The better acquainted one is with the Bible, the more these interpretations have significance.
The song goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…"
The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earthly suitor, but it refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. i.e. the Church.
1st Day: The partridge in a pear tree is Christ Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them. The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus Christ on the tree of the Cross.
2nd Day: The "two turtle doves" refers to the Old and New Testaments.
3rd Day: The "three French hens" stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).
4th Day: The "four calling birds" refers to the four evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
5th Day: The "five golden rings" represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
6th Day: The "six geese a-laying" is the six days of creation.
7th Day: The "seven swans a-swimming" refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
8th Day: The "eight maids a milking " reminded children of the eight beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.
9th Day: The "nine ladies dancing" were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
10th Day: The "ten lords a-leaping" represents the Ten Commandments.
11th Day: The "eleven pipers piping" refers to the eleven faithful apostles.
12th Day: The ‘twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles’ Creed: belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and arose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting."
source: http://www.appleseeds.org/12_days-christmas.htm
Cool, eh? Merry Christmas :)
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:13-15
Friday, December 12, 2008
Quiche and Chai Lattes
Okay, I just found the funniest video ever....
I don't think I demand the same sort of romantic ideals when it comes to receiving gifts from my husband, though. One of my favorite gifts from Brad was my salad spinner! It was something I had really wanted for myself, but it was very expensive (it's a salad spinner after all!) something I'd never buy for myself, you know? I found that very romantic. (I'm weird.)
This Christmas, I am driving around on my gift from Brad, my new brakes and tires, and that he wants to keep me and the kids safe is all about romantic to me.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11
I don't think I demand the same sort of romantic ideals when it comes to receiving gifts from my husband, though. One of my favorite gifts from Brad was my salad spinner! It was something I had really wanted for myself, but it was very expensive (it's a salad spinner after all!) something I'd never buy for myself, you know? I found that very romantic. (I'm weird.)
This Christmas, I am driving around on my gift from Brad, my new brakes and tires, and that he wants to keep me and the kids safe is all about romantic to me.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:11
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Grammar issues... the present tense!
December 8, 2008
The house is fully decorated for Christmas, except for our window candy cane decoration that's decided not to work this year, even after wiggling all the little lights. The tree is up, shining, and beautifully covered with all the kids' ornaments. The garland's lit over the kitchen cupboards, wreaths and stockings hung, and the once-rogue nativity scene has been found hiding in the garage. The CD changer on the stereo is fully stocked with Christmas music, the car radio tuned to 106.5-- all Christmas music all day long.
I'm a trained teacher and self-described logophile. I love words. So for me, misspellings and grammatical errors are like the act of dragging fingernails on a blackboard. They drive me batty! I'm forever correcting the newspaper, menus, even notes home from school. I try as I blog to proofread over and over, but alas, every now and then, one will get by me. Brad, knowing this about me, finds it amusing to tease me when I err, like when I said I couldn't find the "wreath holder for the wreath." (As if the wreath holder has any other purpose!)
The other day I was playing one of my Christmas CD's while I was puttering around, when suddenly my brain's Grammatical Error Alarm went off.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King...
IS?
HAS!
Before I began a worldwide blogging campaign to correct this error, I figured I should research the lyrics. According to Wikipedia, "while 'The Lord is come' would be considered improper in modern-day English ("The Lord has come" should be used instead), it was grammatically correct when the song was first written in the early 18th Century." Okay, I accept.
And I kept thinking about this, and you know what? He still IS! He's still the joy to the world! And, being that He's eternal, the I AM, God with us, He's always PRESENT with us :) Let earth receive her King!
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." John 8:58
The house is fully decorated for Christmas, except for our window candy cane decoration that's decided not to work this year, even after wiggling all the little lights. The tree is up, shining, and beautifully covered with all the kids' ornaments. The garland's lit over the kitchen cupboards, wreaths and stockings hung, and the once-rogue nativity scene has been found hiding in the garage. The CD changer on the stereo is fully stocked with Christmas music, the car radio tuned to 106.5-- all Christmas music all day long.
I'm a trained teacher and self-described logophile. I love words. So for me, misspellings and grammatical errors are like the act of dragging fingernails on a blackboard. They drive me batty! I'm forever correcting the newspaper, menus, even notes home from school. I try as I blog to proofread over and over, but alas, every now and then, one will get by me. Brad, knowing this about me, finds it amusing to tease me when I err, like when I said I couldn't find the "wreath holder for the wreath." (As if the wreath holder has any other purpose!)
The other day I was playing one of my Christmas CD's while I was puttering around, when suddenly my brain's Grammatical Error Alarm went off.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King...
IS?
HAS!
Before I began a worldwide blogging campaign to correct this error, I figured I should research the lyrics. According to Wikipedia, "while 'The Lord is come' would be considered improper in modern-day English ("The Lord has come" should be used instead), it was grammatically correct when the song was first written in the early 18th Century." Okay, I accept.
And I kept thinking about this, and you know what? He still IS! He's still the joy to the world! And, being that He's eternal, the I AM, God with us, He's always PRESENT with us :) Let earth receive her King!
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." John 8:58
Friday, December 5, 2008
Time...flying!
December 5, 2008
I just can't get over that it's December, and that it's almost 2009! Time is just flying, it seems like just not that long ago that I draped the Christmas garland in the kitchen (today's goal!), and it hardly seems a year ago next week that my baby cousin, Olivia Leigh, was born.
I look at my kids who are now so tall, and I'm folding clothes that seem so big. I found one of Keelin's old soothers behind the dryer yesterday and it brought me to tears. I remembered how Candan sent his soothers away to Santa Claus to give to babies. I've been sentimentally hanging ornaments reading "Candan's first Christmas 2000" and " Keelin's first Christmas 2003".
My dad and I were talking a couple days ago about Candan's youtube video that he posted a year ago, of when Candan was 19 months old, doing a number puzzle... He was being cheeky with his Papa, making him and Nana laugh. So cute...
My kids' precious baby days are gone, but we have precious school kid days now, filled with a boy's filthy, football-field knees (yes, still wearing shorts!) and Nintendo DS triumphs, and girly crafts covered in hearts and flowers and glitter. Christmases once filled with blocks and pull toys will be replaced with.... SHHH!! Can't tell you yet! :)
Man is like a mere breath;
His days are like a passing shadow. Psalm 144:4 NIV
Teach us to number our days aright,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom Psalm 90:12 NIV
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
What's missing from Christmas?
December 2, 2008
Last week or so, Keelin came into my room, and handed me two little dolls, one was Mary and one was Joseph. They came with a board book that stands up to make a stable and a manger to play out the nativity scene, but she just handed me the two dolls. She said, "Mommy, here, you might need these for your Bible study."
"Thanks, Kee..." (so cute!) "But Kee, where's baby Jesus?"
"Oh, He's lost. I think He's in my room somewhere."
"Don't you want Mary and Joseph to play the Christmas story?"
"No, you can't play it without Jesus."
So true.
This Christmas, don't lose Jesus.
"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:12
Last week or so, Keelin came into my room, and handed me two little dolls, one was Mary and one was Joseph. They came with a board book that stands up to make a stable and a manger to play out the nativity scene, but she just handed me the two dolls. She said, "Mommy, here, you might need these for your Bible study."
"Thanks, Kee..." (so cute!) "But Kee, where's baby Jesus?"
"Oh, He's lost. I think He's in my room somewhere."
"Don't you want Mary and Joseph to play the Christmas story?"
"No, you can't play it without Jesus."
So true.
This Christmas, don't lose Jesus.
"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:12
Monday, December 1, 2008
Driving through fog...
December 1, 2008
As we headed home last night from the weekend at Brad's parents' house up island, we climbed the forested hill on the way from the lower to the upper highway, when I thought to myself, or maybe I actually did say it out loud, "uh oh." I suddenly could see no more road in front of me. Fog.
I tried desperately to make out the road in front of me, but only little by little it would reveal itself. I followed the double yellow lines on my left and prayed that all the deer were sleeping. We made it to the highway, where I thought it might be better being up higher. It wasn't, but now I was expected to go faster.
I turned left onto the highway, but couldn't see it. My usual fog strategy: follow the car in front of me. To my dismay and surprise, the road was empty of cars. I prayed, "Lord, I can't see...bring me a car to lead me home." Sure enough, seconds later from out of nowhere. Zoom. Well, Zoom Zoom-- a little Mazda passed me like I'd been standing still (I might have been!) I stepped on it, and followed it as far as I could. It was racing ahead way faster than it should've been and way faster than I was comfortable with in the fog, but as far as I could see its taillights, I knew there was road between him and me. After a while, it disappeared into the night, but not before I came to another set of taillights I could follow home. And then another, and another. My foglights helped too, which I remembered to use, halfway home.
I never did see the whole big picture of my destination. The way was foggy, and I could just barely see what was ahead. I hate the feeling of not knowing what's next. Though I didn't know what a mile ahead held in store, it forced me to trust my guide, the light I kept in front of me, to illuminate each moment as it came to pass, to make it through.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
As we headed home last night from the weekend at Brad's parents' house up island, we climbed the forested hill on the way from the lower to the upper highway, when I thought to myself, or maybe I actually did say it out loud, "uh oh." I suddenly could see no more road in front of me. Fog.
I tried desperately to make out the road in front of me, but only little by little it would reveal itself. I followed the double yellow lines on my left and prayed that all the deer were sleeping. We made it to the highway, where I thought it might be better being up higher. It wasn't, but now I was expected to go faster.
I turned left onto the highway, but couldn't see it. My usual fog strategy: follow the car in front of me. To my dismay and surprise, the road was empty of cars. I prayed, "Lord, I can't see...bring me a car to lead me home." Sure enough, seconds later from out of nowhere. Zoom. Well, Zoom Zoom-- a little Mazda passed me like I'd been standing still (I might have been!) I stepped on it, and followed it as far as I could. It was racing ahead way faster than it should've been and way faster than I was comfortable with in the fog, but as far as I could see its taillights, I knew there was road between him and me. After a while, it disappeared into the night, but not before I came to another set of taillights I could follow home. And then another, and another. My foglights helped too, which I remembered to use, halfway home.
I never did see the whole big picture of my destination. The way was foggy, and I could just barely see what was ahead. I hate the feeling of not knowing what's next. Though I didn't know what a mile ahead held in store, it forced me to trust my guide, the light I kept in front of me, to illuminate each moment as it came to pass, to make it through.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
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