Coziness
Merry Christmas to all!
“Happy Christmas Eve, Mommy!” was what greeted me this morning. And then an excited little jammy clad boy jumping into my arms explaining that tomorrow is the day he will say “Merry Christmas” to me though. 🙂 We began our Christmas celebrations yesterday, doing Christmas gift exchanging with long-distance family via webcam. Today we will enjoy a Christmas celebration with my brother’s family before heading to church for the evening service, and tomorrow we will enjoy a morning here with our own wee family & then enjoy the remainder of the day next door with Grandpapa & Grandmama. So many fun festivities to remind us of the abundance of God’s great grace and countless gifts and immeasurable joys. What marvelous, tangible, edible, material, physical reminders of both the spiritual & material things God did for us not only once in Bethlehem but forever & for all time! Amen.
This year for Christmas cards, we “went small.” I printed up a handful to hand out, but decided against taking a bundle to the post office. Instead, I email it to some friends, and above I am sharing with you the picture we used. I’m not one for the whole process of letter writing to sum-up-the-year, so you’re not missing out on that. If you’ve browsed around the blog at all this year, you are already aware of many of the ups and downs that God has seen fit to provide us for our blessing and growth. He is glorious! May we glorify Him more!
Merry Christmas, all. Enjoy the fat of the land that God has provided. Sing praises! Eat lavishly! Give gifts! Laugh and be merry! The curse is reversed, the earth is being renewed, the Lord our God shall come, and He shall reign for ever and ever! AMEN!
Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Psalm 93:1
The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; He has put on strength as His belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
Prayer as the “end” not the “means”
Prayer is often represented as the great means of the Christian life.
But it is no mere means, it is the great end of that life.
It is, of course, not untrue to call it a means. It is so, especially at first.
But at last it is truer to say that we live the Christian life in order to pray
than that we pray in order to live the Christian life.
~P.T. Forsyth~
One Year Old Boy
Asher Timothy turned one today, and we once again rejoice with gladness to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13). He is our happy boy, and we praise the Lord for him.
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord ~ Psalm 144:15
Then and Now
Thanksgiving 2011
Thanksgiving 2012
Thanks be to God for His merciful gifts!
Warms my Heart
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…
Christmas!! Okay, well, that’s at least what Gabriel said when we woke up to a few inches of snow the other day. I think he was a wee bit disappointed when he realized that snow does not automatically equal Christmas. 😉 But he was still rather excited that it meant pulling out snowclothes and going out to enjoy the sparkly white world! It lasted all weekend, and now it has doubled & is still snowing. What fun! It makes me even happier that my Christmas gift crafting is just about tied up, and my holiday baking plans are now being schemed & family Advent evenings are being planned.
We love this world God created, and where He has planted us. 🙂
Mandatory Jammy Day!
This morning when we awoke to a thickly white, crunchy world (frost, not snow! not yet anyway…) and a chilly house, I decided it would be Mandatory Jammy Day. Incidentally, we have never had a day spent in our pajamas here before. Gabriel didn’t quite know how to handle it! It took a wee bit of convincing, hehe. But every time he asked if he could put clothes on ~ or rather, when he asked if he could “at least put on pants and a shirt; not clothes, just pants and a shirt!” ~ I would offer something else fun and distracting to do. Let’s build a blanket fort! Let’s read books in there with a flashlight! Let’s eat boxed mac and cheese for lunch! Let’s bake a cake and you can use the mixer by yourself! Let’s watch a video and eat the M&Ms out of trail mix!
What a day. 🙂 I did actually get some other things done, but for the most part, it was a day spent just having fun with the boys and loving on them in a creative way we had not done before. Here’s some [humbling] picture proof of our Jammy Day for your pure and utter enjoyment.
Remembering my Sweeties
Today is October 15th, the national day of awareness and remembrance for Pregnancy and Infant Loss. It is a unique way for those of us who have endured these griefs to publicly remember and honor these precious children that God has given to us. Today as I remember my Covenant, Glory, Promise, Peace, Mercy, Victory, and Hosanna, I am rejoicing over the gift that it is to be their mama.
I am so thankful for the blessing of having held these precious children in my womb. I am so thankful for the glorious hope of dancing and singing in paradise with them at the feet of our Father for all of eternity. I am so thankful that God has graciously allowed it to be 23 months since my last miscarriage. I am so thankful for the challenge of living out the dichotomy of grief & joy. I am so thankful for the story God has given my family to walk, both with its pains and with its pleasures, with its sorrows and with its rejoicings.
Today the Lord gives me the opportunity to share with you anew how glorious it is to serve Him!! Along these lines, let me one more time share Rainbows & Redemption for the blessing and encouragement of bereaved mothers who are once again holding life in their womb. You or someone you know may have the tricky blessing of walking this dichotomy, and this is a free e-book devotional geared toward that exact journey.
So today while Gabriel, Asher, and Tiny Ten are my tangible comforts and blessings and joys, they help remind me of their brothers and sisters who are already numbered with the saints triumphant. Glory be to God!
Autumn Baking
Anyone who knows me knows (or should know!) that I love baking. It could be considered a passion, or perhaps sometimes even border on a crutch. When I’m happy, when I’m stressed, when I’m nesting, when I’m ministering… I bake. Thankfully, I am also finding that my children love baking too, so it is something we get to do together. In addition, it seems that just about everyone I meet is easily blessed by baked things! Breads, scones, cookies, pastries, desserts… you name it, I have not yet found that an offering of baked things turned down or unappreciated.
I love to bake, and I love to bless people. Combining these things is even more fun! God is kind to make that combination possible, and to make it so full of joy.
Lately, with temperatures dropping, I have been taking advantage of using the oven to warm up the center of our home. Our freezer is full. I’ve been taking goods to people in need (and to people not in particular need). I also got to bake desserts for a recent baptism feast and host a company dessert & wine party. I’ve shared slices of spiced cake or crumbly scones alongside piping hot cups of tea to ladies who stop by for a visit. Asher has even discovered the glories of things made with leaven and expresses his delight in the flapping of arms and loud vocal exclamations. Gabriel has learned that everything from mixing ingredients to smelling goodness oozing from the oven to admiring the visual appeal to devouring the finished product with our tongues & teeth & tastebuds can be positively exhilarating.
And for tonight’s dinner menu? I will be trying my hand at an American comfort food: chicken and waffles. It may sound odd, but trust me ~ it is exquisite when done right! Fried chicken that will be moist but not over-oily and waffles made with yeast & buttermilk… topped either with maple syrup or a spicy gravy (or a combination!)… Oh boy. Y’all should join our table tonight. Better yet: try it out for yourselves and see how much blessing you can heap upon those around your table.
Aaaaahhhh, the glories and warmth and blessing and sweetness of baked things!
It reminds me that it’s just one more way I can be a tiny image-bearer, imitating some of the good things our Father does and will do! It reminds me of His glorious feast yet to come, and makes my mouth water for the glory of things yet to come!
Isaiah 25:6
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.