Merry Christmas

This video isn’t very long but it’s very powerful. 

Merry Christmas to you and yours. See you soon! : )

the letter

I got a letter in the mail yesterday from my aunt and uncle. (They celebrated their 50th anniversary a few years ago. *smile*)

This little note really took me back. I remember hearing letters from my grandparents (on the same side of the family) read aloud to me when I was a kid. There were the normal parts of the conversation including how everybody was doing (and who died) and then the info about how many tomatoes she’d brought in from the garden or how many bushels of green beans she had “put up”.

Or how many eggs the chickens were laying.

That’s what made this little letter all the more interesting. It felt like one of my grandmother’s letters. It started out with all the usual pleasantries etc. Then he told me about the fruit trees and the pecans. I smiled. It warmed my heart and reminded me of years gone by.

And then he signed their names.

And included their email address.

Huh?!

Come to find out he got an iPad and he loves it. He uses it for Bible study and the lay preaching he does. And he goes to places in town that have wi-fi to use the internet and do email.

So my little letter took things full circle…reminding me of a way of life that’s pretty much long gone..including receiving an actual letter in snail mail. And then taking it into the 21st century with an iPad. Love it.

another necklace

I made this a while back. It’s another way to make a cute necklace. I used waxed linen thread. It’s different because there aren’t very many beads on it. I tied a knot at the very end of my project (big pink bead at the bottom of the picture) and then strung on a very small, bead, then the pink bead, then another very small bead. And then finished that off with another knot. And then a little over in inch later, I did another series of knot, bead, bead, bead, knot..all the way around. I double knotted both end pieces since I cut off the threads short and painted them with clear nail polish to help them stay tied.

I’ll bet you’re wondering how to wear it since there aren’t any clasps, aren’t you? Well, you just tie it. Like this…

And let it hang around your neck. I have a friend that makes these and she taught me. Isn’t it clever?

the mourning booth

Yesterday the girl and I did her last ‘go to the gym’ PE session. It felt good to realize we did what we set out to do. 18 weeks of PE (as of this Friday).

woot.

But a weird thing happened yesterday. We walked in the gym on the walking track. Which means we were walking one floor above the wooden gym floor along the outer rim looking down at what ever was going on.

And at that particular time, 3 year old Mother’s Day Out kids were running around playing. At first I was annoyed. Noisy kids. Turn up the iPod. And then I started watching them. I guess being a mom for all these years makes me a bit of a student of behavior because I could pick out the shy kid. The dominant one. And so it went. But then I picked out the girl that reminded me the most of my girl when she was that age. I even told her she was ‘those kids’ once…playing on that same gym floor during her MDO days.

It was a sweet time just thinking about how much my girl has grown up. She’s not that young anymore..she’s taller than I am now. My how she’s changed!

And then I noticed one or two little boys that reminded me of my little boy. Always little to me. One little boy had that same bouncy little run. And another had the same little haircut and face shape. And then my mind wandered a little bit and I started to tear up. I continued to walk with Christmas music ringing in my ears, feeling anything but merry and bright.

It reminded me of several IRL friends…and the blogging community. When one hurts, another will come along side and just ‘be’…listen and say they’ve been there or they understand..or they don’t understand and don’t know what to say but they still care. Those are the best kinds of friends…the ones who are content (and comfortable enough) to just be in those moments.

But there is an even greater Comforter as well. And I know He is with me always. 

John 16:7 (Amplified Bible)

⁷However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

cute little gifts

Do you ever need a cute little gift at Christmas (or anytime) that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg?

Me too!

I saw the cutest idea the other day in Scrapbooks Etc magazine and decided to copy it. And here’s what I did.

I bought some vanilla cookie flavored scented candles at Walmart a nice store. They came bigger, but this small size was the cheapest cute and easy to work with for my project.

I cut strips of scrapbook paper approximately one and a half inches ‘tall’ by ‘whatever around’. One piece of 12 by 12 scrapbook paper was more than enough for what I was making. 

I also used a small punch to make small circles. I used an inkpad to distress the edges just a little bit. You can’t really see it, but it looks better than a plain circle would have.

Then I added stickers.

And put them all together.

And wrapped them.

There you go…five gifts for $5…plus the stuff I already had laying around in my scrapbook bin.

By just changing out the scents/papers, this project would make a fun yet inexpensive gift anytime.

hearing a carol anew

Ya know how sometimes you listen to a song you’ve heard a hundred times and for some reason something sticks out and it’s like you’ve never heard it before.

Yeah, me too.

I was listening to Christmas music the other day and heard something profound that I have sung more times than I can count.

…peace on earth and mercy mild..

…God and sinners reconciled…

That last line there just blew me away. It was like the entire gospels…or the entire Bible..encapsulated in one phrase. God and sinners reconciled.

It just made me really contemplate God and just how separated from Him we are apart from His grace and mercy. And re-realize how much we needed Him to send Jesus. We are just so lost in our sin and nothing can make that okay in ourselves. We can’t be better or act better or change or any of those things. God Himself had to reconcile that impossible distance between us.

I’m thankful this Christmas season that God made a way to reconcile sinful people to Himself. I stand in awe of God that he would send Jesus to die for someone as sinful as myself so that vast chasm could be bridged between God and sin. Not just for me, but for all mankind.

freedom to hear

I am doing BSF this year. I knew from the beginning of the study in the fall that I wasn’t sure if I was going to “make it”. And I was right. It’s HARD and a struggle every week to decipher an answer to the very intricately written book of Isaiah.

So I’ve been thinking about quitting.

Several girls have been wanting me to stay. Don’t go, it will get better. When? I know it’s hard, but it’s good. I think they say that just to sound better. It’s more like it’s hard but we’re supposed to like it so we’ll say it’s good too. I have been struggling with all the different opinions about what I should do.

Sunday the pastor was talking about the Spirit of God. It was like water to a thirsty, dry riverbed. I was so needing to hear what was being said. He was talking about making a decision and going to God’s word and listening to Him speak. And it was like finally I realized that I had been so caught up in what everybody else was saying, that I couldn’t hear anything any more.

You see, in this Bible study situation, there are many voices that are begging to be heard. There is the one in ME saying quit, this is too hard. There are the voices of friends saying stay, it will get better. Pulling me in every conceivable direction. I felt stuck and told a friend just that the other day.

Her response..you’re never stuck when you’re walking with God.

But in this situation, was I walking with God? Or just at war about what I should do. Sunday it hit me that I was simply at war between the girls wanting me to stay and the voice in me saying this is hard. Quit.

But I had neglected to hear the one Voice that is the only one that matters. And when I stopped giving in to what everybody was saying, I had the freedom to really hear.

This study is not where I want you to be.

Yeah I know…sounds exactly like I’m quitting, doesn’t it?

Sorta.

But you know what, it’s not. I’m not quitting. I am following God and what He wants me to do. So there isn’t any guilt. Do you see the difference there? If I just quit because I want to, then I would feel guilty that I am letting somebody down or this one will be upset or whatever. But if I am only out to please the One, and I do, then there is no condemnation.

So I did pull out last week when my leader called to check on me. She knew I had been thinking and praying about it so it wasn’t a big surprise to her. I felt so relieved to be where I was supposed to be!

I wrote two posts a long time ago that never made it up about this very thing…hearing God. But they never saw the light of day. It was never right for me to post them. And now I know why.

God wanted to live it out in me instead.

Thanksgiving break

I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. We did. We didn’t go anywhere, but still had a nice time.

Wednesday we visited a local hotel that really decks the halls and enjoyed walking around and taking pictures. Got the perfect shot for the annual Christmas card. Bonus!

And Saturday we went to the city’s public gardens and just enjoyed being out. The weather was just perfect and the fall color was stunning.

Enjoyed being off school for a week, although we did keep doing PE. It gets us one week closer to being done. Woot.

We also did the tree. I think the torch has been passed. The girl has done all the tree trimming for two years running now. And she does a really good job.

The cat is enjoying a new hiding/sleeping/play area now that the tree is up.  Glad we can be of service.