watching joy...

I sat behind friends at our Christmas Eve service.  I watched them share joy.  I saw her lean into him.  He leaned toward her and she whispered in his ear.  Whatever she said... it was funny to them.  They quietly chuckled, shoulders shaking in silent laughter.   

All you saints! Sing your hearts out to God!
      Thank him to his face!
   He gets angry once in a while, but across
      a lifetime there is only love.
   The nights of crying your eyes out
      give way to days of laughter.

Psalm 30:4-5 (The Message)

I held their newborn baby in awe.  Their fifth-born child.  The fourth who lives upon this earth.  I gazed at this new life in awe of  a God who answers prayer and heals hearts.  In awe of the answered prayers... mine, their's and other's.  Prayers for grace... for healing... for joy.

I sat behind them as we came together to honor the Word that became flesh for us and I thanked Him... because it is by His stripes we are all healed and it is through Him we are given joy.

I like holding newborn babies and I love watching joy.

Christmas morning...

I slept in.


I can hardly believe I am saying this but it is 100% true!  And, it felt soooooo good!


I have had a life-long love affair with Christmas morning.  It started as a child.  My parents would let us wake them at 7 a.m. and my mom would hurry out to plug in the Christmas tree.  I even remember one Christmas when she woke us!  In college, I would make my younger siblings get out of bed... just because it was Christmas morning {I can still hear their moans of despair}.


I have carried this love affair for 42 years.  While I still love Christmas morning... 


...this year is different.  


We slept in.  I got up at 9:38 a.m. and have had a slow morning of enjoying my family and looking forward to friends coming to spend the rest of the day with us.  There is not a trace of wrapping paper on the floor nor are there gifts under the tree.  My kids, though, are enjoying new books and such.


Parenting is a journey of new discoveries.  Chad and I discovered one last night.  While playing Phase 10 with the kids at 10 p.m., one of the kids said "wouldn't it be great if we could open gifts as soon as it is Christmas... like at midnight?!"  Without many words but a great deal of unspoken communication, an agreement was made between the parents of this house... "why not?"


So we did... I think the greatest part was completely surprising our children... who think we say "NO!" to everything.


Today has been much talk of Jesus... His gift, our salvation.  We have talked about those who chose to live today in different ways and those who chose to honor the arrival of the newborn King differently.   We've had some great conversation and some quality time on this slow Christmas morning.


... perhaps a new tradition started when our 3 looked us at us dumbfounded when we said "why not?"

a few quiet thoughts...

Sitting here in the quiet of my living room... it's the first time I've been quiet in a few weeks... really, really quiet.  There is a stillness in my soul that feels oh-so-right and a peace in this moment.  


Sitting here in the quiet with the mancub... that one who is more man than cub every. single. day.  Took him, today, to ask about a job application that he turned in a couple of weeks ago.  I heard him say "I'm almost 15" and my heart skipped a beat.  Almost 15?  How?  When?  Where?  


This child of mine who is 6'2".   The one I carried heavy in my womb 15 Christmas' ago.  That one time in my life where I thought I could maybe understand a bit of Mary's journey as I felt him move and dwell deep within.  That one who came... finally!  3 inductions and 3o hours later.  He who turned my world upside down and inside out and left me aching for more children.


I look at him in wonder... and I wonder... what did Mary think?  I know the Word says "she pondered these things in her heart" (Luke 2:19).  I used to think she pondered the newborn son and the fact that a host of angels announced His birth.  I used to think it was a one time pondering of a mother holding her newborn... counting fingers and toes, watching a wee chest rise and fall... holding him close to her breast in awe that she sustained Him.


I now wonder... was Mary's pondering more than that?  Did she ponder for 33 years?  Did she look at her 5 year old Son and be in awe of His goodness?  Did she wonder where 15 years went?  Did she look at the young man that worked willingly by his father's side and wonder of the relationship that was father/son but not Father/Son?


As a mother, of a first-born son, I'm thinking Mary must have many quiet thoughts... pondered many things... many times... as she treasured all within her heart.

favorite Christmas books...

this is my all-time favorite Christmas book!

it tells the story from beginning to end

of the need for the Messiah

who has come to save me

from myself and my sinfulness.

One Wintry Night

by Ruth Bell Graham

is my second all time favorite

Christmas book.

With incredible illustrations by

Richard Jesse Watson

Mrs. Graham 

tells the Christmas story

from the babe in the manger

to the Messiah on the cross.

tonight their father read 1 Samuel 3 

for our family's Bible time

and later

I read One Wintry Night

in our pj's

and

I received the gift of 

another year of snuggle time

and the joy

of sharing the best story ever

with them!

what if...

What if?  I think I know the answer...  I would be changed from the inside out.  Every. single. thing would take on a new luster and I would take on a new joy. 


I am quick to forget though.   He is faithful to remind me.  This morning this cartoon was on the wall of a facebook friend.  This is how I want to be every. single. day.


Continuing to count with the gratitude community on this Multitude Monday...


... a warm house
... love inside
... my big bathtub
... snuggling with a warm puppy
... a girl big enough to make her own teacher treats and clean up afterward


... coffee with Sweet Italian Cream
... smaller jeans
... learning to cast down idols
... forgiveness
... His faithfulness


... coming home to a rousing game of Monopoly
... the creativity of my friend Kari
... her servant's heart
... the sharing of her talent
... friendship


... family Bible time
... hearing the prayers of my children
... the glimpses of maturity I see
... Advent traditions
... that the almost 15 year old still participates

... learning to embrace more by living less each Advent
... the thrill of my 3 E's servant hearts this beginning day of Toy Time
... answered prayer
... upcoming Christmas break
... the promise of family coming

His name is JESUS!

And she will bring forth a Son, 

and you shall call His name JESUS, 

for He will save His people from their sins.

Matthew 1:21 (NKJV)

All this took place to fulfill 

what the Lord had said through the prophet: 

 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, 

and they will call him Immanuel” 

(which means “God with us”)

Matthew 1:22-23 (NIV)

I need this Jesus... this one who came to save me from my sins.  I need Immanuel... I need God with me every single minute.  I need a Savior... a Prince of Peace.  I need HIM!

Only 15 minutes into today, I came face to face with my sinfulness.  It's not a pretty way to wake up.   It started with selfishness...and a little pride...

UGH!  Can't take Emme to school because someone hit the door lock

and locked my keys in the truck... that same truck that

is parked so nice and warm in my garage.  

Why?  Can't I just get my hands around

the neck that did this?

Now I can't go anywhere today

{my concern for my own freedom overshadowed

my concern of getting Emme to school on time...}

right behind it... pride mixed with a little self-righteousness sprinkled with anger....

He did it wrong.  I knew I should have said something

last night when I saw him doing it wrong.

He only gets mad at me when I point these things out;

but, if I don't, I'm the one that suffers.

He doesn't care if I use this phone or not

but now I can't because he did it wrong!

Flipping my shoes off by the basement door, I lean on the table that holds our advent tree.  That tree on which we place a different name of Jesus each night as we spent the weeks of advent refreshing our memory of Who He is.

I wish I could say it was then and there that I threw myself at the feet of Grace and asked for forgiveness.  I wish I would respond as one to whom much grace has been given.  I wish...

Instead, I stewed and fretted.  I called for a ride for Emme to school and barely said "thank you!!"  

It wasn't until after I bathed, dressed and surfed the web this morning that I finally woke up.  I need a Mighty God... I need Immanuel... God with me.  I need this One called Jesus and I need Him continually.  Without Him I am nothing but a selfish ornery brat who throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way.

I need Him and His name is JESUS~ He came to save me from my sins!

...joining Ann's community

for Walk With Him

Wednesday

I would post the image

but I can't get it to work...

thankfully, for this one time,

I am not frustrated

that this is not going the way

I had planned.

Thank You JESUS!!

He came...

unseen... unknown... unrecognized... 

He came.  

Two knew... an angel and a girl {not much older than my own}.  They brought in a third... a young carpenter {perhaps just a few years older than my mancub} in love with that girl.  These three, and God Himself, knew of the seed growing deep within.


They were not asked... they were chosen.  Chosen for something hard... appointed before time began to do perhaps the hardest thing ever asked of human parents... rear the Christ Child.


In blind obedience they said YES! ... though not at the same time.  These two, young and wise, said YES! to God and YES! to immediate submission to a plan much greater than they could ever know.


He came!  In the form of an unborn babe swelling inside a virgin girl.  In the darkness and warmth, He developed and grew.  God and man together for the first and only time in the womb of the young girl.


He came!  The King of Kings arrived in a lowly, smelly, damp and dank stable after a long and arduous journey for His young earthly parents.  Ushered to earth by a chorus of Heavenly Beings all praising God for this miraculous event... witnessed only by some shepherds protecting their flocks... He came!


We sing...

O come O come Emmanuel

and ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel

Shall come to you O Israel

Oh, come O Rod of Jesse's stem, 
From ev'ry foe deliver them 
That trust your mighty pow'r to save; 
Bring them in vict'ry through the grave. 
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel 
Shall come to you, O Israel!

...we sing O Come O Come Emmanuel in remembrance but do we remember that He came?  He came! 


Emmanuel... God With Us came and dwelt among us.  He came to set the captive free... to set me free.


Sitting in awe and with deep gratitude this rainy Monday...

for me, the gift of Emmanuel,

He came.

the most wonderful time of year..

December... my favorite time of year.  I love tradition and have built many family traditions around the month of December.  I love Advent and the counting down of days.  I love spending a whole month reading of the coming Messiah... my Savior.

We talk about the candles and we read through the scriptures.  We study the One who came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets and to offer grace for all.

We reacquaint ourselves with some of the names of Jesus found in Scripture.  He is the Lion of Judah, the Messiah, the Bright Morning Star.  The Word is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  The Holy One of Israel came to be the Light of the World.  I need the reminder of all that is I Am.

We schedule around the 10 days that we call Toy Time.  Ten days to give of our time, our energy, our stuff to serve others.  Ten days to stop in the madness of the Christmas rush and to give rather than receive.  Ten days to hand out toys and give away Jesus.

December is a month steeped in tradition.  Traditions that get harder to keep year after year.  The kids grow up.  More and more events pull and tug at us.  We can't do it all and sometimes we don't do any of it.  Other times, we do what we can and love on each other the best we can.  This year, we are late starting our Advent tree.  We haven't gotten our Christmas tree yet and our work at Toy Time will be sporadic around school schedules.

This December I don't want to wig out on what we don't do and how we haven't fulfilled every idea and tradition that I've created.  

Instead, I want to rest in awe of my Creator, my Messiah, my Savior, my LORD.  I want this most wonderful time of year to be all about the most wonderful gift of all... HIM!

another Advent freebie...

I posted about a free advent family study this morning.  When I printed it out today for the girls (Emme decided she wanted one too.... who knew?!) I realized I also wanted to print out Ann's Jesse Tree devotional.


Here's the link... it's amazing and it's free... just as is Eleanor's that I posted earlier.


Can you tell I love Advent?

family inductive method advent study...

This advent study has become a tradition for us.  The past three years, all three kids have done this study.  With just one home these days, I'll do it with the one.  This will be the fourth year that I will print it out in its entirety and Ellen and I will sit together each morning and study advent... the coming of Emmanuel.


We will read about the prophecy foretold for the coming Messiah.  We will study about the angels and the shepherds, Mary and Joseph.  We will read and reread.  And, we will color amazing coloring pages.


You can find it for yourself at author Eleanor Zweigle's website.  It's a big download that is free of charge.  


On this first Sunday of Advent...

O come O come Emmanuel

and ransom captive Israel

that mourns in lowly exile here

until the Son of God appear

rejoice! rejoice!  Emmanuel

shall come to thee, O Israel!

advent...

For the first time... in recent memory... all is calm.   The preparation is complete... the wait is almost over...  that, for which we have counted down, will soon be upon us.... an eagerly anticipated advent.

Tonight, next to the candlelight, I'm reflecting on the prophets of old... those who were given a glimpse of what was to come... those wise men to whom the LORD entrusted a morsel of truth concerning His Son... our Messiah... Emmanuel... God with us....

Just as those, wiser than I, eagerly anticipated the advent... the arrival... of the King who would come to free Israel... I find myself eagerly anticipating His arrival again!  Tonight I am homesick for a place I have yet to see... longing to see loved ones who have gone before... pining for a chance to see HIM face to face... 

Here in the glow of the advent candles (that I wish we would have been more faithful to commemorate this season) I await His arrival to free me from this fallen world... deliver me from my fragile body... release me from my sinful self....  

Advent... eagerly anticipating the return of the Risen One... Emmanuel...

advent study...

Two years ago, while searching the web for something meaningful to do with my children during the Christmas season, I found Eleanor Zweigle's Family Advent Study.  We downloaded it (freely!!) and I printed out a copy for each of my kids and we began a month long inductive Bible study.  We loved it and I think now it's become a Christmas tradition for our family.


Eleanor Zweigle and her daughter-in-law Aisling Zweigle have put together a beautiful family Bible study using the inductive method of Bible study.  Eleanor has written the lessons and Aisling has drawn beautiful illustrations that can be colored by younger children as they listen to the Biblical account of the coming Messiah read to them.   Older children can read the Scripture passage and follow the instructions themselves or a family can sit together and slowly savor the moments of studying God's Word together.


Just this morning I received an email from Mrs. Zweigle letting me know that her 2010 Advent Study is available now online... freely again! 


Today, I'm joining Brenda for the 19th day of her gratitude challenge.... And, today I am grateful for Eleanor and Aisling Zweigle and their generosity in offering a free and beautiful family Bible study... and I'm looking forward to studying about the Messiah with my family again this year.