Merry Christmas

What a wonderful day it has been celebrating the birth of Jesus, who some 2,000 years ago chose to leave the wonders of heaven and put on human flesh.  That truth, God's sacrifice, of leaving a perfect place where no pain or heart ache exists to enter a broken and sin filled world, has not been lost on me this year.  Lauren Daigle's song "Light of the World" speaks right to my heart when she says, "The world waits for a miracle, the heart longs for a little bit of hope, oh come, oh come, Emmanuel.  A child prays for peace on Earth and she's calling out from a sea of hurt, oh come, oh come Emmanuel."  More than any other time in my life, lyrics like "a thrill of hope the weary world rejoices" and "peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled" have resonated within my heart and mind this season.  The fact that Jesus came to be my Prince of Peace and to also be Emmanuel, God with me, has been salve to my heart this season.  What a marvelous and wonderful truth to comprehend.

We enjoyed the Christmas Eve service last night.  It's always beautiful singing the Christmas carols and then having the visual of the darkness that is lit up by the twinkle of hundreds of candles.  

Afterward we hosted my side of the family for Christmas Eve dinner and enjoyed the traditional Christmas poppers with the paper crowns and small surprises inside.

Today, Christmas morning, was low key. We told the kids not to come downstairs until 8:00, which gave us enough time to prep breakfast, make some coffee and ease into the morning just a bit. These cute kids (and their parents) had a great morning of opening presents and staying in pajamas almost all day.

While the kids have been home this past week, we were able to do some baking.  Christmas cookies are always fun and totally tasty goodies that we've been munching on over the past few days...the kids hung with it for a little while but Mom, Whit and I ended up finishing them, there were sprinkles, icing and dough all over the kitchen.

The last day of school, which was the kids class Christmas parties, the 1st and 4th grade classes always do an English traditional Christingle service.  There is a lighted candle symbolizing Christ as the light of the world, held within an orange by children at this special Advent service-- it's always such a sweet morning.

Calvin and Lawson with their sweet little 1st grade buddies.

These four boys are good little buds and I'm so grateful for their sweet momma friends of mine.

I bounced around from one Christmas party to the next trying to be in all the places at once.  The Happy Birthday Jesus parties were all so sweet and memorable.

The sixth grade had their traditional pajama day with pancakes for breakfast and karaoke fun.

Adam and I hosted and attended several family gatherings over the past week.  It is always fun to catch up with extended family and be together.

Arrrrn't these the cutest little pirates you've ever seen?

The day after school let out the D group took our kids to sing at a local nursing home that our church has partnered with.  Seeing the kids bring joy to the faces of these elderly and sick people was really heart warming. The simple act of singing was a small gift, but one I know that was welcomed and enjoyed

We had the chance to celebrate the season with our D group, as couples, at a fun dinner out.  These ladies have been an encouragement to me this year when things were hard, when I needed truth to be spoken to me, when I needed the word of God prayed over me or just when I needed a good laugh. I'm forever thankful for these friendships, and for the fact that God has so graciously provided these women to be my iron sharpening iron.Thanks to my parents invitation, we have gotten to enjoy Pleasant Valley's Christmas-light carriage rides the past few years and its always a fun evening.

Hot chocolate for the win!

I do hope your Christmas has been filled with wonder and time cherished with family and friends.  I did experience the crazy, busy, peaceful, holy season that was and is Christmas, with the highs and lows that coincide.  My sweet Momma shared this quote by Elizabeth Elliot, and I think it is wonderfully stated: "If you dwell on your own feelings about things rather than dwelling on the faithfulness, the love, and the mercy of God, then you're likely to have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.  Our feelings are very fleeting and ephemeral aren't they?  We can't depend on them for five minutes at a time.  But dwelling on the love, faithfulness and mercy of God is always safe."  I do hope that this Christmas you experienced the nearness of the Lord--His peaceful presence and the joy-filled hope of seeing prophesies fulfilled in the gift of a precious baby boy named Jesus.  Life can be hard, I know this first hand, you may be coming out of a challenging season or about to step into one, I do hope that in the midst of hard things or challenging circumstances, you too will experience afresh, the nearness of the Lord.  It's often in the midst of the pressing, when we experience God in new and rich ways.  Merry Christmas!

Start of the Christmas Season

We started this Christmas season by celebrating with the people who make CARTI Cancer Center so great, the wonderful physicians, nurses, staff, foundation and administration. It was a great way to kick off the celebrating! All the physicians involved helped to make the evening memorable and fun. Dr. Stern did an amazing job as he played the part of P.T. Barnum as the Master of Ceremonies and Adam pulled out his guitar and played a few songs recounting the four decades in the life of CARTI.  It was a great night spent with some wonderful people.

Peyton kicked off the performance season with his 6th grade band Christmas concert.  In Middle School you have to choose between band, choir and drama, this year he chose to try out the band and has been learning to play the french horn.  Though the learning curve has been steep, I will say, the band did a great job at the concert and it was truly remarkable to hear the difference between the 6th and 7th grade bands and then to hear the High Schoolers playing their instruments--was truly worshipful.

We are so proud of you Peyton.

Later in the week we smiled throughout the entire 2nd grade Christmas program called Crazy, Busy, Peaceful, Holy.  The play followed a family who had multiple kids, a crazy busy schedule and came face to face with the true reason for the season.  Hearing those little voices praising God was a treasure to behold.

This little guy did a great job on his narrator speaking part.

And this sweet class is just precious--we sure love Ms. Rosenthal!

Then Ava Jane and I had the chance to go see The Nutcracker with some friends.  I'd actually never seen the ballet before, so it was a first for me.  The snow falling and the beautiful ballarina's dancing was truly magical to watch.

These two tiny dancers really enjoyed the show.  I was so glad we could make this memory together.

Tuesday we had the privilege of hearing the 4th graders quote all of Luke 2 and then listening to their beautiful voices sing Christmas carols that announce and celebrate Jesus' birth.  My heart always swells and my eyes fill with tears when I hear all those precious voices quoting, from memory, that entire chapter describing the night Jesus was born.

They had to leave their jackets on the bus so it was quite breezy out on the steps of the Capitol.

We were able to get together with Shana and Cache which always does my heart good.  I loved catching up with them and spending the evening together.  I'm so thankful that God saw fit to have our paths cross six years ago, time with them is always encouraging to me.

Last weekend we got to go see the Garvan Gardens Christmas lights with friends. It's become an annual event and we always enjoy doing that together.  This year we were able to get there earlier then usual, and with the rainy forecast, we honestly had no lines, hardly anyone was there which made for an even more wonderful experience. The lights, the hot chocolate, the friends, it all made for a great night!  When we arrived Ava Jane said, "this is my favorite place to go!"---I think we all had a good time!

I've been really enjoying Max Lucado's book, Because of Bethlehem with In the Manger.  He sure has a way with words and I always enjoy the insight he brings.  As I've been preparing my heart for December 25th--when we celebrate the fact that Jesus came, wrapped in flesh, to live a perfect life that would ultimately be the sacrifice that would enable me, a sinner, to have relationship with the Lord--I hope that you too can carve out a little down time in the midst this crazy, busy, peaceful, holy season.