I thought I would share some pictures of our Christmas. We had a really nice Christmas; to me it was the most laid back, stress-free Christmas we have had since having kids! Everyone seemed to enjoy the day and we had some fun family time! Enjoy the pictures!
The boys ready to open presents... they were a little impatient waiting for everyone to gather in the den! They actually did not get up until a little after 7!
I just love the smile on Grandfather's face in this picture! We really enjoyed having him and Aunt Susan here to celebrate with us.
David was very proud of his rain boots! If you look closely you will see they are on the wrong feet!! He and Paul do not quite understand the concept of rain boots. It was raining on Christmas day so we went to the park so they could walk in a few puddles... they ended up soaking wet with standing water in their shoes! They seem to think rain boots are for getting wet, not staying dry! The joy of boys!!
They got several new books for Christmas. Aunt Susan was a great sport and sat and read every book to them!
Paul ready to dig into his stocking!
Our yummy Christmas dinner; we had steaks, green beans with almonds, sweet potato casserole, spinach salad (a new recipe which was excellent!), rolls, and birthday cake for Jesus!
An attempt at a family photo on Christmas Eve!
Grandfather, James, Susan, and David... I was taking the picture and Paul was having a problem being obedient so I took it without him...
Merry Christmas Blogging Friends! This is our annual Christmas card and letter, I wanted to share it with all of the wonderful friends I have made this past year through blogging. May each of you have a wonderful Christmas and a wonderful celebration of our Savior's birth!!
Greetings Friends & Family,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!We pray this year’s Christmas letter finds each of you happy, healthy, and filled with the love and peace of our Savior Jesus Christ this holiday season.We are thankful for the faithfulness of our Lord during the good times, the bad times, and the tough and hard times… we have had some of all this year.Here are some highlights of 2008.
Paul:What a year!We had snow for our fire truck themed birthday party!I moved upstairs into a big boy bed!And, I caught a real live lizard!I am currently working on a very large hole in the backyard for a tree.So far none of my collected tree branches from the park have transplanted.David and I really like dirt, but get us some mud and we are in Heaven.I was making good progress riding my bike without training wheels but got frustrated with the process of stopping and refuse to ride now.Dad says I am not supposed to jump off at speed (what does he know).I am finally eating some of Mom’s cooking, but not without a fight.I am an accomplished artist and craftsman with the following materials: green crayons and markers, Legos, Lincoln logs, Build of Fun by Tupperware from the 70s, (Dad played with at his grandparents in Orlando).I love to give Mommy, and any other adults around, mental exhaustion by continually asking “what” and “why” questions – even when I know the answer. I am just trying to make sure they are certain about their facts.I can say that Mom is diligent in working with us to know about Jesus and the Bible.We have managed to memorize Psalm 23, the Lord’s Prayer, and the “love” portion of 1 Corinthians 13, along with all the verses we have had to learn for Cubbies in the AWANA program.
David:Our favorite neighbors moved and we miss them a lot, BUT they did leave behind their battery powered John Deere tractor that Dad fixed.I like to make it skid on the driveway.We enjoy the mini-van that Dad got for Mom, a ’99 Windstar (it was cheap).We can easily carry our bikes, dump trucks, crane trucks, and remote control monster truck to the park, along with a picnic.On special occasions, I can get Dad to squeal his tires, but it just doesn’t seem right to be doing burnouts with a mini-van.Paul and I enjoy the little “adventures” Dad tries to put together on weekends. We’ve watched worker men with power saws on a boom truck cut down trees near power lines, seen a great big crane truck do tilt-wall construction on a job site, and more recently have observed skidders, forwarders, and feller bunchers in action as the highway department expands the right of way. There is never a dull moment for Mom, for I tend to be more adventuresome and more of a risk taker, whether it is a Lego in my ear (Paul helped) or splitting my forehead open at church and having to call 911.I give her lots to pray (and blog) about.I am a little bit precocious; I enjoy pointing out my brother’s flaws.I can see them quit clearly, even with the plank in my own eye.
James:Tricia didn’t realize she got her Christmas present back in March, when her dryer took a permanent dive.Our stimulus check went for a new high efficiency washer and dryer (believe the hype; they are exponentially better than conventional machines).The world traveled, ultimate miser, revered Ringo, blessed our home with his presence for a few days. He was touring North America on a borrowed dirt bike which the boys were very excited to get to ride(circa ’76 gumball rally style).Scott Ray (Worm) came up with a brilliant idea of celebrating our 40th birthdays in August – by beating on his car in a legally sanctioned event.Not like the last time he was here when I engaged the authority types of the local municipality while schooling my wife on the art of drifting (drifting for you folks, like my wife, was done at LeTourneau with wreckless abandon before it became a spectator sport on the Speed channel, is the art of sliding the car down the road or steering with your right foot, recipe:300+ hp and RWD). It was a wonderful celebration.I managed to capture 1st place in the SCCA auto cross with his ‘04 GTO.He was a very gracious loser, especially since his woman (i.e. female friend, babe) was there. We enjoyed their company. Finished the playground at church and it nearly finished me – I managed to develop a serious case of tendonitis that has confounded the medical community of Birmingham for 8 months.The best of sports medicine has not been able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and I have managed to aggravate both elbows and shoulders while nursing the other (can hardly function sometimes). Thus Tricia got to mow the yard for the 1st time in her life.She has been a trooper and taken on husband duties, even learning vehicle maintenance. As you might guess, the automotive business is a tumultuous challenge.You can check out the website that I designed for my company this year at www.driversway.com.
On a much more serious note, we mourn the loss of loved ones and friends and grieve over broken relationships, but through Christ we have hope. A passage of scripture we have clung to is 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”NASV
Tricia:How would I describe this past year?This has been a good and rewarding year, yet, in all honesty it has also been one of the hardest years of my life.The good of this past year includes: the pure and simple joy I have daily of being a wife and mother to my wonderful husband and precious children, there is definitely no higher calling than being a wife and mom; seeing my boys grow, learn, and enjoy the big and little things in life;teaching 2 more youth girls Bible studies and seeing many of the girls grow in their walk with the Lord; attending the Deeper Still conference with ladies from our church; beginning to run (I always said I could never run, yet I find I really enjoy it and actually look forward to getting out to run, in fact I am doing my 1st 5k on the 20th!) The hard things of this past year have at times been almost unbearable, all because of circumstances life has thrown my way, but through it all, my God has held me in the palm of His hand.He is faithful, He is my Rock, He is my Refuge, He is my Fortress and, He is my Abba Father…The Living God is my anchor and He is who I cling to in this life.I share this because I know hard and tough things happen in people’s lives everyday, and I have found out firsthand that God is there, He will never leave me or forsake me, He is the God of all comforts, and He is in control, even when we may feel like He is not.So if you are going through hard or tough times now, or if they come this next year, I encourage you to cling to the Lord, dig deep into His Living Word, and allow Him to walk you through the hard things of life.I am so very thankful for my relationship with my Lord, it is priceless to me.
Bootsie:I am still here; I am now 15 years old.I get my exercise running from the boys who call me “skunk.”There are times when they are good to me and brush me and let me sit in their lap while they pet me, and I still will play like a kitten sometimes.I do compete with Tricia for James’ attention; if he is home he is MINE!Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year; I like to sleep under the tree.
Some tunes worth considering:
It’s A Slow Fade, Praise You in this Storm Casting Crowns;
No More Pain, Heal the Wound but Leave the Scar Point of Grace,
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!We pray that 2009 would be full of blessings of the Lord for all of you!
I successfully ran my 1st 5K today! It actually was lots of fun!
This is me and my good friend Jennifer who so graciously ran with me! She ran a marathon last weekend and ran with me today for moral support! The other girl is Jill, whom I used to go to church with before we moved. It was great to "run" into her today and get to visit a bit!
This is us as we crossed the finish line. Our time was 31:54! I thought that was great! And I did run the whole way!
Me, Laurie (a good friend from college), and Jennifer
Jill, Jill, and me! I went to church with Jill and Jill! It was so great to see them, and I hope they do not kill me for putting their pictures on here, but I am so proud for all of us!
This was one of my goals for this year and I am so glad to have accomplished it. I have found that I really enjoy running, it is a great stress relief, great exercise, and a good way to get out and clear my mind and spend some time in prayer without distractions. This 5k was for a good cause, all money raised went to support the Jesus Film Project. And they had tons of door prizes; I won lunch for 2 at one of our favorite local restaurants! So me and my honey can go out to eat for free soon!
I am late posting this, as I wanted to have it set to go this morning, but this has been a crazy week and I am just now getting to it...
This is a recipe that I tried for the 1st time last year, as we hosted Christmas at our house and I cooked Christmas dinner. It is an Herb-Crusted Standing Rib Roast, (I got the recipe from Publix) and it was absolutely delicious! I thought about making it again this year but we will have a smaller crowd here so I think I am just going to grill some steaks, not exactly your traditional Christmas meal, but it should be good. My menu for this year's Christmas dinner is steaks, sweet potato casserole, green beans with almonds, a spinach salad (a new recipe that looks really yummy), rolls, and a chocolate cake with the "Schmid Family Recipe" Icing.
Herb Crusted Rib Roast
1 (3 to 4 rib) Standing Rib Roast (4 1/2 lb) 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper 1 tsp minced garlic 3 sprigs fresh parsley 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs ( I did use Italian style bread crumbs) 1 tsp dried rosemary 2 tbsp Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Season roast on all sides with salt, pepper, and garlic. Place roast on rack in 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Bake 1 1/2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, chop parsley coarsely. Combine in small bowl with bread crumbs and rosemary; set aside.
3. Remove roast from oven. Coast roast with mustard and then bread crumb mixture. Bake 1 more hour or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F (for medium-rare) up to 170 degrees F (for well-done).
4. Let roast stand 10-15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
This will make your house smell so yummy!! What is on your menu for Christmas day? Any great recipes you would like to share?
"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:6-8
Today I am giving thanks to my Lord for:
My salvation, and the fact that it is a free gift from my Lord and Savior...
The fact that He loved me before I ever loved Him...
The fact that He will never leave me or forsake me, that He is always with me...
My children and the fact that they like to help me clean the house! They love to dust and clean the windows, and they will even wipe down the bathroom sinks for me. David has really started enjoying helping me clean up after dinner. He puts dishes in the dishwasher for me and puts things back in the refrigerator for me. They are both such good helpers, I pray they do not outgrow willingly wanting to help!
The joy of seeing them perform in their 4K Christmas program this past Monday. They looked so cute and precious on the stage singing. They were both stars! Hopefully I will have time to share some pictures from that soon!
Christmas baking! Today we are doing lots of baking and beginning to assemble our Christmas cards, finally! We are a little behind on getting our pictures and Christmas letter together, but they are done and now I need to start stuffing envelopes and addressing them; I know what I will be doing during naptime today!
The fact that my dad came through his surgery good yesterday, please pray for a quick and uneventful recovery.
For a good visit with my parents this past weekend! They were able to join us at the boys Christmas program, and the boys were so glad to see them but sad to see them leave...
For relief from headaches... I have had bad headaches the past 2 days but so far today I feel great!
For the fact that my boys are friends! It is such a blessing that they enjoy each others company and have fun playing together. One of my prayers for them is that they will always be best friends and they would work together and not against each other...
What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to stop and take count of the many blessings in your life, you just might be surprised at how much you can find to be thankful for! For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.
Gingerbread houses!! I guess you could say this is a tradition for our family, we made our 1st ones last year and have made them again this year, and the boys have had so much fun doing these that they will have to become a holiday tradition.
Last year we bought 2 kits, one for each child. James spent A LOT of time assembling the houses and getting them ready for the boys to decorate. The assembly was not the easiest thing in the world to do, but the boys were so excited when they could finally get their hands on them and start decorating.
Well, this year our I noticed that our local library was having a workshop for making gingerbread houses. You paid only $5 per house and just showed up to decorate, they did all the hard work and preparation! I mainly did this as a way to save a little money, as the kits I have seen are $10 each, so this way I could save $10. Well, let me tell you, it was the best spent $10 ever this year!
When we arrived all the houses were already assembled, the boys got to pick where they wanted the house on their little platform, and they hot glued it on for them. They even gave them an ice cream cone to decorate as a Christmas tree! There were probably 3 long tables filled with all different kinds of candies and such to decorate their houses with, my boys were in heaven!! I put the icing on for them, which was already mixed for us in big ziploc bags with a hole in the bottom for squirting the icing out, and they worked on their houses for probably a good hour. We were some of the last ones to leave and I had to make them stop working then!
Their gingerbread houses are now proudly displayed on our dining room table, although David's is missing a few pieces of candy... which explains this rash that keeps re-occurring on him this week (which I previously thought was the result of bug bites, but now I know it wasn't). It seems he has been eating the candy, which we were told was very old, which had had many people's hands on it (we all put back what we did not use so it could be used by others), and which has the icing on it that we were told not to eat because it had raw eggs in it! What ever is my child thinking!
So if you make gingerbread houses, make sure your child does not eat it!!
I love chocolate... and I love peanut butter... put them together and you usually have something that I just can not resist!
Every Christmas I make Peanut Butter Balls, they are my absolute favorite and I look forward to making them every year. I usually give lots away as gifts, but I am very picky about who I give them too and how many I give away, as I could eat these ALL day long; and I want those that I give them to to really appreciate and savor them as I do. They are not hard too make, just a little time consuming and slightly messy! I have not made them yet, I usually make them about a week before Christmas, but I am already dreaming of them!
Peanut Butter Balls
2 cups Rice Krispies 2 cups peanut butter 2 cups confectioners sugar 2 TBSP margarine 1/2 tsp vanilla chocolate candy coating or chocolate chips (I use chocolate chips, just melting them in the microwave)
Mix everything except the chocolate chips with a spoon first, then with hands. (I usually put on latex gloves to do this, it makes it a lot less messy. I keep a box of these handy in the kitchen for use when handling raw meat and other messy things.) Chill in the refrigerator. Roll into 1-inch balls. Melt the chocolate. Rolls balls in the chocolate and place on waxed paper in the refrigerator. Enjoy!!
The gift of Jesus Christ, and His willingness to lay down His life for mine...
For God continuing to provide for our each and every need, and even some desires! He is Faithful, and He is our Provider!
The fact that my husband does not have to travel for his job! I am so thankful he gets to come home every night, and I am thankful for those nights he willingly lets me get out to have a break!
I am thankful for delicious brownies! I have been having a huge craving for chocolate and finally went and bought a brownie mix to make... I am thoroughly enjoying them!
For Tracy over at My Cup Runneth Over! She blessed my heart this week with an absolutely wonderful package that I won in her birthday giveaway, I am thankful for her friendship!
The fact that David is ok... he came inside from playing outside all day yesterday and had what looked like ant bites all over his body!! After a bath, some anti-itch creme, and a dose of Benadryl he was much better, it appears it was some type of allergic reaction.
The opportunity to take the boys to the Alabama Children's Theatre today, we are going to see "The Best Little Christmas Pageant Ever" with some friends. I hope they enjoy it!
Relaxing bubble baths after the boys go to bed...
For my relationship with my Lord and Savior and the fact that no one can take it away from me...
For the gift of life...
Have you taken time out during this busy season to reflect on the many things you have to be thankful for? If not, I encourage you to do so, it just may help you enjoy the holidays a little more. For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.
There is just something about Christmas that makes me want to rejoice and give thanks! Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! I thank Him for Jesus, and for His Holy Word! Have you spent time in His Word today? I encourage you to take some time to sit down, turn off everything that makes noise in your house, and spend some time in His Word, in fellowship with Him, it will change your heart and your life! For more WFW posts visit 160acrewoods.
I am currently reading "Surrender, The Heart that God Controls" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and just felt led to share some of what has spoken to me from this book.
She starts each chapter with a quote, and below are some that have made me stop in my tracks, so to say, and think a bit...
"Surrender is not the surrender of the external life, but of the will; when that is done, all is done. There are very few crises in life; the great crisis is the surrender of the will." Oswald Chambers
"I have been before God, and have given myself, all that I am and have, to God; so that I am not, in any respect, my own.... I have given myself clear away, and have not retained any thing as my own." Jonathan Edwards
"Lord, send my anywhere, only go with me; lay any burden on me, only sustain me; and sever every tie, but the tie that binds me to Thy service and Thy heart." David Livingstone
These quotes have had me thinking, examining my life and my heart, and trying to determine how surrendered I am to my Lord and Savior. To be able to say that I am not in any respect my own, and that I have given myself completely away, retaining NOTHING as my own, to me is a very hard thing to say, and an even much harder thing to live... And to be available for the Lord to send me anywhere, lay any burden on me, and sever every tie but my tie with Him; again a very hard thing to say to and to live out. How were these people able to make these statements and live them out, how did they overcome their flesh and their selfishness? My guess is that they were so overwhelmed with the love of Christ and His sacrifice for them that their hearts and minds were totally sold out to Him, no matter what...
Nancy points out that "surrender involves a transfer of allegiance and a transformation of perspective that ought to affect every aspect of our lives." Surrender is not the same as commitment, as some people today think it is. Surrender is giving up all that you are and all that you have; being committed is saying you will be faithful to do something or to a cause, not necessarily at a cost at all to ourselves. Living a surrendered life is "to continually say no to self and yes to God."
She further points out that "surrender to the will of God is a mark of the truly converted. The terms of our surrender to the Lord Jesus are nonnegotiable and unconditional. What does He ask us to surrender? In a word, everything. Christian surrender means that we come to Him on His terms, as the conquering general of our soul, and say simply, 'I surrender all.' We lay down our arms, we hand everything over we have, everything we are, everything we hope to be."
But just because we surrender does not mean that we lose... as many in this world would think. "Christian surrender brings us what we now see is beauty, life, joy, and true good. We are given eyes to see the glory of Christ we previously despised, and in surrendering to Him, we finally see the surpassing value of Christ over all that the world ever could have given us." In surrendering to Christ we receive freedom, freedom from being controlled by the things of this world, freedom from being controlled by the flesh and selfishness, freedom to serve our Lord with reckless abandon.
Father God, Help me to be completely surrendered to you, in all that I am and all that I have, and all that I hope to be. Show me areas in my life that are not surrendered to you, and help me to let go and give them all up to you. Lord, I know that this can not be a one time thing, show me and enable me to daily live a surrendered life, hour by hour, minute by minute, by your precious Holy Spirit. Overwhelm me with your extravangant love so much so that surrendering to you and to your ways will not be a difficult thing, but would be the heartfelt overwhelming response to the love of my Savior, done with a quiet and gentle spirit. As this year quickly draws to a close and as I plan to embark upon a new year with You, may it be one of complete and total surrender to You, Your will, and Your ways. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
Here is a rather simple Christmas tradition that we do, but one of my favorites! Every year we send picture Christmas cards and a Christmas letter to all our friends and family. James and I have lots of fun trying to write our letter together. This is something we have done since our first year of marriage, and I am so glad. It is so fun to be able to go back and read the letters that we have sent in the years past, they just make the memories come flooding back.
A couple of years ago we changed the approach we took in composing our letter, and now we have a little "blurb" from each member of our family about the highlights of our year. In the past it has been fun to try to write the boys "blurb" from their perspective... hopefully this year they will really be able to give us some good input! We have not written our letter yet this year, but it will be done soon hopefully.
And I just love going to the mailbox in December! It is so fun when those Christmas cards start filling up your mailbox! My favorite cards are the ones with pictures or the ones with a personal note or letter letting you know a tiny bit of what is happening in their lives.
Have you ever wondered what to do with all of those cute and adorable picture cards you get every year? Well, last year a scrapbooking friend gave me a wonderful idea that I just had to implement. We saved all of the cards with pictures and put them into a scrapbook. Now this was done very simply, much more simply than I do my normal scrapbooks. Since the cards are so nicely decorated you do not need to add lots more stuff to the pages.
We keep this scrapbook on our table in the den and use it during devotions. I have the boys look through the pictures and pick one person to pray for that day. It has been a great way to teach them about the privilege of praying for others, and I just love hearing their sweet and precious prayers (they often pray for their friends to obey and not get any spankings, to not say potty words, typically what they are having a hard time with that day). Now, they do not always pick a person to pray for, often they will pray for the pets included in the pictures, but that is fine with me, they are learning to pray.
And I think it will also be neat to look back over these through the years to see how families change and grow.
So, do any of you have any simple yet meaningful traditions that you do each year? I would love for you to share them!
I love all the delicious foods we get to enjoy during the holiday season, so I thought I would take the next few Fridays to share some of my favorite recipes to make this time of the year. Now, for me, the holidays would not be complete without sweet potato casserole and cornbread dressing. Here are my recipes, let me know if you try them and what you think!
Sweet Potato Casserole
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (not canned) 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp allspice 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ginger 1/2 cup softened margarine 1/3 cup milk 1 cup light brown sugar 1 cup chopped pecans 1/3 cup flour 1/3 cup margarine softened
Bake 4 to 5 large sweet potatoes and scoop out insides. Mash potatoes and add sugar, eggs, vanilla and other spices, 1/2 cup margarine and milk, mixing well (I do this in my mixer). Pour into a greased casserole dish. Mix brown sugar, pecans, flour, and 1/3 cup margarine to make topping. Crumble on top of casserole. Bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes.
I have made this ahead of time, all except for the topping, and froze it until I needed it.
Southern Cornbread Dressing
3 cups crumbled cornbread 2 to 3 eggs 2 to 2 1/2 cups crumbled dry bread ( I use a mixture of wheat bread and biscuits, that is what my grandmother did). 4 -5 cups turkey or chicken stock (I always use chicken) 1/2 cup melted butter 1 onion, chopped finely 1/4 cup finely chopped celery 1/2 tsp pepper 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix breads, add raw eggs and other ingredients. Mix well. Have dressing really soupy, about the consistency of cake batter or thick soup. Bake in a greased 9 1/2 by 13 baking dish for about 40 minutes. Serves 10-12
And if any of you do not know how to make cornbread, here is the absolute best recipe ever!! Anyone who eats my cornbread brags on it...
Sour Cream Cornbread
1 cup sour cream 2 eggs 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 1/4 cups self-rising cornmeal 2 oz milk 2 tsp baking powder
Combine the sour cream, eggs and vegetable oil, beat well. Combine cornmeal and baking powder, stir into sour cream mixture. Pour into a greased 10 inch iron skillet. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.
Do you have a favorite holiday food? I love trying new recipes, leave me a comment with your favorite recipe!
"Thou, O LORD, wilt not withhold Thy compassion from me; Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth will continually preserve me." Psalm 40:11
Today I am thankful for:
The compassions of our Lord and Savior...
That the lovingkindness of the Lord and His truth will preserve me...
For Christmas music! The house is filled with the music of the season right now and it just blesses my heart!
The fact that we are on a very tight and limited budget this year; therefore I do not have as much shopping to do and do not have to get all caught up in the consumerism... it has been a blessing! Who would have thought I would be giving thanks for a tight budget!!
The joy on my boys faces and in their hearts as we begin to decorate our home and focus on the Christmas season! Seeing their silly little dances to the Christmas music just blesses my heart, and I really like hearing them sing along when they think I am not listening!
For a church family who helps each other out in times of need... My husband is having major problems with his arms right now, has been since around February, and it hurts him to do just about anything, like put up our Christmas tree. So I sent out a plea for help to our church and two wonderful guys came and put up our tree for us the very day I sent the plea out, and numerous more have contacted me since then willing to help us out. The fact that so many were willing to help us with such a little thing just overwhelms me...
I am thankful for conversations with Godly friends with whom I can share my heart with and we can both share what God is doing in our lives;
I am thankful for the foods of the season! I plan to share some of my favorite recipes on Fridays, so drop back by on Fridays this month...
For still being motivated to go run, even when it is cold, although I am not running in the chill of the mornings right now! I have registered for my 1st 5K on December 20th... I will be running with a friend who has run countless marathons, should be a breeze for her!
For this life that God has blessed me with and my relationship with my Lord and Savior, I would not trade my relationship with Him for anything in this world...
Please take time to slow down from the busyness of this season that creeps in on us and think about what you are thankful for, and give Him thanks for all of it! For more TT posts visit Grace Alone.
I am so thankful for my brothers and sisters in Christ who carry my burdens for me to the throne of God, interceding for me, when at times I have been too weary to really pray for myself. How thankful I am that Jesus Christ is always interceding for me, and that the Holy Spirit prays for me when I do not even know how to pray. Are you being transparent enough with the hard stuff in your life so that others can carry your burdens for you? Are you being faithful to carry the burdens for those in your life who are facing tough circumstances right now?
The boys were almost 2 in these pictures. I did not cut their hair until they were 2, now I look back and wonder why! Paul had been sick the day before but we could not reschedule the pictures until Dec. 23rd or something crazy so we went anyway... Just thought I would share some pictures from past Christmases. (So this is not really a wordless Wednesday is it?)
I thought I would start off December by sharing some of our Christmas traditions... I plan to share a different one each Monday until Christmas.
At our house we celebrate Jesus' birthday rather than focusing on Santa Claus. We do not "do" Santa Claus... instead we focus on the fact that Jesus' birthday is coming soon and we make preparations for His birthday celebration. You should hear some of the responses we get when we tell others that we do not do Santa. Some people think it is a wonderful idea and others think we are absolutely crazy and our kids are really missing out... well, my kids absolutely love Christmas, and they know what it is about and whose birth we are celebrating, that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Yes, they still get presents, we all get presents at Jesus' birthday party, and yes, we still have a Christmas tree. (These are things people have asked me about.) My boys do know about Santa, how could they not, he is everywhere this time of year. They know that he is make believe and not real; and, I am thankful to say that he does not consume their thoughts. They know that the real meaning of Christmas is Jesus Christ our Savior being born here on earth.
We have never had our pictures taken with Santa (think of all the time and the tears we have saved by not having to stand in that long line to see the man in the red suit!) We do take family pictures in front of our Christmas tree and in front of our cross and manager that my husband so lovingly made me to display in our front yard. And we have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas day, complete with candles! We all gather around the cake, read the Christmas story, sometimes acting it out with our nativity scene, and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. It is a precious time and I just love seeing my boys get all excited about singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, it is priceless!
I would love to hear your Christmas traditions! Leave a comment and let me know your favorite!
And on a totally unrelated side note, my kids have never eaten at McDonald's either and people think we are crazy for that... I do not think they are missing a thing...
I'm so thankful to have you stop by It's All About Him, a place where I desire to share the love of Christ and His amazing and sufficient grace. Come back often to see what my God is teaching me on this amazing faith walk! My hope and prayer is that you will leave here with a hunger and thirst for Him and His righteousness!
About Me
I am a child of God humbly in pursuit of God, wife to a wonderful Godly man, homeschooling mom of twin boys (my double blessings), daughter, sister, friend, mentor, and student of the Word.
My Life Verse
"Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, knowing that [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [and not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [real] reward. [The One Whom] you are actually serving [is] the Lord Christ (the Messiah)." Amplified
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