Christmas.

It's hard to imagine it.

Jesus Christ, in human flesh--a small, helpless baby, no less!

One who cried, needed changing, and became sleepy.

A baby who clung to his mommy for comfort and nourishment.

But then He grew.

He grew "in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52)

He grew so He could die.

He died so He could rise.

He rose...

So we could live.

My King, You are wonderful and matchless!!

Thank You for giving Yourself.

Thank You for Christmas.

An Invitation Not For Me, But For Me

Last night, our little family enjoyed "Family Movie Night" with our church. The place was packed.
We watched Polar Express, munched on popcorn, and downed some Christmas cookies. Yes, downed them. We love our sugar much more than we should.

I'm hoping to rid ourselves of that vice after the New Year.

 Oh, how easy it was to type that. It's a shame that's not all it takes to say goodbye to sugar. A crying shame.

Anyway....

Halfway through the movie, during intermission, our Pastor came up and spoke. He somehow managed to weave the Gospel into a story centered around Santa Claus, children and a train. Pastors just have that special gift of seeing the spiritual in everything.

As he shared the Gospel, and went through the "pray this prayer" speech, I started to tune him out. After all, I accepted Jesus 18 years ago. I figured it was a prayer that no longer applied to me.

But as I was holding my little girl, staying still in hopes that she would, too, I paused. And I began to listen.
Eyes closed, heart focused.

 The recent reminder from Jessica @ Muthering Heights, came to memory. The reminder to receive words in fresh amazement. Words that had been dulled through the years by familiarity.

 The words I'd grown numb to were as new as they had been the night I spoke them as a 9 year old girl.
And the words touched my heart. They stirred something in me that had been asleep for far too long.

An invitation not for me, but for me.

An invitation not to receive salvation, for I'd already received it.
But an invitation to worship the King of Glory. To remember the extravagant grace poured upon me. To marvel in wonder at the babe who came to die.

A priceless gift--the person of Jesus Christ.

Oh, the depths He had to stoop!

 From glory to gloom.
 From splendor to squalor.
 Wickedness, hatred, apathy and unbelief is what He came to.

For you.

For me.

To give us an eternity.
With Him.

"This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ."  ~Frank McKibben

Have you responded to the invitation?
 Have you received the gift of Christ? 


[photo credit]

Cold-Rainy-Day Thoughts

It's cold, dark and rainy here in my Oklahoma town.

And my bed is calling for me.

The warm blankets and sheets. The cool breeze of the fan. It's a perfect recipe for snuggling back into oblivion.

But I've got things to do.

Dishes to unload.
A baby girl to feed.
A growing boy to awaken.
Meals to prepare...

You wives and mothers know the routine.

It's another day to be thankful for; another opportunity to do something for the Kingdom.

Photo Credit

It could be something as simple as singing joyfully with my children about our Savior and His upcoming birthday celebration!

Or it could be visiting a neighbor and sharing the news proclaimed long ago to some scared shepherds in a field.

"A Savior has been born! He is Christ the Lord!"

This Season is His. This day is His.
How would He have me to live it?
Who would He have me to meet?

What would He have me to say?

Whatever His plans, may I obey them.

And when the day is done, I can crawl back into the bed that beckoned me earlier this morning. And I will sleep sweetly, knowing that the Lord can use the weakest vessels around. The failures, the flaws. The victories. The mundane daily tasks. The simplest moments in life. For His Kingdom purposes.

Amazing.

Recipients of the Choicest Bounties...

"We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven.

We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity.

We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown;

but we have forgotten God.

We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace,

and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us;

and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own."

~Abraham Lincoln, from a proclamation issued March 30, 1863

~~~~~~~~~

As we approach Thanksgiving, let us remember that all the blessings we have been given have come from the hand of God. It is not from our own hard work and creative minds, but from the Almighty Himself. So let's give Him the thanks and credit due!

What a great God we serve!

Now I'm off to the kitchen to prep some dishes, and then to finish getting our house ready for Thanksgiving company!

Enjoy your time with family, friends and food!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Tea-Off

Our city's little Main Street holds an annual Holiday Tea-Off where local shops open up their doors and invite the townspeople to kick-off the holiday season with them.

Most of the shops hold a drawing of some kind and also share a multitude of Christmas goodies to hungry customers.

My mom, myself, my sister and sister-in-law finally joined in on the festivities this year!

Looking South down Main Street.

Trolley rides added to the excitement of the upcoming Christmas season.

~~~

An adorable Christmas store front.

I almost squealed with delight when I saw this!

A Chocolatier. I want to be his best friend.

This store was crammed full of all the holiday treasures a girl could want!

The building itself is well over 100 years old. So neat.

Deco poly mesh Christmas trees

This seems to be the "in" thing this Christmas season.

There were several wreaths made from this material, too.

And then we came across this...thing.

I was nauseated a solid 20 minutes after smelling it.

I was expecting the smell to be pretty bad but in no way was I prepared for the reality of the stench.

Sorry for the very unlady-like discussion.

Moving right along...

"Giggles and snuggles & pudgy little toes make it all worthwhile"

And all the moms said, "Awww!!"

Ok. Let me be honest here. I don't like spending a lot on my merchandise. Call me frugal. You can even call me cheap. But this price right hear caused my jaw to drop. It's cute...but not $70.50 cute. That's just me.

This tree was magnificent!

~~~

After all the shopping, and taste-testing our tummies could handle, we headed to the square where the Farmer's Market is usually held. There we found out who the winners of the drawings were (None of us won. Booo..)

We were also able to go into the city's museum. I'm a history lover so this was one of the highlights of the night for me! Nerd, I know.

However, the best part of the Tea-Off was definitely being able to spend some girl-time with my female family!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

Oh, Christmas Tree

Growing up, mine and Bob's parents made sure we had a new ornament each year.
I'm so glad that they did. It's always a fun trip down memory lane when we decorate our tree. Now, Bob and I enjoy swapping stories about why we received an ornament, or why a certain one is extra special. This year was no different! And to celebrate our first year as parents, I just had to order this cutie!

Bob and I are so excited for our 1st Christmas with Ethan!

This was actually a McDonald's toy.
My mom turned some of my favorite ones into ornaments!

Every time I hang this ornament, I get a massive craving for chocolate
(and an overwhelming urge to bite into this chocolatey Santa!)

Bob is a great golfer, so his parents made sure he had a golfing Santa!

Growing up, Bob loved magic tricks.
It looks like this Santa has a few tricks in his hat!

One year, a friend and I went around to several houses and sang Christmas Carols. I think we were about 10. We came to one house, and for some reason we got so tickled. We tried to sing Silent Night, but couldn't stop laughing!! I remember the mom and daughter staring at us, with a confused look on their face.
I ended up running off and leaving my friend to fend for herself!
I was humiliated!!!

I grew up playing basketball, so any basketball ornament I have (and I have several) is very special!

For some reason, this is my all-time favorite ornament. There's really nothing extra special about it. I guess this one just reminds me the most of my childhood..and I had a great one.
I believe it's from 1993.

Bob and I have many more ornaments. I wish I could show you all of them, but it probably wouldn't be as fun for you as it would be for me! haha.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*~The Reason for the Season~*

"And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
Luke 2:12

Our tree ~ 2009

I love how when Bob gets home, he's excited that the lights are on around the house. It's almost a childlike excitement. There's nothing like relaxing together after a long and hectic day, under the glow of a cozy Christmas home!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
~Burton Hillis~

Lord, we have so much to be thankful for!
Our home, our health, our family, our friends.
But most importantly, we have You:
Our Savior, Redeemer, the Greatest of Friends;
Our gracious, loving, merciful, all-powerful, risen Heavenly Father.
We praise You!!

Are You Smarter Than...

No, not a 5th grader.

Well, ok, maybe that could apply to this post.

Because all 5th graders know that in order for lights to work, they have to be plugged in!

The other day, as I was putting up lights around our tree in the front yard, I became so upset when I plugged them in and they didn't work! They were brand new! I tried plugging them in every different way imaginable..and still, nothing!!

I started talking out loud, trying to work myself through the situation. I took a step back, and just stared at the lights on the tree, trying to see where I'd gone wrong. I worked a little more. Unplugged here, plugged in there.

Quickly, my voice rose a few octaves. I started flinging things around and became needlessly annoyed. (I hope my neighbors weren't outside!) I called the lights stupid. I called the lights idiots. But I knew I was really angry when I called them stupid idiots!

So, I decided to go grab my hubby--before I lost all remaining sanity--and see if he could figure out why the stupid idiot lights weren't working!! Because I was about to rip all of them down and throw them away!

Bob came out. Looked at the lights on the tree. Unplugged one connecting set of lights...plugged them back in and said, "Is the extension cord plugged in in the garage?" "Well, yeah!" I said, shocked that he would think me so stupid!

...but just to make sure, I went into the garage to double check.

I plugged the extension cord into the outlet.

And all the lights came on.

It was certainly not my brightest moment
(No pun intended)

Thanksgiving

I hope all you ladies & your sweet families have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration today!

Give Thanks. Live Thanks.

Our Halloween

I haven't dressed up for Halloween in yyeeaarss. Probably because I wasn't raised celebrating Halloween. I think I remember trick or treating once...maybe. I wasn't missing out, though. I always had a blast at the fall festivals our church held each year.

I'm still not a huge Halloween fan. Here's a good explanation why one fellow blogger doesn't celebrate Halloween like many do--she's not pushy and pious about it, but sweet and sincere.

~~~*~*~*~~~

A couple of years ago, my dad purchased a bunch of little 10 cent Bibles. We decided that we might as well put the holiday to good use, so along with yummy candy, we gave each trick or treater one of those little Bibles.

We're still enjoying that same tradition. Before the night begins, we get together and pray for all the children that are going to come to our door--we pray that the little Bibles will somehow make an impact in their lives.

And this year, since we've got a sweet little boy of our own, I figured it would be fun to get back in on the costume action! Ethan was Charlie Brown, I was a '50s Housewife, and Bob was a rocker dude (with fake tattoo sleeves--he just thinks they're so cool! haha)

We started the evening at my in-laws...

Dinner and some candy!
It was a fairly quick stop, but we had fun while we were there!

Papaw with his little buddy, Charlie Brown!

Daddy showing off Ethan's outfit...

Our dressed up little family...

Mom and Dad having some fun!

Silly faces =)

Ethan's 1st Halloween card...

He really liked it!

Later we went back to our house so we could hand out those cute little Bibles! My parents, grandma, sister and brother-in-law came over. We had a great time!

My BFF and her son, Nathan (Charlie Brown, too!) stopped by for a quick visit...


...and then Great-Grandma finally sang Ethan to sleep.
It's hard work being so cute!


My grandma is such a godly woman and an incredible blessing to our family!


Me and my rocker dude!
(He's rarely serious in a picture..especially after eating so much sugar!)


I've made myself sick the past couple of days eating so much candy!

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like they're obligated to eat it all??

An Autumn Stroll

The other day I took Ethan for a walk and decided to snap a few pictures along the way. As you can tell in the first picture, Ethan is looking a little sleepy. He had fallen into a cabinet and hit his head--right around naptime, wouldn't ya know--so of course I couldn't let the little guy lay down. The doc. told me to keep him upright for a couple of hours. So the best way, I figured, to make sure Ethan stayed upright was just to go on a walk.

Besides, some fresh air and pretty fall foliage would do us some good!

Random--I know--I'm trying to be all cool and artsy. haha (I, by no means, claim to be a photographer! Far from it!)

This pic just doesn't do justice to what I really saw. I wish you could've been on the walk with me to see this beauty up close and personal!

Just a little red sprinkled throughout the leaves of this tree

Falling leaves caught in the schoolyard's fence!

Ethan loved the leaves just as much as I did!

Ok, I think you can get that nap in now, Kar...uh, I mean, Ethan.