Cover to Cover, 90 Days

I know, I said I was taking a bloggy break, I had started my Christmas Break to focus on what is important, but during the start of the girls' naps when I was checking email and reading a few blogs something caught my eye, and I felt The Nudge, you know, the one that is God basically saying, "I hope you are paying attention, this is important." And because I bend to God's schedule, not the other way around, we interrupt this bloggy break for something important.

Mom's Toolbox is hosting a Bible in 90 Days Read Along, starting January 1. Today she is asking if we are in, and is asking us to explain why.

Well, the key reason I am in is because God said to.

Okay, done.

Okay, maybe there is more.

There were many a year that I read the Bible cover to cover in the course of a year. And that was great, but it sucked to wait until September to hit the Gospels. Then I had kids and stuff got a bit crazy, I threw out the calendar to read wherever I felt led, and then just started reading a Psalm and and a Proverb a day and another chapter (alternating between OT, OT Wisdom, Gospel, Epistle), before finally just reading wherever I felt led. And that kind of worked but I have found I am not reading as much as I would like to. So this sounded like an excellent way to kick start my reading routine again.

But let's be honest, the second biggest reason for taking on this challenge is the fact that our 4 year old is having open heart surgery January 11. (Before you panic, she is very healthy and her aortic valve is currently healthy, but that will not remain the case without surgery). At first glance this could be a reason NOT to do this, after all, when will we have time? But that is why I need to do this. Without the accountability, the encouragement, my Bible will sit, or it will be picked up for only a chapter at a time. But this is the time when I need to all but drown in the truth and comfort of God's word. When I know I will need God's word more than ever. When my time will be crunched more than ever. When I will be at the end of my mommy rope more than ever.

And so I am signing up for the challenge.

Read the Bible

Cover to cover

90 days

about 4 times my previous rate

Will you join us?

How often do you read your Bible? Is there a schedule you like to follow? Do you have a favorite book of the Bible? (Current Favorites: OT - Haggai, Micah; Gospel - John; NT - Ephesians) Do you have a Bible Reading goal for 2010?

We will now resume our previously scheduled bloggy break (but will read any comments joyfully).

Merry Christmas

We are eagerly awaiting Christmas, such a joyous celebration! Our church has an informal Christmas Eve service of Christmas hymns and scripture reading with a short message that we love, and it is early enough for little ones, but late enough for those who have to work that day. This year we are waiting for Christmas morning for presents, with the plan being stockings, cinnamon buns, and then presents (with lots of coffee worked in!) We love a quiet day just us.

Boxing Day (the day after Christmas Day) we have friends over for supper...and the next day we have Boxing Day 2 and do it again because our house is not big enough to do it all at once.

It is crazy and delightful!

So in light of that I am starting a Christmas break today. There is lots of baking and cooking to be done, and Christmas stories to be read.

I wish you a joyous Christmas and Christmas season, and may the Lord bless you.

(I anticipate being back in the new year as my husband has the week between Christmas and New Year off work!)

Christmas is Coming

...in my heart it might as well be Christ is coming!

I love the anticipation of Advent, the preparations, the present wrapping, the baking, the excitement, the fun. But most of all I love how our hearts begin to anticipate, we not only anticipate Jesus' birthday, but also I think the longing in our hearts activates and we begin to anticipate Jesus' second coming.

The presents are all wrapped, just 2 needing ribbon and one to be gifted the day after Christmas needing my attention. Cookie baking will be done today leaving only a slice or two and the logs to be done. Of course I will be making 2 double batches of cinnamon buns, but there is time for that still.

It is busy, it is fun, it is chaotic, and I LOVE it, and pray that each part will be about celebrating the wonderful gift of Jesus.

Thinking in the Season

When I was little I loved the fairy tale of the little elves who would build the shoes at night, and the variations of that. Now I long for the mommy version...when the cupboards would miraculously fill themselves with no shopping trips! Wouldn't that be a fun miracle?

Can you tell we were at Costco this morning?

My mother-in-law arrived for Christmas on Saturday, and is here for 5 weeks. We did have a tough moment, or at least I did when she arrived and I realized how close Miss Pear's surgery is, that at the end of this visit the surgery will be done and we will be in recovery mode.

I am very pleased to say that I am done all shopping for December except for a couple runs to Henry's for fresh milk, fruit and veggies once the end of this week to get to after Christmas and once before New Year's Eve. I will be taking my MIL to Target this afternoon for her to pick up a few things, but I am done Christmas shopping (the Amazon order arrived this morning), and am done the big Costco grocery shop that always makes me a bit crazy.

It is a wonderful feeling to know this! To know that I will not be braving the grocery stores next week right before Christmas.

Now we can focus on the fun stuff like wrapping presents and baking!

This and That

We still have the ick. You know it is bad when my husband says that I am staying home while he takes Baby to her follow up appointment from having her cyst removed!

Her appointment went well. The spot the doctor cut the cyst out is still a bit swollen which could just be from the surgery or it could be that they aggravated the mucus thingie next to it so he wants to see her in March.

I just read the most ridiculous thing, a scientist said that it was better to buy a tree each year than have an artificial one, and part of his reasoning is that an artificial one is only used for a few years and then tossed in the land fill. We have an artificial tree, this is the 11th year we have put it up, it still looks like new. So I have to question part of his assumption.

Then again, my brain is so foggy that maybe it makes sense. Who knows, I studied physics, not climatology and carbon footprints.

I was going to write about some of the special blessings God has given lately, but I cannot think how to phrase them to give the Giver justice, so I will save the details and just say this: Our God is Tremendously Fabulous!

Sometimes It's Okay To Take the Day Off

This is what my husband tells me. Actually yesterday he told me to call in sick. SUCH a comedienne.

The ick has turned into full blown sinus cold for me and cold for Baby. Miss Pear is on the mend after being knocked flat for 2 days last week and Mr. Pear is avoiding the ick, but is run down (one could blame that on work lately...it would make anyone sick as of late).

Therefore we are taking it easy this week, just not necessarily by choice.

Yesterday when I thought my head was going to explode I laid there listening to the rain, a rare pleasure in Southern California and thought how good God was to not only send us much needed rain, but on a day when I can really enjoy it! I was also thinking about the blessing of God putting me in the little family I am in because when my husband came home last night he took over and sent me to bed, and Miss Pear and her sweet efforts to nurse me with her play doctor kit.

A book quote came to mind on the weekend when I was talking to a friend and I cannot remember the source, but the quote is, "life rarely goes as planned." And that is very true, but I realize now that it is not about life going as planned, it is about how you handle life going off kilter and Who you rely on.

Standing Firm, Hanging On

It has been a weird week where we all have a bit of the ick, but we are hanging in there.

It has been a weird week because it occurs to me that some people are just waiting for us to fall apart, almost like they begrudge the fact that we are handing this crazy time, which is only by the grace of God. I caught on this morning when someone actually gave me a firm verbal shove towards the direction of breaking down. It felt like they were disappointed because I was not a sobbing mess telling them how wrong we were to move so far away and it is too hard, we just cannot do it, and oh it is not fair. That would have made them happy. And they would have gloated but offered no real help, just said that if we were closer.... It was someone I thought I should be able to rely on, a close family member who does not live near us. And it was a shock.

Is it so strange to be able to stand firm in the Lord when the storms swirl?

Is it so disappointing to know that we are not a mess?

Why do we no longer encourage each other (actively) to be strong in the Lord?

Why do we seem to spend more time either being neutral or undercutting rather than speaking blessings and kind words?

I just don't understand.

Maybe it has just been a long week and I am tired.

Maybe the Lord has changed us so much since we have moved here 10 years ago that our families no longer recognize us.

Don't know.

But I do know that He is the only one keeping us going right now.

Advent Wreath Resource

On Sunday night we were invited to friends' church for their family Advent event, which focused on getting families prepared to lead the advent wreath lighting with a small devotional, 3 excellent crafts for the kids and a pizza supper. It was wonderful!

The key reason we are using an advent wreath is to focus our hearts and minds on the true meaning of Christmas. So often it is easy to get caught up in the craziness of this season that we lose track of the important stuff. The WHO, the WHY!

At breakfast time we are sticking with our usual Bible reading of one chapter of the Gospels.

At lunch time, once the table is cleared, we are lighting the appropriate candle(s) and using this guide. (lest you think we are spending boat loads of time, yesterday the candle wax barely started to melt before we were done and blowing it out as we headed for naps!)

And at supper we are lighting the advent wreath and reading from our devotional Good Tidings of Great Joy: The Birth of Jesus the Messiah (William Barclay Library).

It took us until Wednesday to figure this out, but at least we did figure it out and we are moving forward this year. I feel quite victorious after a few years of good intentions not paying off and my efforts being thwarted.

Check out this post for a bit more on how they do their advent wreath. (This is where I found the link to the guide we are using.)

Already I am finding that this is easy to do because the planning is done, we just read for that day, it is not taking a lot of extra time, it is allowing us to bring scripture to the lunch table (a goal we had been working to), and it is truly helping to keep us focused on Jesus and not the baking/wrapping/mailing lists!

If you do not have an advent wreath this year, let me encourage you to put one together with what you have, it is such fun and so encouraging! Just be sure to keep your candle wicks trimmed for safety! :-)

So, who else has an Advent Wreath this year? What do you do?

***********

After I finished this post up I read Ann's post called What Advent is Really all About, good reading.

And then I found this post called What is Advent?

Twelve Days of Christmas

Sometimes it is hard to tell at Christmas what honors and points to God and what is our cultural surroundings. For a long time I did not realize that the Twelve Days of Christmas represented different deep truths about God, and I was missing out!

First off, let's just go ahead an listen to the version of Twelve Days of Christmas that I love and tickles my funny bone because I have to get this out of my system first:



(Thanks Donetta! Her review is here.)

How come when my rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas falls apart it never sounds this good?

This year we are going to do something special during Advent with the Twelve Days of Christmas. Actually I am hoping to do it twice.

When this beautiful Christmas Carol was written way back when it was, at least according to legend, written to teach children 12 basic tenets of the Church and was written with the symbolism of the church waiting for her groom, recounting the gifts of the suitor.

With that in mind, here is my plan:

We will be reading: The Twelve Days of Christmas and will sing along.

We will be learning the twelve tenets we read and sing about which can be found detailed here at the bottom half of the post. We will focus on one each day, reviewing the ones that came before. While I have no delusions of my 4 year old memorizing the Ten Commandments, the apostles names, or the Creed this year, I do hope to work towards that.

And we will color that days coloring page from the Twelve Days of Christmas Coloring Pages.

We are starting this week after nap time and I am hoping to go through it twice before Christmas as our after afternoon reading.

We will see how it goes, but I have to tell you, I am hoping for a new family tradition!

Do you know of other great links for the Twelve Days of Christmas?

Finally, An Advent Wreath

I have always loved the idea of an Advent wreath, but each year my plans are thwarted. Either the form is sold out, I think of it too late, or the ones I love are too expensive or large for our small table. Plus there is always the safety issue, and most are not safe with little ones and a small table where they can reach a lot.

Last year I mapped out a rough plan for an advent wreath that would fit on our table and be to our liking. Once again my plans went awry, and it was clear that if we wanted an Advent wreath this year I was going to have to make one with what I had on hand and be creative.

Step 1: I checked my gift wrap stash and found purple tissue, pink tissue and silver wired ribbon that had last served as hair bows.

Step 2: Checked my candle supply and found white tappers and white tea lights...excellent, we are on a roll!

Step 3: Grabbed a candle holder from our wedding to hold the Christ candle.

Step 4: Went to grab the 4 tea light holders only to strike out. What? Where else could they be? We scour the likely places and strike out again! This will never do.

Step 5: Stop and think hard. In the mean time grab the glass plate I knew would be perfect and fit on our small table.

Step 6: Grab 4 quarter pint canning jars....uh oh, there are only 3 empty...ask Miss Pear if she would like a fruit cup for snack. She reminds me that we are making the advent calendar, and I tell her that unless we have another empty canning jar we are not. She grins and eats up.

Step 7: Wash 4th quarter pint canning jar that you made your daughter eat for a snack (keeping in mind that it is her favorite snack).

Step 8: Cut tissue paper and wrap it around the jars, secure with ribbon, insert tea lights. Wrap ribbon the Christ candle and place everything on the plate.

The results will be as follows:




Finished just in time for the night before Advent, and sitting on the table when we got home from Church on Sunday to light the first candle.

Can I tell you how thrilled I am for a make do with what you have project? In my Christmas serving ware I have some small glass Christmas trees which I will be placing amongst the jars in place of the evergreen boughs to remind us of Christ's undying love for us.

Each night at supper we are lighting the appropriate candles and reading that day's reading of Good Tidings of Great Joy: The Birth of Jesus the Messiah (William Barclay Library), our favorite Advent devotional.

What does your family do in this time leading up to Christmas? Do you celebrate Advent? I would love to hear the details!

Multitude Monday 11

I am thankful for/that:

98. Baby's procedure to remove her cyst went very well. The antibiotic she is on did give her a bit of an upset tummy, but a small diet change helped tremendously!

99. A short work week last week. I do miss my husband when he is at work.

100. Our Lord, the Giver of good gifts, the One who never fails us, who always loves us.

101. A wonderful Thanksgiving celebrated with our neighbors.

102. Pumpkin Roll Cake - a pumpkin jelly roll filled with a cream cheese filling. (And all the other yumminess)

103. A happily decorated house for Christmas.

104. The anticipation of the Advent season.

105. Christmas cake waiting in the fridge!

106. Joining our friends for an Family Advent event where we heard the wonderful story of the first Christmas, made 3 excellent crafts, and ate pizza. We came home with a hand out to guide us in our family advent devotional time.

107. I counted 2 beautiful nativities in our neighborhood! And saw some beautiful references to Jesus in the decorating. I LOVE that!

108. A church that loves us, prays for us, and brought us a meal on Monday to help us with Baby's recovery.

109. A friend who spent that same morning with Miss Pear and both acted like it was the biggest treat EVER!

110. Our neighbors are putting up a Christmas train and open it on a schedule, encouraging us to visit and bring friends, so we can include that in our Christmas get-togethers with friends!

111. A very sweet family.

112. A Lord that loved us enough to leave the glory of heaven to come to earth as a baby to redeem His people.


What are you thankful for this week?

Happy Thanksgiving

As Canadians living in the US with two children born in the US who have dual citizenship we celebrate both Thanksgivings.

We joke in our family that we need 2 Thanksgivings because we are extra grateful. This has replaced the joke that we started celebrating American Thanksgiving because it is a 4 day weekend, and for that we are grateful.

But the truth of the matter is that this year our blessings seem sweeter, our gratitude deeper, and our songs of praise more heartfelt. This year we have been through a lot, and each step of the way God has been with us. On Sunday we sang Great is Thy Faithfulness as the closing hymn, and I cried during it. Not because of what Monday morning was going to bring, not because of a heavy heart or weary soul, but because I now understand the words of that hymn in a way that is soul deep. And it is that soul deep knowledge that frames my gratitude this year.

We are celebrating with our neighbors again this year, and it is always fun. She is a fabulous cook who will make a phenomenal meal. And we always have a great time with them.

We will be making dinner rolls, yam and carrot casserole, and pumpkin roll cake.

The dinner rolls are a recipe from a dear friend who is old enough to be my grandmother who prayed for Kyle and I daily for years.

The yam and carrot casserole was a recipe I found when Miss Pear developed potato allergies and we love it.

The pumpkin roll cake is a recipe I found last year when my friend requested a Thanksgiving version of the Christmas Buche de Noel we make each year (actually we make 6 by the time it is New Year's Day).

All new memories and new things to be thankful for.

If we just look for the big things in life we will never be as grateful as we could be. So I look to the little things and find multitudes to be thankful for.

All this week I have been singing the same praise song, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever...." It is the song of a grateful heart.

I wish you a joyful Thanksgiving blessed by our glorious Lord who is truly the giver of good gifts.

Baby Update: The Next Day

Well, except for the fact that she is talking more than ever, you would never know that Baby had her cyst removed yesterday. She is happy and playing, eating well, and having fun. We even made Christmas cake today.

She does have a small red mark on her cheek, and red circles from where the sensors were on her chest, but that is it!

Such a blessing!

I did forget to tell you one story yesterday. When the anesthesiologist came to take Baby I just looked at him and said that no, I had changed my mind and we would be going home now. He smiled at me and said I should give her extra hugs and kisses and then he had to take her. I was only partially kidding....

Baby Update

Good Morning,

I just wanted to let you know that Baby did great this morning at the procedure to remove the cyst from her mouth.

She woke up on her own, but did not fuss to be nursed or to eat (could be the one and a half cinnamon buns and mandarin orange she ate for supper!)

She did good while they were taking her vitals and we were getting her ready, mostly because there was all that new stuff to see. Once we gave her the medicine to make her nice and drowsy she got very docile and was a sweet little dead weight. When the anesthesiologist came for her, he carried her in a nice snuggle, she lolled her head way back and gave him a suspicious “do I know you” look but did not cry or fuss. We only waited about 15 minutes in the waiting room before being called back to the recovery room and she was already awake and protesting. (strange room and strange drugs that make everything spin) Her vitals were all perfect so we were able to unhook her from almost everything except the sensor on her toe and cuddle and nurse her. It ended up that mommy held her in a mostly reclined position while daddy entertained her. She quickly bounced back to her old self.

She was scheduled at 8:00AM and we were home at 9:30.

Baby had very little medication to sedate her because it was such a quick procedure, so by mid afternoon she should be back to normal, just lots of soft cool food today (once she realizes that means canned peaches and pears with a side of ice cream she will be thrilled!)

The way God so carefully took care of her, us and all the details is amazing. The words that come to mind are"...give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever."

Thank you so much for praying for Baby during this, it was very clear to us that God loves her very much.

Thinking and growing

Unfortunately the Bible does not contain any promises of life being easy, in fact, it actually promises that in this life we will have difficulties, that we should not be surprised or discouraged when they come.

Obviously life has been a little crazy around here and difficulties have been frequent guests (maybe not invited, but guests nonetheless!) Through it all, I know one thing: God is faithful.

I am still camping out in Ephesians with occasional forays out to other books to follow themes through the Bible or look up cross references. But right now it is this passage in Ephesians that is catching my attention:

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

If life was easy would I be growing in the knowledge of God? Probably, but slowly, and not as soul deep. Would I do almost anything to spare my girls what they would face? Yes! But I am not given that option, so instead I give thanks for the excellent medical care they have, and turn to God again and again with a heavy mommy heart, now knowing that He truly can be trusted with all parts of my life.

I won't have a chance to check in again before Baby's procedure Monday morning, but will try to leave a quick note Monday when she is napping to let you know how it went. Thank you for praying for us.