Happy New Year

 When we came back from Alabama we got our first real snow in Kansas City.  Weather always surprises you here.  That's why it is always a topic for conversation.

Gwen and Zeke made an igloo

Romy really liked the snow.  I don't remember her seeing snow before where she could tell me what she thought of it.  

I have been very busy planning for my mom's group at church.  I prepped the first craft for the kids and this is the example.  They were studying the Biblical story about how Jesus washed the disciples feet as a picture of humility.

I went to a party where you bring some salad greens and some cut up vegetables or nuts or fruits and dressing and you make salads in jars.  I enjoyed it because people brought different things than I'd usually have in salads... like sprouts... but I'm enjoying these large salads for lunch.

An advertisement for Moms of Grace, our mom's group at church.

One of my monster salads from the jar.

Zeke had his 6th birthday the other day.  I can hardly believe that it's been 6 years, and then again, it feels like forever ago. :)  He's my cute boy.  So glad he's mine.  He had a couple of friends over for lunch and then Ben took them to an indoor trampoline place.  They came home for cake afterwards.

Dairy Queen did a nice job. :)

Something I've Been Thinking About

Here's something I've been thinking about that I read the other day, wrote it down on a piece of paper, and have been carrying around in my pocket to think about.

This monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote down 4 stages of Christian maturity

1. Love for the self for self's sake- it's that self-centered young faith

2.  Love of God for self's sake- stage where we expect God to do what we think is best.

3.  Love of God for God's sake- God is glorified for His own pleasure

4.  Love of self for God's sake- At this stage we now fully realize that we belong to the Father, and it is His desire that we love ourselves enough to become all that He intended us to be. 

I've been thinking of this because I think maybe comingling #3 and #4 might be the best of all.  I mean, Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love the Lord God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength... but then the second... to love your neighbor as yourself.  So, I don't think loving yourself if usually the problem for most people.  Or maybe it is.  Maybe if you think of it as loving God so much that it just flows through you and out to others.  That's a better analogy for me.  Thoughts?

Oh, I turned 39 today.  I started my day praying about something and telling God "there's nothing too hard for you" while pacing the floor.  It turned out that God took care of this matter and yes, nothing is too hard for Him.  Thank you God that I've been here for all these years.  I hope I get to serve you a bit longer, but if you want to come, I'm ready anytime and I'll serve you there. 

Christmas 2015

These pictures are slightly out of sequence, but I can't be bothered to move them around.  These are all from our Christmas in Alabama.  

 

Zeke got some baseball gloves and balls. 

Gwen got this comfy chair and blanket/pillow combo.  She sat in it all day on Christmas day.  This girl is into pillows and comfort.  She slept last night with four pillows. 

It was so warm there that we had to borrow some clothes from a little boy down the street.  Romy wore boy clothes for a few days. :)

I like to think that animals naturally gravitate toward me.  Maybe I just notice them more than the average person... no... they are drawn to me. :) Here's a hawk on my parent's back porch.  It did fly away unharmed.   It was chasing a dove.  My dad had been wondering where the doves had gone... My sister and I sang "When the doves cry" after this. 

As we entered Alabama we saw this car with a dead deer on top.  It really made us feel in the Christmas mood. (NOT)

When you make an 11 1/2 hr trip with three kids, you gotta leave before dawn.  We left at 4:30... so we saw the sunrise.

This is a Christmas sing-a-long at the kid's school.  Except no songs about Jesus... which for me, means big thumbs down.. but I still go every year.

Romy got a princess castle.

One of my favorite places... Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge.  The bald cypruses are gorgeous and we saw sandhill cranes and whooping cranes!

Even fungus can be beautiful.  Lesson for me to remember this year.

Here's what we got when we came home... brrr... yeah! 

Not sure if you can see them, but this Hardee's in Jackson, Mississippi had two guard dogs.

Gwen got roller blades for Christmas and here she is with her daddy enjoying them.  She's good at it.

Beautiful fungus.  Fungus among us.

A rare glimpse of me. 

 

Mom got a Maine Coon cat.  One that gets HUGE... but here is Izzy before reaching huge status.  Romy and Gwen adored her.  No, we aren't getting one.

 

A whooping crane.  There are only 700 in the world...but they like Alabama apparently.

Bedtime Antics and The Seven Beatitudes of Revelation

 We all have a silly human trick right? 

Romy is cool.

Zeke's "portrait" of Gwen.

This year, studying Revelation has added an extra layer onto my thoughts of Christmas.  Not only was Jesus born to die, but He was also born to rule.  In Revelation you really see his majesty, his rule, his power.  You've probably heard about the beatitudes before, but have you heard of the 7 beatitudes of Revelation?  I hadn't until now.  Here they are:

1:3 Blessed are those that read aloud, takes it to heart because the time is near.
14:13 Blessed are those who die in the Lord- for they rest
16:15 Blessed is the one who stays awake and clothed (ready)
19:9 Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb
20:6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection.  The second death has no power over them, they will reign with Christ.
22:7 Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written within this scroll.
22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.

and one of my all time favorite choral pieces ever... the Beatitudes.  I think someone needs to write a piece about the Beatitudes of Revelation. 



Part of me loves the stained glass, steepled, formality of church.  I of course love choral singing and I love an orderly and reverentness about worship.  I also appreciate a free and vulnerable worship but not feeling forced to do so.  Can you have both?  Yes, I believe so.  This sounds weird, but my worship is multi-faceted.  I go to my more modern church and worship, I go to my choral music and worship, I love looking at art and I worship, I look at my husband with our children and worship, I breathe in and out and I worship.  Worship is a mystery and a privilege that helps me to appreciate everything at a different level.  So grateful that God helps me see just a glimpse of His glory and beauty.

Projects in December

 December is never short for projects.  There is always cooking to do, presents to buy, breaths to take, class holiday parties to volunteer in, Christmas concerts... you name it.  Here are some new projects I did so far this month.

I had seen this idea on pinterest to take left over crayons and cut them up and make multi colored crayons.  I thought these would be excellent gifts for neighborhood kids and kids at church in my Sunday School class.  I have some silicone heart shaped molds, so I was all set.  I liked how they turned out and super easy.  I had the kids take the papers off of the crayons for me.  They didn't seem to mind too much.

 

Here are some stained glass cookies I tried for a cookie exchange.  They were a big hit and I loved how they looked.  The recipe called for brushing the cookies with milk and then sparkling sugar, but I left that part out since I didn't have sparkling sugar.  I thought they were so cute.

Last, but not least, is a video I stumbled upon and it is life changing.  My kids love it.  With my history as a goat owner it makes me smile. 



 This video also gave my kids joy.  I hope it brings joy to yours!

December- the month that flies

Gwen loves to be put in charge of things.  Here she is collecting stickers for the children coming into our class at church.  She's wearing a vibrating pillow around her neck.  I think she's going to be in charge of something important one day.

Zeke likes having fun.  Here he making a spaceship out of legos.

You know that time you went to the thrift store and saw a huge air hockey table marked down 50% and you spontaneously buy it?  Yeah, that happened.  I told Ben that I'm proud of us because it was what a college person would have done... we still have a spark of spontaneity left in us deep deep down.   Ben has promised me it will go down to the basement after Christmas.
 

Animals

These were all taken in my backyard.  The first... the coyote. 

 

Ok, one exception... the owlets down the street.

 

 

A red-tailed hawk on our swingset

 

A toad.

 

A skunk

 

a racoon

 

A fox

 

 

A close up of another red-tailed hawk sitting on my back fence.   

I also have a picture somewhere of Ben holding a hummingbird.  This place is so full of wildlife and interesting things to look at and you don't have to leave home to find them.  They come to you!  I have never had a deer in my backyard.  Oh, I forgot that we've had a turtle too and an opossum, but I didn't get a picture of the opossum because it was dark.