Sweet to See

 

It was so sweet to see my daughter and her grandma work on this together.  They did a great job!

White Christmas

It's been so dry here this year.  A few weeks ago we got our first snow.  But, it was so scant that by the time we got home from church, it was gone.

This week we got our second snow.  We got 13 inches!  There was lots of wind so the trees look so beautiful.  It is a winter wonderland.  I'm so happy to get a white Christmas!

It is precious to have snow at Christmas and remember from Isaiah 1:17 "...Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."  God's love covers over and blankets us with holiness and purity.  He came down from heaven to be God with us.  Blessed be His name in all the earth.

Merry Christmas to you and yours...and a blessed New Year!

Remember

 I've enjoyed a Christmas party and a Christmas concert already.  The tree is decorated and I've worked on Christmas cards.  There are gifts wrapped under the tree and carols playing in my house.  The memories are being made.  'Tis the season.

There is one thing that I especially want to remember from this Christmas season.  It came while I was sitting in my daughter's choir practice, listening to the children sing.  They were practicing the song "Joy" by Jason Houser.  The chorus repeats these words: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests..."

This idea is nothing new.  But the repetition of the song and by the blessing of the Spirit, these words hit me in a fresh way.  And I heard God's message of peace and FAVOR.  His FAVOR rests on me.  On men.  On us.  Not because of what we do.  But because of who He is.

It's so easy to want to strive for God.  To want to be more and do more.  So often I feel my lack.

It was so delightful to hear God's Word remind me that He wants peace for me and that His favor is on me.  That is a Christmas gift and memory that I want to keep.  It warms my heart with love for my God and Savior and gives me great comfort and joy.  And that is the name of the song--"Joy."

(Thank you God for that joy.)   

 

 

    

God's Work in My Heart

At the Hearts at Home conference, I finally bought a book that I'd been considering buying for a couple of years.  It's called The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson. 

I consider it a gift from God to me.  You know how God surprises you in His timing for things.  This book has surprised me in that it was not quite what I'd expected.  And the timing is delighting me in the appropriateness for advent.

Mrs. Clarkson organizes her book with the acronym of GIFTS.  It outlines the ideas that make a framework for their parenting.  These include the gifts of : Grace, Inspiration, Faith, Training, and Service.

This book is one of those books that you sit and chew on... And chew on...And chew on.  It's not a fast read, because it calls you to sit at the Father's feet and listen and seek.  It is spiritually inspiring to me.

And so, although I haven't yet read its entirety, I decided to use it with my children as we walk through this advent season.  Kids minds are so much on gifts this time of year anyway.  So, I thought it would be a way to turn their eyes and minds from the world to the Lord.  Hopefully.

Last week I introduced a new letter and idea each day.  My favorite day was training, because each child chose their own behavior to work on to train themselves in the Lord.  I'm sure as we advance I'll have other favorite things we do in the other categories as well.

In the words of "Joy to the World": Let every heart prepare Him room...What are you doing this year to prepare your heart for Christmas?