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| Company, and lots of it! |
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| Mom and Olivia made all our Christmas favorites. |
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| Clare opening her first ever Christmas present. |
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| Playing with all our gifts. |
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| Olivia and her new bike. |
What a Wonderful Christmas!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Christmas, Wonderful Christmas!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Christmas Poem
Here is a good poem on what we can give God for Christmas.
My Gift
What can I give Him
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would give Him a lamb.
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part.
But what can I give Him?
I will give Him my Heart.
-Christina G. Rossetti-
My Gift
What can I give Him
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would give Him a lamb.
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part.
But what can I give Him?
I will give Him my Heart.
-Christina G. Rossetti-
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Christmas Time
I can't believe there are only 12 days left until Christmas. It seems like yesterday it was 30 days away. I am not ready. I still have some shopping to do!
We've put lights outside and decorated the inside of our house. (This is our first Christmas in this house so we had a little planning to do, but we got it to work.)
It is simple, but I like it. Our neighborhood looks wonderful at night. Almost all the neighbors have decorated their houses too.
Christmas is for giving, but we all get caught up in the getting. We came up with a great idea how we could give to others.
My Dad brought home from work some goodies leftover from a train ride with Santa thing Norfolk Southern sponsored. There were train whistles, Frisbees, candy and little activity books with crayons. My Mom said, "You guys already have tons of candy and little things like this". "You guys should make treat bags and take them to the hospital and give them to sick little kids". We loved the idea! We got busy right away and made up bags using the stuff Dad brought home from work and other things we had here at our house. We made Christmas cards and put stuff about the real reason for Christmas in the bags.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion - to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD that he may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1-3
In the next few days we have a lot of shopping and making food and other stuff to do but we all want to try to keep our focus on Christ. (The true meaning of Christmas!)
What does your family do to celebrate a Christ-centered Christmas?
Christmas is for giving, but we all get caught up in the getting. We came up with a great idea how we could give to others.
My Dad brought home from work some goodies leftover from a train ride with Santa thing Norfolk Southern sponsored. There were train whistles, Frisbees, candy and little activity books with crayons. My Mom said, "You guys already have tons of candy and little things like this". "You guys should make treat bags and take them to the hospital and give them to sick little kids". We loved the idea! We got busy right away and made up bags using the stuff Dad brought home from work and other things we had here at our house. We made Christmas cards and put stuff about the real reason for Christmas in the bags.
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| Nic and Eli at the hospital...I don't think Eli was ready for his picture to be taken. |
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion - to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD that he may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1-3
In the next few days we have a lot of shopping and making food and other stuff to do but we all want to try to keep our focus on Christ. (The true meaning of Christmas!)
What does your family do to celebrate a Christ-centered Christmas?
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Rules of Holy Living
Adoniram Judson's Rules of Holy Living.
(Adoniram and Ann Judson were pioneering missionaries in Burma. Adoniram developed an alphabet for the Burmese language and translated the Bible into Burmese.)
1. Be diligent in secret prayer, every morning and evening.
2. Never spend a moment in mere idleness.
3. Restrain natural appetites within the bounds of temperance and purity. ''keep thyself pure''
4.Suppress every emotion of anger and ill will.
5. Undertake nothing from motives of ambition, or love of fame.
6. Never do that which, at the moment, appears to be displeasing to God.
7. Seek opportunities of making some sacrifice for the good of others, especially of believers, provided the sacrifice is not inconsistent with some duty.
8. Endeavor to rejoice in every loss and suffering incurred for Christ's sake and the gospel's remembering that though like death they are not to be wilfully incurred yet like death they are great gain.
9. Have scriptures and some devotional book in consant reading.
10. Suppress every unclean thought and look.
(Adoniram and Ann Judson were pioneering missionaries in Burma. Adoniram developed an alphabet for the Burmese language and translated the Bible into Burmese.)
1. Be diligent in secret prayer, every morning and evening.
2. Never spend a moment in mere idleness.
3. Restrain natural appetites within the bounds of temperance and purity. ''keep thyself pure''
4.Suppress every emotion of anger and ill will.
5. Undertake nothing from motives of ambition, or love of fame.
6. Never do that which, at the moment, appears to be displeasing to God.
7. Seek opportunities of making some sacrifice for the good of others, especially of believers, provided the sacrifice is not inconsistent with some duty.
8. Endeavor to rejoice in every loss and suffering incurred for Christ's sake and the gospel's remembering that though like death they are not to be wilfully incurred yet like death they are great gain.
9. Have scriptures and some devotional book in consant reading.
10. Suppress every unclean thought and look.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
A TRIP TO BE THANKFUL FOR
We recently got back from an eight day trip to Virginia. We had a great time.
We stayed with my Dad's parents and my great-grandparents. The first night we were in Virginia Dad and I went to a VA TECH game!!
We had really good seats. The only problem was it was really cold! I wasn't prepared like I should have been. My feet went numb half way through the game. I wish I would have worn at least 3 pairs of socks. Besides the cold, the game was great. Virginia Tech won!
While we were in Virginia we also celebrated Mom's 40th, and Ethan's 15th, birthdays.(Mom's is Nov 18th and Ethan's is Nov 19th. November is our month of birthdays. Dad's is Nov 13th.)
It was one big pajama party over at Memaw's house...
and leaf raking party...
One of the things we look forward to whenever we head up to Virginia is Memaw's breakfasts. She makes the best breakfast ever!
This year for Thanksgiving we ate with my Dad's parents. Mamaw made the delicious food and Mom made the pies. We also brought yeast rolls and a macaroni salad Memaw made. It was a delicious feast! Mamaw made her famous macaroni and cheese that we love.
My Mom found this cool tablecloth that was full of activities for us to work on.
Olivia made all the place cards.
Late Thanksgiving night (midnight) Mom, Ethan, and I went Black Friday shopping. It was so much fun! It was a first for me and Ethan but we are going to make it an annual tradition. We got some great deals!!
Last but not least, while we were in Virginia we visited with friends. We went to two of our friends' basketball games and went out to eat after one of the games. We also went over to some of other friends' house two nights in a row. Only sad thing was one of our friends' little sons had just had chicken pox so Mom couldn't take Clare over there. She was so disappointed to miss out on visiting.
We played games and had a family devotion time together.
We really had a great trip. Going to Virginia is something I always look forward to. God blessed our family with a great vacation. We were safe driving up and back, we had time with friends, we spent time with family, got to eat at some of our favorite restaurants, got to rake for Memaw and Papaw, celebrated birthdays and Dad and I took in a VA TECH game. I'm very thankful for all of this.
We stayed with my Dad's parents and my great-grandparents. The first night we were in Virginia Dad and I went to a VA TECH game!!
While we were in Virginia we also celebrated Mom's 40th, and Ethan's 15th, birthdays.(Mom's is Nov 18th and Ethan's is Nov 19th. November is our month of birthdays. Dad's is Nov 13th.)
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| Mamaw got this cake for Mom |
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| and we went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. |
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| We had a little birthday party for Ethan in Mamaw's kitchen and later Mamaw & Papaw took Ethan out to Red Lobster for a special birthday dinner. He loves seafood! |
It was one big pajama party over at Memaw's house...
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One of the things we look forward to whenever we head up to Virginia is Memaw's breakfasts. She makes the best breakfast ever!
This year for Thanksgiving we ate with my Dad's parents. Mamaw made the delicious food and Mom made the pies. We also brought yeast rolls and a macaroni salad Memaw made. It was a delicious feast! Mamaw made her famous macaroni and cheese that we love.
Late Thanksgiving night (midnight) Mom, Ethan, and I went Black Friday shopping. It was so much fun! It was a first for me and Ethan but we are going to make it an annual tradition. We got some great deals!!
Last but not least, while we were in Virginia we visited with friends. We went to two of our friends' basketball games and went out to eat after one of the games. We also went over to some of other friends' house two nights in a row. Only sad thing was one of our friends' little sons had just had chicken pox so Mom couldn't take Clare over there. She was so disappointed to miss out on visiting.
We really had a great trip. Going to Virginia is something I always look forward to. God blessed our family with a great vacation. We were safe driving up and back, we had time with friends, we spent time with family, got to eat at some of our favorite restaurants, got to rake for Memaw and Papaw, celebrated birthdays and Dad and I took in a VA TECH game. I'm very thankful for all of this.
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