Thanksmas season updates
Topic: Holidays/Vacations
We had Thanksgiving dinner at the church a week ago and the whole place was packed! We paid for tickets this year because it was catered by Boston Market...it was really good food. We sat around table of 8-12 and ate family style, passing the serving bowls around which the deacons brought to each table. There was a ministry there called Set Free from down town Phoenix that our church helps support and 2 of their guys gave testimonies. This ministry helps get men off the street (they live there for up to a year), requires them to get off drugs and alcohol and provides daily discipleship, counseling and worship. They are always so inspiring to be around. It's so true that he who is forgiven much loves much. They are exuberant!

We sang songs of worship and thanks around the tables too, led by a powerpoint with beautiful video behind it. During dinner, the powerpoint screen had cartoon turkeys telling jokes. My back was to the screen, but I heard each joke because Maggie was reading them out loud and laughing her head off!

Example: *turkey with serious look on his face* "What would Jesus eat??"......"FISH"

or

"As you're enjoying your dinner, I just want you to think about my wife and kids at home."

Silly....but we had a fun time, wonderful testimonies of thanks for what God has done and worship together.

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Here at home, we had 15 for dinner on Thanksgiving. We had the usual, traditional meal, with my mother-in-law's dressing recipe, my neice's mashed potatoes and fancy almond green beans with carmelized shallots *yeah, they were good*, rolls, cranberries, maple glazed turkey and gravy. I also tried a new recipe for corn pudding....it was a hit and easy schmeazy! Then more relatives came for dessert, which we had outside by the fire with coffee and cocoa.

We are very thankful for God's great blessings of famiy, comfort, healing and growth.

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My daughter tried to justify starting Christmas almost the evening of Thanksgiving by saying she is most thankful for the Christmas season. It was also the only weekend she will be here with us to help decorate until right before Christmas. So we rushed out and brought in the lights and boxes. We bought a real tree this year, after years of using an artificial one due to our wood stove heating in the old house. We bought it from the cutest little Boy Scout tree lot, it was so quaint with light bulbs on wires strung across the top of the lot and they even had wood burning in a metal barrel in the middle. (I felt like Charlie Brown and Linus!) The smell in our house is amazingly piney!!!!

And the weather finally turned chilly!

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Are you going to see The Nativity Story? It is in theaters December 1.

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Do you celebrate Advent?

I found this today off the Advent website above:
"Advent is the special season that comes just before Christmas. The word advent comes to us from the Latin word adventus, which means "coming." Advent is a beautiful and worshipful way of preparing our hearts and minds for the celebration of the first coming (the birth) of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is also a time of preparation as we look forward to His Second Coming."

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I hope you have a wonder-full Christmas season!