Wordless Wednesday: Red
Topic: Photo entries

My husband took this picture.
The weekend before Christmas 2002,
we woke up to a magical snow scene.

**For more WW photo entries go to Wordless Wednesday or Five Minutes for Mom.**

El Shaddai
Topic: Holidays/Vacations
I got to go to church on Sunday. Last week I missed being there because I had no voice. My cold had turned into laryngitis and I couldn't even make a squeek. All week I've been whispering and wheezing at my family. My teens finally started whispering back at me.....then they were trying to startle me to hear me 'scream' without a voice. (kind of a high pitched wheeze) They're evil that way....

It was nice to be back in church. I just hate missing during the holidays especially. I love the decorations, lights, smiles, hugs and songs. It is killing me that I can't sing them out this year. I'm still a little hoarse (not a pony, hoarse!). So I just quietly sang my own little alto part during the worship time. If I sing loudly (like, say...in the car), it comes out as hoarse at first and then...all of a sudden, HONK! I'm serious, that is just what it sounds like...it's awful! So there I was, mouthing the words, pretending to sing. The spirit was willing, but the vocal chords were weak.

Then our worship leader introduced a song, not a Christmas song, but as we sang it, the spirit of Christmas was felt in every heart. I'll just post the second verse and you'll see why. And as I sat there, pretending to sing, tears were pouring out of my eyes. Messiah came, He came as a frail human being....a baby born to a poor family, working hard to help support them, studying in the synagog, growing in favor with God and man. And all the time He was El Shaddai, God Almighty..... it's enough to make you shout!

....if only I could!


El shaddai, El shaddai,
El-elyon na Adonia,
Age to age You're still the same,
By the power of the Name.
El shaddai, El shaddai,
Erkamka na Adonai,
We will praise and lift You high,
El shaddai.

Through the years You've made it clear,
That the time of Christ was near,
Though the people couldn't see
What Messiah ought to be.
Though Your Word contained the plan,
They just could not understand
Your most awesome work was done
Through the frailty of Your Son.

El shaddai, El shaddai,
El-elyon na Adonai,
Age to age You're still the same,
By the power of the Name.
El shaddai, El shaddai,
Erkamka na Adonai,
I will praise you till I die,
El shaddai.

Carnival of Christmas!
Topic: Holidays/Vacations
Mary at Owlhaven is hosting a Carnival of Christmas for Blogging Chicks today. You are invited to go and read the wonderful entries the ladies (Blogging Chicks) have written on Christmas!

My entry was posted a few days ago, called, For Busy Moms at Christmas.

Christmas tour of homes 2006
Topic: Holidays/Vacations
BooMama is hosting a Christmas Tour of homes today. Go there to peek inside a lot more homes of bloggers!


Welcome to our home. Our welcome bear is dressed for the season.


Our tree, decked out in collected ornaments from our travels, homemade ornaments, snowflakes, snowmen, ribbons and sometimes dried flowers. (I haven't bought any yet this year)


This is my Christmas card station, equipped with all the necessities like stamps, cards, copies of Christmas letter, address books and return address labels. But I also have to have my hot drink and iPod filled with Christmas music. Charles just got the last of almost 200 cards mailed!


Also in the dining room is our Week of Prayer for Foreign Missions prayer guide. Our denomination does a huge prayer and fund raising emphasis for our foreign missionaries in December, so it is a part of our celebration. This year we are praying for missionaries serving in West Africa, where AIDS is ravaging, orphans abound and demon worship is prevelent.


As we pass through the house, don't mind the silly girls on the couch. They are doing 'platypus' lips and we don't want to encourage them. Actually these are some of my favorite decorations, the kids and friends and family who come through our home and the smiles they bring!


This is our first nativity scene. My husband built it out of cedar (leftover scrap wood) from the building of our neighbor's new home in 1985. It was in Oklahoma and the new home was the parsonage, which had been destroyed by a recent tornado. Charles was the youth pastor and we lived next door. We set it out every year.


Thanks for visiting.....grab a peppermint biscotti on your way out...

I had some requests....sorry to not include this before! =)

Biscotti

1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Crushed peppermint candy canes
Chocolate chips or candy bar, melted in microwave and put in small ziplok bag with the corner snipped off with scissors.

Preheat oven 325? Cream butter and sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add the peppermint extract. Sift flour, baking powder and salt, add to wet mixture and beat til smooth. Stir in crushed candy canes. On a floured counter, divide the dough in half and roll each half into a long roll, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 10 inches long. Set the rolls on a baking sheet at least 3 inches apart. Bake in the top third of the oven for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Cool the rolls for 5 minutes, slice diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay slices flat on the baking sheet and return to the oven. Bake for another 10 minutes. Turn the slices over and bake another 10 minutes. (I just baked them once for about 15 minutes. Cool on a rack and then drizzle melted chocolate from ziplok bag onto one side of cookie. Cool and store in airtight container.

Enjoy these dipped in coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Snow day
Topic: Humor/memes
Need a snow day?



Click the banner above to create your own snowflakes!

Click here for some really cute Calvin and Hobbes snowman comics. There are too many good ones to post them here.

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas cookies
Topic: Photo entries

Peppermint Biscotti

**For more WW photo entries go to Wordless Wednesday or Five Minutes for Mom.**

For busy moms at Christmas....
Topic: Holidays/Vacations
It's getting busy! Are you feeling it.....our old friend stress? I am too and now I have a cold and laryngitis! This is my third day without a voice.....and a cough is setting in. *good grief* I decided to pull this entry from last year, I know I find it encouraging, nudging....I hope you do too!

This was an email from my friend, Sue. She sent it to me in last December. When I posted this last year, we went to church with Sue and loved her humor and sincere comments. She died a few months ago of cancer. It's a reminder that you never know what a day...or a year...will hold. Time is precious and so are our family and friends.

It is a dear reminder of how we can get sidetracked, sometimes by good things, and neglect the ones closest to us! I wish the author was listed, but on these email forwards, it usually is not. 1 Corinthians 13, the 'love chapter' of the Bible, has long been a chapter of the Word that I try to study up on…..it is so basic…so fundamental in how we treat each other…….read on this for a few minutes and then meditate on the real thing.

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust.
But giving the gift of love will endure!

Celebrations
Topic: Holidays/Vacations
I have a few friends, who I greatly respect and honor their choices, who choose not to celebrate Christmas. You have probably heard some of the reasons, and to them it is very important. I in no way want to dishonor that, but I simply want to tell you about my journey in why we celebrate Christmas.

I thought this through a few years back because some friends and I were talking about how to make Christmas more of a celebration of the Incarnation than selfish gift craziness. So here are a few thoughts for you to ponder as we go through our traditional Christmas seasons.... It 'just so happened' that I had just done a study and research project on the Jewish feast days a few years ago, in order to teach the feast days to my kids while we were homeschooling. All their feast days reminded me of our own elaborate holiday celebrations. I realized that God LOVES a celebration.

He required it!

Every day celebrating Christ is essential in our homes, but He Himself set aside these Jewish feasts to celebrate and remember important things in their heritage, setting up lavish traditions and visual reminders for the Jewish people. These were also, we know now, to point to the Messiah, fulfilled in Christ. So now I have no reservations about putting up lights, decorating the house, sing carols about the blessed event, baking special treats, setting up the manger scene and wanting to surprise people with special gifts....like God did for us. What a surprise those shepherds got that night, hmmm?

I hope you are having a very merry Christmas!

If you have ideas on how to really keep our focus on Christ, let me know! I'd love it! And I may add to this post as the next few days roll by.

Wordless Wednesday: Our first Christmas 1983
Topic: Photo entries


**For more WW photo entries go to Wordless Wednesday or Five Minutes for Mom.**

Daniel 1-6
Topic: God things
I just got home from our ladies' Bible study and I am thoroughly exhausted!! But I need to write down some thoughts before I sleep and forget them all. (very very true, I'm ashamed to say) I was so filled up with excitement over this week's study, I just have to say something. Besides, I promised some people I would do some entries on this study and I haven't done any yet! (it's been so long, I forgot who I promised! Good grief!)

We are doing a study on the book of Daniel written by Beth Moore and I come away from watching the DVD each time overwelmed by the information and knowledge I've gained. (and hopefully can retain, since I have to sleep sometimes!) We just finished the first half of the study, which was the first 6 chapters of Daniel, now we have a break until January. Then we will begin on the prophecy in Daniel, starting with chapter 7. I am eating it up, as I have not had this kind of deep personal study in a long time. I love to study the Bible. I love it when things happen in science or archaeology or historic writings that confirms something in Scripture that before, wasn't proven to be fact. I LOVE THAT. This study has already thrilled me like that at least 3 times.

First of all, it is so relevant to today. Right away, she began showing us the comparisons of today's American/Western culture and the ancient culture of Babylon. We are just like Babylon! Yikes, it is so clear. The mindset in Babylon was as described in Isaiah 47, on the fall of Babylon.

You have trusted in your wickedness
and have said, 'No one sees me.'
Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you
when you say to yourself,
'I am, and there is none besides me.'
Isaiah 47:10

I am and there is none besides me. It reeks of pride and self-centeredness and rebellion. Yikes, indeed....

Chapter one is all about the captivity. The prophets of old warned the Jewish nation time and time again that they would be taken captive and lose their land if they did not follow Jehovah. It is interesting that where He takes them is back to where they began. Back to Babel....where the people tried to build a tower to reach Heaven. Their pride brought them down and scattered them to the ends of the earth. Daniel and his 3 friends do not conform in captivity to their captors' society like the other young people do. God uses them in great ways and they will forever be honored for it. What/who is holding you captive? Don't get comfy there.

Chapter two blew me away with it's prophesy and history. The statue that Nebuchadnezzar has a dream about represented the kingdoms, beginning with his, that would be the great kingdoms through history until the time of Christ, whose kingdom is the rock that flew down from the heavens and destroyed their earthly kingdoms. The head was gold, arms and chest of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, feet of iron mixed with baked clay. The minerals decreased in value as they went down, but increased in strength. And do you see how our very culture is increasing in strength but diminishing in value....in morality. And that is just a nutshell! There is so much more.

Chapter three is about the 3 friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I can't even think about them without the Veggies Tales Rack, Shack and Benny scenes going through my head! But I managed to make it through the study on chapter three and actually supress that and learn something. It's actually an awesome story of these 3 young men's courageous faithfulness to God and His bringing them through the fires unharmed. They didn't even smell like smoke! But interestingly, there was one thing that did burn....the bonds on their hands and feet fell off. =) Amen?

Chapter four: "Farewell Lessons from Nebuchadnezzar" was an uncomfortable study. King Neb. (as I will refer to him) was not a good learner, poor guy. After vowing allegiance to the God of Israel in the end of chapter 3, he goes on into chapter 4 making some very bad mistakes. They are mistakes we can make too when we live in Babylon. 1) Losing touch with the poor, (Daniel 4:27) and 2) Losing touch with our own poverty of spirit (Daniel 4:28-30). While standing out on his balcony, viewing his awesome city, he praised HIMSELF and his 'majesty'. Poverty of spirit is knowing that we are nothing without Christ. He is our strength and nothing we do is successful because of ourselves, but because of His grace. King Neb. paid severe consequences when his self-praise came rolling off of his tongue. While the words were still rolling, God told him what was about to happen and it immediately did. One minute you're up on your balcony loving on yourself and the next minute you're going stark raving MAD, eating grass and growing hair all over your body. Ummm, yikes again.....humility and caring for the poor go a long way people. In Beth Moore's words, "....learn [this lesson] in the classroom and not on a field trip."

Now these things occurred as an examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 1 Corinthians 10:6

Thirty years pass before chapter 5 comes to begin. Now Belshazzar has come to be king and he is a piece of work! He throws a huge party and brings in the gold vessels that the Babylonians had pillaged from the Temple in Jerusalem and brought back with them when they brought the Israelites into captivity. All these years, the articles from the Temple had been in storage…until Belshazzar’s wild party. They pour their wine and toast their gods with the very vessels that God had consecrated for holy use. A hand appears…spooky….and while they are all freaking out, God writes a little message to Belshazzar on the plaster of the wall. He tells him he has been examined and found wanting. That very night his kingdom would be taken. Then the Medes and Persians come in, kill him and take over the kingdom. Wow, very abruptly, the Babylonian kingdom comes to an end.

20In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:20-21, 26

We are God’s vessels, set apart as holy by Him for His purposes. Satan wants to use you for his purpose and defile you just as Belshazzar did with the Temple articles. In what ways has Satan tried to put you to use to defile you and to dishonor God? Has he used you in any way to distract and thwart the work of His Church? It's amazing all the things He showed me as I went through this week's study on ways Satan's tried to use me, to defile me. It was very eye-opening.

Chapter 6, “In the lion’s den” find Daniel in trouble for having holy habits. He prays several times a day at an open window, specifically, it says he ‘gave thanks’. The corrupt men who attend the king trick him into making a rule that no one is to pray to any other god but the king. (twisted, but a culturally accepted thing…..it vaguely reminds me of our culture’s insistence on being politically correct and giving your honor to society instead of to Truth) Daniel’s holy habits though, have prepared him to stand the test of faith, to refuse to bow and consequently to be thrown into a den of hungry lions. God delivers Daniel from the lions, shuts their mouths, and the king then honors the God of Daniel. Our enemy is also a prowling lion. (1 Peter 5:8-9) We need to develop those holy habits of faithful praying and of sharpening our only weapon against him…..the Word of God, our sword of the Spirit. Then when trials hit us in the face when we least expect it, our tendency will be to call on the Lord and trust Him instead of panicking or becoming paralyzed by fear. There is too much in this part of the study to convey here too.

I’m so glad to be a part of this study…so glad to be learning something so very relevant and fresh, yet thousands of years old. God has a way of working that is so cool…He gets people from all over the world interested in certain things…all at the same time. I know so many people who are studying the book of Daniel right now. It is the forerunner to the book of Revelation and it has been promised to us by Beth Moore herself, to be a really interesting ride through the prophesy section of Daniel. I can’t wait!

You can find this study for sale at lifeway.com. I’m not trying to sell it, but you may be interested in it after my little spiel here.

And yes, Hannah, I loved her story about her dogs. Beth Moore told a story on tonight's dvd. She was all set to do a phone interview with a radio station, live, at her house. Her kids and husband were not there to give her total concentration and she put one dog in the house in a room and the other outside with the curtains closed. The phone interview got underway and the dogs started barking…all the way through the interview. She eventually backed herself into a small closet and shut the door in order to be able to concentrate and do the interview and stayed there until it was over, an hour later! It was such a funny story because I can see it all perfectly. My dogs are pills too. She was so mad at those dogs that she didn’t speak to them the rest of the day. She replayed the whole ‘conversation’ that the dogs were having, loudly, during her interview. She got up the next morning to give them their morning biscuit and said, “ok, which one of you is the bad dog? Wag your tail.” And of course they were both wagging like crazy. She sounds just like me, talking to/about my dogs. I’m glad I’m not the only freakishly strange dog interpreter in the world. =) (I wonder if she sings to them too?)

Identify yerselves, me matey....
Topic: People/Family stories
My sister is having fun with her new caller ID. It actually tells you out loud who is calling. It concerns them though, when my family calls her. She thinks that perhaps we are pirates. I"m so glad to be of entertainment to her when I call, as her Caller ID announces my husband's name aloud (last name disguised as to protect his identity):

****, Charles R.

Which doesn't look very piratey. But when said in a computerized voice it holds the R out ever so slightly, as if saying, "Aaarrrrr" in a gravelly computer voice.

So now I"m usually greeted on the phone by her with "Arrrrrr, it's Charles ****. Arrrrr"

So my question is: where can I find one of those shoulder parrots?

=)

Ringing in the holidays
Topic: God things
Today it was just me and Maggie here at home. Our two teen daughters and Charles attended the Acqire the Fire youth evangelism conference with our youth group. So Maggie and I cut and baked bunches of gingerbread men (and a few ladies) and we hunkered down with blankets in between batches to watch some movies on the Halmark Movie Channel. This afternoon from 3pm til 8pm, the channel had 2 American Girl movies. That's five hours people! In order to make room on the video we were recording for both movies, we were trying to catch all the commercials and pause the tape so we didn't have a bunch of commercials to fast forward through.

In the midst of commercials about refrigerated cookie dough, restaurants, shopping online, cereal, men enjoying their soup waaaay too much, popcorn, candy, jewelry, cell phones, cavemen being offended, holiday movie ads, and ads for men with special needs that really should not be shown during children's movies (!), one commercial kept catching me off guard...every time! I've seen this commercial before, but it captures me, it just about sends me to my knees and definitely brings tears to my eyes, causes a catch in my throat, and a prayer to my mind. It is a Salvation Army commercial. Have you seen it?

A disaster scene with fire.... a bell rings and as the camera pans out, you see a Salvation Army bell ringer standing amid the flames ringing the bell. Then you see a man, collapsed from alcohol consumption, a bell ringer standing near, ringing. A flood scene and a family on a roof trying to escape the waters, and there is a bell ringer beside them, ringing. The ringer is shown in many traumatic, desperate situations, ringing as if to get our attention. I see those scenes in my mind now, as I walk past bell ringers in front of stores. I hear them ringing as we're getting out of our car and I search for change for Maggie to put in the collection bucket.

The commercial brings it all together, it makes a connection between the anonymous ringer with the red kettle and what the money is helping to accomplish. The Salvation Army really is there during disasters or for people who are hurting with no one to help them. That they do it in the name of Christ is absolutely the icing on the cake!

They're doing the work of the church....throw your change in and make change happen.

Movie review: The Nativity Story
Topic: God things
Charles and I found ourselves with no kids this afternoon, so we went to the movies. It was opening day for The Nativity Story, so we bought our tickets an hour and a half early, then went to lunch while we waited. We got back to the theater 20 minutes early to get good seats. (I like to sit in the front row of the second section, where there is a railing in front of you instead of a tall man's bobbing head.) There was only one other man in the entire theater and by the time the previews began, only 5 more had come in! I couldn't believe it didn't get more of an audience on it's first day...but it was only 1:30 in the afternoon, so I'm hoping that was the only reason.

The movie begins right away...no opening credits....with a view of the cloudy, heavenly looking sky. In front of the clouds, come the written words giving the setting of the movie. The Roman empire has taken over Israel and is oppressing the people. All the while they are waiting for their Messiah to come and deliver them. The only sound is the song O Come O Come Emmanuel being sung in Latin (I think?) This is one of my husband's favorite Christmas songs.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Most of the story is set before the birth of Jesus. It is a story about Mary and Joseph, and it is a beautiful story, very Biblical and yet very creative and thoughtful. There is much strife in the daily life of the Jews. The Roman soldiers are in a lot of scenes, giving the strong presence of oppression and hardship.

Within Mary, there are struggles. Keisha Castle-Hughes did an excellent portrayal of this young woman who was placed in a very difficult circumstance of being pregnant out of wedlock. (And I never thought of Whale Rider once, as I thought I would.) She knew it was from God and gained confidence with the confirmation of Elizabeth and of Joseph being assured by an angel. She was not portrayed as a starry eyed, mystical woman, but in a very real way, as a baffled young woman. She struggled with being between childhood and a woman, she was very unsure of Joseph's proposal and at first did not want to marry him, she was often disheveled looking and dirty, and when she began to be in labor on the way to Bethlehem, true panic and fear was evident in both Mary and Joseph.

Joseph was a complete surprise to me....a very pleasant surprise! He was a wonderful character. I read that the only thing they could glean from the Bible about Joseph was that he was a righteous man. So his strength of character was really played up and done in a way that was loving and self sacrificial, yet protective. He jokes to Mary as they head out of Nazareth on their journey to Bethlehem, under the judgemental glares of their friends and neighbors, "We will really be missed, eh?" Their growing in love is a beautiful part of the movie. I won't spoil it for you by giving the details. =)

UPDATE: E-mom, at Chrysalis has an interview up, with Oscar Isaac, the man who portrays Joseph! He did a great job and truly was my favorite character in the movie.

One of the most enjoyable things about the movie for Charles and I was the scenery and daily customs of Israel that moved naturally throughout the story line. We were able to go to Israel last year and were recognizing a lot of things in the movie. I loved the scenes in the olive groves, the journeying up into Jerusalem, with the Temple gleaming, majestic on the Temple mount. The sheep and shepherds around Bethlehem reminded me of a few years ago, when I heard a story about the hills around Bethlehem. They were famous for producing flawless lambs for the Temple for sacrifice at Passover. Jesus, the Lamb of God was born there too, with the hills of Jerusalem looming over. And it was the shepherds who God chose to first announce the news to. I am not sure of the authenticity of the information in that story, but the thought was definitely interesting!

There are a few violent scenes, but no violence is on camera. There are 2 dead men hung on trees along the road while Mary is going back to Nazareth. There is a quick scene of men dying on crosses, there is a scene of Roman soldiers pillaging homes to find baby boys to murder, and the cruelty of Roman soldiers is shown throughout.

The only thing I was disappointed about was that there was no scene after Jesus' birth when they went to the Temple to dedicate him...... no Simeon or Anna. The Magi scenes were delightful, sometimes humorous, and the gift giving scene was quite moving.

There is so much more to mention, but I will just say, go see the movie! It is not the solemn, predictable story you've seen a hundred times. It is fresh, intriguing and thoughtfully done, really delving into the characters of the story. And when the baby is born, the scene is so touching, I had big old tears running down my face.

I loved it! Go see it!

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas, Arizona Style
Topic: Photo entries


**For more WW photo entries go to Wordless Wednesday or Five Minutes for Mom.**

Talking blog?
Topic: Other
I noticed yesterday that my blog has been uttering words. Do not be alarmed, it's only an advertisement on the top of the page. Simply push the button that says sound off. My appologies....it's a free blog, so they do advertise without my permission on here.

Also, here is a helpful tool if you check on a lot of blogs each day to see if there is a new post. It's called bloglines, www.bloglines.com and it's free. After putting in all the blog addresses you would like to keep track of, you bookmark your bloglines page. My daughter saw the bookmark for my bloglines and was amazed that there was a service to keep track of your favorite blogs for you. Your page will have a list of blogs that you've subscribed to and the ones with new information added will be highlighted. That way you only check in on your favorite blogs when there is something new to see and you never miss an entry. I've been using it for over a month now and it is very very helpful!

Oh, I love this verse of the day today,

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach
and admonish one another with all wisdom...
Colossians 3:16

And speaking of admonishment, I was visiting e-mom's e-magazine, Chrysalis on which she has posted a really good article on postmodernist subjective truth and classic literature. Just go read it.... =)