A Blessing

On December 2nd of this year I ordered 3 gifts for Christian from Amazon.com. Two things I knew that he would really enjoy (Charlie and Lola DVD's) and a nice, new, hardback children's book. To make a long story short...I never got them. The same thing happened last year with a gift for my husband and two gifts for my mother-in-law...from Amazon. So, money wasted and frustration extremely high.

This year I called UPS (the carrier) who did not want to talk to me and told me that they had dropped them off at the post office in a certain area code that we live in. Ok, fair enough. Mark and I both call the post office on 3 different occasions and give both tracking numbers. UPS told us they dropped the package off at the post office on December 13th at 9:11am. The post office stated they had dropped the package off at our house (although they could not give me the address) on December 13th at 9:11am. So, someone is obviously lying and I am not sure which one...I have my suspicion's...

So, yesterday in the morning I drive in the pouring rain to the post office...and to make another long story short, they do not have the package and they do not know where it is. I think it is pretty safe to say that I will never see it, just like last year. I cannot tell you how upsetting and frustrating this is, especially since I paid for these items and it is basically like I flushed money down the toilet. We are not wealthy and these gifts made up a large portion of Christian's Christmas. The only thing I can console myself with is that if they were dropped off at someone else's residence, that maybe they actually needed the items more than we did for their children's Christmas (even though they are stealing).

After tears of frustration yesterday, I came to a much better place emotionally. It is just money and things. Yes, things we cannot get back, and yes, money that we do not have anymore even to replace, but those items are temporary in the grand scheme of things. Christmas is not about things. It is about Christ's love for us and God's ultimate gift in His Son. The reason we exchange gifts is because of the gift that God gave mankind...but Christmas is about the love we have for each other because of the love the Father has for us. After having my little pity party yesterday I determined to wipe it from my mind. The problem no longer exists, it is done and there is nothing I can do about it.

After church today, I took Christian to the restroom while Mark went to introduce Elias to the lady who runs the camera ministry where Mark volunteers and to pick up his gift they said they had for him for his service. When we met up a little later, Mark handed me the little gift bag and said "look at this. God is so good. This came from God." I looked in the bag and there were two gift cards for Amazon. I almost started crying again! I am seriously still in awe. One gift card was the amount I paid for the gifts and on top of that, another one is included! Mark told me that usually the gift for Christmas is a gift card to Starbucks (in fact is has been every year since he started volunteering).

While I am hesitant to be one of those people who say that it is from God, because I tend to think he has many other things to take care of...like the horrible living conditions of certain countries, starvation, rape, torture, murder, disease, etc of people, it is absolutely a blessing. I still am at that point where I am trying to figure out the many blessings of God that I know he bestows upon us. For instance, why am I any more special and more blessed than the poor child who is beaten, tortured, raped, and brutally murdered...how do things like that happen? I know things happen because of sin in the world and God does not cause the horrible things to happen...but, do you see where I am coming from? Maybe one of my (few) readers can offer up their opinions on this subject!

But, anyway, off my tangent...I definitely consider this a blessing...whether from God or not, I am not sure, but absolutely a blessing for us in the present state that we are in. But I do have to say this. God good. All the time.

The Prayer and Scripture for day 22 of Advent.


DAILY SCRIPTURE

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was engaged to marry Joseph, but before they married, she learned she was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because Mary's husband, Joseph, was a good man, he did not want to disgrace her in public, so he planned to divorce her secretly.

Matthew 1: 18 – 19

DAILY PRAYER

With the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;

"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,
From heaven's all-gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

You are the Father whom I adore,
You are the Son forevermore;
You are the Spirit that has been sent.
Blessed Trinity, help me understand Your Advent.

Christmas Weekend Fun

This past weekend was pretty busy for us. Because of the ice storm last weekend, we lost an entire Christmas shopping/activity weekend, so we tried to pack it all (and then some) this past Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday began bright and early with Breakfast with Santa, an annual event put on by the Colleyville Lions Club. Mark, Christian, and I attended last year as well, when I was pregnant with Elias at the invitation of my co-worker and friend, Renee, whose family goes every year. We had such a good time that we decided to make it a tradition! Kids choirs sing and perform, we eat pancakes and sausage and take pictures with Santa. Check out the link for more information about the awesome work of the Colleyville Lions Club.


We got a similar picture of Christian last year here with Santa. This year he smiled! :) Elias was so enamored with the girl elf that he would never look at the camera. It was so funny, he never took his eyes off her :)


Renee with Elias and christian. Christian has the biggest crush on Renee. Seriously, he talks about her and asks me about her nearly everyday. "Mommy, did you see Wenee (Renee) today?" So funny! He first met her last year at this event and when he and Mark and Elias visited me at work a few months later, she showed him around and paid such attention to him (over Elias who was a newborn at the time) that it made such an impression on him I think. I am very grateful for that!


Another work friend also came with her family. She had a baby girl about a month and a half after I had Elias. It has been nice to have someone with whom I work and see everyday to bounce ideas and opinions, and questions off of! My sister Triana (whose baby and my niece Victoria was born just 13 days before Elias) has been an awesome help too! As a mother I am my own worst critic and I tend to worry about every little thing. Triana keeps me grounded in reality where kids and motherhood are concerned...it also helps my sanity! Ha.


The two babies meet...and become fast friends. They kept putting their foreheads together. Way too cute and funny.

After breakfast, we went Christmas shopping...nearly all day. made for a looooong day, but we had fun, even the boys.


Always has a smile :)


My Mr. Mr.

Sunday afternoon, we went to a birthday party for one of Christian and Elias' little friends at daycare who turned two at Jump Zone in Colleyville. Christian was all over the place playing with his friends, but I managed to snap a couple of pictures of Elias who isn't as mobile. :)


Elias and one of his favorite babysitters, Olivia, and with another little friend of his, Colt. (Mark is in the background reading updates about the Dallas Cowboys game that was currently playing. He was nice enough to accompany me and the boys to this kids birthday party).

Now, off to wrap Christmas gifts. Goodnight!

Advent Live

Tonight we as a family went to our church for the first ever Advent story time/singalong. This is the first time our church has done this and I thought it would be nice to make it a tradition for our family as well. It is a great continuation of the Christmas season for Elias as well as this is his first Christmas.

Everyone sat basically in a circle around the center stage where the husband and wife worship team was leading everyone with our great band. There were couches and comfortable chairs set up everywhere in addition to the regular seating the Worship Center contains.

We sang the classic, beautiful songs such as 'Joy to the World' 'It Came upon a midnight Clear', and 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.' Then a few people would get up in between songs and tell stories of their childhood Christmases. There was a fun 'wheel of Christmas' that in between stories and classic songs would be spun for the kids' christmas songs like 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer', 'Jingle Bells' and 'The 12 Days of Christmas'. These were the songs that the band would not rehearse so those songs were sung amidst much laughter. All in all, it was a very relaxed, comfortable worship time with our church family.



As we were leaving Mark said to me, "that was fun, we should make this a tradition of ours." I think we will :)

Happy day 12!

Scripture:

'Hallelujah! The Master reigns, our God, the Sovereign-Strong! 
Let us celebrate, let us rejoice, let us give him the glory! 
The Marriage of the Lamb has come; his Wife has made herself ready. 
She was given a bridal gown of bright and shining linen. 
The linen is the righteousness of the saints.'

Revelation 19:6

Prayer:

'Christ, by highest heaven adored; 
Christ, my everlasting Lord; 
Late in time behold him come, 
Offspring of the Virgin's womb. 

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; 
Hail the incarnate Deity, 
Pleased as man with man to dwell; 
Jesus, our Emmanuel!

You are the Father whom I adore,
You are the Son forevermore;
You are the Spirit that has been sent.
Blessed Trinity, help me understand Your Advent.'

Icy and Cozy

These past couple of days have been good to our family. This is mostly because we have stayed in and not been driving on the icy roads, and the fact that yesterday neither Mark nor I had to go to work due to both our offices being closed because of the weather. It is very icy and cold outside, therefore we have tried to make the inside of our house as warm and cozy as possible. It has been nice to wake up and have Christian run into the bedroom and say "Mommy, you're here!" During the week I leave so early that he doesn't see me until the afternoon when I am picking him and Elias up after work. I choose to go to work early so I can get off early and have the rest of the day to spend with my family.

Yesterday, we had fun just being with each other the entire day and not leaving the house, except for when we went outside briefly to play. :)


Having fun slipping and sliding on the ice in our driveway.




When the boys were napping, Mark and I went outside to play in the ice as well :)

Later in the day, Christian and I opened day 6 (and then today day 7) of our Advent calendar doors to complete the activity that was written on a small strip of paper for that day. These are the activities that Mark and I had thought of and written down November 30, getting prepared for the Advent season. Yesterday's activity was to make and decorate cookies. Today's was making paper snowflakes.


Christian and I cutting out and decorating the sugar cookies.


C just hanging out watching Sprout.


Elias was captivated by the lights on the Christmas tree.


My little reindeer.

All in all, it has been such a warm, cozy, (and icy!) family vacation for us. :)

As this is the 7th day of Advent, I will sign off with the daily Scripture and Prayer.

'Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.'
Luke 1:8-12

Prayer

I stand in the Temple longing for Your Presence
clothed in the righteousness won by the Son.
I move forward into the Outer Courts
as I pray for Your will to be done.

I enter the Inner Courts with praise on my lips,
to the Holy of Holies where Your Presence dwells.
There I find my voice ceases at the wonder
that You allow me into the very Throne Room of God.

I stand before the Father who created me.
I stand before the Son who purchased me.
I stand before the Spirit that cleansed me.
Blessed Trinity, help me understand Your Advent.

Day 5 reflections

As I sit here listening to the sleet softly hit the roof and the panes on our house windows, I am reflecting on today's Scripture and prayer on this day 5 of Advent. The subject is Theophilus, who the Gospel of Luke and Acts are addressed. Theophilus by definition means friend of God. Theophilus was also an honorary title given to the educated scholars of that Biblical time period. I owe my knowledge of this to a past youth pastor who educated his youth group on that fact. I had previously thought that Theophilus was a specific person, and while that might have been the case, it also could have been an entire group of people those particular scriptures were written to. All of the prayers are beautiful and meaningful, however, the prayer for today is very personal, as you pray for specific people who you know need specific things.

Scripture:

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us,
just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,
it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,
to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus,
that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

Luke 1:1-4

Daily Prayer:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
How do I share that amazing grace
with those around me who so desperately need it?

I pray for (insert name) who needs Your strength.
I pray for (insert name) who needs Your peace.
I pray for (insert name) who needs Your joy.
I pray for (insert name) who needs Your forgiveness.

It is the Father who hears and answers our prayers.
It is the Son who hears and answers our prayers.
It is the Spirit who hears and answers our prayers.
Blessed Trinity, help me understand Your Advent.

Advent-Day 3

I absolutely love this season that we celebrate as Advent. There is something so mysterious and beautiful in counting down the days of Christ's birth. Advent, by religious definition is the expectant waiting and preparation for the coming of Jesus. It is the preparation of the coming of a person of note.

Our church celebrates this event beautifully and solemnly; it gives a real sense of expectant waiting. Even though there are some of us who have grown up in the church, the event is no less exciting. What I envision is a band playing softly and gradually growing louder and louder until the almost deafening and majestic crescendo takes place.

This makes me think about how it must have been some 2,000 odd years ago (and many many years before) when the people of God were waiting for their Messiah to come. They had so much hope. Many of them lived every day in hopeful expectation that this would be the day that He would come. I imagine they felt what many of us feel today about Jesus' second coming and how some of us long for the day when He comes back for us. This thought makes me grateful for everything He has done for me...and not just for me, but for the whole of mankind. As believers in Christ, we tend to personalize everything. I recently came across a quote by an unnamed Catholic monk, when asked if Jesus was his personal Lord and Savior, he responded, "nope, I prefer to share Him." I love this. Jesus came to seek the lost and to save the world, not only certain individuals. Everyone.

Anyway, I will leave with a Scripture associated with this particular day of Advent, and a prayer. Happy day 3!

'Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'

Jeremiah 23:5-6

'I remember the promises of God
given to Abraham for his willing obedience.
I remember the promises of God
given to David as he sought God with his whole heart.

I remember the promises of God
given to Isaiah as he faithfully spoke God's word.
I remember the promises of God
given to Jeremiah even though his heart was breaking.

Father, You are the Promise-Giver.
Son, You are the Promise-Keeper.
Spirit, You are the Promise-Reminder.
Blessed Trinity, help me understand Your Advent.'

Prayer and Scripture from here.

A Home Depot Christmas and the beginning of Advent

Yesterday, we took a family outing to the Home Depot to get some additional lights for the Christmas tree, lightbulbs etc...fun, huh? :) I actually love Home Depot which Mark loves because we can go there...often. It turned out fortuitous that we took the kids because in the back of the store there was an activity for the kids to build and Santa was making an appearance.


Christian was pretty stoked that he got his own personalized Home Depot apron. As we were leaving he excitedly told an employee "I have the same clothes as you!"


Mark helped Christian put together a mini toolbox. It was fun to see them working together gluing and hammering the toolbox.




Painting the toolbox.


The finished product.

And if you were wondering what I was doing (besides taking pictures) and where Elias was, here is your answer :)



I am excited about starting the Advent Season this year, as I have been every year. There is something so beautiful and meaningful about each day. Our church celebrates this season so beautifully, capturing the miracle of Jesus' first coming.

December 1-Day 1: The Great Silence
In the beginning was the One who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created received its life from him, and his life gave light to everyone. The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out.
John 1:1 -5

Advent Prayer
Lord, there are times in my life when silence reigns
and the clamor of this world confound my thoughts;
I long for Your voice; for the whisper of Messiah
and I ask, where is the Advent, the coming of the King?

In those moments of silence, my soul longs for You
like the desert deer longs for a life-giving oasis.
And I realize You never left. You were cultivating
my heart through my longing, through the silence.

Father, in the silence, remind me that You never forsake.
Son, in the silence, remind me the Word is never voiceless.
Spirit, in the silence, may You teach me to be still and know.
Blessed Trinity, help me understand Your Advent.

We are starting the first day of the Advent season by doing an activity that Mark and I thought of. We had to think of 25 of them! But it was a lot of fun, and hopefully Christian has a lot of fun too :) Gotta go!