Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - from the archives

Monday Merriment - Five-Year Old Style

Overheard in my house:

Amy:  "Mom, if I made a surprise for myself, I would know what it is!"

Sunday's Sentiments - He Knows Our Needs

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, to our weakness He is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend! 

Heard this verse to O Holy Night today -  which got me thinking not only of this scripture:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but on who in every respect has been tempted as we are,
yet without sin.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,

that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:15-16)

But of a discussion we had around the lunch table last week.

Last year, we studied ancient history - from Creation until the Fall of the Roman Empire.  And one of the things that we saw so clearly, over and over again, was the insufficiency of the ancient gods.  The "otherness", the aloofness, their whims and caprices, remoteness, and inaccessibility.  The ancient gods were feared, worshiped, placated,  dreaded. . . . . . . . .

But never with us.  Never sympathizing.  Never taking on our weakness.

Until.

Immanuel.  God with us.

Baby Jesus and the Handwarmers

Each year, our church stages a large "living" Nativity - the scenes, complete with live animals and people, tell the story of the birth of Jesus, from the prophecies, to the birth, the reactions of the shepherds and the visit of the Magi. . . . . ending with His miracles, crucifixion, and the empty tomb.  Recordings tell the story, complete with Scriptures, and as visitors walk by they are shown the reality of Christmas - the birth of the Savior.  Afterwards, they're invited inside for hot cocoa, cookies, and a warm encounter with members of our church family.

It's a massive undertaking, with many folks serving in the scenes, directing traffic, baking cookies, greeting visitors, and sharing the gospel.  This year, Yurii, Emily, and Hannah were in the cast; Nathaniel shared the gospel and handed out literature in the Fellowship Hall; and I helped dress cast members (including a VERY fun group from our Hispanic ministry, but that's another blog post in and of itself!).  Kathryn had a ballet rehearsal at another church, and Amy - well - as she put it, "I'm not old enough to sit still and not talk, Mom!"  Truer words were never spoken.

Here are a few fun pictures from the night.  The girls were beyond thrilled to be assigned the manger scene.  And Yurii. . . well, he's just a good sport, that's what he is.  Especially when it was barely in the 30s, which is COLD for us Southerners!

It was all about the goats for Emily & Hannah.  Don't they look happy?

It was so cold, even baby Jesus needed a handwarmer!

And final reason I love our Walk-Thru Nativity.  Because, without the empty tomb. . . . . .

we would have no reason to remember the birth of a boy,

no reason to celebrate the Incarnation of a most Holy God,

and no reason to rejoice in Immanuel,

God with us.

The Feast of Saint Nicholas

Look what we found on our front porch on Sunday, when we returned from church!

Five - no, make that SIX - lovely stockings, embroidered with the names of all the children (and our dog, of course!), stuffed with chocolate and other goodies. 

I think Hannah was the most excited.  She jumped up and down, exclaiming, "It's a Christmas MIRACLE!"  Well, not quite, sweetie, but it was wonderful, wasn't it?

We were all stumped until my trivia-filled brain happened to dredge up the fact that Sunday Dec. 6 is the Feast of Saint Nicholas - you know, Santa Claus?  Turns out, that the real Nicholas was a bishop of the early church, and made a practice of dropping coins in the stockings of the poor in his neighborhood.  It's a bit more involved than that, but you get the picture. . . .

How lovely to experience such a blessing.  So to whoever our mystery "Saint Nicholas" is. . . .

Thank you!

I Think I'm In Love

In the past 5 days, my beloved has:

•  made me breakfast in bed
•  made 3 dinners
•  reassigned chores to children
•  taught children how to thoroughly clean the bathroom
•  scrubbed my horrendous bathroom floors
•  designed a program for our Medieval Feast
•  given me space and time to do long-neglected chores
•  greeted me with smiles, hugs, and kisses
•  gutted and reorganized his closet
•  walked the dog in the dark, cold evening

. . . . . . . and a host of other things that I'm hardly aware of.

Do you think I'm glad he's home???