Multitude Mondays

178. snow, snow, snow

179. Dysarts letting us use their vehicle while we get our car fixed
180. Maddie coming down this morning, during my quiet time, waiting expectantly in front of me, I skootched over and in she squeezed, next to me in "my chair"
181. Jake playing with me on Sundays...his style and expression add so much to the songs we play....I play guitar, but he PLAYS guitar
182. a laundry room littered with 5x the wet mittens, hats, boots, snowpants and coats.....you know the smell wet mittens make too....as much as the mess drives me crazy - my heart warms to see the signs of children and fun

183. Les Miserables audiobook, knitting, children gathering around - enraptured by the story
184. curling ribbon - loved doing it as a kid and now I'm teaching my children to do it

185. snowball fights

186. growth....each time I stand in my kitchen, I'm amazed by the new growth on plants that were near death when I got them, remembering all the leaves that fell off the first few days and how I doubted the plants were going to live, and to now see the new growth shooting and growing towards the light....how alike we are to these plants....dead to our sin, dying without His touch and then we receive it and go thru seasons of shedding our sins, while at the same time our growth is doggedly moving towards Him, just like the plant growing towards the light..

187. God's lessons in the insignificant, the plant, the messy laundry room, the whispers in my soul convicting me of my sinful heart and attitude towards others
188. making gifts for others...it is a labor of love
189. grandparents who take the kids for "24 hours" so I can hole up and tackle Christmas projects
190. Rachelle, my niece, who upon hearing how many fleece blankets I still had to finish, came over and sat around my table for ~3 hours to help me finish them...she has such a loving heart
191. this list...when I started it, I had to "work" at seeing 10 things I was thankful for....now it's hard to stop at 10. In and of itself is a blessing because every day I'm looking for things I'm thankful for and feel as if my eyes are opened to God more and more because of it

192. Allie coming to church with us....so cute to see her sitting in the row with my children...once worship is over and I'm sitting near them, up she crawls onto my lap..
193. feeling God's blessing on my worship time this past Sunday
194.  the bigfoot captured on film in our woods

Brought our Family to Tears

Click on the link below to listen to a hilarious rendition of O Holy Night. You've gotta listen all the way through too - it brought our family to tears!

http://www.musicademy.com/2009/12/worship-gaffe-2-christmas-carol-nightmare/

Advent Traditions

I'm sure that our family doesn't celebrate Advent....waiting....as some families do, but it is a special tradition that we look forward to in our home.  We always start by having a child light our advent candles.  We light all of them and I know their color and lighting is supposed to have significance, but we just enjoy seeing them all lit every night.
 

Then we usually sing, "Mary's Star Path" while Nater usually moves our wooden Mary and Joseph to the next star and places the now empty star up in the "sky" behind our nativity scene. 

 

The song we sing goes like this:

On the golden star path walking, 

Mother Mary travels far,

Brings to us the light of heaven,

Brighter than the brightest star.

Moonbeams shine for Mother Mary,

Bells of heaven sweetly ring,

All the earth is hushed to listen,

When the angels' voices sing.

Soft her footsteps on the starpath,

Stardust sprinkled in her way,

Mary brings to us the Christ child,

Brighter than the brightest day.

After that  we then do our Jesse Advent Devotional by Ann VosKamp, which means someone reads from our bible the passage assigned for that day, then I read the devotional that goes with it.  My poor family, often has be wait as I read because so often I am moved to tears by her words.

 Then Maddie or Nate usually hang the Jesse Ornament for that day on our wreath.  

 On Sundays only, we read a chapter from Mary's First Christmas, then we blow out the candles and pray.

 Every year our advent time has looked a little different, but I think this is to stay....I've really gotten the emphasis this year that advent is waiting in hope....looking to how Israel waited in hope for the Messiah and how it was also meant for us.  

I read this quote today by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and thought it describes advent well. 

“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes - and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent." 

Thank you Jesus for opening my prison cell door!

The End....

Today was the last gathering of myself and my two neighbors, Kristen and Amy, to discuss a book we've been reading together titled, "If You Want To Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat".  I'm hoping that once we get past the holidays, this will not be the end of this time together, but we will continue to make time for one another and for Him.

Our meetings haven't always been weekly.  We've adjusted to school demands, life demands, and health demands when necessary, but have always come back to treasuring the time we've set aside, not just to grow in our understanding of God, but to grow in our relationships together as well.  Amy & Kristen are beautiful ladies, inside and out, that I am sooo blessed to know.

I am so excited for what the future holds for all of us.  Not just in good times, but also in trying times because I know the things we discussed over the past 6 months, we will draw on and grow closer and closer to Him.

The author said it best, "From this point on, for the rest of your life, every time you walk on the water, each time you trust God and seek to discern and obey his calling on your life, your God will get bigger, and your worship will grow deeper, richer, and stronger."

A Place to Rest

There has been a preferred place to rest, read, knit, do advent from in the Sinnaeve household.   It is a green, comfy chair that the Sinnaeve grandparents have passed onto us, since they are getting new furniture.  It's not uncommon to hear, "Move, that's my spot."  "I was here first."  "Skootch, I'm sitting there too. "

During read aloud time or advent, there's usually me and two children sitting in the chair.  But throughout the day, every one of us settle into it and relax. 
Whether to do our BSF lesson....

  Or to look at a Christmas or library book...

Or even to do nothing, but squish together.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

Trimming More Than the Tree

Last week, Ted called his dad to see if he'd be willing to come and help Ted install trim in our bedroom.  Of course, Ted's dad said yes.  He is always ready and willing to work with his boy in home repair and maintenance.  This has been a project on the To-Do list since we moved into our home in 2003.

They spent two days working on our bedroom trim and I was amazed by what a difference it made to our room!  It was so beautiful and I thought to myself, "How could I have been okay with the ugliness before when this beautiful trim was missing?"  I was just happy and content with my room before, but now I feel as if it is lovely.  I'd pop up in the room a few times as they were working, the smell of sawdust washing over me and sawdust footprints trekking everywhere.  Glimmers of wisdom I heard while observing, "Measure twice, cut once", "Always better to cut it long, then we'll trim",  "I told you, why didn't you listen?"

Of course, little visitors were always welcome too with a handful of pretzels to share.

 One challenge for me was having a "meal" ready at lunchtime for the men.  I thought, "I can't just feed Grandpa peanut butter and jelly.  I've got to have a real meal."  I managed to impress him, although I knew I didn't need to deep down.

 Ted and I are so thankful to have such awesome parents and I know Ted treasures the time working with his dad. Isn't that what parents do, come alongside their children, guide them, teach them, encourage them, correct them, enable them, do life with them, love them? 

When's the Last Time You Used a Crayon?

Every year we get the kids wooden ornaments to color.  Some years we've had Grandma & Grandpa Sinnaeve with us, but this year we had Grandma & Grandpa Oesterle with us.  We had to cajol Grandpa to come color and he said, "Do you know the last time I held a crayon?"

Time does not diminish his skill though, he is still a good artist and we enjoyed our time huddled around the table.

 Ben was the first one done, you can call him "Speedy".

Nate was still hard at work at the end,  but his finished product was beautiful.

 Part of what makes the time together so enjoyable, is hearing the stories Grandma & Grandpa tell about their childhood.  We heard about what chores they had as a kid growing up on farms, one from a big family and one from a small family.  The differences between their mothers and they work they would do.  Hearing of raising, selling, killing chickens and trying to imagine Grandma as a little girl deathly afraid of chickens.   Imagining Grandma plucking chicken feathers all day long on butchering day.  We all sat around the table caught in the spell of Grandma & Grandpa's lives.  Someday my children will have a collection of ornaments and, most of all, memories to share with their children.