Multitude Mondays

984. encouragement on Sunday that God is using this weak, sometimes ridiculously transparent child of God to lead others in heartfelt worship
985.  time on phone encouraging my sis and hearing her heart for the church
986.  my kids who laugh at my goofiness and even expect it, how they know when I come up to hug them I'll have to throw in a few pinches and "touky touky" phrase
987.  Wiiiiiiiiiiiii and more importantly the time spent playing it as a family - laughing
988.  another Christmas with my family - seeing how they treasure our relationships more than gifts
989.  Jake's effort in gifting Ted and I for Christmas with letters from family, friends, church members telling us how we're appreciated and loved
990.  our baby niece, Addison, and how sweet she is and watching all my children love her in caring for her - even the boys....they will make great fathers!

991.  the Grices coming to church each week with Allie now....totally makes my heart overflowing with joy and praying that God will continue to draw them to Himself and that we may be a part of it
992.  Allie's hugs and kisses every Sunday
993.  a friend who forgives me even after I neglect my duties in caring for her sweet one after school one day - sooooo thankful that God cared for her when I forgot to pick her up from the bus stop and that He didn't let my lack of brains destroy a beautiful friendship
994.  homeschooling....what can I say....it is one of the most beautiful gifts God has given me...knitting our family together through bad and good days
995.  being able to guide the Youth Worship Team at our church, loving each teenager and for God letting me challenge them to love Him with everything they have

996.  Mr. S from church...and how God has blossomed a friendship there
997.  Deezer and how she makes me laugh....time spent visiting with their family one Sunday after church....I cherish their friendship because there is no need for walls or guards
998.  another TEC opportunity for Jake....for God to grow him in his prayer life and to show him his comfort is not found behind a guitar, but in Christ alone!
999.  hanging out with Amy H. as the kids played...being able to catch up and stay connected
1000.  this gratitude list....Ann VosKamp and her challenge to all to count your blessings that God has given you....it has changed my life - my attitude - my hope.  Today marks the 1000 mark!!!

1001. traditions...where would we be without them....New Year's Eve with Baker family, New Year's Day with Townsends - passing the rubber chicken along and playing games together - laughing and marking another year of memories
1002.  God, my sustainer

Christmas Traditions

As I watch my children pull out Christmas decorations, it reminds me of my childhood.  Did I drive my mom crazy too with my haphazardness in what I wanted to get out first?  Once the tree is up, the kids want to look through their boxes of personal ornaments and see who can get their's on the tree first.

Then comes the nativity box which contains 5 sets of nativities and all the kids want to set their's up somewhere, but mostly the end up keeping them on the toy shelf and playing with them.

Then pack away everyday frames and nicknacks to make a room for Mom & Dad's nativity set.  It's ironic how we have to make room for Jesus, just like so long ago in Bethlehem.

There's always the random fun things as well, like Ben modeling a fashionable treeskirt/manskirt...

and Jake serenading us all with a wooden recorder he found (and driving us a little crazy with it.)

Then it's time for our traditions....our Mary's Starpath.  This tradition has been with us since our first kids were little.  At the beginning of the Advent season, our stars are lined up as a winding path under our tree, big stars marking each advent Sunday and they lead to the wooden stable.  Each night as we prepare to move Mary & Joseph to the next star, we light a candle and sing this song...

On the golden starpath 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 angel voices sing.

Soft her footstep on the starpath,

Stardust sprinkled in her way,

Mary brings to us the Christ child

Brighter than the brightest day.

Then the youngest children take turns taping the star passed onto our starry sky.  Each advent Sunday we read a chapter from Mary's First Christmas.  Another tradition we've done since the kids were little.  It always makes me cry.  Each Sunday, part of our nativity scene grows as well, one week I add the shepherds, one week the sheep and cattle, one week the wise men travelling across the room. 

What would Christmas be without homemade gifts as well.  It is one of my favorite memories from each year....sitting w/ a knitting project in my lap, while the other children are knitting close by and we listen to audiobooks like The Christmas Carol, Narnia series, and many others from Focus on the Family Radio Theatre.  Here is a project I worked on, knitting up potholders then felting them so they would be tight.  I love making these!

Another tradition we have is baking and making treats.  I've shared already about the Christmas cookie challenge we did this year.  I think that did us in for making sweet treats, so I decided to make Snowflake bread for our neighbors.  The kids helped make it, they love to knead the bread, and then they delivered it late one night in the dark, down Crocus Trail to our five neighbors who bless our life day in and day out.

I used our much loved bread recipe and made it Snowflake bread by adding a cut snowflake on the top.

Multitude Mondays

195. Christmas unlike any other...the love...the thankfulness for even the smallest gift...the family sharing of what's on one's heart...the best Christmas I've ever had as a mother

 196. precious time spent with friends and family over the past two weeks
197. break from all school responsibilities and piano - biblequizzing - youth group commitments
198. good Christian fiction...the draw of a good book...seeing kids sequestering themselves in quiet places to read themselves
199. the honor of being trusted with raw feelings from a friend, praying that I'll honor God in my responses and encouragement
200. challenging quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and how it has convicted my heart, halted condemnation and criticism and grown grace in my life
201. Christmas season and the license to enjoy food - although now I'm paying for it
202. reoccurring reminders of how far I have to go to live the life of a Christ follower - reminded by my petty jealousies, my lack of praying blessings over situations that don't involve me, my verbal stones I like to throw, may it never be something that doesn't bring me to tears
203. the Word...became flesh...is sharper than any sword...guides me...encourages me...refreshes my soul
204. playing games...Buzzword, Euchre, Pinocle, Clue, James Bond, Spoons, Golf, Colorku
205. sleepovers...I'm definately reaching a new stage in life when I can't stay up later than the kids
206. grandparents...both left recently for Florida for lengthy stays...how we'll miss them and be praying they'll be safe, healthy and enjoy their warm weather (but not so much that they won't want to come back to Michigan!)

207. family...sisters, brothers, brother-in-laws, sister-in-laws, nieces, nephews...our hearts shared and given to each other...how blessed we are to have them all, how blessed my children are to have them all to look to, to laugh with, to be challenged by
208. first shaving experiences for Jake & Isaiah - how their father's antics made it unforgettable

 209. traditions....my dad still reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to a couch full of children, although now it's not his children, but his grandchildren

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

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!

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.