'Tis the Season

It's been two busy weeks of Christmas season, and I'm loving every minute of it. I'm glad I planned for lots of time off of school, because so many things keep popping up! Like...
~A trip to see the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra perform, and then lunch at a nice restaurant. It was the most glorious performance I've ever seen!
~A day with a good friend yesterday, just catching up on life
~A "sledding" party today (actually, there's no snow... but we'll still have fun!)
~Christmas shopping - I've gotten pretty much all of my gifts set!
~Christmas with my Grandparents - they gave me the book "Joyfully at Home" by Jasmine Baucham and I am thrilled to read it.
~Setting up the Christmas tree and the various decorations around the house. Playing some Josh Groban Christmas music in the background and talking with my mom, decorating was very relaxing and fun this year.
~The monthly girls' Bible study and sleepover I've had the privilege of leading for the past four months
~Lots of chores, trying to keep up on the mess in the midst of the busyness!

Some things I'm wondering:
~When you put your back out, isn't there a way to fix it without spending $100 on chiropractic visits?
~When you are in a chiropractic appointment,why do they try to talk to you while your face is crammed in a little cubbyhole?
~Why is snow being so lazy about coming this year?
~Why does fudge require such a specific cooking time to keep it from turning into greasy crumbles?
~Is Santa Claus really my dad?

Hahaha :)

I hope you are all having a Merry Christmas season. Remember to ponder and give thanks for the incomprehensible gift that God gave us - the fullness of God dwelling in a tiny human baby, born in the lowest condition, born to die and be raised, born to SAVE. Meditate on the incarnation of Emmanuel!

Gratefulness

On September first I started keeping a new journal for "little things." You know, things that make up my everyday life but aren't the things I'd write about in my long, heart-pouring-out journal. I wanted to be able to record this stage in life for my own memory's sake and for the sake of my future children.

One thing I started doing was writing five things I'm thankful for every day, and trying not to repeat myself. (I definitely have accidentally repeated a few things, but that's okay =]) Then one of my friends on facebook suggested each of us posting something we're thankful for every day on facebook, and it has been so amazing to see all of my blessings and other people's, too. Today I couldn't write just one thing though - so I decided it would be a good blog post instead. :)

Today I'm thankful for...

Being homeschooled, and all that I'm studying this year.

I love my books!

My cozy couch, with the wood stove nearby and my dog sleeping next to me - perfect place to peacefully do school.

My brothers and all my friends who are soon coming home for Thanksgiving, and for texting that allows me to keep connected with them regularly.

This was 5 years ago! I miss those days!

Morning and evening devotions - a chance to start and end my day by setting my mind straight.

Our yard at sunrise

My birthstone ring dad got me four years ago

The most beautiful ring ever, I think :)

The holidays that are coming soon - Thanksgiving and then soon Christmas!!

The biggest Christmas tree we've ever gotten :)

I am blessed, and I am grateful :)

Our visit to Kentucky :)

Last week I visited my brother Erik, in Kentucky. It was the most wonderful, refreshing week I've had in a long time. The reason we visited him was because he had to get all 4 of his wisdom teeth taken out, and needed some help through that. When he first came out of the surgery he was SO funny! The laughing gas and anesthesia made him totally loopy, and he would not stop talking, and saying the funniest things. The funniest part was that he had gauze in his mouth, and Novocaine making his mouth numb, so it was really hard to understand him. He was so funny! He was in pain for a while afterward, but overall he did very well, and was soon talking and laughing again.

Some of my best friends live in his little town, and I was extremely happy to see them again. I spent every evening at their house. It's so wonderful to be in a place where there are so many people who you love and who love you! We had lots of fun, and I miss them all a lot.

Also, we got to see the Garden of Lights at the Creation Museum. I was excited because, although I've been there many times, I've never been there at Christmas. It was absolutely spectacular. I adore Christmas lights, so it was especially beautiful to me. We even got to see a sneak preview of Christmas Town, and we didn't even plan on it! Another cool thing was seeing Jason Lisle's "Christmas Star" video at the planetarium. I have often wondered about what the Christmas star was, and it answered a lot of questions.

I am so blessed to have such an awesome family, and friends, and opportunities. :)

Thanks be to God

Another day to be thankful! Today I am thankful for:

Relaxing weekends
Christmas songs
Friends
School
My brothers

And, I thought I'd give you an update about what's going on in my busy life lately. Last week I was kept busy with: Prayer group, visiting friends, choir practice, a volleyball playoff game at the Christian school, and of course, lots of school. This week I am looking forward to spending the day with my friend Mrs. Reese tomorrow, enjoying an afternoon with Mrs. Taylor on Wednesday, and a Veteran's Day program on Friday. Trying to get school done amidst all those activities does get a little tricky, but today I was able to do extra work, so I know things will all work out. :) I absolutely cannot WAIT for Christmas. It's when I really shine. I've already started thinking about my Christmas shopping, and I can't wait to get started on it. As soon as December starts, you can be sure I'll be singing/playing Christmas music (I already am! hehe), baking lots of Christmas goodies, decorating for the season, dressing in seasonal colors, shopping, wrapping, watching Christmas movies and classic shows, and of course, getting together with friends and family to celebrate! Are you as excited as I am? But of course, Thanksgiving comes first. We'll have a big dinner, and my Grandparents are coming on Friday. I am so thankful most of all for Jesus Christ, salvation, and the amazing things God is teaching me every single day!

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Corinthians 15:57

Idols

Hello everyone! I suppose it's about time I wrote a post. Well, I had a wonderful Christmas! I got 3 books - "The Pleasures of God" by John Piper, and "The Lost Art of True Beauty" and "Sacred Singleness" by Leslie Ludy. Wow, they are such great books! God has been teaching me so much recently. He has been calling me to lay everything down at His feet... all my desires, all my dreams, and all of my "rights." But once I lay them down, He satisfies me with His love, which is so much more wonderful than anything the world could give me! I love the passage in Matthew chapter 4 about Jesus being tempted.

"Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve."' Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him."

Often Satan offers us "pleasures" and "glories." All he asks in return is that we worship him by making those pleasures idols in our lives. And all too often, we agree to his terms and believe his lies. But Jesus said, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'" That is what our response should be. And when we do that, we get much greater blessings. An intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is so much more wonderful than any of Satan's lies could ever be.

I also wanted to tell you all that I deleted my facebook. That was a huge step for me. It's not that facebook is, in and of itself, "bad." But for me, it became and idol. I found myself wasting so much time on it, and caring way too much what people thought of me through it. Often I based my social "worth" on how many comments I got, or something like that. God was asking me to give it up for Him, and He enabled me to do it. And honestly, I don't miss it! I still have email and blogger to keep up in touch with people, and I have so much more time to do God's will because I'm not wasting it on facebook! God has torn that idol from my life, as He is doing with many others. And the process is oh, so painful at times, but so worth it! He is so good, all the time!

Festivities!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Ah, it's going to be a wonderful week! Erik is home, and this whole week we're going to have food, family, and fun! My grandparents (on my dad's side) are coming for Thanksgiving, and since we're not going to see them at Christmastime this year, we're going to celebrate Christmas with them while they're here, too. We went shopping last Friday, and bought a TON of food! We have delicious food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day this week. :)

Here's our plan for Thanksgiving day: we'll have our delectable turkey dinner for lunch, then Emily (Erik's girlfriend - who happens to be my best friend!) is coming over. We'll have pie and watch a movie, and enjoy time together with all the family. Later that evening, we'll open presents from my grandparents under the Christmas tree which I set up today! :) We have an artificial tree, and we're also hoping to get a real tree this year.
I am SOOO excited about Christmas! By nature, I am a very festive person. I love an excuse to celebrate, no matter what the occasion is! Christmas is most definitely my favorite time of the year.

So let the festivities begin! Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day all right in a row! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season... I know I will!

CHRISTmas!

Okay, I have a lot to say, but I don't even know where to begin, or how to say it all.

I guess I'll start with Christmas. It was wonderful! On Christmas eve we had a nice supper together, and then played games. We had my friend, Vicki, and my neighbor, Zach, over and they added to all the fun! Right now my bedroom is torn apart because we're fixing it up some, so my bed was out in my oldest brother Erik's bedroom. So, I slept in his room. It was kind of a funny night... somehow the heat got turned off so it was FREEZING cold, and I kept having weird dreams and waking up (mostly because it was so cold!). Anyway, we all slept in on Christmas morning and that was actually really nice. I think this is the first year that I've slept in on Christmas. We all got up around 8:00 and sat around talking and such for a few minutes... then we all took our showers and got dressed. It was neat because it was just a nice, low-key day. We opened our stockings, and then had a nice breakfast. After breakfast we opened presents. It was a lot of fun... all of us just sitting around together, laughing, and enjoying ourselves. I got a couple of pairs of shoes which were really cool - one pair was neon pink and the other was neon green. :) I got two books - "Before You Meet Prince Charming" by Sarah Mally, and "Raising Maidens of Virtue" by Stacy McDonald. I've read both of those books before, but it's especially nice to own them. They are SUCH good books!! I would very highly recommend them to any young lady who wants to serve Christ. I also got a really nice handbag with music notes and Scripture about music on it. I love it!! We got some gifts that were for all of us - a bunch of Christian movies! We got Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Flywheel, and some others. I couldn't have gotten any better presents! I love my family so much. It was great to be with all of them for the past few days.

Now to tell you about all the WONDERFUL things God is doing in my life!! I don't know how to put it into words... He has totally changed me, and my view of life! A week or two ago, I was trying very hard to live righteously, but I didn't feel the passion and closeness of our Savior. I wasn't living completely for Him. I was tying, but I wasn't trying in HIS power, filled with HIS Holy Spirit. I just couldn't take that. I hadn't done anything the most people would consider a "big" sin, but I had strayed so, so far from where I needed (and still need!) to be. I got down on my knees and poured out my heart to God. I confessed everything I had done... all of my selfishness and pride, all of waywardness, everything. I prayed and begged God to reveal Himself to me, to give me a passion, to fill me with the Holy Spirit. That was my constant prayer for about a week. On Christmas day, He truly did show Himself to me. I can't explain it... I just had a total change in my understanding of Him. These past few days I have just CRAVED Him. It's wonderful!! I have been reading the two books I got for Christmas, another book called Stepping Heavenward, and of course, the Bible! It's wonderful. God is teaching me so, so, SO much about how I am to live. Please, please pray for me. I don't want to lose this passion. God is doing marvelous things in my life. He is SO INFINITELY GOOD! Praise Him!!

"I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and He gave ear unto me." Psalms 77:1

"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known they faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 89:1

Lessons...

Today I just have a thought to tell you about what God is teaching me. I have been learning to let go of things. I have a real tendency to be angry about things... which leads to bitterness. I used to just get depressed when bad things happened, but recently I've started getting angry. I've been watching a series of sermons on DVD by Paul Tripp called, "How to Be Good and Angry," and it has really been good for me. I realized that the reason people get angry is that we make our normal desires into demands. God has given us desires... that's completely normal and good. The problem is when a desire becomes a demand. We HAVE to control our desires! We all have a sin nature, and our desires can very easily take control of us. The human heart is an idol factory. We have to keep laying our desires down before God and not let them become controlling. I've been learning to keep returning all of the things God gives me to Him, and also learning to rise again after I fall and mess up. When you sin, don't fall into a pit of despair. It is right to feel grief over your sin, but don't wallow in it. Repent and keep going on to do what's right. Thankfully, God is SO merciful and good as I go through the process of learning these things!

"For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity." Proverbs 24:16, ESV

Thanks for taking the time to read! God bless you all; have a great Christmas!

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." Philippians 1:3-5, ESV

Christmas Vaycay :)

So, I'm on Christmas vacation!!

On Thursday we packed up to leave for my Grandparents' (on my dad's side) house on Friday morning. We didn't expect, however, to get about a foot of snow, or to have our snow-blower break! We got a new snow-blower on Friday, and got up bright and early on Saturday morning to leave. When we left we had about 2 feet of snow, and we probably will have more when we get back!

Anyway, after a hectic morning of packing and cleaning, we left at around 8:30 AM and traveled for several hours, and with a few stops along the way, made it to Gma and Gpa's house at lunch time. Grandma made us a delicious lunch - she's such a great cook! After we were done eating, we sat around the table and shared Christmas memories. It was especially fun to hear my mom and dad's memories of Christmas as kids. Later we watched a movie together, and then opened presents!! I got a big purple storage box thingy (kind of hard to describe) that will look great in my bedroom. I also got some jewelry and candy. I love everything I got! Supper was wonderful. We had shrimp, homemade cream of broccoli soup, garlic bread, and fruit salad. The table was beautifully set, so it looked very lovely. We had quiet Christmas music playing in the background. It was so nice. It was especially nice to spend the day together with family.

Today we got up and went to my grandparents' church. It's really different from ours, but it was nice. :) Everyone recognizes me, but I don't recognize most of them - lol. As soon as we got home, we headed to my other grandparents' house for Christmas with my mom's side of the family. It was a great night. I got a lot of presents, too! I got a bracelet, some body spray, and shower gel from my aunt and uncle. My grandparents (on my mom's side) got me some earrings, sheets and a furry blanket, and candy. I also got to see my uncle's 2 month old daughter, Macy Elizabeth. She is so beautiful!! Tonight my grandma and I and maybe my brothers are going to watch a movie together, then head home tomorrow. God has blessed me SO much, and showed me such abundant love and mercy! He is the reason for the season, not presents or travel or any of that. And HE is what is truly bringing me so much joy. Praise be to HIM!!