Waiting...

Ok so I am really in the mood to post about Christmas but I wanted to wait until I had photos to post with it. I have so much that I need to archive on here!

I'm doing the devotion tonight at church... I was looking at Matthew's Christmas present to the girls and inspiration hit. I'm not gonna say what it is because it will give away the surprise! I just hope that I can get it across to everyone else the way it is in my head. It makes perfect sense to me! I'm nervous but excited. Brad is gonna miss it and that stinks. I'll be so glad when he doesn't have class on Wednesday nights anymore.

So, kiddo stuff to report....

I cut Sara's hair! It was short on the sides already and long in back and it was looking like a boy's mullet, so I cut it in the back to be even... I didn't mean to but it ended up being stacked. I'm glad because it looks super cute that way! So yes it is short now, but it looks very feminine and sassy. :-) I'm hoping it will grow out faster and thicker now that it's been cut! I seriously need pictures of it.

Sara is really into animals, identifying them and telling us what they say. She has decided that all ducks say "Aflac!!!!" and not "quack!" It's hilarious.

Emily is trying to talk! She will say "Hi!" and wave... with her hand turned in instead of out, so it looks like she is saying "come here". She has been a cuddlebug and is absolutely in love with her Daddy.

I have been having so much fun cooking lately! My wonderful awesome sister-in-law Heather got me a Taste of Home cookbook for Christmas, she said because I am always blogging for people to pray for my meals. Hahaha! It is "Busy Family Meals" and I have done nothing but cook from it since Christmas. Just neato everyday easy recipes that I never would have thought of. It has been a hit and we have all thoroughly enjoyed getting out of our same old same old meal rut. Last night I made my own sloppy joe recipe and that is the first I have cooked something not out of that cookbook since Christmas. The night before that, it was chicken salsa pizza!

I'm gonna start walking with Wendy. I am SOOOO excited!!! I have REALLY wanted to get working out somehow. Curves is ideal but way too expensive for me. The Y is economical but I don't have anyone to go with me, and that makes me uncomfortable. I was reading an Elizabeth Elliot book last week and there was a lady who met a guy at a gym and left her husband... And it just confirmed to me that I shouldn't do the Y if I'm not 100% comfortable with it. Not that I would leave my husband and not that anyone at the Y would want me, just saying, you can't be too cautious. So we're going to walk at this church with an indoor walking track with mostly old people, while Caetie watches the girls for me. I'm so excited!!! I can't wait.

Next week is fun stuff too but I will wait to blog about that until then.

Behold the Lamb

Brad & I decided that our gift to each other this year would be tickets to Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb" tour at the Ryman. I am SO GLAD we went. It was AMAZING! The acoustics in that place are absolutely gorgeous. I think that everyone should go see that tour at least once. The first half was a "songwriter's in the round"... Every artist with him sang at least one of their own songs. I loved EVERYONE and foudn several new singer/songwriters we are in love with! Michael Card was there too... and it was such a neat thing listening to him. I remember being 8 years old, listening to "Scandalon" over and over again... I think that was when I really fell in love with music, and not just music, but especially music with a deep spiritual message that provokes me to fall deeper in love with Jesus.

The second half was the actual "Behold the Lamb" part. Have I said yet that it was AMAZING? They began with Andrew reading this quote from introduction to the Jesus Storybook Bible:

It's like an adventure story about a young Hero who came from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne, everything to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that have come true in real life.


You see, the best thing about this story is—it’s true.


It takes the whole Bible to tell this story. And at the center of the Story there is a baby. Every story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle—the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

And what a beautiful picture they painted! The songs started in the old testament, telling the prophecies, and the lineage of Jesus. One song blended into the next. My favorite was "Labor of Love", sung by Jill Phillips. (The song is in the video I posted on Christmas).

It was not a silent night
There was blood upon the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love

It just made me think about that night in a way I never had before.

They ended everything, by having us all stand, and in that beautiful place with GORGEOUS acoustics, we all sang Gloria, in Excelsis Deo, and they on the stage listened to us sing.

It was magical and wonderful and awe-inspiring and I left feeling very much like I was taking the presence of God with me. He is always with me, but there are times where I feel him more powerfully than others, and this was one of those times.

Anyone and everyone that can NEEDS to go with us next year!!!

So much to blog, so little time!

I haven't had internet access for a few weeks so I am way behind!

I'll do a series of posts, telling you all about our Christmas season.

Here goes!