Feliz Navidad!

Today has been a lovely day celebrating Christmas with my family! I've spent a lot of it packing because I'm leaving tomorrow to go on a ski trip in Virginia with some friends from Jacksonville, Gainesville, Orlando, and North Carolina. Please pray for safety as we will be traveling all day tomorrow! Thanks!

“Let us be glad and rejoice today, because ‘He has come.’ And let us remember the annunciation of the angel, ‘Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”(Luke 2:10, 11) -Streams In The Desert

I pray your day (so far and the rest of the day :) ) has been filled with much joy and peace as we celebrate the birth of Christ and the wonderful hope we have in the gospel! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I’ve been so busy over the last week I haven’t had time to post anything but pictures so here is a quick re-cap:

Disney World: We had a blast! It is always a blessing to get away with my family for a few days! This was the first time we’ve ever been able to go to theme parks with our whole family being able to get on all the rides together. In the past Victoria and Karah were too young and scared. :/ (Well, there were a few rides they didn’t want to get on, but we’ve made much progress!) Dad is always very specific when planning out our days! He’s not one that enjoys crowds and waiting in line (not that many people do). In order to avoid waiting in many lines he was very strategic in deciding which rides/shows we were going to go to, when to get fast passes, etc. Though there were many times we were running around the parks like chickens with our head’s cut of, it was worth it because we got to do everything worth doing while there and didn’t have to stand in many lines.

Singles Christmas party: That was a blast as well! (For those of you who’ve asked) we played a gift wrapping game. To play this game two people partner up and put one hand behind their back and work as a team to wrap a gift in a certain amount of time against another team. You win by having the prettiest and neatest gift wrapping job. After that we did a white elephant gift exchange with a twist. A new way of playing was started in my home group. If you want to steal a gift from someone else you have to either dance or sing in order to get the gift. The person you’re stealing the gift from decides whether you will dance/sing, what you will sing or how you will dance (salsa, hip hop, ballet etc.) It is hilarious! THEN, I’m not sure how it started but we ended up dancing the rest of the night! =)

Today I thought it’d be fun to post some pictures of last year’s Christmas. I was just glancing through them and it’s really cool to see how much Josh, Victoria, and Karah have grown since then. (I sound like such a mom, I know! =) ) Josh is now taller than me and Amber! Victoria is as tall as my mom! My goodness they are growing up so fast! *sniff* *sniff*.

So here are some pictures of last years Christmas and hopefully I’ll have some to share of this years Christmas tomorrow! Merry Christmas Eve!

Singles Christmas Party

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….

It has been pretty busy around here the last couple of days! The three kids have all had colds and Amber and I have been trying to keep up with work and running them every where they need to be. I’ve basically been running around like a chicken with my head cut off since my parents left. I’m very grateful for all my mom does when she’s home, but I’m REALLY grateful for all she does when she’s not home! I know my parents are getting a nice break so I’m glad we can bless them in this way, even if it’s been a little crazy.

Tonight we cooked breakfast for dinner and began to decorate for Christmas. I know you are probably thinking “who in the world decorates for Christmas in November???” Well, about two weeks ago my dad started breaking out the Christmas decorations. I was shocked when I saw him pulling all the boxes out of the attic and even more shocked when he asked me to start setting up our Christmas tree. I very quietly asked him, “dad do you realize it is the first week of November, not the first week in December?” The reason he wanted to start decorating so early is because we are going to be out of town quite a bit in the next couple of months and we won’t even be in town for Thanksgiving.

Soo… While my parents are away we decided it would be nice to surprise them with decorating our Christmas tree so they don’t have to worry about getting that done when they get home. We tried to get some other decorating done as well, but things started getting a little chaotic. Hopefully we can get some more done tomorrow.

Here’s a few pictures of our evening:

Merry Christmas

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; come and behold Him, born the King of Angles, O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.

“Let us be glad and rejoice today, because ‘He has come.’ And let us remember the annunciation of the angel, ‘Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”(Luke 2:10, 11) -Streams In The Desert-

Merry Christmas Eve

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light;
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

Silent night, holy night,
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born!

I hope and pray that everyone's day tomorrow is filled with grace and peace! Merry Christmas!

Halleluiah Hope Has Come

Phew…. breath taken and moving on. As many of you know I had a big test last Tuesday that I had to take for work. I haven’t gotten my score back yet but, I feel pretty confident that I passed it. Thank you everyone who faithfully prayed for me. I most definitely wouldn’t have gotten through it without your prayers. God took away much anxiety and stress and turned all the studying and preparation for the test into a joyful time. God has definitely blessed me with a father who is quick to not allow any anxiety or worry. He is always very quick to help me point my circumstances to God and not myself. I’m grateful now that I can move on and enjoy this holiday season with my family and friends and not have to worry about a test any longer.

What a great reminder this song is of the real meaning of Christmas!

Let us join with the angel voices
Let us join their happy song
All of heaven and earth rejoices
For the Lamb of God has come
He has come to rescue sinners
Come to meet our desperate need
He was born to bring forgiveness
Born for Calvary

Let us lay our gifts before Him
Let us magnify His Name
With our thankful hearts adore Him
For the Lord has come to save
He has come to break sin’s power
He has come to set us free
Hope was born that glorious hour
Christ the mighty King

Daily Bible Verse:

Ephesians 5:13-14-“But when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’”

What Child is This

Forget for a moment the tree, the gifts, the food, the parties, and the decorations and let’s focus on the Nativity scene. The Bible passage’s concerning the birth of Jesus Christ remind us that there was only one Christmas-all the rest are merely anniversaries.

Isaiah 9:6-“For unto to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

What child is this, who lays to rest,

on Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
while shepherds watch are keeping?

This, this is Christ the King
whom shepherds guard and angels sing.
Haste, haste to bring him praise,
the Babe, the Son of Mary.

So bring him incense, gold and myrrh;
Come, peasant king, to own him.
The King of King’s salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone him.

This, this is Christ the King
whom shepherds guard and angels sing.
Haste, haste to bring him praise,
the Babe, the Son of Mary.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Daily Bible Verse:

Luke 2:14-“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Joy To The World

Lately I’ve been thinking about how busy I’m going to be in the next couple of weeks with stuff going on at work, all the Christmas shopping that needs to be done, all the Christmas parties to prepare for, and a VERY difficult and not very fun test I have to take in a couple of weeks. I was convicted of how my thoughts have been worldly thoughts and how I’ve not been giving my full attention to the time of year it is. This is to be a joyful season of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. If I remember to give priority to my time in God's Word and to pray, I will find renewed joy each morning. Joy that sticks in the midst of Christmas craziness!

Joy to the world! The Lord is come:

Let earth receive her King.

Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and heaven and nature sing.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders of His love.

As things get busy, let's make sure to keep the spiritual disciplines at the top of our Christmas to do list, and experience true holiday cheer!

Daily Bible Verse:

Psalm 51:12-“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”