Merry Christmas!

We are driving to ND right to see my family. We were listening to a sermon about the wise men. We were reminded of how they came to Jesus to worship him. "When they saw the child...they fell down and worshiped him." My prayer for my family and friends this year is that we will we pursue Jesus not only at Christmas but throughout the year and live daily surrendering our lives in worship to him.

Below are lyrics to a song by Barlow Girl.
"Hallelujah We’ve been found.
A child is born to save us now.
Jesus, Hallelujah light has come.
A Savior who will set us free.
A promise for those who believe.

Hallelujah We’ve been found.
A child is born to save us now.
Jesus, Hallelujah light has come.
A Savior who will set us free.
So praise to God on high
He has heard our cry."

May you believe. Merry Christmas!

Happy 5th Birthday Gideon!

He is already 5! Here are a few pictures of my cute little cowboy.

Fire

We had a little kitchen fire today. I was boiling to pot of water for some noodles for supper I needed to switch the laundry, so I went downstairs to do so. A few minutes later, I hear Noah yelling, "MOM, MOOOOMMM! There is a fire!". I ran upstairs to see flames by the stove. I quickly put it out! The fire alarm was beeping and saying, "fire, fire." Thankfully it was not too bad. I have a little burnt spot on my countertop, but I guess it will add a little more character to the kitchen. There had been a Tupperware container with cookies on the counter next to the stove and I remember I set a Christmas letter on top of it before I went downstairs. Someone must have gotten a cookie and the paper fell onto the gas burner causing it to start on fire, which then started the plastic cover on fire. The kids were a bit shaken up. But all is well now. Below is a picture I took with my phone. As you can see it wasn't too bad. I am so thankful for God's protection.

Diaper surprise

Tonight at Awana Benaiah was hesitant to go to the nursery. I picked him up to bring him in the room and felt a lump in his diaper. I thought, "oh, you were filling your diaper." I brought him into the nursery and began to change his diaper. Instead of a smelly mess I found a matchbox car! I don't know how long it was in there, but it had to have been at least 1 1/2 hrs. I am sure it was a comfy ride in the carseat!

Butts....

Today I found the kids in my room making photocopies of their butts. I walked in to see kids scurrying away and giggling. Gideon was pushing a sheet of paper under the bed. I asked him what it was and he proudly stated, "My butt!" Later, when Phil came home he excitedly showed him his "butt." They definitely take after their dad!

Truth in the Tinsel Day 4 & 5

We talked about Mary and Gabriel today. Have you ever thought about the difference between Zechariah's response to Gabriel and Mary's response to Gabriel? Zechariah doubted, while Mary believed and obeyed. She said, "I am the Lord's servant, may your word to me be fulfilled." Wow! I am sure she was scared but she believed God and trusted his plan. My prayer for family is that our response to God would like Mary's.

Below are pictures of the two ornaments we made; an angel and Mary.

Truth in the Tinsel - Day 2 & 3

The kids are enjoying our Advent series. Here is what we learned the last couple days. On day 2, we talked about Jesus coming as King and that His kingdom will reign forever. The kids made crown ornaments to remind us that He is King of Kings and reigns over our life. On day 3, we talked about Zechariah. We discussed how we should believe God even when it might seem unbelievable. Looking forward to the rest of the days....

Truth in the Tinsel - Day 1

For advent we are going through an activity book called Truth in the Tinsel.  Each day we will take a piece of chain off our paper chain which has a word on it. Today's word was candle, which represents light. We read in Isaiah and talked about Jesus being the Light of the world. The boys made candle ornaments. Check back each day to see what we are learning.

Sick

There is a nasty stomach bug going around at our house. Stuff is coming out both ends.  So far it has affected Noah, Gideon, and Hadassah. I am trying to figure out how to teach Hadassah to puke in a bucket. I am not have much luck though! I will have to try to just keep her in the kitchen where there is no carpet. Pray that no one else gets it.