There is a Redeemer--Jesus, God's own Son

I went to bed before eleven last night, and didn't fall asleep until after twelve. When my head hit the pillow, all my failures started parading through my head, one after the other. Failures as a wife, as a mother, as a home school teacher, as a friend, neighbor, daughter, sister, witness, church member, etc. I prayed and tried to make myself relax, but couldn't get my mind to stop. I felt accused and found guilty--then I  remembered who the accuser is--my enemy, satan--(thank you, Beth Moore). I didn't pray out loud, because I didn't think Mike would appreciate that :), but I thanked God for seeing me as covered in the blood of His Son, sacrificed for my failures. And I realized that redemption isn't something God DID for me, but that it's something He's DOING for me. He redeemed my soul from an eternity in hell when I committed my life to follow Christ, but every time I fail and then turn it over to Him, He even redeems that, bringing beauty from ashes--life from death. How amazing is that.

What a birthday! (and beyond)

I woke up on my birthday to Mike making me bacon, eggs, and grits for breakfast--mmm-MMM! Then he and our girls brought me presents to open--pink and white striped silky pjs, blue rubber boots, an i-tunes card, and a Valentine switchable. (If you don't know what that is, look here.) Then I started packing while the girls did school and Mike fixed me a wonderful lunch: chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes w/gravy, corn on the cob, and chocolate cake with pudding filling for dessert!

As soon as lunch was over I drove to my Mom's house in Conway (got to see my brother Mark on the way, and hug his neck), picked her up, and drove to the Little Rock airport to fly to Colorado to visit my brother Matt! That plus all the online and text and card birthday wishes left me feeling very loved. :)
While in Colorado I got to spend time with my brother and his family, talking and playing Phase 10, and I also went to "Spiral Evolution," a curly girl hair salon. While it wasn't the total makeover I anticipated, I did like what she did with my hair, and feel like I'm doing the right things with it.

"Chantilly cake" Ronda bought for my birthday.

Look at all that fruit inside!

I got home from my trip just in time to celebrate Jessica's birthday. We fixed her doughnuts made from "whomp" biscuits for breakfast, and she opened her gifts, and she had vegetable soup for supper before taking cupcakes to youth group at church that night.

This week has gone by in a blur because I came down with strep throat. I've only had it once before, and both times I've said it's the sickest I've ever been, and so painful. Thankfully, I got in to the doctor quickly and am now on antibiotics. Think the fever is gone! And I think that about catches you up on us. :)

One more snow pic

I forgot to show you my favorite snow picture of all! When we left Conway, Mikayla had made the base of a snowman without being able to finish it. When we returned, my brother had parked his car on it. :( My thought was, 'Oh, well, guess you'll have to start over.' Mikayla's thought was, 'Let's finish it anyway!" And came up with this:

 

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The rest of the story!

Well, we woke up at 6 the morning after Christmas to a cold house! The electricity had gone off around midnight. Thankfully, Mom has a fireplace AND an iron wood-burning stove, so we built up the fires, wrapped banana bread in foil and set it on the stove to warm, and even used our camping percolator to make some coffee! We had ended up getting close to a foot of snow, and I had brought some snow gear, so the girls suited up and went out to play. It was too powdery at first to make a snowman, but they would go out and get cold and come in and warm up just like the old days in Idaho. :) We also played more of our new games and made snow ice cream and kept the fires going and generally tried to stay warm. For lunch Kelli fried an egg and the rest of us fried up some left-over Christmas ham and rolls. By afternoon Jason and Kelli's power had come back on and they went home, but when Mom called they told her it could be a WEEK before hers was fixed! She and I remember when the house was still on a well with an electric pump and we couldn't use any water or even flush the toilets, so we were thankful for city water! We put some of that water in big pots on the stove for hot chocolate and washing dishes, and even boiled chicken in some, melted Velveeta with Rotel in a crock, and had chicken nachos for supper! It got dark again by 6, and we pulled out the candles and flashlights for a rousing game of Apples to Apples, but the charm of the dark and cold were beginning to diminish. And so was the woodpile. I don't know why we didn't all sleep in the family room by the stove, but we went to our beds and slept...until about 4:00, when we woke up freezing! I didn't look at the thermostat, but my mom said it was about 30 degrees. In the house. It was 17 outside. After we got the fire going again, we had 4 logs left. The banana bread got a little TOO done, we all wanted--no, NEEDED--baths, and worst of all, the percolator didn't work for some reason. It was time to go. My van was stuck, so we piled into my mom's 4-wheel drive and went to my house in Magnolia, which was warm and had hot water and lights and felt like heaven. My mom's neighbor called that night to say their power was back on, so we took her home a couple of days later. Phew! It was an exciting end to the Christmas season, and one we will definitely always remember.


Warming up the first morning

Lunch time!

The girls were even able to watch a DVD until their battery died.

Snow ice cream!

Apples to Apples fun

Blue sky behind snow is one of my favorite things. :)

On the 10th day/moment of Christmas!

10. Christmas morning!! At our house, Christmas morning is madness meets mayhem. All three girls jumped on our bed at 5:30. A.M. In the morning. But that's okay, because honestly, I get as excited as they do, and had been awake since 5. (sheepish grin)

Stockings!

Presents!

Mike looks like he's got a star coming out of his mouth!
 

11. As soon as we finished opening presents and eating my Aunt Melody's Christmas Morning Casserole, we loaded up and started driving to my Mom's house to celebrate with her and my brother Mark and his family. It was raining and windy and cold, and as we went further north we noticed the rain was starting to freeze to the antenna and mirrors! We got to my Mom's and hugged everybody and opened more presents, then ate a nice big meal. We got lots of games this year, so we played one, and the next thing we knew it was sleeting outside. My brother had some house guests and the little kids were so excited, saying, "It's really snowing!!" But it was really just ice--making roads dangerous. So my brother and his family, nephew and his wife, and Mike all left. (Mike was leaving the next day for NYC to do disaster relief with his students.)

I had been skeptical of the weather forecast for a white Christmas, because it had been stinkin' 70 degrees all week. But lo and behold, within an hour or two it really was "really snowing!" And it snowed and snowed and snowed. Jason and Kelli ended up coming back because the electricity was out at their house, and they have no fireplace. We had power, and extra beds, so it was all fun.

I love this picture.

"I can't put my arms down!"

The girls went out in it, because they knew from experience that in the South, it could be gone by morning.

I worried about Mike all evening--he called me every now and then and was pretty worried himself--but he made it home safely. 12. That night, after everyone else had gone to bed, I looked out the kitchen window to see how much snow had fallen, and I saw this.

At that moment, I remembered something. At the beginning of December, I was praying and I said, "Lord, I know it's a silly little thing, and I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, but if You could just send my girls some snow this Christmas season, they would be so happy. It doesn't even have to be on Christmas day, but I know You could send the moisture and the cold at just the right moment. So please give my girls some snow!" I almost cried looking out at the answer to my prayers--a visible sign of God's love for me and my girls. I wanted to share it with someone, but everyone was asleep! I poked my head in my Mom's room and whispered, "Are you awake?" But she didn't answer, so I guess she wasn't. I went to the door of the girls' room to do the same thing, but just then Jessica opened the door, so I took her to the window and we enjoyed it together.

Tune in later for the rest of the story!

On the 7th day/moment of Christmas...

7. For Southern Baptists, Lottie Moon and foreign missions play a huge part in the Christmas season. (For more info. and a wonderful video about Lottie Moon, click here. Seriously, I love this video.) It is even more special when the invited guest missionaries are your very own nephew and his awesome wife! I babysat Jason and his older brother Thomas all day every day for two summers when they were babies and toddlers...and there were moments when I was listening to his heartfelt explanation of their call and the need in Japan, that I couldn't help but picture him as a 15-month-old. :)

Jason and Kelli
 

8. One of the traditions Mike and I started with our girls is our family Advent devotions. This year in addition to our weekly devotions around our Advent wreath and candles, I printed Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree devotions as well, and I enjoyed how they used the whole Bible to point to Jesus' first coming. Next year I plan to use this free printable one I downloaded from DaySpring!

9. Of course, the culmination of Advent, for us, is a tradition I've enjoyed every year of my life--our Christmas Eve birthday party for Jesus. We hid baby Jesus (Mikayla found Him here),

 put Him in the manger, and gathered around it to hear Mike read the story from Luke 2 before singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candles on our cupcakes. Always my most favorite moment.

On the 4th day/moment of Christmas...

4. Parties!! This year, after having new flooring installed and new paint on some walls, it was fun being able to open up our home to our BCM leadership team and freshmen, as well as to our local Survivor-watching-friends and some friends of the girls.

The puppies were a big hit. :)

Four on the couch!

5. This year I took Rebecca and her friend Claudia to the Circle of Friends "Santa's Workshop." All proceeds went to support Arkansas Children's Hospital, and they had a lot of fun.


 

6. One of my favorite childhood memories is caroling with friends from my church in our neighborhood in Virginia. I don't remember who organized it, I just remember how I loved the feeling of singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" outside in the cold, dark night. So I was happy when our church organized a night of caroling to some homebound members of our church. It wasn't exactly cold, but it was still a special time.

That's Rebecca on the far right.