Merry Everything

I love the Christmas season. This morning while getting ready for church I was thinking that it is only November 28th and I have already completed my shopping (except for two folks I remembered later in the day), ordered Christmas cards, Christmas pictures have been taken, Steve has decorated the outside of the house-it looks beautiful, and yesterday we decorated our tree and I finished decorating the inside of the house. I was thinking now I can enjoy the rest of the season-baking candy, wrapping gifts, and hosting parties.

Then I went to church.
The sermon was on John 14:6 when Jesus very clearly and simply explained who He was to His disciples. It is a verse I memorized as a child. A verse that is the foundation of what I believe. The verse that forms my worldview. A verse that has the ability to make the blind see. A verse that can make those who are dead-alive. That is what it did for me so many years ago. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me." Politically correct? No. Comfortable for everyone? No. Offensive for some? Probably.

Conviction. Ugh. Lights...cards...pictures...parties...all good things. But what in the world happened to Christ-mass? The celebration of the birth of The Way? I don't know all the answers, just being transparent in the middle of all the chaos. Is this what Christ-mass has become? Shopping at 3:00am (I'm not picking on you-I was at Target at 4:15am)? Buying gifts for people who have more than 99% of humans who have ever lived on this planet? Decorations, cookies and parties?

...brings me to Merry Everything. While searching online for the perfect Christmas card, I noticed a new "greeting" to place on Christmas cards...along with Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays we now have Merry Everything. Seriously. Merry Everything? What does that mean anyway? Merry "you lost your job this year" Merry "your child was diagnosed with cancer" Merry " your husband died last week"...these are all things I have known people to face in the past month or so. Merry Everything. Really?

Merry Christmas. Merry "the birth of our Saviour." No matter the circumstance, whether it be as terrible as those I wrote above or as trivial as your heater going out in your car...when you are 2 hours from home...and it is only 30 degrees outside...and you have no tolerance for anything under 70 degrees...

Merry "the birth of our Saviour" makes sense. In the midst of all the yuck of life we can rejoice, not in our circumstances, that would be ridiculous, but in our Lord. "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice."

Our pastor never mentioned Christmas today. The sermon was on the exclusivity of the Gospel, meaning that Jesus is the only way to God. That is the beauty of it. A verse I learned so many years ago. A verse I believe with all my being. Yet He cares enough for me to use that very verse...today... to remind me of the true meaning of Christ-mass.

Operation Christmas Child

Samaritians Purse distributes around 8 million shoe boxes each year. I can't even get my mind around that number 8,000,000 children from over 100 countries around the globe will receive Christmas boxes. For most, it will be the only Christmas present they receive and for many it will be the first time they hear of a God who created them and who loves them. For two decades Samaritians Purse has provided opportunities for folks to share the message of the true meaning of Christmas with others through Operation Christmas Child.

Tonight Steve and I had our second annual OCC Party. We combined it with friends who wanted to have a soup party/recipe exchange and it worked out perfectly! I don't know how many people were here...a few I met for the first time! I think there were 10 or 12 families who each brought 12 items and together we assembled a dozen shoe boxes.

The Lord has blessed us with so many friends in the 10 short months we have lived here. This is a photo of our kids with a few of their friends who are eager to put their gifts in the boxes.

Capturing Memories

I have a terrible memory. Awful really. I'm not just talking about the busy days with three little kids when I could not remember if I had brushed my teeth or what I had eaten for lunch...if I had eaten lunch. I mean long-term memories. The important things in life that you never want to forget. For example, I have no idea where we went on our honeymoon. I know it was a short cruise...but no idea where. I have no memory of my high school graduation...now granted that was a long time ago...but I can't remember my college graduation either.
Now this has always been a weakness of mine. I can remember in high school my friends and I joking about how terrible my memory was. It is not so funny now. I kept diaries from 6th-12th grade and religiously wrote in them knowing one day I would not remember my teen years. I have also journaled since having Lydia. I did not journal when Joshua was born because I thought that the memories and details of something as momentous as having my first child could never be forgotton. I was wrong. His first 22 months are a blur. Another strategy I used was taking photographs. This is where what we folks with psychology degrees call Obessive-Compulsive tendencies kick in. I have photo albums for every year of my life since 1985 (I started young...like when I was one or something...). Anyway, you can ask me for a picture from any month between 1985 and September 2010 and I can get the album (labeled on the outside of course) and turn the the pictures for that particular month. They are in chronological order categorized by events. Many are individually labeled with the names of folks in the pictures and the event (I wanted context...not just pictures).
This has developed into a love of mine. I am in somewhat of a dilemma in the age of technology as I have all of my digital photos stored on my computer, on Snapfish, and backed-up with an online company call Carbonite. However, there is just nothing like holding a photograph in your hand or flipping through an album and reliving all the memories. Somehow the thumbnails on my computer (also stored and labeled first by year, then month, then day, and tagged as well) is just is not the same.
In our new house the albums are more accessible so my children love to look through them and ask questions and hear stories. It has been time well spent. And although I can't tell you where we went on our honeymoon, I can look up June 2000 and find the pictures!
With all that said, here are some memories that will be logged in the October 2010 pages! Our family at the annual B. Family pumpkin patch...

The B. Family grandkids!

Dinasaur World with some great friends...

the Declaration of Independence

With elections around the corner, Ive been thinking about history...the importance of history, whether it be the fall of the Roman Empire, Biblical history or American history, we have so much to learn from those that have lived before us...the good and the evil.

Over 234 years ago our Congress adopted and signed the Declaration of Independence. It was a document to declare America's independence from the British Empire. The document is quite lengthy, and unless you are an 8th grader required to memorize it for a US history class (which I think is a terrific idea), then you can probably only quote a small portion of it...say for instance the sentence that reads..."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

This has been deemed as one of the best known sentences in the English language.

That leads me to September 17, 2010 at the Congressional Hispance Caucus. Our President, while giving his address quoted a portion of the Declaration of Independence...editing it a bit..."We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." he said. He was reading from a teleprompter.

My neighborhood Bible study...which has grown and is now not technically a "neighborhood" study but a group of girls who love the Lord and who I have grown to love over the previous nine months...has just started a study entitled Return to the Garden:Embracing God's Design for Sexuality. No, I will not be blogging the contents of this study.

We began our study with Hosea 4:1-8. In describing the people of Israel, the Lord says, "there is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery, they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed."
Why? How did a people end up this way? Let us learn from this history lesson to avoid the same outcome. He gives us the reason in verse 1..."there is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land. "

Go back and compare the two quotes from the Declaration of Independence.

...the phrase has been going through my head all week..."no acknowledgement of God in the land." Then I was horrified. Grieved. Angry. Listening to our leader intentionly leave out the phrase "by their Creator" when giving a speech.

I experienced many emotions but despair was not one of them because if you keep reading the Scripture you will see a love story unfolding. A love story between a Creator God and his people. A people he loves so much that although they stray and turn their backs on Him...He longs for their return. More than that, He has provided a means for their return through His own Son.

Am I mad at Obama? No.
No. I am not mad at him. I pray that he becomes the leader that I think America deserves and most importantly one in which the Lord would boast.

Fall Vacation

Fall break was last week so we took a mini-vacation to Northern Kentucky. We visited the Creation Museum (http://www.creationmuseum.org/) which was incredible. That will most definitely be a post coming soon. The Museum has a petting zoo.

We also visited this great little treasure hidden in the hills of Covington, KY called Totters-Otterville located in Johnny's Toys. There are so many fun activities for the kids to do. We stayed all day. Here are just a few of the things they played...

Lydia caught every pink fish in the pond!

The Veterinarian Clinic was well staffed with our three there to take care of the animals. Joshua has always wanted to be a vet.

Their grocery cart looks like mine usually does with boxes falling off the top. I menu plan which means I only go to the grocery one time a month...except for small trips for items like fruit and milk. Last month I could barely push my cart and I had to carefully tuck the last few items into the sides, otherwise, they would have fallen off the top! I will have to have two carts when they are teenagers!

Okay, the coolest part of our trip was the hotel room we stayed in at Wildwood Inn. The hotel has theme rooms. We stayed in a two story pirate ship. Honestly, I don't know who liked the room more...Steve and I or the kids.

Personally, I think our Captian was quite good looking.

This is our room from the loft area...with a few members of the crew playing on the bed.

Outdoor fun

Yesterday was Kids Outdoor Day at Green River Lake. It was a beautiful day!

Joshua shooting a pellet rifle. He came very close to hitting a white balloon. However, Lydia shot the gentleman helping her. The pellet bounced off the target and came back and hit him. I thought he was kidding!

Steve joined us just in time for a canoe ride. Which was good because I think the kids and I would still be paddling our way in...
Katherine insisted on shooting a rifle. Not sure there is anything this girl won't try! Her finger was not strong enough to pull the trigger alone so the gentleman had to help her. Her goggles (is that what you call them when you are shooting a gun?) kept sliding off her nose so the sweet girl in line behind us (who was 10 years old but told us she prefers shooting her dad's 22 over a pellet rifle...) held them on for her.
This is Lydia shooting a bow and arrow. Kathine did this as well, but she was on the otherside of Lydia and the only way I could get a photo was to stand in front by the targets...I really wanted a photo but not that bad!

We had relaxing pontoon ride. The little boy with us is a friend we made while waiting.

Fun times, real fun times. We came home exhausted from the day...and now I know what a 22 is and what trap shooting is. So much this city girl has to learn...

Trick or Treat

Yes, it was 92 degrees and technically still summer but we've already been trick or treating!

Last weekend we departed on our annual trip to Lake Rudolph for a Halloweekend. Despite a barking dog, partying neighbors, Holiday World closing, and a dead battery (which my friend and I are convinced is directly related to the barking dog)- we had a great time!!!!

Friday night included hayrides and Charlie Brown's It's a Great Pumpkin on the big screen at the Pavillion, with popcorn of course. This was followed by s'mores around the campfire and time spent with good friends.

We did squeeze Holiday World in on Saturday since it was closed Sunday. We had to cut our day short in order to get back to the RV in time for trick or treats! The kids rode everything they were tall enough to ride at the park. Trick or treating was a blast for all of us. The decorations and costumes are so fun. We rode around in a golf cart (complete with flying ghosts thanks to Steve) and visited numerous camp sites. Lydia collected so much candy that her bag broke!

None of us won the costume contest although we all know Katherine should have, seriously, look at the picture.

The night ended with more s'more and time around the campfire with friends...well it ended for us, but not for the neighbors... or their dog which kept us awake all night. We found out the next day that four other neighbors on the cul-de-sac had also called security. However, our car was the only one that had a suspicious "dead" battery the next morning. Amy and I are convinced that the neighbors did it. Steve says no...the battery just "happened" to die during the night.

This is a photo of one of the campsites...there are hundreds of them throughout the campground. Some where a little scary but the kids had a great time. Katherine even walked up and gave a very large werewolf a high five. Guess she knew he had candy.

I am already excited about next year!