My Favorite Memory From This Christmas

Our Christmases are very quiet.

After so many years of this you would think
I would be used to this fact.

To be honest, it is always a little
hard for me to accept.

Growing up, we were always with
Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles & cousins.
Visiting all day with family.
Lots of good food, and lots of family.

But things are different for our girls.

Thanksgiving is the holiday we spend
with my side of the family.
Lots of food and fun memories!

In the past, Christmas was spent with my
Mother-in-law before she passed away.
But now it is just Mr. C & I, and our two girls.

It's quiet.  But Mr. C does make it special.
He puts his chef hat on (not really, but he
does cook like a French chef!!!).

We chose a French theme for our menu.
Beef bourguinon, garlic mashed potatoes,
roasted asparagus and crusty rolls.
For desert, creme brulee'.

But earlier that day, we attended services
on Christmas morning, and took part in the
Lord's supper with our church family.

And I am so thankful that we did,
we took part in what Jesus commanded-
"Do this in remembrance of me..."

Taking time to stop and remember,
just why it is that Jesus came to us.
Why He robed Himself in human flesh
and came to us as a babe.
Giving everything necessary to satisfy the wrath of our Holy God.
His perfect life laid down for us, the sinful, lost people,
in need of a Savior.


"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."


And as I look back on our day, I am so very thankful
that busyness did not crowd out the most important part of our day.

Spending time with Him, in prayer and communion.

Thanking Him for coming to redeem us!

Thanking Him, for the free gift of salvation!!!

God's grace and mercy have kept us from knowing
the fullness of just what our Savior experienced for us,
in that moment, when He suffered in our place,
taking what we rightly deserve.

"For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."


And when I ponder this, these words from a favorite 
Christmas  carol ring in my heart-


"Ohhh-ohhh Tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,
ohhh-ohhh ti-dings of com-fort and joy!!!"


The only comfort I have, and the only truth that
brings this heart of mine true joy-  


knowing my Jesus, and what He did to save me.  

Look at this!

My gals and I have been having a lot of
fun with that statement lately.

We have been browsing crafty DIY
ideas on Pinterest, and when we
find something amazingly useful or
incredibly clever, we always
exclaim, "Look at THIS!!!"

It is fun, and has helped us get our
creative juices flowing once again.

They are talented and creative, and
I love that the 3 of us share an
excitement in making things with our
own two hands.  

But more importantly, we share an excitement
in this, the most important aspect of our lives,
the fact that by faith, we have been saved by
God's grace through the redemptive work of
His Son, Jesus Christ.

Down below, I am sharing something from a
 friend's blog, and immediately, after watching it,
I wanted to exclaim to anyone who would
listen- "LOOK AT THIS!!!"

I want to share this with the rest of you,
because of how the beautiful creativity of
this artists' work, and the words of this
wonderful song, accurately portray just
what our Savior accomplished for us
by veiling Himself in human flesh, and taking
God's wrath for OUR sins.

His reason for coming to earth, to reconcile
us back to our Holy God, through His
sacrificial death, His burial, and triumphant
resurrection.  

Find time, to look at this, listen to the song,

 and rejoice in Him!

Hallelujah!

All I have is-
Christ!!!



The lyrics-

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life
Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me.
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose.
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You.

© 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI), by Jordan Kauflin

I'm Dreaming of A...

White Christmas?

No, not really...

We've already had two snows this winter,
which is very odd for us, and so I'm not longing
for more snow at the present.  I'm actually looking
forward to some 60* weather that's been promised
later this week.

Actually, I'm dreaming of something different.

Something small.

Cute.

Cozy.

Warm.

Not this.  Ohhhh goodness NO.
No, no, no you cute little bundles of puppy love.
Stop tempting me.

At least not right now, not during the cold winter.

Although Farley might would suggest, this would
be the perfect time to have a snuggle buddy out
there with him in his cold, drafty, dog house.
(That is full of hay for him to snuggle in...
we would never neglect our old, faithful friend...)

Actually, I'm thinking along these lines-

A beautiful, cozy, cabin, that someday we'd like to call home.

A little home.  Small.

Much smaller than the one we live in now.

We're making a list and checking it twice.

Making plans, goals, searching for the right
piece of ground to build our little home on.

We are heating and cooling too much space.
Space that we do not need or use.

A smaller home would make utility bills go down,
and our cost of living go down.

And we'd like that.  Really we would.

When we thought we were going to Idaho,
we had made a list of everything we were
selling, in order to make the move easier.

And it was just about everything we own.

I'm not attached to stuff.  I want less stuff.
Less stuff to manage, means more time
and resources can be used for God's glory.

Too much stuff makes me feel like
it's all about our glory.

Not His.

Not that I think God wants us to live in
ugly, dilapidated homes.

That's not what I'm saying at all.

I'm just saying that I think we have accumulated
too much stuff, and it crowds our lives.
And it gets dusty.
And it gets cluttered with more stuff.

Let me insert this observation by our youngest gal-
"Remember when we moved here, and we realized
we didn't have enough furniture to fill all the space?
We had to get more "stuff" so that everything looked
balanced or right."

And she is right.  The rooms in this house are much larger
than our former home.  We have a huge dining room and
huge living room, but we spend most of our time in our kitchen
and the little sitting area we made out of the former dining room.
When we have company, we usually end up in the kitchen/sitting
room area, while the bigger than big rooms remain empty.

This house was an affordable option for us, when we chose to move
closer to my husband's place of employment.  It has been a huge
blessing to us, and we know God worked out the details in order
for us to obtain it.

We both believe this house is a stepping stone, to help us reach our
goal of building a home more suited to our daily needs.

We'd like our own chickens, so we can have fresh eggs.
Possibly our own milk cow for fresh milk.
To raise a garden away from whatever the defoliant is
that they spray on the cotton each year.  I'm not sure
what's in that stuff, but it smells like skunks for weeks
in the fall here, thanks to that chemical soup lingering in
air during cotton picking time.

We're just wanting to downsize, live more simply,
and produce more of our own food for our family.

Even frugal people in America have too much
stuff.  Maybe we didn't spend a lot on our stuff,
but still, I can honestly say we have too much stuff
that we really don't need.

And so, we would really like to sell stuff, have less,
live in a smaller space, and reduce our cost of living.

And even though our hearts are a little smitten with the
cabin in the above video, we won't be building that exact
cabin.

But it does give us a lot of great ideas to help
streamline our goals, and helps us to make a plan.

And of course, this will only happen if the Lord wills
this for us.  We are praying, asking for His guidance,
and His blessing, if this is within His will for our family.

Blessings to all of you,
as you seek His will for your own families