leah

Rachelle will appreciate this.....

Christmas Eve

Brianna curled Leah's (already curly) hair and got her all dressed up.  They are both such girly girls!  

They were all ready for the Christmas Eve service.  It was a really nice service - at least the first half that I was able to enjoy before stepping into the foyer with Micah.  

 We had dinner when we got home and then all worked together to clean up the kitchen.

 The kiddos opened their pajamas.  Micah was less than thrilled about having his picture taken.  Little stinker!

 After changing into our jammies, we got into the van and drove around to look at Christmas lights and listen to Christmas music.

When we got home we put Leah and Micah to bed and the rest of us watched It's a Wonderful Life.  Traditions......  A little after midnight it started to snow.  Perfect~

joy- unspeakable joy!

It has been a very busy last couple of weeks.  Happy, but busy!

We (especially Brianna!) were excited to have Erik visit for a few days.  He is not used to the sort of commotion and chaos that our house is full of, but he was a really good sport :)  He was tackled, told silly little-kid jokes to, teased, asked to help with little ones, helped with supper and supper clean up (without being asked!), read books to Leah, and even took an anxious book worm to the library!

I have battled different emotions over the last few weeks.  Seeing Brianna with a boy that she is seriously interested in had me dealing with the emotion that goes along with a child who is almost grown-sadness mixed with happiness.  The tragedy in Newtown had me dealing with fear, anger and even grief.  School deadlines had me dealing with stress and the feeling of being rushed.  Lack of sleep for many reasons (including much sickness in the family) had me dealing with exhaustion.

This morning, I was up before the rest of the family and enjoyed some quiet time with the Lord.  I read some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus' birth.  I read through the lyrics of some old Christmas carols and had a time of prayer.  After that, I decided to go to the grocery store while it was still quiet in the house.  As I was driving, Chris Tomlin's version of Joy to the World!"  came on the radio.  That is when I realized that even among sadness, fear, stress, grief, exhaustion- one emotion was there through it all (most of the time!)

Joy, unspeakable joy
An overflowing well, no tongue can tell
Joy, unspeakable joy
Rises in my soul, never lets me go

I was so excited for the reminder.  So excited that Jesus' birth- the reason we celebrate Christmas- allows joy to be in my heart regardless of what is going on around me.  It really was a feeling of "an overflowing well...rising in my soul."  I can't say enough how thankful I am for Jesus!
I am thankful too that I can share that joy with others- especially my family!  Leah has listened to Luke 2 over and over on a recording I have of it.  As soon as she hears that Mary is pondering all these things in her heart she asks to listen to it again.  The world can have Santa, the Elf, all the jingle bells they want.  That might make them smile, but it won't give joy.  It might motivate my child to behave for a couple of weeks, but it won't change that child's heart and give them hope for their future.  You can have that- but what I want is Jesus!

sentiment

Reflections..... (being up in the nights with sick children gives time for reflecting for sure!)

Alissa~  Alissa has been working so hard in school this year.  Her attitude is actually a bit convicting!  She works until she gets everything done and wants it done with excellence.

Alissa helps out with AWANA and cares so much for the girls she works with.  She takes every chance she gets to share the Gospel and prays for the girls too.  

Our whole family got the stomach flu this past week and Alissa was the very last to get it.  When I gave in to it, she got up in the morning and took care of Leah and Micah all day long.  She dressed them, changed Micah (who was not all over the flu yet, so that is saying a lot!), fed them, put them for nap, played games with them, and read them books.  She blessed me in so many ways that day!  She is such a sweet and caring girl and I love her so much.

Micah~ Micah has been challenging lately.  He got the flu and has not quite bounced back.  He is at an age where he cannot communicate very well so out of frustration he resorts to crying.  That leaves for a lot of guess work on our part!  He does love to carry around one or more of the receiving blankets he's had since birth, hold them up in his hand toward one of us (Cameron in this picture) and after we take them he holds his hands up to us so that we will pick him up.  Then he'll lay his head down on our shoulder.  Precious. Makes the crying all worth it~
Another thing he loves?  Balls.  In fact, if he sees anything that is the shape of a ball, he starts yelling "ball!  ball!"  as loud as he can.  The only problem is some things he thinks are balls, really aren't and therefore shouldn't be thrown as one.  In the middle of our flu one night, Micah picked up a heavy glass snow globe.  He climbed onto a bench that is behind one of our couches, and threw the globe at Andrew who was sitting on the couch.  It landed on Drew's head and gave him a nasty gash.  The amount of blood was horrifying to all of us but thankfully Andrew recovered just fine.  Micah, what are we going to do with you??

Cameron~  Practically a man.  I never thought I'd see the day when I could ask my son to do things for me that I can't do myself.  He reaches things that are too high for me, opens jars that are on too tight, and lifts things that are too heavy for me.  Although he doesn't have his license yet, he can even move the van from one place in our driveway to another so that the boys can play soccer.  He spent many hours last Saturday with Matt helping a family from church move.
Cameron has a heart for the less fortunate and it shows.  He has demonstrated that heart in many ways.  One time he gave away the $40 he had in his wallet to a couple of different homeless people.   On a trip to Boston, he saw an older woman who looked sad, sitting by herself.  He went over to her and told her that Jesus loves her.

Cameron is reading Elisabeth Elliot's book Through Gates of Splendor right now.  His heart is being stirred as he learns about the life of Jim Elliot and his friends who gave everything- including their lives- for the sake of the Gospel.  He is praying that God will show him what He wants him to do with his own life.

Leah~ Our precious sunshine.  That is true.  Everyone loves her and she is one that people are hardly every annoyed with!  She spends her days going from one thing to the next with a smile on her face.  One thing she really loves to do it pack.  She packs backpacks, purses, coat pockets...always wanting to be prepared.  My camera that was lost for so long?  She had packed it ,"for CC" she said, in one of the spare back packs on the porch.  My car keys?  Those were in a purse that I had in a pile to go to Goodwill  (THAT was a close call!), most recently was the ointment t hat was prescribed by her doctor to treat a problem that she has.  For two days we SEARCHED the  house for it.  I knew where and when it was that I last applied it.  Matt even took heat vents out and we used flashlights and long arms to search.  Brianna got the bright idea.  "Leah, did you pack your ointment somewhere?"  At first Leah shook her head no.  Then her face lit up and she said,, "Yes!  I wanted to bring it to CC in case Mom needed to put it on me!"  She went out to the porch, brought in her winter jacket, unzipped an inner pocket, and pulled out the small tube.  Ahhhh....little stinker!

Andrew~  Our people pleaser.  He loves to make us happy.  He hates to make us sad or disappoint us in any way.  He can sense when I am stressed or over tired and wants to do what he can to help. He has lots of spiritual questions at this point too and wants answers.  Matt and I can see a heart tender towards God and that right there is an answer to our prayers!
  Impulsive!  That can be both negative and positive.  We are working with him on self control and he thrives on that.  He begged me last week to make a schedule for him.  (things were so thrown off with the bug)  He is teaching me to slow down and have more order as I see that it is what he needs.  I think that it is what I need too.
Matt has observed that Drew is very similar to how he was as a child.  Safety conscious, fearful of people getting sick or dying, a little OCD.....  all things that can be used by God when brought under the control of the Holy Spirit.  We see so much progress in him and are excited to see what God will do with his life!

Brianna~ Matt was watching Leah play last night while Brianna was on the couch nearby.  He said to me, "It seems like Brianna was that age just yesterday."  I sensed a wistfulness in his voice- or maybe that was just me....  Seeing Leah is like seeing Brianna when she was that age.  Incredible.  It is so hard to believe that our little girl, our firstborn, is 17 years old and a senior in high school.  She is mature, responsible, focused, and funny as all get out!  She loves Dunkin' Donuts and sometimes takes a sibling there and treats them to a doughnut or drink.  She even loves to treat me to a coffee.  Nothing makes a shopping trip better than a coffee in hand is her motto :)
All we hear about these days though, is how many more days til Erik comes to visit.  She can't wait!  She has been wearing practice outfits trying to figure out what she is going to wear to the airport when she and Matt go to pick him up.
Brianna and I are doing a Beth Moore Bible study together.  Last night 4 of the kids were at AWANA, Micah was in bed, and Matt and Leah were quietly playing  blocks on the living room floor and  Bri and I were watching a DVD that goes along with the Bible study.  I couldn't help  but reflect on how blessed I am.  Truly.  What more could a mom want?!

Caleb~ Our thinker.  Memorizer.  Bible reader.  Logical one.   Squash hater.  Caleb is doing AWANA this year, but because he hasn't been doing it for the last three years, he came into it being in Book 1 out of 4.  His solution?  Get to Book 4!  It usually take an entire school year to get through one book.  They started in September and he is already almost done with his second book!  His goal is to finish all four books this year as it is his last year in AWANA.  He looks forward to being an LIT (Leader in Training) next year.  He is also trying to read the Bible through in a year.  He takes on some tough challenges!  That challenges us.
One unique thing about Caleb is his ability to get along with so many people.  In a family our size, that is a huge deal!  I think the secret is that he overlooks faults.  Really though, that is no secret- it is a biblical principle!  That is something we all should do.  Thanks for the lesson, Caleb!

Obviously I have been taking time to reflect on where I am in life.  Who I am with, what I am doing.  Taking moments to be thankful.  The thing is, there are some things that need to be changed.  Not everything is as it should be.  I have some wrong priorities.  I think God wants us all to take moments to evaluate.  Be thankful.  Listen to Him as He gently points out things that need to be worked on.  Life goes so quickly.  I want to live intentionally with eternity in mind.

trouble

Are you surprised I caught you getting into the pumpkin bread?  You little trouble maker!

Advent- Week 1

We celebrated the first week of Advent on Sunday.  Matt read from Isaiah 9 including this verse:

For 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.

(I still don't have a camera, so am making do with phone pics for now)

 Since this was in the middle of us battling the stomach flu, none of us were at our best and poor Leah didn't last long enough to do the craft- the part she had been looking forward to for days! (excuse the paci....it's a long story!)

 Then, after we were done, with eyes glowing (love the effects of the camera-ha!), we all crashed on couches and watched a Christmas movie.

 What a beautiful season.  This year, we have avoided almost all commercialism and there has been such sweet simplicity.  This picture sums it all up- the reason for Christmas