Joy

I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

John 16 : 23-24 

I am long overdue to write.  

I am long overdue on a lot of things.

I  was laying on the floor trying to do some longoverdue planks and non crunch crunches when I saw some longoverdue hairballs inbetween the loveseat and endtable.

Reminds me of something/someone else that wasn't longoverdue but necessarily long expected.

The reason for joy.

Come thou long-expected Jesus, 
Born to set Thy people free; 
From our fears and sins release us, 
Let us find our rest in Thee. 
Israel's strength and consolation, 
Hope of all the earth Thou art; 
Dear Desire of every nation, 
Joy of every longing heart. 

Born Thy people to deliver, 
Born a Child and yet a King. 
Born to reign in us for ever, 
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. 
By Thine own eternal Spirit 
Rule in all our hearts alone; 
By Thine all-sufficient merit 
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Traditions

Merry Christmas!
While Cathron was visiting  to help out my mom from knee replacement I asked her to take a family photo.  The night before she went home we went to the Main library and she took a few photos. The background didn't turn out to be what I had hoped but at least we're all in it and have reasonably good smiles.  She had never been to the Main library and was pleasantly surprised, especially with the Map Room.  Elise had just learned about the early explorers and it was neat to show her early maps that went along with that history lesson.

Yesterday I took Elise to get her picture taken with Santa.  She asked a few weeks ago but yesterday was the first chance I had.  I think we've been going to see the same Santa since she was two...it's Christmas for her.  The boys went to Dick's Sports, Target and Game Stop while we did Santa, Bath and Body Shop, and Gap. An hour and half at the Towne Center and we were outta there.

The week after Thanksgiving I took out the Christmas cards, last year I found them a few days before Christmas.  Tracy said, maybe next year I will get them out and address them and then in a few years they should get sent out.  We'll see.  Tracy was holiday baking when Susan and went to her house the other night for our Good and Beautiful God book/Bible study. She had peanut butter blossoms, lemon crinkle cookies, red velvet balls, sugar cookies and cooling on a baking sheet was sugared pecans.  My mom usually makes these every year and I inhale them...Tracy has given me some in the past too (also inhaled before I even get home) so I was hoping she was going to share again this year....Susan and I were at the door heading home and Tracy said wait, let me get you some pecans. YES! 
I was nervous there for a minute but after all her sweets that I had already eaten I knew I was probably better off not getting any.  Let it be known that I did not inhale them and I am actually sharing them with my husband.

Last night I started wrapping presents.  Seems like the last couple of years I waited until Christmas Eve, it will be nice to have it done before then.  Hopefully tonight I will finish.  It helps when there aren't a whole lot of gifts. That should be a lesson to me....cleaning would be a whole lot easier if there were less stuff around....less clothes= less laundry...etc....


I hope you have a purposefully relaxed Christmas and run to the one who is a strong tower and sent his son for us to celebrate this time of year.

Merry Christmas

Decorations

The Christmas decorations are still up. Maybe tonight I'll start packing them up.
Last night after dinner the kids and I decorated the gingerbread men set that Susan gave us for Christmas. The boys made flesh wounds on their men, Elise's goal was to put as much candy on hers as possible.
I haven't gotten on the scale this year and am afraid.
I have exercised three days this week and would like to go to the Y today if Emmett can get a little more of his work done.
Finished knitting my second hat yesterday...it looks rather elfin. It was supposed to be for Josh but he said, I don't think so. Elise wore it around all evening.
Sign-ups for the women's retreat are starting.
I'm feeling rather anti-social at the moment...selfishness that's all it is and I need to see it for what it is.
Gal. 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

White Christmas

Left Jacksonville at 7 in the morning Saturday and arrived at my sister Cathron's house in Indiana at 11:15 pm. The roads weren't bad though we were holding our breath driving through Bloomington because there was a light snow falling and we had no idea if the roads were icy and our Floridian ignorance had us on the edge of our seats. More light snow on Sunday and Monday so Elise got to make a snowball and they tried sledding but really there wasn't enough snow of that.
We worshiped at Exodus Sunday morning and we were joined by 6 of Stephen's friends.
Amen
It's still hard.
Stephen's stocking is hung.
It will get better.
We went to a winery yesterday and an Antique Mall, I bought a biscuit/doughnut cutter...broke the bank with my $6 purchase. Today hopefully I can hit a few more stores to paroose through, feeling the need to walk a little. There are spiced nuts and gumdrop cookies and buttermilk fudge and peanut butter blossom cookies and Dove peppermint bark chocolates and....What does Scarlet say?

The big picture

On several blogs I have seen ornament wreaths and it is something I have wanted to make for a couple of years but I really couldn't see shelling out even $10 bucks for the ornaments. Over Thanksgiving, Jennifer and I went to a Thrift store and I found a bag of ornaments for $1 and happily scooped them up with the wreath in mind...I pay a buck for anything. Really though, I have been thinking if I saved all those $1 spent here and there I really might be able to accumulate a stash to spend on something more substantial,...maybe even send to a mission...but I digress.
Last week when I put the balls on the hanger (possibly our only metal hanger) they only filled the hanger half way up. Didn't I know it would take a colossal bag to actually make a small wreath...and now what do I do?
I left it hanging on one of the spare chairs in my dining room not wanting to make a decision about it.
Last night Josh and I were out at a "dollar store" and I only had a few things to get but you have to spend $5 to use your debit so I got three tubes of balls and Viola, two problems solved in one.

Two years ago I took Elise and Emmett to see Santa and took a wonderful picture of them, last year I tried to do the same and again this year. This year's isn't bad, it just isn't as good as two years ago. I stood in the same spot as two years ago but I should have stood on the other side so that the tree would be in the picture instead of his side table and lamp. Sometimes I can't see the big picture.
I am hoping to see the big picture in the next 4 days and not go into pre-travel freak out mode.

Christmas Eve

Kinda feeling like I am having a bad dream and am waking up tomorrow to find it's Christmas. This year seems like it is closer than ever, maybe because we are leaving on the 14th to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and won't be back until the 18th and then leave the 19th to drive 13 hours to Indiana to spend Christmas with my sister Cathron and her family.
Oh my.
It will all get done...what needs to get done.
I will spend a lot of my precious time next weekend decorating. I don't know when the cookies the kids wanted to make for their teachers will get baked. I have never been good at making myself stay up past 9:30 let alone into the wee hours of the night to get the last ends of whatever worked on.
Why, you may ask, is she wasting time writing this drivel then?
Because
Maybe by telling myself again and again to not give in to the pressures and that success is not only subjective but illusionary I will waltz through the next 3 weeks with peace. Not the peace my society gives but everlasting peace....that everlasting peace that will be on my head, is on my head, has been on my head.
Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11 : 24

Which brings me to Advent, how are you preparing your heart to remember the first coming and anticipate the next?