Thursday, December 10, 2009

The Season

O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress...The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. Isaiah 33:2, 5-6

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us. Isaiah 33:22

As I read through Isaiah, each day I come across little gems like these verses. There's so much encouraging prophecy mixed with history (Hezekiah's story teaches much!). I love the prayer in the first scripture above: "Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress." Oh, how badly I need His strength! And what confidence to be had - "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom." I re-read this chapter several days in a row, just to try to get the sweetness of these promises to sink in!

Lord, give me grace to please You and to look to You in all circumstances and in every season. You do all things well!

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Some photos of our Season so far, just for fun...



BB reads a portion of scripture to us for our Advent celebration each night. I'd gone in search of a regular old circle wreath thing to put our candles in, but just could not find the right thing, so we ended up with this more creative version. (It's sitting in its original packaging - classy!) And, lest this photo present an unrealistically angelic scene, know that much of the time this is what you'd hear "CA, back AWAY from the fire!" and "Guys, stop trying to blow the candles out," then, "Girls, listen to the Word!" It's not a serene time - yet.




This made me laugh - and take pictures. After a long day of schooling, I walked around the corner to find my two middle ones deconstructing an old keyboard with screwdrivers, joyfully popping off each key with great gusto. I don't even know what made them think to do it, but I love their inventive, funny selves.




The remains of the keyboard...





Well, CA learned to use scissors this week. For real. Till now, she's just kind of pretended with them, imitating her crafty older sisters, but now, oh my, there will be no stopping her. Good news is, cutting those foam sheets kept her safely and happily occupied for an unusually long time.




We got to babysit our friends' children recently, including this little guy, who's a twin. MK loves babies. She may show little outward interest in most things, but when it comes to babies, her interest and affection all hang out. It's very sweet, and she's genuinely tender and motherly and sacrificial when she has the chance to help care for a little one.

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Lastly, a funny story. We are running rather behind this year on decorating and other such seasonal things. The plan last night was to go as a family and get our Christmas tree at last. We drove to the store in separate cars, since our grocery store sells trees. I thought we could choose the tree, send BB and most of the kids home with it to get it into a stand while I grabbed a few much-needed groceries. Once at the store, I didn't see BB and the two girls right away, so I checked my cell phone to see if he'd messaged or called - he had, so I called him back. It didn't take long to realize we had had a little miscommunication. He had gone to Home Depot in the neighboring town, and I had gone to the nearest grocery store, 20 minutes from HD. Oh my. Oops. So, he and two of our kids chose the tree this year, while I, and the other two shopped for groceries, as planned.

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Jesus, thank You for sacrificing your rightful glory and intimate presence with the Father in heaven for a time...thank You for being born a human like me, for rubbing shoulders with sinful, ungodly humanity for your short lifetime on earth, and then for walking in painful obedience to death on the cross. And, praise be to God, thank You that You are alive, having defeated sin and death for our good and the glory of God!

4 comments:

  1. Oh, I laughed at the Christmas tree shopping story! Isn't that just so "real life"?! You'll always have the memory of shopping for that tree. The advent photo is precious, and, I'm glad to see that girls enjoy tinkering too.

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  2. Adding to the real-life-ness of our Season...BB came home to find our tree having fallen over after I went to bed early...sigh. Two ornaments broken, but otherwise no real damage. Makes us laugh...this is not our year for perfect decorating and such!

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  3. Beth, I've been thinking this week how I was with ya'll this time last year and missing you all even more than usual. It is a good thing it won't be long before we see each other. I love reading about everyday life there. It makes me feel closer.

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  4. We miss you, too...counting the days!

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