Little Steps

Matthew 19:26

....but with God all things are possible...

I hope you've had a happy weekend and a restful Sunday and that Monday finds you ready to face the week!

Every year, (except last year - too cold and windy with an infant in tow) since we moved to Texas, we've taken a drive during the first weeks of December to a tiny town nearby in order to visit their amazing Bethlehem reenactment. It's about the size of a city block and is complete with permanent structures like an inn, a jail, merchants' stores, Roman soldiers, live animals, and many people milling around as travelers come to Bethlehem to pay taxes. There are shepherds running about, shouting the News they've heard from the angels, and at the very end of the crowded chaos of Bethlehem, is a quiet cave...always the highlight of our time spent there, because it reminds us of Jesus and His quiet, humble, nearly-anonymous advent here to our sin-riddled planet...

So this year, AH got to join in this family tradition, which made it really special.

And, we had the unplanned blessing of touring Bethlehem with dear friends. We both knew the other was going Friday night, but we arrived at the same time and ended up enjoying each others' company while there!

The above photo, however, is from another special evening: we took the big five to see A Christmas Carol Musical at a local theatre. What a treat!

I'm super thankful to the Lord for a special meeting BB and I had today, in which we took our ideas and thoughts about the changes needed in our family ways, and made some black and white, serious, on-paper, covered in prayer PLANS for progress.

Tonight, I sit here with the coming week's meals all written out on a special calendar. I've got a grocery list to accommodate those meals. I intend to repeat this meal plan for a few weeks until I feel confident with this more organized method. Then I'll branch out and get more creative with our meal choices. This is training wheels, and I'm a-ok with that.

We also got some things on a shared online planning calendar in order to cope better with housework, laundry, and so on. This should also help us be more abreast of each others' commitments, such as haircuts or kids' parties to attend.

Praise God for helping us to communicate and take steps in the right direction! And, oh my goodness, pray for us. We need some big grace to stick to the plan! And to recognize what needs tweaking along the way!

How was your weekend? What Christmas-y things have you been doing with your family? Anything "impossible" with which God is helping you and yours of late? (like hoisting your family up out of a lot of old habits that are no longer effective!)