GOD with us!!!!

Christmas has happened.  

I don't mean Christmas 2011.  I mean 2000+ years ago.

Regardless of the actualy date, HE CAME.

HE CAME to set the captives free.

HE CAME to bring peace inspite of our rebellious, ruthless, proud and selfish hearts.

HE CAME when we couldn't do anything about our lost and broken souls.

CHRISTMAS HAPPENED!!

EMMANUEL!

Let us shout it from the mountain tops.

Let us shout it from the valleys.

And from everywhere in between.

My heart goes out to those who reject HIM.  The bitter root that swells.  The resentment. The anger.

And the sadness deep in the inside, that is denied on the outside.

EMMANUEL!

HE CAME!!!

HALLELUIAH

We had a good Christmas this year.  The VA family came up and man did that little boy melt my heart.  

Again.

Christmas morning brought much joy and laughter.

Josiah recorded.

I think the whole underwear conversation was recorded for our *pleasure*in the future.

We had no idea it was being recorded.

Moving on.

Samuel loved this gift.  I am still praying for this boy and some of his choices.

The Eagles??!!?  REALLY??!!!?

My mom invited Josiah's family over a few days later and we ALL enjoyed the evening.

The brothers playing Just Dance.

My dad opted to just plain old waltz.

The tree died prematurely.  WAY prematurely.

And I was slightly shocked since the tree was fresh-cut by us. Usually it lasts longer than that.  When we took it down to pitch it outside, I realized why it died so soon.  Every year, I turn off the radiator that is right there.  I asked John to do it this year while I was doing something else.

He forgot.

Poor tree.

OH!  And HELLO...

I have an interesting amount of gray hair growing right in front of my head.  So instead of coloring it to my super dark brown hair, I decided to color a gray streak instead.  As John calls it...granny chic.

Because I LOVE being a granny.  <3

It looks more blonde than gray.

More young than granny. Oh well.

I still like it.   

ALOT!

4 days

So much has happened for the holyday so far.

Except for ... oh... shopping.

But it will get done.  Even if I turn into one of those crazy people ( mostly men) who are out shopping like lunatics the days before.  I always wondered what causes someone to be that unorganized.

Now I realize that it is not organization.  It is just plain old ugh.  

Uninspiration.

But Elena had her church show.

She was an angel.  And she got to sing Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.  She was the only one who memorized thewhole song.  But let us remember that she watches Charlie Brown Christmas ALL YEAR LONG.

And HEY!  Guess who joined the family.  

You may remember Marv.  He died. John has been needing a real cat.  Fat Surely has disappeared in the basement.  It takes Samuel 10 minutes to find her.  Sometimes I don't see her for weeks.  And Peg has to think long and hard to decide if she will give you privilege of letting you pet her. More often than not, the answer is no.

I am  not a cat fan.

But he is.

And so is she.

Oh, and did I mention...

The most beautiful baby boy is here? 

He is.  <3

The Voice of Truth

This song, though old,  stretches me. Like no other has in a long time.

This song pushes me out of my comfort zone.

This song challenges me to stop being afraid.  HE is my Master.  Why fear?

This song reminds me of a young man I know.

As I was praying today, he came into my thoughts.  I figure when people come to mind during prayer, GOD put them there, so just go ahead and pray.  So I did.

Anyway, I remembered how he put himself 'out there' recently.  He spoke truth.  And though it cost him a possible friendship, Truth is all that mattered in the end.

Though he knew there was a chance that he would be rejected, his Master mattered more.  And HE always will.

This kid inspires me.  He understands that the rat race, as Diane Keaton said, is just going to have to survive with one less rat.

It has been a while since a young person has inspired me like this.

If he can do it at 19 or 20, (I forget how old he really is, lol) HECK I should stand tall and true to HIM, too!!

satan himself will try to squash me like a bug because of it.   he usually tries super hard.  It is painful and certainly not fun.

So.Be.It

Because in the end, the Voice of Truth is the only thing that matters.  For HIS glory.

And who doesn't want to do that??!!??!

Christmas TIme is...almost here.

We decorated for Christmas this weekend. 

It got me thinking of loads of Christmas controversies.

It also got me thinking of The Birth.

And the Miracle.

And the Hope.

And I realized that Hope is truly...my favorite thing. 

EVER.

You have to understand.  I am a basketcase.  I am a woe-to-me fan.  I am a jump off the cliff because there is just no hope left.  Also, an 'oh well, it is for everybody else except for me because it is never for me'.

In a word...pathetic.

BUT, in all that, HE always manages to come in, into the pinholes of my life, and explode with hope.

SO, as we decorated this year, I clung to hope, for in the end, that is all I want to hang my hat on.  

Hope in Jesus.

Period.

The other thing is, we didn't decorate the tree.  We are waiting for my oldest baby girl to come from VA. With her family( read: my beautiful grandson.  Oh, and my dear son in law, too.  But really HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BABY??!!??!).  So I can kiss those cheeks while they do the rest of the work.  

Because my job will be to kiss those cheeks.

Our diningroom table centerpiece:

Charlie Brown's Tree & the Jesse Tree.

Daisy-gurl is a worry-wart in the worst way.  She and Reilly are the same age.  Except Reilly looks so much younger.  Because Reilly goes with the flow.  As long as he eats and has water...life is good.

Peanut's motto:  Have tree, will travel.  She loves Charlie Brown Christmas.  She watches it all year long. She thinks Peppermint Patty should be a boy.

So 12 days of Christmas left.  13 if you are an American.

And I haven't really started my shopping yet.

I should panic. 

I should have a freak out session.

But instead, I am going to hang with Reilly, because it will get done.

As long as can eat and have some water...it's all good.

Random Life, Random Thoughts

Yes, this will be random.

Like my life.

Everyday.

ANYWAY, I was going through my Targ*t flyer and I happen to notice that Mr. Popper's Penguins dvd was on sale.

On sale??!!??

Seriously?  I didn't even know it was out in the theaters!

My daughter loved this book.  It was her all time favorite. Like mine was When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit.  She read it, talked about it, reread it, took it with her to camp, like having a little bit of home when feeling lonely. You get the point.

I had heard they were doing a movie.  Evidently someone pressed some fast-forward button on life somewhere, because it is on dvd already.  :P

Moving on.

I asked my son today what he wants for Christmas, and again he gave me a short list.

And I quote:

" I want a second bow for my violin."

" Why do you need a second bow??!!??" ( panic sets in, as I think he did something to his first one.)

" Because I want to be good enough to have a second bow like my teacher has.  I think it is SO COOL when he opens his case and there are 2 bows in it."

...


words escape me

...

Moving on.  Again.



As you may or may not know, I am in training for the 1/2 marathon. Again.

How much do I hate this?  Let me count the ways.

But this year, I am doing it for a good cause.  It is in memory of our pastor's wife and more so, in honor of her children.

They have this whole thing going on with it.  Pretty cool.  And it will keep me on my toes with the training.  These are crazy trainers/trainees.

All serious and what-not.

Then there is me.  Sucking air and trying not to pass out.

Whatever.

I'm doing it.

Okay, one more thing, because I love stand up comedy/comics.

I work really hard to find ones that are not foul.  Not an easy task.

So I don't get to watch as much as I would like.

ANYWAY, Samuel & I watch them together.

I almost *powdered my nose* in my pants when I heard this one.

" You know I went to the doctors and he told me I am boderline diabetic.  Why did he have to say borderline??  Because I'm a Mexican?"

So, as a fellow hispanic/central american born, and sometimes I wish I was Mexican( according to my mom, they put out some great soap operas, and HAVE YOU TRIED THEIR FOOD??!!??)

H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S!!!!

Okay.

I am now getting off the random train and wish you a good rest of the day.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas.

Ok, it may look like Christmas, but it FEELS wonderful!!!

This is the first year in the past, what?? 20 years I was actualy NOT freezing to death when looking for a Christmas tree.  It was fabulous.

Sweater weather!!!

She loved the little trees.  And Christmas tree searching.  And running in between trees.  And posing like a tree.

This is the pickiest man.  On the face of the earth.  And I love him.

Found it.

Cut it.

Taking it to the car.

The 2 that enjoyed watching.

Pulling it through.  We have been going to this tree farm longer then I can remember. I think about 18 or 20 years. 

And now, it is time to pull out the Christmas movies, play the songs, decorate the house, read the devotions, advent, The Jesse tree, make cookies, and (im)patiently wait for my grandson to come here for the holidays.

GOD is good.  <3