Musings of the Day

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put way from  you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." Eph 4:29-5:2

~How much more pleasant would our lives, homes, and relationships be if we applied these words to every area of our lives?
~"Be imitators of God as dear children." I've heard and said the phrase "children of God" so many times in my life, but I have so seldom stopped to think about what that should really look like. How do we imitate God? We must start by getting to know him. You can't imitate something if you don't know anything about it and the more you know about a person, the more you can imitate. God's Word was written for that very purpose, so that we might know and understand who God is.
Second you have to think about what the parent/child relationship looks like. To be a child means to be in under the direct authority of your parent. To be in submission, to honor, and to respect those in authority.  In our family, it was never permissible to question, back-talk, or disobey mom and dad. Of course we sin, we're human, and there are consequences for disobedience, but there are also blessings for obedience. It is the same in our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father.


"Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back. For Sheol cannot thank You, death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living, the living man, he shall praise You, as I do this day; the father shall make known Your truth to the children." Isaiah 38:17-19

~"You have cast all my sins behind Your back." PRAISE THE LORD!

CHRISTMAS -
Why do we decorate for Christmas? What is the purpose for things like greenery, Christmas trees, lights, etc. which don't have any correlation Christ's birth. What if things like trees have a pagan origin?

~First things first - we decorate because we are celebrating. We are celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Savior! We all celebrate birthdays of our family and friends. Most of us with cake, gifts, and a verbal "happy birthday!" why should we not do so and much more in celebration of Jesus' birthday. Ok, so December 25th may not be His real birthday, but honestly, no one knows the real day, so lets just get over it and be willing to join with our brothers and sisters in Christ in celebration.
Ok, back to decorations - trees, lights, candles, wreaths, holly, etc. just shout joy and festivity! For me, having the visuals before my eyes every time I walk into the living room is a constant reminder of what this Advent season is all about. Amidst the greenery, tree, and lights, our house is also decorated with at least 7 nativity scenes. Anyone who walks into our house is going to notice what Christmas really means to this family. We are celebrating the gift of the Incarnation.
There are those among my friends and acquaintances who question the use of decorations because of their pagan origin, but we are in no way bound to the traditions of the pagans. In using a tree to decorate at Christmas, I doubt anyone is thinking about ancient Teutonic vegetation worship.

"Nichtzsche said that the difference between modern and ancient times is that modern man substitutes the morning newspaper for morning prayer." ~ Oliver Van DeMille (in A Thomas Jefferson Education)

"The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day." ~Henry Ward Beecher

Homemade, Cozy Fashion

I made a birthday present for a friend of mine this week and I was very happy with how it turned out. The black is a knitted circular scarf which I've seen around quite a bit this season. The flowers are crocheted and attached to barrette clips. They work great for hair as well as on the scarf. The clip easily slips right through the knitting. 

I've seen flowers like this all over but decided that I could make my own, so I bought some felt, and elastic headbands and there ya go. This is one of the projects I was using the stash of buttons in the previous post for. 

Hanging of the Greens

There's just nothing quite like a hot loaf of artisan bread with some butter!

Our stash of buttons is finally coming in handy for a project, but I can't tell you what it is yet. You'll just have to stay tuned. 

Ok, now really. On to what this post is really about. Tuesday night we baked some special finger foods, turned on some Christmas music, retrieved the boxes from the attic, and set to decorating the house for Advent. We haven't gotten a tree yet, or exactly decided what type of tree, if any to get. 

 Scott made the sausage balls

Mom get several of these recipes from Pioneer Woman. Like the Pumpkin Smoothie, the Mozzarella Sticks, and the Holiday Bacon Appetizers. We also made sausage balls, buffalo chicken pockets bites, and chocolate, carmel, pretzel bark. 

The main part of our decorations are the nativity scenes. We have several. 

 We were able to get the greenery up even though Curtis wasn't here. But now that I look at it....this garland looks a little crooked. = /

 It wouldn't be Christmas without our advent wreath and candles (almost). =)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Advent

Thanksgiving is past and yesterday was the beginning of Advent. It hardly seems possible that Christmas is so quickly approaching. Less than a month! Advent is a time of preparation, preparing our minds and hearts to celebrate CHRISTmas. My family has been celebrating Advent for as long as I can remember, but it wasn't till recently (the the last couple years) that I really began to understand the purpose and meaning behind advent and really focusing our hearts on Christ.  I was listening to Sarah Brown's Christmas CD, which is my favorite, and as I listened to one of the songs it challenged me to think about the gifts we give to God. We are vessels, made for His service, but I think so often we see our lives as our own to do with as we please. We should be seeking to live every day for His glory. During this holiday season we spend more time thinking about things we are thankful for, Christ's birth, what Christmas is about, etc. and so it should be, but it seems like the rest of the year we glide on by, with less thought put on bringing glory to our Savior.  Here are the words to Sarah Brown's song. It's written for kids, but it applies just as much to adults. The wise may bring their learning,  The rich may bring their wealth, And some may bring their greatness, And some may bring strength and health;  We, too, would bring out treasures  To off to the King; We had no wealth or learning; What shall we children bring? We'll bring Him hearts that love Him; We'll bring Him thankful praise, And young souls meekly striving  To walk in holy ways: And these shall be the treasures  We off to the King,  And these are gifts that even  The poorest child may bring. We'll bring the little duties  We have to do each day;  We'll try our best to please Him,  At home, at school, at play: And better are these treasures To offer to the King Than richest gifts without them; Yet these a child may bring.

Thanksgiving

Adorable reindeer cookies Caity and I made (one of many kinds). 

 My cute little Teddybear in his onsie jammies and beard :-)

 The Turkey brine I used from Pioneer Woman. I can't believe that I didn't get any other pictures of the turkey. It turned out beautiful and I must say, pretty yummy. 

 We had a houseful for Thanksgiving, but again I didn't get many pictures. 

 Dear friends who come down to visit for a long weekend are certainly something to be thankful for!

 Dessert buffet 

 Friday afternoon we had a get together with lots of friends for fellowship, games, and dancing. 

 My dearest friend

The blessing of family and friends is something we should never take for granted. I am so thankful for the people God has placed in my life. I love my family, friends, and relatives. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Pear Strudel

After canning over 50 quarts of pears last week, we had some extra pears that needed to be used up so I found a recipe for pear strudel. Technically this recipe is for apple strudel, but the blogger said that it works great for pears as well. I used cranberries and pecans in place of blueberries and walnuts. I also found a recipe for homemade phyllo dough which turned out pretty good.