I was thinking the other day about what Christmas means to me. Words that came to my mind were:
Hope Joy Love Peace on Earth Immanuel
So many things happened on that Holy Night. God hadn't spoken to His people in almost 500 years. 500 years! That's a long time! Who knows why He was silent but His silence did not mean that He had forgotten.
He did not forget about His people. He did not forget about His promises. He did not forget about the future.
It was all fulfilled, or had begun to be fulfilled, on thatHoly Night.
Imagine living during that time. Your family always talking about God and His promise of a Messiah. Someone to come and deliver you. They thought He was going to deliver them from Herod as Moses had delivered their ancestors from Pharaoh.
But God's plan was so much greater than that! He came to deliver us from separation from Him. Forever. For eternity.
On that Holy Night His plan and His promises began to unfold with the birth of a baby. Herod was looking for a big, strong, proud man. God brought Him to earth as a tiny, humble, helpless baby. God's plans don't always look how we envision them. In fact, I would say they almost never look how we picture them!
But He doesn't forget about us. He doesn't forget about His promises to us. He doesn't forget about our future.
If you feel like God hasn't spoken to you in 500 years! let Christmas remind you of hope, of promises fulfilled, of people not forgotten by a God who loves us so much that He sent His son to die for us.
If you are looking for joy, peace, hope, love...look to Immanuel - God with us. He is the answer. He doesn't have the answers...He is the answer!
My friend, Andie, at Quiet Times For Kids, has another {new} ebook Bible Study called The Twelve Days of Christmas. You may remember last year my family did her Advent Bible Study on the prophecies of Jesus. It was such a fun thing to do with our kids. I didn't get my act together this year to do it again and I instantly regretted in when my kids opened the first day of their chocolate advent calendars and Kate says to me "Mom, aren't we going to read the Bible about Jesus?" I couldn't believe she had remembered it and had even wanted to do it again! Great mom-points there!
But then I got an email from Andie about her newest Bible study and I was intrigued! Especially when she said it was something that could be done from Christmas day on into the New Year. Awesome! Here's what she shared with me about the study:
Our Twelve Days of Christmas Study is both a family devotional and celebration guide as well as an individual children’s Bible study. It is designed to be done on the historical twelve days of Christmas from December 25th to Jan 6th, though it could be done anytime during Christmas season. In this study you will learn the rich history of the Twelve Days of Christmas, dig into scripture as a family, read inspiring quotes, enjoy beautiful Christmas poetry with your family and be challenged to start new traditions intended to help you better appreciate and celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ. This can especially be an encouraging resource for your readers who, due to the business of the Christmas, missed out on the opportunity to spend much meaningful time together in God’s Word as a family and still would like to after the hustle calms down. Celebrating the historic Twelve Days of Christmas can be a great blessing to American families who , after all the festivities still want a more quiet and reflective celebration as a family.
She is so describing me here! We got into the busy-ness of Christmas stuff and church stuff that this year just hasn't "felt" very much like Christmas. I'd really like to be able to reflect on Christmas Day and beyond on the awesomeness of what Christmas is really all about.
If you would too, then go visit Andie at Quiet Times for Kidsand check it out. Just click on the Christmas Resource picture and it will take you to the 12 Days of Christmas study. All of her studies are ebooks therefore instantly downloadable. No waiting for it to ship in the mail! You can order today and get it today. How cool is that?! I know I sound like a commercial but I really do think it's cool. Also! {and here's the best part} she's putting it on sale. Half off!
Simply enter ‘halfoff12days’ at checkout!
So please go visit QTFK and let me know what you think. I, for one, read through my copy of the study and can't wait to do it with my family.
Jack and I were talking this morning over breakfast and he started telling me about Christmas. I seriously had no idea he knew so much about the Christmas story. I begged him to tell me again so I could record it and since he loves watching himself on video, he agreed. I love this!
Just a quick post to let you know that we did hear back from the Dr about Jack's blood tests. He does not have Celiac's and he does not have any food allergies. Praise the Lord! So we will continue with the acid reflux medicine for another month and see if it has helped. If not, then we'll have to do further testing. We are praying that this round of medicine will help his little tummy.
Also, this time of year is difficult for Kate. She has been melting down a lot lately. Just seemingly out of the blue. I'm sure it has nothing to do with our busy schedule and many late nights in a row...{hopefully the sarcasm was evident!} We are trying to slow things down a bit and get into a routine.
We're trying.
And lastly, this homeschool mama has not stopped school for Christmas break. They will finish this week then be on break for the next 2 while we are on vacation. So my poor, poor children are still doing math :) I will tell you though, that this mama/teacher is also ready for a break. It's dang hard to motivate your children when you, yourself, are not motivated!
Our weekend wasn't quite as busy as our past few have been. We only had one Christmas party last night that we attended (besides going to church where Mark preached and did fabulous). It was a great night filled with catching up with people we've known over the years and only see once a year.
This weekend I've been thinking lots of things {a quiet mind isn't something I'm blessed with} and I reflected on another lesson that God taught me in this last year.
He is my Defender. Psalm 119:154 -- Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.
There was a time when I was confronted with things that I knew, absolutely, were not true about me. Things that I know I had not said and not done. I was shocked and saddened to think that someone thought this about me.
All I wanted to do was defend myself, tell them it wasn't true, convince them that I'm not who they think. I began to do just that but I quickly realized it was pointless. I wanted to attempt to try again a couple weeks later but God said hush.
I've often told people that if they are upset with me pleeeease come talk to me and let me either explain or apologize but pleeeease don't go on thinking something that isn't true. Please give me a chance to make it right and then if you're still mad at me then at least it's for something that's true and not a lie.
And while I still think that {I'd rather have every effort made to have real and honest relationships} I also realize that in many circumstances it won't matter what I say or how I try and defend myself and that it can be my pride that wells up in an attempt to defend myself. I've not encountered that type of relationship often in my life.
But God showed me that He is my Defender. He will speak on my behalf. He will take care of me even if it isn't changing the mind of the person who thinks these things. My job is to be quiet.
And I was. I decided to trust God. And He came through. He surrounded me with a few people who supported and encouraged me. I didn't go seeking my own group. He brought them to me. And He showed me that that was enough.
He is enough.
I don't have to make everything "right" all the time. I need to do what He says and that's all. He takes care of the rest. He showed me that when Christ was brought before Herod and Pilate and accused of so many things that were absolutely not true - He was silent. I'm not comparing my suffering to that of Christ but He is my example of how to live. And when He was accused, He was silent. That is what I am to do.
Let Him be my Defender. Hopefully my actions, and not my mouth, will speak about who I am and what I believe.
Is this making any sense? I kind of feel like I'm rambling.
Anyway, God showed Himself as my Defender this year.
Psalm 62:5-8 -- Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him for God is our refuge.
Yesterday was a fun-packed Friday if there ever was one!
The trick to these posts is doing some of the same things but taking different pictures of us doing the same things...
We decided to go get a special doughnut breakfast at Doughworks in town. The kids love doughnuts and I was excited about a sesame bagel with cream cheese. De-lish. Aaaaand there were no pictures taken to document the doughnut eating.
BUT
I tried to make up for it the rest of the day.
We headed over to the Discovery museum. And played with mustachesAnd then we hung out at home until our staff Christmas party! The men: Steve, Bill, Ben, Mark and Nick The glowing ladies: me, Kelly, Jen, Kristen and Lori The kids were being watched by some wonderful, wonderful kids on staff and the adults enjoyed a fabulous meal at a fancy tableAnd then played a fabulous game of Pirate Bingo. Kristen and Jen won our two gag gifts. Kristen-a tampon angel and Jen-the big blue M&M! Such troopers!We are so blessed to work with such amazing people. Unfortunately we were missing our youth pastors. They had an emergency to attend to last night. And of course we are still awaiting what we will do about a senior pastor. But for now, I am so thankful for the gift God has given us in these people. We are truly thankful!
The busy-ness continues this week. We had some dear friends over for dinner on Monday night (the only night the husband had off that coordinated with our crazy schedule). Again...*sigh* no pictures....
Tuesday, though, I did take some pictures! Yay me!
We started off with a trip to the dentist. It was an appointment for me but the dentist looked at Kate and Jack's teeth. Jack has a small cavity (of course he does...he's the 3rd child...he had sweets way before the older two did...he sneaks candy...he's Jack...) and the dentist graciously filled it right there on the spot so Jack didn't have time to think about it. And Jack did amazing!
The kid has had his teeth checked out briefly by the hygienist but he's never even had them cleaned. He didn't move a muscle while they quickly filled it (without numbing him). What a relief!
Turns out I didn't need fillings...whew!
After Walmart, lunch and brief naps, we headed back out to our friend Kim's. She was hosting a Christmas party for our homeschool group. It was a chance for our kids to have a "class" party as well as share a project in front of everyone. The kids all presented what Christmas means to them.
Here's Kim giving instructions to the class.The kids could draw, build, sing, or write about it and then they had to present it. All of the kids did really neat stuff and it was so sweet to see them explain things to each other.
Kale drew this This was Kate's Aaaaaannnndd this is Jack's....Christmas tree I think? I didn't have him do a picture the day before like I did with the other kids because I didn't think he would be interested. I was wrong. During Kale's presentation Jack ran and got a piece of paper, a crayon, drew this and as soon as Kale was done he hopped up in front of everyone (totally out of turn of course) to do his presentation unprompted. He started off by saying "My name's Jack and this is Christmas". He pointed to his friends and the words toys and presents came out. It was so funny! Here's the video (hopefully) of their presentations
--I made this video twice and the second one was worse so I opted to keep this one. The videos for Kale and Jack don't show up but what they said does. The video for Kate works but you can't hear her (she was too quiet when she spoke). You can get the gist though...hopefully. --
After this they got on their winter gear and went outsideWe had to drag them back inside so we could do some fun projects that my friend Tiffany brought for us. During the projects, the dads came over after work. Such a relief to have Mark's help!
We made candle holders fabric wreathes and beaded ornaments (no pics of that).
We had dinner together and then sang Christmas carols while Kim played pianoWe are so blessed by our friends!
Thursday night was our bluegrass Christmas concert at the church. This is the 7th year we've done it. Such a fun time! The Bar D Wranglers There was no fun on Friday (at least not a planned event with the kids) because they were a little hungover from the concert and Kate wasn't feeling well. She was complaining of a sore throat so she hung out on the couch with Mark and crabby Jack while I took crabby Kale to the store. See? Fun times!
We had to get some last minute things for our small group Christmas party on Friday night as well as get a Rx for Jack. Speaking of...I should fill you in on my littlest man. I took him to the Dr on Wednesday to find out what was going on with his stomach. He has been complaining nearly everyday that his tummy hurts. I've been putting off getting it checked because I never know if he's just trying to get out of something or if it really hurts. It could be hunger, it could be I'm tired and don't want to go to bed...but it's been going on so long I had to try to figure out just what it is.
So the Dr gave him a Rx for Prevacid in case it's acid reflux (which he had as an infant so it's possible that that's the problem). She also had the nurses draw blood for some blood tests. One to determine if he has any food allergies (milk, nuts, chocolate etc...) and another one to test for Celiacs disease (Oh please Lord - no bread, no cereal, no pasta, no crackers...I'm not sure what this boy would eat if that was the case. Needless to say we are definitely praying against all of it!). We actually hope it's reflux. It's an easily treatable problem!
Jack did amazingly during the blood draw. He cried for just a moment but didn't squirm, didn't yell, didn't freak out. I was freaking out on the inside but we both held it together :)
Afterwards I said he totally deserved a treat! Chocolate ice cream. So back to Friday. Kale and I finished our shopping then we prepared for the party that night. Sadly I have no pictures from the party. We had a blast playing pirate bingo though. Hilarious gifts were passed around and fought over!
Saturday, Kate was feeling worse. She came into our room early in the morning telling us that she couldn't breathe. Her sore throat had become super congested. She almost can't talk. I think she was having an asthma attack and panicking -making it worse. We got her to calm down, finally, by giving her her nebulizer. She did that every four hours for the rest of the day.
That night we had our good friends, Adam and Kristin Bleger, over for dinner. They were in town for the weekend and we were blessed to be able to catch up with them. Again, no pictures :( I gotta get better about snapping photos!
And finally, yesterday was our Pastor's last Sunday. Kate still wasn't great but she was able to go with us and sleep and watch movies in Mark's office. Selfishly I didn't want to miss this last Sunday. It's the end of a season for us and I wanted to be there.
Here are many from our congregation praying for him.As for the future of the church we still aren't certain what will happen. Mark had several meetings last week with local people and has another one this Wednesday in Grand Junction. He has decided to put in his resume for the job of senior pastor. I'm proud of him for doing it. I think he'd make a fabulous senior pastor and I feel like God has been preparing both of us for something like this. We know that it is a long shot (there are many pastors applying for the job - many qualified pastors), possibly even a miracle, but I'd love for it to be a miracle. I'd love to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if we got this job that it was a God appointment!
I believe Mark has a shot and I'm praying for favor. But we are both wanting to submit to God's will and we will submit to another pastor if that is the plan He has for us. Mark feels like he needs to aggressively pursue this but I think we're ready for whatever the Lord has in mind. We love this town, we love our church and are committed to it no matter what our job title is.
The process could take 3-4 months so we may not know anything for a long while, but until then, we are praying and fasting and seeking God's best for us.
Thank you all for caring about us! We'll keep you posted!
This is the video of the kids' Christmas program that they were in last Sunday night. It's a long video and I do not expect you to watch it. But if you are interested in seeing my little Emmy winners in action you can skip to:
:34 to see Jack (in a striped sweater vest with a donkey hat on) enter the stage. He's hidden for most of the beginning segment unfortunately , but there are glimpses.
2:58-3:08 you can see Jack again rubbing his eyes and clapping and being cute
7:37 you can find Kate singing the opening song
7:52 the camera pans to Kale for the same song
if you want to see the short scene that both Kale and Kate have lines in then skip on ahead to 38:43. Kate has one line at the beginning and Kale (a wise man) comes in shortly after. Notice Kale's incredibly loud fake chewing of his apple...he said he wanted people to really believe he was eating the apple. See for yourself...
It may take a while to load the video so feel free {grandparents - I think you may be the only ones who'll actually want to watch it} to open it and then go do dishes, cook dinner, or sleep before you come back to watch it :)
My first nephew! I'm pleased to introduce you to Kieran Arthur Priddy.
Mark's sister, Julie, and her hubby welcomed this little miracle to the world on Tuesday. What a blessing and gift he is! I can not wait to kiss those cheeks and love on this little guy.
This little man has been prayed for and loved for longer than he will ever know. So thrilled to now post pictures of my sweet little nephew!
Mark and I are those types of people who would've put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving if we had been in town. I am one of those people who would've done it before we actually left for Denver so it would be all set up and pretty when we got home. But I submit to Mark's wishes and wait :)
And let me tell you that the first available night after we got back (and there were no meetings to go to) we put that sucker up! Yes, Kale has a cone shaped hat one...No, it's not a Santa hat. It's his own creation.He started to get the hang of it and had fun!She was very purposeful with every ornamentHe (Kale) was happy to put them all in one little spotThey thought it was great fun that they are stair-stepped in height
God is the God of our yesterdays. He allows us the memory of them so we can turn the past into the ministry for the future.
"I don't think you can explain how Christian faith works. It is a mystery. And I love this about Christian spirituality. It cannot be explained, and yet it is beautiful and true. It is something you feel, and it comes from the soul."
And played with mustaches
And then we hung out at home until our staff Christmas party!
The glowing ladies: me, Kelly, Jen, Kristen and Lori
The kids were being watched by some wonderful, wonderful kids on staff and the adults enjoyed a fabulous meal at a fancy table
And then played a fabulous game of Pirate Bingo.
We are so blessed to work with such amazing people. Unfortunately we were missing our youth pastors. They had an emergency to attend to last night. And of course we are still awaiting what we will do about a senior pastor. But for now, I am so thankful for the gift God has given us in these people. We are truly thankful!
The kids could draw, build, sing, or write about it and then they had to present it. All of the kids did really neat stuff and it was so sweet to see them explain things to each other.
This was Kate's
Aaaaaannnndd this is Jack's....Christmas tree I think? I didn't have him do a picture the day before like I did with the other kids because I didn't think he would be interested. I was wrong. During Kale's presentation Jack ran and got a piece of paper, a crayon, drew this and as soon as Kale was done he hopped up in front of everyone (totally out of turn of course) to do his presentation unprompted. He started off by saying "My name's Jack and this is Christmas". He pointed to his friends and the words toys and presents came out. It was so funny!
Here's the video (hopefully) of their presentations
We had to drag them back inside so we could do some fun projects that my friend Tiffany brought for us. During the projects, the dads came over after work. Such a relief to have Mark's help!
fabric wreathes
and beaded ornaments (no pics of that).
We are so blessed by our friends!
There was no fun on Friday (at least not a planned event with the kids) because they were a little hungover from the concert and Kate wasn't feeling well. She was complaining of a sore throat so she hung out on the couch with Mark and crabby Jack while I took crabby Kale to the store. See? Fun times!
So back to Friday. Kale and I finished our shopping then we prepared for the party that night. Sadly I have no pictures from the party. We had a blast playing pirate bingo though. Hilarious gifts were passed around and fought over!
As for the future of the church we still aren't certain what will happen. Mark had several meetings last week with local people and has another one this Wednesday in Grand Junction. He has decided to put in his resume for the job of senior pastor. I'm proud of him for doing it. I think he'd make a fabulous senior pastor and I feel like God has been preparing both of us for something like this. We know that it is a long shot (there are many pastors applying for the job - many qualified pastors), possibly even a miracle, but I'd love for it to be a miracle. I'd love to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if we got this job that it was a God appointment!
He started to get the hang of it and had fun!
She was very purposeful with every ornament
He (Kale) was happy to put them all in one little spot
They thought it was great fun that they are stair-stepped in height 
