Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  From my family to yours. <3

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas as you create memories and celebrate God's blessings and His miraculous gift of salvation through His only Son, Jesus.  

Safe travels and warm wishes to you all!

Blessed Advent

   But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
  who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
 from you shall come forth for me
  one who is to be ruler in Israel,
 whose coming forth is from of old,
  from ancient days.
 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
  when she who is in labor has given birth;
 then the rest of his brothers shall return
  to the people of Israel.
 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
  in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
 And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
  to the ends of the earth.
 And he shall be their peace.
 When the Assyrian comes into our land
  and treads in our palaces,
 then we will raise against him seven shepherds
  and eight princes of men;
  (Micah 5:2-5 ESV)

******

 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
 
 And Mary said,
  “My soul magnifies the Lord,
  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
  and holy is his name.
 And his mercy is for those who fear him
  from generation to generation.
 He has shown strength with his arm;
  he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
  and exalted those of humble estate;
 he has filled the hungry with good things,
  and the rich he has sent away empty.
 He has helped his servant Israel,
  in remembrance of his mercy,
 as he spoke to our fathers,
  to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

(Luke 1:39-55 ESV)

******

 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
  “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
  but a body have you prepared for me;
 in burnt offerings and sin offerings
  you have taken no pleasure.
 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
  as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
  When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
  (Hebrews 10:5-10 ESV)

******

A blessed fourth Advent Sabbath to you all!

Blessed Advent

 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 ESV)

(Emphasis mine.)

******

 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
 
(John 1:6-8, 19-28 ESV)

******

A blessed Advent Sabbath to you all!

Blessed Advent

 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning

 Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
  for the LORD has spoken:
 “Children have I reared and brought up,
  but they have rebelled against me.
 The ox knows its owner,
  and the donkey its master's crib,
 but Israel does not know,
  my people do not understand.”

  Ah, sinful nation,
  a people laden with iniquity,
 offspring of evildoers,
  children who deal corruptly!
 They have forsaken the LORD,
  they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
  they are utterly estranged.

  Why will you still be struck down?
  Why will you continue to rebel?
 The whole head is sick,
  and the whole heart faint.
 From the sole of the foot even to the head,
  there is no soundness in it,
 but bruises and sores
  and raw wounds;
 they are not pressed out or bound up
  or softened with oil.

  Your country lies desolate;
  your cities are burned with fire;
 in your very presence
  foreigners devour your land;
  it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
 And the daughter of Zion is left
  like a booth in a vineyard,
 like a lodge in a cucumber field,
  like a besieged city.

  If the LORD of hosts
  had not left us a few survivors,
 we should have been like Sodom,
  and become like Gomorrah.

  Hear the word of the LORD,
  you rulers of Sodom!
 Give ear to the teaching of our God,
  you people of Gomorrah!
 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
  says the LORD;
 I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
  and the fat of well-fed beasts;
 I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
  or of lambs, or of goats.

(Isaiah 1:1-11 ESV)

I pray that you all have a blessed second Sabbath of Advent!

"the weather outside is frightful..."

I have been trying to post for the past two days!  Unfortunately, the computer barely wanted to even turn on Cyber Monday and yesterday it just refused to upload pictures.  Hopefully, the technical difficulties are over...

Anway....

After two whole days of intense rain, the whole world (well, my little corner of it!) is drowning in sludge.  The Waterville Creek has relocated to our front yard.  To make matters even more uncomfortable for those of us braving the great outdoors, it is FREEZING!!!!  I managed to get my feet wet yesterday by absentmindedly stepping in a puddle and I still haven't been able to get them warm!  I am, at this moment, sitting in front of a blazing fire and my feet still feel like chunks of ice.  Ok, slight exageration, but you get the idea! 

I am very happy that I don't have to go out into it today.  I enjoy the cold weather as long as I can enjoy it while I'm sitting by the fire and looking out the window.  So today, if you need me, you will find me beside the fire with a book.  Please do not disturb unless absolutely necessary!

*****

We put up our tree and decorated the house over the past few days..  We opened up the boxes and Sarah looked at me and said, "didn't we just do this?"  It's true, this year certainly has flown by.  I'm not a huge fan of the whole decorating process, but I love the end result.  There's just something about evergreen and red ribbons that makes me happy inside. :)

 "What is this green stuff and why is it in my space?"

 Daddy's one contribution to the decorating process (besides bringing

down the boxes!).

All finished!

Hello! :)

Of course, despite all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas and the warm fuzzy feelings that we get, we must still remember what this season of Advent is really about.  It is a time for us to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually to celebrate the birth of our King and Savior.  I know that many people do not observe the tradition of the Advent, but it is a tradition that I grew up with that I cannot imagine doing without at Christmas.  It is such a special reminder of the special gift that God granted us and the sacrifice that He made because He loved us so much.