Experiencing Christ this Christmas

Christmas 2010 was a very busy and wonderful time. We had the opportunity to spend great time with family and friends. We were able to go stay with my sister and watch Santa Clause the Movie in their movie theater with all the cousins. Our boys thought that was the coolest`,so did Marty and I! We then had Marty's parents come and stay through Chritsmas with us. On Christmas eve we had a dinner for several of our friends and family. It was a great opportunity to see God's grace at work in me. Christ has been working on my heart for many years now with the issue of treasuring traditions and rest above the incredible opportunity to give Christ away. So this Christmas he called me to be flexible and trusting to his plan. I tend to get overwhelmed with the unexpected and detail, so just when everthing was all set up for the evening he sent three unexpected guest to our home and gave us the opportunity to invite them in to experience the love of Christ as we gathered to celebrate his birth. Three young life guys who had left for college this year came over and then joined us, it turned out to be a blessing to me in many ways. Though unexpected, it reminded me of the call to give our lives away in the hopes of others seeing the beauty of the one who came and gave his life away for sinners like me. There is a time for rest and a time for laboring, a time to let go of those things we find our identity in that are not of Christ, a time to be reminded that everthing is his and he has given us the priveledge of caring for our family,home, and other resources in a way that shows him to be worth it, a time to love and not expect anything in return, and a time to remember that he will provide all we need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. He blessed me with those opportunities through the many planned and unexpected guest he brought to our home that evening. We then had the privelege to stand before the congregation of our Chrurch and light the Christ candle as we read the scripture as a family. Caleb was so excited to read his portion of the text that he almost stole all of Marty's lines, but my all time favorite is how he pronounced trustworthy- trustwhirly and that he read "behold" with such enthusiasm. Andrew decided to lay on the floor and then use his candle as a gun and sword to aim out at the congregation, a moment that I am sure we will treasure down the road! Elizabeth hung out quietly on my hip until the very end when she decided to add a little shout out in the microphone.

Here is our Andrew with one of his Christmas decorations that he moved all over the house and yard. He loves christmas decorations, but we are short many decorations because he ends up breaking them in the process. We joked that when he grows up, he will be like Clark Griswald and have lights all over his house! We love is funny little personality!

Here is Elizabeth on christmas morning with here new kitchen! I think I loved it just as much as she did. It is a dream come true to me to have a little girl!

Here is Caleb with his new LSU t-shirt and football. LSU is now his favorite football team! A sure sign that he is growing up becuase he wanted more of this stuff than acion figures.

Christmas day at my parents with all the cousins. A whole lot of fun and chaos!