Happy Birthday, Micah!!

Today, our New Year's Eve "baby" turned 11.
Micah bounded out of bed to open his present. He was not at all disappointed to receive six books! It was fun to shop the Newbury award section at Barnes and Noble to find good books for him. He immediately dove into Across Five Aprils, a story set in the time of the Civil War.








Micah's love for dragons runs long and deep. He prefers lemon cake to any other flavor.

We somehow fit 24 family members in our home for a family party. It was good to have so many who were able to come! Aunt Michelle gathered a crowd of children around her as she taught them how to play a new game, Labyrinth. Five-year-old Asher took the lead.

It seems like only a few days have passed since I held this dear baby in my arms for the first time. These days of childhood are sweetly treasured and pass far too quickly. Yet I love the young man Micah is becoming: compassionate, kind, generous, and tender to the things of God. He's a blessing to our family in many ways! Happy birthday, son!!!

a special ray of sunshine

After battling an undetected (though certainly not symptom-free!) medical condition for three months and undergoing treatment for two more months, our little girl finally feels better. It's amazing how much more she smiles now that she's feeling well! Here's a special moment shared with Kit.

it's back

Shortly after beginning the book Raising Unselfish Children in a Self-Absorbed World, I began to post a weekly "compassion challenge" to be completed by our family. After a couple of months, I removed this from my blog. However, months later I still see the effects of these challenges in myself, my husband and our children. Seeing that it helped us to take our eyes off ourselves for at least a moment, and perhaps even made us a bit more like Jesus, I'm reissuing the challenge. Join us if you see ways you'd like to challenge yourself!

more than a New Year's resolution...

ABANDONED

Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost!
Seeking all His fulness at whatever cost;
Cutting all the shore-lines, launching in the deep
Of His mighty power--strong to save and keep.

Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost!
Oh! the sinking, sinking, until self is lost!
Until the emptied vessel lies broken at His feet;
Waiting till His filling shall make the work complete.

Utterly abandoned to the will of God;
Seeking for no other path than my Master trod;
Leaving ease and pleasure, making Him my choice,
Waiting for His guidance, listening for His voice.

Utterly abandoned! no will of my own;
For time and for eternity, His, and His alone;
All my plans and purposes lost in His sweet will,
Having nothing, yet in Him all things possessing still.

Utterly abandoned! 'tis so sweet to be
Captive in His bonds of love, yet so wondrous free;
Free from sin's entanglements, free from doubt and fear,
Free from every worry, burden, grief or care.

Utterly abandoned! oh, the rest is sweet,
As I tarry, waiting, at His blessed feet;
Waiting for the coming of the Guest divine,
Who my inmost being shall perfectly refine.

Lo! He comes and fills me, Holy Spirit sweet!
I, in Him, am satisfied! I, in Him, complete!
And the light within my soul shall nevermore grow dim
While I keep my covenant--abandoned unto Him!

-Author Unknown, taken from Streams in the Desert

this one says it all...

One of Rachel's bitty twins, adopted by Josiah and renamed "baby Jesus," and his new firetruck. Perfect Christmas sleep companions! (No, he didn't fall out of bed.)

Merry Christmas!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:6-7

sharing Christmas with children

I've been reading a book recently that was first published in 1890, called Hints on Child Training. The author is H. Clay Trumbull, great-grandfather to Elisabeth Elliot. More thoughts from this book will be coming, but for now I will simply quote a few lines from his chapter on giving added value to a child's Christmas:

"He who would make children happy must do for them and do with them, rather than merely give to them. He must give himself with his gifts, and thus imitate and illustrate, in a degree, the love of Him who gave Himself to us, who is touched with the sense of our enjoyments as well as our needs, and who, with all that He gives us, holds out an expectation of some better thing in store for us: of that which passeth knowledge and understanding, but which shall fully satisfy our hopes and longings when at last we have it in possession."

It seems fitting that Christmas would be a time of hopes and longings satisfied, as the hope for a Savior had occupied the hearts of God's people from the time He first hinted at the Promised One in Gen. 3:16. And it is a season of surprises, as the Son came not as expected by the people but yet exactly as God Himself had planned from the beginning. So we, as parents, may instill a bit of this expectation, longing, and excitement in our interactions with our children in this Season of seasons, the advent of the Christ Child.

We didn't plan on making Santa pancakes a part of our family tradition. Santa is not the centerpiece of our celebrating, but he is tolerated and winked at in a good-natured way. After making these for the kids one year, they insisted they make a comeback year after year. They are easy to make: Reddi-Whip, cherry pie filling, a banana, a few chocolate chips, and of course pancakes.

Josiah was obviously surprised and delighted!!

A friend made these adorable snowmen with her niece and nephews, and then shared her craft instructions and materials with us. The kids had a ball making these even though it meant a lot of waiting while Mom manned the hot-glue gun.

Since the older kids were preschoolers, we've made a paper chain, pulling off one link each day to count down the days until Christmas. Micah always adds 6 more links to count down to his New Year's Eve birthday. I thought perhaps this year the older kids might be getting too old to want to do this, but Micah was the one who asked to assemble the chain.

This year we chose to reenact the Christmas story with this tool from Family Life. Every night the kids open a present with one of the characters from the story, and we read the corresponding Bible verses. This has been a wonderful way to get the very active 3-year-old involved.

Another great tradition for most families is riding around town, looking at Christmas lights. This activity took on added meaning a few years ago when we began to share with the kids that Christmas lights help us remember Jesus is the light of the world, and His people shine a beautiful light in a dark world when they live their lives for Him.