Growth...of our family...in our walk with Christ...in all things to worship HIM!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Oh Christmas Tree

I love everything about Christmas!!

I love celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior,
I love singing Christmas carols,
I love decorating,
I love baking,
and I love the bustle of shopping.  

Yep, as far as I am concerned, it is indeed 
"The Most Wonderful Time Of the Year"!!

On Saturday December 1st we set out to find a tree.

In years past that equaled going to a tree farm, selecting just the right one, hubby using his mean sawing skills with girls giggling and dancing about, and dragging the tree through the snow to measure, pay, and transport it home.

(Christmas 2005)


Since living in the south...we have had to adapt this tradition quite a bit:)

Our first year in NC...
There was no snow:)
 We called around to find a farm that told us we could cut our own,
drove over an hour to said farm, was even handed a saw by mrs. tree farmer...
just to gaze out over a field of charlie brown trees that didn't even reach Kylee's waist:(

So we walked back to the entrance of the farm and picked a precut tree off the lot
(2009)

 From that time on we started a new tradition...
going to the farmer's market to pick out a tree.

THIS YEAR, 2012, we were off to the market again:)

As soon as we entered the first lot my hubby pointed one out...A GINORMOUS ONE!!

Of course it took the girls no time at all to fall in love with that one!!

But I asked them to humor me and see if there was a smaller/cheaper tree that we might find.

We looked the lot over and came back to this one.
Mr. Tree Farmer gave us a good discount so this big boy came home with us!!


It took hubby and a kind neighbor to get the tree into the house.
We started with a small step ladder and then decided it was time to bring in the big guns!!

You really cannot spend much time around this clan before the sillies start coming out!




Our oldest decided that since the tree was so big...
EVERY ornament needed to be placed on the tree this year!!



And then...as God's perfect timing would have it...we were able to face time with Aaron so he could share in our festive night!!

Showing Aaron the penguin stocking he picked out for him!
(yes, I tried to talk our family into changing tradition
 for beautiful stockings with names monogrammed on them...
they were not having it.)

Thank you Lord...we are overwhelmed by the countless blessings
YOU shower on us each and every day!!!




Saturday, December 1, 2012

...for this is God's will for me

There is nothing better than basking in the presence of God!

There are times when I am crying out to my father God about a particular situation.  
And in those moment I find peace for my soul.

But my favorite times are when I am overwhelmed with thankfulness...
thankfulness for who HE is,
what HE has done,
 that HE loves me,
 and the intentions of HIS heart for me are steadfast and forever!!

This Wednesday night, at our House of Prayer, our worship pastor spoke briefly on ThanksLIVING.  

Basically we all put on our thankful hats for the Thanksgiving season.  
And then somewhere between the Christmas crazies and new year resolutions gone bad...
we lose that thankful heart.  

There are numerous references in the bible that clearly state 
that we are to be thankful in all circumstances.  
I may have had a beautiful typed list of said verses that I misplaced following the service.
I will blame it on the 3 hours sleep I had the night before:)  

A verse we all love to miss use is
...all things work together for the good of those who love God...
We love to think that if we love God he will take all our bad circumstances 
and change them to good.  
But that is not what Romans 8:28 speaks of.
It means that God will take the good and the bad situations and use each of those to grow us and mold us for our good.    

There was another verse that struck a cord with me.  
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says...
Give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  

In the past I had read the verse to say that God's will is for us to give thanks.  
When I looked at it this week...
I realized that where we are right now in our adoption journey...is God's will for us.  

I know that seems like common sense.  Of course it is God's will for us.  We have been praying for God to bring us the right child, we have be walking in faith, and trust God to open and close doors.  

But the timeline...and the so called "delays" that don't make sense...they are God's will for us RIGHT NOW in this leg of the journey.

In this season, God is asking us to rejoice for others who are traveling to their treasures.

HE is asking us to be thankful for our timeline.

He is asking us to give thanks for when it hurts and when it is all smooth sailing.

So today, I am choosing a thankful heart!

I am thankful for my partner, my lover, and best friend!!

I am thankful for my beautiful girls that have a heart for Jesus!!

I am thankful that this sweet boy knows he has a family and that we are coming for him soon!!

Today I am thankful that THIS is God's will for ME~