Kids Jingle-Belling

Last night I got to stay up until 4 am decorating for Christmas...



We were a bunch of kids jingle-belling, and it was perfect and cheesy: just how I like it!

(I decorated this tree all by myself...I am so proud of it. I shall boast of it to everyone.)

It is finally Christmastime!!

I am most certainly one of those, Christmas-doesn't-start-til-after-Thanksgiving people. You just can't mix holidays. Thanksgiving is important too! I meant to write something about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln's proclamations regarding Thanksgiving...very special, profound, and refreshing. Maybe I still will...but right now I am so hyped up on CHRISTMAS that I can't even think about Thanksgiving anymore.

Christmas, guys. CHRISTMAS! I LOVE CHRISTMAS! A few of my favorite family Christmas traditions are:

- picking out/decorating our Christmas tree
- decorating the house
- blasting Mom and Dad's old Christmas music while doing so (Carpenters always included)

Sadly these I must miss out on being away at school :(

- baking lots and lots (and lots) of goodies
- going to the Christmas Eve service, dressing pretty and getting to hold candles and sing Christmas songs while doing so - obviously the best thing
- watching a Christmas movie any time I can, including Elf at least once a week
- reading our horribly cheesy Christmas book on Christmas Eve. Each page has a paper ornament in it, and there happen to be six! So as we read each page, each kid takes turns putting an ornament on the tree.


Christmas morning always starts early (duh). First we open stockings, then we make breakfast (homemade cinnamon rolls, obviously). Then we open presents! Tyler used to love being Santa but now he's too old to think it's fun.

And the rest of the day is just perfect, especially if we're lucky enough to have a White Christmas.


It may not be Christmas yet, but Bec and I look festive anyways:

Tradition

A Thanksgiving tradition I will be beginning (without question) in my future home:

- Finish dinner and send everyone away/go home before too late
- Listen to Christmas music while cleaning/driving home
- Get all snuggly/ready for bed and proceed to watch a Christmas movie (the same one each year, not sure which one yet) before bed

Tell me I won't have the greatest family ever.

And if you're like me, you need hope, coffee, melody.

There are a few songs I've been binging on the past few days. The first one, New Day by Robbie Seay Band, made me very excited. A few years ago, I remember hearing on the radio two or three times, and I always loved it (especially "dancing in the kitchen at 2 am"), but never knew what song it was or who sung it. Recently I have randomly been thinking about it wishing I could hear it again, and there it was on Pandora (Phil Wickham radio). I LOVE IT JUST AS MUCH AS I REMEMBER! And can't stop listening :)

The others are Reign in Us by Starfield, and Cannons, Jesus Lord of Heaven (if you hadn't already figured that one out), and I Will Wait for You There all by Phil.

He might be a bandwagon, but he's a good one.

Jesus, Lord of heaven, I do not deserve
The grace that you have given, or the promise of your word
Lord, I stand in wonder at the sacrifice you made
With mercy beyond measure, my debt you freely paid

Your love is deeper than any ocean
Higher than the heavens
Reaches beyond the stars in the sky
Jesus, your love has no bounds
Jesus, your love has no bounds

Your love is deep, your love is wide
Your love is great, your love is high
Your love is all we ever need
Your love is all we ever need

Your love is deeper than any ocean
Higher than the heavens
Reaches beyond the stars in the sky
Jesus, your love has no bounds
Jesus, your love has no bounds

Top 25

I mean, why not?

From the Inside Out - Hillsong United
White as Snow - Jon Foreman
Someday We'll Know - Jon Foreman & Mandy Moore
Beloved - Tenth Avenue North
Headlights - The Classic Crime
Resurrect Me - Jon Foreman
Falling Slowly - Kris Allen
Heart of Life - John Mayer
How He Loves - David Crowder Band
Revenge - Jon Foreman
The Call - Regina Spektor
To Make You Feel My Love - Kris Allen
Hallelujah - Krystal Meyers
Over the Rainbow - Martina McBride
A Mirror is Harder to Hold - Jon Foreman
Rebuild - Switchfoot with Relient K and Ruth
Somebody's Baby - Jon Foreman
Brand New Day - Fireflight
Fidelity - Regina Spektor
Lift Us Up to Fall - Tenth Avenue North
There Was No Thief - Relient K
For My Love - Bethany Dillon
The Cure for Pain - Jon Foreman
Forever - Fireflight
Your Love is Extravagant - Casting Crowns

Women's Devotional Bible

My Bible is the type that has all kinds of cheesy inserts and questions to ask yourself and devotionals for all days of the week. The fact that it is a "women's" devotional Bible also means that those add-ins will sometimes be inapplicable...like when they talk about children or growing older.

I read this probably about a year ago, when I was feeling defeated and consumed by my own feelings. Drowning in the confusion, trying to figure out what was God and what was me, and knowing that I attributed a lot of what was me to God because I wanted things to be that way. And then this appeared, and I'd call it a miracle, because my exact feelings were written in perfect form, when I had been unable to identify them myself.

"Sometimes our worry is the thread by which we hang onto the belief that we can do something to change our situation and end our fear. As ridiculous as it is, we believe that our anxiety gives us some measure of control. Or we believe it keeps God mindful of our problem. We are afraid that without the pressure of our fear, He might forget what we want from Him. But our anxiety and demanding prayers accomplish nothing. We fear giving up our fear because if we don't worry, who will remember to care? If we don't worry, would God decide we aren't really concerned about the issue? If we don't worry, are we giving up hope of God involving Himself in our world?

Cutting across all our stubborn reasons for remaining in our fear, Paul wrote, 'May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit' (Romans 15:13). God's joy and peace are available to us as we trust Him; they are not the result of absolute guarantees about the outcome of our worries. We have a choice: will we trust Him and receive His joy and peace, or will we insist on seeking our joy and peace from resolved fears and changed circumstances?

The choice really is ours. We can hang onto our fears, insisting that until they are resolved, there is no way for us to enter into rest, or we can see those same fears as the door by which we can enter a rest far richer and sweeter than the rest that might arise from a tenuous arrangement of perfect circumstances. It is a rest that believes that a life without all the pieces in place, a life in which we do indeed suffer lack, is still a life to celebrate."



I <3 it

Reap/Sow

I was bored, so I decided to try something new: shuffle all my music, and don't skip any songs. So far, the result has been good. I possibly have way better music than I thought I did.

On another note, I haven't been sleeping lately. As in, I don't wind down enough to fall asleep until at least 2 am. I think this is a bad thing. No, I know it is. Because this morning, I woke up at 9:15 when my class is at 9:30. I made it by 9:50. We were taking a quiz. I finished/left the class by 1o, because I actually knew the material because I was up so very late preparing for it. Therefore, I am reaping both good and bad effects.

Back to the first note, Home by Switchfoot is playing at the moment. See,these are the songs I forget about when I stick to playlists or Pandora.

It's a long way from Miami to L.A.
It's a longer way from yesterday to where I am today
It's a long way from my thoughts to what I'll say
It's a long, long way from paradise to where I am today

All that's in my head is in your hands

It's a long way from the moon up to the sun
It's a longer road ahead of me than road that I've begun
Stop to think of all the time I've lost
Start to think of all the bridges that I've burned that must be crossed

Over, over, over, take me over

Cause I've been poison, I've been rain, I've been fooled again
I've seen ashes shine like chrome
Someday I'll see home, home, home

I can see the starts from way down here
But I can't fall asleep behind the wheel
It's a long way from the shadows in my cave
Up to your reality to watch the sunlight taking over, over
Taking over, take me over

I've been poison, I've been rain, I've been fooled again
I've seen ashes shine like chrome
Someday I'll see home, home, home

:)

'97, guys.