Be Still My Heart





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On Tuesday we had the privilege of taking Trinity to see the Nutcracker.  For almost 6 months now she has watched the Nutcracker on T.V.  So when the opportunity arose for us to go we jumped on it.  It was such a precious time to spend with just her.  During the performance I leaned over and whispered in her ear...which ones are they (I wasn't as up to date as she on the sequence of the ballet) when she so politely answered Mommy they are the Ice Faeries or Mommy that's Ginger or Mommy that's the Sugar Plum Fairy.  Wow what a great day. On top of of that upon arriving home Trinity lost her very first tooth.  She said  "Mommy this is a day I will always remember".  Oh be still my heart. 



The show was about to begin, we were so excited!

Blurry but had to capture the memory



Sugar Plum Fairy

Notice how GIDDY we are after the show...

notice how sleepy Daddy is!

Walking in a Nutcraker wonderland!

The lost tooth :)

Under His Influence

I am a very influential person.  I have known this for years but have been overlooking when I turn what a person says into God's words.  I must realize that God did not create cookie cutters.  What an awesome creator he is, to make each one of us so very different.  He did not intend for all of his children to worship him in the same way.  He gives us guidelines and grace.  He speaks and moves me in ways that are not the same as someone else.  That's what makes him so astounding.  I was reminded yesterday God must not be put in a box.  What exactly does that mean?  He is not just the God of all but he is my God and I am His daughter.  If I seek him at the Cross with a humble heart the Holy Spirit WILL speak to me.  Oh what a relief.  I am also reminded that this relationship is not about me but about HIM.  Oh how wonderful he is.  He is INCOMPREHENSIBLE, He is ETERNAL, He is SELF EXISTENT, He is INFINITE, He is IMMUTABLE, HE is OMNISCIENT...and on and on and on I could fill up 100 pages and still not even touch on who God is.  That is exciting to me.  I can never stop learning about him.  That means my relationship with him should just keep growing and growing until the day I am bowing before his throne.  That I should be so blessed to even think on these things puts me in a state of awe.

What is Christmas?

Do you find it hard to sleep til' night,
Resting by the Christmas lights?
Could there be something you forgot?
Beyond the bows, and mistletoes,
The tree with presents wrapped below,
There's more to this than you had ever thought?
Have we lost the reason that we celebrate each year?

Chorus:
What is Christmas?
If there never was a Savior wrapped in a manger.
What is Christmas without Christ?

Remember how the story goes,
God's gift was wrapped in swaddling clothes,
Beneath the star, one great and holy night.
The shepherds heard the angels sing,
The wise man brought an offering,
Peace on Earth began in Bethelethm
Have we lost the reason that we celebrate each year?
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com


What is Christmas?
If there never was a Savior wrapped in a manger.
What is Christmas?
If the angels never sang 'Glory to the new born king?'
What is Christmas without Christ?

There'd be no gloria
In excelsis deo
Gloria
In excelsis deo

What is Christmas?
If there never was a Savior wrapped in a manger.
What is Christmas without Christ?
This is Christmas,
It’s all about the Savior wrapped in a manger.
This is Christmas,
Because of Jesus Christ!
This is Christmas,
Because of Christ!
Because of Christ!

~Kutless

Come just as you are.

Did you know that the first recorded announcement of Christ's birth was to the Shepherds?  Surprisingly, it came to the social outcasts of the day.  Rough, belching, beer drinking uncleanly men, these were were the first ears to hear the announcement of the Saviour.  God chose these men.  But why? 
These men represent you and I.  The angels didn't say, go wash your face, comb your hair and sober up before you go and see this breath of Heaven called Jesus.  No they said  ^"And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."  You shall...this says to me GO just as you are.  As unclean as they were the angel made no lists of purity rules and regulations for them to fall at the feet of The King.  The old passed away, a new covenant was being given. We know that in Jesus’ time, sacrifice was required for the forgiveness of sin. Clean animals were sacrificed in a proscribed manner by priests made ritually clean. Only then were a person’s sins forgiven. Until, that is, Jesus comes to give us a new way. That’s because Jesus comes as the new sacrifice. That’s what the gospels tell us. Jesus is called the Lamb of God over and over, beginning when John the Baptist (“John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”). ...to be continued

In Search of the Spirit of Christmas

The house is totally decorated for Christmas. I find that this year I have been thinking about Christmas from a different perspective. It usually seems (before) that I was almost forced to not think about presents and lights and trees and family. This year I have been spending a lot of time really getting to know my Lord. God has brought many precious women into my life whom he has been speaking through not to mention 2 very special books and the most important His Word.

In my attempt to isolate the one and only true Christmas spirit, I have tried to separate fact from fiction.  Like most of us I have a suspicion that much of my emotional attachment to Christmas stems more from my Santa Clause days then the news announced to the shepherds some twenty centuries ago.  So every year I read and study the Christmas Story in Matthew and Luke and try to parrot the cliches of "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" and "Keep Christ in Christmas".  But when all is said and done I wonder...what really fuels my Christmas sentiment?  Isn't there more to Christmas than family get-togethers, decorating, singing in choirs, baking and spending time opening gifts around the tree?  For so many this is what their Christmas spirit is...traditions.

How often is Christmas over and we say...We've done it again.  We have come to the Kings birthday party empty handed.  We all know the story of the first Christmas.  Even those who are not believers know about the first Christmas.  But how deeply have we researched and meditated on each character and what it means in our lives?  More to come...