new post, new year
Date Night
Friday, December 21, 2008
We picked up my wedding band, finished our Christmas shopping, and went out to eat at Chipotle. It was a lovely evening!!! Anna went with us, and we had an “adventure” on the way home.
chaperon
http://picasaweb.google.com/lizibeth/20071221WeddingBandsAndChipotle
Rememberances and Micah
I am still reading my way through the Old Testament, very slowly. This morning I was reading in Micah:
“Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of its god,
As for us, we will walk
In the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.”
-4:5
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”
-5:2
“With what shall I come to the LORD
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings … ?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?”
-6:6-8
As I come to this Christmas season, I am remembering just how great, how awesome, how amazing, and just how merciful and good He has been to me.
Last Christmas John and I had just begun our courtship. This Christmas we are engaged, and Anna and I are spending the season with the Smillie family. I have come to know a joy that I had heard existed, but never knew it was possible that it would actually come to me.
This year has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, one where God’s magnificent provision has been made very obvious. Dad lost his job in June, and we have learned first hand (over and over) that our God is the One who owns “the cattle on a thousand hills.”
I have known times of incredible spiritual dryness this year, but through them have come to know God in a deeper and fuller way.
There has been sorrow and pain this year, accompanied with uncertainty and grieving. One of my friends is spending this Christmas in Heaven, and, even though I am glad that she is no longer suffering, the place she left here on Earth is full of ache. It still brings tears.
God has been faithful. He has been extravagantly good.
Bella
“If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”
-Jose in the movie Bella
-Jose in the movie Bella
Anna, Mom, some friends and I went to go see Bella on Monday night. It’s a good movie, a very good movie. It is a movie about despair about hope, about joy, love, about life. It is about grace. It is a movie that you should definitely consider seeing.
What plans have you made? Has God laughed?
“..you say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, … yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. … You ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.'”
-James 4:13-15
What plans have I made? Have I considered that the result of “my” plans is ultimately in the Lord’s hands? The movie gave me things to ponder, to think about. For example, the idea that a tragedy doesn’t have to end as a tragedy, but can become a source of beauty. It can become bella.
Family Christmas
milk for Santa
Santa was here!
Christmas cocoa
Daniel, reading the description of Amahl and the Night Visitors (Dad’s gift)
Anna’s present
Ben got a truck and a headlamp and a ….
*post to be finished later …
Light
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—
light! sunbursts of light!
You repopulated the nation,
you expanded its joy.
Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!
Festival joy!
The joy of a great celebration,
sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.
The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—
all their whips and cudgels and curses—
Is gone, done away with, a deliverance
as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.
The boots of all those invading troops,
along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,
Will be piled in a heap and burned,
a fire that will burn for days!
For a child has been born—for us!
the gift of a son—for us!
He’ll take over
the running of the world.
His names will be: Amazing Counselor,
Strong God,
Eternal Father,
Prince of Wholeness.
His ruling authority will grow,
and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.
Isaiah 9:2-7
tears and joy
Tonight I realized again how much it hurts me when those I love are hurting. I also remembered the joy I feel when those I love experience joy and beauty.
There are so many wonderful things happening right now. So many things that bring joy. But I – and those around me – are also learning some painful, yet valuable, lessons. I am learning what it means to hope, really hope. Not in those around me, situations, or what “might be”, but in the true constant. God never fails us, never lets us down, never disappoints, because He is the only One that truly is perfect.
When I see or feel that the ones I love are hurting, I want to take away that pain, remove their sorrow. I want them to have joy again. But I am learning that joy comes through sorrow, comes through enduring the pain. I am learning that joy comes from a closer walk with our Father. So, if I truly love them, will I try to remove their pain?
Oh, I want them to experience beauty, experience that utter joy! Nothing make my heart skip more than sharing in someone’s joy. I want to be able to experience that beauty with them.
I wanna start it over
I wanna start again
I want a new a new beginning
One without any end
I feel it inside
Calling out to me
I wanna start again
I want a new a new beginning
One without any end
I feel it inside
Calling out to me
It’s a voice that whispers my name
It’s a kiss without any shame
Something beautiful
Like a song that stirs in my head
Singing love will take us where
Something beautiful
I’ve heard it in the silence
Seen it on a face
I’ve felt it in a long hour
Like a sweet embrace
I know this is true
It’s calling out to me
It’s a voice that whispers my name
It’s a kiss without any shame
Something beautiful
Like a song that stirs in my head
Singing love will take us where
Something beautiful
It’s the child on her wedding day
It’s the daddy that gives her away–Father
Something beautiful
When we laugh so hard we cry
It’s the love between you and I
Something beautiful
-the newsboys, ‘something beautiful”
a boy and a train
At The Christmas Tree Farm
Sisters and Friends
Anna, Lizzie, and Leitha
Another Glorious Day
to the north-east
to the south-east
Ben is running around in a T-shirt and shorts. He just went outside and came back in saying, “It’s cold out there!” Not really, just when you are wearing a T-shirt and shorts. :-) It is actually a beautiful, glorious day, a day that makes it almost painful to study inside. Maybe I will take my stack of books out to the patio… That sounds like a very good idea!
Now, I wonder how much I can get done before we leave for the CEF After School program …… ?