The Nativity

With my brother's help yesterday, we got the house decorated for Christmas. I love the glow of the lights shining at night and the Christmas music playing in the background. Each year the girls spend hours playing with the nativity set, re-enacting the old familiar story or creating a new story in its entirety. I don't mind them playing with the set, but I do have to resist (at times) getting upset that our nativity never stays arranged "nicely." This is proving to be a repeat year yet again of arranging, rearranging, re-rearranging, you get my drift!

Today I walked into the room and found a camel and a king over on the fireplace. When I went to put them back, this is how I found the figurines! Notice the sheep perched upon the candles?...

...or, how about the bale of hay on the donkey's head?Still yet another arrangement! See the angel in the wheelchair?

By the way, all three pictures were taken at different times through this day alone!

~Wee

Happy Thanksgiving

Our family wishes each of you a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving! We have enjoyed the visit from my parents and my brother Wes. We have enjoyed the time together eating too much, playing games, sharing good laughs -- many blessings for which we are thankful! We miss those who aren't here.
~Wee

Out with the Old; In with the New

Recently Grace had a loose tooth pulled. When the tooth was "hanging there by a thread," she just wasn't herself. She was in pain. The loose tooth caused pain when eating, talking, etc. Whatever she did, the culprit of her pain was still there. The night Daddy encouraged her to pull the tooth out, it took over 45 minutes to convince her that once it was out, she'd feel much better. She finally mustered up enough courage to allow Daddy to grip and pull, and it was over before she knew it!There was still pain involved in the "extraction" of the tooth. She cried. However, Daddy was there, with the warmth of his chest and the strength of his arms around her, offering his love, support and encouragement. Leah, who watched the whole episode, also cried as she witnessed what Grace was experiencing. So, across the table from Grace and Daddy, I had Leah in my arms, offering consolation. It hurts to see others in pain.
Thinking back over the events of that night, a word-picture came to mind. I find that this is what it's like for us to daily die to our flesh. Living a life of surrender to the Lord can be "painful" in the earthly sense as we constantly die to our flesh, or give up our desires, our wants, needs, etc., and strive to walk in obedience to what God is asking us to do at the time. I am convicted about how I speak to my children, how I respond under stress, how I tend to worry when business is slow, etc. It's painful to see my sin and the "pain" that it causes not just me, but others as well. A loose tooth has to be removed before the brand new tooth can emerge. Our sin must be "gripped and pulled out" daily before the Spirit of God can emerge and shine through our life. Remember, God is there with His loving arms around us, encouraging us to keep our focus on Him. He has a plan for every life and provides special gifts and the empowerment to carry out that plan. He also promises to meet every one of our needs in His timing and in accordance with His will!

So, just as Leah made her recent trip to the dentist for a check-up, I am reminded of our need to make "frequent" trips to the Word of God. It is the source of all truth about God and ourselves. It provides what we need to live a godly life that is characterized by surrender to the Lord's control, submission to His plan for our lives, and a daily yielding to the Spirit's guidance.

~Wee

in continuation...

God's timing is so perfect! I just had to share! The very next day after my last post, my devotional took me to 2 Chronicles 20 where King Jehoshaphat received news that a great army was coming against Israel. Knowing that victory over their enemies was outside their own abilities, they asked the Lord to intervene on their behalf. The Lord, in turn, encouraged Israel with these words, "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army (our daily "battles," or whatever comes our way). For the battle is not yours, but God's......You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you.....Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

May you be encouraged in your walk with the Lord today.
~Wee

Equipped for Battle

A few weeks ago my devotional challenged us to intentionally put on our spiritual armor every day for seven days straight. We were encouraged to put on one piece at a time, meditating on Ephesians 6:10-18 while doing so.

Each morning we get up, we are stepping onto a battlefield. The enemy is all around us, assaulting our hearts and minds with temptations, adversities, emotional attacks, and much more. Some days, it feels as though we are standing on the front lines of combat with no protection whatsoever. We do, however, have protection in these battles. The Lord hasn't sent us to war unprotected. No indeed, His provision for us is a suit of armor that the enemy can't penetrate.

Unlike clothing, we can't "see" the armor when we put it on each day. But it's there. The armor equips us to stand against the devil's schemes. I have to remember that my struggles are not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Those battles are not visible. That's HUGE. We need the full armor of God on EVERY moment of our day in order to stand strong in the face of adversity and firm in battle. Remember, the armor is as real as the clothes on our backs.

And, so I encourage you to take the challenge, if you don't already, to dress for battle and watch what God will do in your life!

~Wee

P.S. I guarantee that once you commit to physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, etc., put your armor on for seven days straight, you won't stop!

Isn't She a Beauty!?

LMG came to me this morning and said, "Mommy, look." Pretty cute, wouldn't you say!? At least she picked a color that matched not only her outfit, but also her coloring! When I took her into the bathroom to allow her to see for herself her work of art, she acted almost shy toward the little girl with dark lips staring back at her from the other side of the mirror. She wasn't so sure about having lipstick-smeared lips (who would?:)) and wanted to wipe them off, which she did so all by herself.

This morning during school, LMG went out on the deck and proceeded to get a splinter buried deep into her right heel. She didn't cry about it, but after getting it, she developed a new walk -- step, tippee toes, step, tippee toes (you get the idea). Upon investigating the reason for her new mode of transportation, I found the biggest splinter I have ever seen (no exaggeration!!). Much to her dismay, I attempted my hand at removing the unwelcome sliver of wood. To no avail. Of course, by now she was crying! Remember my post about how LMG likes holding my thumb? Well, it's a little difficult trying to maneuver a needle with my right hand while my left hand is trying to hold the foot steady and in position as my thumb is being pulled the opposite direction in a tight little grip. Maybe if I had bigger hands (or perhaps a longer thumb), it would've worked. I don't know. We'll just have to wait for the splinter-removing expert to return tomorrow night to attempt removal again. Hopefully, it's okay in the meantime.

I have been busy this week preparing to teach our science co-op lesson tomorrow on different types of rocks. In preparation, we have had fun picking up and examining rocks around our landscape, trying to decipher what type of rocks they were. Anyway, while the girls were at their piano lessons this afternoon, LMG and I took advantage of another nice day and went for a walk (per her request). On our journey around the neighborhood, we found a pile of rocks around a group of mailboxes. We parked the stroller, sat down on the sidewalk and looked at rocks. LMG would pick up a rock and ask, "Is this an exciting one?" If the answer was "no," she'd put it back. If the answer was "yes," she'd add it to her own little pile. We were probably an interesting sight to see out there perched on the sidewalk next to the road, especially since LMG was sporting her Pooh slippers (to help cushion the splintered heel). I love it. I'm just grateful for those special moments with my girls.

~Wee

Leaves, Leaves, and More Leaves....

With the weather unseasonably warm (no complaints here!) this week, we have enjoyed lots of time outdoors. Yesterday before lunch, we were drawn to the back deck to finish up some seat work. What a beautiful day! (Of course, once I saw them working, I had to run back in and grab the camera.) MEG's working on her vocabulary and GVG on her math.

Here is what our break time turns into these days -- leaves, leaves, and more leaves. Today's contest was to see who could jump the pile without touching one leaf.

GVG takes her shot.

LMG doesn't quite make it across. Yep, she's sporting a tutu.

Now it's MEG's turn.
~Wee

Election Coverage

Before bed last night, we sat down as a family and watched the first hour or so of the results of the voting. The girls had their red and blue colored pencils ready and filled in the states as the results were reported.

The girls and I went to vote at 10 a.m., and still had to stand in line for an hour. The election judges allowed the girls to go behind the booth with me, so I was able to explain and show them what I was doing and how the ballot worked. It's been a great experience.

We have to trust and rest in the sovereignty of God's perfect will. When we feel fearful, we can pray. When we are frustrated, we can pray. When important decisions need to be made, we can pray. Prayer -- it's all we can do.
~Wee

Cast Your Vote

The girls by the sign in our front yard.

The girls finished up their "Election of a President" lap books today in school. Our last flap to fill in was regarding the pros and cons of the electoral college. On the back of their lap book is a map of the United States, on which they filled in the number of electoral votes each state has. They are looking forward to coloring in the voting results of each state (Republican or Democratic) as we watch the election coverage tomorrow night. I plan on taking them with me when I vote in the morning so they can witness yet another step of this process.

Last weekend Sarah Palin was here in FW. Since the event was televised, the girls sat down and watched it with us. It has been fun and interesting having them involved in discussions and hearing their own opinions of the candidates as their understanding grows.

Please remember to be prayerful as you cast your vote.
~Wee

The End of the Season

Here we are at the end of this year's soccer season. What a great season it was, too! So fun to watch! That's what I'll miss the most now that it's over -- watching these kids play so effectively together as a team. Today's game was against the green team; it ended in a tie. They had an undefeated season, opening and ending with a tie. Pre-game pep talk.

The girls really learned a lot about the game this year under Coach's leadership. He "taught" them the game -- positioning, etc., and played them according to the strengths of each one. They matured in their confidence and as players.

After the game, Coach presented each player with their trophy and shared how each one impacted the game. Below are his exact words regarding MEG and GVG (as re-captured from the video).

"I want to tell you a little bit about MEG. I don't know if we have anyone on our team that is faster than her. We weren't the biggest team, but I think our speed is what always helped us, and MEG was a real key part of that. We have a lot of fast kids and she's one of those fast kids. She scored a goal this year. She was in her best when she was mid-fielder. Good job, MEG."

"GVG is another one of the smallest kids on our team, but she's fast and she also was unafraid. She was willing to play goalie for us here toward the end of the season, which is --{addressing the parents, "I don't know, parents, if you've ever played goalie, it doesn't look like it would be that hard, but I'm no good at it because I've tried. I thought it would be easy.--"} {back to GVG, "So, whenever someone is willing to step up and take that ball coming at them full speed, which GVG had many of those happen on defense and at goalie, that takes a lot of bravery. Though she's small, yet she's mighty."

After presenting the trophies, Coach addressed the team, "I've coached here now about five years and this was by far the funnest year. I loved watching how you kids turned into a team from a bunch of individual players. That was really a delight."

Hope you were able to enjoy their season from your angle. GOOD JOB, GIRLS!!!

~Wee