Sledding

I can't honestly claim this is our "first snow" of the winter. We've had one or two before this but it's all melted overnight so we haven't really been able to enjoy it until this time around. Many mornings we drive up over the mountain to get to school/ work and see evidence that it had snowed but we still had nothing in The Valley. Yesterday Xavier's school and daycare were both closed due to the weather but I had to work so my mom graciously offered to take him for the day. I was excited for him because they have a great hill for kids to sled on which all 6 of us enjoyed over the years. I received an email mid-morning with pictures of him playing in the snow and a little love note that he typed to me. Very sweet!

This morning Xavier and I finally got to go sledding together. He generously shared one of his sleds with me and we had a blast. Also, the Lord "healed" my camera!!! I haven't had the means to replace or fix it so I just kept praying that God would make it work again... and sure enough it did! So here are the videos I was able to get today and the silly mohawk pictures from a couple of weeks ago.

Isn't it amazing that this is our backyard? I can't get over the Lord's goodness to our family!

one of our many races

This is Xavier going down backwards and pulling my sled along with him :-)

"Good" Songs

It's been a while since I've posted anything and there are a few reasons for that; one being the fact that my camera died, and with it some of my enthusiasm for posting. So you missed the last picture I snapped before it went: Xavier grabbed body wash instead of shampoo to clean his hair and used about three times as much as I do to clean my whole body. He used this thick substance to form a mohawk all the way from his forehead to the nape of his neck. That was the night I resolved to trim his hair because it stood up a few inches!

Things have been pretty "ordinary" here as of late, but I'm always amazed how the Lord kindly draws me to himself even in the "mundane". One of the ways he's done that lately is through songs that are full of truth. I've loved music as long as I can remember. Several months ago at one of the worship team rehearsals Thom shared a quote from a popular artist; something to the effect of : If ever asked whether I am religious I reply Yes, I'm a Musician. The point of him sharing that was to highlight that we are not primarily musicians - rather we are saved sinners, Christians who happen to be musicians for the glory of God.

Music definitely used to be an idol for me and can be still more than I realize I'm sure. I used to identify myself (and others) by what kind of music I listened to. I thought that should inform how someone dressed, spoke, acted, who they hung out with... What used to define a "good" song in my mind was the bass line, the drums, the singer, did it make me want to dance? There have been so many times that a song from my past will pop into my head and I'll just start singing it unconsiously and the Lord kindly says - You're singing the World's song - and realigns my thoughts toward him. He alone deserves my song! Some of the best CD's I know to help with this are the Red Mountain Church CD's (which I keep borrowing from Keri rather than buying my own - I'm feeling the itch again Keri). Here are some of the lyrics which have been on my lips and in my heart these last few weeks. It's only by God's grace that I now view these as gooood songs!

**Lord dissolve my frozen heart by the beams of love divine, this alone can warmth impart to dissolve a heart like mine. Oh that love how vast it is, vast it seems though known in part, strange indeed if love like this should not melt the frozen heart.**

**Oh when Great God thy light divine hath shown on this dark soul of mine, then I beheld with trembling awe the terrors of thy holy law, the terrors of thy holy law. Should vengeance still my soul pursue, death and destruction are my due, yet mercy can my soul forgive and bid this dying sinner live, Lord bid this dying sinner live. Does not thy sacred word proclaim salvation free in Jesus' name? To him I look and humbly cry, "Lord save a wretch condemned to die, Lord save this wretch condemned to die!"**

**There fastened to the rugged wood by holy loves resistless claim, and life deriving from thy blood, never to wander wide again, there may I bow my suppliant knee and own no other Lord but thee**

**Finished are the types and shadows of the ceremonial law, finished all that guilt had promised, death and hell no more shall awe, It is Finished! It is Finished! Saints from hence your comfort drawn. It is Finished! It is Finished! Saints from hence your comfort drawn**

**A robe is provided their shame now to hide, in which none are clothed but Jesus' bride, though it be costly yet is the robe free and all Zion's mourners shall decked with it be**

**What mighty sum paid all my debt when I a bond man stood, and has my soul at freedom set? Tis Jesus' precious blood. What stream can sweep away my sins just like a flood, nor lets one guilty blemish stay? Tis Jesus' precious blood!**

Number 2!

In case Xavier didn't show you his latest "man badge" yet, he lost another tooth on Saturday. I sent a baggie and gauze pad with him to school on Friday since they were on a field trip and he gets a little dramatic when he sees blood. But I'm so grateful the Lord has allowed me to be there for both teeth coming out so far. However, I had a bad mommy moment right after it came out. He was spitting blood into the sink, so as soon as I had him biting on the gauze I turned on the faucet to rinse the sink and sent his little white trophy right down the drain. A popsicle helped him forget my little blunder. One more reason to be thankful I've never fed into the Tooth Fairy lie. (He told me last time it would be ok to put money under his pillow anyway)

This week Xavier was in his first school play. The poor little guy yawned through half of it and would zone out at times for a line or two, but really enjoyed himself. He had some friends come out to see his debut and celebrate with him afterwards. Thanks for being there guys! We treasure your families and the friendships the Lord has given us!

This is the whole school (K - 6th) !

Xavier's two-line duet with a classmate

the After-Party with friends

The Definition of 'Redeem'

When I was a child my sisters and I had this cassette tape (which we thought was pretty cool at the time) by a man named Jonathan Sprout. I'm still amused by the thought of it. There was one song I remember entitled "Word Worm". He sang about how he loved to grow his vocabulary and got excited over big words. It doesn't surprise me that should be the one to stick in my mind 20 years later. I've been fascinated by language for as long as I can remember. I feel this compulsion to know the definition, correct spelling and proper usage of words - even outside of the English language! Many times I'll hear someone use a word (sometimes while CB's preaching) and if I don't know it I just jot it down to go home and study it. I even have dictionary.com saved as one of my "Favorites" links on my work computer so I don't have to wait until 5:00!

Tonight I was looking in my throat with a flashlight and wondering what the purpose of a uvula is. My assumption is it's some sort of choking prevention mechanism, but enlighten me if I'm wrong. I thought my trusty dictionary may be able to shed some light on it so I looked it up, but alas, all I learned is that in Latin it means "little grape"!!!??? As usually happens, while I was flipping to the desired page other words were catching my attention that I wanted to read about. The dictionary has been a tool for worship to me countless times over these last 6-1/2 years. Tonight God kindly drew my eyes to the word 'redeem'.

Hopefully this encourages your heart the way it did mine. According to The American Heritage Dictionary:
re-deem 1. to recover ownership of by paying a specified sum. 2. To pay off (e.g., a promissory note). 3. To turn in and receive something in exchange (e.g, a coupon) 4. To set free; rescue. 5. To save from sinfulness. 6. To make up for: redeem an earler mistake

Now it hits me differently when I consider Christ Jesus "who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." (Titus 2:14, but start in verse 11 because that whole section is awesome!) He has redeemed me in every sense of the word. May I ever grow in my consciousness of that truth and live in response to it!

A New Look for Christmas...

We had such a fun time celebrating our Savior coming with our family. Almost all of my immediate family was able to go to church together on Christmas Eve. (Even Dawn was able to leave in the middle of her work shift, despite the fact that they were over-worked and short-handed her coworkers wanted to release her to be with her family at church! What kindness from God!) Xavier was giddy over the fact that he got to hold a lit candle at the end of the service. My 21 month old nephew, Braden, was pretty excited as well. Through the service he collected as many unlit candles as his little hands could hold from other family members.

Christmas morning Xavier found his last verse in the stocking for this year, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11 Then we finally read over the biblical accounts of Christmas. We had our traditional holiday breakfast of cinnamon rolls, then Xavier and I opened presents together - Thanks Dawn for taking him shopping for me, that was so much fun!.

Later we joined my family for lunch and lots of snuggle time with my niece and nephews. Evening brought more relatives and mountains of presents. We are so blessed to have a large family and all live so close together! Thank you guys for how you love to lavish Xavier with gifts. We're so grateful for your generosity! Hopefully this weekend I'll get around to finding a "home" for all of the new things he received. They're still sitting under our tree waiting to be put away.

Annelise, Braden, Logan & Xavier

I think the highlight of this Christmas for Xavier was the "gift" he got on Christmas Eve. He's had a wiggly tooth for a few weeks now and was finally able to pop it out on Monday. He kept saying, "I can't believe I'm going to lose my tooth on Christmas Eve!!!" When he realized it was pretty close to coming out he became frantic and started saying, "Call the Ruths!" (our landlords) He knew he would see the family in a couple of hours at the church service and wanted to surprise them. But our dear neighbors the Ruths had to know now! As soon as he was able I let him call them and they very kindly received his news with much enthusiasm :-) They are so precious to us!

Sock-it Stuffing

I openly admit to not correcting Xavier when he uses cute names for things instead of proper titles. I was reminded again this Christmas that he hasn't yet caught on to the term "stocking". I think each year he gets it down by the time Christmas actually arrives, but when he finds them in the box of decorations he gets all excited to hang his "sock-it".

We hang them on our bedroom door knobs since we have no fire place. In the past I've done the traditional small gifts in the stocking while he's sleeping on Christmas Eve for him to find in the morning. This time he was so eager he kept asking me the day we hung them (December 1st) if I would put candy in while he slept. I did not. It didn't dampen his enthusiasm in the least. The next morning while I was in the shower he emptied his candy jar into my stocking along with a note that read, "I love you Mommy!" I realize at this point it's a great opportunity to meet his anticipation with a fun and memorable way to lay the gospel before him... but how? I'm not creative and I avoid contexts where I'm expected to be, but God kindly meets me in my weakness and gives me "light bulb moments" any way.

The next day we began a new tradition. I stuff his sock-it every night and when he wakes he finds a "secret message" which is a scripture prophesying the Messiah. He reads it to me and we talk about how Jesus fulfilled it. He then pastes it on a sheet of paper so he has a visual reminder of (just a small portion of ) the ways Christ was proved to be the promised One. In past years we've read through the accounts of Jesus' birth in the Gospels, but this has been so refreshing for me. It's provided times for considering what it was like to wait so eagerly for Immanuel to come. Living this side of the cross can be so comfortable for me. I am able to see God's plan for redemption in a way that his people could not 2000 years ago. In the midst of this season I've been introduced to the song "Hope Has Come" from the Sovereign Grace Christmas CD. I love that song!!! May I never take Christ's arrival for granted! Alleluia! Hope has come!

Look Mommy!

While I was driving Xavier to school this morning he says, "Look Mommy!" I glance over my shoulder and see him staring back at me smiling. I don't get it. But as soon as I look back to the road he says a little more urgently, "No Mommy, look." I tell him that I can't keep looking back while I'm driving and I'm not sure what he wants me to see. He then explains that he is flaring his nostrils to the beat of the music! (Silly me, how could I miss that?)

Who would think of doing that? Yet it seemed to fit our family so well. A few months ago at a family gathering we were all sitting around discussing (and demonstrating) what weird muscles we can move. For example: raising your eyebrows independently, crossing your eyes, wiggling your ears, curling your tongue, flaring your nostrils, etc. I can do pretty many, but flaring my nostrils is not one of them. That's probably not how most family's spend a day together, but hey... they're mine.