I Call You Faithful

Pat referred to this song in her blog entry. It was just too awesome not to share!

Merry Christmas

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them:
and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not:
for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace,
good will toward men.

Luke 2:9-14

Dialog with Olivia

"Dad, Grandma was wrong when she said that Santa uses beeknockulers (spelled as she pronouces 'binoculars') to watch if you're being naughty or nice.

"Really?"

"I'm serious. There are magic televisions that record if you're being good or bad and then the elves watch them to see who is being good and bad and they write it all in the book."

"wow...I didn't know that."

"Yeah, and Santa just uses his beeknockulars to check to see if the TVs are working right. I'm serious. That's how he knows."

Brillo Man chuckling..."well, I learned something new, I didn't know that's how Santa kept track of things."

"Dad. It's not funny. I'm serious."

countdown...

December 19th and our tree is still not up.

I have some friends who don't put their tree up until Christmas Eve - AFTER the kids are in bed - then telling them that Santa brought it.

Plus - they still have to spend hours assembling the toys that aren't yet assembled.

They get no sleep that night.

We will be putting up our tree BEFORE Christmas Eve. Not sure how much before. Perhaps Christmas Eve Afternoon....

Mercer County State Police said...

Stay off the roads unless it's an emergency.

Apparently, Greenville School District thinks that school attendance warrants an emergency because even though every surrounding district (barring one) either cancelled or had a 2-hour delay, Greenville was open for business as usual.

Guess what?

I got up this morning. Looked outside. Conversed with Brillo Man who agreed that we were going to institute our own 2-hour delay. We just did not deem it safe to put Olivia on a bus (with NO seat belts) when the roads were bad and the state police were advising all to stay home. Then I went back to bed.

Ahh...sweet sleep.

Woke up two hours later -- helped Olivia get ready for school while Brillo Man went out to warm up the van. Then stood and watched as he promptly got the van stuck in eight inches of snow on top of four inches of muck and mud (leftover from last week's monsoon.) After another hour of plowing and clearing and finally getting the van out - Olivia was off to school.

Our two hour delay was now three hours.

She arrived in time for lunch. Her class was just about to leave the cafeteria and go back to class.... she stayed behind to eat and a teacher's aide was supposed to take her back to her room when she was finished, however, the aide forgot and left her behind.

Then another class showed up. Second Graders! "OH MOM! I WAS SCARED! And I had to sit there for really, really long minutes until my teacher came and told me it was time to go to gym class."

What did you do after gym class, Olivia?

We went outside for recess.

Then what?

My friend Zach slipped and fell in a huge snowy, muddy puddle and he had to go home and take a bath.

Oh, that's too bad. He went home early.

Yep.

Then what did you do?

We colored one picture and then it was time to get on the bus.

?

...should've just kept her home.....

At a loss...

Just in case you haven't noticed, I haven't been posting as regulary as I once had been.

I'm at a loss for words. And I don't know why.

I'm feeling a little (no, a lot) restless in my soul. Like something is amiss or should be happening or is going to happen. Spiritually, I feel like I'm sitting on the precipice of something huge and am about to plunge into something that I'm not able to see - not able to test the waters - nor begin to guess about the path ahead. ...wondering if He's going to be there to catch me or give me wings to fly.

I am hesitant to pray, "bring it on, Lord." Over the years, I've learned to be very, very, very, very (did I say, 'very'?) careful how I pray.

This restlessness keeps me from becoming too complacent in my relationship with God. Whenever God's wanting to do some work in me, the restlessness grows until I can't deny it. Lord..reveal to me what you want me to see. What changes do you want to make in my heart, in my life?" See, there. Now I've prayed it. look out.

Even thought this restlessness is sometimes an uncomfortable feeling, I am glad for it because it keeps me from becoming too self-reliant. It reminds me that it is only in Jesus that I find true peace, direction, and security. I certainly am unable to manufacture those feelings on my own. Trust me. I've tried.

The restlessness I feel is actually a big signpost to my heart to say that I'm not completely relying on God. (See...like I said...self-reliant.) I'm trying to fix everything that needs fixed - in my finances, in my relationships, in my walk with God. There's room for much improvement in all... but I can't fix things. I need to rest in the Lord --and see what great things He is going to accomplish. It's going to be something big. Maybe not the something big that I expected - but something that will be His perfect will for my life.

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"Come to me,
all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest."
-Matthew 11:28

"Call to Me, and I will answer you,
and show you great and mighty things,
which you do not know."
-Jeremiah 33:3

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