Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 December 2012
Monday, 24 December 2012
Christmas Lights and Fun
Just over a week ago we went with Nathan`s family (minus his sister and her family from out west) to Boston Pizza for supper and then to Christmas at the Taylor`s and Canad Inn`s Winter Wonderland.
A description of Christmas at the Taylor`s.....
The trip takes about 6 minutes and can accommodate up to 700 people per night. Tickets can be purchased at the station, where you can also warm up and enjoy hot chocolate. Visitors must walk in from Roblin Blvd or from the 1 hour parking area in order to purchase train tickets. Those walking in will enjoy a 1000 foot lighted pathway in the bush, which will not be accessible to those who drive in. You can also enjoy a longer path of about 2000 feet that takes you deeper in the forest. This trail will take you past the new Gingerbread Village that can only be seen from this trail or by riding the train on the old line. This trail has been improved this year and has more lighting along its length. It is a natural trail so watch for roots and trees, etc.
It was a fairly nice evening when we went but we got there well after 6:30 (when it opens) and ended up having to wait almost an hour for the train ride. We decided it was worth it (considering it wasn`t too cold!) but if we did it again we would make sure to come for exactly 6:30 so we wouldn`t have to wait as long. The tickets were $2 per person or $20 for 12 people I think.
Nativity scene on display while waiting in line for the train.
Walking the light-lit paths.
After that we headed to Canad Inn`s Winter Wonderland which is a drive through light display. The light displays are quite amazing, but for the price ($15 per vehicle) it is a little disappointing - there should be more displays. But at least you stay warm!
Next year we`d like to do Christmas at the Taylor`s again, but we`d likely skip the Winter Wonderland and rather head to Candy Cane Lane, Polar Bear Lane, etc in Lindenwoods for some beautiful lights viewing in a warm vehicle.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
One Drummer Boy's Passion
I've never really been a huge fan of the Christmas song Little Drummer Boy (I liked the lyrics, but not the tune so much), but that all changed recently when I saw a video one of my friends linked to on Facebook. The song went viral all over the internet and today, almost 2 weeks after originally posting it, it's almost reached one million hits. Amazing! I'm sure most of you have already seen/heard it, but I absolutely love it and had to post it here too.
His name is Sean Quigley and he's a 16 yr old from Winnipeg filled with a passion for Jesus. God has gifted Sean with many amazing abilities - he arranged, composed, mixed and mastered the song, played all the instruments (including bass, guitar, piano and obviously drums!), sang and then also directed and edited the video.
And he did it for Jesus. Because he has a passion for Jesus.
“I guess it comes back to the story of the song – just a drummer boy who goes to find Jesus and has absolutely nothing to give him,” Quigley told the Winnipeg Sun. “He plays the drum for Jesus and that makes him so happy ... That’s me. That’s why I’m doing it.”
“It’s not about me getting recognition,” he affirmed. “This song is about Jesus.”
He's been interviewed or simply written about in numerous articles including the Winnipeg Sun (another Winnipeg Sun article), CTV, Christian Post, CBC and Yahoo. You can hear his radio interview with Larry Updike (CBC) here and see the CTV interview here. With refreshing humility, he always points back to Jesus.
Apparently the song is going to be available on iTunes soon, but you can already get it from CDBaby - I bought and downloaded it yesterday and am loving it!
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
A Bonanza of Jesse Tree Options
I really love the whole concept of The Jesse Tree.
15) Advent chains are a simplified version of the Jesse Tree. SpellOutLoud has a free printable advent chain - each chain has a theme and scripture reference to look up. She also has a free printable name of Jesus advent chain, with a name of Jesus and scripture reference on each chain, as well as activity idea options.
Jesse Tree Devotions: A Family Activity for Advent by Marilyn Breckenridge is a book containing the daily devotionals (Scripture reference, short devotional and prayer) as well as tree leaf shaped symbols that you can photocopy, colour and paste onto a large tree pullout (photocopy as well, or you'll have to reorder this every year).
The Advent Jesse Tree by Dean Smith is a beautiful hardcover book. The devotions for each day have a picture (which you could photocopy to make ornaments), symbol suggestions, a memory verse, a selection of hymns you could sing, followed by two separate devotions for children and adults. The devotional for children has a short scripture reference, a devotional, questions and a prayer. The adult devotional has a longer scriptural passage reference, a short devotion and a prayer.
The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean is a telling of the Jesse Tree symbols and biblical tales in storybook form.
Bartholomew's Passage, Jotham's Journey and Tabitha's Travels by Arnold Ytreeide are not Jesse Tree specific, but are fantastic family stories for Advent. The storybook characters travel throughout Israel and encounter the biblical characters, ending their travels in Bethlehem just in time for the Saviour's birth. He also has another book, Amon's Adventure, for Easter-time.
The Jesse Tree has its roots in the following scripture...
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Isaiah 1:1
The Jesse Tree represents the family tree of Jesus and tells the entire story of God's salvation plan, beginning with creation and making its way through the Old Testament, showing how it all points to the coming of the Messiah. Reviewing this plan reminds us of how the Israelites waited for the birth of Jesus, and how we wait for His second coming today.
I wanted to post several Jesse Tree options for those of you who are looking to do this with your family. None of them are exactly alike. Some are geared towards adults, some towards kids. Some start on December 1st, some the 1st Sunday of Advent, some November 29th.
Remember, perfection is not what's required here. You can make your own ornaments to hang on a Jesse Tree, you can buy some ready made for you from Etsy, you can make simple print, cut and colour ornaments. Or you don't even have to do the ornaments at all. Obviously the devotions themselves, talking with your kids and focusing on Jesus, is the most important aspect of it all. The ornaments do add that extra dimension, and kids love them - but they are not required. Don't fall for the "if I can't do it perfectly, I'm not doing it all" mentality. Anything is better than nothing!
That being said, here is a list of the ones I've found. I hope you can find something suitable for your family!
1) 
A Jesus Advent Celebration from Ann Voskamp - this free download contains everything you need for your first Jesse Tree. Each day contains a scripture reading, a devotional, a prayer and an idea of something to do to apply the day's truth to our lives. This download also contains every single ornament you need - just print it out, attach it to card stock, punch holes, glue a ribbon"hook" on and you're all set! Or you could literally just print/cut them out and tape them onto a paper tree. Can't get much simpler than that! I do really love this devotional, but wish it was a bit more child friendly with simpler wording - I'm just not a huge fan of her style of writing. But this is definitely a great all-in-one package, and it's free! This is the one we're currently using - but I'm substituting stories from our Jesus Storybook Bible and The Big Picture Story Bible
Updated: It appears this is no longer being offered and that she has created a book called Unwrapping the Greatest Gift which you can purchase, and the ornaments are free.
A Jesus Advent Celebration from Ann Voskamp - this free download contains everything you need for your first Jesse Tree. Each day contains a scripture reading, a devotional, a prayer and an idea of something to do to apply the day's truth to our lives. This download also contains every single ornament you need - just print it out, attach it to card stock, punch holes, glue a ribbon"hook" on and you're all set! Or you could literally just print/cut them out and tape them onto a paper tree. Can't get much simpler than that! I do really love this devotional, but wish it was a bit more child friendly with simpler wording - I'm just not a huge fan of her style of writing. But this is definitely a great all-in-one package, and it's free! This is the one we're currently using - but I'm substituting stories from our Jesus Storybook Bible and The Big Picture Story BibleUpdated: It appears this is no longer being offered and that she has created a book called Unwrapping the Greatest Gift which you can purchase, and the ornaments are free.
2) 
Truth in the Tinsel is the ebook I reviewed the other day (congratulations again to Pam, Meg and Cynthia on winning the giveaway, and thanks Amanda for your generosity!). It sells for only $4.99 and is a perfect Jesse Tree style devotional to do with the preschool through early elementary set. It focuses more on the actual Christmas story, and not as much on the OT history. But I love that it is so flexible, that it's geared to littles, and that the ornaments are a part of the whole thing, so you don't have to do it ahead of time, but you do it together.
Updated to add: They now have printable ornaments! If you were hesitating because you aren't crafty (me!) this is perfect for you. You can use printable ornaments when you don't have time for the crafts, or simply use them for every day - up to you!
Truth in the Tinsel is the ebook I reviewed the other day (congratulations again to Pam, Meg and Cynthia on winning the giveaway, and thanks Amanda for your generosity!). It sells for only $4.99 and is a perfect Jesse Tree style devotional to do with the preschool through early elementary set. It focuses more on the actual Christmas story, and not as much on the OT history. But I love that it is so flexible, that it's geared to littles, and that the ornaments are a part of the whole thing, so you don't have to do it ahead of time, but you do it together.Updated to add: They now have printable ornaments! If you were hesitating because you aren't crafty (me!) this is perfect for you. You can use printable ornaments when you don't have time for the crafts, or simply use them for every day - up to you!
3) Advent Meditations by Grace Bible Church of Hollister: what I love about this free download is that this "book" actually contains 2 sets of Advent readings - one for kids and one for older children (teens) and adults. The adult devotional begins with a short devotional style summary of the day's truth, followed by scripture. Then at the bottom of the page it references which story from the Jesus Storybook Bible you are to read for the children's readings. The cons to this one is that no ornaments are included, and if you don't have the Jesus Storybook Bible you won't be able to do it with your kids.
4) 
Jesse Tree Family Devotions from the Reformed Church in America: This is a fantastic free resource for younger kids! Each day includes the scripture reference (you need to look it up and read it from your Bible), a devotional reading geared towards young children, a simple question to talk about what was just read, a pray and a black and white image that you can print, colour and turn into an ornament. The images aren't as beautiful as the Ann Voskamp ones, but they'll do!
Jesse Tree Family Devotions from the Reformed Church in America: This is a fantastic free resource for younger kids! Each day includes the scripture reference (you need to look it up and read it from your Bible), a devotional reading geared towards young children, a simple question to talk about what was just read, a pray and a black and white image that you can print, colour and turn into an ornament. The images aren't as beautiful as the Ann Voskamp ones, but they'll do!
5) Advent Devotional by Christ the King Presbyterian Church: this free resource is geared more towards a family worship style experience. Each individual devotion contains a scripture passage, a brief reflection style devotional on that passage, both an adult and a child's prayer, as well as hymn to sing together. There are no ornaments provided in this devotional.
6) Advent Jesse Tree Daily Devotions: This includes both an OT and NT scripture reference, a short devotional and a prayer/thanks. No ornaments are included, though ideas are given.
7) Jesse Tree Advent Reading Meditations from This Classical Life: Each day includes the theme, a scripture reference, an ornament idea, a short devotional followed by a couple of questions and a prayer. There are enough readings for the longest advent seasons, so during shorter advent seasons you have to double up or skip some.
8) Jesse Tree Parent Devotions: these online devotions are specifically for parents. They have had ornament sets and child devotional books for sale previously, but they're all sold out. Excellent resource if you're looking for something more in-depth for your own devotions this advent season.
9) Advent Reflections for the Jesse Tree from Faith Magazine: Each day has one main scripture verse followed by a very short description of the symbol and what it represents, followed by a longer scripture reference to look up. They also have the whole set of ornaments available for download, both small ones (3.5") and large ones (7.5").
10) 
Print Candee is offering a printable Jesse Tree Kit for free for a limited time on their Facebook page! The kit includes 3 sheets of 27 1.5" circle ornaments, 1 Scripture verse guide and 27 corresponding gift boxes to keep the ornaments in underneath the tree. They also have a tutorial on how to make the ornaments. This set is adorable!!
Print Candee is offering a printable Jesse Tree Kit for free for a limited time on their Facebook page! The kit includes 3 sheets of 27 1.5" circle ornaments, 1 Scripture verse guide and 27 corresponding gift boxes to keep the ornaments in underneath the tree. They also have a tutorial on how to make the ornaments. This set is adorable!!
11) 
Jesus Storybook Bible Jesse Tree. This is a blog post describing how the Rutherfords have used only the Jesus Storybook Bible in order to do their Jesse Tree. Ornaments are not included, and obviously, the Jesus Storybook Bible is required. Because I'm always slightly leery of blog posts becoming unavailable (set as private, or simply removed), I'm going to include the schedule right here (ornament idea in brackets).
Dec 1 - Creation (dove): JSB pg 18-27 based on Genesis 1-2
Dec 2 - The Fall (fruit tree): JSB pg 28-37 based on Genesis 3
Dec 3 - The Flood (rainbow): JSB pg 38-47 based on Genesis 6-9
Dec 4 - Tower of Babel (tower): JSB pg 48-55 based on Genesis 11
Dec 5 - The Promise to Abraham (stars in the sky): JSB pg 56-61 based on Genesis 12-21
Dec 6 - Abraham and Isaac (ram): JSB pg 62-69 based on Genesis 22
Dec 7 - Jacob, Rachel and Leah (stalks of grain): JSB pg 70-75 based on Genesis 29-30
Dec 8 - Joseph (rainbow coat): JSB pg 76-83 based on Genesis 37-46
Dec 9 - Moses and the Burning Bush (burning bush): JSB pg 84-91 based on Exodus 3-13
Dec 10 - Moses and the Red Sea (split waters): JSB pg 92-99 based on Exodus 14-15
Dec 11 - The Law (stone tablets): JSB pg 100-107 based on Exodus 16, 17, 19-40
Dec 12 - Joshua and Jericho (trumpet): JSB pg 108-115 based on Joshua 3 and 6
Dec 13 - David's Anointing (David the shepherd boy): JSB pg 116-121 based on 1 Samuel 16
Dec 14 - David and Goliath (slingshot): JSB pg 122-129 based on 1 Samuel 17
Dec 15 - David the Shepherd (lyre): JSB pg 130-135 based on Psalm 23, 51, 2 Samuel 7
Dec 16 - Naaman (heart): JSB pg 136-143 based on 2 Kings 5
Dec 17 - Isaiah (crown): JSB pg 144-151 based on Isaiah 9, 11, 40, 50, 53, 55, 60
Dec 18 - Daniel in the Lion's Den (Daniel and a lion): JSB pg 152-159 based on Daniel 6
Dec 19 - Jonah (fish): JSB pg 160-169 based on Jonah 1-4
Dec 20 - The Prophets (party hat): JSB pg 170-175 based on Nehemiah 8-10
Dec 21 - John the Baptist (shell): JSB pg 200-203 based on Matthew 3
Dec 22 - Mary and the Angel (angel): JSB pg 176-176 based on Luke 1-2
Dec 23 - Journey to Bethlehem (scroll): JSB pg 180-181 based on Luke 1-2
Dec 24 - The Shepherds and Wise Men (three wise men): JSB pg 184-188 based on Luke 2
Dec 25 - Jesus is Born! (baby Jesus): JSB pg 182, 190, 192-198 based on Luke 2
Updated to Add: Sally Lloyd Jones (author of the Jesus Storybook Bible) now has her own Advent Guide and it is available for free here!!
Jesus Storybook Bible Jesse Tree. This is a blog post describing how the Rutherfords have used only the Jesus Storybook Bible in order to do their Jesse Tree. Ornaments are not included, and obviously, the Jesus Storybook Bible is required. Because I'm always slightly leery of blog posts becoming unavailable (set as private, or simply removed), I'm going to include the schedule right here (ornament idea in brackets).Dec 1 - Creation (dove): JSB pg 18-27 based on Genesis 1-2
Dec 2 - The Fall (fruit tree): JSB pg 28-37 based on Genesis 3
Dec 3 - The Flood (rainbow): JSB pg 38-47 based on Genesis 6-9
Dec 4 - Tower of Babel (tower): JSB pg 48-55 based on Genesis 11
Dec 5 - The Promise to Abraham (stars in the sky): JSB pg 56-61 based on Genesis 12-21
Dec 6 - Abraham and Isaac (ram): JSB pg 62-69 based on Genesis 22
Dec 7 - Jacob, Rachel and Leah (stalks of grain): JSB pg 70-75 based on Genesis 29-30
Dec 8 - Joseph (rainbow coat): JSB pg 76-83 based on Genesis 37-46
Dec 9 - Moses and the Burning Bush (burning bush): JSB pg 84-91 based on Exodus 3-13
Dec 10 - Moses and the Red Sea (split waters): JSB pg 92-99 based on Exodus 14-15
Dec 11 - The Law (stone tablets): JSB pg 100-107 based on Exodus 16, 17, 19-40
Dec 12 - Joshua and Jericho (trumpet): JSB pg 108-115 based on Joshua 3 and 6
Dec 13 - David's Anointing (David the shepherd boy): JSB pg 116-121 based on 1 Samuel 16
Dec 14 - David and Goliath (slingshot): JSB pg 122-129 based on 1 Samuel 17
Dec 15 - David the Shepherd (lyre): JSB pg 130-135 based on Psalm 23, 51, 2 Samuel 7
Dec 16 - Naaman (heart): JSB pg 136-143 based on 2 Kings 5
Dec 17 - Isaiah (crown): JSB pg 144-151 based on Isaiah 9, 11, 40, 50, 53, 55, 60
Dec 18 - Daniel in the Lion's Den (Daniel and a lion): JSB pg 152-159 based on Daniel 6
Dec 19 - Jonah (fish): JSB pg 160-169 based on Jonah 1-4
Dec 20 - The Prophets (party hat): JSB pg 170-175 based on Nehemiah 8-10
Dec 21 - John the Baptist (shell): JSB pg 200-203 based on Matthew 3
Dec 22 - Mary and the Angel (angel): JSB pg 176-176 based on Luke 1-2
Dec 23 - Journey to Bethlehem (scroll): JSB pg 180-181 based on Luke 1-2
Dec 24 - The Shepherds and Wise Men (three wise men): JSB pg 184-188 based on Luke 2
Dec 25 - Jesus is Born! (baby Jesus): JSB pg 182, 190, 192-198 based on Luke 2
Updated to Add: Sally Lloyd Jones (author of the Jesus Storybook Bible) now has her own Advent Guide and it is available for free here!!
12) I found another set of printable ornaments here.
13) Focus on the Family also has a free digital download Advent Calendar when you register on the Thriving Family website. It offers daily Scripture readings, parent-child activities and links to JellyTelly video clips, stories, crafts, Christmas carols, recipes, Adventures in Odyssey audio dramas and more! You can also access it online here or get an iPad download here. (Thanks Jessica, for letting me know about this one!)
14) How to Celebrate Advent with a Jesse Tree is a free ebook compiled by Tara from FeelsLikeHome. Each day identifies the central character, the theme, the ornament, the key verse, a song to sing, a scripture reference to read and a prayer.
15) Advent chains are a simplified version of the Jesse Tree. SpellOutLoud has a free printable advent chain - each chain has a theme and scripture reference to look up. She also has a free printable name of Jesus advent chain, with a name of Jesus and scripture reference on each chain, as well as activity idea options.
16) My friend, Jessica, has created a pdf printable advent around 25 of the people from the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew's gospel. You can print her text only pdf here, and the colour/graphics version here.
If I've missed any that you've found, please let me know!
If I've missed any that you've found, please let me know!
There are also numerous books you can order to compliment your Jesse Tree, or even to do it entirely.
Jesse Tree Devotions: A Family Activity for Advent by Marilyn Breckenridge is a book containing the daily devotionals (Scripture reference, short devotional and prayer) as well as tree leaf shaped symbols that you can photocopy, colour and paste onto a large tree pullout (photocopy as well, or you'll have to reorder this every year).
The Advent Jesse Tree by Dean Smith is a beautiful hardcover book. The devotions for each day have a picture (which you could photocopy to make ornaments), symbol suggestions, a memory verse, a selection of hymns you could sing, followed by two separate devotions for children and adults. The devotional for children has a short scripture reference, a devotional, questions and a prayer. The adult devotional has a longer scriptural passage reference, a short devotion and a prayer.
The Jesse Tree by Geraldine McCaughrean is a telling of the Jesse Tree symbols and biblical tales in storybook form.
Bartholomew's Passage, Jotham's Journey and Tabitha's Travels by Arnold Ytreeide are not Jesse Tree specific, but are fantastic family stories for Advent. The storybook characters travel throughout Israel and encounter the biblical characters, ending their travels in Bethlehem just in time for the Saviour's birth. He also has another book, Amon's Adventure, for Easter-time.
Phew - that's all I got! Whatever your choice, my prayer is that this helps you to put the focus on Christ this Christmas.
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Truth in the Tinsel - giveaway!
In yesterday's blog post I wrote about using Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree devotional last year and some of the many things I loved about doing that, as well as some of the drawbacks.
If you're looking for something targeted towards a younger audience (preschool through early elementary) - I have just the thing for you!
Truth in the Tinsel is an ebook developed by Amanda White from ImpressYourKids who was looking for a more pre-school friendly way to do a Jesse Tree style advent activity with her kids.
What's awesome about this is that it is soooo flexible! Here's the main gist of it...
Each day there is a clue (something for your kids to listen for), a scripture passage to read together, an ornament craft to make together (craft-challenged moms like me - don't stop reading!!), exploring what the passage means together (talking about it), and some options to do more together if you want to take the time to go deeper into the story (such as additional scripture, songs to sing, fun activities to make the lesson applicable to their lives, etc).
In case you didn't catch it in the previous paragraph, one of the goals is to make this advent journey together with your kids.
Making the perfect Christmas tree ornament crafts is definitely NOT the goal! (Phew - cause I'd be out right there). The goal, of course, is to engage your kids in the Christmas story in a way they can understand so that they grow to love Jesus more. To quote Amanda....
The little Baby is no longer in the manger but alive and sitting on a throne - waiting to have a relationship with you and your children. Help your children get to know Him this Christmas!
Now, what does it all include?
Everything! (Love it when people make things easy for me by doing all the hard work!)
There are two options for your advent calendar. There are 24 picture and word clues that you can print out and use to create your own advent calendar (or use with one you already have). Or, to keep it super simple, there's a printable paper chain style version - can't get any easier than that!
She has a full craft supply list, as well as a daily list (in case you only want to do certain crafts, or gather materials gradually), and templates for some of the ornaments. Most of the supplies are very common and you may, in fact, have most of them at home already. There's also a Facebook group where you can share in the journey with other families.
Keep in mind - there's no rule you have to make the craft the way it's suggested. If it calls for glue, you can use tape. If it calls for embroidery thread, you can use yarn. Shoot - you can just cut it out of construction paper and call it a day! And really, if you skip the craft entirely some days, that's ok too!
Amanda understand all about busy schedules, especially in December. Which is why I love this next feature: she has alternate schedules!! You can do a 6 day version covering all the traditional Christmas passages. Another option is to take several days of one large chunk of scripture at a time (works especially well if you have multiple kids as they can each make a different ornament while you're discussing the passage). You can do a 10 day version focusing on the people of the story - creating an almost full nativity set (of ornaments) for your kids to play with. Or you can do a 7 days version focusing on prophecy. So many options!
This is not a "do all 24 crafts in 24 days or die trying" type of program. Do what you can as you have time, knowing that as you have time, someone else has already figured out what you need to do!
So, Truth in the Tinsel sells for only $4.99 - which is a pretty good deal for this package I'd say. Remember, it's an e-book, so no waiting for it to arrive - instant download and you're off to the races!
But y'all have the chance to get it for free! In fact - 3 of y'all do! Amanda has graciously offered to donate 3 copies of Truth in the Tinsel as a giveaway on my blog. All you have to do is comment on this post and you're in! If you like her Facebook group and come comment again to let me know you did, you get another entry.
Truth in the Tinsel starts on December 1st which means there is going to be a pretty short turnaround between this blog post and the entry deadline - so you only have until 11pm CST tonight (Tuesday, November 29th) to enter this giveaway!
If you're not one of the winners, take heart - it'll only cost you $4.99 to purchase the Truth in the Tinsel ebook and join with us, making meaningful Christmas memories with our kids, impressing the Truth of God's Word on their minds and hearts.
Monday, 28 November 2011
Anticipating Advent - the Jesse Tree
I love it when people make things easy by doing all the hard work for me. :)
For a couple years now, when thinking about (and googling) ways to make Christmas meaningful to our kids, and distract them from all the presents and Santa hoopla (which is fun and all, but not the true reason we celebrate), I came across the idea of a Jesse Tree.
The Jesse Tree represents the family tree of Jesus and tells the entire story of God's salvation plan, beginning with creation and making its way through the Old Testament, showing how it all points to the coming of the Messiah. Reviewing this plan reminds us of how the Israelites waited for the birth of Jesus, and how we wait for His second coming today.
Each day of Advent focuses on one story in the OT and a handmade ornament is added to the Jesse Tree. A Jesse Tree can be a small Christmas tree, it could be any tree-type plant in your home, it could be branches sticking out of a pot, or it could even simply be a hand-drawn tree shape.
Last year, I came across a beautiful Jesse Tree Advent Devotional Book that was (and still is!) being given away for free, by Ann Voskamp at her blog A Holy Experience. Every day's readings contained the scripture passage, a devotional, and an action point (something to do, relating to the theme of the day's devotional). And the ornaments were so easy to put together (essential for this craft-challenged mother!). All I had to do was print them out, glue them on some green card stock with my pretty red ribbon and voila - done!! Like I said - virtually all the work done for me! :)
Last year, I came across a beautiful Jesse Tree Advent Devotional Book that was (and still is!) being given away for free, by Ann Voskamp at her blog A Holy Experience. Every day's readings contained the scripture passage, a devotional, and an action point (something to do, relating to the theme of the day's devotional). And the ornaments were so easy to put together (essential for this craft-challenged mother!). All I had to do was print them out, glue them on some green card stock with my pretty red ribbon and voila - done!! Like I said - virtually all the work done for me! :)
However, I found the devotionals a bit of a stretch for our kids, and her writing style wasn't really my style. So I supplemented the material with our Jesus Storybook Bible and The Big Picture Story Bible. The Jesus Storybook Bible is by far and away our favourite children's Bible (and we have more than a few). Seriously, if you don't have it yet, you really really really really really need to. And I'm not exaggerating. (Here's my review of it). Anyway, the girls absolutely loved doing this last year (we did about two per day in order to catch up, because we started late - so no using that as an excuse!!). This was our Jesse Tree last year.....
I love the whole idea of it, but I'm planning to rewrite some of the devotionals and revise things to create our own version of the Jesse Tree using many of our children's Bibles in the process.
I'm not entirely sure when that will get done - I do, technically, only have to have them done one day at a time, so in theory, I could still finish it this year. But it starts tomorrow!! So, we'll see what happens. It'll likely be a combo of last year's and whatever I have time to figure out for this year.
The only other problem is that this is a little over the head of my 3 yr old son.
Fortunately, I've found a solution. That post (including 3 giveaways!!) coming up tomorrow!
We're starting our Jesse Tree tomorrow, but we may be doing a little something more this year too (starting December 1st). Stay tuned!
PS - my cousin, Tammi, is doing this too - check out her Jesse Tree!
Friday, 22 April 2011
Easter Makes Christmas - Good Friday edition
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas. I love celebrating Christmas. But Easter makes Christmas. Technically, you can't really have one without the other. But Easter completes Christmas. The truth is that both Christmas and Easter have become so secularized that it takes deliberate thought to celebrate their true meanings.
I already wrote a post this past December in a similar vein - I said (yes, I'm about to quote myself - hey, it's my blog!)...
Christmas is about the reason Jesus was born. It's about the reason He left the glory of heaven and exchanged it for 33 years on a planet full of people who had and still do reject Him. It's the reason He endured an agonizing death on the cross to pay the price that was mine to pay. What was the reason? You. Me. Love for you and me. He was the Rescuer sent by God to pay the penalty for my sin. He took on the full wrath of God in my place. In your place. Because He loves you that much! Someone needed to make a way back to God, and He was the only One who could do it. I can't do it, you can't do it. Only He can.
And so He came - born to die. But the story, thankfully, did not end there. Death did not defeat Him. God raised Him from the dead. And in the end, death will not defeat us either.
I want to expand on this a bit.
Christmas is fantastic. The very idea of the incarnation is incredible to me.
Jesus Christ has always existed and always will exist. To our finite minds, this is tough stuff to understand. But, quite frankly, if we could understand everything about God, He wouldn't be worthy of our worship, would He? Jesus Christ didn't start to exist on the date of His birth here on earth like we did.
He has always existed. And prior to that Christmas over 2000 years ago, He lived in the splendor of heaven with angels worshiping Him as He enjoyed perfect fellowship with God the Father and The Holy Spirit. The majesty that He enjoyed is unimaginable to us. And He left that all, to come to this dingy ball orbiting the sun, as a human being.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss says...
But it's not just the fact that He did it that was so important. It was why He did it.
He did it to save us. He did it because He loved us.
Our sin has separated us from our Holy God. He cannot abide any sin in His presence - not even the smallest of sins. There is no way we can be good enough to get to heaven because it requires absolute perfection. And I don't know about you, but I don't even come close. Some people are "better" than others. But it doesn't matter because they're not perfect.
Let's say (for arguments sake), that the requirement for getting to heaven was being able to jump from the earth to the moon. It's impossible. No one could do it. Now, Michael Jordan would certainly be able to jump a lot higher than I could. But it wouldn't matter. His amazing vertical still doesn't get him anywhere near the moon.
The real requirement for getting into heaven is even more impossible than that. Absolute perfection. It's impossible.
So we've got a pretty huge problem.
God is just, so He can't just forgive us. Somebody has to be able to pay the price for our sin. The price is death. And I deserve it.
But God is also love.
So, how did God balance His absolute justness with His absolute love?
He did it with it with Christmas and Easter.
Jesus Christ voluntarily gave up His godness and entered into humanity in order to bring us to God. He took on flesh, He veiled His glory, He crossed the infinite gap between heaven and earth - in order to restore our relationship with Him. And that's why Christmas is so incredible.
But the thing is, if He just came here and then went back to heaven - well, that wouldn't help us anything.
He had to die. For me. For you. He willingly became the substitute for my sin. He took my punishment upon Himself because He loves me that much. He took your punishment upon Himself because he loves you that much.
And why was this sacrifice acceptable? Because He lived an absolutely perfect life. Only an absolutely perfect life would be an acceptable sacrifice to our Holy God.
And so, on that dark Friday, so many years ago, Jesus Christ volunteered to take the whole wrath of God upon Himself, so that we might be saved. Yes, He endured unspeakable physical pain during the crucifixion, but the spiritually suffering was worse by far.
From Nancy Leigh de Moss...
It was the separation from His Father from whom he had never since all eternity past ever experienced a single second of separation.
Until this moment, when others had misunderstood or forsaken Him, He had always depended on the closeness and fellowship with His Father. That’s where He would run. That’s where He found a refuge. But now that refuge was no longer available to Him. Others could claim in their times of suffering the promise of Psalm 27, verse 10, “My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in,” but Jesus was denied that provision that was available to everyone else. At this moment He is utterly alone and forsaken.
God is a Holy God. And on the cross, Jesus was bearing our sin - He had become sin for us, and that is what caused Him to be separated from a Holy God as He drank the full cup of God's wrath on our behalf.
Jesus did not just feel forsaken—He was forsaken by His Father. He had to be forsaken in order to redeem us from our sins. He had to have fellowship and intimacy with God broken because God was judging Him and rejecting Him as we deserved to be judged and rejected for our sin....
The picture we have in the Scripture is that of the Father actively, intentionally, directly, attentively involved in imputing our sin to His Son and executing our judgment upon His Son....
It wasn’t ultimately the Romans or the Jews who put Jesus to death. Ultimately, it was God who put His own Son to death. And that forsakenness He cried out about ... was not just a turning from the Son—just the opposite. It was a turning to the Son and against the Son in a hostile outpouring of condemnation upon our sin in His Son.
And when God's wrath was emptied out onto His Son, Jesus cried out victoriously "It is finished!"
This is my all time favourite Easter song. I don't think I've ever been able to sing it without crying.
I already wrote a post this past December in a similar vein - I said (yes, I'm about to quote myself - hey, it's my blog!)...
Christmas is about the reason Jesus was born. It's about the reason He left the glory of heaven and exchanged it for 33 years on a planet full of people who had and still do reject Him. It's the reason He endured an agonizing death on the cross to pay the price that was mine to pay. What was the reason? You. Me. Love for you and me. He was the Rescuer sent by God to pay the penalty for my sin. He took on the full wrath of God in my place. In your place. Because He loves you that much! Someone needed to make a way back to God, and He was the only One who could do it. I can't do it, you can't do it. Only He can.
And so He came - born to die. But the story, thankfully, did not end there. Death did not defeat Him. God raised Him from the dead. And in the end, death will not defeat us either.
I want to expand on this a bit.
Christmas is fantastic. The very idea of the incarnation is incredible to me.
Jesus Christ has always existed and always will exist. To our finite minds, this is tough stuff to understand. But, quite frankly, if we could understand everything about God, He wouldn't be worthy of our worship, would He? Jesus Christ didn't start to exist on the date of His birth here on earth like we did.
He has always existed. And prior to that Christmas over 2000 years ago, He lived in the splendor of heaven with angels worshiping Him as He enjoyed perfect fellowship with God the Father and The Holy Spirit. The majesty that He enjoyed is unimaginable to us. And He left that all, to come to this dingy ball orbiting the sun, as a human being.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss says...
- The infinite became finite.
- The immortal became mortal.
- The Creator became as one of His creatures.
- The One who never sleeps, became tired—as a man.
- The Creator of the oceans of water—all the bodies of water on the earth—became thirsty.
- The one who fed His people with manna in the wilderness became hungry.
- The one who flung the stars into space slept under the stars.
- The one who inhabited heaven’s ivory palaces was born in a borrowed cattle shed.
- The omniscient God had to learn how to talk and walk as a child, as a baby, as an infant, as a human.
- The eternal Word of God had to learn how to read.
- The Helper of His people became helpless and dependent.
- The beloved Son of God became the rejected Son of Man.
- The one who created angels had angels come to His aid during His temptation in the wilderness, and again in Gethsemane.
But it's not just the fact that He did it that was so important. It was why He did it.
He did it to save us. He did it because He loved us.
Our sin has separated us from our Holy God. He cannot abide any sin in His presence - not even the smallest of sins. There is no way we can be good enough to get to heaven because it requires absolute perfection. And I don't know about you, but I don't even come close. Some people are "better" than others. But it doesn't matter because they're not perfect.
Let's say (for arguments sake), that the requirement for getting to heaven was being able to jump from the earth to the moon. It's impossible. No one could do it. Now, Michael Jordan would certainly be able to jump a lot higher than I could. But it wouldn't matter. His amazing vertical still doesn't get him anywhere near the moon.
The real requirement for getting into heaven is even more impossible than that. Absolute perfection. It's impossible.
So we've got a pretty huge problem.
God is just, so He can't just forgive us. Somebody has to be able to pay the price for our sin. The price is death. And I deserve it.
But God is also love.
So, how did God balance His absolute justness with His absolute love?
He did it with it with Christmas and Easter.
Jesus Christ voluntarily gave up His godness and entered into humanity in order to bring us to God. He took on flesh, He veiled His glory, He crossed the infinite gap between heaven and earth - in order to restore our relationship with Him. And that's why Christmas is so incredible.
But the thing is, if He just came here and then went back to heaven - well, that wouldn't help us anything.
He had to die. For me. For you. He willingly became the substitute for my sin. He took my punishment upon Himself because He loves me that much. He took your punishment upon Himself because he loves you that much.
And why was this sacrifice acceptable? Because He lived an absolutely perfect life. Only an absolutely perfect life would be an acceptable sacrifice to our Holy God.
And so, on that dark Friday, so many years ago, Jesus Christ volunteered to take the whole wrath of God upon Himself, so that we might be saved. Yes, He endured unspeakable physical pain during the crucifixion, but the spiritually suffering was worse by far.
From Nancy Leigh de Moss...
It was the separation from His Father from whom he had never since all eternity past ever experienced a single second of separation.
Until this moment, when others had misunderstood or forsaken Him, He had always depended on the closeness and fellowship with His Father. That’s where He would run. That’s where He found a refuge. But now that refuge was no longer available to Him. Others could claim in their times of suffering the promise of Psalm 27, verse 10, “My father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in,” but Jesus was denied that provision that was available to everyone else. At this moment He is utterly alone and forsaken.
God is a Holy God. And on the cross, Jesus was bearing our sin - He had become sin for us, and that is what caused Him to be separated from a Holy God as He drank the full cup of God's wrath on our behalf.
Jesus did not just feel forsaken—He was forsaken by His Father. He had to be forsaken in order to redeem us from our sins. He had to have fellowship and intimacy with God broken because God was judging Him and rejecting Him as we deserved to be judged and rejected for our sin....
The picture we have in the Scripture is that of the Father actively, intentionally, directly, attentively involved in imputing our sin to His Son and executing our judgment upon His Son....
It wasn’t ultimately the Romans or the Jews who put Jesus to death. Ultimately, it was God who put His own Son to death. And that forsakenness He cried out about ... was not just a turning from the Son—just the opposite. It was a turning to the Son and against the Son in a hostile outpouring of condemnation upon our sin in His Son.
And yet, at the same time, ironically, the Father would never have been so pleased with His Son as He was in this moment of His forsakenness... The Son had fulfilled exactly what the Father sent Him to do. So the forsakenness Jesus felt must also have been accompanied with a deep sense of satisfaction that He knew He was doing the Father's will, and that the Father would be pleased with the sacrifice . . . “who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross.”
Jesus chose to be the substitute for my sin. He endured the punishment that I deserved. And He did it because it was the only way to reconcile His holiness and justice with His mercy and love. He alone was worthy to be the perfect sacrifice for my sins.And when God's wrath was emptied out onto His Son, Jesus cried out victoriously "It is finished!"
This is my all time favourite Easter song. I don't think I've ever been able to sing it without crying.
How Deep the Father's Love For Us
How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treausre
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
And wounds which mar the chosen one
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished!
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
And make a wretch His treausre
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
And wounds which mar the chosen one
Bring many sons to glory
Behold the man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished!
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
A trip to be remembered
OK, for this story you're going to need to know some names and hopefully you can keep all the characters straight!
Hopefully our family you know already - Nathan & Tammy, Emma (9), Sophia (7), Olivia (5) & Jacob (3)
Nathan is the oldest and his parents are Edmer & Betty.
His younger sister lives in Alberta - Deena & Chris, Colter (5), Baret (3) & Hayden (1)
His youngest sister lives in a town close to us - Linsay & Shaun, Taylor (2)
First, a little background. Deena & Chris met and married in Alberta (yes, atbible bridal college). After a couple years they moved back here where Colter was born. I think they were pregnant with Baret when they moved back to Alberta. When they had been dating and newly married, Nathan and I went out to visit them at least once a year, sometimes twice. However, after they moved back, we told them in no uncertain terms that we were never driving all the way out there to visit them - at least not with the horrible passengers we'd managed to acquire in the meantime.
Never say never right?!
Mom & Dad, Shaun & Linsay have gone out to visit them before, and we've always steadfastly maintained our position, despite the wailings and pleadings of our offspring. I'm not sure what made this year different, but we gradually began to consider it. We finally consented to going out this Christmas, with numerous dire warnings to our children that their behaviour during the drive would be the deciding factor on if there were ever to be a repeat of this trip.
Turns out, the kids did fanTASTic on the drive - WAY better than expected.
Turns out that wasn't the problem. But there were problems, oh yes, there were problems.
We planned to drive caravan style. Mom & Dad would drive with Shaun & Linsay and we would lead the pack. We would come "pick them up" bright and early at 5am on the Wednesday after Christmas and book it out West.
*Note - people who do not like to read about other people getting sick, consider yourself warned.
At 4:45am we got a phone call. Linsay had been throwing up all night and they weren't sure what they were going to do. After some discussion it was decided that Nathan's parents would take all their luggage out of Shaun & Lin's vehicle and pack up their own car and head out with us. Shaun & Linsay would follow when they could, hopefully leaving at noon.
So, off we went. Now, I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, especially when it comes to stomach ailments, so by the time we got to Brandon where we stopped for breakfast, I was not feeling so hot. Things appeared to be going in the wrong direction during two bathroom breaks at the restaurant (Tim Horton's of course!), but I convinced myself it was all in my head and we were going to keep going. Worse case scenario, we'd stop in Regina if we had to.
Thankfully, it was just my hypochondria combined with lack of sleep. I napped between Brandon and Regina and every time I woke up I felt a bit better. Whew - bullet dodged. For now.
We filled up gas in Regina, stopped for lunch (Tim's again!) in Moose Jaw and kept on chugging. We stopped in Medicine Hat to fill up again and let the kids run off some steam at the local McDonald's which thankfully had an awesome play place (pictured left). Another 2 short hours (that seemed rather long!) and we were there! We enjoyed a homemade pizza supper and found out that it had been a good thing Shaun & Linsay had not started out with us, because around noon Shaun got sick and Taylor, who had been sick two days previous, got a bit sick again. They were all doing somewhat better by the evening, so they decided they would go to bed real early and try to be on the road by 4am the next morning (Thursday) to get to Alberta in time for our scheduled Christmas dinner (wrenikje and farmer sausage - woohoo!).
Thankfully Shaun, Linsay & Taylor made it safe and sound (and not sick!) and we all had a wonderful Christmas dinner that Thursday, followed by the "program", gifts and we all vacationed happily ever after. Ok, not quite.
Mom & Dad slept in the guest room downstairs. Nathan and I slept in Colter & Baret's room (their bottom bunk is a double) with Jacob on the floor in our room. Shaun & Linsay slept in Hayden's room on a double mattress with Taylor in Hayden's crib. Hayden slept in a play pen in Chris & Deena's room. All the other kids were set up downstairs by the tv for a big cousin sleepover.
During the day Hayden had had some diarrhea, but we chalked it up to teething. Might have been wrong about that one. No sooner had we started getting the kids ready for bed that night then both Colter & Baret started throwing up (they had previously had one episode of "d" as well). Chris & Deena spent the next several hours playing Mexican Train with us, while taking breaks every 15 minutes or so to deal with one or two puking children whose beds had been moved up to the living room, while I stuck my fingers in my ears and tried to convince myself that everything would be fine.
Now, obviously Colter & Baret did not get this from Shaun & Linsay cause they had only been there for a couple hours. So, we had both the Manitoba and the Alberta germs going around full force - we never had a fighting chance.
About every 12 hrs or so, we went down like dominoes.
We had originally been planning to go to Brooks the next day (Friday) and swim at their amazing leisure center, but since it was an hour away, we decided it was too big of a risk. Good thing too because Emma started around noon - not as bad as the boys, only about 5 episodes. We kept all the healthy people playing outside as much as we could - very thankful for the awesome natural toboggan slide courtesy of Chris & Deena's amazing front yard (advantage of living way out in the boonies in hill country). Deena was not feeling fabulous and had diarrhea off and on all day, and yet still managed to be an amazing hostess - in fact, she was a fantastic hostess throughout this whole ordeal, can't imagine anyone doing a better job! I lost track of how many times she disinfected bathrooms (thankfully they had 3 of them!) that week.
Just before bedtime Olivia threw up, and let's just say no one will feel like eating cherry ice cream again any time soon. This was the first time in about 3 years that she had thrown up, so I knew she'd have no idea what was coming. We put her and Emma to bed in the living room and were expecting to be interrupted from Mexican Train numerous times to help Olivia, like Deena & Chris had been the night before. But amazingly, Olivia only had the one incident!
I got very little sleep that night. Every cough or sound Jacob made I thought he was about to get started. Thankfully everything was fine during the night.
Saturday Shaun & Linsay left for the day and night to go visit Shaun's mom and we all stayed home and played outside and recovered from this quick acting bug. Since it had moved from person to person so quickly, and no one had gotten sick in quite a while, we were crossing our fingers and hoping the rest of us would emerge unscathed. Did we not learn in elementary school that crossing your fingers does nothing?!
After a couple of days of this we decided we needed to get out, so we decided to go out for supper in a nearby town. There wasn't much open as it was New Year's Day, but we ate at a local restaurant and headed for home. Thankfully we had not gone too far - we had barely walked in the door when Nathan's mom was running for the washroom. She probably had the worst case yet, with both versions.
I went to bed that night expecting the worst, and hadn't slept a wink when Jacob starting throwing up around 1:30am. He had never been sick in his almost 3 years and he absolutely freaked out. He was screaming and trying to knock away the bucket that I was trying to force under his head and yelling "I don't want to!" in between episodes. Even though we had put a sheet across most of the bedroom floor, he still managed to hit the rug. Deena got up and helped us clean up the room and we bathed Jacob and got him ready for bed. One hour later we were doing it again. Thankfully not as messy this time as Nathan and I tag teamed him and literally forced him to puke in the bucket. Poor guy. By almost 5:30 I had just about convinced myself that he wouldn't be throwing up anymore and was finally ready to get some sleep..... when Sophia walked in our room with her puke bucket and we started all over again. Yup, all kids, sick or not, were sleeping with pails by their beds by this point - good thing!
Sophia probably got it the worst of the kids - I think 9 times. By 7 o'clock I was absolutely exhausted - hadn't slept even a minute all night with a very unrestful sleep the night before. Nathan had been up most of the times as well, but he had been able to sleep in between. So, he took over and I slept from 7 to 10. We had originally been planning to leave today (Sunday), but had already decided the previous day that we would stay an extra day - hoping to go to Brooks, or at the minimum, finish getting over all this sickness.
After lunch we decided we'd all have naps before going tobogganing again. I woke up at 4 and knew my hypochondrianism had become reality. Started with minor diarrhea and I took Peptobismol and Immodium in a futile attempt to ward off the inevitable. By 7pm I was in the washroom experiencing my first ever time of both episodes simultaneously and it was horrid. (hey, I warned you not to read!) Nathan took Jacob to sleep in the living room so I could hopefully get some sleep at night. But he went to bed early cause he could feel it coming on. At midnight he forced himself and an hour later he had to again. After that he was fine. After my own 3 major episodes, it took me awhile to get to sleep as I was quite concerned with making it to the bathroom in time, even though it was directly across the hall. This was bad stuff people. But eventually I feel asleep and all was well.
Nathan's parents left bright and early Monday morning to drive straight home all day. Taylor was up a little early, so Shaun & Linsay left a bit before us. We planned to stop in Regina with them to spend the night at a hotel (with a waterpark!) before heading home Tuesday. They planned to stop and visit friends in Swift Current quickly before joining us later on. They also were expecting it to take a bit longer because they were hauling a work trailer behind their SUV that they had picked up from Shaun's mom's the day before.
We got a phone call as we were eating breakfast (well, Nathan & I weren't eating anything, but the kids were). Their trailer had come unhooked while driving on the highway, had passed them on the highway, crossed the road and landed on a fence! Thankfully no one was hurt and this happened in a town about 45 minutes away, where Chris & Deena go to church. This was the last town Shaun & Lin would pass where they would still know anyone that could help - not a coincidence I'd say! Turned out that the man that Chris called to help them rescue their trailer was the owner of the fence it had landed on! AND he had the equipment and know-how to able to fix the trailer and get them back on their way. Amazing!
Now that they were behind us, they decided not to stop in Swift and were going to head straight to Regina. We were about 45 minutes ahead of them, and getting close to Regina when we got a phone from them. They ran out of gas. Yes, I'm serious. They were going through gas twice as fast due to the trailer they were pulling. They had planned to stop in a small town a bit off the highway to gas up, but as they were passing the service signs there was no sign for gas. They didn't want to risk running out of gas off the highway and were only 19 km from the next major town and the gas light had not come on yet. Surely they would make it. Nope, they ran out of gas 5 km away! It was dark and about -30 outside. So Shaun started walking. After about 1 km a farmer stopped to pick him up and gave him a ride. The farmer said he was on his way to Regina for a hernia surgery. When Lin heard this later she laughed and said there's no way - he was an angel and that was the story the angel came up with . ;) The farmer brought Shaun back to the SUV and they were finally on their way again.
We had driven all the way to Swift Current before stopping for lunch at McDonald's at around 2, which was 3 our time. Yup, McDonald's was the first meal I had after being sick. We had to give the kids a break! Nathan and I both ordered grilled chicken burgers and managed just fine.
Because we ate so late, none of us were hungry when we got to the hotel around 6:30, so Nathan took all the kids swimming (he rocks!) as I just didn't feel well enough for that yet and thankfully they had life jackets, so he could manage all 4. The Regina Travelodge has a really great waterslide area, and we managed to get adjoining rooms with Shaun & Linsay so it worked great!
We let the kids swim till we got the call that Shaun & Lin would be there around 8. They wanted to stop at Canadian Tire to get some stuff for the trailer, so Nathan took Jacob and went with them and brought some pizza back at about 8:45. I watched the girls swim till 8:30 and brought up to quickly shower and get into pj's and be ready to eat when the guys got back.
Taylor had had nothing to eat since noon, so she was really hungry and really tired. Linsay couldn't find milk in the hotel, but a very kind waitress at the restaurant managed to scrounge up some 2% and gave it to her for free - Linsay kinda lost it for this random act of kindness that was so appreciated on this day of all days! The lady must've thought she was nuts crying over free milk ;) Taylor ate about one bite of pizza and decided she needed sleep more. Lin put her to bed in their room while we all ate. Then, while the guys went to pick up our nightsnack from Tim Horton's we got our girls ready for bed in our room, moved a sleeping Taylor's crib into our room and took Jacob with us to their room (he had had 2 naps that day in the car and was not ready to sleep!) to visit and watch tv. When were ready for bed, we brought Taylor back to their room and Jacob to our room and all went to sleep. Perfect set up!
The guys had picked up muffins at Tim's for breakfast the next day (Tuesday), we swam in the morning, had lunch at Chili's and then we were off for home. We booked it all the way, only stopping for a quick bathroom pit stop at a hotel along the highway for Olivia, and got home by 7. Home sweet home!
The kids did amazingly well on the drive.
Hopefully our family you know already - Nathan & Tammy, Emma (9), Sophia (7), Olivia (5) & Jacob (3)
Nathan is the oldest and his parents are Edmer & Betty.
His younger sister lives in Alberta - Deena & Chris, Colter (5), Baret (3) & Hayden (1)
His youngest sister lives in a town close to us - Linsay & Shaun, Taylor (2)
First, a little background. Deena & Chris met and married in Alberta (yes, at
Never say never right?!
Mom & Dad, Shaun & Linsay have gone out to visit them before, and we've always steadfastly maintained our position, despite the wailings and pleadings of our offspring. I'm not sure what made this year different, but we gradually began to consider it. We finally consented to going out this Christmas, with numerous dire warnings to our children that their behaviour during the drive would be the deciding factor on if there were ever to be a repeat of this trip.
Turns out, the kids did fanTASTic on the drive - WAY better than expected.
Turns out that wasn't the problem. But there were problems, oh yes, there were problems.
We planned to drive caravan style. Mom & Dad would drive with Shaun & Linsay and we would lead the pack. We would come "pick them up" bright and early at 5am on the Wednesday after Christmas and book it out West.
*Note - people who do not like to read about other people getting sick, consider yourself warned.
At 4:45am we got a phone call. Linsay had been throwing up all night and they weren't sure what they were going to do. After some discussion it was decided that Nathan's parents would take all their luggage out of Shaun & Lin's vehicle and pack up their own car and head out with us. Shaun & Linsay would follow when they could, hopefully leaving at noon.
So, off we went. Now, I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, especially when it comes to stomach ailments, so by the time we got to Brandon where we stopped for breakfast, I was not feeling so hot. Things appeared to be going in the wrong direction during two bathroom breaks at the restaurant (Tim Horton's of course!), but I convinced myself it was all in my head and we were going to keep going. Worse case scenario, we'd stop in Regina if we had to.
Thankfully, it was just my hypochondria combined with lack of sleep. I napped between Brandon and Regina and every time I woke up I felt a bit better. Whew - bullet dodged. For now.
We filled up gas in Regina, stopped for lunch (Tim's again!) in Moose Jaw and kept on chugging. We stopped in Medicine Hat to fill up again and let the kids run off some steam at the local McDonald's which thankfully had an awesome play place (pictured left). Another 2 short hours (that seemed rather long!) and we were there! We enjoyed a homemade pizza supper and found out that it had been a good thing Shaun & Linsay had not started out with us, because around noon Shaun got sick and Taylor, who had been sick two days previous, got a bit sick again. They were all doing somewhat better by the evening, so they decided they would go to bed real early and try to be on the road by 4am the next morning (Thursday) to get to Alberta in time for our scheduled Christmas dinner (wrenikje and farmer sausage - woohoo!).Did I mention they live in the middle of nowhere? This was the view out their front yard....
And who is this lovely couple?
Thankfully Shaun, Linsay & Taylor made it safe and sound (and not sick!) and we all had a wonderful Christmas dinner that Thursday, followed by the "program", gifts and we all vacationed happily ever after. Ok, not quite.
Mom & Dad slept in the guest room downstairs. Nathan and I slept in Colter & Baret's room (their bottom bunk is a double) with Jacob on the floor in our room. Shaun & Linsay slept in Hayden's room on a double mattress with Taylor in Hayden's crib. Hayden slept in a play pen in Chris & Deena's room. All the other kids were set up downstairs by the tv for a big cousin sleepover.
During the day Hayden had had some diarrhea, but we chalked it up to teething. Might have been wrong about that one. No sooner had we started getting the kids ready for bed that night then both Colter & Baret started throwing up (they had previously had one episode of "d" as well). Chris & Deena spent the next several hours playing Mexican Train with us, while taking breaks every 15 minutes or so to deal with one or two puking children whose beds had been moved up to the living room, while I stuck my fingers in my ears and tried to convince myself that everything would be fine.
Now, obviously Colter & Baret did not get this from Shaun & Linsay cause they had only been there for a couple hours. So, we had both the Manitoba and the Alberta germs going around full force - we never had a fighting chance.
About every 12 hrs or so, we went down like dominoes.
We had originally been planning to go to Brooks the next day (Friday) and swim at their amazing leisure center, but since it was an hour away, we decided it was too big of a risk. Good thing too because Emma started around noon - not as bad as the boys, only about 5 episodes. We kept all the healthy people playing outside as much as we could - very thankful for the awesome natural toboggan slide courtesy of Chris & Deena's amazing front yard (advantage of living way out in the boonies in hill country). Deena was not feeling fabulous and had diarrhea off and on all day, and yet still managed to be an amazing hostess - in fact, she was a fantastic hostess throughout this whole ordeal, can't imagine anyone doing a better job! I lost track of how many times she disinfected bathrooms (thankfully they had 3 of them!) that week.Just before bedtime Olivia threw up, and let's just say no one will feel like eating cherry ice cream again any time soon. This was the first time in about 3 years that she had thrown up, so I knew she'd have no idea what was coming. We put her and Emma to bed in the living room and were expecting to be interrupted from Mexican Train numerous times to help Olivia, like Deena & Chris had been the night before. But amazingly, Olivia only had the one incident!
I got very little sleep that night. Every cough or sound Jacob made I thought he was about to get started. Thankfully everything was fine during the night.
Saturday Shaun & Linsay left for the day and night to go visit Shaun's mom and we all stayed home and played outside and recovered from this quick acting bug. Since it had moved from person to person so quickly, and no one had gotten sick in quite a while, we were crossing our fingers and hoping the rest of us would emerge unscathed. Did we not learn in elementary school that crossing your fingers does nothing?!
After a couple of days of this we decided we needed to get out, so we decided to go out for supper in a nearby town. There wasn't much open as it was New Year's Day, but we ate at a local restaurant and headed for home. Thankfully we had not gone too far - we had barely walked in the door when Nathan's mom was running for the washroom. She probably had the worst case yet, with both versions.
I went to bed that night expecting the worst, and hadn't slept a wink when Jacob starting throwing up around 1:30am. He had never been sick in his almost 3 years and he absolutely freaked out. He was screaming and trying to knock away the bucket that I was trying to force under his head and yelling "I don't want to!" in between episodes. Even though we had put a sheet across most of the bedroom floor, he still managed to hit the rug. Deena got up and helped us clean up the room and we bathed Jacob and got him ready for bed. One hour later we were doing it again. Thankfully not as messy this time as Nathan and I tag teamed him and literally forced him to puke in the bucket. Poor guy. By almost 5:30 I had just about convinced myself that he wouldn't be throwing up anymore and was finally ready to get some sleep..... when Sophia walked in our room with her puke bucket and we started all over again. Yup, all kids, sick or not, were sleeping with pails by their beds by this point - good thing!
Sophia probably got it the worst of the kids - I think 9 times. By 7 o'clock I was absolutely exhausted - hadn't slept even a minute all night with a very unrestful sleep the night before. Nathan had been up most of the times as well, but he had been able to sleep in between. So, he took over and I slept from 7 to 10. We had originally been planning to leave today (Sunday), but had already decided the previous day that we would stay an extra day - hoping to go to Brooks, or at the minimum, finish getting over all this sickness.
After lunch we decided we'd all have naps before going tobogganing again. I woke up at 4 and knew my hypochondrianism had become reality. Started with minor diarrhea and I took Peptobismol and Immodium in a futile attempt to ward off the inevitable. By 7pm I was in the washroom experiencing my first ever time of both episodes simultaneously and it was horrid. (hey, I warned you not to read!) Nathan took Jacob to sleep in the living room so I could hopefully get some sleep at night. But he went to bed early cause he could feel it coming on. At midnight he forced himself and an hour later he had to again. After that he was fine. After my own 3 major episodes, it took me awhile to get to sleep as I was quite concerned with making it to the bathroom in time, even though it was directly across the hall. This was bad stuff people. But eventually I feel asleep and all was well.
Nathan's parents left bright and early Monday morning to drive straight home all day. Taylor was up a little early, so Shaun & Linsay left a bit before us. We planned to stop in Regina with them to spend the night at a hotel (with a waterpark!) before heading home Tuesday. They planned to stop and visit friends in Swift Current quickly before joining us later on. They also were expecting it to take a bit longer because they were hauling a work trailer behind their SUV that they had picked up from Shaun's mom's the day before.
We got a phone call as we were eating breakfast (well, Nathan & I weren't eating anything, but the kids were). Their trailer had come unhooked while driving on the highway, had passed them on the highway, crossed the road and landed on a fence! Thankfully no one was hurt and this happened in a town about 45 minutes away, where Chris & Deena go to church. This was the last town Shaun & Lin would pass where they would still know anyone that could help - not a coincidence I'd say! Turned out that the man that Chris called to help them rescue their trailer was the owner of the fence it had landed on! AND he had the equipment and know-how to able to fix the trailer and get them back on their way. Amazing!
Now that they were behind us, they decided not to stop in Swift and were going to head straight to Regina. We were about 45 minutes ahead of them, and getting close to Regina when we got a phone from them. They ran out of gas. Yes, I'm serious. They were going through gas twice as fast due to the trailer they were pulling. They had planned to stop in a small town a bit off the highway to gas up, but as they were passing the service signs there was no sign for gas. They didn't want to risk running out of gas off the highway and were only 19 km from the next major town and the gas light had not come on yet. Surely they would make it. Nope, they ran out of gas 5 km away! It was dark and about -30 outside. So Shaun started walking. After about 1 km a farmer stopped to pick him up and gave him a ride. The farmer said he was on his way to Regina for a hernia surgery. When Lin heard this later she laughed and said there's no way - he was an angel and that was the story the angel came up with . ;) The farmer brought Shaun back to the SUV and they were finally on their way again.
We had driven all the way to Swift Current before stopping for lunch at McDonald's at around 2, which was 3 our time. Yup, McDonald's was the first meal I had after being sick. We had to give the kids a break! Nathan and I both ordered grilled chicken burgers and managed just fine.
Because we ate so late, none of us were hungry when we got to the hotel around 6:30, so Nathan took all the kids swimming (he rocks!) as I just didn't feel well enough for that yet and thankfully they had life jackets, so he could manage all 4. The Regina Travelodge has a really great waterslide area, and we managed to get adjoining rooms with Shaun & Linsay so it worked great!
We let the kids swim till we got the call that Shaun & Lin would be there around 8. They wanted to stop at Canadian Tire to get some stuff for the trailer, so Nathan took Jacob and went with them and brought some pizza back at about 8:45. I watched the girls swim till 8:30 and brought up to quickly shower and get into pj's and be ready to eat when the guys got back.Taylor had had nothing to eat since noon, so she was really hungry and really tired. Linsay couldn't find milk in the hotel, but a very kind waitress at the restaurant managed to scrounge up some 2% and gave it to her for free - Linsay kinda lost it for this random act of kindness that was so appreciated on this day of all days! The lady must've thought she was nuts crying over free milk ;) Taylor ate about one bite of pizza and decided she needed sleep more. Lin put her to bed in their room while we all ate. Then, while the guys went to pick up our nightsnack from Tim Horton's we got our girls ready for bed in our room, moved a sleeping Taylor's crib into our room and took Jacob with us to their room (he had had 2 naps that day in the car and was not ready to sleep!) to visit and watch tv. When were ready for bed, we brought Taylor back to their room and Jacob to our room and all went to sleep. Perfect set up!
The guys had picked up muffins at Tim's for breakfast the next day (Tuesday), we swam in the morning, had lunch at Chili's and then we were off for home. We booked it all the way, only stopping for a quick bathroom pit stop at a hotel along the highway for Olivia, and got home by 7. Home sweet home!
The kids did amazingly well on the drive.
And, even though THIS was our Christmas reality, 
despite 14 out of 16 people getting sick,
we still managed to have a fabulous time!
See the guy in the back? That's Shaun and he's hiding a puzzle piece on us (anyone who knows Shaun knows this is very typical!) - and all caught on camera! ;)
It'll be trip to be remembered, that's for sure.
despite 14 out of 16 people getting sick,
we still managed to have a fabulous time!
See the guy in the back? That's Shaun and he's hiding a puzzle piece on us (anyone who knows Shaun knows this is very typical!) - and all caught on camera! ;)
It'll be trip to be remembered, that's for sure.
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Christmas Birth Story
What was the birth of Jesus like? Probably a lot like the birth of every other baby on the planet - messy, violent and with lots of blood everywhere. Definitely not the sanitized vision we have in our heads as we sing Silent Night.
Missy, from It's Almost Naptime, wrote a beautiful post describing the birth of our Saviour. Here is an excerpt from her post....
We have this image in our mind of what that first Christmas was like. Yours is perhaps similar to mine: under a great big twinkling star sits a stable. Silent Night tinkles in the background as snow softly falls. Inside are two or three calm, fragrant, and softly lowing animals. Mary, dressed in blue, reclines peacefully, smiling as though she had just received the most divine epidural. She grimaces slightly, and then, voila, a beautiful clean baby appears with a halo floating above his soft curls. Mary wraps Jesus in swaddling clothes, taking care not to muss the halo, and lies him in a manger.
This is the image that we receive from the snowglobes we're given in Sunday School. But we're grown up now, aren't we?
As a result of the sinful, violent world that we live in, because of the curse upon us since the beginning of time, there is pain - violence - in childbirth. Even the easiest childbirth is never easy, never without suffering. Mary fell under that curse as surely as I do. So I believe it is safe to assume that on the night that Jesus was born into this cursed world, she suffered.
The bible doesn't give many details about Jesus's actual delivery. I think the lack of details lends credence to the theory that Mary's labor and birth was ordinary for its time. Unremarkable in its similarity to every other woman's birth, then and even now. Drawing on my own four births, the births of my friends, and some ancient history, I can imagine our Savior's first birthday.
There was a young, frightened girl in a dirty, stinky cave in an overcrowded, noisy town, trying not to think of her friends and relatives who had died in childbirth. She was probably surrounded by women who had also made the trek to Bethlehem, some of whom she knew, some she might not have. Some who loved her, some who judged her and the suspicious circumstances of her pregnancy. Most who traded their own birth stories as her labor progressed and offered their advice. All of whom were witnessing her at her most vulnerable. But as her contractions came closer and closer together, the only thing Mary knew was that she had never experienced pain like this in all her life.
There was no whirlpool bath. There was no birthing ball. There was probably not even a birthing stool. There was probably a woman, perhaps even her mother, seated behind her to hold her still, rub her back, press on the top of her abdomen, and say repeatedly in her ear, "Miriam, you're doing great, good job, good girl, you're doing great."
There was no background music of a children's choir singing Away in a Manger. Instead there were probably grunts, and tears, and desperate prayers, and terrified cries of "Get him out! Please get him out!" and "I can't do this!" while the women soothed, firmly, "Yes you can, sweetheart, you can. Push!"
And then there were a few minutes when Mary thought her body was on fire, and she closed her eyes, and she panted, and she moaned, perhaps she screamed, and then he was out. And the women said, "He's here! He's beautiful! Look at him, Miriam, look at your son!" And he cried. And Mary opened her eyes, and she cried, and tried to move her exhausted body to see her baby. He was red, he was wrinkly, he was screaming, he was covered in vernix, but he was alive, and, at least to his mother, he was beautiful.
And there was blood everywhere.
He came into this world in violence.
He lived a violent life. As an infant, he screamed from gas pains. As a toddler he was covered in bruises from learning to walk. He skinned his knees. He caught viruses. He experienced the pain of losing his earthly father. His brothers scoffed at him. He wept when his friend died too young. His best friend rejected him when he needed him most. He suffered, both physically and emotionally. He empathized with others on a level we will never know. He knew the pain of being a human. He knew what it was like to be us, to be well acquainted with sorrow and sin and curses.
And he died a most violent death. He was arrested, accused of a crime he did not commit. He was flogged with a whip until his body was unrecognizable from the cuts and the bruises and the swelling. His beard was probably ripped out. He was stripped naked, and then his body was tied to a cross. A crown of thorns was pressed into his already mutilated head. Nails were pounded into the flesh of his wrists and his ankles and he was raised up. And as he slowly suffocated to death, he watched the anguish and horror on the face of the woman who had bore him, all those years ago, in that stable in Bethlehem.
And there was blood everywhere.
And because his Father deemed his tortured, bleeding body to be a worthy sacrifice, you and I have access to the throne of Heaven. For by that very blood, we have been washed clean of the curse of death. By that blood we are made righteous, by that blood we are justified, by that blood we are redeemed. By that blood, the blood that was everywhere, we are each reborn a child not of the curse, but a child of the living, loving God!
O, holy night!
Here is a beautiful song portraying the same idea.....
Missy, from It's Almost Naptime, wrote a beautiful post describing the birth of our Saviour. Here is an excerpt from her post....
We have this image in our mind of what that first Christmas was like. Yours is perhaps similar to mine: under a great big twinkling star sits a stable. Silent Night tinkles in the background as snow softly falls. Inside are two or three calm, fragrant, and softly lowing animals. Mary, dressed in blue, reclines peacefully, smiling as though she had just received the most divine epidural. She grimaces slightly, and then, voila, a beautiful clean baby appears with a halo floating above his soft curls. Mary wraps Jesus in swaddling clothes, taking care not to muss the halo, and lies him in a manger.
This is the image that we receive from the snowglobes we're given in Sunday School. But we're grown up now, aren't we?
As a result of the sinful, violent world that we live in, because of the curse upon us since the beginning of time, there is pain - violence - in childbirth. Even the easiest childbirth is never easy, never without suffering. Mary fell under that curse as surely as I do. So I believe it is safe to assume that on the night that Jesus was born into this cursed world, she suffered.
The bible doesn't give many details about Jesus's actual delivery. I think the lack of details lends credence to the theory that Mary's labor and birth was ordinary for its time. Unremarkable in its similarity to every other woman's birth, then and even now. Drawing on my own four births, the births of my friends, and some ancient history, I can imagine our Savior's first birthday.
There was a young, frightened girl in a dirty, stinky cave in an overcrowded, noisy town, trying not to think of her friends and relatives who had died in childbirth. She was probably surrounded by women who had also made the trek to Bethlehem, some of whom she knew, some she might not have. Some who loved her, some who judged her and the suspicious circumstances of her pregnancy. Most who traded their own birth stories as her labor progressed and offered their advice. All of whom were witnessing her at her most vulnerable. But as her contractions came closer and closer together, the only thing Mary knew was that she had never experienced pain like this in all her life.
There was no whirlpool bath. There was no birthing ball. There was probably not even a birthing stool. There was probably a woman, perhaps even her mother, seated behind her to hold her still, rub her back, press on the top of her abdomen, and say repeatedly in her ear, "Miriam, you're doing great, good job, good girl, you're doing great."
There was no background music of a children's choir singing Away in a Manger. Instead there were probably grunts, and tears, and desperate prayers, and terrified cries of "Get him out! Please get him out!" and "I can't do this!" while the women soothed, firmly, "Yes you can, sweetheart, you can. Push!"
And then there were a few minutes when Mary thought her body was on fire, and she closed her eyes, and she panted, and she moaned, perhaps she screamed, and then he was out. And the women said, "He's here! He's beautiful! Look at him, Miriam, look at your son!" And he cried. And Mary opened her eyes, and she cried, and tried to move her exhausted body to see her baby. He was red, he was wrinkly, he was screaming, he was covered in vernix, but he was alive, and, at least to his mother, he was beautiful.
And there was blood everywhere.
He came into this world in violence.
He lived a violent life. As an infant, he screamed from gas pains. As a toddler he was covered in bruises from learning to walk. He skinned his knees. He caught viruses. He experienced the pain of losing his earthly father. His brothers scoffed at him. He wept when his friend died too young. His best friend rejected him when he needed him most. He suffered, both physically and emotionally. He empathized with others on a level we will never know. He knew the pain of being a human. He knew what it was like to be us, to be well acquainted with sorrow and sin and curses.
And he died a most violent death. He was arrested, accused of a crime he did not commit. He was flogged with a whip until his body was unrecognizable from the cuts and the bruises and the swelling. His beard was probably ripped out. He was stripped naked, and then his body was tied to a cross. A crown of thorns was pressed into his already mutilated head. Nails were pounded into the flesh of his wrists and his ankles and he was raised up. And as he slowly suffocated to death, he watched the anguish and horror on the face of the woman who had bore him, all those years ago, in that stable in Bethlehem.
And there was blood everywhere.
And because his Father deemed his tortured, bleeding body to be a worthy sacrifice, you and I have access to the throne of Heaven. For by that very blood, we have been washed clean of the curse of death. By that blood we are made righteous, by that blood we are justified, by that blood we are redeemed. By that blood, the blood that was everywhere, we are each reborn a child not of the curse, but a child of the living, loving God!
O, holy night!
Here is a beautiful song portraying the same idea.....
Labor of Love by Andrew Peterson
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night
So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night
So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Christmas isn't...
At Christmastime we celebrate by decorating the tree, putting up lights and giving gifts to those we love. But Christmas isn't just about being with our loved ones, enjoying the snow or singing Christmas carols.
As a Christian, I celebrate Christmas because it's the day we've set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But Christmas isn't just about the manger, the angels, the shepherds, the wise men or the star either.
Christmas is about the reason Jesus was born. It's about the reason He left the glory of heaven and exchanged it for 33 years on a planet full of people who had and still do reject Him. It's the reason He endured an agonizing death on the cross to pay the price that was mine to pay. What was the reason? You. Me. Love for you and me. He was the Rescuer sent by God to pay the penalty for my sin. He took on the full wrath of God in my place. In your place. Because He loves you that much! Someone needed to make a way back to God, and He was the only One who could do it. I can't do it, you can't do it. Only He can.
And so He came - born to die. But the story, thankfully, did not end there. Death did not defeat Him. God raised Him from the dead. And in the end, death will not defeat us either.
So celebrate Christmas - with one eye on the manger and the other on the cross and the empty grave! And remember the reason was love.
Note: If you're reading this and you're not a Christian, and you're wondering if you need this Rescuer, please click here to take a very simple test that will let you know (bet you didn't know such a quiz existed!). Of course, you may also feel free to ask me if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them for you.
As a Christian, I celebrate Christmas because it's the day we've set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But Christmas isn't just about the manger, the angels, the shepherds, the wise men or the star either.
Christmas is about the reason Jesus was born. It's about the reason He left the glory of heaven and exchanged it for 33 years on a planet full of people who had and still do reject Him. It's the reason He endured an agonizing death on the cross to pay the price that was mine to pay. What was the reason? You. Me. Love for you and me. He was the Rescuer sent by God to pay the penalty for my sin. He took on the full wrath of God in my place. In your place. Because He loves you that much! Someone needed to make a way back to God, and He was the only One who could do it. I can't do it, you can't do it. Only He can.
And so He came - born to die. But the story, thankfully, did not end there. Death did not defeat Him. God raised Him from the dead. And in the end, death will not defeat us either.
So celebrate Christmas - with one eye on the manger and the other on the cross and the empty grave! And remember the reason was love.
Note: If you're reading this and you're not a Christian, and you're wondering if you need this Rescuer, please click here to take a very simple test that will let you know (bet you didn't know such a quiz existed!). Of course, you may also feel free to ask me if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them for you.
About The Cross by Go Fish
Verse 1:
It’s not just about the manger
Where the baby lay
It’s not all about the angels
Who sang for him that day
It’s not just about the shepherds
Or the bright and shining star
It’s not all about the wisemen
Who travelled from afar
Chorus:
It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It’s about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It’s about the cross
It’s about the cross
Verse 2:
It’s not just about the presents
Underneath the tree
It’s not all about the feeling
That the season brings to me
It’s not just about coming home
To be with those you love
It’s not all about the beauty
In the snow I’m dreaming of
Chorus:
It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It’s about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
It’s about the cross
It’s about the cross
Bridge:
The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it’s the ending that can save you and that’s why we celebrate
It’s about the cross
It’s about my sin
It’s about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again
It’s about God’s love
Nailed to a tree
It’s about every drop of blood that flowed from Him
when it should have been me
It’s about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
So that you and I could have real life someday
It’s about the cross
It’s about the cross
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Our Jesse Tree
So, true to my previous post just a couple of days ago, I have our Jesse Tree supplies set up and ready to go! I printed out Ann Voskamp's free devotional booklet (complete with ornament pictures!) at her blog, A Holy Experience. I printed the ornaments on white card stock, then I measured them all and created a Word document with backgrounds sized to match each ornament (I can email it to you if you like), printed that on green card stock and mounted the pictures onto the green backgrounds with double sided tape with red ribbon in between.
And I even let Sophia & Olivia help me! Anyone who knows me knows that I generally have
Emma was not impressed when she got home from school and found out we had done it without her, so I let her put on extra ornaments. ;)I'm finding the devotionals a little bit of a stretch for our kids, so I got out our Jesus Storybook Bible and The Big Picture Story Bible to supplement the material.
Side note: if you do not yet have the Jesus Storybook Bible, go get it right now.
I will wait for you.
Got it? OK, good.
But seriously, you really need to get it. It's the best children's Bible I've read, and we have more than several! You can read my review on it here. My only complaint is that I wish it had more stories. The girls are particularly disappointed that the Queen Esther story is not included.
Both the Jesus Storybook Bible and the Big Picture Storybook Bible (the former even more than the latter) excel at showing you how the OT events point to the coming of our Messiah. Which is exactly what the Jesse Tree is all about!
So, I went through both Bibles and wrote in the page #'s that coincided with the Jesse Tree devotionals. There were very few days that did not have at least one supplementary children's Bible passage to go with it. So, depending on how much time we have, we will read the same passage up to 3 times! Talk about getting it to sink in - repetition is key, right? ;)
Like I said in my previous post, we are starting late, so we will usually be doing two per day until we catch up. I'm so glad we started late. It's not too late for you to start too! In fact, if you start on the 12th, you could do 2 per day (one in the morning, one at night) and still get them all in for Christmas time!
This is definitely going to be a yearly tradition at our house from now on!
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