Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:10-11
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

As the house is extra quiet this morning (we do the kids' gifts on Christmas Eve so they aren't up yet), I've had a chance to have my devotional time by the Christmas tree with a great cup of coffee. My devotional this morning was Psalm 30, which has the wonderful verses about weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. When I pondered on these verses and what they mean to me in my life, I couldn't help but think about all the people I know (and those I have never met) who do not know the true JOY of Christmas. I'm not talking about getting gifts or even spending time with family and friends, both of which I truly enjoy. I'm talking about Jesus, sent to earth as a baby so that as a man he would die because of and as a sacrifice for MY sins.

I cannot imagine walking through life without having a personal relationship with Christ. That relationship is what gets me through everyday...good or bad. With Christ, I know that I may have times of weeping, but joy WILL come. He may bring it quickly or it may be postponed until He returns. Either way, joy will come in the morning!

Now the question is, what am I going to do with it? If you are blessed with a personal relationship with Christ, what are you doing with it? Will we keep this precious gift to ourselves or will we share it this Christmas and in the year to come?

Merry Christmas!
Cindy

Family, friends, and cookies

Last year, we started a tradition with dear friends...Beth and Callie (Tim and Nolan come along, too)...of getting together to make and decorate Christmas cookies. We have bunches of fun and make a big mess! Between the dough, icing, and sprinkles...LOTS of sprinkles...the evening is full of cooking and creating fun!





Brooke created this cookie just for me--a sugar cookie mommy!


Then, last night Brooke decided it was time to make gingerbread cookies. She wanted the whole family to participate; however, the boys just kind of came and went throughout the evening. Usually, they 'came' by the table to sample the cookies or icing. Now and then, they would help. For most of the evening, it was Brooke, Doug, and me cutting out various sized gingerbread people and then decorating them. We had a fabulous evening. Once again, the mess was a sure thing! Something about Brooke and flour means there is going to be a mess...usually on someone else.



If we don't get a chance to post before Christmas, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

We've Only Just Begun...

Here we go! We've decided to try the whole blog thing as a way for us to keep family and friends posted on the ever crazy world of our family and as a way for Brooke and I to continue to build our relationship. As she is moving toward a new phase in her life--graduation is now just 6 months away--we are finding that we are closer than ever.

I must say that this has been such a blessing that God has poured into our lives. I've always known my 'job' is to be her mother, not her best friend. Sometimes that is hard medicine to swallow, especially when we have only 1 girl. However, over time I feel like she and I have both come to a deep respect for the roles God has placed us in and we are loving every minute of the time we get to spend together.

We're not sure exactly how this blog will work for us. Sometimes you will hear from me and sometimes from Brooke. There will probably be times we'll collaborate. We're simply looking forward to what God has for our family and want to share glimpses of that with you. We hope you enjoy the journey!