For the first time in many years I think I'm enjoying the Christmas season instead of being stressed by it! We decided to simplify Christmas by planning on three gifts per kid: something they need, something they want and something we want for them. We shopped mostly online in advance (yeah for Amazon!!) and it has given us more time to do creative projects this month for others. We also have enjoyed a new Advent devotional called "Christmas Stories for Bedtime" by Renae Brumbaugh..it's for ages 5-8 and perfect for our little ones. We've also enjoyed "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" at dinnertime for our older group.
We have had a difficult Fall filled with God's strength for our family. Rick has been able to attend counseling training for several weekends which encouraged him as a pastor. Our Korean student Chloe went to live with a different family and we continue to have a good relationship with her (she lives across the street and we had her for dinner this week!)
The most amazing recent event is the sale of our house in Columbus! Our situation with our renters quickly deteriorated in late October and we made the difficult decision to ask them to leave. Within 24 hours of listing our home for sale, we had a showing and 24 hours later we had a buyer! This is after 2 1/2 years of attempting to sell it with no success. We still stand in awe of God and HIS TIMING which is perfect. It remains a good lesson to us to wait on the Lord and trust Him in all things. We just finished closing on the house this week and we thank God for this amazing gift and the ability now to focus more fully on the ministry we have here.
We look forward to Rick's parents and sister coming for Christmas and are praying for good health for our little ones so that we might be able to have a few guests come for dinner over this holiday season. We are focusing on serving others and reflecting on God's amazing abundance in our lives in this season of our lives. For us this Christmas is an extended Thanksgiving...remembering where we have been and what He has done to bring us to this place of abundance in so many areas. We stand in awe.
Can you give the author and full title of "Come Thou", please? I'm always on the look-out for Advent books. I just ordered the bedtime one from paperbackswap. :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe book is "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" compiled by Nancy Gunthrie. Here: http://www.amazon.com/Come-Thou-Long-Expected-Jesus-Experiencing/dp/1433501805/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324180343&sr=1-1
ReplyDeleteHope that helps!