Advent Reading Day 21

Scripture reading: Luke 1:5-17, Matthew 3:1-6 -- John the Baptizer

Symbol: A scallop shell, a traditional symbol for baptism

Around the Town and Advent Reading Day 20

We are quite blessed to live in an area where there are LOTS of fun, Christmas-y things to do and see. Last night we took advantage of the super nice weather (temps were in the 60s-70s) and went to our favorite locale nearby. It is really quite breathtaking and the pics do not do it justice. If you are not in the Christmas spirit when you show up, you surely are when you leave. It is so fun to see all of the people and families enjoying the sights and sounds of Christmas. And I think we even got the picture for our belated Christmas card so I won't post that one here! :)

And you know you're kids are getting older when you ask them to take a picture of you!

Here's Burrito's picture.

And here's Noodles's picture.

Not too bad!

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It was also the day for Burrito's Christmas party at school, which Noodle and I attended.

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And last but certainly not least, Advent Day 20!

Scripture reading: Malachi 3:1-5, 4:1-6 -- The Sun of Righteousness

Symbol: The sun of righteousness that will rise with healing in its wings.

Advent Reading Day 19

Scripture reading: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 -- Waiting on the Lord

Symbol: A watchtower

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The book of Habakkuk has some sentimental value to me. I heard John Piper preach on this and loved it so much John and I had this Scripture meditation in our wedding.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.

Advent Reading Day 18

Scripture reading: Jonah 1:1-4:11 -- The Story of Jonah

Symbol: A great fish, though the story is more about God's calling a prophet who tries to run away from his task

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We love the Veggie Tales version of this story. As a baby, Noodle would rock to the music and Burrito would say, "Jooooooonahhhhhh!" as if he were God calling Jonah by name. It was so funny!

Advent Reading Day 17

Scripture reading: 2 Chronicles 36:11-21 and Jeremiah 30:23-31:14 -- The Babylonian Exile

Symbol: Stalks of grain, representing the promised abundance

Advent Reading Day 16 and Lately

Scripture reading: Isaiah 8:11- 9:7 -- A Wise and Just King

Symbol: A crown for a king of justice and peace

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Well, as I mentioned in my last post, it has been a crazy and unusual time for us. Well, unusual in the sense that John has been absent more often lately due to the end of the semester of grad school. Only one more semester, woo hoo!!! So, while the boys and I have been home A LOT lately, John has been gone A LOT lately, which is the unusual part. And with John being gone, family time has looked a little different lately and we just haven't had much time for our typical seasonal sorts of activities, like going all out in decorating for Christmas or making the trek over to the Galleria for our annual Christmas card picture. Yep, that's right, the Christmas card is being sacrificed this season! It's our burnt offering (ha, ha, just kidding, it just seems appropriate to call it that with all of our Advent reading lately)! I've thought about doing a Happy New Year's Card instead, and I still might, it's just not tradition, and if you know me, I LOVE tradition! Or with all my handwriting work lately, I don't know if I have it in me to address and stuff and stamp Christmas cards this year.

Have I mentioned my handwriting job before???? It really is a HUGE blessing, one that came straight from God, of course! John noticed an ad back in July in this parent magazine advertising a job opportunity for stay at home moms or retirees who have good handwriting and can pick up and drop off material in our town. Totally perfect for me. And even better, it is hand addressing mail-outs for non profits and charities! So I have been, in a sense, working for such organizations as Feed the Children and The Navigators. Up until 3 weeks ago, it is basically a once a month type of job. However, in the past 3 weeks, I have done 1750 mailouts....that includes writing a personal message, stuffing envelopes and stamping them. Needless to say, the money this time of year is great but all of my personal time (i.e. naptime and bedtime) is COMPLETELY consumed with this job. This week is the last of it until January. Bummer for the checking account but good for my personal time! And we ALL need a little personal time after the past few weeks!

So all that to say, we've been busy BUT we have accomplished what we wanted for this Advent season.....we have not taken part in the hustle and bustle of shopping and parties and it has been SO GREAT! The boys have really enjoyed the Advent readings and the stories and we are talking a lot about the meaning of Christmas and how much more important it is to give than to receive. Yeah, that last part, I am not sure if they are convinced of that yet, but darn it, I'm doing my best to convince them! We had an opportunity to give to a family at our church who's mom has been imprisoned and the grandmother is now taking care of two small children. We cleaned out our closets and made a trip to WalMart for undies and socks. The boys even met one of the kids at church on Sunday and I am hoping that putting a face with the act of giving made an even better impression. Even in doing this, I was reminded of my sin and selfishness.

This is such a great time to reflect on the gift we were given in Jesus.

Advent Reading Day 15

Scripture reading: Isaiah 6:1-13 -- Isaiah in the Temple

Symbol: The tongs and burning coal by which Isaiah's mouth was cleansed in his vision.

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My sweet hubby is in the throes of finals, at the school where he teaches and also his own finals in grad school. Poor thing, I haven't seen him or this laptop much over the last few days, which explains why these blogs are short and to the point. Pray for John! :)