We are Family

I have been struck recently with what a blessing it is to be part of a loving family. Christmas is usually a time when we think of getting together to celebrate and enjoy each other. Andy and I were together by ourselves on Christmas Day. It was quiet and peaceful. We puttered around the house and just relaxed - which is rare for us.

Then on Saturday, the day after, we drove up to my brother's in Berks County where all my brothers and sisters and their kids and my mother spent the day together. All our daughters and their husbands and children were there. I believe the total was 28 adults and 18 children. We ate in my brother's basement and there was lots of room down there to play, too.

Game time

Great Niece Madi

Sister Judy and granddaughter Joanna

Mother and granddaughter Kira

But I've been thinking the last couple of days that there are many people who do not have the privilege of being in a warm loving family. I know of one such person and my heart goes out to her in her loneliness and pain. She has no family and doesn't even know where her parents are or if they're even still alive. How sad. I can't help tearing up whenever I think of her.

In our pastor's message this morning, he mentioned that loneliness is really homesickness for God. Wow! What an interesting concept. He said, "human relationships are important, but of far more importance is our instinct to be home with God." You can listen to his whole message here.

Then on my way home from church I heard Steven Curtis Chapman singing a song on the radio ~ All I Really Want for Christmas.

Well, I don't know if you remember me or not
I'm one of the kids they brought in from the home
I was the red-haired boy in an old, green flannel shirt
You may not have seen me, I was standing off alone

I didn't come and talk to you 'cause that's never worked before
And you'll probably never see this letter, anyway
But just in case there's something you can do to help me out
I'll ask you one more time

All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family

Well, I guess I should go ahead and tell you now
If it's really true about that list you have
Somehow I always seem to end up in a fight
But I'm really trying hard not to be bad

But maybe if I had a brother or a dad to wrestle with
Maybe they could teach me how to get along
And from everything I've heard, it sounds like the greatest gift on earth
Would be a mom

All I want for Christmas is someone who'll be here
To sing me happy birthday for the next 100 years
And It's okay if they're not perfect or even if they're a little broken
That's alright, 'Cause so am I

Well, I guess I should go, it's almost time for bed
Maybe next time I write you I'll be at home

'Cause all I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
Tell me I'll never be alone, someone whose love will never end
Of all that I could ask for, well, there's just one thing I need
All I really want for Christmas is a family.

So thank you, dear God, for my mother and dad who love You and us, my brothers and sisters, my dear husband, my sweet daughters and their loving husbands and all those precious grandchildren. My life is rich and full with earthly blessings. But most of all, I thank You, dear Lord, for Yourself and that because of Jesus' coming to earth, I can know You, the richest of all relationships. Because only YOU can truly satisfy.

It's not officially winter till tomorrow!

It's still autumn, but did we ever get the snow storm. Dear God, haven't you heard of global warming?! Andy was telling me of a headline he read on the Drudge Report about some of the members who attended the UN Summit on Global Warming. They needed to leave early in order to get home before the big storm hit. Pretty funny. I was reminded of Psalm 2:4 ~ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.

I enjoy snow days. It's a wonderful break from the routine of life. I get to stay home in a nice warm house, just puttering around - doing a few odd jobs, reading a good book with a cup of tea, baking treats to warm up the kitchen and make the house smell good, etc. On the other hand, I feel really bad for Andy who has to go out in that cold and wet and shovel our huge driveway. This was a very wet snow so it was difficult work. He labored all morning, took a couple hours' break in the afternoon, then went back out again until dinner time.We had an adventure after dinner. The two of us decided to venture out and go over to the church to change the message on the answering system. It was decided to cancel church services this morning, so we needed to let people know in case they called to check. The roads were somewhat plowed, but the church parking lot had not been touched. We made it into the lot, but then got hung up because the snow was deeper than the chassis of the car. So then Andy had to shovel a path for the car to drive on to get out of the parking lot and back to the street. What normally would have taken 5 minutes, took us 1 hour. We really weren't prepared to get into all that so Andy hadn't brought a shovel or even a pair of gloves. We just hopped into the car and drove on over to the church. Ha. So when we got stuck, he had to wade through all that snow into the church building to get a shovel. He started shoveling, then had to push the car while I steered. We got it out several feet before it got stuck again. So he finally just shoveled all the way to the street. Fortunately, I had a pair of gloves in my coat pockets that I loaned him. Also, fortunately, there was a full tank of gas in the car, and he could come in out of the cold and wet to warm up once in a while. We were hoping we wouldn't have to stay at the church overnight until someone came in the morning to dig us out. We did make it out - glad to come home to a warm cozy house.

This morning, Andy is again over at the church, supervising the plowing of the parking lots and shoveling of all the sidewalks. He left at 6:00 am and I haven't heard from him since (4 hours later).

I did a little shoveling myself this morning, just enough to get to the bird feeders and get a few pictures.

Picnic anyone?

17 inches

snow on the solar panels!

The other day I was compelled to do something about all the food I have in my cupboards and freezer. Some of it has been there a long time and I need to use it up. One of the things I've had in my freezer is wheat germ. I must have bought it to make a special recipe, but then forgot I had it. So I went online to see if I could find how to use it up to free up some freezer space. I went to allrecipes.com and found a muffin recipe. It turned out pretty good. I'm really not crazy about crunchy stuff in muffins, but Andy really liked them. And at least wheat germ isn't as crunchy as nuts! The recipe called for 1/3 cup of wheat germ, so I will probably be making them again because I still have some left.

So for anyone who is interested:

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have any, so I just used milk)
1/4 cup any flavor fruit jam

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper muffin liners.
2. Stir together flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together butter, egg and buttermilk. Stir milk mixture into dry ingredients; mix just until combined. Fill prepared muffin cups half full with batter. Make a depression in the center of each muffin and drop in 1 teaspoon of jam. Cover jam with additional batter.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes.
It was also the perfect day to make a pot of spaghetti sauce. Mmmm. The house sure smelled good all day long.

Living Nativity, continued

At the age of 30, Jesus began His public ministry. He came to offer Himself to everyone…Jews and Gentiles, men and women, adults and children. One day, the people were bringing little children to Jesus. His disciples attempted to send the children away from Him. But Jesus did not allow this to happen. He said to them: “LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME TO ME, AND DO NOT HINDER THEM. FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE.” And He took the children in His arms and blessed them. He told the people that unless someone comes to Him with the faith and dependence of a small child, he cannot enter His kingdom.One night a great storm engulfed the small boat Jesus and His disciples sailed in. He arose and rebuked the wind and sea was calm. Everywhere He went the miracles He performed provided undeniable evidence that He was indeed the Son of God. He made the lame walk and the blind see. He healed lepers and raised the dead.

No where was Jesus’ power more displayed than at the graveside of His friend, Lazarus. Word had been sent to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. When Jesus finally arrived at the grave, Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days. After the stone was moved from the opening, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” The dead man came out at the command of Jesus. Even the power of life and death rested in the hands of the Son of God.

Jesus, the Son of God was sent to earth to fulfill the promise God had made to Adam and Eve, and to all mankind. He came as the promised Savior. By His death on the cross He received the punishment for man’s sin. His was a death of substitution. Jesus had left heaven and come to earth with the purpose of giving up His life for others so they might be forgiven and have a personal relationship with God. The followers of Jesus took His body and put it in a tomb. For three days His body lay there. A large stone barred the entrance to the tomb and soldiers stood guard.Very early on the third day, there was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled back the massive stone. The guards were so afraid that they shook with fear and fainted.Some women who loved Jesus arrived at the tomb and found it empty. Jesus had risen from the dead. He was victorious over even death and offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent of their sins and put their trust in Him as Savior and Lord. He is alive!

Our story concludes tonight with the return of Jesus to heaven, 40 days after His resurrection from the dead. His work on earth was finished. He had come as the promised Savior, to die in the place of sinful people, the righteous for the unrighteous, receiving in Himself the punishment for our sins. He now returned to His father. An angel spoke to His followers at His departure: "WHY DO YOU STAND HERE LOOKING INTO THE SKY? THIS SAME JESUS, WHO HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM YOU INTO HEAVEN, WILL COME BACK IN THE SAME WAY YOU HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN.”So a new story was promised. The story of Jesus Christ’s return to earth in the future…a second coming to earth. We look to that day with excitement and anticipation. He will return as the King and Lord of all.

Living Nativity

Our story begins at the very beginning when God created the heavens and the earth. Out of nothing, God made everything. He formed our world and all the universe. He separated the seas from the dry land and covered the earth with luscious vegetation. He filled it with every imaginable kind of creature. And then the Lord God created a man and a woman in His own image and placed them both in the paradise of the Garden of Eden. But the first man and woman disobeyed and rebelled against Him. By their sin, they severed the close relationship they had with God. God was forced to expel them from the pure environment of the Garden. They had rejected God and led the human race into sin. But even as God cast them out, He promised that one day a Savior would come not only for them, but for the whole human race.

Through the centuries God spoke through His prophets to remind the people that the Savior was coming. Isaiah, writing in 700 BC, proclaimed that the Savior would be God Himself and be miraculously born to a virgin. "The Lord Himself will give you a sign, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Emmanuel, 'God with us'." The prophet Micah predicted the specific town in which He would be born. "But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

Each of the hundreds of prophecies heightened the world's expectation for this coming Savior who God promised would one day come.

As the time neared for the promised Savior to come, God sent an angel to a young virgin girl named Mary. "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High."

The angel of the Lord also appeared to Joseph, Mary's fiance: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby keeping a lonely watch over their sheep. Suddenly, the night was interrupted by a brilliant light and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them: "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you: He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God...
BETHLEHEM

And so it came to pass, that in the humble stable, in the presence of donkeys and sheep, that Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world as a tiny baby. There he lay...God clothed in human flesh, the Savior, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. And they called his name Jesus, for He would save His people from their sins.

Months after Jesus' birth, King Herod's palace in Jerusalem was honored by the presence of princes from the East.

These princes, or "wise men," expressed their desire to see and worship the Child. A star had miraculously led them from their own homeland of Persia or India. When they found Jesus, these mighty princes, honored and feared by men, bowed before Him and worshiped Him.

To be continued...

Gobble, gobble

Not much to tell this week. We ate left over turkey nearly every day: Andy had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch on Monday, we both had that on Tuesday night for dinner, he had it again on Wednesday for lunch. On Thursday - something different - I made turkey noodle soup for dinner. I cut up the rest of the turkey and froze it so I can make another batch of soup later...much later. Actually, we both like turkey so we didn't really mind having so much left over.

On Tuesday, Andy and I went up to Christian & Christy's. Andy helped Christian put some finishing touches on his house project. They put up the soffits and fascias. Christy and I worked on a project in the house. She had been wanting to switch the girls' and boys' rooms around. Most of the work came in moving girls' clothes to the boys' closet and vise versa. We also moved the beds and cleaned and vacuumed under them. We found all kinds of little treasures!

Tonight Amy and Ricky came down to see our church's Living Nativity. They brought Ricky's parents and sister and her family. I went through the Nativity scenes with them. It's such a blessing to see the story of Jesus dramatized - it always speaks to my heart. And it's also exciting to see it with the children. Joanna was interested in the sheep but got tired of being carried. She wanted to get down and run around. But Chase seemed to be understanding what was going on. Of course, everyone loved the cookies at the end. Joanna was stuffing as much into her mouth as possible. She's funny and very entertaining!