It's [Still] Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

The nostalgia of Christmas is surprising strong for me this year. I've been almost giddy seeing the lights on trees in the parks downtown and on every bedazzled home. Still, I can't help thinking, even as my mind looks back in time and lingers over the glory of God in the manger, the best is yet to come. 

Good Christian men, rejoice

With heart and soul and voice.

Now ye need not fear the grave:

Peace! Peace!

Jesus Christ was born to save.

Calls you one and calls you all

To gain His everlasting hall.

Christ was born to save,

Christ was born to save. 

(Latin Carol)

Our pastor's wife is in the hospital tonight. She's fighting a cancer that has all but taken its final toll on her weak frame. It's a cancer that may very well overcome her body, but it is not a cancer that can overcome her soul. Jesus is her King, and He is reigning in her tonight. Jesus is her Emmanuel. God is with her. For her family's sake and ours, we are praying she will "gain His everlasting hall" at a later time. Not yet, Lord. We love her so. But Christ be praised that it is not a matter of whether she will go to be with God, but of when. Rejoice with me, saints: the best is yet to come. 

Now ye need not fear the grave:

Peace! Peace!

Jesus Christ was born to save.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Another bountiful Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Christmas is on its way. There is snow on the cold, hard ground outside, and our feet can well attest this, for Thanksgiving morning saw the revival of one of the Hall family traditions...that of running barefoot in the first snowfall.

Aw, much better...

And to get you in the mood for Christmas, here's Rebecca's rendition of Silent Night...

Lost A Tooth

I know Rebecca gets featured more often than the others, but I couldn't pass up this picture. She lost one of her front teeth last night, and today this was her in her element - outside.

Captain America!

I think these pictures speak for themselves.

 I love our little seven-year-old tomboy Becca.

And look at these incredible, tiny baby mice! (They were temporarily "rescued"

from our garage by one of the younger kids.) Isn't God's creation magnificent?

Bon Appetit

Welcome to "Tony's (EVERYTHING ORGANIC) Restaurant,"

a new and tasty joint conveniently located in our kitchen.

Menu:

APPLES

CHEESE

CHOKOLATE MILK

POPCORN

CORNCHIPS

COFFEE

When the chef's away, the chef-lings will play...

A pot of popcorn.

Special order for the chef on sabbatical.

"Papa's" Day, 2012

For Father's Day this year we spent a relaxed afternoon at home with our resourceful Papa and projects. Here's a little peek at one of our projects...

 Cutting new glass for a free picture frame.

(Glass was free and from a window at the end of someone's driveway.)

And, before church that morning we served him a tasty breakfast of Swedish

pancakes with raspberry sauce, bacon, scrambled eggs and fresh raw milk.

Happy Father's Day, Papa! We love you so much.

Cast-less!

The cast is off! (Don't ask me why she is eating her cast in that second picture....) The break in Becca's humerus is almost completely healed. She has to be careful with her arm for the next two weeks and do some exercises, but after that, she is good to go! I asked her if it felt good to have the cast off. She just smiled real big and said, "Yes."

(Belated) Easter Post

Time to decorate hard-boiled eggs!

  

Bird nest treats!

Ana Gail

A few days before Easter, per tradition, we made the crucifixion/resurrection
scene (we formed the landscape out of dough, which we then baked and painted).

"But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5

On the other side of this mountain face is the tomb hollow. On Easter morning,

we took the little pipe-cleaner Jesus out of the tomb and hid him somewhere in the

house for the little girls to find. "He is not here, but has risen!" Luke 24:6

And just the other day...popsicle weather!

Jonan ol' boy.

Old Clothes, New Mercies

I'm drinking in the joys of my siblings tonight...giggles from Jonathan and Rebecca, who are talking and chasing each other around the living room; Amanda's elation over finishing (in seven days!) the hefty Bonhoeffer tome by Eric Metaxas; Jessie's unabashed delight over trying on the old (possibly Civil War era) clothing we just received from Aunt Leslie. This morning, Amanda, Daniel, Jonathan, Ana and Rebecca played violin and piano pieces in the National Federation of Music Clubs annual Junior Music Festival. There were superior ratings all around (top scores)! Needless to say, they were all pretty happy about that.  :)

Many things in life discourage, sadden and frustrate: tragic or simply tiring circumstances, other people's failings, one's own inabilities and failings. But for those who wait on God and hope in His word, mercies come new every morning. Sometimes His mercies are material blessings, relational joys, or personal victories. Other times they are the sure glimpses of His Spirit at work softening a heart or opening a mind. When self-pity and despondency threaten and the eyes of the heart are too dim to see His mercies elsewhere, prayer in God's presence and the Scriptures are mercies beyond compare, as is the faith He supplies to cling to His promises. Here are a few passages I've been thinking over and holding onto this past week:

• "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." 2 Cor 9:8
• "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." Gal 6:9
• "...make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Pet 1:5-8
• "The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:5b-7

God's people have much to be thankful for - much more than the real but temporary joys of superior ratings and "new" old clothes. Rejoice over the whole gamut of God's mercies, but rejoice over this mercy first, that "He made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in [Christ] we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21).

  

Eight Days of Christmas

A sampling of our Christmas in eight, non-sequential days...

Day One: it's time to trim the tree, unearthed from the basement and pre-

decked with lights. Ornament by familiar ornament, the pretty sight unfolds.

Task complete, it's time to become laughing, wrestling midgets, of course.

Day Two: preparing for a family Christmas performance in Richfield.

Jonathan and Ana on the piano: "Jingle Bells" with

energy and precision. They do such a good job of it!

Day Three: making a gingerbread house from PapaDama & Dama!

Day Four: smoking fresh bacon in Papa's home-made smoker.

Day Five: ballet with Ana & Rebecca.

Day Six: on December 23rd, Friday evening, we had a small gathering of family
and friends for hors d'oeuvres, visiting, and singing. "I'm Dreaming Of A White
Christmas" (we were not to have one), "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire"
and "O Holy Night" - it's interesting how the familiar can bring such comfort.

When all but one of our guests had said goodbye, we settled in the living room

for a family tradition: a read-aloud of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

"'And, lo, the Angel of the Lord came upon them,' Mother went on,

'and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and--'

'Shazam!' Gladys yelled, flinging her arms out and smacking the kid next to her. ...

'Out of the black night with horrible vengeance, the Mighty Marvo--'"

~ ~ ~

Day Seven: it's Christmas Eve Day, and the house is a-buzz with preparations for

our grandparents' visit and royal feasting. With China dishes in place settings equal
measures apart, the table is spread when Perfectionism consults Emily Post.

The guests arrive and the meal commences...

Two steaming main course selections: Wild Rice Soup and Oyster Stew.

Ana finds she is not fond of Oyster Stew...

I love Dama's expression in this next picture...

...and the boys' in this...

After the Christmas Eve service at church, where us girls sang "Mary
Did You Know" and the whole congregation sang "Silent Night" with
candles in cupped hands, we returned home to give gifts and play more
music. Daniel gave PDP and Dama a 3D topographical wall map of Lily
Bay that he made with quarter-inch foam-board and a Dremel tool.

Sarah came over too, and as the night waned, we opened our stockings.

Becca found stockings in her stocking! :) (Her black nose is the remains of a
sheep get-up she wore to create a nativity scene with Jonathan and Ana.)

Day Eight: Christmas morning was spent at church and then at home, opening presents, laughing, and enjoying the beautiful gift of each other's company.

We hope you had a Merry Christmas! HAPPY 2012!