i feel like i haven’t been as diligent this pregnancy with photographing my growing tummy, but perhaps it’s the same reason i have trouble remembering what week i am and all that stuff that i did when it was my first time. but here are two pictures for those interested.
20 weeks (early november)
26 weeks--mid December
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I have longed for today more than most Christmases past. Maybe it’s having a child to help me count the days or pregnancy making me miss my family more than usual. Maybe it’s our new Jesse tree tradition helping us to feel the anticipation and longing of centuries for the Messiah.
Bekah’s favorite movie this month was the Curious George Christmas DVD and the chorus of the theme song asks, “Are you ready for Christmas Day to come?” Even though the movie addresses only the secular and shallow ways to get ready for Christmas, it made me stop and think about what it means to really be ready for Jesus’ birthday. This year i definitely feel more prepared than i have for many years when life was too busy and distracting, making Christmas come and go without true, heartfelt celebration. Even our car accident a week ago has made this Christmas such a gift to me, knowing what could’ve happened.
As we watched The Nativity Story last night, i was struck again by just how involved God was in the whole Christmas story: more angel messages than any other time in history, the skies announcing his birth with a star that would only appear this one time, even how all of heaven was bursting with joy and just had to share it with some unsuspecting shepherds, and his protection when Satan tried to thwart his sovereign plan several times.
Last night at the Christmas Eve service we attended, the pastor was sharing a story about his daughter’s frustration over finding a Christmas gift for him, who seems to have everything. He said she couldn’t buy him what he wants because all he wants is her, who is about to leave home to join YWAM. It was a picture of how God, who definitely has everything, only wants us, to be with Him, to give all we are. As a parent myself, i was able to understand that so much better, and also only a glimpse of what it meant for Him to give up his Son–his Christmas gift to us. So thank you, Lord, not only for this precious time with my family, but also for the unthinkable gift of sending your Son to earth for ME! Today is your day and we celebrate You!
Hopefully you will take some time today as well to spend with your Creator and Father, and Savior, to celebrate at a deeper level what today is all about. And if it doesn’t happen today, do it sometime this coming week; He’s waiting for you!
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we got in a car accident tonight, but PRAISE GOD we’re all okay. we were stopped in traffic, rear-ended by a CHP, but a lot of the impact was to the back right corner and scooted us around about 75 degrees. my nose absorbed the rest since my seatbelt didn’t hold me back like it was suppose to and the airbag didn’t deploy either. verdict is still out whether it’s actually broken or not (doesn’t actually hurt that much)–hard to tell till the swelling goes down. since i’m pregnant i got an automatic free pass to ride in an ambulance (a first). baby’s fine–slept through the whole thing and bekah cried for awhile because she was scared, but she’s fine, too. jonathan has a stiff neck, but the dr says he should be fine.
the van is another story…won’t be getting that one back. we’re going to demand that chp replace it, but have no idea how long that will take.
God is good and both of us are SO thankful that our only injury is my nose (and jonathan’s sore neck), that the officer hit the back of the car and not my car door (or the sliding door)! a van can easily be replaced.
i’ll post pictures soon of my face which is rapidly changing colors…
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bekah was eating “honey bunches of oats” for breakfast one day, so excited over all the little granola clusters (“croutons”) she was finding–she’s never wanted to eat them before. whenever she found an almond sliver, she’d give it to me. i said, “hmmm, almonds are good for you.” and her response: “no, mommy, they’re good for YOU.”
almost everyday bekah says, “i want to go to christmas.” (but now she understands that we can’t go till all the links in our paper chain are gone.)
today i was surprised to find bekah feeding her baby a stuffed owl. not the bottle, not even a normal dish like chicken, but owl!
tonight i was putting her to bed and she said, “your name is mommy. you’re a good mommy.” (melt my heart. i’m writing it down to remind her when she’s in jr. high.)
okay, this one isn’t an “ism” but her new skill for the week: summersault all by herself. she’s very proud!
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i love it when God reminds me that he cares about the little things in life, too.
example 1: a common site in our house is me frantically hunting all over the house for the infamous blankee right before bekah’s bedtime since she can never remember where she left it or even see it laying in plain sight. on this particular night, i could not for the life of me find it (why didn’t we buy 2 at the time?) and finally had to put her down with the promise that i would continue looking for it. part of our bedtime prayer that night was asking God to help mommy find it. of course i was wracking my brain, trying to remember where all she had played since the blankee was last sighted (our walk around the block right before dinner)–how could a blankee get that lost in just a few hours? but as i left her room, immediately the Holy Spirit told me to look one more place and there it was: in the pantry with the cereal and pasta (she’d been pretending to make breakfast while i made dinner).
example 2: bekah likes to play with my spikey blue dryer balls, but one of them disappeared over a month ago and i couldn’t find it anywhere. yesterday i was doing laundry and praying, “ya know, God, i really don’t want to spend money on a new one–would you help me find the one that bekah lost?” again, pretty immediately, i knew where i was suppose to look and there it was: in my closet, in the very back, under jonathan’s shoe organizer. i had to feel for it with my hand because it was too dark to see.
my excitement wasn’t necessarily over a found dryer ball, but more over the thrill of answered prayer and the reminder that God really is right here with me, helping me through each day whether i remember it or not, whether i’ve had my quiet time or not. it’s in those little ways (in addition to the big ones) that speaks to my heart of how God loves me, and how close He is.
just had to share.
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almost everyday bekah asks to “go to Christmas”, or rather CO. for a while i could say, not till after thanksgiving, but now thanksgiving is past and there aren’t any more milestones to help her associate time with, and with the house decorated, it just doesn’t make sense why we can’t leave now. so we’ve made a good ole fashioned paper chain to help us count the days until we leave. (sigh. how long that chain seems and tearing only one a day still feels so slow.)
(it's a couple links shorter now)
we’re starting a new family tradition this year: a Jesse Tree. i’d first discovered it last year, but bekah was young and i didn’t have the time to get the ornaments together for it. so this year, even though bekah is still on the verge of being too young, we’re just simplifying it a lot and it’s something that we’ll be able to grow as she gets older. if you’ve never heard of it, it’s an advent calendar that starts in Genesis and ends with Jesus’ birthday, with an ornament to represent each story. Some of the ornaments i already had or was able to find at various stores for super cheap and others i made myself. some people choose to make them all out of felt or you can even buy a book that includes them all (paper style). we decided to do a mini tree for it, but i’ve seen some where it was a paper/felt tree hung up on the wall, or whatever you want. we’re not doing an actual christmas tree this year since we’re traveling so it’s nice to still have something. right now we only have 3 ornaments on the tree since we just started, but this is what it will look like come Christmas Day:
if you are interested in doing your own tree either last minute this year (just do 2 ornaments/stories a day instead of one) or next year, here are some of the websites i found helpful–i’m sure there’s more out there if you google it, and amazon has some devotional books for purchase as well.
info from my favorite blog (has other links as well)
one other side note: as i was hunting for devotionals to go along with the scripture readings, i noticed that several websites differ on which bible stories are included in their advent calendar. so i decided which ones i wanted the most and used those. for example, the first link above is perfect for kids, but doesn’t include Passover, which is a must in my mind, so i just added it myself. Most calendars start on Dec 1, but we actually started on Nov 28 to fit in the few extra stories that i wanted to include.
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i actually would’ve forgotten that today was my spiritual birthday if it hadn’t been for the card that my mom always sends every year. i know for some people they can’t point to a specific day of conversion and there’s nothing wrong with that. i am thankful that spiritual birthdays were always a big deal growing up in my family, a time to look back over where God has taken me and a reminder to say thanks for his amazing grace.
mine isn’t a dramatic testimony and yet still one that i would hope for my own kids: to know and love Christ from a young age. i was 7 and it was either the night before or the night of thanksgiving (can’t remember which). we’d talked as a family earlier that day about Jesus and as i laid awake in my bed, i decided to pray, “God, i know some people don’t believe, but i do.” then i wasn’t sure if those were the right words so i said a 2nd prayer using the whole “ask you into my heart” verbiage just in case. then i got out of bed to go tell my mom.
i’m so thankful for what God’s done in my life and the places he’s taken me, even though it’s not always been sunshine. my valleys haven’t been as deep as others, but i know i’m not immune to those either and i’m sure my turn will come eventually. but i know my Good Shepherd will walk with me then, too. i’ve always wanted to avoid having to learn things the hard way, but one of the pitfalls of living a “good” life since i was young is that it’s so easy to start floating through life. from the outside everything looks great, but on the inside my relationship with God goes on autopilot. may God keep me from that place! may He take me deeper so that i can join Him on all those great adventures He has in store!
jeremy riddle has a song that i really like called “Full Attention”. here are the words:
May Your voice be louder, May Your voice be clearer, Than all the others, than all the others
May Your face be dearer, May Your words be sweeter, Than all the others, than all the others in my life
Please keep my eyes fixed on You, Please root my heart so deep in You
Keep me abiding, keep me abiding, Keep me abiding that I
Oh, that I might bear fruit
May Your presence be truer, May Your presence be nearer, Than all the others, than all the others
May Your light burn brighter, May Your love move deeper, Than all the others, than all the others in my life.
may i not get lazy or distracted or hide in my comfort zone–i don’t want to miss out on anything. if i could only keep an eternal perspective than maybe it wouldn’t be so hard. i get glimpses and then daily life seems to take over. i know that’s a constant struggle for all of us. i look forward to the day when we’ll see our Lord face to face and the struggle will finally be over!
i hope you all have (or had) a wonderful thanksgiving, not just with family and good food, but with God, thanking him for his countless blessings. (it’s so easy for this day to get lost in the shuffle of preparing for Christmas.)
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