New day, new start. Thankful for new days.

 

Lamentations 3:22-23

22 (A)The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]
    (B)his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new (C)every morning;
    (D)great is your faithfulness.

Food of the season!

 

Do you have a "food of the season"? Our family eats a LOT of Chex mix...between Christmas and New Year's! I wonder why we never make it any other time of the year, as we love it so much! But then again...I wonder if we made it more frequently, would we appreciate it as much?

Kind of reminds me of the boy who cried wolf...too many distress calls dimished their effectiveness...so maybe it's extra special because we only have it once a year?

Perhaps!

Kindling Cracker!!!

 Christmas gift WIN!!!  This amazing gift we got for my husband is really amazing! If you burn wood, you'll appreciate it too. 

So it's called the kindling cracker and it's a heavy cast iron wedge in a stand type thing. Google it for details.  

It is so easy to use, it's an amazing tool!

Christmas belongs to us

Today, Christmas day, belongs to us! To anyone who wants to claim it! We remember God's gift of his Son Jesus to redeem us and bring us to heaven someday. It sounds so magical or impossible--it is! But thankfully it was not totally impossible to God--so we remember, with thankfulness, on this day, that He loves us and rescued us.

Psalm 52:9

 

It's been a rough year, for mostly everyone, right? So easy to focus on the bad...even when we try to see the good. 

While I was driving in my car the other day I was listening to Psalm 52 and this verse stood out to me...

Ps 52:9 For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people.

And I will hope in your name,
    for your name is good.

There we have it! Praise God for what he has done and hope in his name.

Hope.

Thankfulness.

All wrapped up in this verse. 

Join me in memorizing this verse and using it to remind ourselves how we ought to live!

Christmas Ornament Tradition

 

My Christmas tree is full of memories. When I was growing up, my grandparents had a tradition to give us grandchildren a Christmas tree ornament every year. Some years it was an ornament that they made, other years it was an ornament souvenir from a vacation that they had taken that year. 

Fast forward to me as an adult...I love looking at the ornaments and remembering different Christmases with my family, different adventures that my grandparents took. I love that my sisters' trees have these same ornaments on them...even in different states we are connected by these ornaments. 

My grandparents were amazing people who loved us so incredibly much. I love these ornaments and I love these memories.

The tree! The tree!

 There is something about getting a Christmas tree that makes the season oh so much more Christmas-y! 

The tree, this lovely tree...that symbolizes Christmas...Christmas, in which we celebrate Christ's coming to earth to save us...reminds us of another tree that we remember on Good Friday--the Cross, on which Jesus died to pay for our sins. Thank you Lord for the tree and for the other tree, the Cross. 

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Thanksgiving

 Well, Thanksgiving has passed in this strange year. Hopefully we will someday look back on this time and think how thankful we are that we have moved past it. This year we were alone as a family for Thanksgiving...which might have seemed nice in some years, but maybe due to the ongoing isolation it just felt not...right. 

Even though it was strange and not "right", I know there are a lot of things to be thankful for. Right now I'm thanking God for Zoom and Jackbox games, which were able to bring our extended family together across many miles. 

We love playing some of the Jackbox games...I'd recommend them with a grain of salt...just be careful you put "family friendly" settings on.

I'm trying really hard to be thankful to God for his blessings, especially the Blessing of His Son and our salvation. SO I'm not going to dwell on Thanksgiving any longer :) 

Numbers 6:24-26 NIV

“ ‘ “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’

NIV: New International Version