Not Quite Ordinary Observations

For Today...Wednesday, December 2, 2015

In the great outdoors...a sunny morning after three days of rain and two more days of cloudy gloom. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of sunshine!

Within our four walls...Christmas decorations are up! Oh, and we did a little rearranging weekend before last. Because, you know, when you first move into a house, everything has to just go somewhere to be made as functional as possible as quickly as possible.

But that doesn’t make it “home.”

This week marks six months since we moved in. And, we typically rearrange something every six months anyway, just to liven things up. So, it was time.

We only rearranged the living room. But, it made it much easier to set up a Christmas tree. It also economized our space a little better. And, we’ve been praying for the Lord to direct us to an affordable piano. The rearrangement is a step of faith because it opened up the perfect spot for the piano!

A heart of thanksgiving...for a warm, dry house; for safety in travel as we enjoyed family time last week; for praying friends; for creative children.

A heart of prayer...for all of us as we enter the holiday season – wow, it can get crazy! May we truly exemplify and radiate peace to those in chaos all around us.

For our beloved friends the Choates as they wait patiently for provision and wisdom from the Lord. They cannot return to the mission field until their financial support is back to 100%, but they also have to purchase plane tickets well in advance. Such a tricky spot!

Random observations...have you ever stopped to wonder about the literacy of the Israelites? In a world where, historically speaking, literacy was limited to the ruling or priestly classes as most? Yet the Israelites even came out of Egypt with a sense of literacy in their own language – Hebrew. Even as shepherds turned slaves.

Throughout history, the Israelites were set apart in many ways. Not a big deal is made out of their literacy (in fact, some argue that they were NOT literate, and hold that as their proof that the Bible was not written over an extensive period of time). But, part of God’s plan involved a literate society. I love the way God works!

My silly children...should have been down here for school over twenty minutes ago. They seem to be hiding from me. Obviously, I’ve been super diligent to get them started, too. Yeah, we’re not very motivated right now.

Thoughts from the kitchen...pot pie Monday and pizza yesterday. Something beefy today, but not sure what yet.

On my bookshelf...I pulled out Liz Curtis Higgs’ The Women of Christmas over the weekend. I started it last year, but never got the chance to finish it. So, restarting this year. Doug and I also had the chance to just relax and read a bit over the weekend, so I perused the shelves for a Julie Klassen book I have not yet read. The Silent Governess won the toss-up this time around. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it finished over the weekend, so it taunted me Monday and yesterday. Remember that motivation struggle? Yeah, diligence is hard when you’re in the middle of a great novel.

But I finished it last night. It’s done. And it was well done. Now to avoid starting a new book.

Ah, temptations never cease!

Projects...calendar, photo book, and other Christmas gifts. Now that my kids are older, it’s harder to sneak around and make Christmas gifts! Bedtime is not quite as early and they’re so stinkin’ observant. But, I’ll get it done! Some way, somehow!

Sounds of the moment...typical morning sounds – the washer rattling (it sounds a little cranky this morning), and soft Christmas music in the background.

From Hibbard Academy...prayerful consideration about how to approach the next three weeks. We need to do school. But, we also need a real break – something we did not get Thanksgiving week due to all of the traveling.

A favorite thing from last week...Thanksgiving with family; discovering how our Christmas décor fit with the personality of our new house.

The planner...pretty routine – nothing much out of the ordinary except family pictures this weekend.

Because visuals are fun...a turkey/bean bag “snow”man. Because we’re goofy like that.