Hearts in Service

For pastors and their families, the holidays are always very busy. It seems there is one thing after the other to prepare for or attend. Around here Christmas Day is wonderful oasis in the midst of busyness. Christmas was a day of just hanging out and relaxing. The children looked in their stockings. Then we ate breakfast and did our final Jesse Tree devotional. Then they opened their gifts. Dan & I try to purchase gifts that will enhance their creativity and help them to think. Some of the favorite gifts this year were an artist set, legos, books on Ireland, China and Greece, and binoculars. This was my favorite expression of the day. That was for a skateboard that her brothers bought for her. We talked with family on the phone, ate lasagna, watched a movie and played monopoly. Actually, we had freezing rain on Saturday so we did more of the same then too. It was definitely a wonderful Christmas! I hope you all had a nice holiday as well.

Have a Merry Christmas, friends! I'm not going to be on here the next few days and wanted to wish you all a very blessed holiday season.

The winner of the 2 year anniversary give away is ...... Karen A. Let me know your mailing address (you can pm me on CHF) and I'll get your apron and other goodies in the mail to you next week. I hope you don't mind if I wait until after Christmas. Congratulations, Karen!

I've been keeping an eye on my page hit counter and realized that at some point this evening, it got to 50,000 hits. Amazing. This December 30th will make exactly two years that I've been blogging. I love doing this because it gives me an opportunity to keep in touch with family and friends, as well as journal what is going on in my life and write some of my thoughts down. I appreciate each one of you who visits here and comments. So I thought it was time for me to do a giveaway! If you leave me a comment on this post between now and Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. EST, you can win an apron like the one above. It may be a different fabric, but the style will be the same. I'll throw in some other goodies as well to make it interesting. So, just leave a comment and I'll put the names in a basket and draw one out on Tuesday. Thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate you all!

I thought these verses were fitting at the end of this advent week focusing on joy. 1 Chronicles 16:32-34 says, 32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! 33 Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. 34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. I want to spend some time thanking the Lord with joy for what He has done in our lives this past week. ♫ Praise Him for restoration and healing of relationships! He has worked tremendously over the past week to restore some broken relationships in our lives. ♫ Praise Him for my wonderful husband who loves his family and wants to spend time with us. He has been bugging me to go with him to Emily's basketball practice on Thursday nights for the past few weeks and I finally did it tonight. I'm so glad, because he really wanted to spend time talking with me and catching up. ♫ I praise Him for...

I made a Christmas apron today from some fabric that I bought last year on sale. It was very easy to make and turned out really cute. Today was definitely a Christmasy day - went Christmas shopping, did Christmas bulletins, worked on children's Christmas program, made Christmas cookies, and did some Christmas sewing.

I love this passage in Isaiah, that talks about the names of Jesus. Isaiah 9:6-7 ~ 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, [a] Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. As I was reading this passage and all the different names of Jesus, I thought it would be nice to do something different today and list some of the names of Jesus, based on what His characteristics and what He means to me. He is..... ♥ Savior ♥ Merciful ♥ Light ♥ Loving Father ♥ My deliverer ♥ Friend ♥ Compassionate ♥ Righteous ♥ Revealer of the Truth How about you? What does Jesus mean to you? Please feel free to share! What is He to you?

I made these cookies today and they were outstanding. Dan & the kids ate a plateful! I thought I'd share the recipe. Minty Chocolate Cookies 1 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate chips 1/3 cup butter 1 cup sugar 3 large eggs 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 tsp. baking powder 2 (8-ounce) packages miniature peppermint patties In a medium bowl, combine chocolate morsels and butter. Microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is melted and smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, beat sugar and eggs at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until thick and pale. Gradually beat in cooled chocolate mixture until combined. In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating just until combined. Cut the peppermint patties into small pieces and stir into the dough. Wrap dough in heavy-duty plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Rol...

We had our first major snowstorm of the season today and it was beautiful. The children didn't have school but unfortunately, Emily didn't get to go outdoors to enjoy it because it turned to freezing rain by late morning. However, we enjoyed a roaring fire, watched Christmas movies, and made Christmas cards. Tomorrow we will go back to our regularly scheduled program. :-)

A number of years ago, Dan and I started a Christmas tradition of celebrating Advent by having a Jesse Tree. Basically, from December 1st to the 25th we read a passage of scripture and then have the kids hang an ornament on a little table top tree. The purpose of the Jesse Tree is to look at Jewish history from creation up until the birth of Christ. There is a corresponding ornament for each passage. For example, today's passage was on Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice and God providing a ram in his place. The picture is ram. I keep telling myself that I'm going to make ornaments to go with the readings, but for now I've laminated the pictures which the children hang on the tree. It's been a wonderful way to look at history and to celebrate Christ's birth.

We had about 14 people here yesterday after church and I made pans of lasagna. I tried out a new recipe for the sauce and it was delicious. Lasagna can be a lot of work, but it's worth it! Lasagna Ingredients * 1 pound sweet Italian sausage * 3/4 pound lean mix of pork, veal, and ground beef * 1/2 cup minced onion * 2 cloves garlic, crushed * 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes * 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste * 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce * 1/2 cup water * 2 tablespoons white sugar * 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves * 1/2 tsp. marjarom * 1/2 tsp. oregano * 1 tablespoon salt * 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper * 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley * 12 lasagna noodles * 16 ounces ricotta cheese * 1 egg * 1/2 teaspoon salt * 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced * 3/4 cup grated Reggiano Parmesan cheese Directions 1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over mediu...

Psalm 43 1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men. 2 You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? 3 Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. 4 Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. 5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. So many people begin to get the blues at this time of the year. Even though most Christians don't like to admit that they get down, they too can fall into this. We set ourselves up for false expectations. We want our Christmas to be picture perfect and everyone to have warm fuzzy feelings. When reality doesn't meet our expectations, we feel down. Even David had times of discourage...

I decided to make my own Christmas cards this year. I've been having fun the past few days mixing and matching papers to come up with these creations. These were a few of my favorites. I always find it relaxing to make cards. I've been playing Christmas music and creating. My two favorite things!