snippet caught from a radio sermon

"[In the life of a Christian] Peace is not the abscence of war. It is the presence of Christ."

...the only part I heard and that I remember...

Coming...

So I've got a few posts from over the past two weeks or still each in draft edition. Stuff has happened and I've had thoughts on it. I've typed out half to three-fourths of a post and then had to do something else or be somewhere or whatever. I dont want to travel down the road of making excuses for myself since doing so would be an utter waste of time... so in short-

There'll be posts & pictures soon =)

EDIT: see here & here & here

Just Thinking

Holidays are when people come together.

In our immediate family, yes. Outside of that however, our six lives are like opposing railroad tracks to some of our relations... as far away from each other as the east is from the west. Not particularly to each others faces, but fundamentally. We live different lifestyles, we set different standards, we have different ideals. There is however a greater source of separation, the only true difference, Christ. It is each of our responses to the cross of Christ that dictate our lives at the core and in the long run.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
2 Corinthians 2

I want to be a person of sincerity towards others even when they are not toward me. I want to be a person who speaks Christ, that He would be found, both directly and invisibly, in the simplest of words I utter.

I realize more and more it is not anything I have done that turns them away from me, causes them to react strangely to a comment I've made or to my showing them the love I hold for them. I do however, have a responsibility to have an attitude that reflects the aroma of my heart, and I want both of those things to be what Christ wants them to be. My prayer right now, founded in the hope of Christ, is that the aroma I put forth through my attitude and actions would not be a stench of death, but the fragrance of life.

I dont want the differences between our lives to not be pronounced/visible or the 'great divide' have a little dinky swaying bridge placed over it to make it look pretty and function to whatever degree. I dont necessarily want everything to be comfycosy and acceptable between everyone while my soul is at peace, but theirs still are under wrath. Death and life are opposite and there is only one way to step out from under the first into the second- Christ and acceptance of the cross.

Several folks in our family have accepted Christ as their Savior by believing and accepting Him, there is just not much fruit to speak of, if any. It is for these that I pray that I would possess the fragrance of life, that the seeds in their heart would not close-up and shrivel into nothing; but that they might smell and drink of the Lord and grow stronger.

If your family is composed of Christians, be thankful for that! If not, be encouraged to not close off but keep reaching out, even in the smallest of ways Or reach out in one of the biggest ways- prayer.

CG Party

It is in trials when we doubt two things- that God is near and that He is good...
How has God been near, and how has He been good this year?

{luminaries up to the house}

I was sitting on the floor in the middle of our livingroom. We'd just finished singing six or so Christmas carols... Christmas carols, in our livingroom. I dont think I can express what that meant & means to me. "Joy to the world the Lord has come"- that is why our family celebreates Christmas to begin with! It was a vivid reminder of the centrality of the word 'joy' in Christmas for us two years ago and last year. There I was feeling warm and comforted in the sort-a-center of forty-some people who were all singing those words.

Mr. T. talked about the past year and the trials he knew we had all come across, the changes: moving, a job, health-wise, financially. There is no way to sugar-coat a trial. It's a hard thing whatever it may be. I was however so refreshed yesterday to face the smaller daily trials I have with confidence. The Lord brought me and my family through the trials of the past and there we were having a Christmas party in our house. The result of the dominant trial of this year (moving. just see the many, many blog posts) resulted last night in a house full of people, talking, a house full of laughter, food, happiness and friendship. We've had alot of people in the house thus far, most of them being carpenters, plumbers, electricians. ;-) To have those we have come to love in the house was much better!

I couldnt be more happy with my white elephant present- a bicycle tire with green light strung around it. We have a pair of size eight sparkly pink shoes needed to relocate to another home.

Noise

I am currently sitting in the attic listening to the rain gently, consistently trinkle on the roof, typing by the light of a single lightbulb with a pullchain, leaning up against garbage bags full of blankets and clothes. My apologies for the structure of that sentence. I think our Christmas presents are up here somewhere... It's pretty nice other than the fact that my hands are cold and I cant type with fuzzy gloves on. This attic is so big! Geesh. wow.

Why am I up here with an old winter coat on surrounded by the books and other things needed to write an APUSH document-based question? Why am I not sitting at my oh so homeschooler desk- the diningoom table? 1. the carpenter 2. the duct system cleaning crew's hoses and drills 3. voices- about a half dozen of them making conversation filling the gaps between the tool noises.

Happy rainy day Thursday the 13th of December.

Breakfast Extra Special

This story begins with a venture to the downstairs main family closet which contains toys, supplies for craftiness, sports gear, board games, a box of long florescent lights and a few bottles of really old wine. Outside the doorway sat two or three boxes of books that came from our living room. In need of reading material, I opened the box and rummaged. Devotional tapes, pamphlets, devotional books, encouragment books, a Jewish holiday handbook and Bible, homeschooling books. The Busy Mom's Life to Simple Living. I read it in two days and came to the conclusion that aside from one or two tidbits, I dont know why in the world we own it. There was this one tip- to take flour from its original bag and store it in a gallon milk jug. I tried it... very odd.

The book did however spur me to do something I've always planned to do: pre-make homemade pancake mix. That was Saturday. Today being Monday, there being only two eggs in the fridge and being steered away from foods I knew would trigger more migraines, I made pancakes. We had some Aunt Jemima, but after reading the ingredients list I decided to take another route.

I am plain not good at making pancakes.The first two I made stuck to the pan because I didnt have enough butter. They cooked well, but I had to do damage control by scraping and washing the pan before I could continue. The next bit of butter to go in the pan steamed and turned tan. No matter, in went the batter. I'm a poet and I know it... Anyway, when the two little rounds were bubbly I flipped them over in the pan and one ended up flopped half way over the edge of the pan, dripping uncooked batter onto the stovetop.

My mom walked into the kitchen, "oh... what are you doing?"
"I'm not very good at making pancakes."
"Everytime you make them you smoke us out!"
As a last word and recognition of the silver lining, I chimed as my mom exited the room, "They taste pretty good!"

The next two patches of batter went in and came out burnt. The next two I managed to not burn, but when I bit into the last bite of one later, it ended up containing an icky batter reservoir.

We had a man working the basement installing something or other.
He walked up the stairs, "Oh man, good thing I didnt install that smoke alarm yet."
I sat in the dining room eating my creations and chuckled at his comment. I had made pancakes from scratch. I could now proceed to scratch that act off of my life achievements list. I'm only half serious- I dont have a life achievements list that I can remember, but come to think of it... wouldnt be a bad thing to do.

In Your Eyes.

Browsing sheet music

Riches I heed not nor man's empty praise
Thou mine inheritance now and always
Thou and Thou only first in my heart
High King of heaven my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven my victory won
May I reach heaven's joys oh bright heaven's sun!
Heart of my own heart whatever befall
Still by my vision O Ruler of all.

_

Five more boxes.
Barely any snow left.
Still sick.
Books are now on the entertainment center in the basement instead of in some of the above mentioned boxes.
Looking at my ice skates in my closet and wanting to use them soon!

Oh the Weather Outside... is delightful

Well the timing on the wishing for snow post couldnt have been better.



That's the view to my left as I sit at the diningroom table doing schoolwork... the snow is gently drifting down the same way a sheet rides on the wind as it descend after you've throw it into the air. It's as if you're watching an innumerable amount of tiny feathers float and then fall, gently covering everything in the process with fluffiness.

Note the doorless but built! shed.

Wishing For Snow To Come

Today several people I talked to at lunch noted wishing that it would snow instead of the rain we currently have. I've established the habit of streaming Christmas music through itunes and when I got home this played when I turned the computer on.

These lyrics are being posted because I like hot cocoa, marshmallows, the two words pumpkin head make a great nickname in my opinion, and because I cant wait to see the twinkle of snow crystals.

It's a marshmallow world in the winter
When the snow comes to cover the ground
It's the time for play
It's a whipped cream day
I wait for it all year round.

Those are marshmallow clouds being friendly
In the arms of the evergreen trees
And the sun is red like a pumpkin head
It's shining so your nose won't freeze.

The world is your snowball, see how it grows
That's how it goes, whenever it snows,
The world is your snowball just for a song
Get out and roll it along.

In winter, it's a marshmallow world.
In winter, it's a marshmallow world.
In winter, it's a marshmallow world.

Linkage & Impromptu

one two three

Hmm. This post has no apparent direction from the getgo other than the posting of those links.

We have now put aprx. 180 empty boxes on the curb. The approximate is due to the fact that the last garbage day, the boxes were on the curb before I counted them and though I'd done it before, I wasnt in the mood to go out to the end of the driveway to count them up. I instead looked out the window and guessedimated it.


Guess which one's ours?

We are quite zealous nowadays when it comes to Christmas celebrations. Yet, we're zealous in a unique way I think.

We now have a shed in the backyard and a "new room" again. I heard one of the boys running around called the addition/transformed back porch "the new room" and it felt nice... that's what we called it at the old house. I remember a conversation with The Boss about what to call that room in the listing. Mum Dad and I looked at each other. The only thing we'd ever called it was "the back room" or "the new room"... How about, "The Great Room," he said, because it's great!

I'm counting the days until Christmas break. Attempting to come up with/resurrect some piece of something to submit to the accreditation magazine/newspaper as well.

Me Mum and the littliest guy have stuffy noses and coughs. We were warned about getting sick after moving. Here it is.

And so I believe I shall wrap up this no-purpose post having simply told of a few current events in our lives. Have a Happy Saturday December 1st... there's twenty-four days to Christmas...