Even though it is hot and we are melting, the Christmas season is here!!! We had a great Thanksgiving complete with all the fixin's, laughter, games, and noisy kiddos running around. There were about 15 of us all together, 4 different nationalities, and lots of food! Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, so you will just have to imagine lots of people gathered around a table eating and eating. :) Not too hard, huh? Then Christmas time fell on our house with decorating and loud music. The house is so fun with all the twinkle lights and music going all the time and the kids love it. Every single time that we plug in the Christmas lights (or turn on the battery operated ones on the "mantle") Elliot yells "HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!" and giggles. And every night when we tuck the boys in Keenan asks, "Will tomorrow be Christmas morning?!" Only one more month, little man. Hang in there! :) I really really love holidays and especially love the ages that my kids are to watch them get excited about them as well. It was such a fun feeling hearing their excited voices as they pulled out the ornaments and watched the house turn into a "winter" wonderland. It is especially fun now that Keenan has memories attached to other Christmases that he talks about with his face all lit up. Like the ornament that Uncle Kevin gave him and the one that we made together at Auntie Denae's school. It warms my heart that he remembers and it makes me cherish traditions all the more. I shall take you on a tour of our decorations:
First stop, our homemade madness :) I had this vision of making a fireplace this year to hang out stockings. Which led to thinking of what should we hang over the "mantle"? A painting! And I wanted it to be something that the kids help with and that they can remember and be proud of. So we got a canvas and some paint and went to work. All of us :) It started off a bit stressful because in the 3 minutes that it took me to mix paint in the right shades I said about 20 times, "Dont touch, Im not quite done yet." And what does my sweet big brown eyed charmer do?! Grabs the brush and knocks over the bowl of paint. To be honest I lost it for a minute, and we had to take a sec to calm back down and start over. But after cooling off, we had a good time painting the canvas. And the floor. And themselves. And the cabinet. Here is the painting process:
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| Giving Lucy a brush |
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| She mostly waved it in the air like a sword threatening to smear green paint on anyone within a foot of her, but she got some strokes on the canvas |
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| Keenan Boy thought it was fun working on this grand masterpiece |
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| Elliot thought it was fun making a masterpiece on himself |
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| After it was all dry I wrote Noel on it, made some glitter swirllies and voila! Our new Christmas mantle painting. |
For the fireplace itself, I started off thinking that we could have one made from wood, but then that costs money. Then I thought about stacking concrete blocks which are a plenty out here, but then I thought about Lucy pulling herself up on them and dragging one down on herself. Not a pretty picture. So, we settled with rolling out some paper and painting one ourselves, hanging a piece of wood across, tied up some garland, slapped on some battery operated lights, and hung our stockings by the chimney with care. It turned out well and we had fun making it together. Each of the stockings have special messages, prayers, and reminders of our dear Savior tied to each. Ive been working on cards that explain the meanings behind the symbols that are on each, why it was chosen for that person, and a prayer over them in light of it. I'll put them into the stockings and we can pull them out each year when we decorate to remind us of His greatness. It was fun to sit, read and dream with Craig for each other and for how we want Christmas to ooze worship. And thanks to the world wide web we found some great descriptions for the symbols of Christmas on this site: http://www.achristmastestimony.kingdomdesignministry.com/christmas-symbols-and-their-meanings
First off is Craig's candy cane. The candy cane is shaped
like a shepherd's crook, reminding us that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came into
our world at Christmas. The red stripe symbolizes Christ's sacrifice and the
white background His purity. The candy cane reminds us of Isaiah's
prophecy of the suffering servant who was led like a lamb to the slaughter
(Isaiah 53:7) and by his stripes you were
healed (Isaiah 53:5). Candy canes have a peppermint
flavor, reminiscent of hyssop which had medicinal purposes. The Psalmist
prayed, Lord, cleanse me with hyssop
that I may be clean (Psalm 51:9). Jesus came to heal our ills and to
purge us of sin. The peppermint flavor reminds us that our healing came at the
price of Christ's life. We picked the candy cane for Craig because he is the shepherd of this family and as a reminder to always look to the author and perfecter of our faith.
The Christmas tree
represents the original Tree of Paradise, the burning bush which spoke to
Moses, the branch of Jesse from which Jesus was born, the life-giving tree of
the cross of Christ, and the tree which St. John the Apostle saw in the Book of
Revelations whose leaves have medicine for the people and which yields fruit
each month for the healing of the nations. Because it is green year-round, the
evergreen tree represents hope. Its needles and its narrow crest point upward,
turning our thoughts to heaven. Because the tree is cut down and then erected
again, it is a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. And the Christmas tree has three sides, representing the trinity. This was chosen for me because I long to be a beacon of hope in every season, rain or shine, and continually point my family to the True Hope.
The gingerbread man does
not create himself but rather is created. Gingerbread people remind us of God's
creation of Adam in the Garden of Eden, and God's creation of each of us.
Spices, reminiscent of those mentioned in the Old Testament, make the
gingerbread man the color of earth (Adam was created from the dust of the
earth). Like us, gingerbread people are not immortal. They are destined to be
eaten and thus to unite with their creators. God does not eat us, but our
mortal bodies, like that of the gingerbread man's, will not live forever. God
created us for eternal union with Him after we die. Gingerbread people remind
us to look beyond ourselves to our Creator with whom we will one day be united. This was chosen for Keenan because we pray that he would always always be looking to his creator for the truth of who he is and the ways he should live, and not to the other creation around him. We also wanted this one for Keenan because he is such a sweet, tender hearted boy who brings delight much like a sweet, chewy cookie.
Holly is an extremely hardy
shrub that can be grown in all fifty states of the United States, making it one
of the few plants that can withstand temperatures from 110 degrees F to - 40
degrees F. The holly bush represents immorality, a trait
that God has given to each human being. We are all destined to live forever,
either with the Lord or separated from Him. The sharp-toothed edge of the holly
leaf reminds Christians of the crown of thorns with which the soldiers mocked
Our Lord during His Passion. They laughingly hailed Him as king, never
realizing that He is, indeed, King of the universe. As a Christmas symbol, the
red holly berry represents Christ's blood, shed for all people. We chose this for Elliot because he is more hard headed then the average bear and knows what he wants. He does not give up easily and has a passion in him that is contagious. Our prayer in this is that his strong dedication would be spent making the Lord's name famous. That he would cling to Jesus through every degree in life, from 110 to -40, never wavering, always proclaiming the blood of Christ and forgiveness of sins.
A star was the very thing that lead the wise men to Jesus. It's light shone brightly through the night and rested over where Jesus lay, radiating it's beauty, yet always pointing to where the true King was. When the wise men saw the star they knew it signified that there was a new King in Israel and that it was worth traveling to find him. When you gaze up into the dark night sky, where does your eye rest? In the blackness? No. On the light. In the brilliance of the white shining light that is incredibly beautiful. Lucy's name means "bringer of light" and we are always praying that she would bring truth and grace to the people she knows. So, this bright, shining announcement that salvation has come is a perfect symbol for our beautiful little girl.
Bells were part of the Jewish high priest's garb. Christmas bells not only symbolize the joy of Christmas; they also remind us that Christ is the High Priest who sits on the throne, praying in our behalf. They bring joyous music and the sound of a perfect bell is so pure. We pray for Olivier that he would be reminded constantly of the High Priest and that his message to others would be full of purity and beauty.
So, there you have it! Our "fireplace" and message stockings!! Now on to the trees!! Yes, I did say trees. Plural. The Glendenning fam had bought one right before the war hit and we all left. We have now inherited it and shall pass it along to the next STINT team to join us. Maybe that's a plug for anyone wanting to come out?! This fabulous tree could be yours!! :)
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| Elliot did much better this year than last and was super in the Christmas spirit. He loved decorating with all the pretty ornaments |
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| Keenan's deciding where the next one should go |
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| That snowman is the one that we made together at Denae's school 3 years ago. Still a favorite |
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| Our finished tree |
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| Placing the star on with Daddy |
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| Quick! Grab as many as you can!! |
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| Stringing up the lights on tree #2 |
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| Decorating |
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| Lucy didnt quite know what to think of it all |
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| Finished!! |
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| Elliot stretching to get the star on the tippy tippy top. I have to admit I did set him up to do this. He was a very cooperative little guy but mostly I think it was because he was a little obsessed with the stars and he got to hold the treasured sparkle star for a few minutes. |
Merry Christmas season to all!!!! I hope that you are staying warm and treasuring Christ in this time that can be so busy!
