I can hardly believe that today is the last day of 2009. This year has seemed to go by so quickly!

It has truly been a good year, with many new experiences, and many amazing opportunities to travel and see new places. It was not without its hard times and struggles, but God is faithful and good. Always! I can absolutely bank on that.

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The highlights of 2009 for me were:

• Working at the Nebraska Christian Home Educator’s Association children’s conference in March – pictures here and here (and spending several EARLY mornings at the church making scrambled eggs in our pajamas and taking power naps on the comfy leather chairs in the atrium!)
• Graduation from high school and my reception in May (and having thrilling wheelchair races down the hill in the church parking lot before my reception, and standing up on stage watching my relatives [dare I admit that I'm related to them?] make goofy faces at me and trying not to burst out laughing, and and listening to Pomp and Circumstance over and over and … :) )
• Being a counselor at camp for the first time in June (and talking to the Lord while standing out in the field looking up at all the lovely, twinkling stars, and scampering over to the basement of the chapel at 11 pm with my girls when the electricity in my cabin went out!)
• The Bright Lights conference trip in August (and practicing skit lines over and over, and tripping over camera men while dressed up as a horse, and late night snacks of yummy ice cream that was really frozen yogurt, so that means we could eat more of it, right?!)
• Serving at The Voice of the Martyrs in October (and frogs that didn’t have names and lambs named Felicia and crawdads named Bob, and fuzzy-wuzzy limey-green blankets, and sitting on gi-normous stacks of cardboard boxes, and throwing bouncy “world” balls to each other when the mail machine broke down!)

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My “theme verse” for 2009 was 1 Peter 3:15:

But in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord.

I haven’t found a theme verse for 2010 yet, but I’m praying that the Lord would give me one to focus on this year.

Tomorrow is a new day, a new year, and a new decade. And I can hardly wait to see what God has in store!

We had a rather, ahem, interesting Christmas this year – as a winter blizzard swept through, bringing snow, snow, and more snow, we pushed cars out of snow drifts … multiple times!

Our car, which is pretty much like taking a ballerina out on ice, got stuck too many times to count yesterday, as we were out testing the roads to see if it was safe to drive around the little town where my grandma lives. I don’t think it really was safe, but we did it anyway! :) Then on our trip home yesterday, we turned a 1 hour and 15 minute trip into like a 2 hour and 45 minute trip – we could win some sort of award for driving the slowest ever on the freeway.

Anyway, Christmas 2009 will be a day to remember ( the second White Christmas in a row! ) … and we’re about to go out again into the Winter Wonderland to make some more memories. My dad left for work this morning, and proceeded to drive into a deep snow bank and get his car stuck … very stuck … in the entrance to our development. :) We’re all going to go and push him out. (… “We could take the ballerina car to pull him out … Oh yeah, then we would just have ballerina and little Honda stuck. Nevermind.” …)

I’m off into the Arctic! Tata!

:: and big girls and harps, too ::

I edited this picture that I took of the Wilderness Church in Silver Dollar City a bit, and it turned out kind of cool-looking - like an old photograph almost.

One of our Christmas-time traditions is making home-made caramels every year. They are so good, and we send some to my dad’s work for his co-workers, and they always enjoy them. We made two pans on Thursday. Yesterday I made pumpkin bread and cranberry bread ( even though we didn’t have any orange zest. I left it out. :) ). Then, we made wreath cookies, with the cute little Red Hots that look like holly berries. 

What are some of your Christmas traditions in your family – maybe special sugary concoctions in the kitchen, or decorations that you always do “just so”, or special events with family or friends?

Gordon Mote is such an amazing musician, and even more so because he hasn’t let his physical limitations limit what he allows the Lord to do through him. One of my favorite songs sung by one of my favorite singers!

We spent a fun and very cold few days in Branson this past weekend. It was cold during the day, but it got sooo cold after dark! We decided that we could either stay in Silver Dollar City for a few more hours ( and get as much time as possible from our tickets ), or we could go back to the hotel and crank up the heat and get wrapped up in blankets. We decided on the latter option. :) I’m glad we did. The only way to stay warm in SDC after dark was to march around really fast, and that got old pretty quickly. :)

But we had fun, despite the frigid temperatures, and the few, ahem, mishaps we had on the way down … :)

:: one of the floats in the cute little parade that runs down main street every evening ::

:: so many, many lights ::

:: they really need to clean the mirrors in that place :) ::

:: the wilderness church, everything outlined in lights – so pretty! ::

:: the wilderness church, after moving the camera a bit while the picture was taking – kind of cool looking ::

Tomorrow, our family will be heading over to the little town where my grandmother lives, to spend the day with her. Each Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, a community center there hosts a meal for anyone to come and eat, and for at least the past ten years, our family has served there. We’ve served at the Thanksgiving meal once before, a few years ago. We’re taking my sister’s harp, and plan on providing background music for part of the time.

Drop a comment a let me know what you’ll be doing tomorrow!

I hope each of you have a blessed and joy-filled day! Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. 1 Chronicles 16:8

It is hard to enetertain a complaining and worried attitude when we choose to stay focused on all the blessings the Lord has graciously bestowed on us! May He work in us a spirit of thanksgiving and rejoicing all throughout the year!

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

:: Ten Things For Which I Am Very Thankful ::

1. God’s love - oh the rich and unfathomable depths of His love for us! “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”    (1 John 3:1)

    

2. Loving parents who care for me deeply and desire only what is best for me.
3. My sister who will do crazy stuff with me. I love her very much, even though she makes me do scary things that she claims are, ahem, (and I quote), “good for me”: like going into lumber stores by myself to get keys made – a very frightening experience indeed! [grin]
4. Health and strength - that I can get up in the morning and move around, go out running, and play the piano. Many people cannot do these things.
5. Lots of nice clothes, and more than I even need. This is a big one for me! [grin]
6. A lovely home.
7. Food – especially salads, fried eggs, Granny Smith apples with home-made peanut butter, whole wheat pasta with alfredo sauce and parmesian cheese, stir-fried peppers with fresh garlic…I could go on. :) I don’t ever go hungry.
8. My beautiful harp, “Shiloh” ( yes, it even has a name ). I still haven’t gotten over the incredible provision of the Lord to give my Shiloh to me!
9. Wonderful Godly friends, who are a great encouragement to me and are such fun to talk to!
10. Opportunities to go places and serve, share with, and minister to others – I am continually amazed at the Lord’s goodness in this area!

:::: What are you thankful for today? :::

I’ve shared the three resolutions I chose for 2008, and now I am going to share what the Lord has laid on my heart for 2009.

These are three areas in which I know I need improvement. I guess they could be called My New Year’s Resolutions. With the Lord’s help, they are going to change in this year.

1. Practice a more disciplined prayer life. Write prayer requests in my journal daily, instead of just praying for whatever comes to mind.  “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2
2. Be more sensitive in times of stress, such as when we are needing to leave for somewhere, to complete the necessary tasks, however unpleasant, in a quick manner. ” ‘What you are about to do, do quickly,’ Jesus told him.” John 13:28
3. Be more faithful in memorizing and reviewing passages of Scripture.  “Your statutes are wonderful;… The unfolding of Your Words gives light.”  Psalm 119:129-130

Here is a short excerpt from my journal on January 1, 2008:

Well, I can’t believe another year has passed! I’m excited to see what the Lord will teach me in this new year. My goals are:

1) To be more regular in setting aside time daily to spend time with the Lord.

2) To take over most of the cooking of meals for our family.

3) To continually take my thoughts captive to Christ, not allowing myself thoughts which are not pleasing to the Lord and which are not beneficial to myself.

What a blessing these resolutions have been to me this past year!

I can see now how much more meaningful my personal times of prayer and Scripture reading have become as I chose to put it above other, seemingly more “fun” activities! I have now read and studied carefully most of the New Testament. I chose not to read through the whole Bible during 2008, but to instead focus on the New Testament. I feel like I know my Lord so much better because of my commitment to regular devotional time, and I commit to trying for even more regularity during 2009.

I am overjoyed to share how much I have learned this year in the kitchen! After completing my final year at Logos Christian Academy in May, I really began to get to work on this resolution. My mother has been able focus on other things in the time she has not had spend in the kitchen. I am so grateful for the practical experience I have received in this area.

Lastly, in the area of my thought life. I practiced reciting verses of Scripture to myself when tempted to think about things which are not pure or lovely. In addition to the benefit of Scripture memorization, I know that the Lord has helped me to have better control of my thoughts because of my commitment and desire to please Him alone in this area. Praise be to my Savior!

In closing, I would like to a few verses that have been very meaningful to me this past year.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

2 Corinthians 9: 10-11

I have seen the Lord’s hand provide in so many miraculous ways this year! From my new harp, to orchestrating our wonderful trip out to Colorado this summer! I look forward to seeing His Hand at work in 2009!

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning;
Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord, great is Thy faithfulness.