Every time you hear a bell ring...

A few weeks ago, Hope & I put together a prayer experience for our monthly Mom's gathering at church. We wanted it to be a time to be quiet and contemplative amidst the Advent craziness. I wrote some devotional thoughts and activities for prayer stations based on some common things we see (and take for granted) this time of year. Since I've had a hard time slowing down myself, I don't have a new blog post, so I thought I'd share some of the thoughts from that night. The first is about Christmas bells.


"Ding dong merrily on high,
in heav'n the bells are ringing”


“Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells,
all seem to say throw cares away.”



“I praise the true God, I call the people, I assemble the clergy;
I bewail the dead, I dispense storm clouds, I do honour to feasts.”
Common inscription on medieval church bells

Bells play a big role in Christmas celebrations: many carols mention them, Salvation Army volunteers ring them, Clarence says every time we hear one, and angel gets his wings, and Santa & his reindeer are supposed to have them on the sleigh. But what does any of that really have to do with Jesus?

In church history, bells are traditionally rung when someone dies, and it is said that they ring out on Christmas day to celebrate the birth of our Savior and the impending death of Satan and sin.

Bells have also been used for centuries to announce the beginning of worship services in churches all over the world. Some say this began to call sleeping monks to prayer. At Christmas time, perhaps the bells ring to break the slumber of those long-awaiting the coming of the Messiah.

There is only one real reference to bells in scripture. God told Moses to include bells along the hem of the robe worn by the high priest Aaron: “Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he will not die.” Exodus 28:35

Hebrews 7 tells us that Jesus is now our High Priest, and that His sacrifice made all others unnecessary. How appropriate that we ring bells to celebrate the time when our High Priest stepped out of Heaven to join us on earth and offer the ultimate sacrifice!

Ask God to help you hear reminders of His gift of victory over sin
every time you hear a bell ring.

Photo by Karen Barefoot, from stock.xchng

Ni Hao and God bless...

This morning, Little Sister and I were watching an episode of The Wonder Pets we had saved on our DVR. We were doing this because Big Sister was eating the last piece of Nana's yummy coffee cake. Whenever Little Sis sees anything yummy, she becomes determined to eat it. She'll say, first sweetly, "Cake! Nummy nummy!" but if there is any sort of delay her voice gets gruff. "CAKE!" she will half-bellow, half-growl. Offering anything else as an alternative is futile- it will be thrown from the high chair until she gets her "nummy nummy."

SO, since there was only one piece of CAKE! left, and since Little Sister has already eaten her weight in it this weekend, we let Big Sis have it. In secret. While Little Sister and I watched tv in the other room.

After Wonder Pets was over, Moose A. Moose led us through a matching game, and there was a short clip about Max & Ruby celebrating Thanksgiving. (This was when I realized that Daddy had selected an episode from the DVR, since surely Noggin would not be this behind in their programming).

After that came a "Say it two ways" segment with Kai Lan. We looked at a yellow hat and she told us that in English we say "hat" and that in Chinese it is called a "Mao Zi."

And then, clear as a bell, Little Sister said, "Bless you."

Song for Sunday: everything

I sang this tonight at our evening service of Christmas music.

A Baby Changes Everything
written by Wiseman, Wiseman & Nichols
performed by Faith Hill

Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything
Not a ring on her hand
All her dreams, and all her plans
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

The man she loves she's never touched
How can she keep his trust?
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
And she cries, oh she cries

She has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows, she can't stay
A baby changes everything
She can feel its coming soon
But there's no place; there's no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
And she cries, oh she cries

Shepherds all gather round
Up above, a star shines down
A baby changes everything
Choir of angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King"
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

Everything, everything, everything
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!Hallelujah!

My whole life has turned around
I was lost, but now I'm found
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

WINNER!

Before I announce the winner, here is how she/he was selected...

I numbered your comments on the giveaway post 1-7 (throwing out my comments in between). Next the comments on the "pitiful" post made up numbers 8-14. Then I went to random.org and put in 1 and 14 for the min & max. The first random number generated was...

...2...

...which means the winner is...

Hope!

Congratulations! Your prize (two fun little items from Coyote Cove, an Envirosax shopping bag, and yummy chocolate from World Next Door) will be delivered soon (probably by me since I will most likely see you in the next few days, but I promise this is a legitimate random winner).

I hope you enjoy it!

Oops!! Giveaway Reminder!

I was supposed have already picked a winner for my giveaway.

But I hate to end it without one last little reminder...

SO- I will be assigning numbers to all of the comments and heading over to random.org TONIGHT at 11:00 PM EST.

Be sure to head over to this post and leave your comment.

Even if the gifts don't sound like things you'll use (although, really, who would pass up chocolate?!) they make great, socially responsible, stocking stuffers.

I'll post a winner sometime tomorrow morning.

For better or worse...

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days! I'm still working on the results of my giveaway, about which I'll be posting soon. But in the meantime, Monday was a special day in our house...



It has been seven years since my hubby & I said, "I do."

I've always heard things about the seventh year of marriage- how hard it is, how it is often a time when people break their vows with infidelity or divorce.

If the year before one's first anniversary is the first year of marriage, then I suppose this has been our seventh year. I don't know if that's how they* count it, but it makes sense to me.

And you know what? This has probably been one of the roughest years for us. Call it self-fulfilling prophecy, or coincidence, but the social sciences student in me says that sometimes the evidence speaks for itself. The seventh year, for people like us (and I am guessing there are many) is hard. Just look:

We have two kids now, neither one in school full-time. We're living on one (and a quarter) income. We are not close (in proximity) to our family for support. We have lived in our home just long enough for things to stop working and cost us time and money to fix, but not long enough to have finished the minor renovations we've been working on since we moved in. We have the stupidest (though dearest) pets on earth. We have very little time without responsibilities to our job, children, home, church, etc. and when we do, we have too much media all around us demanding our attention away from what actually matters.

Aaand... We both turned 30 this year. I think this one is one of the biggest factors. We've started to evaluate our lives differently- asking things like "what am I doing that is meaningful and will make a lasting impact? How does this thing I am doing/buying/watching/whatever(!) actually matter?"

And then you realize that as a thirty-year-old with jobs and a mortgage and two kids and pets and car payments that you (and by you I mean me) are a little, well, settled in. And on a really bad day, some might even say stuck.

For many, the reaction to all of this is wanting out. They think that their dissatisfaction is about who they married or what that person has become. They think of the things they could have done and resent the direction their life has actually taken. They look for someone else to blame. And then they look for something new.

I know that sounds harsh- not exactly the kind of thing they put on wedding invitations or anniversary cards. But I think that people need to know this sort of thing happens more than we'd like to admit- especially in the church. Otherwise, people use movies and fairytales as a comparison. And then they think they are the only ones in the world to ever wake up one day and feel like all the sparkly-sappy-love-magic has rubbed right off, or that it is a "sign" that something else is out there, because surely there is truth to that whole "happily ever after" thing...

And there is... but it's a lot more about the "ever after" part than we make it. And it's more about frame of mind than magic sparks or good things happening.

I can only speak for myself, but after lots of heart to hearts with my husband on this matter, I'm pretty sure he feels the same. We've come to realize that in many of the moments when we are angriest with each other (and there have been many) we are really angry with ourselves. We are both the most wonderful and terrible of idealists. This means we have big dreams, and sometimes even bigger disappointments.

It has taken us seven years, and it will probably take us 70 more, but slowly we are finding ways to furiously pursue some dreams and to wait contentedly while others drift just out of reach. We are praying for patience with each other and with this stage of our lives. We are praying for courage and wisdom to obey God and have right priorities. We are trying to break bad habits. We are trying to write a meaningful story (or better, yet, to allow the Author & Perfector of our Faith to write one for us.)

It isn't about wanting out. It has become about looking in.

See, changing partners when things get tough isn't the answer. It's not even close to being the answer. It's like changing socks when your feet stink. It might feel better, or fresher, at first. But pretty soon, the stench is coming back. Because it wasn't the socks that were the problem. At least not all on their own.

And sometimes, in the seventh year of marriage, life stinks. We went from celebrating our anniversary in New York two years ago to celebrating in Olive Garden with our kids. And we chose that because it had been more than a week since we were all together in the evening.

Life can be stressful and exhausting. And if I expect my husband to be the antidote to a crummy life, he surely will fail. And then our marriage will follow suit.

But if I expect him just to be my companion, or -even better- my chance to sacrificially love & serve someone like Christ does me (like in Sacred Marriage), we just might make it after all.

So...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, honey.

I love you more today than ever before. Not just the cute-and -nauseating-magic- ooey-gooey kind of love, but the deeper-more-powerful-weathered-the-storms-strong kind of love. Thanks for putting up with me on those days I forget everything I've articulated above. You're all I could ever hope for in a husband and more.








*I don't really care because I don't even know who they are...

Daddy the DJ and Big Sister's Stage Debut

This past weekend, Daddy & Big Sister performed in our church production of Uncle Phil's "No Room at the Diner." It was a cute interactive dinner theater set in the 1950's.


Hubby played P.J. the dj. He did a great job with a huge part, and looked cute in his white t-shirt and black leather jacket. I did have big crushes on Danny & Kenickie (okay, and maybe the Fonz a little, too) when I was a little younger.


Big Sister helped out in the "improvised" Nativity towards the end. She was dressed as an angel and sang the first line of "Away in a Manger" until the rest of the group joined in. She was darling.

She loved being a part of the production. After her part last night (the third performance) I waved at her and held my arms out to hug her and invite her into my lap. She waved at me, then proceeded to walk right past me, to the spotlight platform. Apparently, at every other performance, she sat with Mr. Tony. I think that was about as much a part of performing for her as actually being on stage. Mommy would have to wait until afterward, with the rest of the fans.

She became such a part of the cast that I started (lovingly) referring to her as the mascot. People in the play that I didn't even know she knew were coming up to her, patting her on the head, teasing her and asking her if she wanted to go with them to play. She ate it up.

She even got some of them to help her collect all of the fake snow- a challenge I gave her to help pass the time while she waited on Daddy while he helped strike the set.

Daddy & Big Sis ought to be very proud of themselves. They also ought to be exhausted. In fact, Big Sister is napping away as I type this.

Maybe she'll take a few more naps this week... hmm...maybe we should sign her up for a few more productions!

For all of you relatives wondering, the "official" video camera ran out of batteries (I know, right?!) but there were a few other families taping the show. We'll try to round up a copy to bring to Ohio for Christmas.