Whiter Than Snow

Christmas Eve was a mix of emotions this year. In the middle of opening presents with my family, Bear got a phone call from his dad. His uncle, Andy, had taken his own life. It's a very long, complicated story. This uncle is the one who Bear spent most of his childhood with on vacations, holidays, and just ordinary day-to-day life. It's the first loss that has hit close enough to make an impact for Bear.

Andy lost his wife about 4 years ago to a culmination of brain cancer and a life-long battle with myotonia. His two sons battle the same disease as their mother. Bear said it beautifully the other night when talking about it with me. "Andy wasn't a weak man. He was a defeated man." This is so true.

defeat: to overcome in a contest, election, battle, etc.; prevail over; to frustrate; thwart; to eliminate or deprive of something expected.

The enemy's lies overcame Andy in a battle this side of Heaven. It seems as if the enemy temporarily thwarted God's plans for that family. It feels as though we've been deprived of something expected...longer time with Andy. But God's still Sovereign. He's still on His Throne & He's still in control, no matter what our reality seems to be.

The day before Christmas Eve, I studied this passage in Isaiah and it has turned into my prayer for the Keeling/Ferguson/Parrish families.

"And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." Isaiah 35:8-10

I plead that the Lord will show them the way through their darkness and grief, that they will be protected from anyone or anything that threatens to devour them & their faith in this vulnerable time, for them to be rescued by the Lord and return to praising Him with singing & everlasting joy, and that their sorrow & sighing will not just go away...that it will flee away.

As I drove to Grandma & Grandpa Keeling's house on Christmas Night, I pondered all the events of the past 24 hours. The kids were asleep in the back and Bear had gone on before me, so it was just me and God. Snow began to fall and it didn't stop as I prayed for the family & all those I love. I turned the radio off as I tried to concentrate on the roads since it doesn't snow in Georgia. In the silence, He began to whisper a familiar tune in my heart.

"Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;

I want Thee forever to live in my soul;

Break down every idol, cast out every foe—

Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,

Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

It was the 5th & 6th verses that really spoke to me though.

"Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait;

Come now and within me a new heart create;

To those who have sought Thee Thou never said’st “No”—

Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

The blessing by faith, I receive from above;

Oh, glory! my soul is made perfect in love;

My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,

The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,

Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

That's the whole point of Christmas. Emmanuel, God with us. He came so that we don't have to live in defeat. Oh, I pray that God creates a new heart in all of the family and that the enemy doesn't prevail! I hope that this will not cause others to turn their backs on God but cause us to rush to His open arms and receive the blessing of faith that is ours in Jesus! He is able to wash this grief away and cleanse us from all bitterness, sorrow, guilt, or shame.

Bear was asked to read a passage of Scripture at the funeral on Friday. He was given Romans 8:31-39 and it fits so well.

"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Please join me in praying for our family this week and in the coming weeks as we sort through this attack. Pray for peace and restoration...two of our Lord's specialties.

Christmas Marathon 2010

The best thing about Christmas (for me, the Ultimate Christmas Lover) is that our's gets strung out over about 4 days because of extended family. This is a drudgery for most in the family but I like to soak it all up. Here's a brief synopsis of what I like to call "Christmas Marathon 2010".

It started out on Thursday, December 23 with Bear's mom. We went to Grandma's house and she had the whole day filled with fun things for the kids.

Jonah got to decorate Christmas cookies while I wrestled Esther Grace....

...followed by window painting while I was still wrestling. That is red icing on his shirt. I was smart and took his sweater off before the crafts began. Although, I'm not sure how smart it was seeing as he's outside in 30 degree weather and dressed for a pool party.

This was our moment of weakness. Yes, now you have proof that I'm not a perfect parent. (If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, click here for more details. Long story short- we don't do Santa.) Bear made the call that it was okay and Jonah was enthralled. It wasn't until the next day that he proudly stated that he had kept "The Secret" from his cousins, Charlie & Sarah with no difficulty. Could it be that he was completely caught up in the moment and forgot reality for just a second? I mean, give the kid us a break. It was a really good Santa.

Here's Jonah all dressed up in what he got for Christmas & proudly showing off his cookie creation. I have no idea who that kid is leaning into the picture. Grandma's neighbors came over to see Santa & I couldn't get a picture without him in it. The others were of him jumping in front of Jonah and/or blocking Jonah's face with his Lego set he got. I forgot to crop him out.

And I just hate myself for not getting a picture of Jonah & Esther Grace with Grandma! I was wrestling Esther Grace for the majority of the time because Bear had to work and got there after all of the crafty stuff was over. Come to think of it, he showed up right as we were putting food on the table. Hmmmmmm.....coincidence? I think not!

After Bear got home from work on Christmas Eve and we went down to my parent's house. I had forgotten to get a family picture the night before so it was the first thing we did at GB & Pop's.

Then I had to get a picture of Esther Grace's outfit since I didn't at Grandma's house.

She was more excited about the sausage ball than she was about taking a picture. I took full advantage of her love for pork.

This is Ryan...a.k.a. Cobb, my sister's husband. And those are his golf pants. Yes, I'm serious. Bear was totally jealous.

This is the complete ensemble.

Again, could hate myself for not getting a picture of the kids with GB & Pop but what can you do?

Christmas Day was filled with visiting grandparents. Or great-grandparents? I don't know what to call them. They were our grandparents but Jonah & Esther Grace's great-grandparents. It was my Nana's first Christmas without PawPaw but she seemed okay. She enjoys getting together with all the babies. I really did take pictures but my sister did something funky with my camera and we couldn't get the focus to work. All you really need to know is that my Uncle Dale bought Jonah a real Red Rider BB gun. A real one.

On December 26, we had Christmas with Bear's dad, Grammy & Papa. It was held at Uncle Josh & Aunt Allison's house, seeing as baby Jillian is due in about 5 days. We weren't sure if they could make it to Athens so we brought the chaos to them. Here are all the cousins waiting for their gifts. Ava (little one in pink), Sarah (red hair), Charlie (grey shirt), Jonah, and Landon (far right).

I have no idea what that is on Landon's head but I'm pretty sure it's just a spot on my camera. It looks as if he's been playing in a dandelion field. Esther Grace was probably into something she shouldn't have been. Either that or on my hip.

Esther Grace was thrilled that Ava was visiting from Ohio. She loves that girl!

Here's Jonah opening his present...luggage! I'm pretty sure it was a definite hint that they don't feel as though they see the grandbabies enough. Each child got a monogrammed suitcase with matching backpack. Trying to tell us something?

Jonah really liked helping his cousin, Sarah, make paper dolls. Aunt B helped out while Bear cringed in the corner. Don't worry. He was off playing with swords & guns in the basement about 5 minutes later. He gets it honest though- one of Bear's favorite shows is "Project Runway". Don't ask me why.

And I finally got it right! This is why our Christmas has to last 4 days. Because I actually remember on Day 4. Here they are from left to right: Landon (with the thumb), Charlie, Papa, Esther Grace (with the passie), Jonah (dead middle), Grammy, Ava (in lap), and Sarah (loving on Grammy). Did I mention that there are 3 more on the way? NOT FROM THIS BRANCH OF THE FAMILY TREE- just to clarify. ;)

Whew! I didn't even mention the snow! I'll post that later because God used that snow as a miraculous blessing in an otherwise hard weekend. Hope your Christmas was as full as ours!

My Little Angel

Jonah starred in his first big production this week. His preschool put on their annual Christmas play for the parents and while I have always considered him to be an angel, he officially got his halo on Wednesday.

Isn't he the cutest thing?

Here he's singing "Come On, Ring Those Bells" and he was just a ringin'....so much so that one of his jingle bells flew off and went into the crowd!

Here he's singing, "Happy Birthday, Jesus".

I filmed the whole thing and am including it here just because it's my blog and I can if I want to! :) He was very serious about his singing so he looks like some Nazi Angel. He was also very serious about "holding a bubble"- for my non-teacher readers, that's how you keep little ones quiet in the halls. They have to "catch a bubble" in their mouth. I also caught him being very serious about picking his nose but I tried to avoid it the best I could. The funniest thing was that when the chorus of angels was singing a funky "Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star", Jonah decided that there weren't enough verses. Everyone ends the song and he belts out as loud as he can, "SHIIIIINING..." but then quit when he realized he was the only one going to the 3rd verse. Doesn't he know that Baptists only sing the 1st & 4th stanzas? We only take advantage of all the verses if we're trying to exhaust an invitation. He's still in training. What was even funnier was the girl next to him turned and looked at him like, "How many times did we rehearse this?!" It was all I could do not to wet my pants as I struggled to hold it together.

Feel free to watch it when you have an extra 15 minutes or so (It's actually 14 minutes & 11 seconds long). Just ignore the narration done by Ouida. ;) And pause my player at the bottom of the screen.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

I got this from my friend, Amy, and had to share! I'm a bit jealous of Mrs. Jesus though...she got to have her baby while she was sleeping. No fair. Of course, I'm not even about to trade parenting woes with the mother of a Perfect Son. I can't even imagine the bath & bed times let alone trying to get ready for going to the synagogue for worship. At least it's not just Mommy messing up in the Keeling household- everyone gets to participate! I wonder what Jonah's answers to these questions would be....

Don't forget to pause my player!

Journey to Bethlehem

Our church goes above and beyond your normal live nativity. It's called "Journey to Bethlehem" and it's amazing! Plus, the ultimate bonus feature: everything's free. Everything. I had orignially planned on taking pictures of my kids with Baby Jesus but I forgot my camera when we walked through as a family. And they had fevers this weekend so I just took pictures on my shift as the "Baby Runner", a.k.a. "Bethlehem Stable's Midwife/Lactation Specialist". Here's a walk-thru to get you excited about next year...

 Roman soldiers greet you at the gates & question your motives for entering Bethlehem. Once they realize you're just lowly Jewish slaves, they allow you to enter...as long as you have enough shekels to pay your taxes.

 A quick note about those two above. See the Roman guard on the right? His name is Cody and Esther Grace is infatuated. She immediately recognized him when we walked through and turned the flirt on big time. I think she likes guys in uniform.

Here's the tax collector. He's the first guy you meet and your guide gives him your shekels (plastic gold coins you get when you get your group number).

 Real props are used whenever possible. These are real fish being roasted over the fire in the marketplace. All the sights, sounds, and smells of Bethlehem are as authentic as we can get. Rumor is there's an actual oil lamp from Israel somewhere in the city. I've yet to find it.

Here's a view looking down the marketplace. The sides are lined with various shops & vendors that you greet along your journey. Each booth helps point towards Jesus in some way, whether it be a form of prophecy fulfilled or just town gossip.

 This is the.....um....butcher, I guess? No, the tanner I think. Anyways, he talks about how he stays unclean because of his work and can't worship at the temple. It's an unending cycle and wouldn't it make much more sense to cleanse once and for all instead of time and time again. (Yes, that's a real deer hide.)

 This the cheese booth. They're making cheese by swinging goat's milk inside a bladder back and forth until it curdles. Yum.

 The blacksmith's booth...

 The bread booth where you get to taste freshly baked bread.

 I think this is the virgin's booth. She runs into your group as you go through because she is in a hurry to get oil for her lamp. As is Jewish tradition, the bridegroom builds a house. Only the bridegroom's father knows when the work is done and when the bridegroom can retrieve his bride. Until then, the virgin must keep her lamp burning as she awaits his coming.

 The winemaker talks about the strange star in the sky and is accused of sampling his wares a little too often. At least, he did last year. This year the script was changed to being hit in the head with one of his wine jars. I think it's because we're Baptist.

 The carpenter's shop. I'm guessing Joseph had the night off- you know, with the baby and all... Notice what they're building.

 The potter's booth is where they talk about how pottery is the closest work to God's on earth. They fashion the clay into a vessel and try it in the fire. If it cracks in the flames, it's not good clay. But if it is good clay, then it becomes strong and fit for a King.

 Bethlehem is filled with animals! Here are some chickens...one of the white ones is named Snowflake but I don't know which one.

 This is the Jewish home and it's constantly filled with children. The mother here has taken in so many visitors  because the city is so full. No place to stay here for us...gotta keep moving.

 Goats can be purchased for a mere 10 denarii. (That's more than a day's wages.) There's a whole lot of price gouging going on in the city tonight. And one of those goats's is Sugar. Again, don't know which one.

 The inn. Yep, you guessed it. No room. The innkeeper tells of a young couple that he lent his stable to because they were so tired and she was so close to her time. Wonder who that could be?

 This is the temple. See the menorrah and the table of consecrated bread. I'm telling you...authentic. This is Hannah and Simeon. Your group stops & hears Hannah's prayer thanking God for allowing her to see the Messiah.

 This is the best shot I could get of the shepards without using my flash and looking like the resident blogger.

 The angels appear before the shepards proclaiming Christ's birth. (Sorry for the blurriness.)

 You leave the shepard's field and find yourself coming upon a lowly stable where a star shines brightly to see......

....Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Jesus. He was SO sweet. His real name is Elijah and those are his real parents. He was such a good Jesus.

 And the real star of Bethlehem, Clyde the Camel. He nuzzles, gives sugars, and is by far the most well-behaved camel I've ever met.

 Okay, these pictures a bit out of order. This is the wisemen's tent.

 They come to worship Jesus while you admire Him at the stable with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

 Also known as, the three wise guys.

It looks like it's snowing in these pictures but the whole city's lit by fire and that's ash from all the wood fires around. Honestly, you don't even notice it when you're there but it looks like I was in a volcanic explosion or something.

The church does a really great job and I'm looking forward to next year! Hopefully, I'll remember my camera and can get pictures of my babies. You can only imagine the look in their eyes when they get to see Baby Jesus. It's almost as good as when they get to pet the camel.

Cookies & Cocoa

Tonight was Cookies & Cocoa with "You Know Who" at Jonah's preschool. I'm proud to say we survived relatively unscathed. We started out in the craft room making ornaments. Jonah made a gingerbread man...

...and a snowflake "for Esther Grace".

I was really proud of Bear. He got into it.

Then, we went into the snack room where Jonah got to make "Snowman Soup". I really want this recipe because it's like froo-froo hot chocolate (if hot chocolate could get any more froo-frooier).

Yes. That is powdered sugar. I'm sending the bag with him

tomorrow night when he spends the night with Pop & GB.

Up next? Make our family Christmas plate. However, "You Know Who" was in the room that you had to walk through to get to the family Christmas plate station. I held my breath and we pressed on. Thankfully, the cookie table was opposite the "You Know Who" station and we found ourselves completely engrossed in deciding which delicacy we would be trying after making our plate.

We made our plate (Sorry! No pictures...our fingers were all dipped in paint making fingerprint Christmas lights on our plate tree. Trust me. It's very cute!) and headed back to the cookies. I knew what would soon follow.

"Hey, Daddy! I want to get a picture with Santa."
"No, Buddy. Let's eat our cookies."
"But I really do," in a quiet little voice.
"No. Oooo! Look! Red, sparkly cookies!"
"See? Santa is real."
Yikes. That got me a look. I quickly intervened.
"Hey, Jonah. (I'm whispering because I don't want every pre-school parent sending me hate mail in Jonah's lunch bunch envelope.) Remember when we talked about St. Nicholas and how he helped people? (Nod.) Remember when we talked about how good people dress up like him now and help make people happy? (Nod.) That's why that man is dressed up like that. He's pretending to be St. Nicholas and he helps give to the poor and needy."

Jonah now probably thinks everyone that goes to school with him is on food stamps. What can I say? It's better than telling him how that man probably makes six figures in just two months out of the year. Add to the scene Bear stepping in to say that man probably enjoys taking advantage of little children's parents during a time of year where everyone's materialism exponentially increases instead of their selfless sacrifice of love and service in the Name of the person you are to be celebrating. Trust me. It wouldn't have been pretty. (On a side note: the "You Know Who" was really very good. I encourage everyone to visit the Lake Oconee Ritz Carlton and see him for yourself. Of course, I don't think that would be top on my list of priorities if I ever made it to the Lake Oconee Ritz Carlton...they have a spa.)

Bless him. Bear really was trying to be festive. I was very proud of him. And I was proud of Jonah for not pitching a fit. He was very grown-up about the whole thing.

We all enjoyed our cookies...um, some a little more than others.

Before you go posting comments about her

white dress, let me just say- that's what a

Clorox bleach pen is for.

Then we took family pictures together as a consolation. Well, we tried to take family pictures together.

I'm pretty sure she's stealing Jonah's cookie in this one.

Could someone please tell me why my children look be-you-tiful with their Daddy in every picture ever taken

but with me, we get this:

I don't know if that's panic in my eyes because we're

sitting 20' away from "You Know Who" or if it's

excitement that it's going so well. Either way, I look

like a deer in headlights.

A little better but Esther Grace is more interested in

her candy cane. (It matched her dress. She had to have it.)

And WHAT am I looking at?!

Jonah, the amazing jumping bean

Esther Grace is mad because her candy cane's gone.

Why can't I just have a normal picture with my kids???!!!

Anyways, after that Bear headed back to work and we drove around a little bit looking at Christmas lights. I was waiting on the candy cane to wear off before unstrapping her out of her car seat. We have a decorated tree at home that thanked me as soon as I walked through the door with her in a snoring heap.

All in all, it went well. Bear was glad we went as soon as he saw Jonah beam as he introduced us to every friend & teacher he saw. He even showed us where the bathrooms were "in case we needed them in anumerjincee". And don't you worry about Beanie being disappointed about no pictures. Bear promised him that on Sunday, we will be getting our picture made with Baby Jesus at Journey to Bethlehem and he's pumped! He has already cast a mini-series in his head about how he and Daddy "are going to 'scape from King Herod's evil soldjers and rescue that Baby so's no one can kill Him".

That's my boy.