Showing off the Christmas Jammies!!

 

More Christmas!!

 

Abby, who takes after mom in her love of all things crafty, got an art tote and a bunch of little doodads (pipe cleaners, puffy balls, google eyes, craft glue, acrylic paint, etc...) to go in it. Daddy decided it would be fun to wrap each individual thing so she had a LOT to open on that one!!!

Christmas PIctures!!

 

Christmas morning always begins with stockings...Sarah is checking out how the mechanical toothbrush works!!

 

This has been the most used Christmas present yet! It has been raining all day so riding the new bike Joe got was out and using the new rollerblades was out so most of the day was taken up playing WiiFit and shooting at each other with Nerf dart guns!! There are Nerf darts all over my house in wierd places but they had SO MUCH FUN!!

 

Bethany has shown an overwhelming interest in learning how to decorate cakes and use fondant so I got her a student kit for fondant. You can't beat the deal I got the day after Thanksgiving either, 50% off then another 20% off of that 50%!! I love a bargain!!

Celebrating the Miracle of Hannukah!!

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Deuteronomy 6:4

Tonight at sundown was the beginning of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. I am not Jewish and I don't pretend to be an expert on the feasts, but my family has celebrated Hanukkah with my best friend (who was raised Jewish) for many years. When they moved away to Florida one of the many things the children said they missed was celebrating Hanukkah. For them, it was more the latke's and playing dreidel with their beloved friends, than it was about the miracle of Hanukkah. That miracle cannot, however, be overlooked.

Here is the definition of Hanukkah from wikipedia.com:

"Hanukkah", from the Hebrew word for "dedication" or "consecration", marks the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by the forces of Antiochus IV and commemorates the "miracle of the container of oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil.

As Christians we are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. It would be wise of us to take pause at this time of year to reflect on the rededication of our bodies as a temple to the Holy Spirit and spend the next eight days taking stock of our spiritual stores, that we may not be caught unprepared when the Lord returns. (Matthew 25:1-13) How fortunate we are that God has seen fit to provide a miracle to us as well, in the form of a baby lying in a manger who came to pave the road to heaven by becoming the payment for our sins.

With this in mind, I celebrate and wonder at the greatness of a God who provided eight days of oil for His people, and who provides the even greater miracle of providing for the salvation of our souls through His Son Jesus Christ!!

So, Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!! Be blessed in this and the coming year!!