Christmas Creed

I believe in Jesus Christ and in the beauty of the gospel begun in Bethlehem.

I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the world, in towns both large and small.

I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could find no room, and I confess that my heart still sometimes wants to exclude Christ from my life today.

I believe in the one who the rulers of the earth ignored and the proud could never understand; whose life was among common people, whose welcome came from persons of hungry hearts.

I believe in the one who proclaimed the love of God to be invincible.

I believe in the one whose cradle was a mother’s arms, whose modest home in Nazareth had love for its only wealth, who looked at persons and made them see what God’s love saw in them, who by love brought sinners back to purity, and lifted human weakness up to meet the strength of God.

I confess my ever-lasting need of God: The need of forgiveness for our selfishness and greed, the need of new life for empty souls, the need of love for hearts grown cold.

I believe in God who gives us the best of himself. I believe in Jesus, the son of the living God, born in Bethlehem this night, for me and for the world.

- Anonymous

Confidence

John Piper had this to say on his blog this morning, and it was something I needed to hear this morning!

J. Gresham Machen, one of the great proclaimers and defenders of the Christian faith in the early 20th century, went through a season of fearful doubt on his way to solid confidence. Remarkably, it was his mother who spoke one of the decisive words of rescue. He tells the story:

The question is not merely whether we can rest in our faith, but whether we can rest in the doubt that is the necessary alternative of faith. We pass sometimes through periods of very low spiritual vitality. The wonderful gospel which formerly seemed to be so glorious comes to seem almost like an idle tale. Hosts of objections arise in our minds; the whole unseen world recedes in the dim distance, and we think for the moment that we have relinquished the Christian hope....

My mother [spoke to me] in those dark hours when the lamp burned dim, when I thought that faith was gone and shipwreck had been made of my soul. "Christ," she used to say, "keeps firmer hold on us than we keep on him."

My mother's word meant...that salvation by faith does not mean that we are saved because we keep ourselves at every moment in an ideally perfect attitude of confidence in Christ. No, we are saved because having once been united to Christ by faith, we are his forever. Calvinism is a very comforting doctrine indeed. Without its comfort, I think I should have perished long ago in the castle of Giant Despair. (J. Gresham Machen: Selected Shorter Writings, 561)

Happy Thanksgiving!

A friend and I talked about getting together to do a Thanksgiving craft or make cookies or something. When I emailed her a link to the centerpiece I was thinking of making, we were both amazed to find out it was the exact project she was planning on making! So we got together, the kids played, and we chatted while we worked on our centerpieces, and here's a picture of how mine turned out.

May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

God of Wonders

As a side note to our downtown ballet outing, I wanted to mention that after we left the ballet and walked back to the van, I started looking for my parking ticket. I felt a sinking feeling as I realized I had left my wallet at the ballet! This is downtown Portland, and like any downtown, it has lots of people and plenty of panhandlers looking for a handout. I called my hubby, and he dashed back over to the ballet for me since he was closer. I just knew it was gone for good...I'd have to pay the full amount of my parking ticket, call all my credit card companies, stop payment on the check I hadn't yet deposited, and say goodbye to the small amount of cash I so rarely have in my wallet.

As I was hurrying my kids back down the stairs and elevator to the ballet, I caught site of my son praying for me and my wallet and my daughter kept patting my arm and reassuring me that it was going to be fine because she knew God would keep it safe for me (yes, they knew I was upset because I was on the verge of tears...what can I say, I'm a girl!). To my utter amazement, my hubby called me within a couple minutes to say he found it right where I left it, apparently untouched!

The Lord was very gracious to me, indeed! He not only kept my wallet safe, but He allowed me a sweet glimpse into the hearts of my children that I don't often get to see.

He is Risen!

I hope you all had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday! We were blessed to have my mom visiting from California this Easter, which made it special for us. We traditionally make Resurrection Cookies Saturday evening, but though the story is neat and opening the oven door Easter morning to find hollow cookies is fun, we don't really like to eat them and end up throwing them away.


This year I decided to try a new recipe for Resurrection Buns, and we loved them! I made them Easter morning and served them with scrambled eggs and bacon, and they were a hit! It was fun to open each one up to see if it was hollow (they all were!), and it was even more fun to eat them...yummy!

Most importantly, it's incredible to know and celebrate that Jesus' tomb was truly empty some 2,000 years ago!

Christmas Cheer and Crisis

We had an especially good Christmas this year. I can't really put my finger on why, especially since so much of what I had planned didn't happen. Hubby had an emergency at work that began Thursday afternoon and lasted for three and a half days, and he got only seven hours sleep in 91 hours (I only had 11 hours sleep). We didn't get the gingerbread house done (for the second year in a row), we didn't have the usual homemade cinnamon rolls or dinner rolls, we had salad out of a bag (gasp!), we skipped some crafts the kids wanted to do, and the house wasn't sparkling clean like it usually is by Christmas Eve.

What I do know is that we worshipped God. We were grateful. We shared the gospel with our neighbors. The kids and I had opportunities to serve Daddy and minister to him. We weren't sure we'd be able to have him home Christmas Day, but we did and were so thankful for that. We had a warm and dry house to celebrate in. We were all healthy (despite lack of sleep). We rejoiced in knowing Jesus. We even had some snow! It was a memorable Christmas, and I know hubby and I will remember it fondly in years to come.