Christmas 2013 (Part 1)

I've always looked forward to Christmas. As a kid, i could barely wait until Thanksgiving was over before I started begging my parents to let me put up the Christmas tree. All the memories those ornaments brought rushing back... fun times! Now, as an adult, I am have spent the last 7 years decorating the church for Christmas, too! I love seeing the faces of everybody that first Sunday morning when our 12 foot tree is standing in the main hallway and the decorations in the sanctuary. This year, my "partner-in-crime" and I made 2 new banners to decorate the sanctuary walls.

Our main tree

In the Sanctuary

Last year was the Christmas that wasn't... The day before we were supposed to go to my brother-in-law's house, I got so sick. Not wanting to spoil the holiday for anybody else, I told my hubby to take the kids and go with his parents. I would rest better alone and didn't want to get anybody down there sick. It was a cold, lonely Christmas with an empty house. No visitors because I was sick. And no energy to do anything more than lay around watching movies.

This year was so much better! Other than a minor case of the sniffles, we were healthy enough to go to my parents to celebrate with them and my sister's family. We got there Thursday night and the kids ran off with their cousins to plan a Christmas Program. They only had about 3 hours (minus supper) to practice. We had a Hess family traditional supper of soup (Corn Chowder this year) and appetizers (pigs in a blanket some with cream cheese and jalepenoes). And then it was time for the program. All 4 of my sisters kids (youngest to oldest) each played a Christmas song on the piano. Then, in full costumes, Her oldest was the narrator, her youngest two played Joseph and Mary, Her middle one and JR were shepherds, and my girly was an angel. After their reading of the Christmas story from Luke 2, they sang 2 Carols each with a solo.

Opening presents brought many laughs! My kids had a "Christmas Store" at their school this year. Everything is a dollar. They went to the store and no parents were allowed to help. Each gift was picked out by the child, and wrapped by a helper. My mom opened her gift from JR first. He had given her an orange squeeky pig shaped dog toy! My parents don't have a dog!!! the ironic thing was, my parents were dog-sitting my brother's dog, so JR said it was so grandma could play with Dobee when he was at their house. We all laughed so hard we cried! (You had to be there to truly understand!) Then my dad opened his gift from JR. He received a little California Raisin figure... JR's reasoning was because Grandpa already had 3 in his toy box so he needed this one, too! :) ( original's were on my sister's birthday cake when she was a teenager.) 

Grandpa has a singer, a sax player, a guitar player (I think) and his newest is the one on the skateboard. Image from http://www.thecaliforniaraisins.com/pages/toy.html

The rest of the presents weren't quite as humorous, but all wonderful gifts. To end the evening, I had been given 11 board games/activities from a friend. My dear hubby had suggested wrapping them and then using them like "White Elephant Gifts". We started with the youngest kid, he picked the first game and opened it. We went up to the next, and so on, until all were opened. Games like Don't Break the Ice, Scrabble Jr, Whack a Mole, Cranium Whonuu, Cranium Cadoo, Trivial Pursuit Jr and Activities such as a magic kit and K'nex Roller Coaster. We played several games that night.

Christmas Day was another fun family day. The kids played dress-up and with many of the new games. Galen fixed my Kindle. And then after a wonderful lunch of Roast Beef and the fixings (including lefse) we bundled up and enjoyed the warm weather sledding at the Old Mill State Park. We used to do this nearly every weekend when I was a kid, so it was a blast to take my own kids. My daughter is much like me, not crazy about the speed going down the hill. Instead she parked her self by a tree near the bottom of the hill and hosted "Tree TV", interviewing the sledders when they reached the bottom. JR loved going down the hill... his little legs struggled with the trip back up, but he made it up and down the hill for an hour! Went back to the house for Cocoa and Christmas goodies. Everybody played more board games after supper. All except my poor hubby who had to go home to be to work the next morning.

This post has gotten long, so I'll share the rest of our memories later. Thanks for sticking around! :)

S.O.A.P. Journaling: Luke 8:42-48

Our church started going through the book of Luke chapter by chapter since our kick-off Sunday in September. My choice in passage comes from our reading that week and is something that just hit me differently this time.

Scripture: As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years, but no one could heal her. She came behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, I know that power has gone out of me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Observation: Crowds are just that, crowded, pushing against each other. I can imagine myself as the woman, believing so much in this man in front of me that if I could just touch his coat I’d be healed. He doesn’t need to see me. I’m not worthy of him. And the moment I touch him, I know in my heart I am healed and I feel like I may have gotten away with something. Only, I am stopped by his words. “Who touched me?” To be so full of power that he could tell that my touch was different from all the others around him. She bared her soul to him, all the years of sickness and pain. Expecting anger or disgust because this unclean woman touched this man, making him unclean according to law, instead she received love and acceptance. He called her “Daughter”. He saw her, really saw her, as she had always hoped to be seen. She had so much faith in this stranger, she trusted in him fully. I can imagine feeling the peace because of his words... whole again…

Application: I have my own issues that I’ve been dealing with for years: depression, sleep apnea, joint/back pain, and obesity, just to name a few. I know he can heal me with just a word, just a touch. I need to let go of my control and let him be in charge. I need to stop depending on man to fill my needs because man will fall short. I need to trust God and have faith that he will provide for all my needs: physical, emotional and spiritual.

Prayer: Lord, teach me to have faith like the woman in the crowd. Show me I can trust in you when mankind has failed me. Help me in my unbelief.

Describe your Sundays as a child.

Sunday's were so wonderful growing up. For a number of years, we attended the little country Baptist church where my grandpa was the pastor. The congregation was tiny. It mostly consisted of my family of 6, both sets of my grandparents, 2 sets of Great Aunts/Uncles, and one or two older ladies from the neighborhood. Mom played the old pump organ and my Grandma would prepare the communion bread cubes and grape juice. I don't remember many sermons, but I remember watching Grandpa speak with such passion!

As we kids got older, Grandpa and Grandma would spend winter's in Texas so my parents decided it was time for us to start going to Sunday School with other kids. So, we switched to Newfolden Evangelical Free Church. I Remember 4th Grade with Peggy as teacher... and 5th-6th with Bob. Then it was time for Bible Instruction Class with Pastor Eveland. Since this wasn't the town where I grew up, I got to meet so many wonderful friends, many who are good friends to this day.

Being a farming family, very few Sunday's Dad was able to join us. Chores always had precedence... as they reminded us often, the cows can't wait. Mom would have Sunday Dinner started so when we got home from church Dad would have the potatoes ready to go.

But my favorite memory of Sunday's as a child was going to Grandma's about 2:30 in the afternoon. We would grab a container of cookies or a pan of bars and drive 1/4 mile down the road to Grandma's house. 2 of my Dad's sister's families would arrive for the afternoon. The grownups would sit around visiting (men in the living room, women in the kitchen). The women would put goodies on the table while the kids were off playing. The younger kids found Grandma's toys in the spare bedroom while the older ones would sit around in Grandma's room visiting. If the weather was nice, it was a treat to go out to the bunk house and play with all the old toys that were out there. We'd be gathered around the kitchen table for afternoon lunch when the time was right... and then go home for evening chores.

We never left Grandma's hungry. These goodies kept us going until after chores. Supper time was a relaxing time. Everybody could heat up there own leftovers. But more than once it was a night for sitting around watching the Sunday night Disney movie with a huge bowl of butter popcorn.

Women of Faith 2010 "Over The Top"

Just thought I'd share my notes from the conference.



The key verse this year is Romans 11:33 taken from The Message: "Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God..."



The first speaker of the weekend (and one of my absolute favorites) was Patsy Clairmont

* "Solomon has a heart of humility which pleases God" but having a haughty heart does not please God
* Don't marry a man to reform him... that's what reform school is for! (love her sense of humor!)
* If somebody is hurting me, ask God, who am I doing that same thing to?

Next came everybody's favorite, Andy Andrews, who Patsy lovingly referred to as Tigger on steroids!

* I read over the weekend his book "The Noticer". A lot of what he shared over the weekend was in this book. He bounced around all the time (physically but also in what he was talking about) so it was hard to take really good notes on him.
* He spoke about Jones, the man who turned his life around, Jones was the Noticer. He helped bring perspective to Andy's life. Perspective brings calm, calm brings ideas, Ideas are where God reveals His answers
* One of his 7 principles is to seek Wisdom: one way is by our associations - we should be just as concerned about who we hang out with as we are about who are kids hang out with. Another way is in our viewing - what are we listening to, watching, reading?
* He said the worse thing for you is to have friends who accept you for who you are. A true friend will hold you to a higher standard. They should love us as we are now, but push us to be better, to become who God wants us to be...
* He also shared what I consider his interpretation of the Love Languages:

1. The Canaray - is quality time, you don't have to talk to them, or pet them... they are happiest when you are sitting in the same room just listening to them sing.
2. The Puppy Dog - is words of affirmation, feeding isn't necessary, petting isn't super important, but when you talk sweetly and say "good puppy!" they are so happy their whole body tends to wag!
3. The Goldfish - is acts of service, talking to them doesn't matter, and neither does petting, they are the happiest when you clean their tank, feed them and straighten their castle
4. The Kitty Cat - is physical touch, they don't care if you talk, they don't need you to feed them (they hunt!) but if you pet them, their little motors start running (in fact they often go out of their way to touch you!)



Patsy spoke again Friday afternoon.

* She referred to wisdom as being skill in living
* God has designed us with a will stronger than any emotion we may have
* We need to create boundaries on our emotions so they don't rule us. She referenced Proverbs 29:11 A fool lets it all hang out; a sage quietly mulls it over.
* Sarcasm is Anger gone underground and come up in a clown suit!
* Next we need to Harness our thoughts. She referred to the 3 R's: Refuse (bad thoughts), Replace (with something worthy) and Repeat
* Next we need to minimize your words. Don't say too much to too many
* Lastly she said we need to take a first step: she gave an example of how she gave up caffeine, anti-depressants and smoking

Andy spoke again Friday afternoon

* Another principle is Anger resolution = forgiveness. Forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion. If we make good decisions our emotions will follow
* Forgiveness has to do with the past and us/Trust has to do with the future and them
* We cannot be who we want to be when we hold a grudge on ourselves
* A conscious choice is not a mistake. A mistake is covered by grace and can be reset. A choice causes true sorrow and forgiveness is the only thing that can reset things. Even with our kids, it is important to ask them for forgiveness when we make a bad choice that effects them.
* Another principle is chose to be happy/grateful. Hard to be grumpy when you are smiling
* He also shared a story about the Butterfly effect... how the actions of one person 150 years ago has saved the lives of 2 billion people and counting...

Friday night We had a brief introduction to all the speakers. Anita Renfroe sang her MomSense song. Lisa Welchel, Mandissa, Marilyn Meberg, Sandi Patty, Patsy and Andy were introduced.



Nicole Johnson did a drama about the best Christmas Present ever: her Label Maker... this drama shared how we label people to help us keep our lives in order, but those labels can hurt others... fat, ungodly, lazy, loud, etc...



Anita came back on. Hoping for more comedy than her singing, but enjoyed it all :)

* She showed her Wrinkled Ladies song,
* Her version of Romeo and Juliet by Taylor Swift
* She talked about Wabi Sabi. Pared down to its barest essence, wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. She referenced 2 Corinthiands 4:16 from The Message: Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
* She has been doing comedy for 10 years, so she shared videos of some of her past successes... Any Kid of Mine, 50 Ways to Lose Your Blubber, are You Lonesome Tonight, Give me a vente Mocha, Her salute to Underwire, I can Smell You Breathe, Right now - before I eat
* Psalm 126:6 from the Message: So those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.

Mandissa sang some awesome songs, too... several of them brought us to tears...others made us dance! My Deliverer, You Wouldn't Cry, Broken Hallelujah... just to name a few



Saturday morning started with Patsy:

* She said the most important things during a crisis are Prayer and People

* God is enough - But he can work through his people. We can be His arms for a hug, His lips for an encouraging word, His ears just to sit and listen
* You have no idea the impact you make in others lives.
* Change can be good... it may not always seem so at first, that's where we have to trust God
* The greatest human need we have is connection
* NEVER GIVE UP

Lisa Welchel was so fun to hear! She shared a few video clips from The Facts of Life to explain to the younger ones in the audience who she was ;) And then she shared how hard it was for her to chose/make real friends.

* Be aware of their capacity for friendship... can they handle all the stuff you have to dump on them? Or are they the kind of friend that you would go shopping with but not share the deep stuff with?
* How do they talk about other friends when they are with you? That's how they would talk about you when they are with other people
* Run from those who appear to have it all together... NOBODY has it all together...
* We can connect better through our imperfections than through out perfections... she referenced Psalm 107... this whole chapter shares how God will fill the longings of our soul

Stephen Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth Chapman were next. His music was so moving... and their story so sad and yet amazing. A lot of crying and laughing during this part. Love "Cinderella"... but man did the tears flow!



We missed another drama by Nicole Johnson - she apparently did one about a woman who had an abortion but never spoke about it... all the shame and regret and sorrow... I bought her dvd so I can watch that one!



Sandi Patty came out and sang some more. Her vocal range is amazing! and I love how she includes the deaf people in the audience by using Sign Language on We Shall Behold Him



I love Marilyn Meberg. The more I hear her the more I love her wisdom!

* She shared the over the top solution to the "more" craving
* Life as it is, not as we wish it were... we will never have all our "more" needs met in this life.
* She shared a quote from Augustine: We are all restless until we find rest in God
* We've been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what's ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we'll never settle for less.

I'd love to hear what you got out of Women of Faith... And I'd love for you to come with next year! :)

Life goes on...

Well... its been one thing after another. My prince has been to New York, Miami twice, and Killdeer, ND in addition to other smaller places closer by... Its like being a single parent only not... So, I've taken the kids to my sister's, my parents, and the in-laws.

JR has 2 teeth on the bottom and the two top front ones are starting to show... maybe within the week... He is almost walking... he tries so hard to chase the Princess! So funny!

My princess has finished her first gymnastics class. She loved it so much! We decided the next couple months will be too crazy to continue class, so we'll wait until spring.

I joined the local YMCA... I really want to get back into a better shape than I am, especially since we hope to go to colorado this next year... we hope to do a bunch of hiking and stuff.

This has been a hard week. My prince had a vasectomy Thursday. We've decided two kids were enough especially since they were both c-sections. So the kids stayed at their grandparents for several days. But that's not the hard part (although I missed them a lot!) Thursday morning our Pastor and good friend was found by one of his daughters struggling to breathe. His oldest daughter gave him CPR until the ambulance got there. He went into a coma and never came out. The disconnected life support Saturday and Pastor Miller went to be with His Maker yesterday morning. He was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in April and had been handling the treatments well. This was very sudden and the doctors were not sure what caused his problems. The funeral will be Thursday. This is going to be so hard for his family as well as our church family. Please pray for us!

A lot of nothing

It seems like there has been tons going on since I logged on last, but yet it was a lot of nothing. The kids have been sick one after another... ear infections, respiratory infections, strep throat. I've been doing therapy for my bad back. The prince is still slaving away... and checking out other options... more on that as it develops!

The prince and I were able to get away for an evening to attend Larry the Cable Guy. I hate to admit it, but a lot of of it was really funny even though it was all picking on somebody's race, weight, politics, sexual orientation or gender... and even one gag where he teased about a "retarded" gang member. What does it say about our society that something like this is so popular? And what does it say about me???

We also got to go to my sister's house one weekend. They have 4 new bottle feeding lambs that we got to play with for a bit (one is crippled and they don't know if it will make it). It was my niece's 10th birthday party. After the party, M and her sisters T & E, had a gymnastics expo. The princess could hardly sit still and desperately wanted to get on the gym floor and do the routines, too. Looks like we'll have to get her signed up this fall...

I'm trying to lose weight again. Previously, I was a mentor at The Lord's Table (Setting Captives Free link on the side of my page) and had lost 35 pounds in a year. Its going to be a little tougher this time as I'm nursing still... but I have faith that God will take control of my eating again and I'll Gain more of Him as I lose some of me!

We also had JR's dedication at our church one Sunday. My folks and the Prince's folks were able to be there. A dedication is not an infant baptism. Its basically just praying for the baby and the family and the church promising to help the family raise the child up to know and love God.

Speaking of church, pray for my pastor. A couple months ago his wife admitted to having an affair with another member of our church. And just in the past couple weeks it was discovered that my pastor has a couple masses in his large intestine, colon, and near his bladder. They haven't found out if they are cancerous yet. The have 4 kids, the oldest graduates from high school in a couple weeks. Its an incredibly messy and stressful situation which I don't want to get into details about, but please pray for them all.

Brought tears to my eyes...

Women of Faith 2007 St. Paul

We decided to forgo the expense of the pre-conference this year, so we arrived Friday evening for the conference. We forgot to make note of the address for the Xcel Center and ended up half an hour late. The theme was Amazing Freedom and I was so excited to hear what they had to say. We missed a couple of the ladies intros, but made it in time to hear Nichole Nordeman's concert. I love her stuff! Its so beautiful and moving. I really need to get some of her songs.

Patsy Clairmont shared her story and some of her book "Living Lively through the Valley". Having overcome sever agoraphobia, she had some awesome Freedom stories to share. I was so busy laughing, that I didn't get any notes taken!

Saturday morning began with an awesome sketch by Nicole Johnson about Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. She was in her waitress character leading a Bible study. It was so funny! Her point was that we have the opportunity for a dramatic encounter with God. Let's not miss our opportunity!

Sheila Walsh opened by singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". She has tied together stories from The Wizard of Oz with her own life in her new book "God has a Dream for your Life". She says that God has a dream for our lives but our dreams are often for the wrong things. There is a huge difference between the American dream and God's dream. We are in pursuit of a fatally flawed dream. Freedom is not the absence of bars but the presence of Christ. Jesus hasn't come to get us through our prison but to live in us through it!

After break, Anita Renfroe cracked us all up! She did a couple repeats from last year (like her ode to underwire to the tune of that Josh Grobin song - You raise me up...) And then she did that new song from her Momsense album about all the things a mom says to their kids in a 24 hour period to the the tune of the William Tell overture. She shared that God loves to hear us laugh. And she showed us a picture that reminds her of our freedom in Christ: Its a picture of John F. Kennedy in the Oval office with his son, John JOhn, playing with toys under his desk. She says with God, we have the freedom to never be afraid of playing in our Daddy's office.

Man, I love Thelma Wells! She is an awesome woman of God who has been through so much! She shared Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." And how God got her through her time in the closet (due to child abuse) by singing every hymn she could remember. She said she always left the closet with peace instead of anger after finding freedom in those hymns. To find true freedom she said we need to feed on the Word of God and Wait on Him. (Some scriptures she referenced were Psalm 100:1, Psalm 119:105 and Psalm 27). She reminded us that Jesus is a friend better than any other and He will be there when nobody else would. After sharing about a time of trials and disappointments, she said that you can beat yourself up for 15 minutes but then you need to let go and let God help you move on. She also reminded us that we need to study the word and Cherish our friendships. How can we expect to find healing when we hold grudges...

Nicole Johnson came back after the next break with a sketch about a girl who is a "cutter". What a powerful sketch! Sometimes I forgot there was only one person on stage as Nicole's voice changed to a more childlike tone when she pretended to be that girl.

Sandy Patty gave a concert next. Her vocal range is amazing. She shared a story of her dad when she was a child. Her dad let her and her brothers climb on the roof of their house and he would have them jump down to him. When it was Sandi's turn she was scared and he said to her, You are going to fall anyways, but if you fall backwards, I can't help you... if you fall forwards I can catch you. The same is true of our Heavenly Father. Due to our sinful nature, we are bound to fall no matter what we do, but if we fall away from Him, he can't help us. We need to Fall in to Abba Father's arms!

The show was paused for a few announcements... A woman shared with Mary Graham (the MC) that their pastor had just died that day! Not that the death itself isn't sad enough, but the saddest part is he was only 35 and left behind a wife and 3 kids (ages 5, 3 and 1)! It was so powerful to be in this stadium full of thousands of women all praying together for this man's wife and children as well as his church. No cause of death was shared. Not that the cause of death was important, but sometimes is easier to handle if you new this was expected (like cancer) or unexpected (like a car accident) especially since he was so young...

After the final break, Marilyn Meberg shared her story. She shared the lack of closure she felt at her husbands death from cancer and how she found a type of closure. and then she shared about her baby daughter (Joanie) who died 41 years ago and the lack of closure she has because she couldn't get her self to go to the hospital to say goodbye. She said we need to fully embrace every experience... we can't fully experience God without fully experiencing life... the good, the bad and the ugly. She said God is greater than our feelings and shared from Colossians 1:13-14, 1 John 1:9 and Colossians 2:13.

Nicole Johnson did a final sketch about Betrayal... Judas and his kiss.

And then Lucy Swindoll spoke. She shared something Dr Henry Cloud said at the pre-conference. He said, If you have seen the realization of a dream in the visible world you can be sure it started elsewhere. Nothing that happens in our lives is because of anything we do... its what God does though the things in our lives. She shared Galatians 5:13-16. Then she told the story of working for 18 years at a job she hated before the job she loved was offered to her. The change didn't happen because of anything she did. She finally gave it to God and asked Him to take care of it or take her home. When she finally let go, God took over. Her advice to us was to show up, shut up and let go!

Well, through this all I learned a couple things for myself. First of all, I realized I have a couple past relationships (primarily with ex-boyfriends) that I never had closure on. I think thats part of why those relationship still cause problems with my marriage. I don't know how to go about getting yet, but I need to find closure. Secondly, I learned there is nothing I can do to get the things I want in my life if they aren't the things God wants for my life. I need to ask my self am I seeking the American dream or God's dream for me and my family? I want a bigger house with this baby coming and I want DH to get a different job, but is that what God wants for us? I know I have to be content in all things... so I need to find a way to make this 616 square foot space work for a family of 4 until God choses to show us something else... and I need to trust that DH's job is the one he is doing right now until the right doors open. His boss isn't Christian or very respectful of anybody but himself, but maybe DH isn't supposed to leave until he has shown his boss who Christ really is? I don't know. Only God does and I'm choosing to trust Him.

Baptized into Christ

A friend and I have been making banners for our church for a couple years now. This is the first one we did.