Good performances and Burnt Cookies

I've been mulling over a blog post for the last week. I talked to my sister about the topic, I said to my colleagues "I'm going to blog about this" ....and still I haven't blogged about it.

I think it's because the topic is just too boring - I'm even bored thinking about it...how can I think that you would want to read it.

Instead I have some fun pictures to show you of my girls' school Christmas program last night. I was so proud!!

Alison's class sang a rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas". Each of the days was a different Canadian thing including "5 Stanley Cups", "Three Caribou", and "One porcupine in a pine tree". Super cute. Here she is in the middle wearing the hockey jersey.

Hannah's class put together a John Lennon "war is over" presentation. Everything was kept a huge surprise for us. Mrs. P, Hannah's teacher, told the class to not tell us anything....so Hannah didn't. But let me tell you, she wanted to tell us so badly. Every day she came home she would say "mom, I want to tell you so much but I just can't." It was worth the wait. Before their performance Hannah came out in front of all of the parents (probably 500 people) and read an introduction. She explained about how during the holiday season soldiers who are stationed over seas will walk thru the villages singing Christmas carols using sign language. Hannah spoke so clearly, and slowly. I was so proud of her. As her class sang and signed I noticed Hannah's face change a little. She had found us in the audience!! So my mom and I decided we would wave at her the next time she looked in our direction. Just a few seconds later she looked, and we waved...and she couldn't help but smile so large. It was really cute. I don't think she expected it. And at the end of her performance she looked over at us again and my mom, and Tim and I made fools of ourselves and waved large arm waves. She was sufficiently embarrassed. We laughed and laughed.

And then there was Emily. Her first school performance. Her class sang "The Gingerbread Ran" to the tune of "The wheels on the bus". She knew all her lines. Can you tell that I wasn't with her the last few minutes before her turn? She looks a litttle bedraggled with her ribbon hanging loosely. I can't believe she goes to school now.....how did that happen?

So there you go....

One more thing...I decided to bake a little this morning with Emily and my day care kids. We had fun. But you gotta see the ridiculousness of what happened. I made chocolate chip cookies. The recipe made 6 dozen. I burnt the first two. The oven was set too high. Oh well, I thought, I've got four more pans to go...

The next two dozen were beautiful. I took a picture. I patted myself on my back. I planned on giving some away. Aren't they pretty?

And then some time during the pat on the back, and the picture taking, and the planning of sharing......this. happened.

Less picture taking next time. More timer watching. :)

Merry Christmas.

Binding our Wounds

My church is following a video series about the Fruit of the Spirit by Beth Moore. It has been so fabulous! I have learned a lot. I want to share with you one of the main points she discussed with us in this week's session. Beth talked about the importance of submission to God in our lives. Sometimes it is difficult for us to submit to Him because we have wounds from situations in our past that have hurt us deeply. God wants to heal us from our hurts. There is no need for us to be walking around with bloody wounds. It is important that we give God time to bind those wounds.
I think that many of us don’t know how to let God bind our wounds. Beth encouraged us to carve out time to spend with God to allow Him to do this for us. But that isn’t specific enough for me. I left Tuesday night thinking that I wished I could call Beth and ask her for a specific formula that I can plug into my own life and ba-da-boom ba-da-bing my wounds are bound.  I realize that the time with God would include prayer and reflection and time alone....still it seems a little confusing to me. As I was praying about this this morning a seminar I attended almost three years ago came to mind. It was a seminar taught by Shymala Krishnan about Praying for your Children. She shared with us a step-by-step guide on what our time with God can look like. I believe that we can use this “formula” during our time with God when we are seeking Him to bind our wounds.
Here it is:
1. Set aside some time to spend with God (it’s not about the quantity of time, but the quality of that time). Be intentional. Write it on your calendar. Ask your spouse to watch your kids. Make it happen. Jesus wants to take care of you. He wants to wash your feet. Let Him.
2. Prepare yourself: use whatever works for you to enter sacred space. For example: listen to worship music and follow along reading the words or singing.
3. Enter with thanksgiving: tell Him how glad you are to be in His Presence.
4. Clear the slate by confession.
5. Ask God to open your eyes to hear his voice. Ephesians 1:17-18. Ask Him to set the agenda.
6. Read scripture out loud.
7. Listen to the words. Ask God to use your imagination. Let Him tell you His thoughts. Be still.
8. Respond accordingly. Take the images God gives you and pray them back. If you don’t know what to pray, read Scripture and pray it back to Him. Repeat it verbatim.

One more thing: Beth had us think about the question “why do we have to keep our scars?” Why is it that our wounds can’t be bound and then disappear? She suggests when people doubt the goodness of God they can feel our scars and see our joy and know that our hearts have been healed because our wounds have been bound.
I hope that encourages you as much as it has encouraged me.