It Was the Night Before Christmas...

Well, it was when I started this blog, but after helping my sister redesign her blog, it is officially Christmas.

Today, I met both my goals not leaving the house (except to get my last vaccination) and finishing another assignment for next semester (only 2 more left!).

The fact that Christmas is here is kind of surreal even though I have been trying to prepare my heart for it for weeks now. I watched The Nativity Story (one of my favorite Christmas movies) last night. Since Kristi and I have been reading through the Christmas narratives, it seemed to take on more weight and meaning as what we have been reading came to life. This holiday represents one of the most important events in history. It tells a story of God reaching down to man to fulfill His promises and make a way for His people to know Him forever. Jesus came to die. It was always the plan. Easter would not be possible without Christmas...BUT Christmas would not be so sweet without Easter. These two holidays that we celebrate are eternally linked together. God may have not commanded us to celebrate them, but I think it is good that we take the time to remember and reflect on them. God had Israel set up landmarks and special feasts as reminders in the Old Testament and He gave us the ordinance of communion in the New Testament. He knows how forgetful we are. Even though the world tries to secularize Christmas and Easter with commercialism and imaginary characters, the theological foundation still stands and these holidays give us an excellent opportunity to speak of the Hope we believers have.

The Sweetest Time of the Year

There are 3 days left until Christmas. Avoid the stores if you can. :)

My sister and I have been reading the Christmas story (Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2 & John 1) every day from different translations since the 16th. Between the two of us we have seven different English versions of the Bible (which goes to show you how blessed us English speakers are as there are many languages which do not even have one tranlation of God's Word). It has been cool reading them from these different versions (ranging from paraphrase to literal) because it makes you hear the story in new ways. We have also read through some of the prophecies in Isaiah that predict the birth of Christ.

These past couple of days I have been trying my hand at truffles. I used the dark chocolate truffle recipe from the back of the Ghiradelli chocolate chip package. It was a little messy, to say the least...

Let me tell you these truffles are very rich and very dark (60% cocoa). I tweaked the recipe some to take the edge off. Instead of using unsweetened cocoa to coat the creamy, dark chocolate filling, I coated some with nuts, some with crushed Oreos and the rest with either a rasberry hot cocoa mix or an extreme chocolate hot cocoa mix. I think the Oreo ones are my favorite.

Back in Fred, MO

I've been keeping the roads hot. Yesterday, I woke up in Louisville, KY, ate lunch & saw a movie with Sarah in Nashville, TN and picked up my sister in St. Louis, MO later that night. Now I am in Fredericktown until I pack up and leave for a much longer trip. :)

The Lord has graciously allowed me to pay off my credit card debt!!! The debt was a result of my own pride as I refused to ask people for help and/or take it from them when they offered it. God's way of providing for me was not my way, so I stubbornly and sinfully refused it. BUT thanks be to God that even in my ungratefulness, He provided ways for me to pay off the debt. I am so thankful that Christ gives us what we do not deserve!

...I own a Snuggie...

Haha. This is very ironic as I make fun of them hard core. My mom got two free with some purchase from a magazine, and she gave them to Kristi and me. Owning one has not raised their value in my eyes...the jokes will continue. This "blanket with sleeves" may prove to be a lifesaver, though, as my parents' house stays a cool 65 degrees or so. Burr. Just now, my mom just told my dad to turn the furnace down because "it's hot in here." I better find my Snuggie...

The Weight of a Moment

This semester is officially over, Christmas is quickly approaching and God's grace has abounded to me in ways I cannot even put into words. Even though I don't feel great, I have many reasons to rejoice in my Savior.

Also, the salvation of two people in my life weigh heavily upon me this evening. Oh how I want them to know Christ and to make Him known!

Earlier this evening I went to a Christmas party. The host read the Christmas story from Matthew 1-2 and we discussed the different aspects of the account that have impacted us or stood out to us. Someone reflected on how the reason that Jesus can be Immanuel ("God with us") is because He saves us (Jesus means "Yahweh Saves"). Someone else talked about the horror of the babies that were slaughtered by King Herod. I couldn't help but think of the weight of that moment in history. At that moment in time, God's long awaited promise came to fruition in the birth of Jesus Christ. I heard a song yesterday (by Chris Tomlin, I believe) about how the world was unaware that the Messiah was born that night. It's true. Only a privileged few knew that God's promised Savior had come into the world. The God of the universe came in the midst of obscurity.

I would like to share with you what is currently my new favorite Christmas song. It is called "Amen, Amen" and it is from Sojourn Music's CD Advent Songs. Click here to listen to it or click here to download the whole CD for free (which I highly recommend!). May your worship of Him grow deeper this Christmas.

Let every creature rise and bring
their grateful praises to our King
Angels descend with songs again
and Earth repeats a loud Amen

(Chorus) A-men, A-men
A-men, A-men
I found my life
I found my life in Him
A-men, A-men

Peace like a river from His throne
will flow to nations yet unknown
His Word a light where all hope is dim
and all tribes unite to cry "Amen"

Chorus

And in this Child we'll find our rest
and all the meek and lowly blest
An infant tongue could sing the hymn
of Hallelujah and Amen

Chorus

On My Way Out

I am preparing for my mass exodus from Louisville. My room is sort of a disaster zone with boxes stacked everywhere. This makes move number 4 this year. Crazy. Maybe I should just leave my stuff in boxes. :)

The Father has been so gracious in providing for my every need. He provided the amount I needed for South Asia. Some of the money came from what I had left over from a trip I took 5 years ago. The Lord's sovereignty takes my breath away. I used all but $2 of that money towards this trip. He sure knows what He is doing. :)

I got my flight itinerary the other day and am in the process of applying for visas. This is all starting to become a reality and I can't quite get my head wrapped around it. :) While in Missouri this week, I will get some of the immunizations that I need (or at least the first round of them). When I first checked the International Travel Center here in Louisville, I thought I was going to have to spend hundreds of dollars for vaccinations, but as the Lord would have it, my mom found out that I can get most of them for free in Fredericktown because Missouri considers them state vaccines. Missouri is just awesome like that. :) Seriously though, this is such a blessing and God continues to work out the details of my trip in little ways like that. I am thankful that He is a God who cares about the details!

A few weeks ago, we had a panel discussion in chapel about multi-site churches. It was very interesting and I had planned to post a reaction to it, but I lost all motivation, but you can listen/view it by clicking here. :) In short, I agree with the majority. I have seen hundreds come to the Lord through multi-site. God can use whatever means He wants. Who are we to limit Him?

Have I mentioned how I excited I am that I am done with classes? I only have 3 finals left! Plus, I have finished two assignments for next semester! Over-achiever? Yes!

By the way, does anyone know where I can store my twin bed while I am away?

Turkey Day is coming!!! I already had one Thanksgiving meal on Sunday at RF, but that doesn't really count because I was told that was for my birthday. hehe

Whirlwind Weekends

I have had two visitors in the past two weeks. I could barely contain myself. Kristi visited me during Halloween/Reformation Day Weekend and Sarah came in last weekend.

Here are a few highlights:

• Graeter's Ice Cream...twice
• watched the movie Luther in honor of Reformation Day
• helped a family from RF move to their new house
• enjoyed outdoors indoors at Bass Pro :)





There was a Starbucks in the Bass Pro. Kristi said her two worlds collided.

• carved a pumpkin for the first time





Mine is the one with the ridiculously long stem. :)

• dinner with the Hendersons in St. Louis
• took Andrea to Target for the first time



• experienced my first IMAX 3-D movie (A Christmas Carol)
• Orphan Sunday Simulcast
• LOTS of laughing...and driving :)

In the midst of all this, the Lord has been so gracious in reminding me of His faithfulness and not letting me get too distracted from Him. He continues to provide for my every need even when things look grim and continues to confront me with my sinfulness and the glory of Christ.


This Sunday marks exactly two months before I leave for South Asia. It also marks the beginning of the last week of classes and one week before my birthday. I am not going home for a full week, as is my custom, for Thanksgiving, so I will be spending my birthday here. :( I will, however, get to go to the RF Thanksgiving dinner. :)

Jesus has been teaching me to live in Today (Hebrews 4:6-7). I have been doing a lot of planning, thinking and dreaming about the future, which I don't guess is bad in itself, but I need to be faithful to what God has in store for me Today. Each day is important and unique and has been designed by Him for a particular purpose. I need to strive to make much of Christ each day and not lose sight of Him in the midst of impending events. Jesus said that each day has its own troubles. He calls me to serve Him in the here and now and not just think about how I can do so in the future. He calls for faithfulness in the little and seemingly ordinary things of life.

Plight of the Orphan

Today is Orphan Sunday. There are 140,000,000 plus orphans in the world and every 18 seconds another child is orphaned. Today I saw a live simulcast from Nashville, TN raising awareness for orphans. The webcast will be available to watch on www.GospelMusicChannel.com during the next six months. I encourage you to watch it and consider how you can make a difference for orphans.
James 1:27