Christmas is....

Many years ago, heaven and Earth rejoiced because the birth of the world’s savior had occurred. Jesus Christ was born – the perfect, holy, son of God was alive in THIS dark world. The world became a brighter place.  The best GIFT and most important GIFT in Creation had been given to us – Jesus was with us and He hasn’t left us since. We call this special day Christmas!

SO…Christmas is JESUS…Christmas is LOVE….God loved each one of us SO much that He reproduced Himself in Jesus, He spoke Jesus into existence and sent the Holy Spirit to impregnate Mary and our savior was born.  There was no true hope and light in this world until that day.  Jesus is our ONLY hope and way to enter into a relationship with God, our creator. KNOWING Jesus as a personal savior and trusting in Him for our salvation is the ONLY way to spend eternity in Heaven.  All other ways are a lie – being a good person, doing nice things for others, having a relationship with a church or a pastor – that’s not the way to receive salvation. We must reach out to Jesus personally, ask Him to forgive us for our sins, and then trust Him as He wipes our record clean FOREVER. 

My Christmas prayer and a prayer all the year through is that anyone who doesn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ – our savior - would turn to Him – would receive Him and would allow Him to LOVE them and to make them NEW in Him – a born again creation, cleansed and ready to do Jesus’ good works here on Earth.

In John 14:12, Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” 

Jesus isn’t lying in a manger in a nativity scene. Jesus is ALIVE and ACTIVE doing the same great works that He did thousands of years ago – DAILY in our lives in THIS world and THIS present time!

I am a witness of these great works of Jesus here on Earth SO to me, Christmas is a testimony of God’s goodness in all the ways He has manifested in my life….to me,

Christmas is….

-God asking me to reach out to my brother on Thanksgiving Day two years ago. While praying one morning, God reminded me that He wanted me to see Brad how He sees him – with compassion – so I spent some time praying for my brother.  Then, that same morning, I received a text from Brad saying that he needed something. We had not spoken in weeks.  The text wasn’t a surprise to me though – I knew God wanted me to help him SO I did and God overwhelmed me with LOVE because of my obedience. 

-hearing the doctor’s report of all the things that Luke is allergic to and telling us that he should not eat any product with nuts in it but now we watch him delight in a long list of foods included on that “Do not eat” list!  He doesn’t fear food like the doctor’s said he would…he delights in food. God sent His Word and healed Luke of His allergies so foods could nourish His little body like it was intended to do.  

-hearing the doctor’s report that our baby Kate was at a high risk of having down’s syndrome and then watching the ultrasound tech show us a beautiful picture of a perfect baby girl with all of her organs complete and whole at just 17 weeks pregnant

-God repairing my broken family (of the separation of my mom and dad and unexpected offspring from my brother) by bringing forth a Holy Spirit filled man (named Kim) to love and nurture my mom and by bringing into this world four precious children – Lexi, Caleb, Blaine, and Taylor – who He has a design and plan for

-Jesus rescuing me from a constant, suffocating fear by baptizing me in the Holy Spirit. For years, I turned to alcohol to run from my fears…Jesus sent the Holy Spirit and I haven’t wanted or needed alcohol since then. 

-being asked by the Holy Spirit to confess some hurtful sins from many years ago to a friend and to ask her for forgiveness and then to listen to her as she gracefully forgave me for every last detail and then to experience our friendship growing stronger

-in the small daily events – like God sending a life long friend’s dad to help me load $300 worth of groceries at wal-mart while I had both kids by myself – one of them having a huge meltdown. God knew I needed some help so He sent me some. That’s not coincidence – it WAS God caring about the small things in my life.  

-the supernatural strength that I get in the afternoons after being up 6 or 7 times at night with baby Kate and working all day – somehow I get a boost of energy when I get home from work that helps me enjoy my family. This supernatural strength could only come from the Lord.   

-God sending me to a place of worship where the Holy Spirit is always active and alive – where I have witnessed miracles just the same as the Bible records – body parts healed, diseases gone, demons cast out, fears replaced with peace, sins forgiven and salvation received 

NOW TO EACH OF YOU…I challenge you, this Christmas, seek your own heart, talk to the Lord, and think about what Christmas means to you….does Christmas mean Jesus to you? Have you accepted Him as your PERSONAL savior? Do you have a relationship and friendship with Him?  If not, today is the day of salvation.  Jesus is always waiting! 

In Luke 15:7, Jesus says, “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

Very soon, the Christmas decorations and lights will come down BUT the POWER of Jesus IN us will go nowhere.  The light of Jesus through His love and POWER will shine IN us and THROUGH us all year round!  I love each of you and God does too! Merry Christmas! 

Kate - 9 Month Photo Session

Our baby Kate is now 10 months old!  She loves to climb on top, under, and across things like UNDER the chairs in the kitchen, across the beanbag, and under her lion toy.  She has also learned how to drop things so they make a noise.  She loves to push things to help her get around such as her mini-wagon, the kitchen chairs, her blue car, and her Mickey toy.  Kate loves to hide behind a curtain to play peek a boo.  She says "bye, bye" and waves, "mama", "dada", and "ni-ni" (for night night).  She will move her arms and legs when you say "splash splash" and she bounces up and down with a huge grin on her face when you tell her to dance.  She crawls all over the house to find us.  She is standing up on her own for several seconds and has taken one large step by herself...SO the walking is coming soon!  

She is now able to PLAY outside.  She can climb the steps to the slide and then go down the slide with help. She loves to play in the sandbox and in Luke's playhouse. She also enjoys "riding" on all of Luke's toys as she pretends to steer.  She pushes the Mater lawn mower and rides her Thomas Train toy.  She also loves to ride on Luke's four wheeler with me.  

Kate is a great eater! She will sit in her high chair for almost 45 minutes sometimes eating. She prefers finger foods instead of the baby jar food.  

Kate loves the water so she enjoys our time at the pool. She walks around all over the baby pool using her float.  Kate loved the beach.  Her favorite parts were climbing in and out of sand holes, floating in the lazy river on the float with me and my mom - she would wave bye bye to everyone as we went in circles.  She also loved sitting in the edge of the waves and splashing and crawling in the waves.  

Her newest accomplishments are climbing in and out of her tiny Thomas chair and "playing" her piano.

Our baby Kate brings us much joy!  As Luke so sweetly says, "I sure am glad that God gave us the baby."  

Here are our photos from Kate's 9 month photo session a few weeks ago.  She LOVES the camera!!  

Kate - 6 Month Pictures

Our baby Kate is almost 8 months old...I can't believe it.  She is developing her own personality and I love all of it.  She is a Mommy's girl - she clearly says "Ma-ma" A LOT and will crawl to find me no matter where I am in the house.  She also loves her big brother but is beginning to let him know when she's "had enough" with her own little grunts and squeals. She is a wiggle worm - she prefers to be on the ground moving around or standing up rather than to be held (unless it's Mommy or Mammaw holding her and then she's content to hang out in our arms).  

She has no teeth yet and doesn't appear to be getting any soon.  Her favorite food is sweet potatoes but she also enjoys apples and green beans.  She isn't a huge fan of any baby food so we have fed her some grown up food. She LOVES mashed potatoes and refried beans!  (Does that make me mom of the year??)  :)  While I cook or clean up dinner, she sits in her high chair and carefully eats puffs, cheerios, or yogurt bites. It's the cutest thing to watch her tiny fingers work so hard to pick one up and get it in her mouth.  

She continues to enjoy the outdoors.  She loves to sit and play in her brother's playhouse. She likes to watch bubbles when I blow them. She also enjoys riding around in the umbrella stroller watching Luke drive his truck. When I sing, she hums and then she eats her toes and fingers while swinging one little leg (or should I say - chunky leg) back and forth. 

She enjoys a bath and has enjoyed our first few trips to the pool.  She will play in her big float for a little while and then she prefers standing on the side of the pool or sitting where she can splash or reach everything.  

Baby Kate has not been the best sleeper.  She was waking up 3 to 4 times every night and I had to make a change to help her rest more peacefully so after a lot of prayer and letting her cry it out a few nights, she is now sleeping all night.  She is a much happier baby and I am much more rested!  

Kate doesn't really have a favorite toy. She enjoys standing up and playing on her toy lion and she enjoys dumping out her block bucket and toy baskets but, most of all, she enjoys going after things she is not suppose to have - like toys in her brother's room and playroom, cords, shoes, etc....she pitches quite a fit when you take things away from her.  I can already tell that keeping her attention is going to be a challenge.  She DOES already love balls.  She likes to hold them and roll them and to watch them bounce.

Her favorite book is a Mickey Mouse book called "Catch that Ball" - it has sound effects. She also loves to push the buttons on a Mickey song book and then jump up and down on my lap while we sing the song. She loves for me to bounce her on my knee and sing the Giddy Up horsey song or patty cake.  

When she gets real excited, she squishes up her face and kicks out her legs while balling up her little fists.  She also does random loud squeals when she's happy.  She can say "Da-da" and several other sounds - she seems to make the same "ne-ne" sound when she's hungry. She waves "bye-bye" and recognizes her name when you call it.  She listens for her brother's voice and grins every time she hears it. She LOVES her paci. We have to keep several in her crib at night to help her sleep.  

At Kate's baby dedication, our pastor said that Kate would be "strong-willed." At the time, she was such a calm, peaceful, content baby - she was a perfect newborn - just perfect. As Kate gets older and more mobile, I can see her "strong willed" personality developing and I love it!  Yes, I see challenges ahead because, like her brother, she is not going to give up easily.  But...God has given both of them this type of personality for a reason. In their generation, standing up for Jesus is going to be tough - they are going to face ridicule and they need that strong, never give up, stand up for what you believe personality SO...I pray each day....God, send them to Jesus and may Jesus reign first in their hearts ALWAYS - may they stand up for their Savior no matter what!  God hears the prayers of a Mommy's heart and I look forward to seeing how the answer to those prayers will develop...in the meantime, we will continue to pray over baby Kate, sing to her about her savior, Jesus, and ask our heavenly Father to do this....

"set them apart and call them through Your grace and be pleased to reveal your Son in them so that they might preach Jesus among the Gentiles." (Galatians 1:15-16)

I LOVE my baby girl - with all my heart - she's a precious gift that I am so blessed to have!  

Here are some pictures from her 6 month picture session...

 Big brother had to have to some pictures too...whether he liked it or not...