Rejoice!

"The hope of the righteous brings joy" Prov 10:28

It's December 15th! Wow, only 10 days til Christmas! I hope that doesn't make you anxious! I don't know why but I feel like this time of year sneaks up on me, EVERY YEAR! 😕

Thankfully, as a family, we are prepared, for the most part. Most (def not ALL!) of the gifts are purchased & plans are made. Calendar filled with activities & various parties. Cards are addressed and ready to send out. Now to get to the post office!

Fortunately, I have been able to sneak in moments of joy where I truly feel like "it's the most wonderful time of year"! The first two weeks of Dec, my family was quite busy being active in Christmas activities with my church. My soul was nourished as my church was able to pour into our community. Last Friday, we (homeschool group) went Christmas caroling @ a nursing home. My heart burst as I saw all their smiling faces. This week isn't quite filled & I only have to plan for our last week of homeschool til 2020(!), go to work & be my kiddos taxi. After almost two weeks of long days, it's so nice to be taking it "easy". 😅

Today is the 3rd Sunday of Advent. JOY! As a family, we light our candles & do Bible study together. It's nice to take time out & be still together. I found a great devotional here: https://my.bible.com/reading-plans/3224-prepare-him-room. I truly HOPE that even in the hustle and bustle of this time YOU find HIS JOY!

Sadly, I have seen a lot of "stressed" out posts. It really breaks my heart. Sometimes, we just miss what this season is for. Please, take time to rest in knowing that HE is the reason. He LOVES you! Oh what JOY!

So, my last post was from Thanksgiving Eve. I was excited to have a quiet Thanksgiving @ home, which we celebrated on Fri since my husband had 24-hr duty on Thurs. Anyway, everything went well! The food tasted amazing! I really have to brag on my kiddos since they made all the dishes. My husband smoked the turkey 😋As for me, I supervised. 😲

How did I accomplish that you ask❓❓ Well, the week before, I had all my kiddos think of one food they like to eat & then look up the recipe. They then studied it, as in had to know the steps and ingredients needed. They were also in charge of making the grocery list. I made sure nothing was missed and helped them remember what they might need.

It hasn't always been like that around here. I used to do most of the cooking, but as my kiddos got older & my back pain got worse I had to do something. It was probably about 4 yrs ago when I had the older two girls pick a recipe a week that they would cook while I helped. They chose one of the twins as their assistant. So, really what came out of desperation to keep our family functioning while I learned to live with debilitating back pain, turned into a wonderful learning experience for all. Now, I feel like this will be a fun tradition my kiddos will look forward to! Just look at the pics of their proud, smiling faces!