Monday

Christmas cookie decorating, Christmas pageants, Christmas messages at church - makes for a fun time of year.  Memories are being made without spending a lot of money which is always good!

I was woken up earlier than usual again this morning.  I don't fight it.  I figure I'm supposed to get up.  If I lay in bed, then lists start in my mind and keep me from sleeping anyway. 

As I finished up Deuteronomy today I read about the transition from Moses to Joshua.  Many times he tells Joshua, "Be strong and courageous."  "Do not fear or be in dread."  "It is the Lord your God who goes with you.  He will not leave you or forsake you."  "Do not fear or be dismayed."  These are all phrases that will help me get through any anxiety that, no doubt, will try to get at me this week.

At church on Sunday I was reminded that part of the curse is that there is "enmity between your offspring and her offspring."  Quite simply, Satan will always be at work trying to redirect my thoughts away from God, either through questioning His faithfulness, His promises, His love, or even by making me fearful.  The pastor mentioned how as human beings, we make promises, but we just aren't that good at keeping them.  God, however, is faithful to His promises, so we can fully trust Him, no matter what.  So, if God say, "Do not fear", I don't have to be afraid.  That's that.

One tradition that we started a few years ago was to go through a book at advent that tells the story of Christmas through the eyes of a child that was there at the time of Christ's birth.  This year it is through the perspective of one of the wise men's children.  The children absolutely love this and are getting so much out of it, not to mention RM and me.  There are parts where you laugh out loud, other times, it can actually bring a tear to your eye.  Every child is engaged.

Sometimes you shake your head at what you find yourself having to deal with unexpectedly.  This week, it's yet another cat incident.  I can hardly believe it, but our biggest cat who gets in a lot of fights came back limping so badly this week that we've let him stay indoors to recover.  There is no obvious marks.  We don't know what happened.  It sure draws out all the animal lovers in the house which is actually kind of sweet the way they all dote on this fuzzy animal.  We've found ourselves praying for this kitty.  I'm sure he will make a full recovery.  They always seem to.  This is certainly when we wish our son was a qualified vet!  His time at the co-op last year has come in handy though.  This kind of drama I can handle.

Well, my thoughts are a little all over the place today......I enter into this week knowing my ways are in His capable hands.