Matthew 1:18 - 2:15

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows : when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife ; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son ; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet : 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son ; and he called His name Jesus.

Chapter 2

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews ? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea ; for this is what has been written by the prophet : 6 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH ; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.' " 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child ; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him." 9 After hearing the king, they went their way ; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother ; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him." 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet : "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."

Mary did you know...

I found myself weeping tonight as I listened to the lyrics for the song "Mary Did You Know" which was written by Mark Lowry (A man who I have had the pleasure of dining with! He actually was a fan of my mothers spaghetti sauce and meat balls - a meal my mother would make every time he visited the church we attended during my childhood.)



Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

Building Memories

Here are some more pictures of the 2 days the kids and I spent hunting together. Alex and I didn't see any deer during our day together in the woods but we did have a flock of more than 30 wild turkeys milling around our tree stand which was very entertaining and an experience that I'm sure Alex will remember for years to come. I wish I had more time this year to spend in the woods with the kids but at the same time I am extremely grateful to have a job during these trying times and thankful that we are busy. Despite only having 2 days to spend together hunting, I know that all 3 of us made memories that will last a lifetime. It's amazing how often I recall quiet days spent in the woods bow hunting and chilly mornings spent hunting rabbits with my dad . Those are memories that I cherish and I pray that my kids will have the same feelings when they are older and recall the days we spent hanging out from sunrise to sunset enjoying the great outdoors together one-on-one.

My Forest Ninja
04:00 and already smiling
Sneaking in a quick nap
11 hours later and still smiling!

Ginger Delight - A New Tradition

This year the kids asked if we could make a ginger bread house and Rebecca found a great kit while out shopping last week which made it a stress free experience! The kids sat at the table last night and after gluing the house together with frosting they took their time discussing just how they wanted to decorate their house. The kit had lots of candies and I was surprised that there were extras after the occasional treat and the actual decorating of the house. I think next year I would like to design a house for each of us and make a yummy little village. The kids enjoyed the project and we all enjoyed the new experience that will more than likely become one of our yearly traditions.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I look forward to the colder weather during the winter months and especially the beauty of freshly fallen snow. We decided to prepare for Christmas this year as a family with daily readings from a new Advent book I purchased. It has really helped us focus on the purpose of Christmas as well as inspire some conversation and family one on one time. Thanks to the daily reminders from Alex I finally put some time aside to put up the outside lights on the house and in the yard. This year the Spruce tree I purchased for the kids our first Christmas at the new house is finally big enough to decorate so we have expanded from just our icicle lights. Yesterday we cut down our tree and together as a family decorated the inside of the house. The snow was falling and we all were enjoying the white snow, pretty lights, along with the advent wreath and candles the fact that it was beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas. Our Annual tree felling video

Our family traditions

As we have every year since Rebecca and I got married we cut down our own Christmas tree. I have to admit this is one of my favorite activities during the year. There have been years when it seemed we would never find the "perfect" tree then others when we pulled into the fields and it almost seemed like a ray of light shown down on the tree we wanted and we knew before we even parked the truck which tree we would be taking home. This year we went to Wagon Shed Nursery and Christmas Tree Farm. They have a conifer tree that smells like citrus when touched and with kids in the house the tree is always getting touched so our house always has a nice pine and citrus smell throughout the holidays.

This year we went to the end of the farm and worked our way into the fields and found a tree shortly after arriving but I was not convinced that it was the tree I wanted much to Ariel's dismay. We ended up searching for quite some time when I saw the tree that would grace our home for the next month. We had a great time taking pictures and finally cutting down the tree (which for some strange reason the kids named "Steve") the whole time enjoying each others company while spending some time outside. While we were there it was lightly raining and when we arrived home the rain turned to snow which made our yearly decorating even that much better.