How Precious...

... are our loved ones.

My family means so very much to me. My husband and two kids and I are very, very close. Even closer, I think because of all the circumstances we have been through. Have we made mistakes? Oh my yes! Have I made mistakes? Wow, you just don't even want to know... :) Again, I digress...

We have the wonderful privilege this year of having family come for Christmas. We actually don't get the opportunity to see family very often. You see, we're from the South and ALL of our family is in the south - but, our daughter can't live in the south. It's also really dangerous for her to travel to the "hot" states and definitely not recommended. Travel is also very expensive and we live a long way away from all of them! (We lived in Alaska for several years, and it was positively a LONG way away!) :)

That's why this year is so special. The kids are SO excited to share this with the rest of their family. Things are settling into a routine, the kids are doing great in school, a LOT of the stress has been lifted from our shoulders and we feel like we are home.

There's still some really rough roads ahead, there's still a lot of stress... but, you know what? It doesn't really matter... God is good and He is God.
And how precious is it that He gave us our families?

Fun, Fun

An old friend has this on her blog - (hey, Michele, I'm not calling you "old" - just that we've known each other a loooooooooooooooooooong time) lol

It was a lot of fun - so I thought I'd share :)

Can anyone guess about the outdoor part? Of course, the quiz doesn't know us - but our house is REALLY cold :)

Merry Christmas!



Frosty the Snowman
For you, every day is worth celebrating, because it's finally winter! You spend as much time as possible outdoors with your friends. You'll take cold, snowy air over a stuffy, overheated building anytime. (Could someone please turn that thermostat down?) Since you like the cold, you don't always bother to bundle up, but you look great in winter accessories like scarves and hats.





Eggnog
Some people spend all winter complaining about the temperature, but not you. You're equally happy whether you're ice cold or steamy hot. You believe traditions are an important part of the holiday season, and you probably love rediscovering the decorations you made when you were little. All that old-timey awesomeness is heart-warming, but your personality also has a spicy sprinkle of nutmeg that keeps the holidays exciting and inspires you to start new traditions, year after year.

29,000 pages and counting

I think you all should know that I love to read. Well, that has been passed on to both of my children :). My husband, bless his heart - teases us about all our "reading" - and every time we have moved (which has been many times in the past 16 years of marriage) he talks about all the boxes of books and music. (I should give a prize if someone could actually guess how many, but, I'm rabbit trail-ing...)

Anyway, yesterday was report-card day here. And we keep track of everything for school - even the amount of pages that the kids read each quarter. :) (Those of you who know us really well, are probably laughing now...you know where I'm going...) And I give awards for how many pages they have read. This quarter has been ... different to say the least, we've had a little extra excitement (a tad bit of an understatement there) and a move... which gave extra time for reading. I really had no idea...

Kayla is 10 years old and when I presented report cards yesterday, I think Jeremy just about fell out of his chair. Kayla read over 14,400 pages in this quarter alone! (I checked, and triple-checked!) These are not picture books, mind you --- REAL books - 3 and 4 hundred page books! There was a shorter series of 40 books, that she read TWICE because she liked them so much! This school year she has read over 29,000 pages! (And we only have one more quarter in this school year - who knows how many she'll finish the year with!)

Are you inspired, yet? :)

Since we are getting close to the new year, I thought I'd give out a challenge. Instead of turning on the TV - go pick up a good book (THE Good Book is the best) -and there are TONS of great Christian Fiction out there now (if you need help picking something - send a comment and I'll help)- and great non-Fiction too - great Bible Studies - the list could go on and on...

Personally, I'm going to go add up my reading list (yes, I keep one too) and see how many pages I need to read to catch up to my ten year old!

Happy Reading!

Hope

Think about what Christmas really means to you. (You keep thinking, we'll get back to your answer in a minute.)

This past weekend, I hosted a Christmas party for our local ACFW group. We had an incredible time of fellowship and fun together and at the end, we sat around and talked about this very topic. Christmas is so very special and precious to me. I love to decorate for it (in fact for years, I've had a Christmas tree and nativity scene in every room, even the bathrooms- okay so tell me I'm nuts), I love the music, the time together as a family and I love celebrating the Greatest Gift of all coming to earth for you and for me. It bugs me when people say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Why did we start taking Christ out of Christmas? Why are we Christians, letting it happen?

David Phelps wrote a song on his new Christmas CD entitled If Christmas Never Came.
It's a beautifully haunting melody that depicts if Christmas never came, we wouldn't have stockings, or decorations, or church bells ringing, or carols ... or hope. The last lines of the song, "... there'd be no hope for me ... If Christmas never came" are so very moving.

You and I would be without hope had our Savior not come to earth to sacrifice Himself for us.

So, what does Christmas mean to you?

What can you and I be sharing with everyone this season and every season? Hope.
Hope.

The world is lost and dying - we need to be sharing what we have.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
He was born of a virgin, He lived a perfect, sinless life, He loved the 'unlovable', He gave Himself up for you and me, taking our sin and shame upon Himself. He was tortured and crucified. He died for you and me. And then... He rose again on the third day.

No matter where you are or what you have done, He loves you and gave Himself for you.
We are all the same. Sinners. No one is better than another.

Get out there and show the love and joy from our great God. Share the hope!
Merry Christmas!

More Cool Stuff about the Show...

We are so blessed. I keep saying that, and I mean it.

The FedEx guy just dropped off another package... from people who don't even know us, but, care so deeply and so much. I'm amazed yet again, at the love within the body of Christ.

In this package, there is a scrapbook- full of notes and pictures from David Phelps' message boards. People who have prayed and given and loved. I cried. Yes, a lot.

I don't know if any of them will read this, but THANK YOU. You have blessed our family in an incredible way.

Please watch EMHE on January 13th. There's only so much I'm allowed to say - so please watch the show :)

In Him Who is Almighty God,
Kim

Our Extreme Makeover Airing

I started this the other day but, forgot to finish and publish it!

We have been informed that our episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will air January 13, 2008.

I hope that you will all be blessed by it and that the Lord will be glorified through it.

Thank you all so much for your love and support.

One Wintry Night

I know, I know - my husband says music people are "weird" - and he's probably right, But, we love to talk about music and I have to say that David Phelps' new Christmas CD, One Wintry Night, is about the best thing I've ever heard. I was so impressed with all of it.

Those of us who were music majors ('music geeks' as Holly and I say) will understand. Not only is David the most talented singer out there - but he is also talented with his writing and arranging. We have a system around here for "grading" music. The best is only when I get chill bumps on my arms from the sound. David's music does that. Ever since the first time I heard End of the Beginning all those years ago.

My friend Lori was here - and she loves music - but, she probably was beginning to think I'm REALLY weird (oh wait, she already knows that!) And we were working on these intricate ornaments and I kept muttering - "ooh listen to those chord progressions...", "love that dissonance ... where will he go this time with the resolution...", "how long can he possibly hold that note out ... oh my word, that must have been at least 12 measures!" and "listen to the variations ..." Lori probably got tired of that - but she was loving it (the music, not my mumbling) as well!

Okay, so my whole point - you need to go out and puchase this CD! It is amazing! His first Christmas album, Joy, Joy - is still one of my favorites - he is accompanied by this incredible brass ensemble - oh my word - don't get me started!

Be blessed. God has given him a gift and he is sharing it with all of us. (This would make great gifts for Christmas!)