Advent

You know, I really enjoy getting sleep, but for some reason lately sleep hasn't been one of my strong points. I usually will sleep one good night out of 10. I had that Friday night into Saturday when Eli left us sleep in until 8:30 Saturday morning! Today Eli showed up in our bed a little after 3 am. That was it for me. I was awake. So...I went to bed a little after midnight & was up a little after 3. Ugh. Could be a looooonnngg day. Maybe I will try to take a nap this afternoon. Oh yeah, right. Who am I kidding?!


In all my time this morning of quiet I enjoyed listening to Christmas music & thought a lot about the upcoming holiday. I am challenged to teach Eli everything I can about the real reason for the season. We are enjoying having fun with the "Santa" idea, however I know at some point we will let him know Santa isn't real. I know...shhhh....don't tell. The idea of Santa is fun. I just hope that we can teach him to be a "Santa" to others & not be so concentrated on what Santa will bring him. In our home we have decided that there is only one gift from Santa each year. The rest he will know who they came from. We will keep the Scoot idea going even when the real Santa is fully revealed, just to have some fun!

Church this morning...first of was so exciting for us to know that we are settled in our new church. We have found our new home. We know that God will use us there in His time & way. Service today was like nothing I have even been in. It was incredible!!! Today is the first Sunday of Advent. The first candle of Advent was lit today for Hope. The focus was to Worship Fully. Our church is participating in Advent Conspiracy this year & each week having a focus to help make your season more focused on the real reason. So, today as the church had the "Hanging of the Greens" here are things I learned or was reminded of that I would love to share with you.
(This is taken from our bulletin)

Advent represents the beginning of the Christian year, where our spiritual journey begins. It links the ancient, humble signs of Christ's first coming with His triumphant return.

The candles of the advent wreath are arranged in a circle (to remind us that God's power is continuous). They are lit each Sunday. There are three purple candles (symbolizing the royalty of Christ our coming King), one rose candle (lit on the third Sunday, representing joy), and one white candle (symbolizing Christ, lit on Christmas Day).

The cedar tree of royalty, symbolizes Christ's purity and His everlasting reign.

The evergreen garlands symbolize the unchanging nature of God and the everlasting life that is ours through Christ.

In ancient times, holly and ivy represented the signs of Christ's passion: the prickly leaves ~ the crown of thorns; the red berries ~ the blood of Christ; the bitter bark ~ the drink offered to Him as He hung on the cross.

The wreaths of evergreen shaped in the form of a circle remind us of the eternal reign of the Messiah.

The poinsettia, reminds us that it was Christ's blood that brought life into a cold, dead world.

The lights ~Jesus is the Life-Light who blazed out of the darkness. He will return in a blaze of glory.

Even though I was physically exhausted this morning God used this service & spoke to me. I was so excited to be there! I can't wait until next Sunday. I know God is going to teach me so much this year!

Well, we are going to enjoy the rest of the day with Dan. He will be leaving tonight at midnight to be at work tomorrow morning. He has a 7 hour drive, so we value your prayers. Elijah has already been talking about Daddy going to work, but Mommy being home with him. I am praying he handles it just fine this week.

Scoot has been chillin' out today by the Ipod docking station. He is enjoying the Christmas music & sweet spirit Elijah has today.

Happy Sunday!