37 Weeks!

I went to the doctor last Monday and they told me I was already at 1 cm and to be prepared. Luke can come any time now. If he doesn't come on his own though, I will be induced March 12th. Which is a week earlier than my actual due date but that's ok! We're ready for the little guy to come. 

Jan/February 09

jumpin

Monkey Joe's

"Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh Demoss

(Lie # 28)"Children need to get exposed to the 'real world' so that they can learn to function in it." 

"If Satan can't keep Christian women from bearing children, he will do his best to deceive them as to how their children ought to  be brought up. He uses the same tactics with parents that he used with Eve. He convinced her that by eating the forbidden fruit, she would learn something she needed to know: "When you eat of it your eyes will be opened... knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). Satan was right--when Eve ate, her eyes were opened (v.7): she did learn something she had not known before -- the experience of evil. The result of this knowledge was shame, guilt, and alienation from God and her husband.

God never intended that you and I should know evil by experiencing it for ourselves. His desire is that we should be "wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil" (Romans 16:19). But Satan says, "You need to taste for yourself." He says to parents, "Your children need to taste for themselves. If you shelter them from the 'real world,' they will never be able to fit in and survive in it."

The Truth is, our task is not to rear children who can "fit in" or merely "survive" in this world. The challenge of every Christian parent is to bring up children who love God with all their hearts, souls, minds, and strength: who have a vibrant, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus: and whose lives will be bright and shining lights, penetrating the darkness around them. Christian parents ought to be seeking to raise up not just "good" children, but children who enthusiastically embrace the Truth, children who love righteousness and hate evil, children who will be used by God to change this world.

... Children will cultivate an appetite for whatever they are fed in their earliest, formative years. I have known young people from "committed" Christian homes who know more about movie stars and rock groups than they do about the patriarchs or the disciples. They can sing along with all the top hit songs but do not know the great hymns of the faith. I can only assume that they have an appetite for what they have been exposed to. 

If we allow our children to listen to music, attend movies, read books and magazines, and hang out with friends that promote profanity, negative attitudes, illicit sex, rebellion, and violence, we should not be surprised when they adopt the world's philosophies.

... The apostle Paul warns believers of every era and every culture, "Don't let the world around you squeeze you  into its own mould" (Romans 12:2). Rather, he says, we are to "make a decisive dedication of our bodies as a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1) and to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds" (Romans 12:2). We are not to be molded by the culture, as so many believers are today but, rather, are to be so filled with the Spirit and the Word of God that our lives will penetrate and convict the culture around us. That is the challenge facing Christian parents -- to raise up a generation of young people who are not conformers but transformers." (p. 173-176) 

ice-skating

Downtown Hendersonville

A few videos

Our little chef =)

Emma got a little kitchen for Christmas this year. She loves 'cooking' supper for us. It's usually ice cream and soup or a variation of the two, ha! I love the picture where she's holding her rolling pin at me as if she's saying 'you'd better behave!' =)

night out

Here are a few pictures that we took the other night when we went out to celebrate the last day of Chase's vacation/ start of a new semester.

Some Christmas Pictures

Now we have a digital camera! But these pictures were taken by either Jessica or Carrie. =) Maybe next Christmas we'll get a good family picture! =) Emma loved holding baby Peyton, Chase's cousin's baby. We're trying to help Emma understand that you have to be sweet and gentle with babies for when little Luke comes. 

The Legend of the Candy Cane

Long ago there were two villages in a far-off land. One was in a valley, and one was on a mountain top. The people in the mountain village wanted to give each person in the valley a Christmas gift. So the mountain townspeople formed a committee to think of something special. Money was limited, and each gift had to be of equal value to each person. After much time and discussion a decision was finally reached. The town's candy maker, and elderly gentleman who had loved Jesus for many years, came up with an idea--the candy cane.

Now, you may be thinking, what is so special about a candy cane--and how can it ever be tied in with the real meaning of Christmas? Well, here is how... and why... 

1. The candy cane is in the shape of a shepherd's staff. Jesus is our Shepherd, and we are His flock. A sheep follows his own shepherd, knows his voice, trusts him and knows that he is totally safe with him. The sheep will follow no other shepherd than their own. In the same way, if we belong to Jesus, we are to follow only Him. (John 10:11, Psalm 23:1; Isaiah 40:11)

2. Turned over, the candy cane is a "J," the first letter of Jesus' name. (Luke 1:31) It is made of hard candy to remind us that Christ is the "rock" of our salvation.

3. The wide red stripes on the candy cane represent the blood Jesus shed on the cross for each one of us so that we can have eternal life through Him. He restores us and cleans us with His shed blood--the only thing that can wash away our sin. (Luke 22:20)

4. The white stripes on the candy cane represent Jesus' virgin birth and His pure, sinless life. He is the only human being ever who never committed a single sin, even though He was tempted just as we are. (1 Peter 2:22)

5. The narrow red stripes on candy canes symbolize Jesus' stripes, or scars, which He got when He was arrested and whipped. the Bible says we are healed (of sin) because he took those wounds. (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24)

6. The flavoring in the candy can is peppermint, which is similar to hyssop. Hyssop is of the mint family and was used in Old Testament times for purification and sacrifice. (John 19:29; Psalm 51:7)

7. When we break our candy cane, it reminds us that Jesus' body was broken for us. When we have communion, it is a reminder of what He did for us. (1 Corinthians 11:24)

8. AND, if we share our candy cane and give some to someone else because we love that person, we are sharing the love of Jesus. (1 John 4:7,8) 

Some people believe this story of the candy cane is only a legend. Others believe it really happened this way. We do not know for sure exactly how the candy cane was invented, but one thing is certain... it is an excellent picture of Christ and His love for you. (ats tracts)

Twinkle Little Star

Julie's baby shower pictures

I hosted a baby shower for Julie Mckinnon back in October. She wasn't able to come though, because she had her baby boy early and he was in the NICU. My friend Melissa took the pictures at the shower. It was fun to cook the food and decorate,especially since I had so much help from Kim Rackley! I couldn't have done it without her. We made the 'theme' really fallish and served apple cider, pumpkin muffins and gave caramel apples away as favors.