Christmas Time is [almost] Here!

Ah... what a wonderful time of year! Crazy it's halfway through December already, and only 10 days until Christmas. Didn't even realize that until I just counted! Life is going at breakneck speed, though I'm trying to enjoy and give thanks for every moment. Only one exam to go - after Monday I'll be able to totally get into Christmas mode.

We decked out our tree last Sunday - the most gorgeous tree we've ever had, if I do say so myself. :) I'll see if I can find a picture of it soon. Such a blessing too - we got a really good deal from a local homeschooling family who grows Christmas trees.

I love the Christmas baking...

Yummy date balls I made this week!

The last minute presents being finished and wrapped up...

Baby sweater and hat I did a while ago... not actually a Christmas gift. :)

 The snowflakes coming at last... and the hoping for a white Christmas, so rare here...

The view from the window right now - it's still coming down out there!

The joy and nostalgia of listening to Christmas albums that have been played every year for as long as I can remember: Boney M., Alabama, Kenny G., Bing Crosby...

I'm thankful for the time being spent with my wonderful, crazy family, just simply being together. It won't be forever, and I'm realizing what a gift a close family is. The most wonderful gifts are not the ones seen and touched, but the ones that are revealed in the heart and known through the Spirit, brought by the Prince of Peace.

Pumpkin Scones Revisited

 

I posted this recipe for pumpkin scones way back on November 12, 2010, and they're still a family favorite, and perfect for this time of year! You can find the recipe by clicking on this link. They are so good - just the right blend of spices, and lovely fresh out of the oven with a cup of coffee (yes, I love my coffee!) on a Saturday morning!

A couple of tips with this recipe:

As with any biscuit or scone recipe, don't over-mix. You want to still see small chunks of butter in the dough - this is what keeps them light and flaky, rather than tough and flat.

Also, I like to cut down on the sugar content, so I make only the spiced glaze, which seems to be just the perfect amount of sweetness.

Home

I love my home.

I love the smell of fresh bread as it's being pulled from the oven.

I love the warmth of flannel sheets that cocoon me on chilly mornings.

I love the smiles and laughter and inside jokes that are part of knowing someone forever.

I love the memories created here.

Home means comfort; acceptance; a place to belong and feel safe; a place where I grow and my mistakes are covered by love. I've learned to value this place and these people highly. God has blessed us.

And to give me greater blessing, He asks me to forsake it. No, not to forsake in the sense of abandonment or ceasing to love, but to consider all things as secondary to following Him. To serve and love even more for His sake. And yes, to be willing to step beyond comfort.

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." (Matt 19:29)

If we are not "at home" everywhere He leads us, we are not in a spiritual state that is prepared for heaven.

Christ himself must become our home. He must become everything. Is it any wonder that scripture describes God in the terms of almost every human relationship? He is our brother, friend, father, healer, guide, bridegroom, king, master, shepherd, saviour, teacher, and the list goes on. He is our shelter, food, drink, and comfort. He is the one who clothes us with His righteousness!

When we realize this earth is not our home, nothing can hold us back from Him. All places will be home, for His glory is our refuge. We will be ready when He calls us away from that which we have at once renounced and embraced for His sake, and will fly with the joy of fulfillment to the presence of Him who was our only vision.

I'm writing this because, well, I'm a wimp sometimes. I need to remember, not just when it's fresh and real to me, but when my soul faces tumult and doubt. I am inspired by the words of Paul in Philippians 3:7-12

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

I love Paul's postscript there - "not that I have already obtained all this".... but that "Christ Jesus took hold of me."

It's about knowing Christ. It's about coming back to the Father who waits with arms wide open! (Luke 15) Home is where Jesus lives - and whenever my heart surrenders to Him, I am home.

Summer...

Life goes by so quickly... but it is so full.

No posts in June... but that's okay. I'm not a "blogger", really. ;) I just want to record parts of my journey, and hopefully encourage some in theirs. I've been spending a lot less time on the computer this summer, as I'm not taking any courses right now, and it's so nice.

After a cold and rainy June, we're finally getting some summer weather. It's been sunny and around 30 degrees celcius for the past several weeks, and the forecast predicts it to last until the end of the month! I'm loving it - the garden is finally growing, flowers are blooming, and we've been doing lots of barbequing and making smoothies. It's wonderful! :)

I've been doing a lot of reading, more housework, working on different projects, and working at Staples - I just got a job there in May. A very nice change from school. :)

I'm off to deal with some mint I harvested from my chocolate mint plant today... I'm going to experiment with drying and freezing some, as well as keeping some fresh for tea and garnishes. It smells delicious!

I'll be putting up a few more spontaneous, shorter posts as I have opportunity. May God bless each of you, and draw you more fully into abandonment to Him!

Bookly Beauty

 To me, books are fine art -
and the older, the better.
If you see me walk into an antique store,
you'll soon find me in the book section,
gingerly opening the crumbling pages.

I have to say I'm not really sold on the whole Kindle/e-reader thing.
I suppose it's practical, but nothing could ever replace my book collection.
So why not have a little photo shoot with some of my antique books?
Yep, that's what I did. ;) 

 Each volume is unique.
Each possesses the power to carry a willing reader
to magical lands,
to discover unchangeable truth,
 to bring colour and light through those printed words in black and white.

Some from book sales, other from family, or given as gifts. 

The speller and reader above came from my grandparents.

The reader has some wonderful illustrations,

and the stories are quite delightful.

What are your favorite books, and why?

Canadian winter, eh?

I feel like a real Canadian at last!! This past week has brought quite the dump of snow. It's sure beautiful, eh? Although 2 feet of snow (sorry, I should say 68.2 cm) may not seem like much in a nation often associated with igloos and polar bears, it is generally very mild in the area I live, and this is our first significant dump of snow this season. This is the first week where the temperature has consistently stayed around -10 degrees (Celsius of course!).

It makes me happy.

I actually need my boots and gloves and hat and scarf for once! It's amazing!!

It's the month of Janvier (en Francais)

I hear...

the snow go squeak-crunch underfoot

the whistle of wind whining at the door

I smell...

the clean, linen-white scent of snow

the soup warmly boiling on the stove

I feel...

my nose tingle sharply from the cold

soft warm flannel and fuzzy socks

So what if next week's forecast is rain, rain, rain? Today, I'm a true Canadian. ;)

/End of pointless post about my ecstatic embrace of winter

Brown paper packages tied up with string...

Wrapping presents is one of the most enjoyable parts of Christmas for me this year. There's the anticipation of watching a loved one opening each gift, and the fun of making a creative package that reflects a bit of the recipient's personality, as well as my own style. I loved the simplicity of using brown paper for wrapping... not to mention it brings that wonderful Sound of Music tune to mind... ;)

Here are a few of the packages that are now sitting under our tree, waiting to be opened... (my brother and I were experimenting with a homemade light-box tonight - we decided we needed more light... and a better box :P)

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

 Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

Merry Christmas Adam! (Hey, Adam came before Eve, right?) Sorry for my lame humour. :P

Have a blessed Christmas!

Random Thoughts of the Day...

Yes indeedy.

Well, let's see...

To be honest, everything's feeling just a little bit monotonous. And also rather unpredictable. Which would at first seem like they aren't compatible, but that's just how life is right now. I'm in a season of life where change is pretty inevitable, but my brain is kind of stuck with the opinion that nothing is going to change. My other brain knows better, however.  Really, it's all a bit muddled, but God's plans are beautiful, and He can even sort out my muddled thoughts, and make the mundane meaningful.

It's been a dark day, what with the rain and the time change making the sun set earlier... maybe that has something to do with not feeling 100% today.

An unexplained lack of motivation has me staring at my *almost finished* essay for hours, hoping for a lightning-bolt of inspiration. I desperately want to spend some time doing something with my hands - I have many potential sewing projects lurking in the dark recesses of my imagination. It's been one of those days when energy is zapped and you look back and wonder if anything got done. Still, I can't say it's been a bad day, just a rather sleepy one.

Hmmm... *smiles* I've been humming, whistling, and giving incredible operatic renditions of Christmas carols all day. Be glad you didn't hear me. (sorry mom! ;) I've been playing Christmas songs for a couple weeks now, preparing to play at a craft fair... it's getting me in a roasting-chestnuts-o'er-an-open-fire kind of mood. Although I've never roasted chestnuts in my life, nor do we have an open fire. Ah well. Jack frost is beginning to nip at my nose at least.

Wonder... that's how I would describe what I've been feeling lately - seeing more of who God is, what He has done.  And oh how I want to share that joy, that wonder, that deep, deep assurance that God has placed in my heart, with so many who are without the joy and salvation of the Lord. I am humbled that even despite my many failings and stumblings into sin, He is my strength and my hope forever.

I loved the sermon on Sunday - one of my favorite passages in the Bible, where Jesus walks on water.  I so identify with Peter in that account. What a beautiful parallel of the greatness of God in the midst of the storms of life - may we truly learn to trust Him and look to Him! I came across this beautiful song by Downhere last night that illustrates the same story. I think I've listened to it at least 20 times since then.

...The end of a random day....

God bless you, my friends!

Consider the lilies...

Would you believe I took these pictures only last week?

They're still out there blooming in the garden, despite the frosty nights. :)

It was a perfect evening to take the camera out,

capturing the resilient, transient beauty.

 

The nasturtiums bejeweled by afternoon showers...

A perfect little fairy mirror...

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." (Ecc 3:11a)

"The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever." (Isa 40:8)

Beautiful.

A Downhere Kind of Day

It's a beautiful day today. A turkey-sandwich-and-chocolate-milk kind of day. Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie for dessert? Sure, why not!  I'm looking out my window as the green turns to orange in the trees and the wispy blue sky continues to turn above me.  I love these stay-at-home days.  I just bought Downhere's album "The Altar of Love" and I'm listening to it as I'm researching my History essay. Good stuff. It's a Downhere kind of day.

Family Vacation Part 1 - Food and the Fair

I just returned with my family on Saturday from a week-long camping trip in Washington.  I suppose some would say it's not truly camping because we borrowed my grandparents fifth-wheel trailer, but what's wrong with luxury camping once in a while? ;)  Our first two nights were in Ferndale, and we took in the North West Washington Fair on Monday. Before we went to the fair, we stopped at a beautiful park in Lyndon to eat our picnic lunch.

I'd have to say the highlight of the fair was the food... although we by no means went crazy with it.
Our family motto is "all things taste better shared".  So we bought two plates of Pofferjes to share, four 50cent cartons of milk, and one moo-wich.

It was interesting trying to share that, but apparently you can cut things with spoon handles.  Just for the record, it did taste better shared... ;)

Besides waiting in endless concession lines, we wandered around the various booths and exhibits, lego collections, painted masterpieces by 9-year-old Picassos... that sort of thing.  We were hoping for a free show (I was hoping horse), but being Monday there wasn't much going on.  Still, it was fun to absorb the carnival atmosphere.

We did have a campfire that night - sadly, our only one of the trip, but with wood costing $5 a bundle and us all being so tired at the end of the day, we didn't feel like we missed out too badly.

So that is a summary of our first couple days of family vacation! More to come tomorrow. :)