18 months old
I'm about to go over and post about our little one and a half year old daughter on her blog, so hop on over there to read all about her. :)
Monday, December 04, 2006
An advent prayer
We purposely put our gift giving nice and early this year, so we are able to both enjoy it and to focus on this season of expectation and preparation that is Advent. I have only really come to understand the meaning of Advent (which began yesterday) in the past two or three years, and I am appreciating it more each year. For those who don't know, Advent is the season during which we focus our attention on celebrating Christ's first coming, and humbly, prayerfully, and eagerly expect and long for Christ's second coming when he will return to redeem all creation and rule with power and authority. That gives us a lot to think about and prepare for over the four weeks before Christmas.
I especially appreciated this Reformation Advent prayer in our bulletin yesterday:
"Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen."
We purposely put our gift giving nice and early this year, so we are able to both enjoy it and to focus on this season of expectation and preparation that is Advent. I have only really come to understand the meaning of Advent (which began yesterday) in the past two or three years, and I am appreciating it more each year. For those who don't know, Advent is the season during which we focus our attention on celebrating Christ's first coming, and humbly, prayerfully, and eagerly expect and long for Christ's second coming when he will return to redeem all creation and rule with power and authority. That gives us a lot to think about and prepare for over the four weeks before Christmas.
I especially appreciated this Reformation Advent prayer in our bulletin yesterday:
"Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen."
Gift giving
From this past Thursday to Saturday Becca and I got to stay with the newlyweds Lisa and Mark at their apartment in Kzoo. We went to Kzoo for a baby shower for my friend Angie who is visiting from England for a month. The shower (or baby party, as I told Becca) was on Thursday, and we were going to head back Friday, but decided to wait out the ice storm and left Saturday morning after visiting briefly with my sister-in-law, Kristi.
Even though we arrived home in the late afternoon, we decided to keep our evening plans of exchanging our gifts as a family. Nate ran out to get us some sandwiches from Panera while I fixed us some salads and heated up some other food for Becca. We had a nice dinner, cleaned up and then gathered around the tree to say a prayer and open gifts. We had such a nice, relaxing time. In case you are wondering what we gave each other, I'll tell you. :)
Nate got a long-sleeved Lands End shirt from me that he says he wants to wear everyday because it's so cozy (it's a winter tee-shirt, so a bit thicker and softer than the normal ones). I had originally intended to also give him a book called "Calendar: Christ's time for the Church", but he bought it before I could give it to him, leaving me with an extra copy that we were able to give away. Instead, I made a gift for him: a little coupon type thingy that has things on it I will make for him when he gives that coupon to me, such as molasses cookies, orange julius, apple turnovers, foot rub...I can't think of the other ones. Becca gave him some white hangers, which sounds like a funny gift, but Nate is like Monk when it comes to hanging up his clothes and likes his hangers to be all the same color: white.
We gave Becca three gifts (one practical, one spiritual, one fun): a pair of yellow and white slippers I knitted to match her ducky pajamas; the book "All Things Bright and Beautiful" which illustrates the hymn of the same name (illus by Bruce Whatley); and a photo album with a frame in the front filled with pictures of Becca with family members and friends--she has loved looking through this over and over, as esp. likes the picture on the front of her and my parents' late cat Socks.
Finally, Nate was very thoughtful in what he gave me and I loved my gifts. I got "Stepping Heavenward" by Elizabeth Prentiss (from my wishlist), Never Been Kissed on DVD (I admit, I like that movie :) ), a CD with gospel songs from the Moses Hogan singers (an amazing choir I had gone to see in high school with Choral Ensemble--the CD I bought from their concert had been badly scratched by a puppy), and "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" by Margaret Sidney, which is one of my favorite books. I can't wait to read it to our children.
Whew, what a long post.
From this past Thursday to Saturday Becca and I got to stay with the newlyweds Lisa and Mark at their apartment in Kzoo. We went to Kzoo for a baby shower for my friend Angie who is visiting from England for a month. The shower (or baby party, as I told Becca) was on Thursday, and we were going to head back Friday, but decided to wait out the ice storm and left Saturday morning after visiting briefly with my sister-in-law, Kristi.
Even though we arrived home in the late afternoon, we decided to keep our evening plans of exchanging our gifts as a family. Nate ran out to get us some sandwiches from Panera while I fixed us some salads and heated up some other food for Becca. We had a nice dinner, cleaned up and then gathered around the tree to say a prayer and open gifts. We had such a nice, relaxing time. In case you are wondering what we gave each other, I'll tell you. :)
Nate got a long-sleeved Lands End shirt from me that he says he wants to wear everyday because it's so cozy (it's a winter tee-shirt, so a bit thicker and softer than the normal ones). I had originally intended to also give him a book called "Calendar: Christ's time for the Church", but he bought it before I could give it to him, leaving me with an extra copy that we were able to give away. Instead, I made a gift for him: a little coupon type thingy that has things on it I will make for him when he gives that coupon to me, such as molasses cookies, orange julius, apple turnovers, foot rub...I can't think of the other ones. Becca gave him some white hangers, which sounds like a funny gift, but Nate is like Monk when it comes to hanging up his clothes and likes his hangers to be all the same color: white.
We gave Becca three gifts (one practical, one spiritual, one fun): a pair of yellow and white slippers I knitted to match her ducky pajamas; the book "All Things Bright and Beautiful" which illustrates the hymn of the same name (illus by Bruce Whatley); and a photo album with a frame in the front filled with pictures of Becca with family members and friends--she has loved looking through this over and over, as esp. likes the picture on the front of her and my parents' late cat Socks.
Finally, Nate was very thoughtful in what he gave me and I loved my gifts. I got "Stepping Heavenward" by Elizabeth Prentiss (from my wishlist), Never Been Kissed on DVD (I admit, I like that movie :) ), a CD with gospel songs from the Moses Hogan singers (an amazing choir I had gone to see in high school with Choral Ensemble--the CD I bought from their concert had been badly scratched by a puppy), and "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew" by Margaret Sidney, which is one of my favorite books. I can't wait to read it to our children.
Whew, what a long post.
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