LTLM Videocast

Please visit the Loving the Lord Ministries blog to see the very first Loving the Lord video cast with Amy Vest!

Our Christmas

Well, I'm finally posting about Christmas!! I won't make this too long, but I did want to share some pictures and tell a little about what we did over the Christmas season.

The week before the week of Christmas was extremely busy for us. We were able to play music and sing at several nursing homes - twice just our family, once with the local homeschool group, and once I played harp alone. While it is stressful practicing and getting ready to play (it's hard to imagaine doing it full time!), we are glad to be able to be a blessing and share Christ's love with others! I also played harp at a restaraunt for a private birthday party (below).

Every Christmas, we always visit two very special ladies in our lives! We have such an enjoyable time talking, eating, exchanging presents and being together!

The first is "Aunt" Marcia - mom worked with her before I was born, and they've been friends ever since! We always LOVE it when she takes us out to a movie - some of our favorites have included Up and Wall-E.

 

 

The second special lady is "Grandma" Anderson. Dad got to know her when he used to deliver her mail, so we officially adopted her! We always enjoy seeing her 12 Days of Christmas collection and we really appreciate how she always remembers our birthdays ! :-)

 

 

I also enjoyed being able to go to a Christmas cantata where my friend Amy A. played violin, and her mom sang in the choir. We enjoyed going out for a meal afterwards - it's always so encouraging and enjoyable to visit with friends!

 

 

On Christmas Eve and Day, it was just us at home. As soon as dad got home from work on Christmas Eve, we made him sit down and relax, and gave him homeade cards and a snack, and Lydia and I played special music!

 That night we dressed up and had a special ham dinner - YUM!

 

That evening we read Luke 2, sang some carols, and opened presents! We enjoyed watching a new movie, then sleeping in on Christmas Day. We stayed in our pajamas all day, playing games, watching movies, playing outside on our frozen pond, and eating leftovers! What fun family memories! :-)

 

Thoughts on Life and a New Year

Lately I have been reading a book to Lydia, a biography on the life of Sundar Singh. He was a man from India who, after miraculously being saved by God, was a missionary not only to his own people, but also to those in Tibet and many other countries. He completely dedicated his life to Jesus, and became a Christian "Sadhu" (holy man). He did not have a home or family, but instead traveled through treacherous mountains and hostile villages, all to share the Good News! Here is a brief excerpt from the book, written by Janet and Geoff Benge . . .

"When Sundar arrived in San Francisco, a reporter asked him what he wanted to achieve while in the United States. Sundar replied, "I do not seek to Christianize America. I come only as a witness of what Christ has done for me. America is already a Christian nation. But although America has many sincere Christians, the majority of the people here have no religion. Here, where it is easy to have religion, where religion is offered on every side, and no one is persecuted for being a Christian, life should be happy and peaceful because of Christianity. But it is not. Instead there is a hustle and bustle after money and comfort and pleasure, and that all clouds out thoughts of religion. Because it is so easy to have faith in this country, Americans do not appreciate what a comfort there is in religion. At one time the ostrich could fly, but because it did not ever use its wings, it lost its ability to do so. Just so, the people here who do not appreciate the religious faith of their fathers shall lose it."

And that was in 1920. Wow. Our country has only worsened. Just a couple weeks ago President Obama signed a law letting gays openly serve in the military. Now this may or not be connected to that, but I think in the week after he signed that there were floods and mudslides in California, a terrible storm that dumped tons of snow in the east, an earthquake in Indiana, 20 tornadoes that killed 6 people in 4 Midwestern states, and in our part of the country, 2 back-to-back blizzards that caused a 100 car accident, lots of snowfall, and very icy roads.

I've also been thinking lately about how short life is. James 4:13-15 says, "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." The older I get, the faster life seems to go! I can't believe I'm going to be 21 this summer . . . WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?! Each day seems to zoom right by, and I am sobered to think that my life will be over before I know it, and only what's done for Christ will last!!!! As we look ahead on a new year, it's easy to think "I hope to be closer to God by the end of this year" or "I hope I accomplish this or that" but what are you doing each and every day to work towards your goal? When I was younger, I thought for sure by the time I was this OLD age I would be much farther along in my Christian walk. But now that I AM this old . . . wow, I sure have a LONG, LONG ways to go!

But, to end on a more cheerful note - God has been so faithful this year! I have seen Him work in so many ways and He has blessed me far beyond what I deserve. I pray that He will work through me this year and that with His help I will be able to live out my full potential for His glory!

When Sundar Singh was only 40 years old, he made another missionary journey into Tibet, but was never seen again. His life was dedicated to God and now He will be rejoicing and praising the Lord through all eternity - he was a good and faithful servant of Jesus Christ! Let us strive to do the same.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

Trip Journal - Our Last Day

Wow, I really feel behind on blogging! There are so many things to write about (and probably several I promised to share a while ago and never did) but I will have to content myself with taking one thing at a time. :-) So, before sharing about our Christmas and New Years, I'd like to finish writing about our trip to San Antonio that we took in October! :-)

Our last full day (Sunday) in Texas was spent at our new, good friend's house - the P. family. We were so grateful for their hospitality, and had such a fun time getting to know them! They have nine children, and you can check out their fun blog at The Pennington Point.

 

Patience and Lydia drawing together . . .

Hope, Faith, and Grace (my pen-pal) working together in the LOVELY kitchen (all four P. girls are so sweet and fun to be with - why can't they all just live in MN?) . . .

Caleb and Jacob playing Wii?

Daniel and Elijah, Noah, and Adam (not necessarily in that order!) playing Monopoly (little Levi was elsewhere).

Now Grace and I have called each other "Anne" and "Diana" (from the Anne of Green Gables series) for quite a while, so we just HAD to take some snapshots of us dressed up like those old-fashioned, lovable characters!! Although, the funny thing is, Grace is much more like Anne than I am in personality . . .  but since I have the red hair, alas, she is doomed to be Diana forever. :-) Nevertheless, my kindred spirit and I had a BLAST doing the photo shoot and she shall be my bosom friend as long as the sun and moon shall endure!! 

 

 

 

It was SO hard to leave the next morning. :-( Texas is a wonderful state, and the people and weather are so warm! But don't worry, I don't plan on moving down there . . . I don't think I could enjoy a winter or Christmas without several feet of snow!! ha ha

We are so thankful for God's blessings on our trip, and Lord willing, we are already looking forward to the possibility of attending the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival next year!

Bryant Family Blog

Head on over to the Bryant Family Blog to check out their giveaway! Also, I would strongly encourage any young ladies reading this to check out the King's Blooming Rose Ministries website - Sarah Bryant is the editor of the KBR magazine, and I have enjoyed getting it for many years! It is a very encouraging, godly magazine for young women of all ages!

More coming soon about our family's Christmas . . . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!! May God bless you all richly as you seek Him in 2011!

Merry Christmas From Our Family to Yours!

 

Isaiah 9:6
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

And the Winner is . . .

Actually, before I announce the winner, I just want to encourage my readers to look at the comments for the giveaway post, and if you haven't seen the movies people suggested, click on the links and find out more! I've seen most of those movies and they're GREAT!

Okay, now for the winner of The Alzen Family - Live in Concert! :-)

The winner is . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .

Congratulations Hayley! Just leave me a comment with your address (and I won't publish it) and I'll get the DVD out to you as soon as I can! I hope you enjoy it! :-)