the wrappings

i've been working on some homemade christmas presents for a few weeks now, and since i don't really have a ton of storage space, they've been sitting out on my kitchen counter. it's been driving me nuts.

so yesterday, i decided to do something about it and went to the local dollar store to see what kinds of wrapping paper, tags, and other goodies i could find to help jump start me in the present wrapping department. sadly, my local dollar store was lacking in its amount of variety. it was a cold, wet blanket on my cheery "it's almost christmas" mood. i am a huge christmas person. i don't appreciate having my christmas spirit dampened. i also happen to throughly enjoy giving presents, and i really look forward each year to making them pretty. i've been clipping magazine articles, taking photos, and pinning like crazy for ideas for how to wrap gifts this year, with the goal being simple, yet beautiful, primitive, yet festive. i know...that's a lot of thought for something that's going to get ripped to shreds, but i just like pretty things, and i like making things pretty. i had big plans when i walked into dollar tree, plans that did not come to fruition there.

plan b: i ran next door to big lots.  i'm not normally a big lots shopper. i don't have anything against it, but it's just not somewhere i usually go. but let me tell you...when those automatic doors whooshed open...(insert light shining from heaven, angels singing)  christmas was at big lots. there were aisles and aisles of paper, ribbons, bows, snowmen, reindeer, glitter, trees, boxes, and bags. my senses were on overload as i grabbed my cart and practically skipped down the aisles. christmas music was playing over the speakers. it was magical. i searched for things with pinecones, burlap, twine, anything i could find that would look great with my simple, rustic christmas scheme.

and then something else caught my eye. i have an almost two year old son who loves elmo, mickey mouse, and thomas the train. i am excited this year to introduce him to snowmen, reindeer, and santa claus. i had been imagining my tree with all my perfectly wrapped presents underneath, but when i saw the character wrapping paper, my primitive antique-loving, burlap-wrapped brain jumped ship. i came home with one roll of brown paper for the few gifts that i still want to look pretty, and three rolls of toddler-approved paper: mickey mouse, rudolph the red-nosed reindeer (claymation characters), and snowmen (big fluffy ones that you just want to squeeze!). i can hardly wait for him to see his gifts, all bright and colorfully wrapped. none of the wrapping paper goes with my theme. and i couldn't care less. i love "making christmas", as we say in our house, and i am so excited to make it for my little guy this year.

now if only i can talk my husband into letting me get started a little early...

the story

there was a brief time in my younger life that i aspired to be a harmonica player. i remember asking for a harmonica one year for christmas, and when i got it, i practiced "you are my sunshine" over and over for at least a couple of days. and then that was that. it sat on my shelf for a while before it made its way elsewhere (wherever harmonicas go...?).

in church today, two men played a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL duet with a harmonica and a guitar. it was so simple, so pretty. they played "i love to tell the story, 'twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love." it's one of those hymns...an oldie but a goodie. as i sang along softly, i prayed that i would always love to tell the story, that i would tell it without hesitation, without fear.

at lunch, we got to visit with our pastor and his wife. we don't know them very well, so we spent some time sharing about our lives. i got to tell our story, the story of God's grace and providence in our lives, the story of our miracle. i always worry that i over-share, and i probably do, but it's hard to stop once i get started. i love our story. i love how He brought us through, how He healed my body and our hearts. they shared some of their own story, their own miracles. i never get tired of hearing how God works in people's lives, especially when it's in such incredible ways.

of course, our story is nothing without Jesus. and while i'm quick to tell of His hand in our lives, i'm not always as quick to simply tell of Him. of His miraculous birth, His sacrificial death, His incredible resurrection. of His saving, all-consuming love and grace. of His forgiveness, His commands for obedience, of His desire for our whole hearts.

the old, old story of Jesus and His love...it's why i have a story.

our moon

"see mmmoooooonnn!!!!", he says to me. every day. every night.
he's in love with the moon, the stars, airplanes, and clouds. but especially the moon. he spots it early in the day, when the sun's still out but the moon is quietly starting to show its face. he notices when it's not there, when it's covered by clouds, when he can't see the stars. we go outside before bed, all bundled up in blankets, just to get one last look. his daddy sprayed a glow-in-the-dark moon on his ceiling and stuck up some stars that get him by when he can't see the real thing. this kid loves his moon.

we sing about it. "i see the moon and the moon sees me. God made the moon and God made me." he laughs and grins and starts naming other things to insert into the song: daddy, mommy, brooks, hot dogs, truck, stars, baseball...it gets downright silly sometimes. but oh, how i love seeing him laugh and smile. i love that we get to talk about the shape of the moon, what it might be doing when we can't see it (pa dale told him it's eating cheetos...sometimes he says it's sleeping, then starts snoring to show me what he means). we wait with anticipation for the clouds to move past. he cries out, "i see it! there it is!" his little finger points excitedly as the moon starts to peek out.

God's creation is incredible. our Creator is incredible. i love seeing it all through the eyes of my boy.

we're baaaaaaaccccckkkkkkk!

i know i said we moved to a different site. and we did. but now we're back.

i didn't like the other site as much. it just didn't feel like home. all that scary stuff that happened here...well, it's in the past. and i'm ok with it now. and so, i wanted to come back. back home, to where it all began.

let me catch you up...

brooks is almost 2. he's amazing. jeremy and i are so blessed to have each other and him. we're learning as we go (as i'm sure you'll see) and are having fun along the way. God is teaching us even more about His timing, His will, His plan...

please stick around and share our lives with us!