Christmas!

Christmas was so wonderful! We kicked it off with a family get together on Christmas Eve, and the event was blissful. Aside from opening presents (need I mention how fun that is???), we had a beautiful time of family worship, Scripture reading, and prayer. Daddy worked it out so that we took turns reading a passage out of the Bible about the birth of Christ and then we would sing a Christmas song. It was so special to re-focus together as a family and meditate on the reason for the season. It was a classic Harow/Varnell get together with lots of loud kids running around (OK! Maybe that was just the Varnell half...lol ;-) and I couldn't help but feel joy in my heart! How I love my family! I am so blessed to be a part of each of their lives!
I am so grateful to God for sending his son as a newborn babe to grow up and take upon himself the sins of the world. It fills me with awe and wonder. And I don't just feel that way at Christmas. That is a wonderful part of being a follower of Jesus Christ- you can be excited about his birth any time of the year! And I am going to use that as an excuse for why I just changed my Christmas blog music today...lol just kidding :-D
Christmas went down without a hitch and we all woke up to find precious notes from Mom in our stockings... she is so faithful! She is trying to make it a tradition and this was her second year doing it. This was her note to me:

My precious daughter, I love you more than I could ever express with words. You amaze me each and every day with your heart for the Lord and our family. This year you have grown in so many ways and it has been such a joy to watch you become a woman of God. I love our late night talks and then I appreciate you bringing me my cup of coffee in the morning to wake me up. You are a gracious young lady in more ways than I can count. I am savoring each and every day with you and not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for bringing sweet you into my life. You are nothing short of incredible. I am very proud, but know it surely hasn’t been about the mom I am. I know you are who you are because of Christ in you. Your life truly glorifies Him!I love you forever and always!

Isn't she a sweetie? I am so blessed by her! If you think about the fact that she wrote 13 heart-felt letters like that after everyone went to bed on Christmas Eve (meaning LATE) you get just a glimmer of how selfless she is :) My parents are so dedicated to each of us kids and they make Christmas fun every year!

P.S. You can read our family's Christmas letter on my mom's blog if you click on the link below :)
http://varnells.blogspot.com/2009/12/very-long-2009-christmas-letter.html

Here I Come!!! (Round 2)

My Chilean friend, Claudia. She was amazing! And she laughs like Santa!!!

Depending on who you ask... the girls dominated the boys in the snowfight ;-)

We went sledding on trash bags :D

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Tonight I found out that I will be able to attend the Bring Me Hope Retreat this year! Last year I knew only two people out of the entire BMH group, but this year it will be like a family reunion ;-) I built so many great relationships while I was in China, and I CAN NOT WAIT to see all my friends! Well, that is all... I just thought I would post some pictures of last year and let you all know how excited I am right now!

A Gift

^"14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

~II Timothy 3:14-17~

(emphasis added)

I am extremely blessed to have been born and raised in a Christian home... and not just a home where people are okay with God, but in a home where my parents have raised us to love and worship Him. The passage above was a part of this morning's family Bible reading, and as I heard those words I was once again reminded how blessed I am! No, I don't live in a "perfect" family (after all, we happen to be a bunch of sinners saved by grace!), but I do live in a family were Christ is esteemed and family is valued. One thing about being born and raised in a Christ-centered family is that I think I have a greater responsibility to be a light in this dark world.

A few weeks ago I gave a speech in class about missions. I ended it like this,

"We are extremely blessed to have been raised in Christian homes where we have been given a superior education, discipleship, and a good understanding of Biblical things. With these great blessings comes great responsibility. Someday we will stand before God, accountable for our actions. We are like the slave in the parable who had been given 5 talents. It is our job to take those “talents” that God has given us and multiply them. Imagine how angry the master would have been at the slave who was given 5 talents if HE had buried it and returned the same amount. It wouldn’t matter that he had returned more than the slaves who were given 2 and 1 talents. He would be held accountable for wasting the gift his master had given him, and it is the same for us."

God gives each of his children special gifts and abilities that He can use to bring Himself glory. One of the gifts he gave me was to be raised in a country where my parents were free to disciple me and teach me the ways of the Lord from the time I was a young child and that they did/continue to do so with great vigor. Someday, I hope to be able to pour some of the knowledge they gave me into the cups of people who have never heard the name of Jesus!

Hear the Bells!

I love poetry! I love reading it, memorizing it, and hearing it recited. One of my favorite subjects to teach the kids is language because the curriculum we use encourages poetry memorization. I love coming up with funny hand motions or dances to fit the words of poems like "Mr. Nobody" or "The Goops". A poem that my mom taught Noah (11), Gabe (11), and Veronica (10) a few months ago was the first part of "The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe. Though it was fall when they memorized it (and not really applicable...) they tucked it away in their memories, and the time has finally come to pull it out again! The words to this cheerful piece are as follows:

Hear the sledges with the bells-

Silver bells!

What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,

In the icy air of night!

While the stars that oversprinkle

All the heavens, seem to twinkle

With a crystalline delight;

Keeping time, time, time,

In a sort of Runic rhyme,

To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells

From the bells, bells, bells, bells,

Bells, bells, bells-

From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells

Bells. Christmas bells! Can you hear them? Do you see the snow? (Ok, if you live in Southern California, like me, then maybe not, but lets just pretend) ;-) Bells, snow, pretty lights, hot chocolate, warm fuzzy books, holiday cheer, nativity scenes... *sigh* Ever since the day after Thanksgiving, I have been excited about Christmas. I bought twenty of my favorite Christmas jingles, combined them with the twenty (or more) songs I already had, and I can finally say I have a REAL Chrismas Playlist :) Ask anyone in my family... all I want to do is listen to Christmas music, watch Chrismas movies, read Christmas books, put up Christmas decorations... I think you get the picture! Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love snuggling up with my family, fellowshipping with my friends, and the general air of joy and holiday bliss that seems to take over any negative atmospheres that once existed. But despite all the wonderful things that the Christmas season brings, I do not want to ever be distracted from the true reason for the season... Jesus!

I cannot say thank you to Him enough for coming to our earth as a newborn baby only to live a hard life and die a cruel and terrible death. That special night that God sent his son to be born the angels sang and the shepherds ran to see His face in the shape of a child. Baby Jesus. Often I wonder if Mary had some fun telling the story of her first child's birth... I mean, come on! Women love to tell birth stories, and hers happens to top every birth story of all time! How many women can say that they almost had a baby on the back of a donkey, ended up finding a stable to give birth, and then at the moment their child entered this world angels filled the heavens and sang praises to Him? None other than Mary, wife of Joseph, mother of the living God. Then again, how many women can say they watched their son live a perfect life and then get hung on a cross as a common criminal when He had done nothing wrong? None other than Mary, wife of Joseph, mother of the living God. As I think of the great joy that encompassed that spectacular night in Bethelehem I wonder, Did she know? Could she imagine the pain that her son was destined to go through, the pain she would feel as a helpless mother unable to stop the wrath of God pour out upon his perfect son on the cross? I doubt she knew... how could she? It was not her place to know, but as a servant of God she laid down her life to serve him in whatever way he asked. Mary is an inspiration to me. I would love to be just like her and no matter what God asks me to do reply, "I am the Lord's servant."

That precious gift God chose Mary to carry for nine months and then present to the world in swaddling clothes was the Savior of all the world. All of history points to Him and the climax was His death on the cross. As I enjoy this joyful time of the year, I praise God that He has chosen me! I am infinitely grateful that he DID send His Son, and that Jesus DID die on the cross! Let this time be a season of joyful thanksgiving to our Lord!

Happy Birthday to the Bestie!

Today was one of my best friends, Alicia's 17th birthday! Last night we threw a surprise party for her and it was amazing! Though there were many close calls, everyone managed to keep quiet enough and she was truly surprised :) After pizza we went on a scavenger hunt for the most random items (think painted board, sock with a hole in it, dessert items, etc.) Someone was even throwing a welcome home party for the man of the house, who had been gone serving our country in Iraq, and they let us come in! The festivities in that house were definitely a great example of Christmas cheer (and I am ALL about Christmas cheer!)
Thank's Al, for being the bestest friend a girl could ask for! You are always willing to talk, to encourage me in my walk with the Lord, or to just be crazy with me! You bring out the little girl in me on a regular basis, and I love you for that ;-) It's been three years of ups and downs, laughter and tears, and I thank God for every minute of our friendship! I wouldn't trade you for the world! I love your heart for Jesus! Keep shining for Him! I know you will serve God in great ways as you continue to seek to follow Him! Love ya, babe! I'm lookin forward to 70 or 80 more years of fun and service to our king :D

Oh Brothers!

Tonight my brothers had me giggling, smiling, and being thankful that God made me a big sister! This was a Fight Lab night, so we went to our boxing classes. On the way home my Dad was giving everyone a talk about being quiet when we got home so that we wouldn't wake up the babies. He then directed a couple comments towards one of my eleven year old brothers, Noah, hinting that he was generally the loudest. Noah's reply made me smile. He said, "Dad, God gave me a loud mouth for a VERY important reason. Someday, when I grow up, I am going to talk to lots of people and be very in-spir-ational. I will be real good at it because I am practicing now. So ya see, it is really a gift from God!" Well, my Dad was curious to know who had told him these things and Noah replied enthusiastically, "I had a vision. Actually a dream, but it felt like a vision... I dreamed I was talking to a whole bunch of people and they were actually listening to me!" At that point the whole car bust out laughing :D
Later, I was messing around with my seven year old brother, Josh, when he started talking smack about his "skills" in jiu-jitsu. I jokingly said to him, "I don't care how good you are, I can still take you down!" He looked at me real serious and said, "Amanda... I INVENTED the take-down." and quietly walked away. Once again, I couldn't help but laugh :)
My little brothers are certainly good for entertainment! AND they are cute! They are definitely the whole package... but shhhhh! Don't tell them I said that ;-)