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 ;-)

A Grateful Heart

One of my favorite worship songs is called "Give Thanks." The lyrics go like this...

Give thanks with a grateful heart,

Give thanks unto the Holy One,

Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son!

That describes EXACTLY how I was feeling on Thanksgiving, last Thursday. Like many people, I can not even count how many things I have to be thankful for, but everything I have starts with Christ and his sacrifice for me! All pales in comparison when I meditate on the cross and what happened there 2000 years ago. Sometimes (like right now...), I am OVERWHELMED by my Savior. I am in AWE of what He has done for me. It's not like I deserve his grace! I deserve justice, which for me would mean Hell. That gives me chills to think about. Every young girl dreams of a prince who would be willing to give his life up to save her from something, anything.... My prince sacrificed Himself for me totally and completely and gave me LIFE when I was DEAD in my sin! WOW!!! That is why he is at the top of my "things-to-be-thankful-for" list... he has basically swept me off my feet ;-)

Salvation was the ultimate gift God could give me, but He has even taken it a step further. He has rescued me out of the miry clay and made my wicked heart white as snow, and now as I walk with Him he blesses me in "countless" ways. So, in honor of all my Lord has done for me, I will now be blogging once a week about a random number things that I am thankful for. I have decided to toss the one-blog-post-a-week thing out the window... God is doing so much in my life and I want to start sharing more. Also, I have been totally inspired by Jasmine Baucham's blog (http://joyfullyathome.blogspot.com/). She blogs almost every day and it is always so encouraging. I definitely aspire to be like her! One thing I really like about her blog is the interactive nature of it all. She often ends a blog post with a question to spark discussions and it is so cool to hear people's thoughts! So in hopes of hearing YOUR thoughts I must ask: what are some things you thankful for?

Elisa's 9th Birthday!

Elisa... The Birthday Girl!!!

Elisa looooves hats :)



Christmas is almost here!

Fun glasses!

The guy behind her found a sea star and let her hold it!

We had so much fun!

Elisa fell asleep listening to her new music box on the way home... so precious!

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Last Saturday was Elisa Rebekah's 9th birthday!!! My friend, Kelly, was gracious enough to take us to the mall and Dana Point in Orange County. We had a blast shopping around, trying on hats (!), eating DELICIOUS bagels, and visiting some tide pools. It was definitely one of those special moments when, as we were walking to the car, Elisa said, "This has been the best birthday EVER!"

P.S. THANKS, KELLY, FOR AN AWESOME DAY! WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU! YOUR SERVANT HEART IS AN INSPIRATION!!!

My Heart is Heavy

...for my Christian brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for their faith.

*This video is graphic, so I would ask that you not watch it with children and use discernment before allowing junior high or high school students to view it.

** You will need to turn off my audio player to hear the audio on this video. My music player is found at the bottom of the page.

On Sunday nights I attend Kaleo, my church's college ministry. Tonight the message was about prayer and near the end Pastor Cobb spoke of our need to remember the persecuted church. He showed us this video and it brought me to tears. Within the first few minutes I was begging forgiveness of God for forgetting my brothers and sisters who are in such dire circumstances because of their faith. When I am in situations where I am forced to see the reality that people are being murdered, beaten, starved, and so much more simply because they won't deny the name of Jesus I cannot help ask myself, "How do you EVER forget???"

Hebrews 13:3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

I NOW HAVE 12 SIBLINGS!!!

Wow... I have not blogged for one month! It seems like it was months and months ago that I was sitting at my desk reminiscing about rain and friends because so much has happened. Just days after writing that post, my family heard about a little girl, Ai-Lin, who was in need of an adoptive home. Originally from Taiwan, she was residing in Hawaii (where my grandparents live), and my parents (not to mention the rest of us!) were eager to welcome her into our family! Hence the last month has been an insane flurry as we have done homestudies, social worker visits, paperwork, rearranging of rooms, etc. in hopes of getting Ai-Lin here as soon as possible. In my mom's blog post announcing Ai-Lin's arrival she described the adoption process as, "exhausting and at times excruciating, but all is worth it the moment the dream of welcoming a precious child into our home becomes a reality." There couldn't be a better way of describing it! The last 30 days have been full of near-sleepless nights and heavy-hearted prayers, but she is finally here and we have been so blessed by her!
She came home to us Sunday morning and it has gone wonderfully so far. Adoptive educators often talk of a "honeymoon period" when the child is happy, the family is happy, and all is bliss. We are certainly having a good "honeymoon." She is absolutely precious! Her favorite things are food, piggy back rides, and Daddy's beard ;-) She has melted right into the family and gets along great with everyone. Her tender heart has even recognized the need to be extra kind to Isaac (our brother who is deaf and has Cerebral Palsy.) She will pat him, smile, and say kind things to him all the time. I am so thankful to God for bringing her into this family, and making me the oldest of THIRTEEN children!
I am also praising God that, in His wisdom, he guided me and my parents to keep me home from school this semester. As my time at home progresses I am beginning to think that my commitment to staying home will last much longer than a semester or two. As the oldest child, I feel a burden for my parents ministry to, "rescue orphans in their distress," and hope to bless them and work with them to care for the beautiful children God brings into our family! Who knows how long it will be before another blessing makes his or her way into our arms?!