Christmas Decorations

This year is the first year I've decorated 2 homes!  See, my mom and I made an agreement that I could get married as long as I still come home every year and decorate my parent's house for Christmas :)

So let's start with my mom and dad's house:

First we have the most important part, the tree!!

We went for a "Grinch" theme this year, and we are still in the process of finding a few more Grinchy things.  But we like the color scheme for it all :)

Next, the stockings...

All they need is Mr. Grinch himself to lurk around somewhere.

Next is the table, my mom did this part.  I really like it.

The table, it needs some more work, we are keeping our eyes and ears open for what more to do with it.

Cute little snowmen by their hawaiian candle fire :)

Yours truly,

And then lets hop across the border (the MN-WI border that is) and look at my humble abode!

I'm a bit limited on what I own for decorations, but I have a christmas blanket for the couch...

And my mom gave us 2 stockings that she bought about the time that I was born.  I love these stockings!  I hung them on the bar, because we don't have a mantel or railing on the stairs or anything to really hang them on!  Otherwise, the counter has christmas lights, that wreath stuff and a cranberry chain across it.  And I bought those cute little reindeer stocking holders at target.

...I just need 2 more for the mutts' stockings (yes, the dogs have their own stockings, we are those people)

Next up is our dining room table.  The pinecone candles were wedding gift from a patient, the berries are borrowed from my mom, the runner is new, and I made the feathery trees out of...you guessed it, feathers!  And cones from the craft store.  Just don't look too closely, I havent found anything for the top.

Next up is our christmas tree.  Borrowed from my mom's work.  With the most random assortment of ornaments.  I don't even know.

Also, my bowl of christmas lights (yet another use for my amazing wooden bowl, that bowl is a treasure I tell you)

And our two presents so far!  (and not even for us, one is for Jeremy, the other for my family)

Our other christmas tree, also borrowed from my mom's work, and a stocking dish for old halloween candy.

then a little gold runner with the nutcracker and his story on one side, with our christmas card on the other (Thanks Vliets!....who I'm sure don't even know this blog exists).  When I get more cards (hopefully I do, I guess I have no reason to believe I will get many), I plan to hang them on the wall somewhere.

And last but not least (well, we hung lights in our windows, but no pictures, sorry), our fireplace with our two little dears.

Cutie patooties!

Show me how you have decorated!  Post the pictures on your blogs and let me know!  Or just e-mail (lyndseydaniel@hotmail.com) me your pictures and I will post them on here so everyone can admire!

Matthew 1:25

"But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.  And he gave him the name Jesus."

Merry Christmas!

Matthew 1:24

"When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife."

Ah, sweet marital bliss :)

Matthew 1:23

" 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' -- which means, 'God with us'."

Don't you think that is one of the most beautiful verses in the bible?  I love it.

I'm sorry if you noticed the unfinished version of this post.  My week has been just a wreck and somehow in the midst I let it slip to type in the verse today.  I won't get into it, but I'll just say, this week I scratched my car, tore up a screen door on our house, hurt my knee when I stepped (unexpectantly) directly off a ledge, locked my mom and I out of the house during a snow storm, and...goodness, I really truly could go on.  But let's just say...sometimes I can be a disaster, but I'm glad my family loves me regardless!

Matthew 1:22

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:"


(what a cliffhanger, eh?)

Matthew 1:21

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

My bible says that the name Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, meaning "The Lord saves."

People used to really think about the meaning of what they named their child, rather than just what sounds good with their last name.  And what the kids at school will have the most trouble turning into an insulting name. 

I've often wondered if our names actually do have a part in shaping what we become.  Have you ever thought of this?  And do you think there is any validity to it?

Matthew 1:20

"But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit'."

(barely got this one in today!)

Matthew 1:19

"Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly."

Matthew 1:18

"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."

Well, this verse just sums it all up, doesn't it?  Haha, I like the matter-of-factness of this verse. 

As you may have noticed, I did not get this verse out in the A.M. like I have been doing so well up until now.  I'm just...tired.  I think tired might just be my middle name.  Which is unfortunate if it is true, but at least I don't have to wake up before the sunshine tomorrow!  I know, I'm totally off topic.

Happy Sabbath!

Matthew 1:17

"Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile in Babylon and fourteen from the exile to the Christ."


Can you believe that?  42 generations.  42 generations in just 16 days.  Didn't seem like that many, did it?  I'm really bummed that I wasn't able to type up some more for yesterdays post, and I'm almost as bummed that I don't have the time to type up anything more for this one.  I should be alot better after today.  Hopefully the work stress will calm down a little and I can breathe and sleep and think.  Haha.  Until then, I hope you still are enjoying the verses, even if they are just one simple verse day to day!

Matthew 1:16

"And Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ."

Matthew 1:15

"Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,"


Because family trees can sometimes be a little monotonous, let's add a little christmas spirit to the mix.

Here are (in no particular order), my 10 favorite Christmas movies!
----------------------


The Christmas Toy

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Elf

Frosty the Snowman

Funny Farm

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Love Actually

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Prancer

The Grinch

What are your favorites?

Matthew 1:14

"Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Eliud,"

Sorry for the lack of writing for the past few days.  But look!  Christmasy bells!  :)

Matthew 1:13

"Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor,"

Matthew 1:12

"After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,"

Matthew 1:11

"and Josiah the father of Jeconiah [aka Jehoiachin] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon."

Josiah, what an awesome little nugget he was!  Only 8 years old when he became king.  Let me think, when I was 8...I was homeschooled and living in Missourri.  I spent my days playing with barbies, animals, making mud pies and fighting with my brother.  Yup, don't think I was ready to rule a nation quite yet.

Josiah (a bit older at this point) decided to renovate the temple of the Lord, make it nice again after Manasseh's reign.  He took money from the temple of the Lord and gave it to the workers.  He said that he didn't need to "account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully."

While this went on, Hilkiah, the high priest, told Josiah's secretary that the Book of the Law had been found in the temple of the Lord.  (boy, that place must have been a complete mess if even that was lost).  Shaphan, Josiah's secretary brought it to Josiah and started reading from it.  Josiah immediately tore his robes (this is a good sign that something didn't settle right with him at this point).  He was furious that his forefathers had neglected to obey this important book. 

The Lord gave word through a prophet that he will destroy this place and all of its people, but because Josiah was obviously not a supporter of such sin, he would be spared.  He would be able to die in peace and "you're eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place."

I so so so wish I had the time to write the rest of this story, but again I will have to leave it up to you if you are interested.  The story continues in 2 Kings 23.

Have a great Friday!!

Matthew 1:10

"Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,"

Manasseh.  Became king at 12 years old.  Not a good seed.

Let's just bullet point this and make all our lives easier.

• Rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah had destroyed. 
  I looked up 'high places' in my concordance appendix and I found this interesting:
  The high places are places of idolatrous worship and child sacrifices.
  They were built by --> Solomon, Jeroboam, Jehoram, Ahaz, Manasseh, people of Judah, Israil and the Sepharvites
  They were destroyed by --> Asa, Jehosaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah
  
• Built altars to Baal (the most popular false god with the Canaanites)
• Made an Asherah pole (a sacred tree or pole that stood near shrines to honor the mother-goddess Asherah, per Wikipedia)
• Bowed down to and worshiped the starry hosts
• Built altars to all the starry hosts in the temple of the Lord
• Sacrificed his own son in a fire
• Practiced sorcery (defintion via merriam-webster dictionary: the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits)
• Practiced divination (definition: the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers)
• Practiced witchcraft (definition: the use of sorcery or magic; communication with the devil)
• Consulted mediums and spiritists
• Shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem end to end with that blood

Can you just imagine what God was thinking?  I just picture him shaking His head, almost in disbelief (ignore the fact that He already knew it would happen, haha).  But I do like when he says, "I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down."

It saddens me that he is in Jesus's family tree because I wouldn't wish that great great... grandfather on anyone.  But yet it is a little inspiring to.  If Jesus came from those bloodlines, then it gives hope to those who feel like they can't overcome their family's shortcomings.  And it also makes Jesus more human, because even though I know he was full human, it's just hard to believe sometimes.  I mean, I'm human, and sometimes, if I compare myself to what Jesus was... I just suck!

I'm very thankful for patience and understanding and love and grace and all of these wonderful gifts that God gives to us, ALL THE TIME!

Matthew 1:9

"Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah."


Hezekiah became a king at 25 years old.  I thought about that for a couple of minutes and compared and contrasted Hezekiah and my jobs.  I didn't go into alot of detail in my thoughts, but I did think about how stressful it can be at times, for me, to have people's lives in my hands.  I know I'm not a surgeon or a cop, firefighter or on a rescue team.  But I have people's trust regarding their medical conditions.  I can screen them for serious illnesses that can lead to death.  I can perform treatments on people that could risk their lives if I'm not paying attention.  I could just be tired one day and have delayed reflexes if they start to fall.  This, at times, can be stressful.  But Hezekiah, a year younger than I am right now.  Was in charge of Israel.  He was in charge of the safety of all of those people, and to keep them safe, he was in charge of his army.  Can you imagine the stress involved with that?  I mean, he would hear when his men would die fighting.  I don't know, I don't really have the time to go into that any further, but I just am thankful I'm not in charge of any more than I already am!

Like I said, I'm short on time today, but I wanted to say a little about Hezekiah.  He did what was right for the most part.  He got rid of lots of idols including "the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it."  Isn't that crazy that it had been there that long?  And doesn't it just make you shake your head at the point that the Israelites seemed to worship anything and everything with dedication?  Except with God, they swayed.  I mean, I'm guilt of the same.  I take God for granted more often than I'd like to admit, and I fill that time of worship with TV and internet and stressing myself out about randomness.

Anyways, long story short (I apologize!  This is all in 2 Kings 18-20).  I assume this is about a decade later, because he reigned for 29 years, Hezekiah got sick.  He had a boil and the Lord said through a prophet that he will not recover and he will die.  Hezekiah did not like the sound of that!  He cried alot, turned towards a wall and prayed and prayed.  God heard his prayer and told his prophet to tell Hezekiah that he will live 15 more years.  Hezekiah didn't get too excited right off the bat, he wanted proof.  Which I don't know why him feeling better and the boil going away wasn't proof enough.  So Isaiah, one of the prophets that had been relaying messages from God to Hezekiah, said,

"This is the Lord's sign...Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?"

Hezekiah said it would be easy for the shadow to go forward 10 steps, "Rather, have it go back 10 steps."

I'm not sure why God sometimes let's people have what appears to me as little faith, but I guess we are all human and struggle with the idea of just trusting.

"...the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz."

Matthew 1:8

"Asa the father of Jehosaphat, Jehosaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah,"



I bet you guys are wondering why I chose Matthew chapter 1 for this project due to the extent of genealogy involved. Well, personally I needed to do something like this and I'm dragging you all with me! Haha. When I read genealogies in the bible, they don't take me much time at all (if you know what I mean). I skim. I don't pay any attention to most of the names. I mean, I'll see the names David and Abraham, because who doesn't know of those men. But the rest I pretty much just ignore.  And I really shouldn't do that.  I think it's important to know the genealogy of Jesus of all people! And it is really pretty interesting to see the bible be pulled together in a list of names. At least for me!


So thank-you for listening and giving such nice comments!  They've made my day several times!  :)