In Christ Alone

The Holy Spirit used these song lyrics to speak to me this morning, and they seem especially appropriate to share during the season of Lent.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh

Fulness of God in helpless babe!

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones he came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave he rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath.

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Cooking Class

Chef Eleanor threw on her apron and whipped up a yummy meal of pizza and salad at the church cooking class.  The kids rolled their own dough, grated cheese, and chopped all the salad ingredients.  There was also shamrock shake and green pie for dessert.  Having her buddy, Emilio, there made the event extra fun!

Of course, I loved visiting with Katy there!

Full Sunday

Sunday began with a day of service at church to celebrate our 60th anniversary.  After the service, Kyle took the kids home to eat lunch and nap.  Meanwhile, I worked alongside a lot of fantastic volunteers to pack food bags for children in need at a local elementary school.  We filled the school pantry, providing over three months worth of food.

I made it home just in time for the Del Ray costume parade.  It was unusually hot for an October day, and the street was crowded.  So, we walked ahead and then found a seat so we could watch all the families dressed up for the event.  If only Elsa could have created a snow flurry or two to cool us down!

The night ended with some pumpkin carving, just in time for Halloween.  We ended up choosing a snowflake design, keeping with this year's Frozen theme.  Caleb was more interested in chewing on the tools than feeling the guts or seeds.  Conversely, Eleanor was very involved and engaged for the entire process of design selection, gutting, tracing, and sawing.  She was so very excited when we lit our jack-o-lantern to see our finished product.

What a full, but fun day!

Hooray for VBS!

Made in God's Image and Simply Beautiful

We had another successful week at VBS giving lots of children the opportunity to hear God's word and sing his praises.  This was an especially meaningful year for two reasons.  

First, I had the most wonderful class of first graders.  I was about ready to recruit each one of them to be in a private class taught by me next school year.  I've prayed for them and am seriously excited about how God will use these sweet little souls that I was so thankful to meet.  

Second, this was the first summer that Eleanor was old enough to really participate in VBS outside of the nursery.  She was in the four year-old class, so she got to join in on all the Jesus fun with little friends her age.  She and Caleb enjoyed playing in my classroom before VBS started each day, and we made some special memories during this time each morning.  Eleanor even wanted to stay with my first grade class throughout the day in more than one occasion.

The Cross Never Tasted So Good

Silly Lucy with Her Double Cross

Ready for a new day!  Style!

Slinging That Slingshot Around Like David

The Best Kiddos and a New VBS Teacher Friend

Gearing Up and Illness

All ready for the Nutcracker!

While visiting Orlando for Thanksgiving, Eleanor was sick with a cold and a touch of the flu.  Caleb caught the virus, too, and it caused a rash and extreme fussiness in the wee hours of a night or two.  

After Thanksgiving, we were more than ready to get healthy and geared up for Christmas!  However, the day after we got home to Virginia, I caught the flu, which developed into an ear infection.  Then Eleanor caught hand foot and mouth disease and later an ear infection.  Meanwhile, Caleb was experiencing continued cold symptoms and not sleeping for hours at a time in the middle of the night.

We ended up spending most of December at doctor visits, home sick from school, and just feeling miserable.  Unfortunately, we missed out on Christmas parties and numerous special holiday events.  However, we managed to squeeze in a few tidbits of Christmas delights, even when we were still working on getting well!

Here we are at the Kennedy Center waiting to see the Nutcracker Ballet.  This was our big Christmas present to Eleanor this year.  The Daniel Tiger episode where Daniel performs in the ballet with Katarina is one of her very favorite episodes that she always asks to watch.  Plus, several of her friends at school take ballet classes, so she has been especially intrigued with dance lately!  

To prepare her for the show, we gave her a Nutcracker book and read it together as a family.  During the performance, I explained what was happening with the characters and made connections to the book.  Eleanor did a wonderful job sitting attentively through the long show.  However, Kyle and I agree that Eleanor would have been more than happy to leave after intermission.  In fact, I think she thought it was over at that point.  Thankfully, our candy snack was our saving grace for the second half!  

Afterwards, she kept commenting on how she did not like how Clara's brother threw the nutcracker on the ground and broke it.  Otherwise, she really enjoyed everything else!  (If you're wondering about Caleb, he had a quiet afternoon at home with the sitter.)

I was barely able to drag myself out of bed to attend, but I'm glad I made it!

Christmas decorating happened later than expected, but the tree finally went up and Snoopy and twinkle lights adorned the front of our house!

Our church provided these advent calendars, which had stickers and scripture for each day of the month.  It was hands-on, and Eleanor really liked it!

Eleanor LOVES the story of Jesus' birth in the manager!  She asked about the gifts that the wise men brought and even if I knew Mary's mother's name.  We discussed about the news the angels brought and how the very bright star shined to lead people to Our King.  Of course, we also sang "Away in a Manger" and read numerous books telling of the Savior being born as a baby in Bethlehem.

Here she is listening to one of her Christmas books being read by Aunt Kate.

We enjoyed breakfast with Santa again at our neighborhood church.  This year our friends from down the street (Kasia, Leah, and Nic) joined us.   The food was very yummy, and E was genuinely excited to see Santa.  However, the long waiting line for pictures and her awesome Santa balloon hat were very long, especially for a toddler and baby!  It was all worth it though!

Kyle put up the tree for us, but for the most part, it was me putting on the ornaments.  The other silly elves were more interested in playing that day!

Illness struck again!

We were so happy that we got to attend the Singing Christmas Tree performance at a local Baptist Church.  The singing was beautiful and the message even more glorious!  Eleanor was in a trance with all of the colorful lights in the show, and she said that the scene of the manger with baby Jesus was her favorite (along with the purple lights).  Caleb hung out in the nursery and met some new baby friends while we were in the sanctuary watching the show.

Eleanor had been practicing her Christmas song ("Do You Know?") during choir practice with such devotion over the last month or so.  The day finally arrived for her to perform, and I was nervous and unsure how she'd react to being at the front of the church in front of hundreds of people.  However, she trotted right up to the stage and sang her heart out without reservation.  She certainly made a joyful noise to the Lord!  What a precious, little Christmas angel she was in her pretty red dress and pearls!  We were so proud of her.

Here we are right after she performed.

A new sickness strikes!  A sucker and Daniel Tiger on the iPad to the rescue!

Eleanor got some very thoughtful love mail during her bout of sickness.

Thoughtful Alexis wrote this for Eleanor and sent it in the mail.

This card was from her teachers and friends at school.

On her last sick day home from school, she was finally up for playing outside.  We walked down to the park to get out some energy.  However, our time there didn't last long because the physical exertion and cold air made her cough relentlessly, so we had to head back early.

Eleanor and Caleb had there winter celebration at school, so they both went dressed in their most festive Christmas clothes!  I attended the parent luncheon that day and got to visit with parents and teachers and share lunch with my loveys.

This was the holiday bulletin board display for Caleb's classroom.  It was so adorable that I had to get a picture!