Goodbye 2005

Well, it's almost over. In less than 10 hours 2005 will be a memory in our past. As I look back on this year there are a lot of smiles as well as tears that fill my soul. I am thankful for what God has blessed us with throughout this year. And I pray that we will not have to go through some of the painful times we had this year. All in all, 2005 was a good year.

This is the last year Jake will be in pre-school.

This year we got to go to Florida, Disney World, the beach and Key West.

This year we got to go to the ONU game and see the Polar Bears win BIG!!

This Christmas was wonderful....Santa even came to our house.

I once heard a blessing that went something like this....may the new year hold wonders for you and yours...may you love more than the years gone by...may your joys be greater than this year's and your sorrows be less than the year we leave.

Happy New Year!! May you be blessed in 2006!

After that Christmas Night

This year's Christmas was one filled with great wonder and awe. I have been reflecting a lot (as I do almost every year) on Mary's reaction to the events that unfolded around Jesus' birth. I have this beautiful picture on my computer with Mary holding Jesus. The look on her face is priceless and to me really captures the look of the new mother. I imagine that Mary felt so many emotions that day so long ago...I'll bet she was proud of her beautiful son, I bet that she sang him songs and looked lovingly on him as he slept in her arms. How wonderful it must have been to bask in the glory of the Christ Child. Little did she know what the future held...

I hope your Christmas was a joyful one filled with the presence of the baby who came to save all of us.

It's Officially Christmas

I heard it again...and how sweet it sounded. Every year we have Advent concerts on Fridays at our church. It's a time when musicians outside our congregation come and play or sing a lunchtime then we have a light luncheon following. Each year I wait in anticipation that sometime either during the concerts or on Christmas Eve I will hear one of my favorite songs sung...O Holy Night.

Last Friday my wish came true. There was a beautiful redition of O Holy Night sung by one of the Marshall students. It was so beautful I cried at the end.

Thank you so much for making my Christmas complete!

**The picture above is not our sanctuary, but looks kinda like our sanctuary

Congratulations Wes

I just read on the ONU website that Wes Hostelter was named the MVP of the Aztec Bowl after scoring three touchdowns for Team USA over Mexico on Saturday. This is in addition to setting two Aztec Bowl records...with 223 all purpose yards and 18 points scored. He was also named to the AFCA (America Football Coaches Association) All-America team.

For more information go to ONU Football

Congratulations Wes!

Had to Try This...I'm Rudolph

You Are Rudolph

Sweet and shy, you tend to be happiest when you're making someone else happy. Why You're Naughty: You sometimes stick that nose where it doesn't belong Why You're Nice: Christmas would be a sad affair without you!

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Why Does Snow Keep Missing Us?!

Why is it that we keep missing the snow?! It goes North of us, it goes South of us and all we get is rain. I want snow!!!

And, it's Thursday and that means....RAIN. No snow...no sleet or any of the yucky stuff like ice. Just rain.

Well, there's always the possibility of snow next week...but according to the Weather Channel that won't happen either.

Until then...I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Which Character from Narnia are You?

You have a strong sense of responsibility toward others and a deep respect for other people, even strangers, though you are not always sure what the best course of action is. You are Lucy, the brave child who is wise beyond her years and kind to all she meets.

I was hoping to be Lucy!!

Who are you?

Are You a Lion or a Witch?

Journey to Narnia was GREAT!

We went to see the Chronicles of Narnia tonight and it was great. Jake and I have been reading the stories for a while now. We began with the Magician's Nephew and have just finished The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I am glad we read the stories together because reading them before gave us a chance to talk about what was going on and when we saw the movie Jake knew what was going on pretty much.

The movie was awesome...the special effects were wonderful! I really do feel, along with many, that this will offer the opportunity for theological discussion as people see this movie.

If you've not had the chance it really is a good movie. We gave it three thumbs up!

Could this be the first of many?!

Tomorrow's Thursday and that Means - SNOW!!

Ever since we started Common Grounds on Thursday nights we have had a series of bad weather events on that evening. It started last January and continued through to the Spring. Even in the summer we had storms on some of the Thursday nights of the service. At first it was funny...and then we began a mantra, "Of course the weather's bad...it's Thursday."

I thought that maybe this winter would be different, but it doesn't appear so. Tomorrow afternoon and evening there's supposed to be a winter storm in the area. I'm excited about the 2-4 inches they're calling for, but just wish it would come later in the night and not be preceded by the slushy rain/snow/sleet/freezing rain mixture they're calling for. 'Course, Tony Cavalier (the weatherman at WSAZ-TV) could be wrong. Just have to wait and see.

'Course it is Thursday.

What Christmas Figure Are You?

You are one magnificent person! You are the night
of Christmas. You are a beautiful, good-hearted
person who enjoys the best for others. You are
probably very sentimental as well. You don't
believe in material objects for making you
happy, but in things more important. You truly
live out the spirit and meaning of this
holiday. Being around the ones you care about
most is enough to make you content. The thing
is that most people may either really love or
unfortunately hate you for your beautiful
nature. Merry Christmas =)

What Christmas Figure Are You?
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Now This is More Like It!

Since our little snowfall on Thanksgiving I have been struggling to get into the holiday spirit. The weather has been too warm to fully get into the Christmas mood. There's something really wrong with Christmas shopping with no coat and short sleeves. There's a problem when the weather is 75 degrees after Thanksgiving.

But today I was so happy...once again it is snowing!! I grew up in Northern Ohio so I LOVE snow! I like to sit inside and watch it fall from the sky. I like (unless it's slick) to walk while the snow falls...there's just something calming and beautiful about the snow. I miss the snows that we had when I was growing up.

I'm so excited!! I tried to take a picture of it with my cell phone but the pictures didn't do this pretty scene justice.

I remember a couple of years ago, I told my college group that one thing I missed about my years growing up was that it was taken for granted we'd have a white Christmas. It seems like those don't happen a whole lot anymore. It could be I moved about 300 miles South of where I used to live, it could be global warming, but for what ever reason I just missed it. I remember telling them that all I really wanted for that Christmas was snow. Well, weeks passed and soon it was Christmas. The weather hadn't forecasted anything for overnight, but when I got up and looked out...THERE WAS SNOW!!

I looked up and said, "Thanks God! That was so cool!" I told the group about it later that week in Sunday School...two of them said they had seen it too, thought of me and almost cried.

I was just saying the other day that I said I hoped this winter it would snow and snow and that we would have a beautiful winter to enjoy. It's almost as if God has granted me a glimpse of what this winter can be. Thank you God for creating snow to remind us of you!