He's Here!


The Light of the Whole World

So Long, Moses...

from Justin Taylor's blog:

A song from Behold the Lamb of God:

It was a Labor of Love

Jill Phillips, from Behold the Lamb of God, with scenes from the movie, The Nativity Story (lyrics to the song posted at Justin Taylor's GC Blog):

Are you looking ahead yet?

While I don't want to bypass anything about Christmas, I want to get you thinking about something...

If you're like me, you probably don't make many New Years Resolutions.  However, this past year, I chose to aim at reading the entire Bible through in a year.  I'll confess now that I often struggle with plans like this due to the sheer volume of reading and the lack of time I have to simply sit and read.  As a result, I often give up... like I did this year (Ahem.).

I want to let you in on what I'm going to do instead in 2011 to keep my mind fixed on Christ and on knowing Him through God's Word. 

In the mornings, I plan to read a short daily entry in the book I shared with you recently:  Parenting Moment by Moment.   I will reflect on it and the additional verse(s) for the rest of the day.

In the car line at Caleb's school, where I have about 30 min. to sit, I plan on reading a short daily entry in another book I'm excited about:  The One Year Book of Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament, by Nancy Guthrie.  I get all excited when I see evidence of the meta-narrative (or Big Story / unfolding plan from the beginning) of God's plan of Salvation.  It helps me immensely to remember that all the individual characters and their life experiences/stories are united, not disjointed -- that, as my kids'  Jesus Storybook Bible reminds us, "Every story whispers His name."  It also reminds me that as a redeemed, adopted child of God, I also get to play a part in that grand story.

At another point in the day, probably bedtime, I will read a short New Testament passage in a Bible Reading Plan I adapted from a friend of ours, who copied it from a friend of a friend to use with his own church.  You can find and download it in PDF form here.

This way, with 3 brief readings, I'll get a chance to reflect on 1. The Gospel and its continuation in the New Testament,  2.  How God was planning to bring Jesus to give us a chance to be reconciled to Him from the beginning of sin's entry into the world,  and 3.  How I can better use Scripture that I'm encountering to train my own children God's Way.


I don't know about you, but that seems much less daunting to me than a daily reading plan with 4-5 lengthy passages.  Join me on January 4 (Gives you a few days to get into routine)?

Have another reading/study goal for the new year?  Share it in the comments below!

And the MOMENT is here...

The prize...

The contenders...

(Courtney, I hope you understand me not including you, since you bought your copy and didn't do a verse or fb/twitter...)  :)

The preparation...

The anticipation...

The distraction...

the.  tv.  is.  on.  but.   I'm.   still.  smiling.....

The winner!

And commenter #4 is.....

Heather Axelson!  Heather, Facebook Message me your address, and I'll have the book sent to you! :)

Don't miss out on the B1G1 special for this book still going on at carlamaclachlan.com!

I haven't forgotten you!

Today's been crazy.  In the interests of making sure things are random, I'll wait, and let my girls choose a random winner tomorrow morning when they're awake!  :)

Advent is here!

I love this time of year!  We have 24-ish days to use strategically to turn our families' hearts and minds toward the Reason for the season...  What special traditions do you have with your family?  Share them in the comments!

I'll share some of ours soon, and I'll pass on some great ones from others as well!

For now, check out the Hubble Telescope Advent picture feed from Boston.com and keep this in mind...

God, who created all the fantastic unimaginable things you'll see in each day's picture,

• loves YOU and desires a relationship with you
• and even though your sin, my sin, all of our sin keeps us from Him,
• He provided a perfect, substitutionary sacrifice to take the penalty of our sin
• by sending His only Son, Jesus, to be born of a virgin,
• live a sinless life
• die on the cross as penalty for sin
• and defeat death by rising again from the grave
• so that the relationship God intended us to have before sin entered the world can be restored with those who believe, giving us firm Hope and Eternal Life!