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!

Moment by Moment: A Review AND Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks for your entries!  I'll post a winner sometime tomorrow.  Don't forget to head on over to CarlaMacLachlan.com for an excerpt of the book AND to check out the awesome Buy1,Give1 special going on this week (with free shipping).

If you're anything like me, you have moments of sheer frustration, as your child (or niece/nephew, or student, or neighborhood kid)  asks "Why?" for the umpteenth time, ignores a direct instruction, or looks at you blankly as though the simplest request has been one request too many that day.

If you're like me, you find no comfort in hearing certain phrases come out of your mouth, whether in desperation, or for lack of anything better to say.  It might be "because I said so" or "because I'm the [mom] and you're the kid" or "no more questions, you're driving me crazy" or even "I'm so tired of you [committing this certain act of disobedience or annoyance]."

I earnestly desire to be a good mom, but I make mistakes, I get frustrated, and there are days I know that I'm leaning wholly on my own abilities (which are lacking). I do all this even though I know I should be leaning instead on the One who has given me this calling and the three (almost four) wonderful blessings who are in my care.

I don't want to compartmentalize my faith in its own pretty little church "box" and still flounder as a parent.  Instead of passing on our culture's pattern of making faith just another aspect of life, I want to raise children who value biblical truth above all else and can apply it to every aspect of life.

That's why I'm really excited about this new book, Parenting Moment by Moment, by Carla MacLachlan.

Carla MacLachlan is one of a few ladies the Lord has used greatly to mentor me over the years.  I love her dearly, but I must tell you that what makes her most winsome and precious to me is not so much her personality, her image, her status, or her ability to make me feel better about myself.  The Lord has equipped Carla with a fierce love for Him and His Word.  She is gifted at being able to ask loving questions that pierce right to the spiritual heart of a matter.  She encourages like no one else I know because her basis for encouragement is Scripture and its principles.  I can depend on her advice, not because it's "hers" or it's clever or convenient, but because her words point to God's.

What I love about this book:

• its format:  Devotional reading.  I've read some really helpful Biblical Parenting books, but I struggle to complete them.  The stream of "Mama!" calls and tyranny of urgent tasks at home limits my reading time during this stage of life.  Parenting Moment by Moment has a brief daily entry which is clear, concise, and biblical.  Additional Scripture is included for me to meditate on at the end of each entry.
• its divisions:  Spiritual Stages.  While physical ages are typical sections in parenting books and they could certainly apply here as well, readers are encouraged to approach the sections with Spiritual Development in mind.  Parents of Elementary Students need not skip ahead and worry they'll be playing catch-up or that it's too late.
• its focus:  the standard of absolute truth.  No matter what different stages of parenting or types of personalities exist amongst my kiddos, I can stand securely and confidently on God's Word. No more "because I said so"-- now my reasons for expectations and my methods for training are based on God's infinite wisdom and loving discipline.
• its effect:  I too am trained.  I'm equipped to better communicate truth to my kids.  I grow in my own knowledge and understanding of Scripture.  I become a parent who honors God and trains my children to recognize and follow God's plan.

I am pleased to give away a copy of this book!  Here's how to enter:
1.  You get 1 (one) entry for posting a favorite Bible verse.
2.  You get another entry (one) if you follow @mbmministries on Twitter and/or "like" Moment By Moment Ministries on Facebook and comment here a second time saying which you followed/liked.

One comment series per family please!   You have until 11:59 pm Central time NEXT Wednesday, December 1st, to enter.  The randomly selected winner shall be proclaimed the following day.

Bonus!  Go to Carla's website, where you can download a free excerpt from the book!

Whaddya think?

I've re-vamped the look of the blog.  Thoughts? 

p.s.- Be on the lookout... I'm reviewing a book I've read, right here, really soon!

Cousins Corner

My cousin and [3/5 of] his kids came into town for some fun this summer!  It was fun to let Caleb and J (who are about 6 mo apart) hang out.  L and E are super sweet and helpful too!

 Anna and E

 Caleb, Pawpaw, and J

E, Mimi, Abby, Anna, and Me

L, my cousin Q, and "Uncle B"

New [school] Year!

Can it be that time is accelerating faster than it should?


How is it that we have

a second grader

and a Pre-Kindergartener?

A 4th reason to catch up:

Yes, it's true!  We discovered on July 4th weekend (very early on) that we are expecting our 4th little bundle of joy!  While we have always thought 4 was a great number, the Lord's timing was a tiny bit sooner than we expected.  We couldn't be more excited!  Abby will be just past 18 months when little peanut is born in early March. 


After filling in family and some friends, we announced our pregnancy to the rest of our friends via Facebook using a puzzle sequence of my profile pictures: 

First:

Then:

and finally, 

Fun, huh?

3 new posts!

Thanks for your patience the last few weeks, I know I'm behind on posting!  Scroll down or click here for 3 new posts!

Children of the ...errr... Grain Sorghum

Farm Girl

green machines, boots and jeans

I love the opportunity to be part of harvest time each summer.  After last year's complete drought (NO crops due to no rain), we had rested soil and some great rains.  Couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some pics of the amazing grain crops! 

Great yield + waiting on semi trucks = having full combines that often dump into the same cart

Pawpaw!

In an average year, the grain usually grows as tall as waist/almost chest level to an adult.

silly girl

Can you reach as high as the tops?

This is an eye level pic by me... and I'm 5'8"!

Check my next posts for some closeups of C & A1!

Wise Guys, eh?

The Wise Guys winners of the Walking with the Wise CD giveaway were selected using a tried and true method of random number selection:  Bath toy numbers and no-look/no-knowledge-of-commenters selection by my two littlest helpers!

Using a trusty empty wipe box  (Walking with the Wipes, anyone?  I couldn't resist.) and one bath number per person to match the order of commenters.

Mama mixes it up a little.

Anna proceeds with the shaking...

No peeking, sweet girl!

Closing the eyes and pulling out a number...

And the first WiseGuy winner is....

Commenter #5  Betsy!

Now it's Abby's turn.  First, to coax her to stick her hand in there...

Lemme check this out first...

And our second winner is....

a very slobbery Commenter #7, Steph!... (sorry about that!)

(Anna is trying not to get slobbered on!)

So, Betsy and Steph, please email me at aggiemcdonalds [at] gmail [dot] com with the address you want to send it to!

I really wish I could have given out 5 additional copies so that each of you could have one!  This cd would be well worth getting if you have the chance!  You can find it at sovereigngracemusic.com