Christmas is a beginning not an end. It’s not the day we wrap up the season and put it away but rather the springing forth of new light! Now that is something to linger in, and here in the Nguyen house, we do. For twelve days we reflect on Christ’s birth and what that means for us. We celebrate that love came down. We leave up lights and light more candles to remind us that the light of the world is with us! And then I do a slow roll of taking down more decor slowly, first the trees, then the house lights, then the nativities get tucked away as we move through the liturgy of the church calendar and then before we know it the season will be upon us again to prepare our hearts to wait for and celebrate our Savior.
My resolution this year is simple, continue in the simple rhythms our Heavenly Father has given us, keep trying to love more like Jesus, keep taking steps to care for this fleshly temple he has given me, to be at peace with myself, others, and my God.
Happy New Year, friends.
In the hustle we tend to look down, at our to do lists, our gifts to wrap, the house to clean, the food to prepare…and as our eyes look down our hearts drag down and overwhelm sets in. But Jesus came so that we could have life abundant! Look up, friend! The light is there! Your joy is in the heavens not in checked off boxes in a to do list. Let it go. Grab the hands of those you love and look up.
The best ever date with my boy! We had a magical “snowy dinner”, rode his first rollercoaster together, gifted fast pass tickets that were gifted to us and smiled together at the happiness of two teen boys over such a small gesture, saw two shows (gift of the magi and snoopy on ice), then shut the night down with a last ride with all the employees, but the best part was how we kept grinning at each other and saying, “I’m having so much fun!”
That night at home he looked at me and said, “Mom, why do we love each other so much? I mean I don’t love anyone like I love you. Why did God make it that way?” To which I replied, “because He loves me too.”
This memory will always be a gift from a gracious God to a loving mother.
Oh the sweetness of traditional caroling. I love my community! All is calm, all is bright.
Of course I burnt the pie crusts…but I was able to salvage it. If you burnt yours there’s still time to fix it. I was lucky to have these pumpkins pics on hand but you could print and cut out pumpkins too. Or just make more crust decor. I actually didn’t make enough crust circles so the paper pumpkins were fix #2. Alls well that ends well.
This took a couple weeks to complete and was such a life giving process. It makes our Fall decor so much more enjoyable! Do you bring the outdoors in to decorate? I’d love to hear how!
#fall #falldecor #homestead #urbanhomestead #slowliving #homeschoollife
When you look at how intricately all of nature works together to survive and reproduce it’s impossible to deny an intelligent creator. There is peace in observing the divine order of nature because we are able to trust in the one who designed it. We can let go and just be, knowing that what was interwoven from the beginning has endured until today. Observing creation teaches us that nature survives and thrives in community and connection with each other. We were created for connection.
So, if you are lonely, sad, or frustrated with relationships that are not working there is nothing wrong with you, you are simply lamenting the opposite of your design. You are rightly sensing and combatting disunity. Disunity is a result of sin and the brokenness that results from it.
Like a sunflower and a bee you deserve to thrive together with others. Watch them again and be inspired by the beauty of how things were created to be.
Ephesians 4:16
“He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
Sisters and sunsets. I loved our week together @_lauralouann_
