Sane, Simple, Sacred: Christmas Day

Christmas Day

The table was set for our Christmas brunch...baked French toast with maple syrup, sausage, hard boiled eggs, and fruit salad.

Above: my youngest sister with her two daughters. Her husband was here, too, along with my father (shown below reading "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"...

...and my mother who is cutting the Dairy Queen birthday cake they brought for me!

We played some pencil and paper games and "Sevens" (one of our current favorite card games).

We also Skyped with our son who, with his wife, returned home from Ethiopia around 1:00 this morning.

Here he is with his two sons and our newest granddaughter...

It's been a full and wonderful day...and tomorrow after church, our two daughters and their families will arrive and we'll celebrate all over again!

9 comments:

Jacquelyn StagerDecember 26, 2010 at 7:55 AM
My dad always read "Twas the Night Before Christmas to us as we all sat in front of the fireplace on Christmas Eve. FUN! Your table is lovely and I'm sure the food was out of this world. Wow that's a huge birthday cake!
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DianaDecember 26, 2010 at 8:29 AM
I love you table setting Rebecca, very nice! I'm glad that you had a fulfilling and Blessed day.
Love Di ♥
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Jacquelyn StagerDecember 26, 2010 at 10:31 AM
I wanted to take a photo of my table too, but by the time I remembered we were all seated and ready to pray. So I just took a long picture with my eyes...I have to say it was beautiful. I used a white tablecloth too, with my estate sale china and my thrift store silver.
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RebeccaDecember 26, 2010 at 12:36 PM
It sounds BEAUTIFUL, Jacquelyn. (I hadn't put the napkins on my table yet when I took this photo...they added a bit of color.) I seldom set a "pretty table" so was lucky to think of getting this picture as it is.
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GlendaDecember 28, 2010 at 7:12 PM
Beautiful table . . . beautiful family!
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PamelaDecember 28, 2010 at 10:23 PM
Oh, what beautiful dishes. I'm sure they paled in the face of the love felt. The picture of your father reading the Christmas story brought tears to my eyes. And a new grandbaby--so beautiful.

Did I miss a birthday?
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Janettessage.blogspot.comDecember 29, 2010 at 10:15 AM
Beautiful table...wonderful dishes. More than that is the precious photos of a wonderful Christmas with precious people!
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BrendaDecember 29, 2010 at 10:32 PM
Oh my, belated Happy Birthday! It looks like you had a great time in Ohio and with your grandchildren. These are such beautiful pictures of your family. God has blessed you enormously with such a very special family.
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MoJanuary 1, 2011 at 2:16 AM
What a beautiful table!
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"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage

Sane, Simple, Sacred

Mercy

Christmas Day

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Writing a Song a Week #3