Some of you who read my Tips on the Tip of the Day in November on the Company Porch were promised our annual burning of the Christmas Tree pictures. Well here they are. Because of a big weather system we ended up scheduling the even a few days early. It’s raining buckets here today. So, here you go….complete with bottle rockets, firecrackers and lots of diesel fuel! Have a blessed New Year! Julie
Nope, not me but HERE
But I heard about a great way that Kelly at Pass the Torch is raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Her corporate sponsor, Empowering Youth Inc. , will donate $1 for every comment she receives on this entry before Saturday night. Isn’t that fabulous?!
I’m always amazed at God. I hope He never stops amazing me. He’s so wonderful. From the joy and peace I feel having a very full and blessed life to the pain I pray others through I see HIM reveal Himself. This Christmas has been no different.
First of all, one of my very good friends is about to meet what we both think is a very wonderful man. I’m so excited for her. I pray that God blows her away with this man and that he is HIS gift for her.
Second, I was part of praying a sweet little child through RSV this Christmas.
Third, I am part of praying another good friend through a tough time in her marriage right now. Oh, Lord give her strength and wisdom.
Fourth, I got to experience the pain of my children’s flesh this Christmas as well as the joy of their innocence. After believing the lie of "my kids need more" before Christmas God used the lie and turned it into blessing for two needy families this season. My kids argued and were not very nice to one another on Christmas Eve as we gave them their treehouse, skateboards and other outdoor toys. It so saddened my heart to see the greediness of our flesh in them. But Christmas Day night we took toys to two families in need.
I just bought too much. They didn’t need all I purchased. So most of it never got seen. We left it hidden. And Monday night we packed the back of the car and set off to find a family in need. We prayed as we left the driveway that God would show us where we needed to go. And He did. A grandpa, a mom, another mom and two precious children received gifts Christmas night. Then another family who’s dad can’t find work because they don’t have cars that work received gifts for their two kids.
Isn’t God just wonderful? My kids even wrapped several of the toys they had gotten to give to the needy families. What a blessing to see them giving out of their hearts. My youngest son gave his brand new helicopter. My middle son gave all 74 of his MatchBox cars. And my oldest gave his Darth Vader voicechanger mask and light saber.
Wow!
Lord, help me to nurture in them the spirit of love. The spirit of giving. The spirit of selflessness. Raise up in them a spirit of joy that only comes from serving you. Make all else empty. And thank you for allowing me to be a part of the awesome things you do.
I love you….your daughter, Julie
Since Christmas Day was calling for 100% rain we decided to give the boys thier outdoor toys Christmas Eve day. The tree house was unveiled. The zip line was completed. Skateboards were unwrapped. Monster size Tonka truck were run up and down the driveway all day long. Christmas Eve day ended with a campfire and my great friend still visiting me. It was awesome. We had other friends stop by for a cup of coffee around the fire. It was great! I guess one of the awesome things about not doing Santa is that we get to decide when the children get their gifts, not Santa. Today would have been horrible for anything outdoors.
So here are the kids enjoying their first trip up and into the tree house. Zip line pictures will have to be posted later.
The TREEHOUSE
Here they are making their way up the ladder/ramp when we got home from church.
First son found HIS skateboard right off!
A proud dad by his Alma Mater!
Just know that the fact my kid could actually look like this even when kidding around scares the dickens out of me. It just isn’t right!!!
That’s a little more like it. Not quite as "bubba"ish and more "cowboy"ish.
Merry Christmas!
Julie
Hi and Merry Christmas. I hope that in the new year that Christ will reign supreme in all that I say and do. I hope that your Christmas in awesomely touched by the One who came that we may even breathe.
I wanted to post a few pictures from the zoo. Monday was gorgeous here so we enjoyed the day at the zoo. It was one of those days that feel almost like heaven and couldn’t be more beautiful. There are a few pictures of my kids and the a Name that Animal section. Go grab the kids and see if they can name all the animals.
Love in Christ…JULIE
Here are my little monkeys plus friends…
Number three son with his ever present Tonka truck…
Number one son doing what he does best…hanging upside down…
The model looking number two child. Always willing to pose for a picture…
And my daughter playing in the sand as if it was a beach…
Now for name that animal……
Leave a comment with your kids age and the names of the animal he/she is guessing and I’ll have a great prize for the one who has the youngest child to get them all right!
Oh, it’s close now. I’ve been waiting for Christmas since Thanksgiving. My best friend is coming. The tree house ladder goes up AND we get to eat Honey Baked ham. YUM! I’ve been baking this week and will make another trip to the grocery store today for the ingredients for TRASH (or party mix) as it’s called in my family.
Do any of you remember Phil and Lisa Roberts who gave birth to quadruplets a little over a year ago? Phil has written a book about their journey. It’s wonderful. I just finshed reading it and you can download a copy for only $6.25. The book parallels Mary and Joseph’s journey with their own and is called appropriately called IN THE SHADOW OF A MANGER.
All proceeds (if any) will go to the children’s college fund. They also have begun a charity Project Seahorse. You can read all about it, Phil’s book and their desire to help keep NICU families afloat on the links above. They are a wonderful Christian couple from Georgia and we met them when they purchased our big GMC conversion van from us about a year and a half ago. (On Ebay of all places) If you feel led to support this family in their efforts to help others please visit the HERE to purchase a paperback, hardback or downloadable book.
Let me know if you visit their site and leave a comment here. They have a wonderfully encouraging story. Here are Danielle, Benjamin and Casey. They’ve grown so quickly since coming home. Emily died shortly after birth and that is why you only see three kids pictured here in the bathtub. Several people have asked so I just wanted to mention her living happily with her Lord.
What a blessed Christmas they will have this year.
And I pray all of us will too.
IN HIM,
Julie
Hi! It’s Saturday night and my husband is putting the children to bed and I’m down at the campfire with my laptop. Usually I’m putting the kids to bed and he’s down here so it’s nice to have a few minutes to chill out by the fire. After building it earlier I left it to cook dinner. We had a yummy dinner tonight with friends…steak, chicken, baked potatos, homemade mac and cheese…yum yum!!
I just threw three more logs on the fire and it’s beginning to get toasty warm down here. It was a gorgeous day here with temperatures in the 70s. I love cold nights and warm days. Maybe the southeast isn’t the best place for me. It’s normally not like this. The weather is turning colder next week and we’ll have 50 degree days, but for now I’m loving this weather. I had all the windows open today as I watched my husband work on the tree house. He finished it today, complete with ladder which we’ll put up on Christmas Eve. I still need to make a flag for it because I haven’t been able to find one that is appropriate for what I believe we stand for as a family. I guess my pursuit of a flag is like Tony’s pursuit for a name for his farm. I think I want a big lion like in the move Chronicles of Narnia and "Worthy is the Lamb" written on it. Being that our last name is Worthy I thought that was a great idea. We’ll see what materializes in the flag world this week.
Baby girl today as she ran back and forth between me and helping her dad!
My husband has done an amazing job on the tree house. He didn’t grow up with a dad who taught him to build things so it’s been amazing for him and for me as he’s taken on this giant task. I’ve loved watching him figure things out as he goes and learn all by himself….well, just him and God. I think he’d tell you that God did a lot of the figuring out. Tonight he completed the tree house with colored icesicle (how DO you spell that word? i couldn’t find it anywhere!) lights. It looks amazing.
I hope to pull off a type of scavenger hunt Christmas morning to let the boys find the cool things we’ve gotten for the tree house. We got them a zip line we hope to be able to mount from it so they can zing their way to freedom! I can’t wait to get that installed. They also have a cow bell, a fake deer bust, an big AUBURN sign, two pulleys with rope and a bucket and a coat rack. We even found an old Route 66 sign.
Here you can see the ramp and the rope we’re using for the ladder! Doesn’t it look cool?
And here’s a look at the tree house complete with tin roof and you can see the lights in this picture.
I’m so proud of my husband and I know he’s proud of himself. Christmas is just around the corner and soon we’ll be camping in the tree house after a night of campfires and roasted marshmellows.
Truly, we are blessed. As a family and as a nation. As I sit by a warm camp fire there are Christians tonight that do not know if they will wake up in the morning. Some live in tents, some underground, some are on the run. Some will not sleep at all. Some will wake up to loved ones who have been captured or are dead.
"Lord, I ask you to watch over our brothers and sisters tonight that are in the battle on the front lines, dying for their faith. Give them a night of rest and of peace, dear Lord. May I and other Christians stand in the gap for them tonight as they lay in peace. Gather them into your fold and unto your breast tonight Lord and blanket them with your comfort and your love." Keep them safe Jesus.
Amen
Wishing you sleep tonight too…
Love,
Julie
You know you are in trouble when one day or so of blogging comes to a screaching halt….YIKES. I’ve missed catching up on everyone and seeing what’s going on. My hubbie is out of town for the week and we are all missing him terribly. My best friend is coming for Christmas and I’m still ready to eat some yummy Christmas food. Our church is having a dinner next Monday night and we’re having shrimp and grits. Yum! Yum! So I’m going to have a nice variety of food between now and Christmas.
Well, off the answer the call of the Domino’s man. Supper!!
Well we have a double winner. After all it is Christmas…TNMomtoMany Blessings is my Christmas Winner because she’s a wonderful gal and entered my contest FIRST! And my kids picked AlaskanNotions of aTexasGirl WON my photo contest. I got my kids to vote and it was "the one with the star" that they picked. Congratulations!!! And thanks to everyone who entered and made it a fun contest!! We’ll have another one again soon!
IN HIM,
Julie
Well, since I can't enter my own contest I'm just going to post a few pictures. Check out the entries for the contest here. Check out the contest here.
This noble fellow sat waiting his turn at the bird feeder yesterday. Isn't he great? I played around with Photoshop until I got this cool effect because he was a little out of focus.
And here's the little fellow that was eating while Mr Redbird was waiting…well, maybe this one looks more like a “she”. Isn't she pretty?
This is my husband's favorite part of Christmas decorations…the Snow Village. This was a cool effect and looks like water.
And here's our tree! We've really struggled with a tree topper this year. I teased my hubbie after he brought this one home because it looks like a lollie pop to me. The one he brought home tonight was bright orange. So he's delegated the task to me. I hope I can find something that works. Our beautiful star from years past has died. And my 6 year old requests a star!! So off I'll go tomorrow in quest of a pretty star.
Now we have a total of three entries in the Christmas Photo Contest! Be sure to enter! Check out details here!!
1.TNMOMTOMANYBLESSINGS
2.SAMIAM
3.ONFIRE
4.BUNNYBEAR
Go check on the entries!
JULIE
What others have said: