I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving day and that you are still basking in turkey leftovers. We are slated to have turkey panini’s tonight a la my daughter Rachel. We are celebrating the twins’ first bday today! We even got up at 4:45 a.m. and went to some of the early-bird sales (first time ever) and felt like we participated in the great national shopping event. Amazing!
But now that we are just a couple of days away from the first Sunday of Advent, I thought I could safely share a few of our celebratory traditions. Since we have a Sabbath dinner on Saturday night, we will be kicking off Advent tomorrow. After dinner each week I have a little Advent gift for the grandchildren. So tomorrow night they will get their Christmas jammies. I want them to enjoy them for the whole month of December, so that’s why they are the first Advent gift. I also give each family an Advent calendar, the kind you can buy Continue reading ‘Advent Jammies’
Here is my humble table so far today. It is a very small group because we are missing seven who celebrate without us in the UK and six (the Nate Wilsons) because of sickness. But luckily we are having six guests or we would be very hard up! Yes, I do like red….especially this time of year when it is gray outside. You can see that it is nothing fancy pants. Just fun. We have little wine glasses for the little kids (yes, they get a sip for Continue reading ‘Sabbath Dinner Show and Tell’
If you are trying to establish the weekly tradition of celebrating the Sabbath, it is going to take quite a bit of work. The biggest thing I do on Saturday is get ready for Sabbath dinner. And sometimes I have set aside the whole day because putting on a nice meal for a large group is a serious undertaking, especially if you are doing it by yourself. I don’t have little kids running around my house, but I understand that for you young moms who are trying to put on a Sabbath dinner yourself each week, it is a big challenge. And even you grandmas out there who are doing what I am (fixing dinner for your kids and grandkids each week), I know you need help too.
So I have a few suggestions for you, and these are real-life suggestions that I use, not theoretical suggestions that I would use if I didn’t have a house staff to put the meal on for me.
Hot tip #1: Keep the menu simple. This is a weekly celebration for your family, so you want to make kid-friendly food that will go together easily, not a labor-intensive menu Continue reading ‘Shortcuts for Sabbath Dinner’
As creatures, we are designed to be thankful. It should be our native tongue because thanksgiving is the natural response of a grateful heart to God for His manifold blessings to us. It is not something we should do occasionally, but it should be a characteristic of our lives, an attribute we are known for as a people.
Romans chapter one describes the downhill slide of the unrighteous. They have willfully suppressed what God has plainly displayed to them (even His eternal power and Godhead) and so they are without excuse. “They did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened”(vs. 21). In the remaining verses of chapter one we see that “God gave them up” and “God gave them over to a debased mind.” In other words, God does not withhold His righteous judgment until after they have died. The unrighteous begin to experience the wrath of God while they live, for what else is God’s wrath if it isn’t being given up and given over? We Christians ought to recognize God’s judgment when we see it, and this chapter of Continue reading ‘Our Native Tongue’
Now that October is here we can really begin to feel that Fall has arrived! The fall colors in Moscow are famous for being beautiful, and I confess it’s my favorite time of year. The ladies’ fellowship hosted our first ever Fall Jolly last Saturday which was a combination food, craft fair, and tag sale. I think we can safely call it a big success, and we are hoping it can become an annual event. Here are a few pics. Not only was the craft fair a hit, but we sold lots of used furniture and household items at the tag sale, and the hot dogs and sausages went like hot cakes. We also invited private vendors to sell their wares and we had several booths selling things like artwork, books, homemade bread, and flowering bulbs. It really was a jolly event!
So, although July is not the best time for working with pastry, it must be done. What else would we put all the homemade ice cream on?
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