Happy New Year (almost)

The New Year is just a few hours away, and even though it sounds like a cliche, I can't believe that another year is opening before us.

I have many things I'd like to say, and when I have a longer chunk of time, I will.

But here's my prayer for anyone who is reading this blog:

I pray that in 2008, you will make time to be silent in God's presence and simply experience the power of knowing Him.

I pray that you will have confidence in His love for you, that you will be certain that He knows your name and loves you more than you can speak or know.

I pray that you will experience the joy that rises, not from moments of peace, but the joy that flowers in spite of suffering and loss.

I pray that you will know that you have been pardoned through Christ's blood, and that you are clean and whole in the midst of your brokenness.

I pray that you will experience peace, even when your life doesn't make sense, and that this peace will provide the roots for a hope that will not disappoint.

I pray that you will be a person who forgives because you have been pardoned and forgiven.

I pray that you will take care of the world, one hungry and lonely and lost person at a time, through the power of the one who heals.

I pray that you will not be a prisoner to fear, and that you will face each day with the confidence that comes from knowing Jesus.

I pray that whatever comes into your life this year, that you will look into the eyes of Jesus and find that once again, He is all you need.

Love and blessings,
Jana

From Luke and God

Here's a picture of Grace opening a Christmas present tonight from our family Christmas. To be honest, it was the end of a long day which included an unexpected surprise. None of us are feeling particularly well, which you can see if you look at Grace's nose close enough.

This is not the greatest picture from a composition standpoint, but the frame Grace is opening is extremely precious. As a part of Luke's Sunday and Wednesday Bible classes (Journeyland), he gets points for each scripture he memorizes. Last week, all of the students got to go to a market and buy things with their points. While it was not the point, I will say that Luke was close to the top in terms of number of points earned. He purchased presents for each of us, including this one for Grace. (Again, if you look close, you can see the "20" points sticker on the back of the frame.) I got a great hammer and tape measure.

On the tags, Luke wrote "From Luke and God," because God had put His word in Luke's heart. As far as I am concerned, Christmas is complete. Maybe not over, but certainly complete.

Overheard

. . . on the playground at Luke's school: Two boys (one in 1st grade, the other in the 4th) were talking about what they wanted from Santa. The younger one wanted everything electronic: a Wii, an X-Box, and the list goes on. Older boy: "Santa won't bring you all of that." Younger boy: "Yes, he will! Santa brings anything you put on your list." Older boy: "No, he doesn't. That's too much hard stuff for him to make. [Sarcastically]: Remember, it's not like in the olden days when all he had to make was blocks and bikes!"

I was cracking up. Santa certainly does have his work cut out for him; I bet he misses the good ole' days!

Jana

Random notes

First: If I'm diagnosed with some major brain malfunction in the near future, you can tell them all that it started when I began dropping almost everything I touched.
The random dropping of things began at Luke's birthday, when I dropped our camera and broke it to smithereens. I wasn't jostled or experiencing a near-fall; I was standing perfectly still, and I just dropped it. (If there are very few pictures to post in the future, you'll understand why. No camera.)

Then, the next day, when shopping for Christmas presents, I was standing at the front door to the store, waiting for my mother who was checking out. Holding my new purchases in my hand, and again, not being jostled or nearly falling, I dropped my big sack, breaking the breakables within. Sigh.

Yesterday, on my way to pick up Luke from school, I was carrying several sacks of teacher gifts, and you guessed it, I dropped one, shattering the candle inside.

Last night, I opened the refrigerator door, and dropped a big glass bottle of oil, which oozed and smeared itself everywhere by the time I cleaned up the big, greasy mess.

I've even infected Luke, who opened the cabinet door tonight and dropped a glass, which shattered all over the newly de-greased floor.

So, heads up if I'm coming to your house anytime soon. Lock up the valuables and anything breakable--apparently I'm worse than a toddler.

On a VERY unrelated note:
I read this great paragraph in one of my favorite books: Philip Yancey's Reaching for the Invisible God. I'm one of those people who has always wanted to do something really BIG for God, and also one of those people who has failed miserably in doing so. So this paragraph really means something to me:

"Peter Berger [renown sociologist] said that I had a rather grandiose notion of radical obedience. Somewhere in a retirement home, he said, there is a Christian woman whose greatest fear in life is that she will make a fool of herself because she will not not be able to control her bladder in the cafeteria line. For this woman, the greatest act of radical obedience to Jesus Christ is to place herself in the hands of a loving God every time she goes off to dinner. Berger's point was profound. God calls us to deal with the challenges before us, and often our most "radical" challenges are very "little" ones. It may mean listening to someone who is boring or irritating, or treating a fellow sinner with a charity that is not easy to muster, or offering detailed advice on a matter that seems trivial to everyone but the person asking for the advice."

Honoring God, not by doing something big but by doing "ordinary things in a new spirit" (C.S. Lewis)is hopeful to me.

Have a blessed Wednesday.
Jana

Luke's birthday

. . . is many weeks past, but I thought I'd post some pictures from his big day, anyway.

This year, he wanted me to bring football cupcakes to his school (thank you, FamilyFun.com)and distribute whistles to his classmates (yep, all the moms were really glad that I did that.)

The class sang Happy birthday to him, and he loved passing out his cupcakes. (I'm not Martha Stewart, obviously, but I do get points for effort!)




His actual birthday is always during the Thanksgiving holidays, so he had a bday party with his Texas cousins this year. To extend the football theme, he wanted his "real" party to be a Dallas Cowboys party. Rob thought that was a great idea, and got the chance to relive his own childhood adoration of America's team. :-)

The cousins played "Pin the football on Tony Romo," guessed how many football candies were in a jar, autographed a home-made Dallas Cowboys pillowcase, made a football picture frame out of fun foam, and whacked a football pinata. Fun was had by all!





Luke with his Texas cousins & Granddad and Mama Kay


Luke at 7. Amazingly hard to believe. He has grown in every way this year; his body and his feet got a lot longer, he is now able to read on his own with very little help, and he just seems "big." The most wonderful characteristic to observe is the spiritual maturing of this very young boy. He surprises and delights us with his tender heart and his awareness of God's presence in the world and his assurance and confidence that God loves him immeasurably. And oh, the laughter. Tonight we were talking about the birth of Jesus, his life, and his resurrection, narrative style. He asked some good questions, paused, then said, "By the way, whatever did happen to Noah's ark? Did it just fall apart or something?" That boy.

Who could describe what he means to us?

Happy (belated) birthday, big guy. May God's blessings, protection, and grace cover your 7th year,and may His light continue to shine brightly in you!

I love you!
Mom

Christmas memories

There are so many people over the years who have made the celebration of Christmas special and memorable and important.

My grandparents, Floyd and Winnie Wall, loved Christmas. My Dad has some old black and white Christmas pictures from his childhood,and even though the tree was small and a bit scraggly, there were glorious presents there, and the family joyfully anticipated these "riches" during very, very lean and meager times.

In my teenage and college years, we enjoyed watching my grandparents enjoy our Christmases. One year we played a game, where we constructed our homemade version of Wheel of Fortune, to decide what gift was to be opened next by them. When they guessed the right word, each opened a gift, which then began a new set of clues. This game show was one of their favorites, and it was fun to see them participating so enthusiastically in our Christmas version.

My parents love Christmas. Their establishing of so many different family "traditions" over the years make this time of year really fun for me. When I first left home for college, one of the high points each year was coming home for the holidays--beautiful sights, wonderful aromas, lots of good cheer and love.

One of the most cherished traditions--by me--is their model of generosity. They are generous all year long, actually, but their giving spirits really relish this time of year. They spend the weeks of December giving everything from money to food to special surprises to individuals and families who would otherwise go without or who would celebrate with very little. They enjoy every minute of it, and I love this radiant goodness that lives in them. Jesus shines brightly in the red brick house on Paradise Street. (That really is the street name!)

In this season, there is so much for which to be thankful. I love my memories, and I hope I don't miss a single moment of the present season. It won't be perfect, and we won't get it all right, but I do hope that I squeeze out every bit of joy this season and this Christmas offers--and every day in the year ahead.

Jana

Flickr

As you can see to the right, I have uploaded some pictures to flickr.com, which is a site that lets you upload pictures and then others can see them. Most of the pictures are for family and friends. If you will go here and sign up, then you can search for hubcityrob. Under "Contacts" add me as a friend or family. When you do, I will be able to add you and then you will be able to all of the pictures.

Hope

From October to December, I celebrate my three favorite months of the year.
They are not my favorite because they are the easiest or the slowest, because they certainly are not defined by either word.

But in these months, where the seasons visibly change and the days seem very short, I seem to become more open to God's presence and kinder and more aware of the needs of others.

I think more about the gift of my children. I cry when I play Stephen Curtis Chapman's song, "All I Want for Christmas," especially as the little boy in the song pleads for a family to love him and to sing him "happy birthday" for the next 100 years. I wonder why God allowed us to have this privilege of knowing and loving Luke and Grace. I really can't believe it.

I think more about the broken and hurting people all around me, about those who face the kinds of suffering I've only read about, but never had to know. I think about these people in a real way, putting stories to the names I read in the paper and aching for the misery that I only have to imagine.

I think about my own brokenness, my small-mindedness, my narrow vision. I think about the suffering I've caused in other lives, for the ways I have unknowingly diminished someone else and made him/her feel small or unloved.

And I think about hope. I consider the possibilities of new life, and of new birth, and of new horizons and new dreams. I think about Jesus, not in some predictable or familiar way, but as the creator of all things new. As the one who builds, rather than diminishes, the one who binds up everything that is broken. I feel hope in a tangible way, and I see it in the face of the sweetest baby ever born. I marvel at his birth;I am in wonder that He became flesh for me.

And so . . . that's why I love this season. It IS the most wonderful time of the year.

Jana