Sabbath

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:3

I am currently reading this book:

SABBATH: Finding Rest, Renewal, And Delight In Our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller

It was recommended by an online book club that I participate in. All I can say is, "WOW!" It is (of course) about the Sabbath and what God intended for it to be...a time of rest, renewal and delight. Any time I read a good book I will recommend friends and family to read it. Now this book, I hope the WHOLE world reads it. It could very well change the world we live in if we all practiced the celebration of Sabbath.

Today it was cold. It was dreary outside. I did not want to leave my nice, warm home.

We always go to church on Sundays. I think it is important to do so...to be with other believers, to fellowship, to hear a sermon/lesson on God's promises.

Today, I suggested to Chris that we just stay home.

And today we celebrated Sabbath!

We stayed in our pajamas. I made breakfast for everyone. We just hung out and enjoyed being together: no rush, no hurry, no plans. After breakfast, Cali and I went and got into my big 'ol king sized bed with the nice warm electric blanket on it. We sat and read. Chris rested and watched some movies on netflix. Averi enjoyed her time creating things. I ended up falling asleep for a bit while I was reading. I woke up feeling refreshed. I thanked God for giving me this day, for giving me my family, for blessing me with the abundance I have. After waking up I moved downstairs to the couch (Cali by my side) and read some more. Averi's friend came over. I made them all lunch. They played on the piano. We played with the dog. We prepared for the coming week. I worked on some of my scrapbooking stuff. I read some more. We talked. We had dinner. I helped Averi flat-iron her hair.

It was a complete day of rest, of renewal, of complete delight! I felt as if God was reassuring me throughout the day that it was ok to not be in church, it was ok to not be doing this or that, it was ok to be a lazy slug all day<--this was how I was really feeling! And I tell you at the end of this day I feel completely ready to take on whatever this upcoming week has for me.

And throughout the day, this verse kept coming to mind:

Psalm 23

¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Please, please, please do a wonderful thing for yourself and get yourself and someone you love a copy of this book.

One more thing.....

One thing I forgot to add about my "one little word" is:

Nurture Relationships-call my friends more often, be available to do things with friends, get together with an old friend, visit family members, arrange family gatherings often, make a new friend.

I still haven't heard what your "one little word" is.......you can tell me by commenting to this post...don't be shy!

One Little Word

visit www.aliedwards.com for more info.

After much deliberation and flip-flopping I have finally decided on my "one little word" for 2011. The idea behind the "one little word" concept is to choose a word, just one word, to reflect upon, focus on, act upon, use as a guide througout the year.

I have participated in selecting one little word for the past two years. And I have to admit, it has been a very enlightening experience. Last year I chose "LIVE" as my word. And the previous year I chose "FREEDOM". Both words each year suited my outlook very well. And I'm thinking the one I have chosen for this year will as well.

I had two different words that I equally liked. For the past several days I have pondered on which would be the best fit for what I hope to accomplish or become this year. This is my word for 2011:

nur·ture

 [nur-cher] verb, -tured, -tur·ing, noun

–verb (used with object)

1.

to feed and protect: to nurture one's offspring.

2.

to support and encourage, as during the period of training ordevelopment; foster: to nurture promising musicians.

3.

to bring up; train; educate.

–noun

4.

rearing, upbringing, training, education, or the like.

5.

development: the nurture of young artists.

6.

something that nourishes; nourishment; food.

Here's my plan:

Nurture Myself: Take better care of my body, get more rest, grow spiritually.

Nurture My Family: Provide healthy meals, Be available to meet their needs and be attentive in doing so, provide love and encouragement, make our home a place of happiness and rest.

Nurture My Environment: Be better at recycling, shop locally, eat food grown in my garden, be more conscious about the products I use and buy, consume less.

So there it is. What is your "one little word"?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Before sharing all my hopes and plans for 2011, I thought I would share the many blessings my family and I enjoyed in 2010. I feel so thankful for a year of health, happiness, hope, friends, family, fun, experiences, excitement, endearing moments, blessings, bounty, beauty...I could go on and on and on.

In January we...

celebrated this special lady's 81st birthday...

won third place in our church's chili cook-off for my veggie chili...

finally made it to see Avatar in 3D...

enjoyed a beautiful day playing in the snow.

February brought...

Report cards!

The Daddy/Daughter Dance.

Valentine's Day.

A very special birthday-THIRTEEN!!!

March gave us...

a nine year old,

a fun girl's trip with Aunt Kay,

and a chance to see Taylor Swift in concert!!!

In April we...

celebrated Easter,

played soccer (in the RAIN!),

had a piano recital,

and planted a garden.

May...

Chris and I escaped to Mexico!

June brought...

LOTS of swimming,

a trip to the top of Mt. Scott,

a trip to Hot Springs, AR for a family reunion,

and a trip to Texas for the midnight premiere of "Eclipse" with our besties.

In July we...

visited the BIG sale in Canton, TX,

celebrated our independence,

attended my 20 year high school reunion,

enjoyed VBS.

August gave us...

a trip with our small group to Eagle Mountain Lake in Azle, TX,

an EIGHTH grader,

and a FOURTH grader.

September we got...

our long-awaited puppy!!!

In October we enjoyed...

our annual pumpkin painting party,

and Halloween!

November...

I turned 39!!!!

we saw OU beat Texas Tech

we had family pictures taken (by my 11 year old niece!),

Chris took me to see Wicked,

enjoyed thanksgiving with Chris' family.

December brought...

our annual girl's shopping day,

an awesome Christmas play,

and Christmas!

I'm so thankful for this wonderful life. Here's looking to 2011 for even more blessings. Here is a scripture passage that I've claimed as mine for the coming year...

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV

Giving It a Try!!!

I'm in a big need of organizing my life. This sounds like a great opportunity to get me motivated and on track!

I love the prospect of a new year: new opportunities, a fresh start, a new outlook. I'll be back after the 1st-since I'm going out of town, I always consider the start of my new year when I get back home, which will be Jan 2nd. I will post my "one little word" then. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, check this out:

http://aliedwards.com/2007/01/one-little-word-3.html

It's a tie right now between two words. I'll just have to ponder on it for these next few days left of 2010. Can you believe we are beginning a new decade?! Crazy!!!

I also plan to post my list of 100 things I want to do in 2011. I did this last year and accomplished 37 things on my list. I plan to do better this next year. Wouldn't it be great if I could accomplish ALL 100 things?

I love thinking of all the possibilities this new year brings. I leave you with this:

Ring out the old,

Ring in the new.

Ring, happy bells across the snow;

The year is going, let him go.

Ring out the false,

Ring in the true.

-Lord Alfred Tennyson

It's A Wonder-Full Life

Today was our Children's Christmas production at church. It was fantastic! I have seen a few Christmas plays in my day, but I do believe this is the best I have ever seen. Cali played the character of "Joy" who was part of the choir. She did an excellent job!!! I'm so proud of her! In fact, I told her so this evening and she said, "I hate the 'I'm proud of you' talks." WHAT?! Whatever!

All of the kids in the play did a great job. Here is a picture of the whole cast:

I was happy to have all my family come to watch the play. Again, I will say...It was FANTASTIC! I'm such a proud Mama-but don't tell Cali!

This evening we had our annual Christmas dinner at church. Santa said the blessing over the meal, then he got to go through the line first so he could be available for the kids to come sit on his lap...

We had TONS of delicious food. I believe the best cooks in the world attend my church! After dinner, we had a small talent show. The kids got up and performed...some played the piano, one played the trumpet, and a few sang songs. Cali played the piano:

and then she and Tori performed, "Love Story" by Taylor Swift.

It was really good. She cracks me up because she is pretty shy, but you would never know that by seeing her perform in the play this morning and then in the talent show tonight. I love that she doesn't share my fright of the spotlight!

After the kids shared their talents, we all got to visit with Santa.

Chris and Averi rolled their eyes when I asked them to take a family pic with Santa. They knew it was a losing battle so they didn't even try to protest! My friend Kristy came up to me later and said she thanked Chris for setting the example for the other husbands (like hers) who didn't want to get their pictures made with Santa. She said that Chris told her "happy wife, happy life!" Ha! I love him!

Glimpses of God-Sunday, December 12th:

All day I have had thoughts of how thankful I am to be a part of such a wonderful church. I love that we have found a place where everyone seems just like a member of our family, where we have found our places to serve God, where we learn and grow spiritually. A place where we are loved and our kids are loved.

As I sat through the play, I thought about all the love and time that was put into this perfect, wonderful gift for our congregation. The two ladies who put it all together were so amazing with the kids. They encouraged them and loved them each step of the way. And after the play, many different members of our church came up to each of the kids and told them what a wonderful job they did.

At our dinner tonight, I looked around at all the different people interacting with one another.

The kids were all running around playing together-not in little groups or cliques, but just all together. During the talent show, they were all sitting together in a large group in front of the stage. As each of them went up to perform, the others would cheer them on when they finished. It was such a sweet moment to see honor instead of competition.

The adults were all standing around talking or sitting together in groups. Everyone mixing and mingling with one another. No one sitting alone or off to themselves...everyone feeling included, welcomed. You could sense the love felt for one another. I observed a man helping one of the elderly ladies get her plate, drink, and utensils back to her seat. And I watched a lady help a young family with 3 little boys get all their plates and drinks back to their table.

I watched a group of teen boys standing around waiting to get into the food line. A boy walked in with his mom and girlfriend and the group of boys called him over and asked him if that was his girlfriend. He said yes. And they high-fived him and told him good job!

After coming home and thinking of these different scenarios, it just made me feel proud to be a part of this. This is what God intended His church to be like: loving one another, encouraging one another, fellowshipping with one another, helping one another, praising one another, enjoying one another...things like that.

I leave you with this verse:

1 Thessalonians 5:11-

¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

¹² Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. ¹³ Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.