Christmas Pajamas

The girls have expressed how much they enjoy our Advent tag countdown with small activities or gifts each day to point our eyes and hearts to Jesus.  When we are in America, it's an easy and meaningful way to prepare for Christmas.  I'm so grateful for technology that allows us to send pictures and texts quickly and easily as our college kids open the envelopes and packages I sent to them.  I love being able to stay connected even though we are far apart.  

One of the most anticipated tags is the one that says, "Read Colossians 3:12.  Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  And new pajamas."

Paula Deen's super easy sausage swirls and Steven Sharp Nelson's "Christmas Cello" are nourishing our bodies and souls this week.

"Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.  He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."  1 Corinthians 1:7-9

"Turn our eyes this season from the temporary satisfaction we crave and plant in us a constant hunger for you alone.  Remind us in the waiting that you have already enriched our lives in every way, providing us with every good gift that we don't even know we need."  

~Kris Camealy, "Come, Lord Jesus:  The Weight of Waiting"

This was the reading the day before one of THOSE days.  A day when my pride kept slamming me up against the wall.  Over and over and over again.  I think this lesson might take more homework than I anticipated.

People canceling commitments at the last minute and marital strife had me gasping.  Only days before, a friend had started a "12 Days of Christmas" Facebook group to energize her marriage and encourage others (loosely based on this blog series), and I pridefully thought, "I have a great marriage!  Don't need to even look at that stuff."  Ka-BLAMM!  Thankfully, I do have a patient, loving husband and a God that provides me with every good gift that I don't even know I need.  A God who strengthens me even as He lovingly points out the pockets of pride that exist in my life.

I am a lover of routine and schedule and knowing what to expect.

So when we saw that Jerron, one of our former students, was conducting Handel's Messiah at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (a little more than an hour away from us), we changed our plans and started our Advent with a worshipful bang!  I'm so glad we did.  

In the midst of dentist appointments and school and new glasses and all of the lovely things that make daily life so full, I'm grateful for the Advent tags to help us pause and remember.  Even simple things like making peppermint bark for just a few minutes help me refocus. 

Whimsey

One of the joys of homeschool is the flexibility it gives us, so I'm asking Katherine to read the current read-aloud as a reader, and we are enjoying listening to some fun and whimsey written by J.R.R. Tolkein.  Throw in the Playmobile nativity set and a pot of tea, and we've found the perfect way to finish up our school day.

Advent and Humility

"Pride convinces us that we are stronger and more capable than we actually are.  Pride convinces us that we must do and be more than we are able.  And when we try, we find ourselves feeling "thin, sort of stretched...like butter that has been scraped over too much bread." (Tolkein)  We begin to fall apart physically, emotionally, and spiritually for the simple reason that we are not existing as we were meant to exist."  ~Hannah Anderson, "Humble Roots"

For the last couple of months, I've been running up against the concept of pride like a brick wall in my life.  Repeatedly, the Lord has shown me through books and conversations and daily examples that I'm full of this nasty poison.  

For example, when we stayed in a hotel during our time at JBU a few weeks ago, we thankfully utilized the gym.  The girls had planned to exercise with us, too.  When I saw the sign saying that no one under 18 was permitted to use the equipment, my first thought was, "Olivia knows how to exercise wisely.  She comes to the gym with me all the time at home.  And she's almost 18.  It's no big deal, she can still come use the machines."  Wow.  Then it hit me that I was being prideful.  Assuming that I was better than the regulations that had been set up for protection of the establishment and for me.  (We did ask for permission at the desk, and they gladly gave it.)

So, during Advent, I'm setting aside some extra time to ponder pride and humility in light of the Christmas story and in my own life.  I would love for you to join me and to open a conversation of what this might look like in our lives over the next several weeks.

Full Circle. Again.

This is the fourth week in a row that I've been on a road trip.  I think I'm getting old because I love my own bed and staying home so much.  But this trip was to cheer on Benjamin as he played in his first chamber orchestra concert at JBU.

Our college kiddos keep a full schedule, so we had only a brief window to meet them for supper at Fratelli's Wood Fired Pizza.  As always, the table was full of laughter in addition to the good food.  Then Benjamin jetted off to get ready for his performance.

I'm super proud of him.  Last year was the first time he played with an orchestra.  His diligence and hard work paid off, and now he fits seamlessly into a group of students who have many years of experience behind them.

Sarah had a full day of classes the next morning, but Benjamin had a little bit of space, so he graciously met us at Café on Broadway for a quick cup of coffee, then he headed back to campus and the rest of us drove to visit someone who is dear to our hearts.

I haven't seen Jill in three years, but, as always, her home felt comfy and like it could have been my own home.  Full of books, puzzles, music, animals and food.

She and Arthur welcomed us with open arms and with her famous, labor-of-love lasagna that she used to serve the orchestra back when we were in high school and Conway's orchestra was tiny.

Teaching orchestra again last year made me extra grateful for Jill and the way she poured herself out for her students as the only teacher for the whole orchestra program, grades 6-12.  That kind of impact can only be measured by looking back over many years.  Benjamin playing the viola is a result of Jill's teaching us.  

The many ways I invested in my students last year, those are also a result of Jill's impact.  Long, slow, hard perseverance pays off, whether in the physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual realms.

No Shave November

On November 1st, I texted Benjamin to ask him if he was going to participate in "No Shave November".  This picture was the response I received.  Evidently his dorm was holding a contest!

So here we are, the last day of November, and this handsome young man sat across the table in front of me this morning as we drank coffee together before his class began.  I think I'm liking the bearded look on him.

Preparation for Advent

The last day of Thanksgiving break, we were finally home together.  Just the six of us.  So we assembled the tree and talked about the history behind our ornaments.

We went to church together and raised our voices in worship.  Then we joined my side of the family for a very untraditional Thanksgiving lunch of delicious Chinese food.

Preparing for Advent is on our minds.  With half of the kids gone, this year will look different.  We'll still enjoy daily activities and traditions and book baskets to keep our minds focused on Jesus and the gift he gave us.  We're replacing our normal school read-alouds with Christmas recommendations from Read-Aloud Revival (she's got some great book lists!).

All six of us closed our brief time together by singing some Advent hymns and the shepherd's chorus from Amahl and the Night Visitors.  And then, too quickly, it was time for my amazing college students to drive away and get back to work.  I've got their Advents celebrations ready to go, either in the mail or already sent back with them.  Just a few little things to continue to bind our hearts together as we focus on celebrating Jesus over the next few weeks.

When we came through Dallas in July, these folks were in Papua New Guinea working on their Bible translation.  Thankfully, this time they were in their cute little apartment right next door to the guest house where we slept.  All it took was a quick text and the welcoming response was "Coffee is on!".  More framily.  A few minutes of catching up wasn't enough, but we are grateful for Uncle Jan and Aunt Debbie whose hearts have been melded to ours by our time together in the Solomon Islands.

Framily

"Relationships can be messy and not very efficient, but loving relationships are at the heart of the gospel  In the language of efficiency, love is willing to waste time."  

~Alan Fadling, "An Unhurried Life"

There are just some people in our lives where we feel close bonds of shared experiences tying our hearts together.  They aren't related by blood, they are related by hardships and joy, by Jesus and the things He is doing in our lives.  They are framily.  (Framily also happens to be the name of a recently discovered favorite coffee.)

Over the years, this family has shared school experiments, many races of varying speeds, temperatures, and intensities, birthdays, and ship adventures.

They keep adding more grandchildren, and the amazing thing is that whenever the big, messy extended families all get together, their crew mingles and plays and laughs with ours just like we belong.  

So, when our faraway friend, Karen, made a trip to visit the Gebauers, only six hours away, there was a quick Choate group chat via text, and we decided to surprise Karen with a visit.  Since she no longer works with SITAG, we don't know when we'll be close enough to hug her neck again.

Even though our time on the road was longer than the time we actually spent looking at each other, "in the language of efficiency, love is willing to waste time."  Nourishing each other spiritually, physically, and emotionally, we invested in exercise and coffee and catching up.  

These kind of friends don't waste moments with small talk, we know we can dive deep quickly with each other.  And there is always time for a game of "sela coconut" when we get together.

These friends have invested many years serving the Solomon Islands through Bible Translation and literacy, and these kids have all grown up together in the South Pacific.

The Lord has knit our hearts together.  Truly, we are "framily".

Thanksgiving Road Trip

Sarah is planning to study abroad in Uganda next semester, and she is super excited.  Several weeks ago she scheduled an appointment for the day after Thanksgiving to get all of the vaccinations she needs for her travels.  On the way to her appointment she read Louisa May Alcott's "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving" out loud.  It's a family favorite, but a failed Librevox attempt during our trip to Memphis left us hungry to hear the book, even the day after Thanksgiving.

We got Sarah poked full of all kinds of goodness, then we began a secret mission.  Only a few days ago, we decided to hatch a covert operation to surprise an Aussie friend who used to work with us at SITAG.  It was a last minute lickety-split road trip to Dallas.

On our road trip, we took advantage of Starbuck's BOGO offer after three o'clock.  As we waited for our drinks to be prepared, I looked over at my three teenagers who were chatting and laughing together, and I was overcome with thankfulness.  For their friendship, for their adventurous spirit (we put almost twenty hours on the road during Thanksgiving break), for the joy these three bring into my life.

Thanksgiving

With the college students getting home late Tuesday night, we crammed as much family as possible into Thanksgiving break.  Hosting a brunch on Wednesday morning with Aaron's mom and dad #2 kicked off the festivities.

After we cleared the table, we pulled out Hanabi and had a blast working together as a team to better our score each round.

Then Olivia drove us several hours to Jonesboro to pick up Aaron's Gran, and we picnicked in the van as we continued on to Memphis to celebrate Thanksgiving with Aaron's dad and mom #2.

Thursday morning, it smelled and sounded like Thanksgiving:  the turkey was out and filling the kitchen with its tantalizing aroma, and the sounds of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was wafting through the air.

Everybody pitched in to prepare the feast we shared around the table.

And when our bellies were full of corn casserole and cranberry sauce, we all began to unpack Christmas decorations.

It didn't take long before inside and outside looked festive and ready to celebrate Christmas.

 And that meant it was time for Team Choate to hit the road and head back home after another tradition filled Thanksgiving gathering.

Next year, we anticipate being back in the Solomon Islands for the holidays, so we're extra grateful for the opportunities to spend time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that make up our family.