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What an opportunity we have this week…looking forward to it. And I hope to be able to post pictures here along the way.

Hebrew 2:14-3:1
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly, He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus….”

I truly cannot believe it is already December and time to decorate the house for Christmas! We had to rearrange some furniture to make room for the tree and many nativity scenes I have collected over the years. One morning my advent devotion was about letting every heart prepare HIM room. It was a great reminder that many times our hearts are so cluttered that we don’t have room for Jesus at one of the most precious times of the year. Just like I had to rearrange my home a bit, I evaluated my heart and asked The Lord to de-clutter my soul and be sure He is more than welcome to every part of my life.

We don’t buy a real tree anymore because I think I’m allergic or something, so we do go but a wreath at a local nursery.

We had to take a picture with this tiny tree because they wanted $56 for it. That makes me laugh.

This makes me laugh, too!

We have already made a batch of cut out sugar cookies. The kids always love that. It always makes me think of The Koester family. Mary was always so patient with all the kids while we did this at her house.

Mack was a little under the weather with double ear infections the other day. This was a sweet little nap he had. Some times I wish we could just freeze the little munchkins.

I’m so thankful for the wooden sign a friend gave us. She fed my obsession with a store called Beyond the Mossy Tree. Josh calls it Beyond the Mossy Oak, bless his redneck-hunter heart.

And lest I forget, Molly had her fourth and very successful babysitting job. This little boy was happy to be playing and would let her know if he was being smothered. I continue to remind Molly that her main goal is for happy and safe babies! She gets perturbed when all they want to do is follow Mack around or laugh at him. She wants a newborn to hold and feed and hold some more. 🙂 She is sweet.

And I’ll leave you with Ruby’s unfinished chalk art that I think is precious.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! May every heart prepare Him room. He is so worthy.

We had a great time with family this weekend in Augusta. We enjoyed hanging out with cousins, eating, sitting by the fire, going to The Nutcracker at the Imperial Theatre, going on golf cart rides, and more! My mom roasted a turkey as opposed to having my dad fry it, and we were all pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was.

Molly thought the whole ordeal was interesting.

We all relaxed a bit.

Sweetie had the kids write in Sharpie on a cloth napkin what they are thankful for…and we can have them add to it every year. Ruby said she is thankful for the Bible. Molly said she is thankful for cousins, and Mack said he is thankful for Sweetie and Pawpaw. Not sure if he was fishing for an extra Christmas gift or not, but it sure was sweet.

This is the picture we take every year of all of the cousins in birth order. They are 9 years, 8 years, 8 years, 7 years, 6 years, 6 years and 5 years old. Whew.

We spent a lot of time outside by the fire. Aunt Marcy brought a puzzle that many folks worked on.

These guys stayed home on the night we went to The Nutcracker.

And this jewel was drawn by Mack in the way ….

More to come on Christmas prep…it’s hard to blog from my phone!

The word “fellowship” takes me back to Bayvale Baptist Church, circa 1985.  In my mind I can be in that church fellowship hall standing in line for dinner.  My Meme and many of her friends were in the fellowship hall kitchen keeping all the food coming out to the tables where all good Baptists would fill their plates and have a “fellowship.”

Or would they?

Even this evening our Sunday School Class will be gathering at someone’s home for a good old fashioned bonfire—chili cookoff and s’mores galore!  Now THAT is going to be a fun fellowship.

Or will it?

I John 1:3 says, “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

Fellowship.  It can strike some as an old-fashioned word.  It means “a class get- together” to others.  Some interchange it with how connected they feel with other people.  In the context of Sunday School (which is just the title for groups of people who get together and study God’s Word together on Sunday), it seems to also be tied to unity and friendships.  If someone feels connected and welcomed, then they have fellowship with others in the class…or so they think.

But this week I ran across an explanation by G. Campbell Morgan that intrigued me and has been rolling around in my head all week long.  He writes that I John 1:3 is one of the greatest of all statements in the New Testament.  He also took me back to Acts as he explained the definition of the word “fellowship.”

“The Greek word ‘koinonia’ is derived from the word ‘koinos,’ which very literally means common, in the sense of being shared

by all.  The use of that word koinos, or common, in our New Testament, which will help us most in this consideration, is that

made of it by Luke when he declared that ‘All that believed were together, and had all things common’ (Acts 2:44).  Fellowship

             then is that community of relationship which expresses itself in community or resource and responsibility.  Those who have a 

             fellowship one with another are those who share the same resources, and are bound by the same responsibilities.”

Oh!  So it really isn’t about how fun class parties are or how warm and welcoming others are to ME on Sunday or how I feel about how I fit in a group of people or what they do that fits in with MY priorities, per se.  There truly is much more to fellowship, and yet it is so simple.

Do I share resources with these people?

Do I share responsibilities with these people?

If yes, then I have fellowship with them.

And to add a whole ‘nother level of amazingness…..look back at I John 1:3.  We can have fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Now how is that?

G. Campbell says it so well, “The Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and all believers have all things in common.  All the resources of each in the wondrous relationship are at the disposal of the others.  Such is the grace of our God, and of His Son.”  God chooses to let me share the responsibility of sharing the Good News of Jesus with others.  He also gives me all of His Spirit to provide all I need to do just that.  Amazing.

I’m so thankful that because of Jesus’ love poured out for me on the Cross, I can have fellowship with the Father and with Jesus.  Then, He has chosen to plant me here in Woodstock, GA where I am a part of the body of Christ at a church called First Baptist Woodstock.  Through sharing resources and responsibilities, we work to make much of Jesus Christ in many different ways.  On an even smaller scale, Josh teaches a group of Young Adults the Bible each week.  We share common resources.  We share responsibilities.  We have fellowship.

Common beliefs.

Common goals.

Shared resources.

Shared responsibilities.

Fellowship.

It’s really not about you at all.

Sometimes I explain a concept until I’m blue in the face; when I don’t think I can take anymore, I call in Ruby. She seems to get through to Mack when I just can’t.

I’m usually impressed with her creativity. Mack, not so much. He just keeps saying, “I don’t get it.”

Ruby stormed off when he said, “How ’bout I say I get it even if I don’t?”

Gracious.

Then, I checked Molly’s math sheet, which ended up being her math sheet from several days ago. She tried to trick me into thinking she did that sheet today when, actually, she hadn’t done any math today.
“Molly,” I calmly said, “do you remember our Bible reading this morning?”
“Ummmm, was it on patience?” she cleverly asked.
“No, it wasn’t on patience, though I’m choosing to exercise some right now. It was about Jacob, THE DECEIVER. You are trying to deceive me, Molly.”
Long silence ensued.
Then, I showed her quite a few more math sheets that she WOULD do.

Then, Ruby comes in to tell me that she is so disappointed about not getting to do something this evening that she was planning on doing and that “it was the only thing keeping me going today.”

Wow. That’s quite the disappointed child.

I’m a little on edge because for some reason I thought it a good idea to paint my dining room table and chairs and consider painting the walls…

Yeah, not the best decision. At all.

I only need an electric sander, glaze, another quart of paint for the chairs, spray Rustoleum, primer, the right color paint for my dining room (which I haven’t found yet), paint tape, rollers……ugh.

We may have had a little trial run on camping last night. And when I say “we,” I definitely don’t mean me.

Mack even got his bear ready.

I actually didn’t sleep great even in this warm house and my comfy bed because I wanted to be ready if anyone or all came back in the house to sleep….so it felt like I slept with one eye open. I did make a contribution to the whole effort though–I made breakfast bright and early for the campers.
Here they are coming in this morning.

Josh was out there, but he couldn’t fit in the kid’s tent…if he grants permission, I’ll post a picture of his homemade tent.

Mack got back in bed for an hour and a half before we had to drive the girls to church. He wasn’t happy about having to wake up. I’m sure it’s going to be a long day for all of us!

Oh, this is just a very small look at how, as a family (and when I say family I mean the people who live with me in this house and not my own self), we are failing in the concept of “a place for everything and everything in its place.”

There could have been plenty more pictures I could show you if I felt like walking upstairs, but I’ll just leave it at this. And I’ll go see if we can take a few minutes and get some of these things back to their home.

And I know one day, supposedly, I’m going to miss finding these little things in all the wrong places….we will just have to wait and see. 🙂

I’m kidding. I am sure that is true.

This evening Molly informed me that she went to the front of her Bible class to tell what she would do if she had $10,000. Every student in the class did this, if I’m understanding correctly.
Well, she said she would like to buy a bungee set….the kind she jumped on at the fair that is connected to a trampoline.
Then, she told me everyone else said something about giving to the poor. I asked her if she wishes she had said something like that, but she said no. She was sure he wanted the bungee set.

In recent days my kids have been introduced to The Cosby Show. All three of them absolutely love it. They think Peter, the chubby white kid, is hilarious. Rudy is their favorite of the Huxtable family. They think Sonya is kind of strange. They just had to tell me all about when Denise made Theo a shirt and it turned out horrible. Ruby doesn’t like when Claire and Cliff “act funny towards each other.” She means when they flirt with each other. She talks to Josh about “Cliff” and “Claire” like he should know exactly who she is talking about….he doesn’t.
Ruby also tells me regularly that I look like Claire Huxtable. “I mean, not exactly because your skin isn’t quite as brown, but it’s kind of weird that you look a lot like her to me,” she says. “And not the hair, your hair is more curly and not like hers, but something about her and you is so much alike.”
She didn’t share this with me once or twice, but many times. Today, for example, we were in Wendy’s and hadn’t seen The Cosby Show lately or even talked about it, but Ruby told me again how much I remind her of Claire in the face. So I looked her up.

I’m not sure if it is the shape of the face or the cheek bones, but Ruby is convinced I look like Claire. She also says she used to think I was an Indian when I was tan, and she would pretend I was in her mind. What a funny kiddo.