Month: December 2011

The Best of 2011

Diana B.Leave a comment

It’s snowing here on New Year’s Eve — gigantic, golf-ball-sized snowflakes — the biggest snowflakes we’ve seen in all our 15 winters here.

Usually snow doesn’t phase Minnesotans, especially in December. Ordinarily we have seen it all by this time of the year. But our state has been in a strange “snow drought” this December. We didn’t have a white Christmas, and that’s a huge blow to Minnesota pride. It’s hard to surrender bragging rights on a white Christmas, especially when you have to endure nine months of winter.

But now this. Gigantic snowflakes spiraling down to us from heaven above, piling up into a fluffy blanket worthy of sleds and snowball fights and such. This snowfall is making our household downright giddy! And some neighbors must feel the same snow thrill because as I type, at 10 p.m., I can hear shrieks of joy and crazy laughter from a few sledders on the hill nearby.

I wonder if the Israelites were ever this thrilled about manna? And I wonder what God-given gifts of grace our family will unwrap in 2012.

In the meantime, since the last moments of 2011 are slipping away, let’s have an award show! Eleven awards during the eleventh hour of the 2011th year! Woo-hoo!

#11, #10 and #9. For Best Movies of 2011, it’s a three-way first place tie between Dolphin Tale, Soul Surfer and Courageous. Somehow I managed to see two of these movies in the theatre (gasp!) with my husband. That’s really the most shocking news here. And the other movie, Dolphin Tale, our entire family just finished watching in the basement a few moments ago. There were tears and sobs and laughs a-plenty, especially from the younger generation. And then after spending two hours completely entranced by Winter the Dolphin, we came upstairs to be completely entranced by Winter the Season. This is the stuff “Remember that time…” memories are made of.

#8. For Best Book, the award goes to One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Here’s my review of it from last January.

#7. For Best Children’s Book Author, the award goes to the late Elizabeth Enright (1909-1968). I read aloud two of her books — Gone Away Lake and The Saturdays — to the girls this year. We all adored them and look forward to reading more of her works in 2012.

#6. For Best Date-Night Destination, the award goes to Freeziac, a do-it-yourself frozen yogurt shop. Think TCBY 1980-something, except you get to dish up the cold stuff and top it however you like it. Marshmallows, nuts, hot caramel, hot butterscotch, and a few dozen other toppings. You pay by the ounce. And with comfy seating and board games, it’s the perfect destination for a fulfilling yet inexpensive evening hanging out with someone you dearly love. Truth be told, we’ve only been to Freeziac as a family. But I’m thinking this post might inspire a certain someone I know to set up a date night. Soon. (I’ll let you know if he gets the hint.)

#5. For Best Strangely Lovable Four-Legged Animal, the award goes to the llama. Most significant contributors to the llama’s new-found popularity are Chocolate Chip and Carmella, which we met and hiked with this fall on a homeschool field trip. Also factoring into this election are the book Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney and the movie The Emperor’s New Groove, in which the emperor turns into a llama.

#4. For Best Tea I Finally Tried, the award goes to Tazo Organic Chai. After years of refusing to try chai tea simply because it seemed entirely too trendy and creamy for my taste, I tried and fell in love with this tea, with sugar and without milk, mind you. My daughters adore it, too.

#3. For Best Garden Display in Minnesota, the award goes to the rose garden at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

#2. For Best Garden Display in My Backyard, the award goes to my backyard peonies. We came home from vacation in June just in time to savor this delightful display of pink blooms.

#1. For Best Gift in My Thousand Gifts List, the award goes to number 718, Linnea’s baptism.

The Story Behind the Red Kettle and Bells

Diana B.2 Comments

by Linnea, age 9

Catherine Booth was very bold. She was born in 1829 and died in 1890. She was a woman who preached sometimes. She married William Booth, and they started the Salvation Army together.

It was very hard work. People threw rotten fruits and other stuff at the Salvation Army Band. The Salvation Army tried very hard and succeeded a lot in telling people about Jesus.

If you would like to help the Salvation Army, put money in one of their red kettles. You can find them at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, etc. If you hear some bells ringing at a store and see somebody, there should be a Salvation Army kettle nearby.

If you would like to learn more about the Salvation Army and the Booths, you can read Kidnapped by River Rats  or Heroes of the Faith by Dave and Neta Jackson or watch Torchlighters Heroes of the Faith: The William Booth Story on DVD.

Would you like to know Jesus, too? If you want to know more about Him, you can look at http://www.needhim.org. •

Linnea is 9 years old and a 3rd grader at Starlight Home School. She thoroughly enjoys lessons in ballet, tap dance, art and piano. When she isn’t devouring chapter books, Linnea delights in numerous craft and sewing projects, nature walks, fishing, boating and swimming. In 2011 she rode a horse, a pony and an elephant, and she took a llama on a hike. She recently learned to crochet, and she has become thoroughly ambidextrous this fall while healing from a severe arm injury.

Re-Membering with Thanks This Christmas

Diana B.Leave a comment

Broken.

One adjective describes so much in this fallen world we all live in. A broken prong on the dishwasher. Broken springs on the garage door. A broken air conditioner in the heat of July. A broken vacuum cleaner. A broken pie plate. Two broken drinking glasses. A broken faucet handle. A broken lid on the trash can. A friend’s broken tap shoes, spilling tiny screws across the dance floor. A broken chair. Our neighbors’ broken mailbox. And, most memorable of all, our oldest daughter’s broken arm.

Yes, we live in a fallen world, teeming with brokenness. It can leave us broken down, broken-hearted or just flat broke.

Yet through the cracks of all our broken pieces, the Light shines.

“Here are the broken spots,” the tall doctor proclaims as he points to X-rays of my firstborn’s forearm, six weeks after her infamous fall on the playground.

And then he quickly corrects himself. “Actually, what I should say is: Here are the healing spots.”

Healing spots.

Yes, broken spots can become healing spots when exposed to the Light. A perfect spot at which to pause and thank God. He is the One who can not only heal us physically but also restore our broken relationship with Him when we believe in His Son, Jesus. And isn’t that relationship what needs fixed most of all?

Remembering to pause and give thanks to God has become a priority this year. From January to October, I counted up more than one thousand gifts – memorable moments of grace captured in words and photographs. In thanking Him regularly this way and watching closely for His goodness toward me and my family, I’ve learned so much about His unchanging character. God is who He says He is. God can do what He says He can do.

Even when little upside-down legs let go and bones crack and the whole world seems to come crashing down in a helpless heap near the monkey bars. Even then God never lets go. He never lets go. And even then, in those terrifying moments of brokenness, we can thank God for holding us together.

Author Ann Voskamp says it best: “Because when we remember how He blesses and loves us, when we recollect His goodnesses to us — our broken places re-collect. We re-member. We heal. In the remembering to give thanks, our broken places are re-membered — made whole.”

This Christmas we celebrate God’s greatest gift to us – His Son Jesus, the One holds us and all of creation together. Jesus is very familiar with brokenness. Isaiah 53 says Jesus was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins; He was beaten so we could be whole, and by His wounds we are healed.

And so we commune with God when we remember this truth, when we stop complaining, when we accept every moment with gratitude. In the Last Supper, Jesus himself exemplifies this. 1 Corinthians 11:24 says, “…when He had given thanks, He broke {the bread} and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ ”

Our joy this Christmas is not in perfect appliances or perfect dishes or perfect shoes or perfectly healed bodies. Our joy is the best gift, Jesus, the perfect Savior, the perfect Lamb of God, the One whose bones were never broken.

We also have joy in watching for the thousands of ways God loves us in every moment.

Won’t you take the dare, too? Won’t you count the ways He loves you? Count the ordinary, the amazing, the grace-filled moments of 2012 and see for yourself just how much He loves you, too. •

Diana has been happily married to a guitar and sailing fanatic for 15 years. She is a homeschool mother of two who regularly shares stories and photos here at starlightwriter.wordpress.com.

Roses in December

Diana B.Leave a comment

“God gave us memories so we might have roses in December.” ~ J.M. Barrie

Thank You, God, for these lovely memories of all the sweet-smelling roses. Thank You for the long, warm days of June. And thank You for little girls in white dresses frolicking through the garden green.