Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne

John 1:14 (ESV) “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.

Refrain

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.

Heaven’s arches rang when the angels sang,
Proclaiming Thy royal degree;
But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth,
And in great humility.

Refrain

The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest
In the shade of the forest tree;
But Thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of God,
In the deserts of Galilee.

Refrain

Thou camest, O Lord, with the living Word,
That should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn,
They bore Thee to Calvary.

Refrain

When the heavens shall ring, and the angels sing,
At Thy coming to victory,
Let Thy voice call me home,
Saying Yet there is room,
There is room at My side for thee.

My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When Thou comest and callest for me.

Words: Emily E. Elliott, 1864.

This hymn was first used at St. Mark’s Church in Bright­on, Eng­land, where El­li­ott’s fa­ther was rec­tor. In 1870, it was pub­lished in the Church Mis­sion­a­ry Ju­ve­nile In­struct­or, which El­li­ott ed­it­ed.

Ht: Cyberhymnal

The Star…

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Star of Bethlehem

Star of Bethlehem, shining bright,
Long ago by thy holy light
Sages met in praise to bring
Eastern gifts to their newborn King.

Star of Bethlehem, thou didst show
Wond’ring shepherds the way to go,
Thus revealing by thy ray
Where the infant Redeemer lay.

Star of Bethlehem, heav’nly guide,
Take us all to our Savior’s side,
There to kneel and there to bring
Loving hearts as our offering.

Words: Edna R. Worrell, 1914.

We got our star up on our shop/garage. I like having a star shining at Christmas time.

I was inspired to get a lit star on our shop/garage by Gumbo Lily’s Star on her barn here.

It’s hard to tell from this photo but the star is 2-1/2 stories up from the ground. I now have a plan for the window under the star and time will tell if it works.

Thank you all for your nice comments on Dear and my anniversary post. We both appreciate them. We had our small group over last night for our regular meeting. Tonight we’ll enjoy dinner out. Do you have a busy weekend coming up?

Thirty Eight Years and Counting!

Today is Dear and my 38th wedding anniversary. We will be celebrating this weekend. I’m thankful to God for a faithful husband. We decided early on that with God’s help we’d stay together no matter what. We’ve had our ups and downs over the years but giving up was never an option. We like most couples have our “discussions” now and again but we always come back together and press forward. We are thankful that God’s faithfulness to us and our relationship keeps us strong. I have never wanted to spend my life with anyone else but Dear.

Gloomy with Promises…

We’ve been on the gloomy side here in the Pacific Northwest. On Sunday after church we decided it would be good to enjoy brunch out. We headed to the Kirkland Lake Washington waterfront  Beachhouse Bar and Grill. You can see the gloominess out the windows. But not to worry because what appeared on our plates was not gloomy at all.

I had the Pecan French Toast and Dear had Eggs Benedict.

It was nice to have a meal put in front of me and have a bit of relaxation after a hectic week.

That was Sunday. On Tuesday we had a wee bit of sunshine and on my way home from Costco I got to see this amazing view. A rainbow filled with promises!

Today is Wednesday and it’s a free day for me for which I am grateful.Thursday is a special day and you’ll see why with my post.  On Friday I hope to show you the star I bought wrapped in lights that Dear hung on our garage/shop. I’m waiting for a dry night so I can take a photo outside without getting my camera lens wet! On Saturday we are going to get our tree.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world…

A Small Interruption…

…to my Christmas table decor.

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While working on my recipes for our Celebrations Cook book being published at the end of April in 2013 I had to redo one of my recipes which meant I needed to change out my Christmas table. I chose to set the table using my pewter pieces since my entree was a traditional English recipe. Some of my pewter pieces were acquired in England in the 70’s.

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The pewter wine goblets and the Coffee service with creamer and sugar containers along with the salt and pepper shakers are from England.  I decided to use the coffee pot as a vase on this occasion. The candle holders are Revere ware and the flatware is Gorham pewter. The chargers were gifted to us from our son and DIL for Christmas one year.

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The runner is a gift from our son and DIL, too. I liked adding in the green goblets with the pewter.

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The dishes are Royal Stafford and I think I purchased them at Marshalls.

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I enjoy this table but soon it will be reset to our casual Christmas setting.

Now I need to get busy getting our Christmas cards ready to send out. Do you send out Christmas cards and do you add a personal note or do you type one Christmas letter to be included in all your cards?

We received good news yesterday from North Carolina! Our son-in-law is now a Marine Corporal. We are so proud of his achievement. I’m hoping to get an updated photo of him with his new blood stripes and pins along with his sword soon. Congratulations Marine Corporal Andrew!

Getting Ready…

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…for the most wonderful time of the year.

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Aren’t these “Wee Forest Folk” cute! They really are little. I only have the angel, a shepherd and 1 wise man.

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I might head out on Boxing Day and try to find yet another nativity set on sale. I like the classic designs and some of the more modern designs, too.

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John 1:14 (The Message)

The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

Our pastor is unpacking this one verse in  the book of John for the month of December.

John 1:14 (ESV)  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

How are preparations coming in your home for Christmas? Are you going simple or over the top this year?

Oh, Come, Little Children

Oh, Come, Little Children

Oh, come, little children, oh, come, one and all,
To Bethlehem’s stable, in Bethlehem’s stall.
And see with rejoicing this glorious sight,
Our Father in heaven has sent us this night.

Oh, see in the manger, in hallowèd light
A star throws its beam on this holiest sight.
In clean swaddling clothes lies the heavenly Child,
More lovely than angels, this Baby so mild.

Oh, there lies the Christ Child, on hay and on straw;
The shepherds are kneeling before Him with awe.
And Mary and Joseph smile on Him with love,
While angels are singing sweet songs from above.

Words: Christoph von Schmid, 1794

A friend of ours faxed me the music and words for O Come Little Children in the Russian language. The Fax machine added an unwanted line through the music. I learned this song by heart in Russian and it’s been fun to sing it this week. We have started the Advent Season and I’ll be posting Christmas Music for the rest of the month. Some of the words in Russian translate different than the English version.

She’s Doing the Happy Dance!

No, it’s not because I’m nipping on the Smirntopf. I’ve met my November 30th deadlines and it makes me footloose and fancy free.

But back to the Smirntopf. If you follow my blog you know that way back in the summer I was inspired by Rosella to try making Rumtopf but I called mine Smirntopf because I used Smirnoff Vodka with the fruit and sugar instead of Rum. Here’s another post about Rumtopf on Rosella’s blog.

This is what it looked like when we added the last bit of fruit, sugar, and vodka and before we stirred and strained it.

Dear and I stirred the Smirntopf and strained our Smirntopf and have a pot of the fruit wondering what we will do with it. After straining the liquid from the fruit I stirred it real good and strained it again through cheesecloth before I filled the containers.

Now I’m wondering who might enjoy a little container of our Smirntopf…

Today is the last day of November and I have some final Grace Challenge thoughts to post.

I’m thankful for the inspiration and encouragement from my blogging friends.

I’m thankful to God that he gave me the words I needed to complete a project.

I’m thankful that we are entering the Christmas season and I’m turning my thoughts to focusing on Jesus during Advent.

When we focus on all we’ve been given it’s easier to give. At our church our pastor said “Grateful people give in response to God’s grace.”

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
~ 2 Corinthians 8:9

My brother had a great suggestion for continuing the Grace Challenge.

“As you enter the advent season, a season traditionally marked by gift giving (graciousness) make your giving not out of obligation but truly out of grace.  Here are some Grace Challenge encouragements for your gift giving, for your abundance of good deeds:

  1. Make a list of the people you are buying gifts for this Christmas season in your Grace Challenge Notebook.
  2. Pray for them daily; Give thanks for them daily.
  3. With your gift, write a note that expresses the content of your prayer and thanks for the person you have been gracious towards. Use Ephesians 1 and Colossians 1 as examples for your writing and prayer.
  4. Believe that your prayer and thanksgiving is worth more than the monetary value of the gift given. “

Blessings…

Christmas Beginnings…

I’m joining Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen with my first Christmas table for Let’s Dish.

We even had a full on Christmas dinner at this table the Saturday after Thanksgiving with Josh, Laura and Dan. It’s a long story. The recipe for this Apple Butternut soup will be shared in December on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog.

Today I reset the table to my more casual everyday Christmas theme. I hope to share that next week.

More decorations went up today. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house…

The Majority…

It was nice having the majority of our children around over the 4 day Thanksgiving Holiday. We are looking forward to seeing Katie and Andrew the day after Christmas for the majority of their trip to the West. They will be in Salt Lake City for 4 days before they continue their flight to Seattle.

I made my first dutch baby the morning after Thanksgiving. I will definitely make it again. This one had blueberries in it. The photo of  our 3 kids above was taken on the same day at our favorite Mexican restaurant. And yes, we ate our way through the 4 days…

All the Christmas containers are down from the attic. Now I need to decide what to put up. We won’t be getting our tree until the weekend of the 8th.

How’s Christmas decorating shaping up at your house?