We had a guest pastor (Gary Kinnaman) at our church recently and he talked about the word "blessed". He talked about how we typically tend to define the word and then what the Bible says about the word.
He said that his brother, like so many of us, had everything going for him, financially. They lived in a really nice neighborhood in a really nice house with a really big yard. Then with the economy, he and his wife both took huge pay cuts and they are now having to short sale their home. The home next door to theirs is just as beautiful, with a big circular driveway and a grand entrance with a scrolly sign above the front door that says, "Blessed". Gary made the connection by saying, "Blessed (as in the neighbors' house), short sale (as in his brother's house)". He talked about how we call ourselves blessed because we have "stuff". We have a nice house, a nice car, lots of "toys", etc. so we must be blessed. Gary said that even though his brother is losing his home, he still considers himself blessed.
He then went on to share the Beatitudes. There are 8 of them and they are found in Matthew 5. Here they are for you, taken from the Message:
1. You are blessed when you are at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
2. You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
3. You're blessed when you're content with just who you are - no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
4. You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
5. You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full', you find yourselves cared for.
6. You're blessed when you get your inside world - your mind and heart - put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
7. You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
8. You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.
For me, at this point in my life, number 3 is my favorite and what I'm striving for.
With all that being said (you didn't know you were going to hear a sermon when you clicked on my blog, huh?) we certainly had a "blessed" Christmas, in the sense of the word that we were together, everyone was healthy, there was no family drama and it was so peaceful!
Here are some pictures, sorry there are so many! We celebrated a week early when my dad and step-mom came to visit us. We also went to Glendale Glitters with them and went on a horse-drawn carriage ride which was so fun!
Dad and Karen
Dog pile on Daddy!
Emily is obsessed with all things Disney Princess - especially Ariel!
Ryan loves Legos!
Tripp is getting new truck tires for Christmas from Dad & Karen! He was pretty surprised by this gift!
I got a cozy sweatshirt (plus a weekend of pampering back in November when I visited them in the Bay Area!)
Glendale Glitters!
Carriage ride!
This was our horse, his name was Dominator!
Grandma and Emily
At Grandma and Grandpa's hotel
Then on Wednesday the 22nd, we headed up to Tripp's parents' cabin for Christmas. Here are Casey and Ryan working on the Legos that Aunt Cathy bought for them
Emily and Nan worked lots of puzzles at the cabin
The first morning we woke up to a dusting snow! Wish it would've stuck around
Even though it was cold, we ventured out for a walk around the neighborhood
Emily and Daddy had a nap together. She has not slept on one of us like this since she was a baby! Tripp loved every minute of it!
Here's Casey on Christmas morning with his stocking
Then Emily
and Ryan...
even Lucy has her own stocking!
"Who's ready to open presents?!"
Emily got a Polly Pockets doll house with a bunch of dolls and accessories (what in the world was I thinking?? Those little bitty pieces go everywhere!)
Casey was most excited to finally get a pillow pet
This is Ryan when he first realized that he was unwrapping his new DS. He had no clue that he was getting this for Christmas, he's been saving up his own money for one for a looooong time!
Here's me trying to figure out what this is...
turns out it was a heart rate monitor for my new Garmin Forerunner 305!!! Tripp and I agreed to just do each other's stockings this year with a $20 limit. I went over by $10, he went over by much more... Stinker
Ryan is checking out how his new DS works
I filled Tripp's stocking with Cardinals stuff
We borrowed our neighbor's bb gun, here we are shooting a milk jug
On Christmas day, in the evening Tripp's sister Wendy and brother in law Danny arrived with their boys, Jacob and Luke. We set up a scavenger hunt for their gifts!
Emily found one in the kitchen
Casey found one in the laundry room
One of Luke's was in the garage
Here is Ryan trying to unscramble a word that will lead him to one of his gifts
Here's Emily in her singing skirt!
It was so nice to be up there. I even got in a couple runs, despite the cold! They were tough though, 3.3 miles and I thought I was going to die! I hadn't run in over a week, I am recovering from being sick, it was cold out and we are at almost 7,000 feet up there! Back in September, just before my Girlfriends' Half Marathon, I ran up there, 9 miles without a problem! I was so frustrated that I struggled with 3! Tripp and I are now training for another half marathon in Apache Junction on Feb. 20th. Time to kick it into high gear!
