Lights!!

First - if I may - I'd like to take a quick trip down memory lane! 

It was on this day, nine years ago, that Ryan and I began our pilgrimage to Florida to get married! I've said it before, but I'll say it again (probably every year) for the rest of time: I cannot believe I was genuinely okay with arriving at our destination one day before the wedding. I cannot believe I went to WORK on this day nine years ago. I sure did. Worked the whole morning, drove home, hopping in Ryan's car, and headed to Florida. Crazy. 

That trip was its own brand of crazy that we hope to never duplicate - hello, three-hour traffic jam! But it began a beautiful trip and a beautiful life together that we are still so, so grateful for. 

I'll reminisce about that trip today for sure, but in the meantime, I'll show you pictures from our trip through the Fantasy of Lights this past weekend! We decorated WillowBridge together as a community and after we were done with our work, we headed to a park in Fort Wayne that has a great light display! It's definitely a different experience to go with the whole building than it is to go with just Ryan. (LOTS of song requests coming from the tenants.) But we had a great time, and the lights were so pretty! Wanna see a few?

(Ahhhh, Sweetwater. The location of the infamous variety show in which Ryan sprained his ankle!)

(Had to get a picture of the WBCL angel!)

I didn't get to sit with Ryan on this trip, so he's promised to take me through some other light displays yet this season that might resemble more of a date. ;) 

But whether or not I'm sitting beside him and whether or not it's a loud-song-filled experience, I love some lights!!

We Need a Little Christmas!

 That title sounded better than "photo dump of the last few days." LOL! But the last few days have, indeed, been very Christmassy, so I thought I'd share a few of the pictures we took as we celebrated the beginning of this season!

First up...I shared with you last week about our candy making adventures with my Mom, but I didn't get to show you the final results. The day Ryan and I drove down for our class, we had to take our truck, and there wasn't room to bring the candy home. But...alas...we finally retrieved it, and here's a sampling of our attempts!

We live in a Hallmarky kind of town, where you just might find something like this sitting outside the general store...

And it's the kind of town that has a tree lighting...with Rudolph in attendance.

Tis the season for making cookies...

And having a decorating party!

We also decorated WillowBridge for Christmas!

And we saw some lights...but I'm going to save those for tomorrow!

Sunday Sentiments

 

Today marks the first Sunday of Advent, and I don't need to tell you how much I love this season. You've seen the lights and saturation of our apartment. ;) Today we'll be decorating the community room in WillowBridge, and I'm excited for that, too. 

In honor of our decorating festivities, I made cut out cookies last night - using my new Christmas tree cutter that is so stinkin' cute. (And big. I love a big sugar cookie.) We'll decorate them together this afternoon and see what kind of creations the tenants come up with. 

And the day after Thanksgiving, our town had a proper Hallmarky tree lighting ceremony. It was freezing, so we stood all bundled up in hats, gloves, scarves, and coats, and it was absolutely worth it. ABSOLUTELY worth it. I told my mom I may be ruined for life when it comes to ever living anywhere other than a cute little Hallmarky town. 

It feels like Christmas this year. The pretty lights, the music, the cookies, the tree lighting...it's fun and festive and feels good.

But oh goodness, there have been so many years when it didn't feel good. It didn't feel like Christmas. It didn't feel normal. And that is precisely why it's important to NOT depend on your feelings. 

The year I wrote my Advent book, which was a few years before I published it, Christmas did not feel like Christmas. I went through the motions, but my heart wasn't in it. And it was precisely in that year that I had such a beautiful season of learning from the Lord that spilled over into the making of that book. 

Sometimes the seasons that feel the worst...or don't even feel at all...are the most beautiful in the long run. 

This year, for as long as the Lord allows, I plan to soak up all the goodness of the feelings. I plan to sit beside the lights, walk in the snowfall, listen to the music, watch the movies, eat (minimal) cookies, and appreciate the goodness of feeling fuzzy. But if the season should go numb, I will do my best to pull close to Jesus and allow Him to remind me that it isn't about the feelings. 

I hope your Advent season brings some beautiful things. But if it isn't your favorite season, I still hope it brings a fresh reminder of His goodness, which never changes.

Much love to you all this Advent season! 

The Saturday Six

 

One.

Biscuit and gravy...waffles?? You have my attention. And in a lightened up version? You really have my attention...

Two.

A great list of toys and games for kids...ones that will make them think and do. These are my very favorite kinds of gifts. We have nieces and nephews on our list, so this will come in super handy!

Three.

How adorable is this free set of Christmas Bingo cards??? If you're planning a party for your family or friends this year, you can add this one right in!

Four.

Wanna see our cute shirts we wore on Thanksgiving?? We had so much fun with them!

Five.

We don't have kids, as you know, but if we did have a little one living here with us full time, I think this would be a GREAT Christmas tree idea! I mean, from what I've heard, they want to play with the ornaments anyway so this gives them permission of sorts...and helps them learn at the same time! :) 

Six.

Ryan and I don't wear our shoes inside (take them off at the door) and I usually just run around in my socks. I've noticed that my feet are usually pretty tired by the end of the day if I've been inside a lot, because we have laminate flooring and not carpet. I've seen these slippers pop up as a recommendation a lot, so I'm thinking about getting some for inside - at least during the winter! But will they make me want to just curl up and watch Christmas movies even MORE??

Thankful for Seasons

First of all, I want to thank you for all the kind words in the comments the past couple of days. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them! It's like having a mini conversation with each of you, and I love it. Just wanted to begin today by saying that.

 I'm reading Scripture at a funeral today. I've never done that before, and in fact, the last time I participated in a funeral, I was a senior in high school, so it's clearly been a couple of years. 

But I was asked to read Psalm 91, and I told Ryan I wanted to read it from a Bible and not from my phone. So last night, after we got home from the Thanksgiving festivities, I went into our office to choose a Bible from the shelf so I could put it by the door and not run the risk of forgetting it!

I would take my current Bible with me, but it's ESV, and I need to read from NIV, so I looked over my NIV Bibles to pick one. I grabbed my most recently used one, which is dear to me, and opened it to Psalm 91.

That's when I remembered I'd done an in depth study on that at one point in time and had color coded it as part of my study. Since I haven't been on the platform of the church where I'll be reading, and I have no idea how dim or bright the light will be, I wasn't sure how easy it would be to read through some of the colors. I pulled a lesser-marked Bible off the shelf to use for my reading, but I spent a moment looking through that well-loved copy of Scripture before I put it back on the shelf.

I used that Bible for several years; I got it after we moved to Kokomo and used it until we moved to Grabill. That was my Bible when Ryan's mom was sick and dying. That was my Bible when my mom had all her joint-replacement surgeries. That was my Bible when we faced some tough seasons in other ways. That was my Bible in the start of the pandemic. That was my Bible when I read through Scripture in a year. That was my Bible when I did an in-depth study in the Gospels and another one in Psalms. That was my Bible when God began to open the doors for our life/career/home change.

I felt all of that as I thumbed through the pages and saw all my notes scribbled in margins. The verses I had highlighted as they became personally significant. The dates I'd marked to remind myself of how God used certain verses on certain days. 

The edges of the pages were well loved. Curled sticky-note tabs stuck out the top. The first pages of each book were lined with color coded washi tape from when I learned the divisions of Scripture. 

I have a new Bible now...one that I am living in through our right-now seasons. One that I'm marking and noting as I study in-depth. (Right now, Genesis is the most-marked book.) And I know that one day down the road, I'll come back to this one and remember in specific ways the lessons I learned during this time of my life, as noted on the pages of this Bible.

I have a handful of Bibles I've carried for multiple years, and I have others that I used in much shorter seasons of life. But all of them together tell the story of my faith and the things God has taught me along the way. I love it. I'm grateful for it. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hello, friends! Happy Thanksgiving to you!

I know this day can be a really difficult day. For some (and we're in this bunch this year) it's a reminder of those you won't get to spend the day with. For some it's a reminder of answers to prayers you hoped to be thankful for...but you're still waiting, and it's hard to muster up the thanks. For some, you're just not feeling well, and you wish you felt so much better.

So many reasons it can be a hard day, and for those of you struggling, I send big hugs and offer a prayer for strength and special grace for this day.

I do want to share some things I'm thankful for, though.

* I shared this one a few days ago, but I'm still thankful, so I'm sharing it again. I'm thankful my dog bite is healing and though it's annoying and slows me down some, it seriously could have been SO much worse, and I'm grateful it was not. I'm also thankful to have married a guy with health care skills who has taken masterful care of me.

* I'm thankful for the almost nine years of marriage Ryan and I have enjoyed. I happened to notice that nine years ago yesterday, Ryan and I were doing wedding crafts (assembling our printed programs, which were 16 pages long each) and packing for our wedding and honeymoon. We packed a whole week early, which turned out to be a blessing, because the final countdown days were crazy busy! I love reminiscing about our wedding on these days each year, and I am so thankful for not just that day but all the days in all the years that have followed.

* I'm thankful that this week we were able to pick up Ryan's dad's snow blower, which we're borrowing for the second year in a row. It is such a blessing when we have to clear the parking lot. Did it twice by hand last year and don't want to do it again if we can help it! We are thankful for his generosity in loaning it out each winter. 

* I'm thankful that Ryan and I were able to join a small group through our church. Being an active part of anything within the church is a challenge because of the schedule constraints of our job. This was a huge step for us, and we are thankful to already have new friends because of it. 

* I'm thankful for cozy Christmas lights. I love sitting in our apartment each evening - even if I'm working and not resting - and soaking in the pretty atmosphere! I really do love the glow from the trees!

* I'm thankful for God's sustaining grace through this past year. We've had a lot of work-related challenges as we try to find the best rhythm for WillowBridge. Each tenant who comes in has a different personality and different needs, so it's a process of learning each person and trying to help the best we can. We've had joys and sorrows, but we're grateful for God's faithfulness! 

* I'm thankful for you who come here each day to read along and to encourage us with your words. We are so thankful for all of you! :) 

Much love today!

Bekah

The Cutest Candy Maker

I've told you before that my mom has made homemade chocolate candies every year for my whole life and beyond. She couldn't remember exactly what year she first took classes (here in Fort Wayne!) but it was sometime before I was born. And for my entire life, it's been a tradition to enjoy Mom's chocolate creations every Christmas.

Every year now, she says this is the last year she's going to make them, and every year she makes them again. 

This year Ryan told me he really wanted to spend a day learning how to make Mom's candy. So we figured out a day we had off that worked with her schedule...and we went for candy making lessons! I was super sad that my bandaged hand slowed me down from participating as much as I wanted to, but I did actually try a little candy making too!

When I wasn't attempting to make candy one-handed, I took a bunch of pictures of their day of fun. I thought I'd share a few with you!

He had so much fun, and I loved it that he said his favorite part of the day was learning from her and listening to all she had to say after doing this so many years.

I'm so glad we did this. I fully expect she won't retire this year any more than she has retired than any of the previous years. But in case she does...we had a great day learning from her!

I wish you could taste them!! Yummy!!!!