Dec
17
more of Eli
ready for an update of our beloved little elf?
the kiddos spent the night out last Saturday night, and we picked them up on the way to church. so imagine our surprise when we walk into church to see this on the big screen:
apparently, that little stinker snuck into the church over the weekend and enjoyed a little drum practice. he certainly wanted us to make sure we knew that he had been there!
the next morning, we found him playing “teacher:”
upon returning from school drop off that morning, i happened upon this:
i think it was Bella’s form of retaliation! (we had quite the laugh…and then, once again, had to have a little discussion about grace!)
it seems as if the next night, Eli was trying to get back to the North Pole by attempting to turn the My Little Ponies into reindeer:
and then i guess he realized that Rapunzel was in need of a good teeth cleaning:
if you know about NFL football at all, then you’ll understand this next one. i guess Eli is a Jaguar fan:
he found his way to the Hub’s wallet and we caught him attempting to make a clean getaway:
we also caught him relaxing in a bubble bath, while catching up on his reading:
we woke up one morning to find Eli and Rapunzel in the middle of a heated snowball fight:
and then this morning, Eli created a swing in the kiddos doorway:
complete with a “Good Morning” sign:
we’ve got one more week with our friend, so i’m sure there will be more to share before too long 
(i’d be lying if i didn’t say i’m kinda ready to scoot his little hiney back to the North Pole. he’s making me tired )
and….i can’t finish this post without addressing what is most heavy on my heart…today is one of those hard days. along with the rest of the world, my heart completely aches over the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, and as i had to drop my precious treasures off at school this morning, i couldn’t hug them tight enough. i feel like i’m walking through this day, just putting one foot in front of the other, step by step, needing loads of faith, and begging God for help to trust His goodness and protection. my flesh wants to keep my kids in a bubble, never let them leave our house, my sight, my presence, all the while knowing that this is not the life God has called us to live. its times like this where i really think that our human hearts were not created to endure such pain and tragedy. we were not created for this world, and i LONG for the day when all is completely made new.
Tim Keller has written about this very thing, and the first time i read it, it completely blew me away. in his book, The Reason for God
“Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost…The doctrine of the Resurrection is the ultimate defeat of evil and suffering. It will not only be ended but so radically vanquished that what has happened will only serve to make our future life and joy infinitely greater.”
He quotes C.S. Lewis as well,
“They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”
that’s the hope i cling to, when things such as this tragedy do not make sense to my finite human mind and heart, and as we as a nation are mourning, and heavy, and scared. and even though i don’t get it, i cling to that being true. and i cling to hope….a confident expectation, that this is a promise that WILL be fulfilled. and my prayer is that is comes soon!
i’ll leave you with some lyrics from a great song by Matt Mahar, called “Christ has Risen.”
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
you can listen to it here:
PS: there was a little issue with the website that was linked on one of my sponsors. if you were looking for the jewelry line from Beso Handbags, i have updated that link so that you can now find the jewelry as well as the bags. you can click here or on the sidebar ad. i just ordered some of the jewelry from that site as a Christmas gift, and i am SO excited for it to come in! there is still time to order and receive it by Christmas. just make sure you place your order by Wednesday.
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