a photo memoir // week 1

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~Learning to cook Salmon. ;)

My sister Emma and I threw on our aprons,

and followed Andrea's instructions,

 as we learned how to make salmon.

It turned out quite delicious, I must say.

 Andrea, you are a great teacher and a great chef.

 Love ya!

~Watching little Sammy boy recite his catechisms. 
Such a joy. 
Just listening to his little voice 
speak such beautiful words of truth.
 enough to make my heart melt.  

~Doing school outside.

 Very thankful for homeschooling!

I woke up from my nap,

looked through my bedroom window

and saw that the lawn

in the backyard

still had a patch of grass

on which the sun's last rays were shining.

I quickly grabbed my history books

 and ran outside to do school

 in the last bit of sun.

You can definitely tell that I was focusing on my school.

~Banana Muffins...

This is my favorite baked good as of late.

My goodness...soooo delicious

even with our gluten free flour!

~Reading Lord of the Rings scripts with my sisters.

My personal favorite event of the week.

My sister's and I read through 

The Fellowship of the Ring

and

The Two Towers,

doing all the voices,

we shared many laughs.

How was your week friends? I'd love to hear.

Much love and many blessings!!

~Madi

The Meaning of Christmas

It's December!

The month of bitter cold weather,

extra layers and scarves wrapped tight,

warm hot chocolate,

freshly baked cookies,

and beautiful lights adorning houses on each street.

It's the time we celebrate Christmas; 

We pick out the perfect Christmas tree,

turn up the Christmas music

and decorate with ornaments gathered & given to us throughout the years;

A time when we go out in to the hustle and bustle of town, 

spend an exuberant amount of time picking gifts to give to family members and friends, and wrap them in decorative paper.

It's the time when we get-together with family

and get messy with flour and frosting as we decorate gingerbread men and sugar cookies.

It's a joyous Season...at least in can be.

Amongst all the things that I mentioned above,

one can easily become overwhelmed with the busy schedules, parties,

and the "buy this" "get this" "I want this" aura of Christmas.

We can forget the real reason why we celebrate Christmas.

And if we don't forget we at least don't spend enough time thinking about it and rejoicing in Christ, the person behind the meaning of Christmas.

I know for me, I can get so caught up in everything the Christmas season brings, that I don't dwell enough on Christ, and the fact that God sent His son to earth to be born a child and live among us, and pay the GREAT price for our sins.

I don't rejoice enough in Jesus.

As December came around, I found myself asking this question...

Without all the "traditions" of Christmas,
if I didn't get to do the normal things,
such as, get a Christmas tree, bake cookies,
listen to Christmas music,
buy presents,
get presents,
if I had "nothing", in the human sense,...would I still be happy?

Would I still be able to celebrate God's great love for us in sending his son down to earth, to us lowly sinners to love us and save us from our sins?
Would I be able to celebrate Jesus,  and His love for us in being willing to humble himself for us, to come to earth and be born, and live and die for us?



(from wikipedia)

We celebrate Christmas because of Jesus

I want to be focused on Him this season.

Amongst all the joyous festivities that Christmas brings,

let's not forget Jesus,

and that He is the reason for this season. ;)

My prayer for you and for me, is that God will help us to keep the real meaning of Christmas in our hearts and to remember our Lord, Jesus, and be able to rejoice in Him.

I love you all, and hope you have a blessed Christmas!


~Madi

P.S. I have a few Christmas knitting patterns that I would like to share with you.
But, I only want to share them if I have interested knitters out there who would use them.
How many of you are interested?
Please let me know via a comment!

"Stilled be now every anxious care..."



I came across this poem today, friends...

"Stilled now be every anxious care;

See God's great goodness everywhere;

Leave all to Him in perfect rest:

He will do all things for the best."

~taken from Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot

and it encouraged my little anxious heart.

 I was worried about how my day would play out

and if I would have enough time to do what needed to be done. 

Why was I worrying, when I have a glorious God in control of all things?

God has planned everything according to His good and perfect will,

and I have no need to worry.

God gave me peace and joy after I read that quote.
weight came off of my shoulders,
I got everything done...
and I wasn't rushing around like I thought I would be.
I'm so very thankful for this little bit of encouragement that brightened my Monday.

Thank you Lord for your good and perfect plan. :)

Have a happy week friends!

~Madi