Praise God for Christmas

In all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas, it's easy to lose sight of the reason for the season. But the focus of Christmas is as the holiday's name suggests: Christ. Here is a good poem that was shared by someone at our church, and I thought it was worth posting:

Praise God for Christmas
By Joseph Bayly

Praise Him for the incarnation,
for the word made flesh.
I will not sing of shepherds
watching flocks on frosty nights,
or angel choristers.
I will not sing of a stable bare in Bethlehem,
or lowing oxen,
wise men trailing star with gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.
Tonight I will sing praise to the Father
who stood on heaven's threshold
and said farewell to his Son
as he stepped across the stars
to Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
And I will sing praise to the infinite, eternal Son,
who became most finite, a baby
who would one day be executed for my crime.
Praise him in the heavens,
Praise him in the stable,
Praise him in my heart.

December is the Best Month!

December is the best month - because of Christmas as well as my (Jenny's) birthday. However, December is also always a VERY busy month, which is why we haven't blogged in awhile. I thought it was high time to get the Thanksgiving post lower down and not up-front and center anymore, though, so here's a short post.

Yesterday was my 28th birthday (wow, I'm old), and I celebrated by being sick (sinus and ear infections). Yay. Fortunately, I was able to muster up strength to go out to dinner at the restaurant where we'd had reservations for several weeks. We went to the Trellis, which is probably the best (and, unfortunately, one of the most expensive) restaurants in Williamsburg. However, when I received my 8-layer chocolate cake ("Death by Chocolate," the recipe is called), I felt it was all worth it:

Over the weekend we went down to North Carolina to visit Susan (my friend from high school/elementary school). She is a doctor in the Navy and is stationed at Camp Lejeune right now, but she lives in the booming metropolis of Sneads Ferry, NC, about a half-hour down the road from the base. We had a great time seeing her even though I was sick (although, fortunately, I had a doctor on hand to diagnose me!). She showed us around the base, we went to the beach briefly (see first picture below), we went out to dinner in Wilmington at Macaroni Grill (see second picture below), and we bought and decorated a (very small) Christmas tree for her house. The tree is rather Charlie Brownish, but since she only had 9 ornaments to start with, we felt that it was just the right size (we later bought more ornaments and even a string of lights, so it ended up less Charlie Brownish from when we started).

(Onslow Beach, NC)


(Birthday Cake at Macaroni Grill--also chocolate--so it was an altogether chocolatey birthday this year!)

(Susan and me after decorating her little tree)

We'll try to blog again before Christmas, but no promises since things are so hectic. We're going to San Diego for the break, so I'm sure we'll have pictures and adventures to share when we return! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thanksgiving in Atlanta

We had a great Thanksgiving in Atlanta last week! Here are a few pictures:

Matthew: The 2008 Turkey Carver

Daniel won the contest for greatest amount of food on his plate

Duke: Scrabble Assistant

Early Birthday Party for Me! (Mom's fudge was the "cake")

Opening presents (Matthew's was a 1,000-piece photomosaic puzzle of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, which looks very hard but fun!)

Fall Pictures

Just wanted to post a few more pictures of fall before fall is over. We went walking (and picture-taking) a couple of weekends ago on the William and Mary campus and took the below pictures. Here's a picturesque view of the famous, historic Wren Courtyard (at center is the statue of Lord Botetourt):

And then one last picture, which is of the Courthouse in Colonial Williamsburg--the brilliant tree next to it is absolutely beautiful each fall!

Daytrip to Charlottesville

We spent the day today in Charlottesville visiting the home of President James Monroe (our 5th president from 1817 to 1825, in case you're rusty on your history!). We had already been to the home of Thomas Jefferson (Monticello) as well as that of James Madison (Montpelier). Now, we just need to go see Mount Vernon in DC, the home of George Washington. Anyway, this is the kind of thing you do when you are married to an American history buff :) But I like it because I love the old architecture and the beautiful grounds of these homes. Ash Lawn Highland (Monroe's home) was especially beautiful because of the fall colors! Enjoy this slide show of pictures from our day:

Some Reflections and a Thoughtful Article

Well, Election Week is over. I'm personally (to be completely honest) not exactly over the results of Tuesday, but not because I don't accept them at the level that I must; it's more that I realize that this election has significance and, as my friend Rachel said over on her blog, there may be a new level of civic responsibility and awareness to which we Christians will be called to in the next 4 (and hopefully not 8!) years. I realize that I need to pray about this outcome and ask God to show me what I can do to help make sure that the worst of what we imagine could happen in the next four years, don't happen (or that we at least do all we can to speak for biblical morality and responsible leadership, even if we aren't always able to get "our way"). I guess it just feels like, more than ever, this election will require some more (ongoing!) inward digesting and thought before I can feel less disappointment and sadness.

I had a lady at work today who is Democratic tell me all about what she thought and basically lecture me about how the new president will "change things" (hmm, wonder where she got that ever-so-vague slogan from?) and that it will certainly be much better than the past 8 years of what she called "dictatorship-like" leadership (referring to Bush and his administration). That made me upset. It is not that she disagrees and voted on the other side as I did; it's the larger issue that I think is common among MANY people in our nation right now: the total and utter lack of respect--and really, the disdain--for Bush. It is really bothering me--and has been for awhile. I don't care if you disagree with him or think he has made mistakes; every president has made mistakes, and this president in particular, I think, was faced with some pretty new challenges that had never really been dealt with before. I will not venture to say what he did right or wrong (I'm no expert anyway, esp. on foreign policy), but I do know that I believe he has led with integrity, a respect for life, and with a desire to do what is best and safest for the country. So...that's why I found a recent article in the Wall Street Journal very refreshing and thoughtful. What made it unique, too, was that it was written by a Democrat, and a former member of the John Kerry campaign at that. I respect this man and his words about the Bush presidency. Here's a few snippets of it, and you can read the whole article at the link provided; when you're done, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Earlier this year, 12,000 people in San Francisco signed a petition in support of a proposition on a local ballot to rename an Oceanside sewage plant after George W. Bush. The proposition is only one example of the classless disrespect many Americans have shown the president. ...

... It seems that no matter what Mr. Bush does, he is blamed for everything. ...

... Yet it should seem obvious that many of our country's current problems either existed long before Mr. Bush ever came to office, or are beyond his control. Perhaps if Americans stopped being so divisive, and congressional leaders came together to work with the president on some of these problems, he would actually have had a fighting chance of solving them. ...

... The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time. ... Read it all here.

(Source: WSJ, 11/5/08, "The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace," by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro.)

The Big Day

Well, tomorrow is the big, long-awaited day: Election Day '08. As you have probably seen from the logo on our blog, we are McCain/Palin fans (anyone who knows us isn't in the least surprised, I'm sure!). Above is a picture of McCain when he came to Furman (where I went to college) in spring of 2000 for a rally during the presidential primaries that year. As you recall, he and Bush were two of the main contenders that year. (Bush came, I believe, the same week that McCain came for a rally--it was pretty cool, and I have pictures and autographs of both of them on campaign signs!) Anyway, so I thought I would post this picture since now, again, McCain has the chance to win the presidency. (In 2000, Ben and I were both actually Bush fans, but now that Bush isn't exactly an option, McCain has our vote!) We know many polls and media folks are saying that McCain is behind, but we also know how lopsided and biased they are, so we both feel like this race will be tight--and that it will have a very serious impact on the direction of America. We will see what the big day holds, but in the meantime, we urge everyone to be praying for voters tomorrow to have discernment and wisdom when they vote. And let us all remember that the Lord is in control; His purposes will stand and cannot be thwarted. To Him, the nations are but a "drop in the bucket," according to Isaiah. Thank goodness we have a God who is in control of, literally, everything!