that five letter word

There are two little ones playing this game at my feet. There's a brother wrapped up in a blanket listening intently to his father reading while looking out the window wishing, hoping for snow.
There's that one sibling who's supposed to be listening quietly but in reality is trying to ruin the little ones' game.
Seriously, in the few moments it took me to write that paragraph, our peaceful evening has been disrupted.

Peace. that five letter word that everyone longs for. This word is all through our house in the Christmas season. It's on ornaments. And Christmas cards. It's in songs.

Because truly, Christmas is not peaceful. There are enormously long lines at walmart. There are crazy sales and more parties than you can count.

Now that Christmas is over and done, I'm sick and tired of crazy. This 2014, I'm yearning for peace.

 

So, as we inch towards this new year, I'm going to inch towards peace. This five letter word may change my life.

Don't be afraid.. Choose Joy

Our Church's theme for Christmas this year is joy.
Instead of fear, choose joy.
Fear of the economy, sickness, broken relationships.
Joy in Christ's provision, healing, blessed friendships.

There's a common theme in the Christmas story- a theme of don't be afraid.
Mary, when the angel comes to her? Don't be afraid.
The shepherds, when the angels came? Don't be afraid.
Jesus, when he has to come to take our sin? I can imagine his father speaking~ don't be afraid.

I love to write a Christmas song every year- here's my meager attempt to convey my feelings...

Do not be afraid, do not be anxious/ For the babe you'll bear will be the savior of the world/
And though you will be scorned, always come back to me/ Though you're just a girl, you are so precious to me/

Do not be afraid, I come bringing good news/ For you've been chosen to tell the world that the savior is born/
And though some won't believe you, always come back to me/ Though you're just shepherds, you are so precious to me/

Do not be afraid, my son, I will miss you/ For you must go and tell the world of my amazing grace/ And though you will be so abused, always come back to me/ Though you'll become the least of them, you are so precious to me/

Do not be afraid, my child, you are chosen/ For you must tell of my love, you must tell that the savior is born/ And though you will be turned away, always come back to me/ Though you're just one, you are so precious to me/

That last verse? That's for you. You've been chosen to proclaim of His Love.

Do not be afraid, for perfect love casts out all fear/ Do not be afraid, proclaim of my love from the highest of heights/

And I'll hold you're hand through the darkest night/ When fear blinds you I'll be you're light/
I'll carry you down the longest road/ When fear steals joy I'll be you're hope/

Here are a few of my all time favorites...

Thanksgiving... and Duck Dynasty

Okay. First of all, I realize that it's been a while since I posted. Everyone in our fam has asthma, and that has put us under the weather for the last couple weeks. Also, life has just been a bit of a hurricane.
Now that we have my meager excuses out of the way, let's get to the real stuff.
Well... we are planning a Thanksgiving week for roughly thirty people, so my mama and I have been putting together a menu. Yeah, one day isn't enough Thanksgiving for us, so we'll be celebrating for a week.
The "theme" for Thanksgiving is Duck Dynasty- you know, big beards, camo, red necks? Haha. All the uncles who are coming for Thanksgiving are the clean shaven, button down type of guys, but we want to give them a taste of our world. Just a few days ago, my mama with the help of the boys field dressed a deer for our meat supply for the winter. Just to let you know, my mom rocks.

Sooo... here are some links to recipes that sound great and we are using for Thanksgiving week-
~UHHmazing apple sheet cake- we had a bountiful crop of apples this year, so we'll be makin' this one for sure!
~Venison Shepherd's Pie-  even though my mama makes awesome Asian food, my dad admits that shepherd's pie is his all time favorite.
~Perfect Pizza dough- do you know how much it would cost to order pizza for 30 hungry people? A lot. This will give you crunchy, moist, awesome, pizza crust.
~Bacon Cheese Potatoes- my brother and friends have a middle school boys "bacon night" and we made this for them to bring. Easy? yes. Delicious? absolutely!
~Sweet Potato Pie- yum. just yum.

As Jace of Duck Dynasty says: "never under estimate the power of miss Kay's sweet potato pie."

Speaking of Duck Dynasty, have you seen this trailer? I think this movie is going to totally rock the house. Any thoughts?

 

and of course. the joy dare. today I'm so very thankful for...

~cupcakes

~campfires



~libraries
~schoology
~radios
~metronomes
oh so much more!!!

Blessings,
Sophia

You know you've got brothers when..

Today I'm really thankful for my brothers. Yeah. I just have to keep telling myself that.

You know you've got brothers when...

~The formal room has weathered remote control car races
~Family night consists of eating cookies and watching the minion's banana song. Watch it and you'll know what part always erupts a burst of laughter. (hint- think like little boys... always solving things with violence)

 

 

~Playing Settlers of Catan can start as friendly sibling rivalry... and end with World War III
~The house magically does. not. stay. clean. Seriously. One minute you've got clean floors, the next, mud. everywhere.
~The cup song has been played on every surface of your home. the toilet. the couch. the fireplace...
~It sometimes seems like you're car schooled, not homeschooled. Appointments, classes, scouts, and everything in between.
~You get excited when you see lego & starwars stuff on pinterest. I'm so crazy that I'm attempting to cross-stitch Han Solo.

~Trying to do a photo shoot is like trying to swim up the Niagara Falls.
~Lord of the Rings are carefully added into every conversation.
~Everywhere you turn, there's a nerf dart.
~You laugh constantly. Okay, maybe not aloud, but certainly in your head. Seriously, wouldn't you be laughing too if your brother told you that math is clearly overrated and we should just eat pie?
~You understand that God most definitely has a sense of humor.

Modesty- plain and simple.

Modesty has been mind so much lately.
I'm not really sure why, but every morning when I'm trying to get dressed the question of modesty keeps coming up in my mind.

Okay, so I'm going to try to share a little bit of my heart on this matter.

~Modesty is not dressing to attract or draw attention. That's an easy one. Modesty is humility. Taking the focus off you and onto something else, like your faith, your spirit, Jesus.

~Okay, so if modesty is not dressing to draw attention, it means not showing off all you got, but also not dressing frumpy and dirty and yucky.

~Modesty is not always the prettiest, the trendiest, the hottest. Yes, there is tons of fabulous modest clothing, but you sometimes have to make the choice between darling or decent.

~Modesty is dressing in a way pleasing to God. Ask yourself "if I was standing in Jesus' presence right now, would I be comfortable with what I have on?"

Those are just some general ideas of modesty that I have, but you are going to have to form your own view on certain things. Here are a few practical tips on modesty that I try to follow...

~Try to follow the below the knee rule. For skirts and dresses, they should cover your knees. This will ensure that you can bend over and sit down without showing anything.

~Shorts- the fingertip rule plus a few extra inches. When you stand up with your hands at your sides, your fingertips should be touching fabric, not skin. a few inches longer than that always helps.

~With your four fingers placed straight at the base of your neck, your pinky should be touching fabric, not skin.

Since I was around 12, I've felt convicted to wear mainly skirts and dresses. I'm not saying this is for everyone, but I feel much more feminine and modest in them. True, if I'm camping with AHG and it's 40 degrees, I will wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt, but skirts are the way I like to go

So I hope my random thoughts have helped you, or at least not hindered you.
blessings,
Sophia

oh yeah! I almost forgot! Remember my joy dare? Here ya go!
a few things I'm thankful for...

~bananagrams
~apple orchards and corn mazes
~libraries
~tater tots
~sweater mittens
~hobby lobby

My Joy Dare

     So I've been reading Mrs.Voscamp's blog for a while.She is always encouraging me with her poetic thankfulness and her beautiful pictures.

     I've been thinking about it for a while, but I finally decided to take the Joy Dare. I going to take a breath and leap into a crazy attitude of gratitude, a crazy thankful, grateful, lifestyle. I'm going to write down a multitude of things I'm thankful for every day... normal things... funny things... God ordained things...

 

     Will you hold me accountable? Every time I write, I will try to mention some of my 1000 things I'm thankful for. If I forget, (which is not an unusual thing) will you remind me?

Okay. Here goes. A few things I am thankful for today...

~The Autumn rains that make everything smell fresh
~The little brother who snuggled with me this morning
~The tall stacks of books that are full of things just waiting to be learned
~The neighbor who dropped off muffins
~The friends you can crochet and sew and giggle with
~The young pianists who I get to hear play every week
~Amazing Grace

     My hear is full. Wanna know something? when I began this blog post,  my heart was grumbling about the dirty dishes, school undone, freezing feet, and anything else that I could think of, but now those things don't really matter that much. Because of thankfulness.

When Grapes tell of God's faithfulness

Today in our Bible Time, we were sharing stories of God's faithfulness and how He already planned our lives oh-so-intricately before we were even born.

My little brothers shared on how God helped them learn to read, how God planned their friendships, and so many other amazing examples on God's ever-faithful plan.

I thought about how God gave us have neighbors back when I was still a toddler who became missionaries right across from where my mama was born in Asia. How those neighbor's family became our business partners to this day.

Then my mama shared a story about when she was a little girl escaping a communist country.

"When we were in a refugee camp, somehow my dad found some grapes for us to eat. These grapes were the best thing I had ever tasted. Heaven on earth. I thought that I would do anything for more of these delicious grapes. I decided then and there that I would marry a grape farmer. For a six-year-old, that's a pretty awesome dream. Well, life kept moving. We emigrated to America, we had God-ordained people caring of us, and my life in the States began. I became a Christian, I went to college, then later on I met an awesome guy. We married and some ten years later moved back to my hometown- where I first lived when I came to America. My husband, who dreams of being a farmer, started an orchard and numerous gardens.... and a vineyard. Last night, when I was harvesting grapes, I thought back to when I was a little girl, tasting those heavenly grapes. God remembered my dreams, and fulfilled them beyond my imagination. Even with the little things, God amazes me with His faithfulness."

Doesn't that story just warm your heart? That God has your life planned so greatly, that He will take your childhood dreams and turn them into reality?

Psalm 37:4, 7a “Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him.”