I didn’t really know what kind of tree I wanted this year. I had lights but nothing to put them on. Usually real trees are messy, and I’m allergic to them. I didn’t want to spend $75-100 on a pre-lit but fake-looking tree because I really want a real-looking tree, but I don’t have money to spend on that.

In the end, I took my inspiration from an old friend. Mine does kinda look better, but it’s the idea. I saw it at my parents’, so it’s a live tree and I cut it myself! It’s cute, sorta funny, and hopefully people get it! I just hope I can keep it alive long enough to last until I get to Florida.

-j

I’ve been so excited about Christmas since I started decorating the house yesterday. When my mom gives my camera back, I’ll take some pictures.

Today I saw a commercial that had a guy eating a sugar cookie. Suddenly I decided I wanted to make some of the cookies my grandma makes at Christmas. I don’t know if I can possibly do as many as she made (300 dozen?) every year, but I’ll make a few dozen of a few different kinds. It’s going to be fun, and it’s going to start next week.

By the way, even though cookies still taste pretty good, it’s not the same at all without an egg. Trust me.

-j

Today starts the “Holiday Season”. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be listening to all Christmas music, all day. Time to get in the spirit!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

-j

I just love the way new socks feel. They make my feet feel like they’re wrapped in soft cotton (imagine that), and they are very warm and toasty.

-j

God has brought me to a place of worship lately. I can’t really explain it, it just…is. I think I’m realizing His goodness more and more by just appreciating life. He has given me more than I know, and I’m only just beginning to really walk with Him. He’s taken me places on earth where I’ve seen how good we really have it in the states. He’s allowed me to meet people who have shown me that simply being considered one of God’s children is a blessing beyond compare. This song, by Jeremy Camp, has been speaking to me in that regard. A little background info would tell you that he was married for about 4 months before the Lord took his wife Home. He went through a period of anger and frustration, but God brought him out of it and gave him a lot of really great songs. This is one of them.

“Beyond Measure”
-Jeremy Camp

The fog has finally cleared to see,
The beautiful life You’ve given me
To feel the breeze of my newborn’s gentle breath
With one to walk hand in hand,
To share this life that You have planned
It’s like a storybook with dreams
That are meant to see every next step is an extraordinary scene

I know that I’ve been,
Given more than beyond measure,
I come alive when,
I see beyond my fears
I know that I’ve been given more than earthly treasure,
I come alive when
I’ve broken down and given You control

I’ve faced a great tragedy,
But have seen the works of what You bring
A display of faith that You give,
I don’t know if I will ever understand
The depth of what it is You’ve done inside,
But I know that I will won’t find any worth apart from You

Everything that I have
Has been given so unselfishly
And shown that even when I don’t deserve
You always show the fullness of Your love

I check woot.com every day. Woot is a website that has one product for sale every day (with one exception, the WootOff) at generally really good prices. Now, the products themselves aren’t always that good, but sometimes they are (I got a really decent set of speakers for my bedroom for $35).

I found this link by accident today. I think I will be checking it on the regular. It could make for some pretty fun presents.

FYI, wine.woot.com also exists, although I’ve never bought anything from it.

-j

I am amazed at how God is so faithful in the midst of my own anxiety. I mean, I’ve always had a head knowledge that God is faithful, but my heart is finally beginning to understand. We always pray for a “peace” about situations as a way to know whether or not we are in God’s will. While peace is a good thing, and God grants it to us, and it *can* be a way to know whether or not your decision was a good one, God doesn’t always use peace to show us we’re doing things the right way. Two accounts that have been inspiring me so much lately are about Abraham and Peter.

Abraham lived for a long time without a son. Finally God promised Abraham a son, who he later named Isaac. When Isaac was still young, God called Abraham to sacrifice the promised son. You can’t say or do anything to convince me that Abraham had a peace about that. Nevertheless, he knew that God would not ultimately kill Isaac and kept walking up that hill, even to the point of raising the knife to his son’s chest.

Peter didn’t have to kill anyone, but he had to do something that was also kind of crazy and absolutely impossible. Jesus had sent the disciples ahead of him in the boat and promised to catch up later. During a really bad storm, they saw Jesus walking on the water. Not too hard a task for the Son of God, right? Then Peter, in his all-too-impulsive ways, cried out to Christ, “If it’s really you, call me to yourself!” So Jesus did, and Peter stepped out of the boat. In the middle of a raging storm, this mere human began to walk on the surface of the water. We can see that Peter didn’t have a “peace” about it because when he realized the storm he was in, he began to sink. Why? Because he took his eyes off of Christ, the one who was calling him and leading him.

So you can see that there’s a precedence already set for real, Godly leading without a peace to back it up. In cases like this, I like to call it more of a “confidence” in God’s leading. I may not have a peace, but I have a confidence. Enough confidence to say “God, I don’t know where you’re going with this, and I don’t know what might happen, but I know you’ve called and I’m willing to follow.” I think that’s where faith gets exciting. Even a peace can make faith seem kind of easy. But when the storm’s a-ragin’, it’s a lot harder to not be frightened like Peter. I only pray I can be as confident as Abraham when he told Isaac, who asked where the sacrificial ram was, “The Lord will provide the lamb.” And even if I get a little scared, like Peter, I know that Christ is right there to grab my hand and pull me up to Him. Because after all, once I’m back in the boat, the storm will be over.

-j

A few of us went up to a cabin on the Chesapeake Bay this past weekend for some crabbing. The short version of the story is that it can only get better.

Nick bought some new crabbing gear and we wanted to try them out. We saw no sense in getting up before the sun, so we woke up when we woke up, around 8am. It was really windy on the pier, very chilly anyway, and overcast so the sun wasn’t even out. It was trying to pop up, but it was having a very hard time. We tied some chicken to each pot and dropped them into the bay. After about 30 mins, we were so cold we decided to check them before going inside. Nothing. We couldn’t even see that any crabs had tried to eat some chicken. Slightly dejected but still possibly optimistic, we dropped the pots back into the water, tied them off, and went back to the cabin. Cathy was on her way with some bagels, and we didn’t want to miss the chance to eat them.

The six of us were taking a trip into The District before lunch, so before we left, we made one more trip back to the pier to see if any new developments had unraveled while we ate. Alas, the chicken were still attached to the baskets with no crabs nibbling. We pulled them up, tossed off the chicken, and went to DC. Maybe next year we’ll go earlier in the season.

We’ll also buy some crabs before we go up just in case we don’t catch any. At least, like I said, it can only get better.

-j