You might remember Benjamin had a haircut this summer when we were blessed with lice. Since then his hair grew out to such a nice baby length I had a hard time wanting to get it cut. But, I finally conceded and a few weeks ago we went to get it cut "professionally". I'm not sure if you can tell, but he wasn't too happy about it all.
We decided to bring in the new year together this year (its a little late to post, but oh well). We have never really had any real new years traditions, but I love traditions so we came up with a few. Our new years was 8:00 and so I set the timer on the stove an hour before eight. We played games, looked at our 2008 photo album and rejoiced in the fun things God had allowed us to do as a family this year. We also went around the room and said one thing we wanted to do in 2008. Nathan said to obey his parents more (I liked that), Noah said to play football, Madison said to do ballet again, Mama Linda was here and said she wanted a job, Mitch said he wanted to learn more about the gospel and I said I wanted to be more organized. Then as the timer ticked the kids got more and more excited as time ran out. When the buzzer beeped we blew horns, toasted each other with sparkling grape juice and just kinda went crazy for a few minutes. We laughed a lot and had so much fun, I'm looking forward to putting more thought into it next year.
We celebrated Nathan's birthday last Saturday with a football birthday party. He and three of his friends had a mock post season of football. They chose different teams and played them on our X-Box. His friend Josh won the Super Bowl as the Steelers. Nathan and the other boys were very gracious when they lost and had a great time cheering each other on. It was really a fun day.
Nathan turned eight years old yesterday. Here are his poem and video (the video thumbnail is weird because of Vimeo).
Nathan
Eight years have gone by, each one filled with joy. Eight years since we’ve been given the most wonderful boy. Now eight years later we could never have dreamt How eight years ago the Lord would have sent Such a gift of pure mercy— to those undeserving as we Such a gift of pure joy for our weary eyes to see.
Passionate, thoughtful, caring and eager. Loving. Learning—an insatiable reader.
Lord, please capture his passion, his heart, and his zeal, Grant him to discover the hidden treasure in Your field. Open his eyes to the great truth You’ve concealed; and fill him with joy when You make his heart yield. Yes, give him the desire to buy that field; To sell all that he has to obtain what is real. Capture his heart; guard it with Your Holy Seal. And give him the strength to every day kill sinful flesh which threatens to subdue his will to cherish the treasure he found in the field.
This past Christmas was more Christ-centered than many previous ones. December is an especially busy month for most, so it is easy to relax our grip upon the cross. This December we made a concerted effort to keep that from happening. The end result was that our view of the Gospel became even more clear, conversations were richer, and fellowship was more meaningful. Here's a list of seven things that we did. 7. MAINTAIN A STEADY DIET OF THE PURITANS. I (Mitch) resolved to read through a daily devotional of the Puritans for 31 days. Though the readings weren't specifically about Christmas, they were God-centered and Christ-exalting. On more than one occasion God used the Puritans to lift my gaze away from myself and toward Christ.
6. WEEKLY ADVENT. Each Sunday we lit another candle on our Advent wreath and worked our way through a little Advent book. We've recently found a terrific book entitled "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus," which we're excited about using next year (You can browse this book online).
5. SOVEREIGN GRACE CD. We loved this new CD from Sovereign Grace. The content and music is incredible. It really kept us focused upon Christ. Check out this link (to the left) and listen to some of the songs on the CD. It was a great investment of $8.
4. CLARIFYING THE GOSPEL. Explaining the Gospel to children is one of the best exercises to clarify it in your own mind. We continue to study the gospel, teach it to our kids, and talk about it to one another. This has proven to be extremely beneficial in applying it to our lives.
3. FAMILY WORSHIP ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. After eating breakfast and unwrapping the presents we worshipped Christ the King. We used a worship guide that we found online and modified it for family worship. (It should be posted on our church's website soon.)
2. DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS. Another new thing we incorporated into our family was a countdown to Christmas Day. By modifying a calendar that Kim found at a Dollar store, we were able to turn each morning into a time of family worship. We cut out little cards to stick in each daily slot. On the cards were written a hymn number and a Scripture passage. The kids took turns pulling out the card for each morning and finding the hymn. They really loved this.
1. THINKING THROUGH THE DEEP TRUTHS OF THE INCARNATION. This proved to be the most beneficial. I (Mitch) began to dig deeply into the greatest miracle of all--God becoming man. It was such a joy to search the Scriptures and various theologies in order to understand why and how God could become man. Most specifically, Packer and Grudem (right) served me well. Grudem also has a very condensed version of his Systematic Theology called Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know(take a look at the table of contents and first chapter). I whole-heartedly encourage everyone to pick it up and give it a try. It will be well worth your time--and your family's. As my mind and soul were refreshed, I was able to pass truth along to my family.
2. DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS. Another new thing we incorporated into our family was a countdown to Christmas Day. By modifying a calendar that Kim found at a Dollar store, we were able to turn each morning into a time of family worship. We cut out little cards to stick in each daily slot. On the cards were written a hymn number and a Scripture passage. The kids took turns pulling out the card for each morning and finding the hymn. They really loved this. 
o be the most beneficial. I (Mitch) began to dig deeply into the greatest miracle of all--God becoming man. It was such a joy to search the Scriptures and various theologies in order to understand why and how God could become man. Most specifically, Packer and Grudem (right) served me well. Grudem also has a very condensed version of his Systematic Theology called Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know (take a look at the table of contents and first chapter). I whole-heartedly encourage everyone to pick it up and give it a try. It will be well worth your time--and your family's. As my mind and soul were refreshed, I was able to pass truth along to my family.
