Favorite things...

  So, where was I while Mike and Elizabeth were out in the snow?    I was spending most of my time here:    ...in my favorite chair.  One of the nice things about getting snowed-in is that it gives me a good excuse to spend a lot of time next to this:  

making things like this:

I love sewing and crafting.  But I don't have as much time for it as I would like.  So, being stuck at home for a weekend created the perfect opportunity to situate myself in my favorite chair next to the fire with a needle in hand and explore embroidery.  Actually, besides 7th grade Home Ec. class, this is the first time I have ever hand embroidered anything.  This is a sweatshirt that was inspired from a quilt patch that I saw on Etsy.  While I was there, I got lots more ideas...and I think I'll be spending a lot more time in my favorite chair this winter with needle in hand.  :-)

But I won't be there tonight...because I have a hot DATE!  You might hear more about that later....

 

bLiZzArD!!!

 We were snowed-in for most of last weekend by a bLiZzArD! It's not all that often that we get a real, old-fashioned blizzard in Oronoco.  But this one was for real.  We got 20 or so inches of snow which turned into 4 foot drifts when the winds picked up on Saturday evening.  For the most part, I enjoy being snowed in.  There's something especially comforting about sitting next to a warm fireplace in my favorite chair when the wind is blasting snow against the windows.  Then again, the 7 miles to Rochester is never longer than when the snow plows are pulled off of the roads!  At one point on Saturday evening, Elizabeth tied her ankles together and was going to attempt to hop down the stairs (brilliant idea, don't you think?).  I told her to save that idea for later because there was no way to get to urgent care that night for stitches! Needless to say, Mike spent a lot of time over the weekend with this old friend:  

In the 10 years that we have lived in our house, Mike has stubbornly insisted that he will clear our driveway with a shovel--and NOT a snowblower.  Besides 2 occasions where a neighbor has taken pity on him and cleared out the end of our driveway for us, I believe Mike has kept his resolve.  Until...the...blizzard of December 2010.  Mike got the bright idea that he would clear the driveway on Saturday ahead of the winds--thinking that maybe it would reduce the amount of shoveling he would have to do on Sunday.  Well...okay, maybe not.  On Sunday morning, the driveway was completely drifted.  It took him 45 minutes just to clear the mountain of snow where the plow went by.  Defeated, there was a knock at the door...wondering if I could call my dad and have him deliver a snowblower.  Thankfully, Dad lives right down the street and loves to help, and he is always willing to borrow us equipment.  He has been sitting by the phone wishing Mike would borrow a snowblower for 10 years!  He was thrilled to bring it up...and a 3 hour job turned into 15 minutes.  And Mike was a very happy boy. 

So...we shall see if his relationship with a shovel lasts another 10 years??

This year's heavy snowfall has given a head start to another Amundson family tradition:

The Snowhill

Our yard doesn't have any large hills, so it needs a little help from Daddy's friend the shovel.  Every year, Mike creates a large mound of snow in the front yard for sledding.

Here, Daddy and Beth are breaking in the hill.  It always takes awhile for the snow to pack down and get slick enough for a fast ride.  Last year's conditions were amazing!  We had freezing rain which made the hill so slick that Beth flew all the way from our yard, about 75 feet to the outlot space, and another 150 feet or more all the way to the west ditch.  She had to bail out before she went up in the street!  Each year is different, but this year has given us lots of snow so there should be good sledding ahead.  :-) 

Here's Daddy and his girl dominating the snowhill.  It's a nice picture, isn't it?  But you know what's gonna happen, don't you? 

He's thinkin' it...

Yep.  Splat.  She was not impressed.  ;-) Daddy explained that it was important to pack the snow so that the hill would be sturdy and slick for sledding.  So, Beth Marie got to work packing snow...  

Blizzards are fun.  :-)

 
 

Choose.

Over the last several months, I've often found myself pondering the concept of "choice".  Since we know that God is Sovereign, and He knows the end from the beginning...since we know that from Him and through Him and to Him are ALL things...what is His purpose for allowing us to choose?  Because, while God is fully able--in His sovereignty--to intercede in a situation and cause His perfect will to be done, there are critical times in our lives where He calls us to choose.  He promises us wisdom if we ask Him (James 1:5).  He promises that His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).  He promises that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  He promises that He is faithful, and will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13).  He has granted us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)... Yet, it pleases Him to allow us to choose.

Last night, I decided to do a little study on the word "choose" in Scripture.  So...I'm reading through all of the results in Bible Gateway and they overwhelmingly refer to God's choosing, "...the man whom the Lord chooses..."  "...the place which the Lord chooses..."  over and over... So, I'm reading along, and then the words begin to jump off of the screen.  God is bringing His people to a crossroads in Deuteronomy 30.  The Father was calling His people, Israel, to repentance, and laying out the choice that was before them, and the blessings or consequences which were to follow as a result: 

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.  See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

Then, just a couple of passages later, the words jump out once again to this familiar passage that Christians so often display on their walls:

"Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)

Most often, you see the latter half of that verse plastered on front doors and living room walls.  It's become almost cliche, and I can't help but wonder how many people who dwell in the shadow of that verse really mean it.  To be different, I painted the first half of the verse on a board and mounted it in our living room, "Choose this day whom you will serve".  It serves, not as a proclamation to the world that we serve the Lord (although that is our desire), but as a reminder to ourselves to consider each and every day where our devotion lies. 

I love how, when our hearts are tender and teachable, God leads us to Scriptures that reinforce His truth to us...that touch our hearts right where we're at.  I love how God's word is living, and while these verses were written to the nation of Israel thousands of years ago, they are still profitable for our learning today.  Our lives aren't so very different today.  While we think that we are "unique" or our circumstances are "special", in reality, God still calls us to simple obedience.  What He calls us to do is not too difficult for us.  He still sets before us choices, each day...in the little things and in the big things.  We can walk in obedience to Him and live in His grace, strength, and blessing.  Or else, we can turn our backs on His grace and live out the consequences in our lives, and even the lives of our children.  We would like to think there is some sort of a middle ground, but there's really not.  His desire for His people hasn't changed--He wants us to love Him, to listen to His voice, and to hold fast to Him.  

After all, He is our life.  

He is our everything. 

Our time on earth is short.  The choices we make today count for eternity. 

Let's choose Him.

9 year pictures...

Not much is new around the Amundson house.  We're all hanging out at home waiting for our miserable bug to go away.  So, I thought I'd post Beth Marie's 9 year pictures to the blog.  Thankfully, we were able to take them before the chicken pox arrived, or else they might not be done yet!

 Sweet little dreamer...  This one turned out to be my favorite.  This was one of the ones that we took when we were just playing around on the way back to the van.  Doesn't it seem like the best ones are always unplanned? 

This I know...

Basketball!!

There's a little person in our house who's pretty excited...  She gets to start basketball in January!  I'm sure there will be lots more pictures to come.  Go Beth Marie!

Been spending a lot of time...

Here.  This is not exactly how I hoped to kick off the holiday season with my family.   Unfortunately, I came out of Thanksgiving weekend with a nasty bug. A very...nasty...bug. But the Lord is so faithful, and while this is one of the worst bugs I've had in years, I am counting my blessings.   First, I am so thankful for my sweet family who have taken special care of Momma.  I would have understood if they would have gone about their lives and left me in my own little corner.  After all, I'm not pleasant company.  But they have gone out of their way to show love and kindness to me, and that alone has made this bug almost worth it.  :-)  I am so grateful for my family. I'm also thankful for my sweet little companion, Gretchen.  Did you notice her pictured above, faithfully cuddled around Mommy's head?  There's no place in the world she'd rather be, and her devotion is a comfort to me. Finally, I must sheepishly admit that one of the things I am  most thankful for is that this, too, shall pass.  On my third night in a row without sleep, I spent a lot of time thinking...and praying...  My prayers started something like this, "God!  Take the pain away...pleeeeeease!"  Then, I revised my prayer to, "God, I am so weak.  Please give me strength, and rest to recover."  Both prayers were essentially the same.  I was praying for recovery.  In my sleep deprived state, I found myself thinking, "Wow, when I get better, I will be SO thankful to swallow without pain..."  I caught myself saying that and thought, "Would I also be thankful if the pain never went away?"  Hmm.  That's a hard question to ask yourself in the midst of pain, isn't it? I thought a lot about my Mom who has suffered for the last 8 years or so with severe rheumatoid arthritis.  She lives in near constant pain...the kind of pain that will never pass.  She doesn't complain.  I have never seen anyone suffer as graciously as my Mom.   I thought I'd call her the next day and tell her I was thinking about her and praying for her.  So, with what little voice I could muster, I dialed her up and told her how much I admire her strength.  Her response: "Well, your day will come."  (Ha!  Mom doesn't express much sentiment.)  Well, when my day comes, I pray that I will be half as faithful as she has been.  I have a long way to go...