SHINE. make 'em wonder what you got.*

The first picture encapsulates our Christmas so well: a joyous blur.  We have hosted family, which was totally delightful.  The weather cooperated so that we could spend some time being tourists in the city, but the crowds didn't!  We were unable to see the sites on my mother-in-law's bucket list--for her next visit we'll be better prepared.  We did see some historical places, which were very meaningful.  G dressed in his colonial costume for the trip.  We sampled some authentic local cuisine, too!  In fact, this Christmas break has been low-key relaxing, punctuated by delicious meals.  My dream break.  Our guests leave tomorrow morning, which is always a sad thing.  I have a couple of projects to work on during our last school-free days, in addition to prepping school work, and I've been promising the boys that I'll get out the four giant Lego bins that I hid this summer.  What was I thinking???

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Toward the end of 2019, my daily Bible and Church Father readings all seemed to have a theme, which helped me to pick a word, Bible verse, and motto for the coming year.  The word is SHINE.    Matthew 5:16 is my Bible verse: "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  And my motto comes from 1 Timothy: Adorn yourself with good works (as opposed to the vain, material adornments that are so tempting for me).  I'm excited to (prayerfully) see where this focus leads.  The New Year always finds me totally aimless in my goals, and I've never had an intention be so undeniable or unignorable(that's totally a word, I promise)! I hope that bodes well.

I have an extensive list of books to read this year.  There are five(!) more arriving soon, and then I'm not allowing myself to order any more books for a while.  In addition to the ones pictured, I am most excited to read The Death of Christian Culture and The Restoration of Christian Culture.  Large Family Logistics is going to be my devotional this month, as ponder what the course of our family will be over the next decade.  I have SO many knitting, hand-sewing, and sewing projects on my list, too.  I've got three in the works that need to be finished before I can cast on anything new.  (That bobble bonnet, for my nephew's upcoming birthday, is the last finished project of 2019. )

I hope your year will bring health, joy, and peace!  May it be blessed.  xoxo

*This is from my teenage days--did anyone out there ever listen to the Christian band Newsboys?  Apparently they're still putting out albums!