This Christmas

Washington is beautiful! My family is beautiful! I just wanted to share a little bit about my trip, funny family things that have happened, and what I have been learning.
1. We have seen snow! But, we had to drive about 25 minutes up into the mountains. The weather reports have been promising snow for days now and all we have seen is ice. Ice is slippery and often fun, but not snow. When it says it will rain, it rains. We are still glued to the window in anticipation. Maybe tonight is the night!

2. Sisters are wonderful. They can also be a curse : ). I am joking about that last part. I don't want to get too emotional but I will say this...I am so proud of them. I had to accept that they might not be exactly who I wish they were or think it would be best for them to be. But they are who the Lord desires for them to be and I trust Him. They have made the best of a new town and are becoming Godly and wise (well wiser ha ha) young women.

3. I will never forget this Christmas Eve. We went to the service at my parent's wonderful church and the pastor reflected on the Lord's beauty and what a gift it is that we can see it. I came to a very important conclusion: His beauty is ALIVE! The Lord's beauty is like the many faces of a diamond. He turns and moves and His light reflects and shines a new facet of His glory. I am contunially learning new things about Him and His ever present beauty.

4. Christmas morning was a blast. Allison has mentioned nothing for the last few days but the IPod Nano that she wants. Really, if my parents hadn't bought it for her I would have done it myself...just to shut her up. But we did get her one and decided to wrap it in about 6 boxes. It was so fun watching her got more and more irritated as she opened it. My Dad (always trying to be funny) said that he has something much worse than wrapping it multiple times.
"Like what?" Allison asked.
"I will tell you in a minute." He said.
"That means he will tell you when he thinks of something." Abigail piped in.
Classic Thomson moment. Dad trying to be funny and getting called on his bluffs. We then sat down to eat our traditional Christmas breakfast: cinnamon rolls and "little smokies"...delightful.

Cheers and Hisses

Theatre during the middle of the 20th century was not complete without a man holding the cue cards. The audience was instructed when to laugh, boo, and make all sorts of reactive noises. When the villain would enter, the crowd needed no cue. They would erupt with cries of displeasure.

I had a similar experience in my first grade classroom the other day. We have been reading the original story Pinnochio for a few months now at the last 10 minutes of every day. It is much more extensive than the Disney version and Pinnochio's inner struggle to choose right or wrong actions is painted much more colorfully. He is continually in situations where he has the ability to do good, be responsible, and follow through on the word he has given. Yet, he almost always does the opposite of what he should.

We came to a point in the story where he has been on a right and proper path for quite some time. He is behaving, going to school and studying hard, obeying his father, and making good decisions. The Blue Fairy has finally promised that if he can behave for five more days...he can become a "real" boy! Pinocchio is elated and promises to not dissapoint. The inevitable has an ugly face that hides in crevices that are much shallower than we wish they were. Along comes a caravan of wild boys and dancing stage coaches. One of the masters asks him to come along to Fantasy Island where dreams com true and life is easy and good. Pinnochio's struggle is illustrated for a few paragraphs until he finally gives in and joins the parade.

The reacion of my first grade students when we reached this pivitol moment in the book was priceless. The room was filled with "nooo!s" and "awe man!s" and sad faces. They were so disgusted and let down by his decision. It was suprisingly moving and as tears welled up in my eyes (I was not sure why this was so emotional for me) I started to think....

Deuteronomy 7:26 "Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction."

I love the wording in that verse, "utterly abhor and detest it". We are called to turn from evil and do good (Psalm 34:14, 37:27). To be able to distinguish between good and evil is a sign of maturity and being brough up in the "meat" of he Word of God. The six and seven year olds that I work with daily see things through beauiful eyes. Children have the amazing ability to see simple things that adults complicate. Love what is good and hate what is evil. Cheer for the heros and boo at the villains. They longed for Pinnochio to just do what was right.

I desire cheers, excitement, and joy to overflow from my heart at the things that are good and to passionately hate and be disgusted with evil.

1 Corinthians 13:6 "LOVE does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth."

As Ayden, one of my precious students, prayed...may we "love the Lord with all that we do." May we love Him with all that we desire and all that we detest.