Sunday Surprises

Yesterday, the fourth Sunday in Advent, was filled with so many joyous surprises that I almost don't know where to start. How about the beginning? :-)

Each Sunday morning begins with a phone call to Shepherd's Door, a shelter and recovery program for homeless women and their children just down the street from us. We are blessed to pick up any women who want to attend Mosaic. I call each Sunday to see how many women have signed up to come so that I can have the appropriate number of seats in the car. Lately we have just had one regular, a wonderful woman whom we are coming to know and love. Yesterday when I called, there were three women signed up! Add in the other young woman that I sometimes transport and we are talking about a nearly full mini-van headed to church. Glory to God! In addition to this, we had a phone call from close friends saying they were super excited to be headed to Mosaic for their first visit. All told, there were eight of us filling up an entire row worshiping the newborn King together. Some had never met before and some had been friends for over two decades. Didn't seem to make much difference. So much joy! I can't really explain it, but when I have brought people to church with me who would otherwise be unable to get there, my worship experience is richer and fuller. I've said it before. My heart is softer when I worship alongside women who have lives that so amazingly reflect the transforming power of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Recently homeless, drug addicted, and lost, they are now transformed to hope-filled women who can (and do) talk personally about the emotional, physical, and spiritual healing that only Jesus can bring. I could hang out with them all day!

Anyway...the fun Sunday surprises continued as we headed home after church. The boys were getting a little unruly, when I remembered/noticed the Advent gifts from Grandma and Grandpa up on the mantle. Sweet! A distraction! The boys pounced on the gifts, nearly missing the card, which became my favorite part. Grandma and Grandpa bought chickens for a family in the third world through the World Vision gift catalog in honor of the boys. In addition, amazingly clever Grandma purchased adorable little play chicks and hen and rooster. The boys adored the toys and when we explained to them about the chickens they were excited about those as well. I told Paul about how the chickens would provide eggs for a hungry family. He replied by saying, "Oh, I love scrambled eggs. They are so good." I thought for a minute I was going to have to change my dinner plan, but he was able to agree that the children who received the chickens could enjoy scrambled eggs. We didn't have to at that exact moment. Whew!

Our final surprise of the evening came after nap. It began to snow on our street. This is not a common occurrence in our area of the world. We all went into the living room to watch out our big picture window. I headed to the kitchen to make popcorn. While I was gone, Erik turned the couch around to face the window. We all must have sat watching for at least a half hour. Anyone who drove by would have seen all four of us watching out the window like it was a giant screen TV. I notice that my kids, who are almost completely deprived of television, are so willing to watch real life for long periods of time. I love it.

Once the bark dust was covered with a thin layer of white, the boys decided it was time to venture out into this strange white world. Bundled, layered and hilarious looking, they headed into the backyard for a grand total of about twelve minutes. Snowballs were made and thrown, mostly at Mommy until she came up with the inspired idea of hitting the stone wall instead. I will include pictures for your enjoyment.

On a final note, I'm SO thankful that God has slowed me down and quieted me this Christmas. In years past, we would have been running and doing yesterday. Shopping or caroling or visiting or baking...none of which are bad things. But instead, I watched probably the only snowfall of the season with my family and thanked God for sending such beauty to grace our little lives.

Watching the snow with Daddy

Out we go!

I think Paul just wanted there to be more of it. Sorry, buddy.

Luke loves the snow! Until he gets cold. :-)