Christmas Dress #2

Our sweet little girl

Grandma and PePaw came to visit for a few days before and after Christmas.  This picture was taken before church on Sunday.  "MeMa" is wearing a hat because her hair broke/burned at her last visit to the color salon (a comically common occurrence with MeMa).  

Christmas Dress #1

No House Yet

I am frustrated! In fact, I have a stack of frustrations, but I will only go into one here. We just heard back from the owners of a house we made 2 offers on. They countered more than we can afford - again. We decided to move on twice, and both times the "new" house we decided to try to buy had just sold. I was thinking God was setting us up for a story that would display His great provision. But there is no such conclusion, yet. I was reminded of Daniel 3, where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were called before the king.

"the God we serve is able to save us from it . . .O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods"

I know that we are not facing a fiery furnace, but I was getting used to God pulling through in amazing ways. But, even if He does not, I will still serve Him. And I imagine that is just the lesson for me to learn.

Tree

Norah picked out our Christmas Tree this year. We went to Cantrell Gardens, and she chose a 4 ft tree. Finley says it looks like the Angel, a gift from his Grandmother, is squatting on the tree. I am blessed to have ornaments that span my life, are gifts from friends and family, or are souvenirs from trips. Each one is a connection to a happy or hard time. After Finley and I got married, I thought I wanted a coordinated, more formal tree. That desire lasted about a year, and we don't even open those boxes anymore but for filler (which we did not need on this year's petite tree).
So we took to placing ornaments on the tree. Christmas is so much more fun with Norah!! People have said that Christmas more magical with children, I get it now. But back to the story. . . I was telling Norah about the ornaments, "these are from your first year," "this is from when Mommy was born," "this is your picture as a newborn." Her interest seemed to wane quickly. But when Nana and Dow came over, she took them to the tree and proudly told them about it, including ornament descriptions. Then she came to her newborn picture and instructed Nana and Dow to, "kiss baby Norah".

Prayer

We have a regular bedtime routine: bath, brush teeth, read 3 books, I pray, Finley prays, Norah gets a chance to pray, cuddles, milk, rocking.
When it's Norah's turn to pray, she has been quiet for a moment and then said "amen."
Last night, she said her first prayer. She closed her eyes (and I prayed that God would help her). Then she said, "God . . . Nana, Dow . . . Grampa, Vicki . . . ? . . . Amen".
I was amazed at how God answered my prayer through hers. Our hearts swelled. She is getting it!!
I wonder if God gives extra attention to the subjects of a first prayer? : )