Christmastime Is Here

I've been collecting photos and thoughts for a Christmas blog post for a week or so. Rob is at band practice and Liam is finally sleeping for the night (I hope!) and I'm ready to share.

I've been reading through Isaiah in preparation for the Christmas season. Every time I read the parts of Isaiah that predict Jesus' birth and proclaim him by so many wonderful names I am reminded anew of how awesome is our God. How awesome he is to send his only son as a baby, a helpless, weak infant to a mother who was just a child herself and to a father who was a righteous man, but desperately poor and uneducated.

Emmanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace.

Christmas has taken on new meaning for me now that I have my own son. True, it is much harder to get things done (I'm not even close to finished putting gifts together and forget baking cookies), but holding him in my arms I think of Mary, holding Jesus. I think of Jesus as a baby - did he fuss and spit up and coo to his mother and father? He was completely God and completely a helpless baby at the same time so I think he must have. It is so humbling to think that the Savior of the world came in such a miserable, meager way. So often we think we must come to Him with gifts to give and flashy trinkets like a Target ad. But no, he wants us to come to him in the humbleness of a child, an infant, helpless and weak, desperate for Him. We can bring nothing and yet He gives us all of him freely.

This Christmas feels different to me. I am tired. I am distracted and disorganized, a place I do not like to be. I feel behind on everything. I miss my husband and often the life we had before Liam. I feel guilty at times for thinking of our old life when I have this beautiful baby I love so dearly. I am stressed about traveling with him (to both Ohio and Pennsylvania!) even though I know we will have much help along the way. It's just harder to travel with a baby.

And then I think of Mary, traveling on a donkey, escaping with Joseph and Jesus to Egypt, knowing the king behind them wanted to kill her son. I think of Mary, humbly submitting to God's plan for her. She didn't seek excellence through the things she did with her life; she worked hard to love her child and husband and God.

Thinking of Mary makes me thankful this Christmas season. I'm thankful for the Lord's plan in my own life. I'm thankful that he gave me a righteous man who is both strong and tender as a husband. I am thankful I have a beautiful, healthy baby boy who was given to me to raise and is a gift to our family. I'm thankful for a Savior who came as a baby, not as a king, to save me and love me in spite of myself.

I pray you will recognize this Christmas what you have in your life to be thankful for.

And on a less serious note, here are some photos from Christmastime at the Bedinghaus home!

Going to get our Christmas tree. It was very uneventful as we didn't get to cut one down this year. Liam slept through the whole process in his bear coat.

Before decorating...

After decorating!

Rob drinking our new favorite holiday drink, hot buttered rum. Delicious!

Daddy and Liam

Nothing as sweet as a sleeping baby under the Christmas tree

So I decided to make this cake for our friends Conor and Kerri. Every Sunday we watch Amazing Race with them and this past week was the season finale. This was definitely a season finale cake! This is a Peppermint Fudge Torte from the Taste of Home magazine. Most definitely the biggest cake I've ever made! We had to take photos because it was so big. It was really, really good too.

If I don't post again before Christmas I hope yours is wonderful! Thanks for reading my blog and being my friend. :) Merry Christmas!