This past week my women's Bible study met after a month off for Christmas. It was so good to be together again! A few of the group could not come and we missed them. We met this week at Carolyn's home. She is the one on the far right. During prayer time, Carolyn mentioned a prayer request for her sweet grandbaby, Maddie.

Carolyn wrote a letter this evening requesting prayer again. I have copied it below so you can read it and pray for this family.

I come to you knowing how precious moms, dads and little children are to
you. Would you please join me (and pass on this request to anyone you know)
in prayer for our new little granddaughter, Madelyn Rose, or Maddie as we
call her. She will be seven weeks old on Monday and has not been able to
open her eyelids more than just little slits.

Yesterday Jeremy and Renee (our son and daughter-in-love) took her to a
specialist and Maddie was diagnosed with congenital ptosis, which means the
muscle that lifts the eyelid is non-existent or considerably
under-developed. Surgery is the only way to correct the condition but it is
not a one-stop fix, rather it will be multiple surgeries over several years,
as her body continues to grow.

There is a real time issue here. Light is critical to the development of the
infant eye. If you cover a baby's eye with patches for three months, they
will be blind. So you see, there are really just a few weeks in which to
consult with surgeons and make the proper decisions; decisions which will
affect Maddie for the rest of her life. You see, with surgery it is a
permanent fix, she will not be able to blink or close her eyes, not even to
sleep, at least that's what is being said now. The next step is to consult
with specialist surgeon at the world renown Jules Stein Eye Institute at
UCLA and proceed with surgery ASAP.

Apart from this, Maddie is a very healthy, sweet, mild little baby. She
cries only when hungry, and does love to eat! Hey, she's a Dewey! From birth
she's been so pretty with gorgeous porcelain-doll-like skin and such a
pretty little mouth. Her eyes (which are fine, thankfully!) are a navy blue,
we'd just like to be able to see them and have them see us!

So requests would be:
* a prompt appointment and surgery date at UCLA
* wisdom, discernment, peace for Jeremy and Renee as they seek the best for
Maddie
* Maddie's eyes would get enough light for their development
* may God, and only God, be glorified through all of this

I know how busy all of you are, so thank you for wading through this
message. For those of you who blog...I know your blogs are far-reaching and
I'd be EVER SO GRATEFUL if you could put a plea for prayer for Maddie on
your blog. You may use the attached photos and any of the text. It's so hard
on this grandma to be so far away, if only I could rush to California today!
- but I know the power of prayer is far greater than anything I can do. May
God's plans for Maddie prevail!

More NewYearsmass times.

My brother, Dave and his wife, Linda and my nephew, Brandon and his daughter, Layla all came from Kansas City this past Sunday for the Voran Christmas celebration.
I fixed chicken. I brown chicken breasts for 30 minutes or more - I add Montreal chicken seasoning to it first - then the last few minutes top it with provolone cheese and fresh spinach. It is really good! We also had wild rice, carameled sweet potatoes and fruit.

Anticipation!

Emeri applied her beautiful pink chapstick (lipstick)!

Eli learned to climb the stairs and went up and down - and up and down - and up and down....

My faucet broke. This was not how Al wanted to spend his Christmas vacation, but it was good to have Josh's help. We ran to Wichita 9 pm and got a new faucet to install the next day.

I made LOTS of meals. Feeding 11 - 17 people every meal. As an empty-nester, I was not used to that. Here I am making home-made pizza. Made one deep dish all meat and one pepperoni 12". I made the pizza dough with pizza dough yeast that was just scrumptious!

Wonderful family times!

This afternoon I took down all the Christmas decorations and the Christmas tree. It was just a little sad. Now I need to write thank you notes and also put up all the pictures we received from friends on my "friends" bulletin board!

Happy NewYear'smass!

We did not have our family Christmas on Christmas Day since our son and his family could not be here. They arrived on Friday and on New Year's Day we celebrated our Christmas -

Happy New Year'smass!

When I was growing up, we had an advent log and when I got married, I asked Dad if he would make me one too.

The grandkids put on their Christmas shirts that Jill made.

We aren't really "into" Santa. We celebrate Baby Jesus' birthday! That is really what it is all about! But we got a Santa outfit that used to be my Dad's. Mom sewed it for him when we lived in Japan. Now that they live at Kidron Bethel retirement center, Dad has been Santa for the elderly many times too.

We thought it would be fun this year for Santa to come and pass out the stockings.

Sophia was really quite hesitant about him. Even though she knew it was Papa. She was not abouts to let him hug her!

I always put socks in the stockings and a chocolate Santa or angel.
And lots of little things I think each person will enjoy.

Eli loves remote controls. I suppose most boys do!

We found one we don't use anymore to put in the stocking.

(he is really a drooler!)
A girly pepper spray for Mindy.
I told her she has to attach it to her key ring.
(from a concerned mom!)

Santa left for the North Pole. When Papa came back from his "bathroom break", we sang "Away in the Manger" and "Happy Birthday" to Baby Jesus.

Gift time!

Hannah loves her pink binoculars.

Now she and Papa can both look at the stars!

Happy New Year!

2011

If Christ had not come

A number of years ago a remarkable Christmas card was published by the title "If Christ Had Not Come." It was based on our Saviour's own words, "If I had not come," in John 15:22. The card pictured a minister falling asleep in his study on Christmas morning and then dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come.

In his dream, he saw himself walking through his house, but as he looked, he saw no stockings hung on the chimney, no Christmas tree, no wreaths of holly, and no Christ to comfort and gladden hearts or to save us. He then walked onto the street outside, but there was no church with its spire pointing toward heaven. And when he came back and sat down in his library, he realized that every book about our Saviour had disappeared.

The minister dreamed that the doorbell rang and that a messenger asked him to visit a friend's poor dying mother. He reached her home, and as his friend sat and wept, he said, "I have something here that will comfort you." He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, but it ended with Malachi. There was no gospel and no promise of hope and salvation, and all he could do was bow his head and weep with his friend and his mother in bitter despair.

Two days later he stood beside her coffin and conducted her funeral service, but there was no message of comfort, no words of a glorious resurrection, and no thought of a mansion awaiting her in heaven. There was only "dust to dust, and ashes to ashes," and one long, eternal farewell. Finally he realized that Christ had not come, and burst into tears, weeping bitterly in his sorrowful dream.

Then suddenly he awoke with a start, and a great shout of joy and praise burst from his lips as he heard his choir singing these words in his church nearby:

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and trimphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!

Come and behold Him, born the King of angels,

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Let us be glad and rejoice today, because He has come! And let us remember the proclamation of the angel" "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)

- Streams in the Desert

Plays

Our church recently did a rendition of "Good King Wenceslas!" It was a very humourous one! How we laughed at all the antics!

Did you know that the words to the carol "Good King Wenceslas" were written by John Mason Neale and published in 1853? The music originated in Finland. This Christmas carol is unusual as there is no reference in the lyrics to the nativity. Good King Wenceslas was the king of Bohemia in the 10th century. He was a Catholic martyr and the Patron Saint of the Czech Republic. St. Stephen's feast day was celebrated on 26th December which is why this song is sung as a Christmas carol.

When I was a kid, we did the play of King Wenceslas. I was the princess in that play.



We did plays twice a year at our one-room schoolhouse in Japan. Once at Christmas and once at the end of the year. Sometimes we invited the neighborhood children to come watch it. But mostly we did it for our missionary parents.

Here is my brother Doug, being silly.

Brother Dan is Hansel.

I'm the angel facing Hansel who has fallen into a deep sleep.

Here I am a pirate and my brother, Doug is Captain Long John Silver from Mutiny on the Bounty.

We don't do the children's Christmas program at church any more. It was too hard with doing Judgement House in late October. Now they do Easter plays at church. Last year was the first time we did that and it was fantastic!

The little children (nursery through K) still do their singing at Christmas time and that is sooooo fun! Laurel sang "O come little children" while they entered the stage. The little nursery kids sang Away in the Manger while they rocked their little baby Jesus. After singing him to sleep, they laid their babies in the manger (we had to have 3 mangers to fit all the baby doll Jesus' in). Then they did a little finger play.

(picture taken by Ian Johnson)

Aren't they just precious!! Christmas plays are so fun!

Baking

I planned that we would do some Christmas baking when the girls came over today.

They kind of got carried away with the sprinkles.

* * * * * * * * *

Hannah picked up a copy of our National Geographic.

"Look Nana! An Egyptian mommy!"

She wanted to read the article.

"Let's get grossed out!"

As I was reading the article about Egypt, there was a picture of the Nile river and the wilderness. That led to a fun story-telling about Moses being hid in the river as a baby. And how the princess found him. And then as an adult fleeing into the wilderness (I traced on the page with my finger from the river to the wilderness) I explained how he met Jethro and began to work for him and that he got married to Jethro's daughter.

Hannah: Boys marry girls. Who do you want to marry, Sophia?

Sophia: I don't want to do that marrying thing.

Hannah: You have to! Who do you want to marry?

Sophia: I want to marry mommy.

(Perhaps an Egyptian mommy?)

Sorry, Adam and Jill. I am sure the kids had a super sugar high this evening!!!