Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: Celebrating the most powerful irony of all time - Jesus was born... to die... ~ December 2013

Giving God Glory

Born destined for this...

and this!!!

God's ways can sometimes be surprising and are often quite mind-blowing - ...this Man [Jesus], delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. Acts 2:23 God's plan all along was that Jesus would be born (fully God and fully man - which is also mind-blowing) to die... but why?

Why was Jesus born to suffer and die?
#10 - To destroy hostility between races ~ Ephesians 2:14-16
#9 - To give marriage its deepest meaning ~ Ephesians 5:25
#8 - To absorb the wrath of God ~ 1 John 4:10
#7 - So that we would escape the curse of the law ~ Galatians 3:13
#6 - To reconcile us to God ~ Romans 5:10
#5 - To show God's love for sinners ~ John 3:16
#4 - To show Jesus' own love for us ~ Galatians 2:20
#3 - To take away our condemnation ~ Romans 8:1
#2 - To bring us to God ~ 1 Peter 3:18
#1 - To give eternal life to all who believe on Him ~ John 17:3

10 Reasons Jesus Came to Die by John Piper - Click on this link for the full gospel tract that these reasons are from

This year we enjoyed celebrating Jesus' birth but also focusing, more importantly, on the reason Jesus was born - to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21) through His birth, death, and resurrection.

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts

New Schedule + Ministry Opportunity = Confirmation to Stay as Firefighter

Wondering about Wes' Work - We have been praying the past several months for the Lord to confirm whether He wanted Wes to stay in firefighting or to pursue a new direction with work such as vocational ministry, especially after recently finishing his degree in Biblical Studies. The Lord has made it clear that for now He wants Wes to stay with firefighting (and has blessed Wes with a new schedule that allows for potential to do more volunteer ministry). The Lord has also blessed Wes with the opportunity to serve in our church as the T&T Boys Director in AWANAs, a position that just opened up. Wes is excited to be able to weekly teach the 3rd-6th grade boys about some of the truths he has learned through his schooling. He wants to finish the AWANA year with teaching them a survey of the New Testament.

Praises & Prayers

Various Loved Ones - Continued prayer for wisdom and for Christ's strength and perspective as they are in the midst of various trials (James 1:2-5).

Friend - Praise for the Lord healing her body of cancer!

Tache - Praise for the Lord's loving care with some health trials & unexpected surgery this month (especially since Tache recently had back surgery). We thank the Lord that her recovery has been going well.

Tami - Continued prayers for the Lord to give my dad and other loved ones His perspective and that God would heal Tami, but ultimately that His will would be done. Prayer of Galatians 5:22-23 that the fruit of the Spirit would abound in Dad's & Tami's lives during this trial. Also, prayer of James 1:5 for wisdom with this trial.

Our Family - Praise for the Lord giving wisdom and making His will clear about Wes' work - leading him to stay in firefighting and opening up a ministry opportunity in T&T for weekly teaching weekly 3rd-6th grade boys.

Wes - Praise for the Lord giving Wes wisdom about decisions with work and ministry. Continued prayer for Wes to continue to be a strong light and witness for Christ at work in the midst of a very spiritually dark environment and also for spiritual protection (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Christina - Praise for how the Lord is blessing me with opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers (especially children) and invest in believers. Prayer of Deuteronomy 6:5 that I would be faithful to disciple Noah, Josiah, and all those the Lord wants me to.

Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will. Praise for the Lord growing Noah in being kind to Josiah and our dogs. Prayer of Ephesians 4:32 that the Lord would grow Noah in using a kind tone of voice.
Josiah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will. Continued praise for the Lord growing Josiah in self-control and also in communication. Continued prayer for the Lord to grow Josiah in his gross motor skills (ex. progressions involved with walking) in His perfect timing.

Marriage Memories

The Beauty of God's Design of Complementing - The saying that "opposites attract" is very true! If you talk to married couples about ways they are opposite/different, there will be many. When we view our opposites as differences that are difficult for us, it can be challenging. However, when we view our opposites as God's design of complementing each other, they become beautiful blessings! The Lord has brought several decisions our way (some big and others small about a variety of things) this past month, and it has been a joy to see how the Lord has designed Wes and me to complement each other in decision-making ~ Wes is very strong in researching and thinking through a decision from every angle, but it can sometimes be challenging for him to come to the point of making that final decision. I am strong in being decisive with decisions and tend to arrive at final decisions quickly, but sometimes I can overlook an important aspect of the decision or not have all the information that would be helpful in making the best decision. So, it's been a blessing to experience God's beautiful design of complementing each other as we have made a variety of decisions this past month.

We enjoyed a couple date nights this month ~ fun double date and conversation with some good friends over dinner and dessert; also an overnight at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort (to celebrate Wes' belated birthday and his finishing school).

Family Fun

Christmas Day - in our pjs (Wes in his uniform due to coming from work to celebrate with family)
Noah all smiles & Josiah not so sure...

Decorating our home & Christmas tree * Noah enjoyed helping put ornaments on

Josiah checking the tree out * He approved with some cheers & clapping

The boys & me on Christmas Eve

Noah News

Age - 4 years old

Cute Communication-

*Out of the blue when playing with some friends who were over at our home, Noah enthusiastically shouts out, "Raise your hand if you trust Jesus as your Lord & Savior!" This led into a great conversation about the gospel (Noah's friends liked our "Evangecube" that visually shows the gospel, and they were amazed that Jesus died on the cross for them and their sins. They took Noah's play hammer and nails, pretended to hammer the nails into their wrists, and asked, "Is this what Jesus did for me?" I shared with them that it was and how Jesus went through all that pain because of His great love for them, how He never sinned and did not deserve it, and how we are sinners and needed Him to die in our place so that we could be saved from our sins...).

*One day Noah and I were sitting together and reading books when he points to my stomach and asks, "When are you going to have a baby sister in there?" I reminded him how the Lord is in control of the number of children He wants in our family and encouraged him to pray to God about his desire to have a sister. I asked him why he wanted a baby sister, and he responded, "I want to wrestle her!" ;)

*Uncle Adam & Auntie Wendy read the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to Noah when they were over watching our boys, and Noah said, "I don't like the idea of someone coming in our home at night."

*During preschool when the children were asked what letter Jesus starts with, Noah pipes up, "J-E-S-U-S." I think he picked this up on his own because I don't remember teaching him the spelling for Jesus.

*Noah often gets so excited when he is talking that he doesn't "breathe" and somehow quickly sucks in a little air as needed while continuing to talk. It's quite amusing. :)

Latest Likes

Hot Wheels cars

Variety of small knick-knacks

Playing with toys in his room (where Josiah can't mess them up)

Making everything a competition of speed (going into another room, racing upstairs, getting pjs on, brushing teeth, etc.)

Wearing tank tops & shorts

Having fun with Hot Wheels

*Video - Noah cruising! on the slopes when we went skiing with the Schenks (see photos in "More Memories" section down below)

Josiah Joys

Age - 18 months

1sts - scooping with a spoon (not just dipping)

Teeth - 12 (2 year molars are coming in)

New words - Daddy, Mommy, all duh (all done), pacakes (pancakes), a-boo (peek-a-boo), baboon (balloon), Bahble (Bible), yeah, uh-huh, eeze (please)

Latest Likes

Clapping/cheering for himself or others

Walking in his walker

Balloons

Cuties & bananas

"Participating" in slug bug game (he makes sure we "slug" him too)

Josiah is crawling a lot more on his hands & knees (instead of army crawling on his elbows), which is an important skill progression for him!

*Video - Josiah showing off his "infamous" stare down

Bro Bonding

Making music together

Playing with cardboard boxes

Having fun in a bed tent Noah received for Christmas

Homeschool ~ & Preschool ~ Highlights

This month we did a History unit study on Christmas.

Click on this link if interested in the FREE preschool skills/benchmarks that I use - Core Knowledge Preschool Sequence of Skills

Click on this link for a corresponding preschool book that I use - Core Knowledge: What Your Preschooler Needs to Know

History Unit: Christmas
Click on this link for a wonderful song that emphasizes what we learned about - It's About the Cross

We studied why and who we celebrate at Christmas!

We learned the importance of Jesus' 1st coming ~

HOW Jesus was born (humble baby)

WHY Jesus was born (to die on the cross for our sins)

WHAT happened after Jesus died (rose again to show His victory over sin & death) ~

and we learned the importance of Jesus' 2nd coming

WHEN He will return as a powerful king!

A couple videos we watched about the history and important meaning involved with celebrating Christ at Christmas

We also discussed the truth and history about Sinter Klaas (Saint Nicholas), a Christian bishop from the 4th century who generously gave gifts to needy children and supported the doctrine of the Trinity at the Council of Nicea in AD 325.

Art - Making ornaments with Jesus' names (The last one is Noah's "make whatever ornament you want.")

Art - Nativity Craft * 1st "homework" I assigned my preschoolers - Nativity activity book ;)

Poetry - We learned this poem & talked about how the candy cane can remind us of Christ

Look at the Candy Cane

What do you see?

Stripes that are red

Like the blood shed for me

White is for my Savior

Who's sinless and pure!

"J" is for Jesus My Lord, that's for sure!

Turn it around

And a staff you will see

Jesus my shepherd

Was born for me!

Field Trip - Tri-Lakes Homeschool Band Christmas Concert - included songs celebrating Christ

Noah & Saylor were very engaged * Noah wanted to be extra close to the band ;)

Life Skills: Baking & decorating - Nativity sugar cookies * Jesus' birthday cake

Extra Field Trips

We had fun at a Holiday Chemistry Magic Show at the Library, and Noah enjoyed bringing one of his friends from our neighborhood to join us since he was on Christmas break from school.

We visited the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park since they were featuring a free Science show & kids get in free day.

Kid-friendly Science show on electricity

The boys enjoyed watching the scientist's hands-on experiments & had fun getting balloons to experiment with

The boys & I had fun touring the museum, which had several hands-on activities that the boys liked.

We talked about how God created these dinosaurs, and it was part of His plan for them to become extinct.

Tracing "fossils" * Noah posing

Noah's favorite dinosaur was T-Rex * Noah was super excited about the suspended sea creatures

Writing - We splurged on some dinosaur stickers at the gift shop. Noah enjoyed writing the names of the dinosaurs - & placed the letters wherever he found room. ;)

Memorable Moment of the Month
Our Hilarious Ham! - Usually younger brothers imitate older brothers, but we have encountered a role reversal with a certain expression of Josiah's. ;) One day the boys were coloring a gift box from one of their cousins, and Josiah started giving Noah his "infamous" stare down. Noah thought that it was really funny and kept laughing while trying to emulate Josiah. It was very entertaining!

Coloring together

Josiah starts getting expressive ;)

Then he busts out his stare down! Noah is cracking up. :)

Big bro tries imitating lil' bro & they give the stare down together.

The smiles and laughter that followed!

More Memories

Fun with neighborhood friends

Playing football with his neighborhood friends on a warm-weathered day

Noah starts pumping out some push-ups in the middle of playing ;)

Having fun with friends eating dinner after playing together in our basement

Skiing with the Schenks

Kyle, Kristen, Sawyer, & Nora came from Ohio to visit for Christmas. One of the days we went skiing, and the cousins - Noah & Sawyer - enjoyed participating in ski school together.

Noah & Sawyer all bundled up & ready to hit the slopes

Riding up the ski school hill on the magic carpet * The ski instructors nicknamed Noah "bug man" ;)

Noah's instructor shared with us that "Noah was one of the most excited kids. Very good balance."

Riding & dancing with cousin Sawyer

Noah is the 3rd one in line waiting to go down the hill * Cruising down

Me, Wes, & Kyle enjoyed skiing the "big slopes" while our boys were in ski school

We missed Kristen (who is pregnant), but she had fun watching and taking pictures of Sawyer & Noah (and also calming them down during a couple crying episodes).

Noah on a green slope with Wes and me after ski school. He did great! - though his fearless spirit and fast speed were a little nerve-racking at times. ;) Even though Noah had not learned the skill of how to stop, he had figured out how to sit/lay back when he got going too fast and was able to come to a stop that way. (see video in section "Noah News" above)

Spending Time With Family & Celebrating Christ Together