The Middle of the Story...

What a pleasure to share Isaac's Christmas service with Grandpa and Grandma Balyo on Wednesday, December 17th.

Isaac could hardly contain his excitement for the evening and wanted to make sure we left Scotty's Pizza Restaurant in time to make it to his classroom at 6:00 pm! Phew! We made it with plenty of time left over! He was so proud to have learned both a Latin song and a German song.

Isaac, with some of the other 1st and 2nd graders

It was really neat to participate with the students, in the Liturgical service. Although I wasn't familiar with all of the songs they sang, and there was a lot of kiddie background noise, it was very reverant.

Sometimes during the Christmas "season", I feel like we (or at least, I) get stuck thinking only about the sweet human baby part of Jesus and forget that the baby Jesus is still God, Almighty! And the plan of Jesus coming to earth as a human baby was not even the beginning of the end of our miraculous salvation, but more like the middle highlight!

I always imagine that since God is not limited by Time and Space, He sees all of earth's happenings like a big collage, whereas we see events on a timeline. I find it fascinating and awe-inspiring that Jesus was not an afterthought (an "oops, the kiddos down on earth messed up...didn't expect that!") but this plan of God's Salvation (baby Jesus, that is) was in the works from the beginning!

Adam and Eve's sin didn't surprise God; God didn't have to come up with something new to fix the situation; the end result that He is Ultimately THE King of Kings and THE Lord of Lords has always been the plan. He has always had our well-being in his merciful and yes, just, heart!

Jesus, coming as a baby, for the sole purpose of being sacrificed as THE Passover Lamb, is like the glorious middle chapter in a page after page, glory-filled book of Good News. And thanks be to God for his Glorious Gift of Christ Jesus, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame and is now set down at the right hand, of the throne of God!

Our homemade Christmas contribution was... a good, old-fashioned package of oreos!

Scott (acting as our gracious coat-rack), his mom, Lynn, and Zane.

Friday, December 19

Because of the wild winter weather in the midwest, Scott's parents were able to stay for a couple of extra days and they graciously volunteered to stay and play with Ian, Colby, Zane and Oquirrh so I could spend Friday's Festivities with Isaac. And, I loved it! It was fun to have some one on one with Isaac, driving him and some of his classmates to the senior centers, eating lunch with him at the school afterwards, and even enjoying some of his class party and "puppy chow".

Isaac was a big hit with the ladies!

After singing at two senior centers, we returned for lunch, recess, and a Christmas party. Goodies included (but were not limited to) a huge pile of "puppy chow", a huge, frosted cookie from "Eileen's Colossal Cookies", a cupcake with a huge mountain of frosting and a juicebox! What a fun celebration of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ's birth...the middle of the story!