I always have mixed feeling around Christmas. I want to slow down and enjoy the Christmas season. I want to enjoy the fun little things like the Christmas cards, egg nog, gift giving, cookies and the like. I want to stop and enjoy the gift that is the incarnation of Christ. Yet I never feel 100% successful. For me, I think it is because everything I orchestrate (pun intended) for our services at The Creek are completely different from the planning that takes place during the rest of the year. For four weeks out of the year, we do entirely different music and other unique traditions. It is good that we take time to reflect and make the Christmas season special; it just adds a unique element in our lives and a little extra time in putting all those things together.

Don't misunderstand me, I love Christmas. I love thinking through the sacrificial act of the incarnation. I just always have to intentionally fight towards this end. One of the ways our family is fighting to remember the incarnation this season is pictured above. A few times a week, we come together and read Scripture that reminds and teaches us about the incarnation. We are also using the Advent wreath as a reminder of the light of Christ that has entered the world. 

If you are interested in a fun advent tradition for your family, check out what we have used this year: Prepare Him Room, from Sovereign Grace ministries. We have really enjoyed it and think you will too!  

Sometimes the fight to be intentional at Christmas ends in some beautifully captured moments.

Autumn is not my first choice in the seasons of life. Everybody else seems to love fall. Trees changing color, hot cocoa, football season, and the crisp autumn air. These are the typical responses I hear when people defend their love for the season. For me, it is just a reminder of the death that is coming known as an Iowa winter. That wind that cuts through your clothes, burns the smallest amount of exposed skin, and causes you to run at lightning speed the twenty feet from your car to inside your dwelling. I would rather walk leisurely with my shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops on, but that is just me. 

Truth be told, I actually try and redeem the positive qualities of every season, and autumn is a beautiful season. The pictures above are the representation of said redemptions, our fall family outing. Each year we try to make it to some type of apple orchard or pumpkin patch. This year we combined a pumpkin patch and with a visit to the Ledges. Hiking at the Ledges was definitely a highlight. If you have never been, it is worth putting on your do to list. 

Enjoy the pics.