Scenes from Christmas

Happy December 26th! It must be hard being that day, such a touch act to follow. 

I hope you had a lovely Christmas! Ours certainly was. I have the pictures to prove it. 

We spent Christmas Eve evening with Grace Point Church. They did such a wonderful job of putting together a powerful & memorable service. We've spent Christmas Eve at this church quite a few times, and each year, it gets better and better! One of my favorite parts this year was the worship. Worship is always what gets me, and I loved the addition of a worship painter. The first time I saw worship art was at Influence Conference, and I was excited to have that again. 

The message was beautiful, inspiring, and packed with some serious truth. It was all about the confident hope that we find in Jesus, and it definitely blessed me. The service was ended with a candlelight portion, and this always gets me in the Christmas spirit. 

Our Christmas morning always starts suuuper early. I'm talking 6AM early. Mike & I outgrew that riiight about when Milissa was old enough to catch on to the excitement, so early rising remains a part of the tradition. 

This year, Santa thought Mil was extra good, and decided to bring her something that was a biiit too big to fit under the tree. 

All that jumping worked up quite the appetite, which was great considering we feasted on Thanksgiving part 2. 

 

Mom earned herself some serious bragging rights for this one. 

We may not have had ourselves a white Christmas, but I don't think any of us were too disappointed.  

Our traditions may be simple (getting up at the crack of dawn, staying in pajamas for 99% of the day, watching the sunset at the beach), but I love them.

For fun, you can check out this post from 2 years ago to see how much Christmas 2011 resembles Christmas 2013.

I hope you have yourself a fan-freaking-tastic December 26th. 

 

What Sundays Were Made For

Sundays are my favorite days. 

Over the years, they've looked different. Growing up, it was a day to mourn the incoming school week. At 16 years old, they were a 9-5 work day. As a college freshman, I learned what the term "Sunday Funday" refers to. And once I was introduced to fantasy football, Sundays were dedicated to spending nearly 12 hours straight glued to a couch. 

Now, every Sunday is unique. Some are packed to the brim, running from one thing to another. Others are nearly empty, set aside for time to just be. But there's one thing that every Sunday has in common, and that's church. 

I wrote about it here, but if you're short on time, I'll sum it up for you. I don't view church as something that I have to do. I don't view church as something that affects my salvation, or as something that can determine if I am a "good Christian" or a "bad Christian." {No such thing}

I view church as something that I am blessed to be a part of. As a matter of fact, "church" has changed a lot for me recently. Not only do I serve in different ways than I did when I wrote that post just over 3 months ago, but I go to a different church all together. {That's for another blog post}. 

You know what though? We're all the same, really. We're all part of the same giant family, just broken into individual bodies that serve individual functions. I truly believe that God has purpose for each one of His churches, and He has a specific place for each of us, too. 

This blog post is turning into something entirely different than I intended it to be. So let's summarize, and get to the pictures, shall we? 

I really love church. 

Sundays are my favorite days. 

Here is what Sundays were made for: 

// Starting a new book, while cranking in some elliptical time //

// Middle School youth group. In the form of a Christmas movie party //

// Visiting with friends that you don't see often enough //

// Trying Sprinkles Cupcakes for the first time //

// Seeing some of the best Christmas decorations ever //

// Homemade pizza for dinner with a side of spectacular fellowship & conversation //

Not pictured. Because the pizza was devoured before the camera was taken out. 

I hope you had an equally wonderful Sunday! Today is my last day of work until 2014. Don't mind me as I happy-dance-in-my-cubicle my way through this Monday. 

Living Nativity

Merry 2 Days after Christmas!

I hope you had a wonderful one!

One thing I forgot to mention in my Holiday Tradition vlog was going to my church in San Diego's Living Nativity.

I probably didn't mention this because I hadn't gone since high school, but after visiting this year, I don't think I'll be missing another any time soon. 

It's such a special way to get in the holiday spirit, and a great way to really convey the message of our Savior to kids of all ages. 

Not to mention there are camel rides, a petting zoo, an ice skating rink, and they actually manage to make it snow in San Diego. 

Pretty magical, right?

The holiday magic was followed by a delicious food truck dinner. 

(No pictures taken because it was demolished in point 5 seconds)

It really was the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit, and I can't wait to make a yearly tradition out of this. 

XO