He is born, God with us.

"It was indeed wondrous that Christ was conceived in a womb, but it is no less striking that he be borne in our hearts."

-St. Peter Damian

What is Christmas without cookies?

I wouldn't know.

I love my family

It's good to be home. There is just one person missing on this post, and that is my brother-in-law, Andy. If he were here, he would be....helping saw the stump of the Christmas tree with my dad, making fun of our continually anxious cat, and playing Christmas duets with me on the piano. Next year...

What can compare to Christmas? And what can compare to home. Nothing.

To Be Alone With You

Tomorrow I move out of my single room into a brand new apartment where I will be living with three other girls starting in January. Then, I am on the plane to come home. God has turned my bitter tears into laughter, and I will miss the quiet moments I had here, alone with Jesus. A new season has begun.

Good-bye to cooking for just one.


Good-bye to hitting my head on drying laundry.

Good-bye to my single burner.

Good-bye to my morning French-press coffee.

Good-bye to you, silent, hidden forest. You were a faithful friend.

"My lover said to me, 'Rise up, my beloved, my fair one, and come away. For the winter is past, and the rain is over and gone. The flowers are springing up, and the time of singing birds has come, even the cooing of turtle doves. The fig trees are budding, and the grapevines are in blossom. How delicious they smell! Yes, spring is here! Arise, my beloved, my fair one, and come away."

Song of Songs 1:10-13

For a song that so perfectly expresses how God gave everything just to be alone with us, listen to the first song after being navigated by this link.

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/search/songs/?query=sufjan%20stevens

And then God Speaks.

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who did the surveying? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

Who defined the boundaries of the sea as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, "Thus far and no farther will you come. Here you proud waves must stop!

Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you ever told the daylight to spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night's wickedness? For the features of the earth take shape as the light approaches, and the dawn is robed in red. The light disturbs the haunts of the wicked, and it stops the arm that is raised in violence.

Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you walked about and explored their depths? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!

Where does the light come from, and where does the darkness go? Can you take it to its home? Do you know how to get there? But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!

Have you visited the treasuries of the snow? Have you seen where the hail is made and stored? I have reserved it for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war. Where is the path to the origin of light? Where is the home of the east wind?

Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? Who sends the rain that satisfies the parched ground and makes the tender grass spring up?

Does the rain have a father? Where does dew come from?...

Can you hold back the movements of the stars?...

Can you shoult to the clouds and make it rain...?

Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions' appetites as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket?...

Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?...

Who makes the wild donkey wild?...

Will the wild ox consent to being tamed?...

The ostrich flaps her wings grandly, but they are no match for the feathers of the stork...

Have you given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?...

Are you the one who makes the hawk soar and spread its wings to the south?...

DO YOU STILL WANT TO ARGUE WITH THE ALMIGHTY? YOU ARE GOD'S CRITIC, BUT DO YOU HAVE THE ANSWERS?"

Job 38:4-40:3