Every Knee Should Bow

I'm so excited to announce another Lenten study hosted here at the blog! This is on a topic I've been studying for over a year now and have learned so much from. I've been looking at the names of Jesus - and not just the ones we usually hear about especially around Christmas like Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, etc. I've been looking at names like Amen, Alpha and Omega, Second Adam and with each one been amazed at the insight into Jesus it has brought. 

This is the first study I have written so straight up: you are my guinea pigs, please and thank you. I have studied each of these names with my (WELS) pastor husband, gone through again with a fellow pastor's wife/friend, passed it on to another good friend who went over it with me during coffee and walks, and again with my husband to sign off on making sure it's heresy free. 

I really, truly think this may be a study that's been needed and missing from what's out there. I have had so many personal lightbulb moments that it's brought to light (haha) how much I've been missing from the richness of the inspired Word of God. Aspects of Jesus' nature of true God and true Man are always found hidden in these names and reveal truths that are so incredibly comforting, insightful and encouraging. I am definitely ready and craving to talk to you about this as we learn together! 

This is the deal.
You're going to need a copy. I'm no genius so you're going to have to contact me at my email - r.halldorson@gmail.com - and I will send you either an e-pub that I know you can read in iBooks or a pdf that you can read for sure in Kindle. The e-pub is more book-like and is easier to read, I think. There's a table of contents but please note - each chapter is a page off of what is listed. I don't know why. Like I said, not a genius, but if it's a page off I feel confident you can figure it out:)

It works out to be a name a week through Lent. No pressure. Read it at your own pace. Come back to the blog in your pyjamas. No one is judging you, friend! 

I have considered an alternate Facebook private group but I'd like to hear from you what you'd prefer. Do we keep discussions in the comments here on the blog? Do we also meet on Facebook for more privacy? I would like to encourage as much participation as possible and I need to know from you what you are most comfortable doing. Leave a comment below or when you email me for the study.

Lent starts March 1st and so will we! There's an introduction to start with so we'll chat about that first. I also want to discuss what goals I hope and pray you will walk away from this study with. 

Any questions? Let me know.

I pray you'll join me in this and grow with me in wisdom and understanding this Lenten season as we study the names of Jesus revealed to us in Scripture. 

contact me at - r.halldorson@gmail.com

Quick Links to study:

Introduction/Lent
Amen
Second Adam
Alpha and Omega
Advocate

The Rest of the Story

Something I wrote for my Christian sisters … and to myself. As a pastor’s wife/hair dresser, I’ve been honoured that hearts have shared their hurts with me. I’ve been humbled to carry their stories with me and I don’t forget. Everyone has a story. Everyone. So when I read the words of Romans 5, I wrote it with these stories in mind, along with my own, to share the hope that we have only in Jesus. 

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Roman 5:1-5

Everybody has a story. The older I get, the more I see this fact. People aren’t always willing to be open and honest about their struggles but it doesn’t mean they don’t have them. It’s not all Pinterest perfect.

Everybody has a story. Life can hurt, even for us Christians. We suffer pain - physical and emotional. Our families don’t always get along - in fact, behind closed doors wars are being waged! We quietly care for those in need - aging parents, disabled children, a spouse with declining health - all the while denying our own care and sanity. We struggle with addictions. People hurt us. Our children die. Our parents die. Our health fails. We loose our jobs. We suffer.

How do we possibly REJOICE! when this is the reality of life? 

Read the rest of the devotion here .....

Our Journey to Hosanna {Lord, Save Us!}

Ten years ago, there was a baby on the other side of the world who had no mother and father to take care of her. She was helpless. Being just a baby, she didn’t know she was helpless but she was. Her basic needs were met by other people. She was unaware of anything missing. 

These were the first photos given to us of her. I carried them with me and had a copy by my bed!

At the same time, Wayne and I wanted a baby very much. We had a long list of things to do before we would hold a baby in our arms, but we made the effort because we wanted so badly to grow our family. We found and hired an agency, met with a social worker multiple times, had medical tests taken, filled out tons of paperwork, spent a lot of money, and took parenting classes. We prepared a room for her, all girly and pink! We applied for visitor’s visas, were given shots for traveling, arranged childcare for Will, packed our suitcases, flew in an airplane for 16 hours and continued to check items off the list as we went along. We were motivated to do all this because we loved this baby before we even knew her. We did all the work while the baby spent her days not even knowing what we were doing for her. 

It looks like a pink bomb exploded in here! Can you tell we were excited to get a girl?!

After being an only child for almost 7 years, Will was excited to become a  big brother. We threw him a special party before we left for China. 

The day finally came for us and baby to meet. We lovingly held her, rocked her and spoke soothing words of comfort. Si Rou screamed in defiance. She did not know us - we were strangers. What we spoke to her was a foreign language she did not recognize. The baby cried out for the life she knew. She didn’t immediately respond to the love that was freely given to her. 

Seriously don't know why my hair was so big. It would be the last time I'd be able to style it for the rest of the trip. 

This was the look - broke my heart! She was so scared.

Finally she cried! I tried to explain to her that once she gives us a chance, she'll see we're really awesome people. Practically everyone likes us! :)

We were heartbroken that she did not return the love we were giving her, but we understood. We continued to hold and care for her, often singing or murmuring soft words of comfort. We tried our best to be patient. Meanwhile, the adoption became official and we gave her a new name, Hosanna, and a new family name. She was now ours. She was loved. We became a family.

It's official! She's all ours!!

What a ceremony! We had a really great travel group and it was comforting to go through it together. One couple received twins!

Then one day something wonderful happened! Hosanna responded to this outpouring of love and care with a smile! She started to resist less frequently the affection shown to her. She didn’t decide to love us back; she reacted to what was already there, planted by the seeds of love and watered with the repeated care and dependability that we showed her. 

Precious girl!!

This is a personal story about how my daughter, born in China, came to be part of my family. But it can also be a story about how our Heavenly Father adopted each of us into His family. 

There was a time we were helpless. We didn’t have the eyes of faith to know that we were dead in sin.  John 8:47, “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”  Maybe life seemed fine! Especially if our felt needs were being met and things were going seemingly well, we may not have known what it was we were even missing! 

Regardless of when you came to faith, God was busy doing all the work. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13  He made us! He lovingly fashioned us before we even met another human being! I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness. Jeremiah 31:3  Before the world was even made, he knew his children. What comfort to know that he loved me and planned for me to be brought into his family and live with him eternally. Maybe there wasn’t paperwork and forms to fill out, but there was a plan. This plan included sending his own Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life for me on earth, suffer for my sins on the cross and triumph over death and the devil so that I have the assurance of eternal life in heaven. 

Ten years ago, it was hard for my husband and me to be patient wanting so much for the child we loved to love us back. How much more is God so very patient with us! We were so relieved when our persistence paid off and we received the smile, laugh and cuddle that we so longed for because we knew that her response was a reaction to love already there! Likewise, when we respond to the love of our God who relentlessly and patiently pursues us, we are reacting to the faith already given to us by the Spirit. We can’t help but smile, laugh and cuddle in his waiting arms!

Godmother Karen made her pretty dress.

A member from church made her a personalized baptism banner.

Sometimes we are infants when brought into God’s family; I was. Maybe you were days, even hours old when you were brought to the font of baptism and washed with water and the Word. Just because you were too young to intellectually know what was happening, you were being adopted into the family of Jesus. His Father became your Heavenly Father.  Your name now became “child of God”. Your citizenship became not of this world anymore but you became fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household. (Ephesians 3:19b).  

You may have walked many days, even years apart from God before being brought into his family. Maybe you rejected many invitations to attend church. Maybe you tried to hold on the life you knew. God’s Word may have sounded like a foreign language. You may not have responded right away to the love so freely given to you. But slowly a change began and you started to believe because faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

There may come a day when our daughter might wonder where it is she really belongs. She will become more aware that she looks different than the family she lives with. She may doubt that we really have the ability to love her as we would a biological child. She may question if she’s even worthy enough to have been given this family who had made such an effort to pursue her and make her theirs. 

If and when this happens, we will reassure her with our words and remind her of our faithfulness to her over the years. We will look at the official adoption papers that legally state that she is our daughter. We will pull out the photo albums and relate to her the experiences we went through to get to her. She can objectively know that her fears are unwarranted - she is our daughter in every way. She can rest knowing that she is where she belongs even when her emotions cause her to doubt.

Big brother waiting at the airport

After a LONG flight,we finally arrive home back where we belong - all four of us!

We may have times in our lives when we doubt God’s love. We may wonder: “Can Jesus really forgive me?” “Am I still a part of His family?” “Am I worthy enough to hold onto this gift?” It’s at those times that we can look to the Word and be reminded of what Jesus has done for us. In his Word, we are reminded of His faithfulness and promises. We can look at our baptismal certificate and be reminded that our sins have been washed away and He’s made us worthy to wear His robe of righteousness.  We have been baptized in His name. We are loved. We are a part of His family. We can objectively know that our fears are unwarranted - we are His sons and daughters in every way! We can rest knowing that we belong even when our emotions cause us to doubt.  

For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and good will … In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us … Ephesian 1:4-5, 7,8a 

The reality is that adoption comes from broken - broken dreams, broken bodies, broken hearts, broken people and a broken world. Adoption was not part of God’s original, perfect design. Parents were supposed to raise their children and children were supposed to be cared for by their parents. Every man and woman’s body was supposed to procreate and every man and woman were supposed to provide for their own. But sin happened and our reality is what we have now. Adoption is the answer. Adoption allows a child to be loved and cared for, and adoption allows the love of parents to pour out on a child they wouldn’t otherwise have as their own. 

Visiting the jade factory

Our spiritual adoption in baptism came from broken, too. The need for baptism wasn’t part of God’s original design either. It was after the fall into sin that we so desperately needed a plan that would unite us back to Him because we were now broken and apart from Him. Lord Save Us!! Adoption was the answer. Through the saving work of Jesus, baptism was His plan to bring us back to Him so we could be a part of HIs family again and receive all the benefits of being His children! 

I hope to continue to talk with my daughter about both her adoptions. Yes, she was parentless shortly after being brought into this world. But the hand of God is seen in how quickly she was found, in the temporary but caring home she was given with a foster family, and how she became a part of our family. God knew we would bring her to the font of baptism, that her forever family would teach her about the great, big love of Jesus, and that He would use our family to make her a member of His. 

It's hard to remember a time she wasn't one of our family! Praise God for the gift of adoption!!!

My motto was "what happens in China stays in China". Baby ate french fries and slept in my bed - look at her, how could I say no?

Christmas 2016

Now that we're into January, I'm coming off my holiday high. It was sublime ...

Will was home for 19 days (but who's counting?) and Wayne's mom was with us for a week. Our home went from our relatively quiet three to a more boisterous five!

The first thing to happen was the crapper. No, really, the toilet in the main bathroom went. To be fair, it had been stopping up regularly for some weeks and we kept yelling at Zanna (not really yelling) to stop using so much toilet paper. To which she insisted she was only using 8 squares and surely that wouldn't be too much? So we blamed what must be her giant bowel movements. She's cute and petite but don't let that fool you.

Will coming home sent the whole thing over the edge - and I do mean edge of the toilet. Everywhere. Of course, this would happen on a Saturday when Wayne was trying to not only write his sermon but help a teenager from church fix his car. Now he could add "unplug toilet" to the list. It was apparent that we needed a professional and no one could come out until Monday. 

Not even a professional could save this commode. After using all his plumber tools to no avail, he took that sucker off and shook it hoping to unplug whatever it was that was firmly lodged in the porcelain god. Nope. After hearing the sticker price of Mr. Rooter's cost of replacing said toilet, we promptly wished him adieu (and Merry Christmas) and Wayne went out and did it himself after watching a few youtube videos. 

The week leading up to Christmas consisted mainly of me cooking, and all of us running errands while Wayne basically worked. It actually was better than that sounds!

I baked and cooked till the cows came home! With Will home, that meant no leftovers since he eats them for in-between meals. He gets so giddy with anticipation of what I'm making for the next meal that it fuels me on to culinary prowess, determined to amaze and satiate all with home cooked goodness. I can't help it. It's very fulfilling - and filling:)

Will also takes any and all opportunity to drive me around when he's home. Fran likes to get out and see things and shop. And I needed to keep buying food since we were eating constantly. So every day was planned around our big trip out, wherever that may be, making sure we'd be home in time for dinner. We enjoyed trips to Costco, Loblaws, Indigo and even the mall. I'd have to make sure we all left together after coming in together because heaven knows we can't lose grandma or whichever kid wanders off to look at something shiny! 

Zanna was in the children's Christmas pageant on Christmas Eve. After all her practicing, she did a lovely job and the evening was memorable in it's candlelight, the message of Jesus' birth taught by the children, and the songs our choir sang. Z and I played together on Christmas Day and it's one of my favourite things to do with my kids! 

We had our traditional Ikea Swedish meatballs and lobster tails for Christmas dinner with Jesus' birthday cake for dessert.

Fran went home on Boxing Day and we enjoyed the rest of a quiet week home. We had friends come for dinner, our kids had a sleepover, we got out for a dinner date, and we enjoyed family card games of hand and foot - laughing over what Great Grandma might say if she were here! (I'm not suggesting she's "gone", she just lives in Wisconsin). 

As part of Zanna's Christmas present, we set up a new corner for her in the schoolroom/playroom. Godmother Karen has been teaching her to sew and suggested it was time to provide a machine for her budding enthusiasm. The sewing machine that my grandma had given me years ago (for some reason - I don't sew?) suddenly came to mind and we got it out of storage. Karen inspected it and was duly impressed with the fact that it was all metal and circa 1969. Yep - it worked and the sewing corner was set up. 

Our last day together was beautiful and sunny and we went sledding. Momma's getting too old for it but I went down anyway to experience the rush and excitement of careening off an icy incline. My backbone punished me later. Sometimes family bonding hurts!

 Blessed is what we are - blessed by the grace of our Saviour, His good provision for us, and the constant love and care He shows us! 

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Will flies home today and I'm excited but will be nervous until he is safely home. He has two layovers and a border to cross. My child will be wandering alone, save for Jesus and his guardian angels, around the Detroit and Toronto airport. Prayers, please, that all goes well!!

While he wraps up exam week, I continue with Christmas baking and making treats none of our waistlines need - haha! I've been enjoying the Pioneer Woman and Jamie Oliver Christmas specials on the Food Network lately. I'm also a sucker for the Hallmark Christmas movies that are always sure to have a happy ending! 

Zanna is busy wrapping up her last week of home school among all the other activities going on in her life. She has also been very serious about the memory work she has for the Christmas Eve church service. I've overheard her practicing her lines in the shower, in the kitchen while preparing her breakfast toast, in the back seat of the car and at various times on the couch. She's also been diligent in practicing her violin pieces that we'll be playing together for Christmas Day. The girl is self driven and motivated! She definitely gets nervous but ultimately thrives under pressure. Wish I was like that ...;)

And in case you're wondering - the new Christmas tree lights are a HIT!!! I love them as much as I could love lights. My quest for tree lights are over and I can bask in the soft glow of warm, real non-LED lights!! 

The only thing left to do is for Will to come home and put his ornaments on the tree:)

Praying you have a blessed Advent season as together we eagerly anticipate the coming of our Lord - His first coming long ago as a baby born in a manger, His second coming as we wait for that final day and how He continues to come in both Word and Sacrament, filling us up and sustaining our faith! Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

Hello, old friend!

Oh, how I've missed being here! In the last few weeks, I must have started a dozen posts in my head, eager to get back to this space.

First off if you're a regular reader you may have noticed I'm not doing an Advent book club this year. Always one that hates to disappoint even one person, I agonized over this but finally had to let it go.  I hadn't come across a book that particularly inspired me. But more than that, I have been working on writing my own study and had hoped there would be enough content ready by Advent. This is where the bulk of my writing, creativity and theological brainwork has been directed lately and I am exhausted. I only pray the finished product will somehow be a blessing to anyone that may come across it. Prayers, please as I continue work on this. If nothing else I'm learning and growing and that is truly a blessing!! And if anyone reading this happens to know how to format an ebook from Pages, feel free to share your knowledge.

We recently got back from our 3rd annual trip to the States for American Thanksgiving.  I LOVE being back in my home country, being united with my family - Will, my parents and my grandparents -  trips to Target, Hobby Lobby, big American malls all decked out for Christmas, and my fill of restaurants found only south of the US/Canada border - PF Changs, Cracker Barrel, and small town Wisconsin establishments that serve fried cheese curds, battered fish on a Friday night, and other various comfort foods smothered with cheese. Ahhhhh, so much to be thankful for!

This trip was different in that we didn't stay in a hotel one single time. We're on this kick of contacting people and inviting ourselves over. We're on a roll. Prepare to be contacted.

Especially if you're listed in the WELS yearbook.

This tactic requires guts and the possibility of rejection. But you never know until you try and the prospect of saving $100 a night and keeping points on our card for Will's plane tickets home is worth the humility. Plus it's nice to have a conversation at the end of a day with people that you haven't just spent all day in a car with. Not that I don't love my people, but conversation gets a little rough after the first 10 hours. I'm just sayin'.

Our new tactic was a great success and we made some new friends (friends of friends) and friends we got to know better. For our evening in Michigan with complete strangers, we played a game of Ticket to Ride. It was embarrassing, actually. I don't do well after 8pm and on top of that, there's something about sitting in a car all day that is ABSOLUTELY EXHAUSTING. So to require me to think strategy much less hold a conversation after the hour I turn back into a pumpkin does not make for impressing new people. But I trudged through and mumbled excuses while trying to hide my pathetic yawns ... until the end of the game when all was said and done and I had WON!!!! They may have very well thought this charade was all part of my master plan to take them down. I hope they have us again!

I hate our car trips but I secretly love them. I hate to love them.

The packing and planning of outfits
The snacks to bring
The gifts to share
The copious stops at Tim Hortons
The podcasts: Issues, etc , The Washington Post Presidential series, Vinyl Cafe stories
Sirius XM: Fox News, the Holly channel
Using my cute Vera Bradley travel bag
Our stop at the first Target in our path - Marquette, Michigan
Figuring out which passports to use like we're Jason Bourne

Confession: I am slightly obsessed with finding the perfect Christmas tree lights. It has been an elusive goal since 2004 when our original lights bit the dust. Since then we've been through mini multi-coloured lights, LED lights, and different mini multi-coloured lights. The LED were a huge debacle. I hated them. If I'm driving through a neighbourhood of lights at night, I am like Jekyll and Hyde. LED's make me mad and regular ones make me happy. I can't explain it but that's what happens! So to have LEDs on my tree in my house is setting us all up for a crazy Christmas. That year was the start of the LED kick and the stores around here only sold them that season and not any normal, soft and happy lights. As a matter of fact, let's not go there. So after that nightmare, stores brought back the normal ones (maybe due to the heightened numbers of household disturbance calls) and we went back to regular, mini multi-coloured. But not yet being content with the light situation, I came close to purchasing some different ones last year at Target but didn't. They were adorable and in retrospect I was kicking myself.

They were back this year! Now we have nine boxes.

So here's hoping that this is the magic maker. Wayne sure hopes so; God bless him for putting up with me.

Thanksgiving was a delightful day of feasting, snowy scenes from the picture windows, and memories made from the likes of Norman Rockwell paintings. "A Muppet Christmas Carol" viewing was involved along with family favourite "Home Alone".

We were also out there in the big city of Rhinelander for Black Friday. There were deals to be had and we aimed to find them! And find them we did. We're not idiots, though. While the rest of us shopped, Dad signed up for a Kohl's card and got a voucher to skip the line that snaked through the WHOLE STORE and got us checked out at customer service (no line) along with an extra 25% off. I don't just get my mad shopping savvy from my mother but my dad has got it going on, too. We're a force to be reckoned with I tell you. Poor Wayne.

Being with Will was fantastic and the almost 4 month separation was noticeable in the inch he had grown. Just short of 6 feet, he's sure to at least be as tall as his Uncle Reid and Uncle Jeff.

I had bought each of the kids their own little LEGO Thanksgiving kit. Will wasn't interested in doing any of the colouring I had brought but he's still a sucker for LEGO. I have to take what I can get. 

And while I can't take a picture of every memory or moment made these days, I hope to remember the kids playing cards together in the back seat and at restaurants as they waited for their food to arrive. I'll remember sitting in church together, all 4 of us,  along with my parents and grandparents as the first Advent candle was lit at the front. I'll remember piling on the couch - a mess of arms and legs and elbows - and watching "Miracle on 34th Street" as a family. I'll remember sitting at Grandpa and Grandma's kitchen table and talking about heaven with my almost 91 year old Grandpa who's excited that his failing sight will be returned on the other side of eternity. 

Saying goodbye to Will is never fun but much easier knowing he comes home in a few weeks! My mother-in-law is also coming and I am looking forward to going from a house of relatively three quiet people to the bustle and extra noise of 5. I can't wait to get menu planning and cookie making and filling the stomachs of my loved ones! 

Our church had our 4th annual Advent by Candlelight last weekend and as usual it was lovely. I brought my big ole' camera along and everything but forgot to take one single picture. Oh, well. More to try to remember in my brain. But there was plenty of candlelight, lots to eat, and hymns to sing as we listened to different readers depict Jesus' mother, Mary, in the program "A Mother Remembers". 

I'm missing my Advent study this year even though it took me so much time and energy. It forced me to be in the Word at the busiest time of year. There's something to be said for that!! Lately I have been enjoying Love Rules: A Study of the Ten Commandments and it has been fantastic. Maybe even blog book club worthy someday? 

The Christmas tunes are playing loud in my house and my new favourite is A Celtic Family Christmas - Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy. I dare you to listen to it without stomping your feet! I had noticed in the fall they were touring and making an Ottawa stop at Christmastime. My dream was for us to go but by the time we went to get tickets it was too picked over. I was crushed!!! So listening to this will have to do and it is so wonderful!!! 

Other than the tree, the house is decorated and I'm loving all the twinkling lights. I'll try to take some pictures and take you on a tour around my house. For now, I'll leave you with Graceland. And in case you're wondering, those trees flash on and off. Elvis was awesome but tacky.