A Peaceful Christmas

Did you know that snow accumulation produces reduction in sound? I think that’s why I love the snow so much. It’s so calming and peaceful.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t last long. As soon as the snow starts melting and refreezing, it becomes more dense, which amplifies sound.

My Advent readings have been reminding me of something so important: the peace that I so desperately seek is actually from one thing… my faith and belief in God’s power, plan, promises, and provision.

True peace doesn’t come from anything in the world. Even the quietness of the snow doesn’t last.

Peace comes from surrender. Peace comes from letting go. Peace comes from Him. When He reminds me of this, I feel like I can breathe. I can unlock my jaw. I can let my shoulders drop. He is so good. Even when I don’t understand. Even when it’s hard to trust or let go. He gives good gifts. He loves me so much. He loves you so much as well.

Some more truths that I read today from Heaven and Nature Sing by Hannah Anderson (in chapter 23):

“Christmas is exactly the time for the bittersweet.”

“Jesus does not free us from death. He frees us from fear. He frees us to live and die at peace as he did. He frees us to sacrifice despite the pain.

Because to reach resurrection, you must die. You must walk through the valley.”

“We may not be able to avoid suffering, but God will hold us safe in the midst of it.”

This season has definitely been very bittersweet for my family and for me. It has been one full of high highs and low lows.

Through this season, though, I’m reminded again that He is the one who provides peace despite our circumstances.

While the Advent study that I have been doing has been hard to “keep up with” because of all the chaos around us, it has been so so good. I have been more focused on Jesus this season than ever before. God, in his sovereignty, knew this. He has given me a peace within the midst of heartache and struggle that I wouldn’t have had without seeking Him.

I’m not saying that the things that have been a struggle have just magically disappeared or that I’m not struggling at all, but the peace outweighs the struggle at this point.

Peace this Christmas

My goal the next several days is to slow down and savor Christmas. To focus on my family. To focus on playing with my kids. To focus on eating yummy foods (without worrying about calories…), listening to Christmas music 24/7, playing games, and watching Christmas movies. I want to think back to this Christmas as a sweet one despite the chaos that we have been through lately. We have chosen to spend Christmas with just our little family. Karis has been away for months and is home. Our family has been through a lot of struggle. But we are together. We are more at peace now than we have been in a long time. I want to just enjoy that and truly savor it.

Today I will do some baking. Tonight we will look at Christmas lights in the surrounding neighborhoods. Tomorrow we will play lots of games. I bought some games specific to Christmas. We will eat junk food. We will open the family presents and the kids’ stockings. We will stream our Christmas Eve service from our church. Christmas Day will involve opening individual presents and more games and more yummy foods. I have allowed the kids to choose what we will have for Christmas dinner. Ethan is making his fried chicken that we all love. Karis and I are going to work on making mashed potatoes. Levi and I are going to make homemade Mac n cheese together. I will have a veggie tray as well, cause balance. I will be making sourdough sausage and cheese balls for breakfast tomorrow and cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I will also be making some yummy desserts. So yes, lots of calories and unhealthy foods… but it’s temporary. I choose to live life and enjoy Christmas with my family!

I will get back to focusing on healthy foods and movement after Christmas! I have already been trying to get some movement in every day because I decided to do a fitness challenge this month (crazy, I know). Next month, I will be doing a nutrition challenge.

But today, I will focus on what’s in front of me and just live a life of peace and joy with my family!

Our New Home

The past few weeks have been super busy. We decided on December 6th that we would be moving houses. We have been thinking/praying about it for a few months, but once we decided, we hit the ground running.

That weekend, we painted the whole living room, dining room, and kitchen (including cabinets). Robert accidentally spilled paint on the carpet in the dining room. We were going to replace the flooring in the dining room and kitchen because of that, but our director told us to just replace the flooring in the whole upstairs (except for the bedrooms) because the flooring was super old anyway. So, that was the next step. Robert spent hours and hours replacing the flooring, and it looks amazing!

“Before” and “During” Pictures

In my previous post, I shared what the living/kitchen/dining room looked like before we started any work.

Here they are again, just so I can have them all in one place!

Here are some pictures that I took during the process.

“After” Pictures

We still have a little bit more to do, but the house is basically finished. We just still have some more things at the old house to bring over. I’m not sure where I will put it. Haha!

Here are some current pics of the upstairs that I took last night!

Living room/kitchen/dining room/hallway/pantry:

Entryway/Office + Guest Room/Master bedroom:

We still need to put the daybed together in the guest room, buy mattresses, and buy bedding. That is not an immediate concern, so it’ll happen eventually. The kids have unpacked and organized their bedrooms as well, but I probably won’t share pictures of their rooms. I am still trying to figure out how to make my gym work in a smaller space, and we have work to do in the downstairs living room still. These things will happen slowly!

Outside Pictures

We have a lot of work to do on the yard when it’s not super snowy anymore (which will be months). The outside of the house also needs a lot of work… some siding needs to be replaced, and the house will need to be repainted. It’ll happen eventually.

My plan is to get chickens again and work on gardening. There is a raised bed that I will use, but I might also try to do an in-ground garden at some point. I’m still working on the details of this! We have an acre now, and I want to utilize the space. My kids are super annoyed that I want chickens again after I’ve bought and sold many flocks, but this is very different. We have such a great space now! It’s the perfect little backyard homestead! Everyone knew that if we decided to move into this house, I would be homesteading again. That was part of the decision making process.