Wreath Of Helping Hands

We are celebrating the Adventure of Christmas! We are expectantly waiting and preparing for the celebration of the the birth of Jesus! This time of preparation is sometimes called Advent. Advent means "to come". We are called to be expectantly, and readily waiting for Jesus' coming all year long, in everything we do. So as we prepare for Christmas let this season of Advent serve a duel purpose; to remind us of the birth of our Messiah, and to encourage us to wait expectantly for His second coming.



I do not like to wait, in fact I am slightly impatient. Since having children, I have learned that a toddler waiting along with you in a grocery line has even less patience with waiting than I do. While we waited, we sing or play pat a cake. So a toddlers wait time became a fun time with Mommy.
What can we do while waiting for Christmas?
We can focus on Jesus, through Bible study, prayer, worship and fellowship with fellow believers. Another way is by serving others as Jesus taught us to do. As a family on this first Sunday of Advent we are going to sit down and list ways we can serve others in our home, at church, and in the community. We'll learn and grow closer to Christ during our wait time.



Together with the children and families at our church we will make wreathes of helping hands during the Sunday School hour. Each family unit will have a bare wreath and will trace and cut out each family members hand tracings. Families will discuss ways they can serve throughour the Christmas season. Later we will print out on each tracing a way in which a family member has served and place it on the wreath. Even the youngest children can serve with hugs, kisses, songs and smiles. Each family member should try to add a tracing every day! By Christmas time our wreaths will be full of greens! What a joyous Christmas it will be through serving others!

Dear God,

During this season of Advent allow us to savour each moment as we prepare for Your Son's birthday party! May Jesus not get lost in all of the hustle and bustle this time of year can bring. May we keep Jesus the center of all of our holiday celebrating! May we truly enjoy the wonderment, excitement and adventure this Christmas!

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Mark 13:35-37

"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you , I say to everyone: "Watch!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Loved Ones,

You are gracious and kind.......

and full of love too,

During this Thanksgiving season..........

We are thankful for you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love, The Patterson 5

She Gave Him His Life

Today is my husband's birthday. We have been celebrating all month as he is a very special person! He is thirty-nine today!

Every November I think about his birth mother, knowing she must be wondering about him. Wondering if the choice she made thirty nine years ago was the right one. Wondering if the hopes she had for him, yet could not give him, came to fruition through giving him up. It must have been such a difficult selfless decision.

I'd like to tell her how much love the Patterson's gave him growing up, and how they treasured each day with him. I'd love to tell her that they told me the story of his arrival at least one hundred times, their faces all aglow! His mom, Charlotte, made him homemade costumes, elaborately decorated cakes, and kites. His dad helped him make his own go cart, gave him an extensive love of learning, and showed him how to help others. They gave him a foundation of love that sustains him even in his adulthood. He is thankful for the home he grew up in, and does not feel abandoned by her decision.

I think she would be proud of the man he has become. He is a man of God, a wonderful husband, a loving father, a good friend, and a successful engineer. He is respected at church and in his community.

I wish I could tell her how thankful I am for her decision. She loved him so much that she carried him for nine months and then let him go. She gave him his life. Even though we may never meet, I love her for that.

Dear God,

On this Happy Birthday Day, I thank you for the man you gave to me to love and cherish until the day I die. I thank you for his birth mom, may she feel at peace knowing he is leading a joyful life, and is thankful for the life she gave. I thank you for the opportunity to celebrate this life!

In Jesus Name,

Amen.

Ephesians 1:3-6

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 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 will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

If you have time, listen to this song on the Bethany adoption site (not the agency for Mr P's adoption) but dear friends have adopted children through this wonderful agency. The song is by Mark Schulz and I am moved to tears every time I hear it. Click here to hear it.