Friday, December 31, 2010

And baby makes six

Before anyone reads the title and thinks the impossible....that we are going to be having a sixth member of the Beard household, I must confess: the impossible has been accomplished.

You see, it really was impossible that Gary would ever let us get a dog. He hated the dog fur, dog smell, dog....well, everything. After getting Sherman (our betta fish) six months ago, the kids have been very responsible in taking care of him. So, for Christmas (actually more like a New Year's gift), Gary wanted to surprise us all by purchasing a dog. Let me introduce you to Buddy, our Border Terrier/ Chihuahua mix. He is just 13 weeks old.


Now, while taking care of a fish is definitely the world's easiest job---feed him a bit in the morning and change his water once every couple weeks. There is no clean-up, no noise, and no chewed shoes. The kids (and Gary) are ready to take on this additional responsibility. I must say, he has already won our hearts (well, not quite mine, I am waiting for him to not pee on the floor) :)

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Moments


Tonight before I sat down to post these pictures, I took some time to read a bit before bed. I was reading one of my favorite books; it continually challenges my spiritual walk, and it reminds me of what is truly important.

I want to post some Christmas pictures because that is just the purpose of this blog, and my mom will really want to see them :) However, I do have to add: this is not what the special Christmas moments were.

Let me share a brief part of the chapter I was just reading: "Suppose you were an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling about, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom and your best friend get excited about that two-fifths of a second with you.....maybe. But no one else will realize it is even you. Even if you tell them, they won't care. Let's take it a step further. What if you rent out the whole theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come see the new movie about you? People will say, "You are an idiot! How could you think this movie is about you?" Many Christians are even more delusional than this person I've been describing. So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us. God creates the world....People rebel against God, so God destroys the world with a flood....God singles out a man to make as the father of a nation....The climax: The son of God is born among the people whom God somehow still loves....The finale:the throne room of God. From start to finish, this movie is obviously about God. Our scene in this movie, our brief life, falls somewhere between those acts. We have only our two-fifths of a second to live. I don't know about you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to be about my making much about God."

After a challenging illustration like this, I want to share my two best Christmas moments: The first Christmas memory occurred on Christmas Eve during our church service, with my eyes closed in worship and song to this precious Child. Secondly, I treasure the time I was able to listen on Christmas morning to my nine year old reading the familiar yet still precious Christmas story in Luke 2.

I don't mean to be "religious" sounding; I did have much fun with my family. However, the best Christmas moments were spent in remembering the main character of this season and every day of our lives: God!