Merry Christmas!

Posted by Gabrielle

 Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to our friends and blog readers! I hope this finds you celebrating a lovely advent season! For those of you who usually receive our annual Christmas letter and haven't received it yet, don't worry...we're running a little late this year! And, concerning the recent silence on this blog...don't worry; I've been running a little behind and plan to catch up very soon with pictures from our trip back in October, birthdays, and more!

One of my favorite aspects of Christmas decorating is the lights - not only do they give such a homey, holiday feel, especially in the evenings, but they remind me of the coming of the true Light - the Light of the World. One of my favorite Christmas songs is a slightly more obscure carol called "You Are the Light". I've been listening to it at Christmas for several years now, but was only recently able to find the words. I'm adding the words below and here's a link where you can listen to a very nice recording of the song.

You are the Light--we see.
You are the Truth--we know.
You are the Life--we live.
You are the Hope,
You are the Joy,
You are the Song we sing. 

Within our hearts--Your light.
Within our minds--Your truth.
Within our lives--Your love.
Living Your hope,
Spreading Your joy,

                                              Singing Your beautiful song.

As we celebrate and remember the true meaning of Christmas, will you ponder the words to the favorite song with me? This is one of my favorite remembrances of this season - that Emmanuel has come to me, and I can rejoice! Has He come to you?

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

 posted by:Elliot

As it is now the Christmas season I would like to share with you a video that our family
loves to listen to and watch. It is humorous and I  hope you will like it too. 

Owls!

Guest post by Tobias

                My sister Gabrielle makes very cute owls, and here are some pictures of them.

             
   They're   a   hoot!!









 While I was taking one of the pictures, the camera warned me that a "blink" had been detected!

Which of these cute fellows do you think blinked?

Happy Reformation Day!

Posted by Gabrielle

Ridgecrest Conference center in the mountains

“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!” ~Martin Luther

I'm always encouraged by this quote, especially today as we remember the day on which Martin Luther chose to stand up for Christ and the truth and nailed his 95 theses on the church door. How thankful I should be that our Lord has not given me what I deserved, but has given me something far, far better - eternal life with Him!

Happy Reformation Day!

Blessings,

Gabrielle

for the Hellwig Family

Beniah the soldier.

A few days ago Beniah decided that he wanted to be a roman soldier, and so
he got us to make armor for him out of paper.


 Here are some pictures. 

a little sleepy

he's a happy boy now with all his armor.

the mighty roman general.(but with jeans??)

 

now he's posing.

            Well a few days later they all ended up in the trash.

The Master Motion

posted by Mommy H. 

From Samuel Rutherford's The Loveliness of Christ :

  " It is impossible to be submissive and religiously patient if ye stay your thoughts down among the confused rollings and wheels of second causes, as O the place! O the time! O if this had been, this had not followed! O the linking of this accident with this time and place!
   Look up to the master motion and the first wheel."

And from Jim Elliot :

  Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living

Readings and Musings

posted by Mommy H.

I came across this quote by William Wilberforce in Real Christianity :

 "Measure your progress by your experience of the love of God and its exercise before men...
In contrast, servile, base, and mercenary is the notion of Christian practice among the bulk of nominal Christians.  They give no more than they dare withhold.  They abstain from nothing but what they dare not practice.  When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and the consequent obligation to refrain from it, they reply to you in the very spirit of Shylock, "they cannot find it in the bond."
  In short, they know Christianity only as a system of restraints.   It is robbed of every liberal and generous principle.  It is rendered almost unfit for the social relationships of life, and only suited to the gloomy walls of a cloister, in which they would confine it.
  But true Christians consider themselves as not satisfying some rigorous creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude.  Accordingly, theirs is not the stinted return of a constrained obedience, but the large and liberal measure of voluntary service."

A debt of gratitude... and I have so much for which to be thankful.  Should not the love which He freely bestowed on me flow out in cataracts of loving service to his saints, from Him, to Him and for Him?

Where is your heart?

Wordless Wednesday: What Is He Doing?

Posted by Gabrielle

Benaiah is 5!

Posted by Gabrielle

Can you believe I'm several weeks late in blogging about Benaiah's birthday?! I can. :)

In July, Benaiah turned 5! I clearly remember when he was born, and now he's 5! :)

Funny boy! He's definitely a family ham!

Gotta love those cheeks when little ones blow out candles!

Benaiah's dessert of choice - ice cream sandwiches

Happy Birthday, Benaiah! I pray you will grow up to be a mighty warrior in God's Kingdom!

Pepe's Birthday Party

Posted by Gabrielle

We had the privilege a couple weeks ago to celebrate Pepe's 87th birthday! The evening before, we all went out to our local Chinese buffet for a delicious dinner!

I found this interesting sticker on the dessert buffet trays and of course had to take a picture. After asking around, it turns out that what is meant by potentially hazardous foods include meat, dairy, and eggs, and more, which can go bad easily.

The next evening, we celebrated Pepe's birthday again with dessert at our home. Of course, we couldn't leave out the traditional tart (in this case, cheesecake!) with a candle

Since Pepe likes lemon, we tried to make most of the dessert lemon-flavored.

Lemon wafers

Lemon-flavored wafer rolls

A long-time family favorite - butter wafers

No, we didn't eat these! :) They were just table decorations

Lemon cheesecake squares

Happy Birthday, Pepe! We look forward to many more years celebrating with you!

Morning at the Park

Posted by Gabrielle

During a recent visit to a friend's house, we took some time out in the morning to visit the park while she and Mommy talked. It was a lovely morning - perfect for all sorts of fun! I'll let the pictures speak here. :)

We found a long piece of rope, which naturally suggested a game of jump rope. Elliot caught Christie in mid-jump - good job Elliot!

Sitting in wait for the next hapless victim to come down the slide unawares

Smile!

Pictures with the dragon

My lovely sister Christianna

Hard at work

Another little 'worker-man'

More pictures with the dragon!

This reminded me of Spiderman! Elliot was on top of the slide and I took this picture looking down the slide the way you'd go down with the sun coming through the top

In the fortress

I can't believe I got the chance to catch this picture! Psst...don't tell anyone...yours truly tried one of these too. :)

Someone's having fun!

Weekend with the Family - Part 3

Posted by Gabrielle

The final climax of our weekend with the family in June was a Saturday evening outdoor celebration with friends for Pepe and Meme's 60th anniversary.

The beautiful wedding cake some dear friends made. Thank you, Valenti family! This cake was absolutely delicious, with each layer being a different layer - the top was coffee, the middle coconut, and the bottom lemon.

Our neighbor across the street kindly lent us his RV shelter to hold the party under, and lots of chairs. It was a 100+ degree afternoon that Saturday, so we took lots of breaks in the course of setting up.

Benaiah - one happy little boy!

Friends...

Friends...

Tonton Michael and Tata Becky looking through the photo album we put together

Cutting the cake...

Jedidiah and Tobias had the privilege of manning the drinks table, which included keeping the pitchers of fruit punch and water filled, with of course a frequent break for a cold drink themselves!

And more friends!

We had a wonderful turnout, with about 50-60 good friends of theirs, with lots of food and fellowship. Of course, there was a circle of men!

While decorating the shelter earlier in the afternoon, we realized we needed a welcome mat. My doormat from the basement fit the bill! :)

 And of course, a Kaufman/Hellwig family picture was in order! Thank you Claytons for the pictures!

 It was such a blessing being able to celebrate my grandparent's 60 years of marriage which is so rare these days. Happy Anniversary, Pepe and Meme!