We have a tradition at our home of making gingerbread houses around Christmas time.  We mass-produce the main shapes so that all that has to be done is the decorating part.

Everyone likes to decorate their houses in their own way - some put on lots of candy, while others would rather put on less; some like to make their houses fancy, while other prefer to keep their houses simple.  There seem to be two antithetical philosophies in decorating these houses: the goal is either aesthetic or palatableness.  Well, there are some in-between houses, too.

Elizabeth made this neat-looking gingerbread house.

Another tradition we have at our home is the making and distributing of cookie plates.  The recipients of these plates vary from year to year, but generally include friends, pastors, widows, people in need in various ways, and people or organizations that are helpful to the community.

This year we brought cookie plates and thank-you notes to the fire stations, the ambulance station, and the police stations.  The ambulance station was closed (because it was Christmas eve), but we happened to catch an ambulance pulling out, about to start their shift.  The police seemed the most surprised of them all.  I suppose most people don't think to thank the police.

I Peter 2:13-14 "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well."

     We have received several comments on our family photo this year, so I thought it would be interesting to write a post on its production.  Ever since our family outgrew the Walmart photo studio, we have taken our own family photos.  This year's is by far the best we have done.  Thank you, David, for all the labour you put into this!  Jonathan, thank you for being his assistant!

     Many times we have taken our family photo in picturesque outdoor locations such as in front of the cedar hedge, against the "pierre du champ" wall of our house, or even simply by the spreading weeping willow by the road.  The reason for these being taken outdoors is primarily the fact that indoor pictures are very difficult to take due to lighting problems.  During this past year, however, we learned a bit concerning lighting from various sources.  So, David made the great attempt: a studio-style indoor family photo!  Accomplishing this feat required quite a bit of planning and preparation.  Our house does not afford any convenient photo background walls, so a background was constructed using a white sheet.

     Then the lighting needed to be arranged...  Nathanael's construction light came in handy as did a motion detecting light that was at one point mounted on the barn wall and a worklight of sorts made a number of years ago from scraps of lumber, aluminium foil, and a halogen bulb.

     Then came the picture taking...  We probably took dozens of photos.  The camera was giving us some trouble with getting the colours right.  Shadows were also very difficult to eliminate.

After a while, we decided to change the background colour to black by using some Geo-textile left over from the construction.

And then the photo-taking session resumed...

Here is the finalist.

But even still, our expert photo manager had to do some alterations to perfect it.

     "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." Psalm 127

We are mailing all our family newsletters in the next few weeks, but we realize that not everyone that visits our blog necessarily receives our newletter. So, if you are interested in receiving an FFF&F (or if you do receive one and really don't want to), just use this form to contact us. If you received one last year, there is a good chance you are already on our mailing list, but you never know...

This past week we have had the opportunity of ministering through music and chalk talks in a few different places.  On Tuesday the 6th, we were at Grace Christian Home for a chalk talk.  The unsaved residents need to hear the Gospel message preached and those who know the Lord appreciate hearing it again.  So, the staff of the home decided to schedule the chalk talk during the normal supper time, when almost everyone would be able to be there.  This chalk talk is called "The Shepherds' Story."

This past weekend we had more of an adventure.  I would like to thank all those who were praying for us on this trip - we really needed it!  We were scheduled to go to Beachburg, ON, for two events: one Saturday evening in a retirement home and the other Sunday afternoon at the local community centre.  However by the time we got to Montreal, our trailer was making funny sounds.  We investigated the problem and found that the axle had somehow slid forward a few inches and was now eating the wheel well.  We didn't have any tools to fix the problem, and weren't sure whether we could fix the problem even if we did have the tools.

We finally decided we had better locate a u-haul dealer.  Thanks to some mobile technology, we found that there was one only a few minutes out of our way.  We were very grateful that we didn't have to go far to find one.  When we got there we found that they had exacty two trailers, only one of which was large enough.  We had lost some time already by starting on our way a little later than expected and trying to fix our trailer without tools and having to drive smoothly (those who know Montreal roads know that is not easy...)  So, we unloaded quickly and loaded it all into the rented u-haul.

After this adventure, we were running rather later than we had hoped, knowing that retirement home residents do not normally arrive late for special events.  Amazingly we arrived in plenty of time to set up.  Praise the Lord!  Very few of the residents were Christians, as far as I know, so I am glad that every chalk talk we do is carefully planned to contain a clear salvation message.  Hopefully, some will be receptive to the message that God has for them and respond accordingly.

After this presentation, we went to the community centre to set up for the next day.  We were quite surprised to see this glowing sign (thank you Matthew!):

There were a lot more people than I had expected to come who once again heard the good news of Jesus Christ clearly presented.  May the seed that was planted in their hearts that day sprout up and bring forth fruit.

We did have time in between to fellowship with our host family.  Thank you for your warm hospitality!  Oh, and since the chalk talk we were doing was "The Shepherds' Story", I thought it might be appropriate to add a picture of one of their sheep.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." - Isaiah 53:6-7

Yesterday afternoon we had the opportunity of visiting the Wales Home for a time of music and a chalk talk.  The residents apparently enjoyed it very much, and I rejoice that so many heard the gospel preached clearly.

I would like to thank those who are so faithful in praying for us as we minister through music and chalk talks.  The Devil does not want people to hear the truth of God's Word and will make every effort to twart reception of the Gospel by the hearts of those that hear.  "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." - Romans 10:17.

We have a few more events coming up, so don't forget to check our events page.  Please pray that the Lord would grant that we speak and share only what He wants us to speak and share, as it says in Ephesians 4:29, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

This on is an adaptation of Matthew Bowman's "Born to Die."  Although evangelicals rarely forget that Christmas is about Christ's birth, we often forget at Christmas time why Jesus was born.  It was fortold by the prophets and declared by Jesus before He died, but not even his disciples really understood it until Jesus himself explained it to the men on the road to Emmaus.  Jesus Christ was born to die.