Christmas Craft #2 --Christmas Pajamas

We tried something new this year. I have had some fabric crayons sitting in my craft stash for a long time so we gave them a try. You use them by coloring a picture on plain paper and then transferring it to fabric by ironing it on. They drew and colored their own pictures (other than Creed) and then we transferred them to squares of fabric which I then appliqued onto t-shirts. We picked out the flannel last year after Christmas and as you can tell by Jack's too long of shorts rather than pants I didn't buy enough!!!!

November 2009 Book Log

73. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
74. Do Unto Others by Jeff Abbott
75. The Complete Fables by Aesop
76. Life as a Vapor by John Piper
77. Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton by John Piper
78. The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out without Selling Out by Mark Driscoll
79. Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters who Walk with God by Voddie Baucham
80. Not Even a Hint by Joshua Harris

They don't come any cuter.

First Christmas Craft of 2009

I got the idea from one of those little pull-off flyers I found at Joann's. I bought some paper mache letters from Hobby Lobby and painted them a brown red. I chose my photos and printed them in a Sepia one. Then I used Modge Podge to decoupage them along with Chrismas scrapbook paper. It turned out much better than I thought it would!

A Consumer Culture

Some stats from Mark Driscoll's The Radical Reformission:

In ninety nations, people spend less each year than we in the United States spend on our garbage bags.

Each year more Americans declare bankruptcy than graduate from college.

We have twice as many malls as high schools.

We spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches than on higher education.

Our supermarkets have 250 percent more items than they did twenty years ago.

Parents spend six hours shopping each week, and forty minutes playing with their children.

Seventy percent of Americans visit a mall each week; that's more than visit houses of worship.

Something to Think About

From the annual Status of Global Mission, Presence, and Activities report:

The number of Christian martyrs in 2008 was 175,000. That's 479 Christians every day who lost their lives as a result of being a Christian.

May we be encouraged to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for the gospel, be prepared to suffer ourselves, and be evermore crying out, "Come, Lord Jesus, come!"

Optimism vs. Hope

Some reflections in this essay on the difference and why hope is the better alternative.