Things are hustling and bustling here in the Russell household. December is a very busy month for us; between church, recitals for our private students, weddings, Lessons and Carols, Christmas at Covenant, and Christmas itself - we are busy.
We went and cut down our Christmas tree last weekend. It's the top 8.5 feet of a pine tree. So, it doesn't exactly 'look' like a typical tree.
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| Wilson has on short sleeves because it was 70 degrees when we bought our tree! |
So, as you can see - it's pretty different! But we love it!
We spent Thanksgiving in Greenville with our families - what a blessing for us to be able to be with our families! Of course, Brick Street had one of it's most successful years in the bakery. Sweet Potato Cake is a huge hit in the Upstate!
It was packed with cakes (hundreds and hundreds of them!) on Wednesday night - waiting to be iced with that amazing homemade cream cheese frosting!
And then, we had to get a family picture with the Russells doing the infamous 'Earmuffs'
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| It's important to note: Wilson's not making the earmuffs - so the rest of us look......crazy. :) |
Wilson is doing really well. He can sign 'please' , 'thank you' , and 'more' now. Pretty much only in relation to food though.
Our Feast Group at church is reading through Mere Christianity together and Thomas and I have been loving it. Since this month is so insane for us, we found that we weren't really in control of anything. And we tried to fix our stress and general discontentment with: cleaning our car... or getting the budget back in order. But what was really good about the chapters we read in MC was that we were making our contentment/peace about ourselves. We weren't making our WHOLE lives about Christ anymore, but rather, what was going to make us feel better at the moment. It was incredibly eye-opening to realize that. We were trying to fix the main problem by treating only the symptoms and not face the reality. While keeping a clean car and balanced finances are good, we were trying to find our joy in them; not Christ. By God's grace we were brought to our knees with this realization, but the Lord didn't stop there. He convicted us of how much of our lives we were living out for appearance-sake and our selfishness. It was tough. But, then I recalled a verse we had been memorizing together:
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, to God, holy and acceptable,
which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Romans 12.1-2
So, this December, we are praying and striving to be different. Different from what this world wants us to be. Different from what culture tells us we should be. We are praying that our lives would seek God first and only. We are not perfect, and we will fail - but God has redeemed us to further His kingdom. It's going to be tough, especially in December - but we are always on the battlefield, no matter the month. I would ask that you pray for both Thomas and I. As musicians (and parents to our amazing little man!) we are already tired and December has just begun.
We look forward to seeing our families and friends in January!
In Christ,
Julie
And one last picture of Wilson (whose favorite song right now is Gangnam Style). He's not allowed to watch the music video - he just enjoys dancing to it. :)
