Jessica Nugent Aagaard likes this

Yesterday at our Christmas morning church service, we were blessed to view this artistic representation on what Jesus' birth would have been like if social media had existed.  It's so moving, yet simple, and I can't really elaborate on it and do it justice, so I'll let you watch...  Good stuff...

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas...  

Sufficient For Me

2 Corinthians 12:9
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.


I constantly find myself facing this world and wishing, longing for a closer, deeper relationship with the people in my life.  I've long felt that others are far more important to me than I am to them.  This is not me fishing...just voicing, rather writing, something that has been on my heart for so long...
Perhaps I'm not the only one that feels this way.  Invisible.  Unimportant.  Unworthy.  
I find myself avoiding people.  To avoid feeling like I'm being avoided I avoid first, so that I can avoid the whole rotten feeling of avoidance altogether.  And yet, it usually backfires, and I feel worse.  Maybe I'm made to.  God has made me one to reach out.  I can't be a very effective witness or even just an empathic ear if I'm avoiding people just so I don't get hurt.  
And so what do I do?  I realized that in this weakness of mine, God has the strength I need...I just need to continue to seek Him out.  Stop avoiding people and just be.  Be who God made me to be and realize that He hungers for my attention and interaction just as we hunger for the attention and interaction of those around us.  
Distractions abound now, so I'll write more later...  OOO

I wanna be Your hands, I wanna be Your feet...

I wanna go where You send me...
Sean and I have talked about missions before.  Several times.  SEVERAL times.  He was never really interested, per se, in doing mission work, but still supported my desire to be on our church's missions team and pray about mission work, and then it hit him like a wall last year that he needed to go to Haiti with a group from our church family here in Kenai, and the Lord really opened his heart to it.
The hardest part?  Parting with the things that tie you down in this world.  And not for a lack of trying.  We don't want things.  Our home is on the market.  I know it's all in good time...  Rather, it's all in God's time...
And I know - we don't need to travel globally to be effective missionaries.  This is so SO true.  And we endeavor to serve, wherever we are.
We do desire, however, to get training, to educate ourselves in how to be most effective as a missionary family, and how to best serve.
And so, we look out there in anticipation.  We've found several schools around the world that train missionaries.  This is what we pray on.  This is what we chew on...
I know our home will sell.  We'll get ourselves out of debt.  We'll free ourselves from the trappings of this world and go where He sends us, whether it's down the street or beyond the horizon.  So please pray - for patience for me.  Steadfastness.  True, unwavering hearts.  A desire to serve others to bring God the glory...  Thank you.

This is a peanut-free zone...

As most of you know, our little guy is allergic to peanuts.  Life is great though - and we eat well, but shopping has taken on a whole new level of carefulness, as I've never been much of a label-reader.  I now scour labels like nobody's business, and can tell you all the places those allergy warnings can "hide." And I'll read labels I've read before a dozen times, just to make sure nothing's changed in how something's made.  They do make the labels fairly reader-friendly, but every once in a while we encounter a product with two separate allergy warnings that include different ingredients: what is contained in the product and what MAY be contained in the product, and in completely different places on the product.  

Food items that you'd never imagine having anything to do with peanuts come with warnings.

I haven't really had any issues adjusting - I would give up water if Michael were allergic.  Sean's had a bit harder of a time, where a scoop of PB at any given time would make him a happy man.  But also with him, he'd give up anything for Michael.  

We've been able to find peanut-free products with some ease; we've adjusted several different recipes, and have even made a few new ones of our own.  :)  Creativity has struck in the Aagaard household, and I think even Sean is able to live quite happily without peanut butter.  ;)  

In the future, I may share some of our recipes with you - they're nothing extravagant, but tasty still, and my guys seem to enjoy...  

Take care out there in that big (yet small at the same time) world, and remember that some of these little guys just can't function around what is an everyday treat to others...

OOO

Poster courtesy of http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/

On their site you can print off different allergy warning posters for your home or office...for free!  Many thanks guys!  :)

WHA WHOOOAAAH WUUUHR?

According to Wu Kee Smith (rockin' name), this Wookiee phrase can be translated as "Anyone for hot cocoa?"*  Boy, lemme tell you, this is the winter for it, if we've ever had one...  Temperatures have reached record lows for this early in the season; but we're not worried...we've got cocoa.

And here's a wee little Wookiee we found too!

Who is this cute little chap, you ask?

...

It's SuperThorBaccaMan!

(I'm sorry it's sideways - I tried to fix it...)

And he's waiting for you to come join us for some hot cocoa!!!

*For more HILARIOUS Wookiee phrases (and an all-around good laugh) check out How to Speak Wookiee: A Manual for Intergalactic Communication by Wu Kee Smith, illustrated by JAKe...  It's a riot the whole family will enjoy, and very....GRAAAAAAAHROWOW ("conceptually ambitious and flawlessly executed")!  Don't worry - it comes with audio clips for many of the phrases.  

And seriously - cocoas all around!  

How time flies...

SO many things to catch up on!  Our little guy is now 18 months old and here I sit writing without even having shared a birthday photo with you...

This is our little Thor on his actual birthday...  ;)  

And here's our little guy (yep - this time donning a Superman shirt and red cape) at his Superhero Shindig:

He's *not* quite sure just what to do with that lightning bolt that came out of his trusty hammer, Mjölnir:

Should he devour it, or throw it at his foe?

(Why not do both?? ...And then get frustrated at the unmerciful restriction of the cursed high chair?)

Just a few photos of our little Michael (I mean, Thor!) to update this little blog.  May you all have a most happy Thanksgiving!  

"I leave you with this thought...It is not the one with the greatest power which is important!! It is the one who uses his power wisely...in the cause of justice!" - Thor Odinson

Fall

I'm not gonna lie...  I love fall!  I'm pretty sure it's my favorite time of year; I just wish ours lasted a *little* longer.  ;) 
Sweater weather is here...we had our first frost this morning (our house is always a little bit behind...), the skies are darker and we have seen the northern lights gracing our skies on a nightly basis (and kept me company on my drive to work this morning), and the air has a wonderful crispness to it. 
I'll update again soon (with photos), and some stories of our amazing little guy that just keeps on getting cooler...  ;) 

A fall shot from October of '08