Happy Advent Pt. I

I believe it was Merriam, or was it Webster?, who penned the definition of Advent - the period beginning four Sundays before Christmas and observed by some Christians as a season of prayer and fasting.

Luke 2: 1-5

1-5About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. ~The Message

Birthday Girls

Hayoung, Kate, and Sarah all have November birthdays! These pictures are from Hayoung's birthday party. Kate and Hayoung are wearing hanbok. Sarah is wearing a fuchsia scarf.

Wacky Products

These are some wacky products that we just couldn't pass up. The first one is Melon Latte. There is no coffee involved. It is just some sort of disgusting combination of melon and milk. The back of the bottle (which is clear, not white) says, "What happens when melon meets milk." There is no question mark. It's a statement. As in, this is what happens when melon meets milk... Micah tosses his cookies.

The other, less milky, picture is *drumroll please* Jelly Belly bodywash. We have watermelon, blueberry, and very cherry. The wackiest part about it is that it's edible! Just kidding, don't eat it. It tastes like soap. We didn't go to the store seeking jelly bean bodywash. It just sorta jumped out at us. It was only about 99 cents per bottle. As you can see, we got one of each flavor.

It says belly on the bottle, but I think you can use it on everything.

Take a Picture, It'll Last Longer

Sweet November

Today is a wonderful, cool November day. It actually felt like winter this morning! Right now the sun is starting to get lower in the sky, and it's shining through the leaves setting them all aflame with autumn glory.

We've been enjoying our time off with home-made soup and good books. In addition to enjoying soup, we've also been enjoying some delicious home-made chocolate-chip cookies that Micah made! You have no idea! Chocolate chip cookies are a rarity around here! Micah managed to bring some chocolate chips back with him after his recent visit home.

Earlier today, as we were looking out our front window, what should appear but a little black squirrel! It was so cute - it looked so different from other squirrels that we're used to seeing. In addition to being black, it also had longer-than-usual ears that pointed straight up with fuzzy fur on the tips, and it had a white belly. I will hopefully be able to post a picture of it.

It's hard to believe that we're so close to coming home. I still remember so vividly our first night spent here - all the raw emotion, the overwhelming "newness" of everything, and the weighty realization that we were going to be living here! Away from all we'd ever known! This was not just going to be a vacation. And now...we're reaching the end of it. Right now I'm just trying to process why it was that God brought us here - I think only He'll know for awhile. I know that He has done something in us concerning our faith in Him and in our relationship with each other. And our view of the world has changed. It seems...bigger? I don't know...I think this one will take a while to summarize too. And yet, one fact remains - God's kingdom's culture is universal. If it were not, in fact, there's no way we could have made it this far. It has been God's people that have encouraged, strengthened, and upheld us while we've been here. And I know it's not just about us - at all actually- but I'm so thankful that God's plan does include our sanctification. One of our biggest desires right now is to correctly discern God's will for our lives so that we can be fully obedient to Him. We've got ideas of our next step, but God is truly the one that determines it. Hope this post finds you all in good health in every way. Love you, Sarah

Squirrel Friend:)

Picture of our apartment and hillPicture of distant city landscape with mountain and clouds