I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. We had some busy yet fun days. Some of out of town friends were in town and we spend time catching up. Ruth and Faith (Chris' sisters) were in town too so we spend a good bit of time hanging out with them each day. They enjoyed some one on one time with emma as well while i worked for 2 days. Emma is a big fan of both her aunts. She has been a fan of Pam and Mateja already but it seemed like Ruth and Faith were new discoveries. She was truly excited each day when she saw them. It was fun for me and Chris to see how much she enjoyed spending time with them. It made me sad sometimes realizing that all of her aunts are far away and she sees them once a year, yet at the same time i was happy to see how emma does not need any warm up time with her aunts. When we were in Croatia Mateja was an instant hit and the same happend now with Ruth and Faith. Praise the Lord for technology and webcameras so emma can keep in touch.
This year I was trying to think some more about Christmas and why we do what we do. Emma enjoyed the gifts even though it was overwhelming still. Our pastor in church had a great sermon about the gift of Christmas. The gift that Christmas bring is an unexpected gift. Gifts we give are to make us more beautiful (clothes...) or to distract us from what is going on (gadgets...), to make us more efficient...Our gifts are all about self reliance. But what would it look like to give gifts that aren't about self reliance. But the gift that God gives at Christmas is a little baby born in the manger. It is a very unexpected gift. The gift God gives says as much about God as it tells about the recipient of the gift. It tells us that we need a counselor, a mighty God, a Father. It tells us that we are sinners that need rescue from the outside because self reliance is destructive and dehumanizing. God knew us better then we knew ourselves. Emma was very excited about baby Jesus in the manger laying under our christmas tree. She would take Jesus each morning, give Him some milk to drink, she would carry Him everywhere around, she took care of him. She does not understand who Jesus is and why He came yet. But in a way it is like she knew there must be something special about baby Jesus-she would not play with any of the other figurines in the manger scene. I want to remember what is the whole reason we celebrate Christmas. That the reason we even give gifts is because Christmas is God giving us the ultimate gift of Jesus our Savior. I pray that all of you reading this would find the gift God has given you and that Christmas will never be the same. That it won't be just about the new shirts, or days off, or a good party, but about celebrating the birth of your Savior and receiving the gift God has prepared for you.
Isaiah 9:5
"Unto us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the goverment will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Stari Zavjet: Izaija, poglavlje 9:5
" Jer, dijete nam se rodilo,
sina dobismo;
na plecima mu je vlast.
Ime mu je:
Savjetnik divni, Bog silni,
Otac vjecni, Knez mironosni."
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
No longer just a Croatian Sensation!
Today I became an American Citizen! Some of you may be surprised that i was not an american citizen by marriage already but the process was 6 years old but finally over:) This morning I had my citizenship interview. The interview consisted of a 3 part test, including english, american history and goverment, and an interview. The last few weeks I studied for the history and goverment part. I figured I should not have problems with the english portion. The test was not hard. I got 100% of the answers correct. The interview part was not hard either-since i really am married to Chris and it was not hard to answer facts about our marriage and him. So i got reccomended for approval for american citizenship. I was not aware but they offered me to take the Oath (prisega) today. Of course I said I will do that since who wants to wait for yet another letter and go another time to do that part. I was blessed by my mother-in-law being close and able to keep emma for the extended period so i can stay and do the oath. Chris came from work to witness this historic moment:) What was amazing about the whole thing was that in that room there was 137 new american citizens coming from 50 different countries. When they called out all the countries it was amazing. Like traveling around the world in 60 seconds. As i was waiting there in the waiting room, i was amazed at all the skin colors, and all the different languages i heard all around me. I brought a book to read but could not concentrate but rather listened and observed the different cultures all around me. TO me that was amazing. Sometimes i picture heaven like that-people from all over the world and different cultures all at one place pursuing the same goal praising God-in this case pledging allegence to the US. I loved being one of the "different" folks. I think when they called out Croatia I was the only one to stand up. The lady sitting next to me was from Ethiopia, girl in front of me from Kenya, The lady on the other side from Phillipines, the man from Republic of China.....There was a lots of celebration going on in that room after the ceremony. Not everyone was here by choice like i was, some were here because they were persecuted in their own countries and US was a place where they can find peace and freedom, there were people there because they were refugees, there was young and old. But at the end I think they all stood there proud to be american at last!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Christmas Tree!
This last Thursday we decorated our christmas tree. Chris and I were not sure how will that be with Emma being so interested and investigative of everything but we had a ton of fun together just doing it. Chris got the boxes out from the attic with all the christmas decorations that we have and Emma was just so eager to see what is in each box. I took the box that has the christmas tree stuff and Emma helped me to do the speedy unwrapping and revealing of each decoration. After checking each decoration out, she was a great helper taking the decorations out from the box and giving them to Chris to find a perfect spot on the tree for each one. She watched with amazement as the tree was getting more and more decorated. When it was done, she was so excited she made a few circles around the house saying "Tree! Tree!" and pointing to the tree. We were even brave enough to put a manger scene under the tree-even though our figurines are ceramic and breakable. Emma was instructed not to touch anything but just to look at it. In the last week she wakes up every morning with the same excitment as that first night to see the tree still there. She lays down on the floor and finds baby Jesus in the manger, takes the baby out to give it a morning kiss and some of her milk. Then she proceeds to take the apples we have on the tree as well and feed the apple to her bear and other stuffed animals. Chris says she has already discovered the forbidden fruit:):) Even though we told her she can not touch anything we learned she will only take one ornament down, play with it for a second and then give it back to us to put back. So we let her have fun with it. She is not into destroying the ornaments and that is the goal:) So yes, we are excited about the Christmas season, and teaching Emma about baby Jesus and his birthday especially when we see how excited she is about all that has changed around the house and new stories we share each day. I am curious what will happen when the tree goes down and baby Jesus goes for a year long sleep. Hopefully it won't be too sad for Emma. After all Easter will be just around the corner!
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