Family Defined

Christmas Eve is here, and I'm sure many of you are off to see Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. Christmas is one of the best times of the year for spending time with family. Traditions abound, and so much love is shared - I know how much I always enjoy spending time with my siblings and parents this time of year.

But recently, I was thinking about Jesus (after all, Christmas is about Him, right?) and His response to family. Remember this passage from Luke?

"Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, 'Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.' He replied, 'My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.'" [8:19-21]

I think we often read this with subtle shock, as Jesus seems to totally set aside his mother and brothers. Were they really that unimportant, that he wouldn't give them any kind of special treatment at all? I think though, that Jesus is here just blowing open our definition of family. While family is fantastic, I think we often have a tendency, especially around Christmas, to narrow our view of who "counts" as family. But if we truly desire to live like Jesus did, we'll have to expand our definition as well.

Family is defined as "those who hear God's word and put it into practice." In the Hall household, extended relatives have often been far away during the holidays, so I think we kind of fell into this broader definition of family by default. We have many "adopted" Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents and Cousins who we've spent our holidays with. Just today, our house was full of friends, decorating cookies, and we had dinner with our most recent adopted Grandparents, Jan and Gary.

Even Jesus shared His first Christmas with people who weren't blood relatives. The shepherds and the wisemen heard God's word (from the angels, and the star and prophecies), and put it into practice by seeking for the baby. Can you imagine Mary's discomfort? With all the worrying we do about getting the house clean for company. . . she had just had a baby. In a stable, no less. Not exactly a setting you want "non-family" people to see you in. And yet, going back to what Jesus said, they are family.

I think this challenges us to let go of our narrow definition of family, and the stress that comes with it - cleaning frenzies and putting on our "perfect" behavior. Who can we include as "family" this year? And how can we change our hearts, so we can focus more on loving them as family, rather than impressing them?

Isaac - August 2005

Christmas in Georgia

Q: What do you get when you combine 2 large families and 2 grandparents, a small farm house in Georgia, a horse, and countless small motorized vehicles?

A: 21 people and a heck of a good time!

This was our Christmas adventure for the year. Our family road tripped down to Georgia on December 22nd, in two vehicles, and were able to spend 5 days reconnecting with our family and having a splendid time all around. Thank you, Dave Halls, for hosting us for so long! Here are some pictures of our fun:

Small cousin fun - make believe!

Ever heard of the Red-Green Show?
These goons got videos of them for Christmas, hence the costumes.

Andy was excited about Christmas.

This is Annie. She is a life-saver, folks. You see, although Annie is 21, she is the only cousin on both sides who has ever been "my" cousin. Besides being "my" cousin, she is just a fantastic girl - SO much fun, and also a very godly example to all the little kiddos running around, and to me. I love you girl! Thanks for a great Christmas together!

My darling grandparents. They truly are wonderful, and I SO enjoyed my time with them! Aren't they precious? We even got to have "story time" one night, when they told funny stories about their high school years.

Best. Reaction. To. A. Christmas. Gift. Ever.
Grandpa and Grandma got Isaac this musket for Christmas.
Needless to say, boy + gun = ecstatic!

Beautiful girls! This is Eva, and my sister Abby.

Silly girls. :)

They decided to drive the go-kart in the mud. Go figure.

Little girls getting in on the action!

Talking time - always gotta have that!

More play-time

Pie Making! Grandma is a kitchen queen, and I think she loves watching her granddaughters go crazy in the kitchen. Eva and I had fun with that!

So there you go! That was our Christmas holiday this year.

Finals and Winter Break

(This is my desk, preparing to study. And taking pictures

of my studying, rather than actually studying.)

My last post on here related to procrastinating from studying for finals. That seems so very long ago! I am happy to report that I made it through finals week in one piece, and arrived safely home Friday evening (despite a short and tumultuous "scenic route"). I opened the door to our house and was greeted by a roomful of giggling girls. Abby was having a Christmas Tea for her book club, and I had the pleasure of watching the girls enjoy themselves, serving them tea, and watching The Scarlet Pimpernel with them. It was a nice evening, and the house looked so wonderful and Christmas-y, it made me feel warm inside.

Saturday was spent puttering around the house, getting comfortable once again in our large home with the many people who reside here. We also spent a significant amount of time readying ourselves for the Christmas Ball that night, put on by a group who does English Country Line Dances in Salem and Rolla. Mum, Dad, Abby, Zeke, and I all went - we dressed up and had a wonderful time.

Sunday night, we had dinner with our friends Jan and Gary Bloom - an exciting, thrilling dinner of course - and then went over to Rolla Bible Church to see their annual Christmas program. I had been invited to go over to the Hickles' house afterward, and didn't think anything of it when Mark seemed to take a while to leave the church and head back to his house. We walked into their kitchen, and I noticed a cake on the table - before I had time to process why, my friends jumped out from all over and yelled, "Surprise!" And boy, was I surprised! My 18th birthday was celebrated in grand fashion that night, with cake, Apples to Apples, basketball (in the cold, with the girls watching like old times), and wonderful time with friends. What a perfect evening - and what wonderful friends I have!

Monday was another great night - our family went caroling at two nursing homes with the Hickles and Nisbetts. It's the first time I've ever been Christmas Caroling in four part harmony, and I must admit that I stayed silent a lot of the time, just so I could listen. Do you remember going caroling when you were a kid? If you're like me, everything was fine as long as you were singing - but then the adults insisted that you walk around and say hi to the old people. That was the worst! They smelled funny, and always wanted to hold your hand, and you never knew what to say to them, because they were complete strangers! Well, I've grown out of that - actually, that's the part I look forward to now. To see their faces light up when you walk over, and you're the one who reaches out for their hand. . . Definitely worth it. Try it sometime - maybe even not around Christmas, but just sometime when you're feeling down. After caroling, we had dinner at Hickles' and then played games for a while. Then, I went over to the Quakkelaars' house and played Santa Claus, wrapping up presents for their early Christmas celebration the next morning, while Mr. and Mrs. Q did some last minute shopping. It was fun to imagine those kids opening their gifts the next morning, and praying for each of them as I wrapped up their individual gifts.

Here are some random pictures from break so far:

Umm - this handsome guy is my little brother.
Girls - stay away. I will fend you off with a fork.

This is me with my two little sisters.
Don't ask about the hair.
One got curls, the other got blond - me?
I'm stuck with straight and brown.
(Okay, I lied - the curls aren't natural, but still!)
Oh - and this here is Andy. My only older sibling.
I think he is helping Mum in the kitchen.
Or rather. . . not helping. Mum in the kitchen.

Then Tuesday morning - bright and early off to Georgia! (More on that to come. . .)

Thanksgiving Break and Such

A whole week off for Thanksgiving - what a luxury! One of my professors didn't even know that Truman was getting an entire week this year. This is the first year they have and, as he put it, "That was totally not on my radar. At all" (he told me this with a bewildered look on his face). I think he needed the break. I know I did - three tests and two papers the week before quite wore me out!

The weekend before break I spent in Peoria, Illinois, at a National Missionary Convention. It was great - I mostly enjoyed, the time spent with friends, talking about missions and all the possibilities we, as young people, have before us right now. God could do anything with our lives!

After the convention, most of the week was spent relaxing at home - and I do mean relaxing. I'm afraid I was rather lazy. We watched movies, and played games, took walks and naps. Thanksgiving dinner was spent at our friends the Q2s' house, along with Mrs. Hazell, Zephan, and Alida. Lots of food and laughter - friends just make everything in life that much more wonderful, don't they?

I turned 18 on Friday, with very little ceremony. Kind of humbling when you have an unassuming birthday - but I did get to go on a long walk, talk quite a bit with God, get a hug from a very special girl, receive a wonderful birthday present shortly after I was legally 18, and watch A-team late in the shed with the guys.

The weekend was very exciting - we are now the proud borrowers of a horse! When my cousin asked to hear all about it, I told her all I knew - "It's brown." If you are one of those special people who wants to know every detail, my sister and Mum both blogged about it as well. I just have some pictures. My little family of cowboys (and girls)! Aren't they precious? I think Andy was cowering in the basement at this point, asking himself what we have become. :) Just kidding - he was as excited about the horse as anyone . . . just not quite as ready to entirely forsake his California roots.

So over all, a very successful weekend home - even though I didn't shoot a gun, play racquetball, or watch Beauty and the Beast with a certain someone who has never seen it. But there's always Christmas break!

22. Oh, Monopoly, How I Despise You

I failed. You may recall that on my packing list from this summer, one of the items was to "complete a monopoly game with Zeke." Well, I played a monopoly game with him this past weekend, but we didn't really complete it - he allowed me to forfeit. I probably would have won, but after nearly 2 hours, it was just too much. We had pretty equal numbers of properties/houses/hotels, and I felt like we just kept switching money. Eventually, I suppose one of us would have gotten out of luck, but then you have the fun of selling off houses and mortgaging properties, and that just takes a ridiculous amount of time. So I forfeited. But I'm still counting it, so there.

Thank you, my brother, for allowing me to be lame. Someday, perhaps I will discover the same love for monopoly that you have. Or, more likely, someday . . . you will be a Realtor.

Videos

Okay, so Isaac has discovered our video camera. And now, if you are so inclined, you could come over and watch countless hours of. . .

me making pies in the kitchen
Isaac and I drinking a blueberry smoothie
Isaac singing "I like to move it, move it" from Madagascar
Isaac and Elizabeth light saber fighting
Isaac snitching from the pies I just made, and me yelling "Don't touch the pies!"
Isaac talking about the "Democratics" and the "Publics," in a British accent
About 30 minutes of our carpet

And so much more!

The Much Loved Pirates

Today, I'm watching the kids (Isaac and Libeth). This involves things like playing dollhouse, wiping bottoms, giving them lunch, putting them down for naps, and, of course, listening to Pirates of Penzance.

And I've got to tell you, Elizabeth does the policeman routine incredibly well. The little club and hat that she has definitely help with the overall effect. If you've never before experienced it, the ultimate is watching her from behind - oh gosh. I almost wet my pants it was so funny.

Try to envision it. (Her doing it, not me wetting my pants.)

Ecuador!

Yesterday evening, we got back from our big family vacation of the summer - two weeks in Ecuador. Of course, it was incredible. But you know me (if you're reading my blog, you'd better know me!) - I'm so glad to be home!

We have nearly 600 photos from the trip - and that's just our family. It was a family reunion, so that means there were 4 other digital cameras. I'm willing to bet that each one of them took more photos than we did.

On our way home, I had a thought (yes, it does happen) - what if I (oh horrors!) made a paper scrapbook, with printed photos, instead of blogging 7 billion (Isaac's favorite number) posts to show them all? As Harlow Doyle (from Odyssey) would say, "A brilliant idea!"

So - if you want to see Ecuador photos, then swing by our house in about two weeks and I'll let you have a peek. Or, if you really, really want to see some now - click here for an online album of them.

16. Floating Away on a Cloud

Completed one more item! Our family float trip this past Monday was a smashing success. Kudos to Mrs. Hickle for being the great mastermind behind it - I love her mass amounts.

Basically, the trip consisted of:
Nathan and David tipping their canoe.
Nathan and David trying to maintain control of the bag of Sour Patch Kids.
Nathan and David tipping Abby and Sarah for unknown reasons.
Nathan and David trying to sleep on our trampoline afterward.
Nathan and David both serving the volleyball very close to the vicinity of my head.

Do you see a recurring theme? Nathan declared it the worst float trip he'd ever been on. I must admit that the weather was a bit chilly, and the water even chillier - and guess what? He confirmed that it was cold all four times he was tipped. I asked, just to be sure.

w00t for fun times, and being squished into the back seat of a van with three boys. I can't really imagine much more fun. OH! And I found a heart-shaped rock, as did Esther Nail. She basically rocks my socks. As does Abby. "Aflack!"

Fourth of July

Everyone in our family, except Dad, headed up to Forrest, Illinois for the fourth this year. It’s become something of a tradition, and a sort of family reunion – we always have a picnic at the park, and do games and stuff at Grandma’s house afterwards. This year was no exception – although it rained all day on the fourth, we braved the wet-ness and had lunch in the enclosed pavilion at the park, even venturing to do a cherry seed spitting contest! Here are some pictures from the trip.

  Abby had been in Michigan for about 2 weeks before this trip, and we met up with her at Grandma’s house. Apparently, she missed Zeke. :)

 

My Grandma, Aunt, and Mum with Isaac and two little cousins

 We know this game as “Redneck Golf,” but they called it Ladder ball. I was the worst, by far. :)

 

Andy got to judge the adults’ cherry seed spitting contest – and here I am, trying to get Aunt Kiersten to explain how in the world one spits a cherry seed. I never did figure it out. :) See? Here’s Grandpa doing it – he actually did a pretty good job!

 

           Elizabeth’s birthday was on the 5th, so we had an ice cream cake to celebrate.

 

So, my almost-7-year-old brother can play pool.  Who knew?

 

 

Aww, look at how cute they are! Nick and Ben, my cousins from Dubia. They made the weekend quite fun – I think in this photo, they were showing me what they did when Abby was reading The Odyssey to them the night before. lol.

Bonfire - Halls House - Be There!

It has been ever so long since we've had a bonfire out here! I suppose winter does put a damper on that sort of thing. So without further ado, inviting all friends of the Hall family to an incredibly informal bonfire this Friday night! Umm. . . yes, that is tomorrow. Hence the "incredibly informal" title.

You and your family are welcome to join us for an evening of simple fun and fellowship. The weather seems to promise to stay clear, dry, and satisfyingly chilly. We shall roast marshmallows, and those who insist upon it may ruin them by coupling them with chocolate. *shudder of horror* A flashlight will be present for "redneck star-gazing," and the evening shall be as fun as the guests decide to make it. :)

What: Bonfire

When: Friday, March 20th

Time: 7pm - ? as late as people can stay, and my parents will let us

(midnight seems to be a typical kick-out time)

Where: The Halls' Home

10777 CR 5100

To Bring: Yourself and any family members who would like to come

(although, we won't object if you leave the annoying ones at home)

Mum

Happy Birthday Mum!

I would write you a poem, but it couldn't even come close to describing all that you mean to me, Dad, and the other kids. It's really a challenge to find words that both describe you, and rhyme - and then I end up saying things I don't actually mean, and not saying all that I really want to. :)

Thanks for your hard work - for your endurance - for your organization and for keeping our lives running smoothly - for taking the time to talk with each of us kids when we need it - for encouraging us in our friendships and teaching us how to work through the tough times - for loving Dad, and being such a wonderful wife to him - for totally beating out Reagan as the "Great Communicator" - for doing all the little things, tirelessly - for always being quick to admit fault and set things straight - for showing us kids what it is like to really reach the needs of others with action - for being sensitive to those around you - for not needing makeup or the latest fashion or trend to look and feel beautiful - for making each of us feel that our own talents are unique and should be developed - for giggling with us - for always being willing to host a crowd of teens or little kids at the house or in the shed, even when we break things :) - for valuing learning, education, and especially reading and for passing that on to all of us - for every chart, table, list, calendar, and schedule you ever wrote on, typed out, or posted on the fridge - for being open to new things - for listening - for being the ultimate sports mom, one who actually knows more about the game than many coaches - for loving games and playing Ticket to Ride ad naseum the past few weeks - for teaching us how to compromise - for maintaining peace in the family even when your own life gets stressful - for being patient with us as we try to help you - for always being available to others, regardless of the circumstances - for loving God with all your heart, soul, and strength . . . and for letting that love overflow to all you meet.

There are so many other things - these are just the ones I thought of off the top of my head. :) We all love you so much Mum! Continue to fight the good fight, to run the good race - I know that your crown in Heaven is going to be a beautiful one. Mostly to match your own beauty, of course. <3>

xoxox,

Beck

Old Family Photos, c. 2004