A VERY WINNIE CHRISTMAS

Hi friends! It's been a minute since my last post, so I want to sit down for a bit and catch up. It's freezing here in our corner of Tennessee, so grab your favorite something warm. In the midst of this Advent season, it has been fun finding new ways to make joyful noise alongside reading Scripture in our Joyful Noise Advent calendar. Last week, Clayton and I went to a new local music venue down the road called The Mulehouse for Christy Nockels' Christmas show. There's something extra special about sitting in a revived historic church building and receiving treasured Christmas hymns of old. This year has been the busiest December for me to date, so being still for an evening and taking in the joyful noise being sung over us was absolutely life giving.

Christy has a beautiful song called Advent Hymn, adapted from Charles Wesley's Morning Hymn song. Some of the words say, "so here I wait in hope of you, all my soul's longing through and through, and dayspring from on high be near, and daystar in my heart appear."

Aren't those words breathtaking? As I live these Advent days, the words from her chorus feel just right. As the longing in us waits full of hope, holy night light illuminates in our hearts. And this light spreads out into a dark world with the warmest glow.

Over the weekend we had a little Christmas party to celebrate our first Christmas in our home. There's nothing I love more than getting people together and introducing old and new friends. We made some treats for all the merriment that have become Christmas staples we will return to making for years to come. 

Here are a few to try for your Christmas festivities!

Most all of the ingredients I found at Trader Joe's and Target. I hope you'll find these fun and easy recipes on your table this Christmas season. Enjoy!