A Peace Prize, Three Kings, and some revisionist Bible History

As an aside, I couldn't resist posting this and dad, you'll just have to forgive me because (a) I'm probably paraphrasing a bit too much but (b) it's too good not to have as a memory.

Here is the conversation the other morning at Breakfast.

Bumpa (having just watched coverage of the Nobel Peace Prize): Pants, do you know who the King of Norway is?

Pants: King Herod.

Bumpa: Close, it's King Harald. Do you know who King Herod was?

Pants: King of Egypt?

Bumpa: That's right, he tried to kill Moses.

Me: Okay, kids, let's wrangle this in ... King Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus. Pharoah was the "King of Egypt" and tried to kill Moses. Pants, what did Moses say to Pharoah?

Pants: Let my people go!

Me: Good job! King Herod was the guy who sent the Magi to spy for him, but they realized Jesus was the Christ Child and "went home by another way"... Anyone? Anyone?

Bumpa: Oh, yeah, so I missed it by 32 years.

Me: 32 years? Dad, what about Joshua, Judges, Ruth... King David, King Solomon... could have been a few more than 32 years.

Bumpa: Yeah you're right... could've been.

Pants' head just ping ponged back and forth as we discussed.

Advent - Days 12-14

Day 12
Today's verse was John 1:10-18 too good not to publish in it's entirety from the NIV translation:

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

The Advent calendar said we were to get our tree tonight, but SN II had tickets to Disney on Ice! So, Pants, Bumpa, SNII and I went to see Disney on Ice - the Princesses. It was a very sweet evening, the skating was great and the stories were all so cute. Jasmine, Mulan (Pants' favorite part: Mu Shu!!), Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and the Little Mermaid took up the first half. Bless his heart, Bumpa kept asking, "Which one is this?" It was fun talking to Pants on my left and Bumpa on my right. The second half was the Cinderella story which was beautifully told on skates. It was a late night, but well worth it. Thanks SN II for making our fun night possible!

Day 13
Our reading today was Mark 1:1-11

Pants really lucked out today and was picked up from school early to go Christmas Tree shopping. She and her daddy brought home a beautiful tree who is temporarily named, "Tree-Tree." I'm thinking that name will stick. I'm not sure when the tradition of naming our trees started, but it has stuck.

We went on to make da lefse and krumkake. It's was a great afternoon and Pants is an amazing lefse flipper. She caught on so quickly and was a great helper in the kitchen. There were Christmas songs on the radio, lots of banter in the kitchen, friends stopping over, and plenty of "Christmas Cheer" *wink*wink*

The day ended with a pizza dinner and rehearsal for Pants' Christmas program at church on Sunday. Put 100+ pre-K through 5th grade on a stage and watch the show. I saw impromptu sword fights, kids turned completely around, kids bobbing and weaving as they sang, girls braiding hair, kids copying the conductor, and of course the usual nose picker and dress lifter -got to have at least one of those in every program ... it was hilarious, but expected, of a rehearsal. They got quite the talking to at the end and we went home exhausted.

Day 14
St. Lucia Day! A Swedish tradition to be sure, but we had some real fun this morning. Pants woke up and was able to open a present or two. She received a St. Lucia gown that her Alpha Grandma (aka Memaw) had sewn, a pretty red sash for it and a crown of candles for her head. The best part was Felicity received a St. Lucia outfit as well!

Pants, Bumpa, and I got dressed, piled in the car and headed out to our friend's St. Lucia Breakfast party ... a full on Swedish smorgasbord. Herring, potato sausage, risgrot (Pants found the almond in her serving and received a beautiful poinsettia plant, bar of chocolate and pretty little Lucia ornament as her prize!), cookies, lefse, julekake, the works! Our friends, Shelly, and her family have been hosting this party for upwards of 20 years - it was wonderful and a great new tradition. Pictures soon!

We came home, relaxed and spent the early afternoon decorating the tree. I forget how fun that is to pull out each ornament and tell the story. Where we got it. Why we got it. Why we love it. A memory that goes with each one. It's something I continually forget about until the time we decorate the tree. This year I made a batch of cookies while Pants decorated. She came running into the kitchen with each ornament and a "Mom! Look at this one!" or "Mom! It's your FAVORITE!" or "Mom! It's our ornament from Lutsen!" Her joy and excitement was enough to bring me to tears more than once. Christmas through a childs eyes... is there anything better? I took some snaps of particularly sentimental, fun, or important ornaments. Would love to hear from you what your favorite ornaments are?

I tried to post the slideshows as before, but must be having an ID 10 T problem. Here is a link.

Advent - Days 9 - 11

Day 9
Again, an evening meeting for me precluded some big activity, so I kept it simple for us. We read Luke 1:11-25 and discussed, "If you were suddenly unable to speak like Zacharias, how would you let people know what you wanted? How would you tell people how you feel or that you love them?" It was fun to hear Pants' answers ranging from "sign language" to "look at my face"

We cuddled up on the couch and watched Rudolph and the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Day 10
Our reading today continued with Luke 1: 26-28 We talked over breakfast about "What is your favorite Christmas carol and why?" Jingle Bells was her answer. She's playing it on her violin so I'm not surprised. We have been listening to Christmas music since Thanksgiving. I love hearing her sweet voice as she belts out the carols in the car.

Charlie Brown Christmas was on this night as was the new show, Prep and Landing. Another low-key night on the couch.

Day 11
This mornings reading was John 1:1-9

And... Bumpa came today! These were the questions: "What does our family do to prepare for special guests? If you knew that Jesus was one of our guests would we do anything differently? Would we do more or less? How could we prepare for unexpected guests?"

And with the Jedi Lefse Master's arrival... let the lefse-bake commence! If you are in town, the flour will be flying on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. We'll have lefse, herring, adult beverages, krumkake, julekake... the works. Would love to see you.

Oh, and stay tuned for Saturday... it will be a good one!

Advent - Days 5 through 8

These days went a little faster than I hoped. If intent is rewarded then I'm a super star. I might have planned a little more than we can squeeze in. Especially with school, violin, and hockey not to mention my social activities.

Day 5
I had an all day meeting this day - left the house at 7:45AM and returned in the wee hours of the next morning, so our Advent activity was abbreviated this morning. We discussed the question, "If you could be any character in a play about the Nativity, who would you be and why?" Sweet girl answered "Mary, because she is so pretty."

Bible verses for the day were Galatians 4:4-5 & Ephesians 1:9-12

Day 6
Given my stellar performance the night before, today's activities were also abbreviated. We read Numbers 24:17, 19; Revelation 22:16; and 2 Peter 1:19


I had planned to do something I remember being so fun. In the second grade, Mrs. Owen toook us on a Christmas Around the World tour. We did all the Christmas activites from all over the world. We have so many great Christmas traditions from Scandinavia and you'd think that one would have stuck, but no. I loved Holland! Holland of all things. So I intended to share that with Annie with this printed on our Advent Chain:

St. Nicholas' Day. The name Santa Claus comes from the name Sinterklass.
On the morning of St. Nicholas' Day, Sinterklaas travels to Amsterdam in a boat. When Sinterklaas comes ashore from the boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinterklaas then leads a procession through Amsterdam, riding a white horse, to meet the Queen of Amsterdam in the Palace.

On December 5th children leave clogs or shoes out to be filled with presents. They also leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklaas's horse.

Tonight, leave out shoes and a treat for Sinterklaas and his horse.

Well... I didn't get to it. There's a very good reason - I was invited to speak as a panelist on a local Friday evening, live, television show as part of their political panel. Another blog for another time, but it was a great experience and they've even invited me back!

Day 7
Bible readings today were Malachi 3:1 and Luke 1:67-79 and our activity was supposed to be Breakfast at Tavern on Grand with Santa this morning! Again... intent.

Tavern on Grand is a local place on St. Paul's Grand Avenue and they have the best walleye ever. Just ask my mom! We used to live across the alley from them which made it very easy to spend lots of time there. As part of the Grand Meander, we go to the Tavern and are treated to a free pancake breakfast with Santa! We've been going since small fry was just 1 year old. We missed one year because I thought it was Sunday not Saturday and we missed this year because... well, because I had been out too late too many nights in a row. It was disappointing and Pants did mention it later that we didn't do our "usual" breakfast with Santa. Lesson learned and opportunity missed.

Day 8
Today brought a little redemption. After church we attended breakfast at the University Club with Santa. This is where Pants noted that it wasn't our usual Santa breakfast... true, but we are making some new memories, right?

We lunched with SN who was fabulous as always! So fun to keep her as part of the family. We took some fun group pictures, ate an amazing lunch and Pants got to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas (a Swim To Me Puppy... anyone? anyone?). Buddy the Elf gave her a candy cane, which was hilarious given we watched Elf last weekend. Noting his name was "Buddy," Pants looked up at me and said, "Watch out for the yellow ones, they don't stop." Quoting movies! I love her! She also got to decorate her own gingerbread baby.

At dinner, we lit the Bethlehem Candle!
This is the first day of our second week of Advent! This week, we will be lighting the Bethlehem Candle. First light the Prophecy Candle, then the Bethlehem Candle.

The Bethlehem Candle represents the preparations made for the coming Christ child. Bethlehem is an appropriate place to signify preparation because, even though no room was available for Mary and Joseph when they came, God had orchestrated events so that Caesar Augustus called for a census to be taken. Joseph and Mary had to leave Nazareth so that they could register in Bethlehem and the Scriptures below were fulfilled!

One of the key characters associated with this week in Advent is John the Baptist because he prepares the way for Jesus! He takes us from the prophecies of old and into the time of Jesus. This week, we are one step closer, as God's hand moves in history to bring His Son to us...and us to Him!

We also discussed this question: if you could make up a new Advent or Christmas tradition for your family to start, what would it be? We didn't come up with anything definitive, but had a great conversation.

Big stuff next week - Bumpa comes to town for the Annual Lefse Bake.

Advent - Day 4

Day 4:
Today we did a couple of fun things. It was an early release day from school, so I picked up Pants at 1:30 and we came home to decorate a Gingerbread house!

Gingerbread baby guarding the entrance of His house. This guy has a mustache.

Just a quick note about these pre-packaged Gingerbread Houses... the frosting comes in a big bag. Best make a trip to the craft store for these handy frosting tubes. Ready made, and ready to go. They saved the project, even if they are Martha Stewart... I justified this by looking at the label; it's actually a Wilton product, the cake experts who have licensed Martha to sell more frosting. I know, she still gets the cash. I'll buy a second Going Rogue book to offset this little slip.

The second part of our project entailed gluing our Advent activity slips into a chain. I put the Advent verses and activity lengthwise on a 1/3 of an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of paper and rolled them up into the Advent calendar cubbies. Then each day after we read the verses and do the activity, Pants gets to glue them onto a big chain! Overkill? Maybe, but it's fun to do.

The finished product... and a very hungry little girl looking for a snack.

Verse for today: Daniel 9:24-27. Really obscure, talking about 'sevens' but when I asked Pants what she thought of that verse she said, "Good stuff. Good stuff. Everything will will be good after the prophesy... the Word, Jesus." Um, wow! I'll go with it. This is some more commentary I found on this prophesy. I found it really interesting especially the historical part.

This passage is so important to our Advent journey because it details an exact timeline of events that prove Jesus is the Messiah! Daniel 9:24-27 outlines what is known as the prophecy of sixty-nine weeks. (Or seventy-weeks, because it is sixty-nine and 1 weeks.)

Prior to these verses, Daniel is praying for the sins of Jerusalem to be forgiven. Daniel was among the many Jews who had been taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians after they conquered Judah. As he is confessing and pleading with God, the angel Gabriel appears to him with the vision of the sixty-nine weeks.

There are over 300 Messianic prophecies about Christ that have either been fulfilled or are yet to be fulfilled. Daniel's prophecy about the sixty-nine week timeline for Jesus' coming, however, has been the most scrutinzed and studied. Sir Isaac Newton and other great thinkers are among those who attempted to decipher this timeline. In 1894, a British evangelical--and Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard!--named Sir Robert Anderson published a work called The Coming Prince which contains his conclusion about the dates and events that occur in Daniel 9. This groundbreaking work paved the way for many of the prophecy chronologies that exist today. Sir Robert Anderson's view is still accepted by many.

In short: The decree of Daniel 9:25 took place on March 4 of 444 B.C. when Nehemiah was ordered to rebuild Jerusalem. The 69 weeks of 7 years equals 483 years (173,880 days using the common prophetic calendar in which a month is always 30 days and a year equals 360 days).

This leads to March 29, A.D. 33, the date of the Triumphal Entry when Jesus comes into Jerusalem and allows Himself to be crucified. This is checked by noting that 444 B.C. to A.D. 33 is 476 years (Remember, there is no year "0"). 476 x 365.24219 days per year = 173,855 days. (Here we use our calendar to see if the dates in our time confirm the events as they happened on the Biblical prophetic calendar!) Count in the extra 25 days between March 4 and March 29 of the two dates and it EQUALS 173,880 days!!

Even in the calculation of these unquestionable dates, I am humbled by the fact that our Lord's life is not confirmed by the date of his birth, but by the date of that for which he was born: to die "but not for Himself".For a thorough reading on the prophecy of Daniel, please read Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks This contains Sir Robert Anderson's chronology.Daniel's Seventy Weeks Current thoughts on the prophecy of Daniel like that of Josh McDowell.Daniel's Prophecy (Studies in the Word)

Advent - The first days

Day 1:

Annie made the best craft this morning in Cornerstone, her SSunday school program: The Good Manger. It was a "nest" looking manger with a swaddled baby Jesus.

"As Advent begins, the manger is cold and empty... no straw for baby Jesus. Each day of Advent, as Pants begins to prepare her heart for the coming of the Christ child, she should be thinking of kindness toward others. then with each "good dded" done, each "good attitude" shown and each "good thought" said to someone else, she places one piece of straw in the manger. In this way we honor the coming Christ child by living as He taught us. On Christmas day, we'll place the swaddled baby Jesus in the manger filled with straw.

As Christmas approaches, our hearts become more and more ready to accept the Christ child. so, too, the manger will grow soft and warm with straw to be ready for the swaddled baby Jesus."

At dinner, as we lit the Prophesy candle, we shared some verses and talked about what the word "prophesy" meant:

Psalm 62:5-6

Isaiah 26:3

Isaiah 40:31

Day Two:

We talked about our favorite Christmas smell (Gingerbread) and our favorite Christmas sound (jingle bells) and then got out Handel's Messiah and had a bit of a sing along. Pants added some straw to her manger and we read these verses:

Isaiah 11:1-2

Jeremiah 23:5-6

Day 3:

This day we hung a ribbon sash for Christmas cards. We received our first card from my dad, surprisingly enough. Usually it's the Moss' - sorry Annie, dad beat you to it. (Or maybe you don't have my new address??) At any rate, verses for this day are:

Isaiah 42: 1, 5-6

Isaiah 60:1-3, 19-22

Stay tuned... 22 more days to come.