Home Sanctuary

Merry Christmas from the Ridge Family

Christmas is here! What an incredible time of year....a time to treasure loved ones both near and far, and a time to ponder the mystery of a baby in a manger and the breathless hope he brought to the world. Wrapped in a rough woven cloth and nestled in straw lay the King of the Universe - the Word made flesh to dwell among us....."and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

This Christmas, may God's grace find you, fill you and sustain you. May his glory shine all around you - no matter what your circumstances - and may you be warmed by his presence and the hope of eternal life.

From my family to yours - Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cutout Cookies Video

I thought ya'll might like to see how our Cookie Decorating Night went. We've decorated cookies now for over twenty years - we started when the kids were toddlers - and we still have fun. Back when we first started, the decorating parties were little more than complete chaos: sprinkles and frosting EVERYWHERE, cookies that looked like monkeys decorated them, and little people licking their fingers while working, blech. Today you'll see that this has evolved into a very classy affair, if you don't count the plastic plates, knives and tablecloths.

Special thanks to my daughter, Lauren, who captured some scenes on her phone and put them to some music! 

 

Cookie Night 

Just in case you missed the recipe, here it is again:

 

Christmas Cutout Cookies

1 1/2 c butter, soft

3/4 c sugar

3 1/3 c flour

Mix in large mixing bowl at low speed.  Roll out 3/8 inches thick, cut into desired shapes Bake at 300 for 20-25 min (ours never go that long, so watch for browning).  If dough doesn't stick together, add drops of evap. milk or half and half.

Icing:  Mix about a bag a powdered sugar with 1 stick of soft butter (or less)  Add small amounts of milk until it is a smooth (not too thick) consistency.  Add 1-2 tsp. almond flavoring, the secret of cutout cookie deliciousness.  Divide up into bowls and stir in food coloring (red, green, blue, yellow, leave one bowl with white).  Have colorful sprinkles on hand, along with toothpicks and small plastic knives for swirling designs around.  Give each person a paper plate to work over, to keep the sprinkles from going EVERYWHERE.

Hint:  Toothpicks make great decorating tools: you can dip one in frosting, then touch a sprinkle and it sticks to it!  Then you can place those itty bitty sprinkles in perfect places to make stunningly perfect patterns.  Your friends will be wowed.  When you get sick of such attention to detail, then just sprinkle away.  It's all good.

 

 

"You Remain," by Corby LaCroix - Best New Song 2011

My favorite worship song of 2011 is by Corby LaCroix, titled "You Remain." I've written about Corby before... he is the worship pastor at my home church, Midlothian Bible Church, and we are blessed by his ministry and talent every Sunday morning!

This morning I want to share this song. I hope you'll listen to the words and let them go down into your heart today. With Christmas just around the corner, this reminds us of the beauty of God's eternal BIGNESS and his steadfast love for us.

 

 

You Remain, by Corby LaCroix

 

Isn't that awesome?? I love it.

I've got a CD to give away today, Corby's "Declaration" album. It has "You Remain" on it as well as many others that will get stuck in your head....but in a good way! Corby's got a country/rock/worship style that is easy to listen to and great to sing along with. If you ever pull up next to me at a stop light and I have my head thrown back and I'm singing at the top of my lungs, there is a good chance I'm rocking along with one of his songs. I've been known to do that.

For a chance to win a CD, just go over to Corby's Facebook page and "like" it, then come on back here to let me know you did it in a comment. This would make a great gift for someone (well, RE-gift it after you open it up and load the songs into your itunes library.)

EASY! PRE-CHRISTMAS FUN! GREAT MUSIC! You can't ask for more than that.

Happy Monday!

 

Live Webcast with Priscilla Shirer Today at 10 am CST

Hey there, Girls! I want to invite you to join Priscilla Shirer's live webcast today at 10 am CST....in which I will be one of her guests! Priscilla has been hosting a book club for her newest book, The Resolution for Women, and this week's topic is "Loving My Children."

I am so honored to be part of the round table discussion with Priscilla and her sister, Chrystal (another incredible mom) and know it is going to be a fun - maybe challenging - hour. Hop on over and join us for all or part of it! I believe you'll be able to log in and "chat" while we talk...and you can pose your own questions about parenting and loving your children for us to discuss.

See you there!!

Rachel

Emergency Room Visit

Hi Company Girls! I'm late getting today's post up.....thanks for your patience. We spent a looong evening in the emergency room last night with our son, who injured his shoulder in a hockey game.

The doctor says it is a deep contusion and possible separation, but nothing is broken or fractured - yay! With that good news, we dragged ourselves home after midnight and fell into bed. I'll have our coffee post ready in just a little bit....after I've had another cup of REAL coffee!

Love you all, Rachel

The Wedding's Almost Here!

It has been a busy couple of weeks, and almost every night I've fallen in bed - too tired to think about posting a photo or two of our preparations for the wedding. But I'm SO EXCITED about how things are looking! My florist friend, Kim May, arrived with a trailer full of goodies and started decorating. If this is how it looks "unfinished," I can't wait until we are all done.

Here is the barn so far. We covered the plywood walls in burlap..and the food will go in this main area:

 

About a dozen of these chandeliers make our old tin barn look pretty fancy! That's my garage-sale dresser that will be part of a vignette with my grandmother's wedding dress.

 

The wedding cakes will be in here....an empty stall. Aren't those drapey things THE BOMB???

The tent wat put up yesterday (insurance against bad weather), but it looks like the forecast is for mid 70's and NO RAIN!! Wow, that's nice.

I'll post more pics and tell you all about the wedding next week. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as my sweet daughter marries her man. We are rejoicing.

Love, Rachel

Preparation Time

On Saturday, we had a Pre-Wedding Work Day at our house. Several family members and a couple of friends came over and helped us tackle some of the big projects that required lots of hands. 

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My mom, mother-in-law, aunt and Meghan - ironing tablecloths in the garage.

 

I've been collecting these vintage tablecloths to use.

We can't get over the artistry and fine workmanship in these beautiful things!

 

My daughter, Lauren, stapled burlap to the barn walls.

 

Flash, although eager to "help," was jailed in a pen for the afternoon. Sorry, buddy.

 

My sister-in-law, Shawn, and her daughter, Annie, weeded and planted flowers.

 

Tom, his dad, and his uncle laid out the parking lines in the pasture.

 

Grayson and Robert (SIL) cleared branches, along with all the guys. Special thanks to my dad for bringing his chain saw!!

 

Chili and cornbread was the perfect meal to end the day.

It is amazing how "many hands make light work!" We got so much done and had FUN being together! After our chili and cornbread, we sat around a small campfire talking and laughing. Meghan and Nathan were here and it gave my relatives a chance to get to know Nathan better. He charmed us with his rendition of their love story. So sweet. :) It was an incredible day....one that will remain in our memories as a treasure.

It made me think we should do things like this more often....and not just wait for a special occasion. Times like these are what make life joyful and meaningful. Our hearts are overflowing from the gifts of time and effort from the people we love so much.....words can't even express our gratitude.

I will be taking a two week hiatus from the daily Small Things as we prepare for the wedding in two weeks. I am speaking at a women's retreat this weekend and will need some time to get ready for that as well. I hope to post photos of some of our projects between now and then....we'll see how that goes!! 

Rachel 

TV Studio - Almost Done

I apologize for not hosting Company Girl Coffee this morning! It's been a long hard week on the TV studio and I had to let a few things go....and that was one of them - argh! I hope you've had a great week, with many of you getting back into the routine of school and packing lunches. I've hated that I've had so much going on during Grayson's first week of school....but he assures me that, as a 17 year old, he can handle it. He's been very gracious.

Saturday *should* be our last long day on the set. We've got two walls to faux finish, a book case to glaze, wrought iron railings to finish, and an antique set of doors to glaze as well. Things have taken longer than we thought, and as the "finishers" we have to work around everyone else who is trying to get THEIR jobs done. In a relatively small space, it can be challenging.

Here, I'm glazing anaglypta wallpaper to bring out the pattern.

Time away from my blog has given me the opportunity to get refreshed for the daily Small Things here on Home Sanctuary, which will start back on Sept. 1!

I've come to realize YET AGAIN how much of my life is made up of small things...little decisions, tiny tasks, and small actions that have ripple effects on my family, home and work. I can't wait to get back to keeping company with you as we do those little activities that gain positive momentum and make good things happen!

Plus, my house looks like a tornado hit it and I'm going to need moral support to whip it back into shape. :)

See you soon!

Rachel

Updates...

Bob, doing what he loves to do - helping people shoot better with DryFire.

Quick update on my father in law, Bob Ridge. He is home and doing well after a second stent was put in on Friday. The doctors and staff said again how lucky he is to be alive. Had he arrived any later to the hospital, the outcome would not have been a good one. We are so grateful and excited that he had such an excellent result. It's been a GREAT weekend of rejoicing!

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. When something like this happens to someone you love, it makes you realize that each day is a gift......and so many of the things we get worked up over are really pretty silly in the big scheme of things. It is good to be grateful, and good to be "in" each moment. None of us knows how many of those moments we will have - and it would be sad to miss out on the preciousness of them in our rush to accomplish the tasks on our To Do lists. 

Today is the first day of school - the "last First Day" for our son, Grayson. He is a senior in high school this year and I am savoring it. I will have our traditional chocolate chip cookies waiting for him when he gets home and I will try not to puddle up when I see him dunking them in milk....just like he has for the last twelve First Days. He's still just as cute as that first grader he was a blink ago! {wiping tear}

Our annual First Day photo.

Embrace the day. :)

Blessings to you, my sweet friends!!

Love, Rachel

Meet Corby LaCroix

I'm very excited about introducing you to someone who God regularly uses in my life...and hopefully will use in your life, too. Corby LaCroix is the Worship Pastor at my home church, and every Sunday we are blessed not only by his talent, but his heart for the Lord. We have some amazing worship services that truly bring us into the presence of God.

It's not often you meet people who simply give of themselves - their talents and life - and let God uses them however he wishes. Corby is one of those people. He has a remarkable story in the music world - of spending 5 years trying to break into the Nashville scene, being offered a record deal, and then giving that up when he knew God had something else for him. He married his high school sweetheart, worked a regular job, and led worship for 7 years...putting his country music "performance" days behind and pursuing God's plan for his life. Making a music album was not on his radar....except that the Lord has now asked him to make one - not a performance album - but a worship one. Wow, God is full of surprises.

Corby is about to release a brand new worship album - due out April 16! He has written some incredible music that I can't wait for everyone to hear. It is his desire for the music to not only glorify God, but to offer a chance for the listener to participate in the experience. Each song is accompanied by a written devotional that you can find in the CD cover (done by Pastor Layne Mershimer, an amazing writer and teacher), which is a really cool idea.

Corby's style is a blend of country, acoustic, and yeah, a little bit of rock. Must be why I like his style so much. :) Find out more about him here, and sample his music here.

CD's will be available on his website after April 16, and you can find him on Face Book here. I'd love for the Company Girls to "like" his new fan page and really boost his debut!!

If you are in the Dallas area, Corby is doing a CD release concert at my home church, Midlothian Bible Church in Midlothian, TX on Saturday, April 16 at 6 pm. Information is here. I will be there and would love to see you there, too!

Today's Small Thing is in the next post.