Tis the Season

I love this time of year! I love how the holiday season commences with Thanksgiving, a time to reflect on God, and show gratitude to our provider and giver of all life. Immediately after Thanksgiving, we Barons begin preparations for Christmas. This blog post is being specifically written for our family and friends in MI. I wanted to include you all in our holiday festivities and introduce you to the events that have made our holiday season joyful thus far.

Some of the events that have taken place this Advent season are traditions for our family that we return to each year, and some of the things we've done this year are new to us. Josh and I wanted to be sure our first major holiday here in Fonda, NY would be celebrated with joy, rather than seeing us Barons moping around the house on Thanksgiving missing our families in MI. In order to avert this disaster, we came up with a fool proof plan....to spend Thanksgiving at an indoor water park! Who could be sad and mopey while splashing in a lazy river or being whisked down a twisty, tunnel slide in the dark on an inner tube? So, after a small scale Thanksgiving lunch here at home we hopped in the car and drove for an hour on the country roads, through upstate NY, to reach Six Flags Great Escape. Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving celebration.

 On our way home from Six Flags we scoped out a new Christmas tree farm to which we could return the next morning to cut down our own tree. We were excited as our house here in Fonda has 9 ft ceilings, so we could hunt for a much larger tree than ever before. And we were thrilled to find Avery's Tree Farm, where they have beautiful Christmas trees as far as the eye can see (or so it seemed).

As soon as we got home we turned up the Christmas tunes and started decorating. We have a certain way that we always trim our tree...that involves Josh unwrapping all the ornaments and setting them out on the table (boring job). The kids and I get the job of actually hanging the ornaments on the branches. And then I get to go around and move all the ornaments in order to put my favorites in front. Thus, you will see that most of the pictures of trimming the tree include the kids and I. Sorry Josh! However, the most important job, topping the tree with the star, was saved for the man of the house. The final result may just be the best looking Christmas tree to ever grace our living room.

Throughout the month of December we've been invited to some really fun holiday parties and performances at Solomon and Lydia's schools. Here are some pictures captured at those events.

(It appears that only Lydia has been invited to Christmas parties, but Solomon's school party is this week coming up. And for the Christmas party at the library, Solomon was at home with the same stomach bug that the rest of the country has suffered)

Since we moved here at the beginning of November the kids have worked really hard practicing for the Christmas musical at church, "It's a Wonder-Full Life". The performance was last night, 12.18.2010. It was spectacular! All the children did so great and had tons of fun. I wish our camera would have been able to capture a little better quality pictures during the performance. But hopefully you all can see the joy on the kids' faces despite the poor photography skills.

We miss you all! Hope you enjoyed sharing our holiday season thus far. May the peace of Christ be with each one of you during this Advent season.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Homesick

I'm feeling a bit homesick. There, I said it.

Moving far away from all that you are used to brings about quite a potpourri of emotions. So far mine have mostly been scented with peacefulness, excitement, adventure, and enthusiasm.  But every so often feelings of loneliness and homesickness creep into my spirit. Today is one of those days.

Today I am longing to be surrounded by all things familiar. I am aching for my old neighborhood and friends, the DDH YMCA, the streets of Grand Rapids, MI, and all things that are "home" to me. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not sulking in a puddle of tears. But I am feeling a bit melancholy.

One can argue that home can be created wherever you are. And that is certainly true. I do feel comfortable and cozy in our new home here in Fonda, NY. And I'm really am growing to love our new friends here. Seeing familiar faces at the school, the post office, the library, and the Fulton County Y, all bring me a joy. But today is a day where I don't feel like meeting new people. I don't want to introduce myself again. I don't want to introduce my family from afar. What I am craving is to sit down with an old friend, have a glass or wine, or a cup of coffee, talk with, and listen to someone who really, truly knows me. To have a friend next to me at the table who understands my sense of humor, who knows my religious and political points of view, and who will discuss a book we've both just read (because we always read the same books)...that is what my soul longs for.

Now I feel better for having written that "out loud". I will live with these feelings for as long as they persist, and I will continue to make Fonda my home. But, I will look forward to my upcoming visit to MI with greater joy. And my friends in MI will probably get really big hugs and possibly kisses in a couple weeks when we roll into town!

Our Advent List

We Barons have created our fair share of "Dear Santa" letters. Each November the kids get "The Big Toys R Us Magazine" in the mail and spend weeks flipping through the pages, circling all the toys that look appealing to them. I've created Amazon wish lists with everything from books to boots. Josh has listed titles, authors and item numbers on scrap paper for me to order the specific books and commentaries he hopes to open on Christmas morning. This year was no different. The pages of the Toys R Us magazine are covered in ink, my wish lists have been emailed to Nana, and Josh is dreaming of the books that will soon grace his new book shelves.

But on Sunday, in Josh's sermon he mentioned an article he'd read about creating an Advent List. This list differs from a Christmas list in one significant way. Rather than hoping to receive each and every item listed, The Advent list consists of things we hope God will take away during this Advent season, in order to make room for the Christ child to grow inside of us. As dreadful as that sounds, we decided to give it a try on Sunday afternoon while eating lunch.

Solomon offered up the first suggestion for our list. "I want God to take away my bad dream of a scary monster with glowing eyes."  As he started to further understand the concept of what we were doing he went on to say that he wanted Jesus to take away his temper and help him not run off to his room, angry, so often.

At the young age of 4, Lydia did not achieve that level of understanding. She quickly chimed in with many silly ideas of what God could take away, such as "my teeth". As we offered these suggestions to her,  back-talking and her quick temper, she got mad, and the exercise began to turn sour. So we laughed at her silly ideas and moved on to Josh and I.

Josh wrote down his request next. He asked that God would take away his desire to be online, checking his many different sites so often. He mentioned that he feels like he wastes too much time in a day checking and re-checking sites such as CBS Sports, Fantasy Football, Twitter, Facebook, email, etc. 

It was my turn to contribute next. Immediately my moodiness came to mind and I said that I wanted God to take away my grumpy moods. Solomon was quick to say, emphatically "Me too!", only to make me realize that I needed God to take this away from me even more. 

I really wasn't very excited about making this Advent list when Josh suggested it. But the completion of this list has caused me to pause and think about the way that I pray, and the way that I live. So often I find myself asking for healing for a sick friend, reconciliation for a broken relationship, encouragement where there is doubt or insecurity -- all very good requests. But, I haven't spent enough time with God, evaluating the parts of myself that need to be taken away. What other areas of my life need to be simplified, stripped, made bare? What will God teach me during this Advent season?

On a much lighter note, there was one thing that would have been on my Amazon Wish List, but I wanted it so badly that I decided to buy it for myself. And today, my first "Joy of Cooking" cookbook arrived in my PO Box. And I am so excited to get the pages of this cookbook messy with olive oil, flour, pie crust, and cocoa. So, needless to say, I am crossing my fingers that God will not take away my love for cooking good food!

Anonymous No More

When I lived in Grand Rapids my life was filled with anonymity. No matter where I went throughout the day, most people would never know where I had been unless I posted it on facebook. Occasionally I would run into someone from church at Meijer, or a friend from the Y while shopping at Target. Or we would run into another family from school while at gymnastics class. But seeing someone I knew while out and about was never a guarantee.

Moving to the Village of Fonda has changed all that.  I had an experience our first week here that will illustrate my point. I drove out to the small village of Glen, that neighbors Fonda, to go to The Glen Country Store.  This small farmer-owned, farmer-run store had been recommended to me as a great place to find many local foods and homemade yummy breads.  When I walked in I scanned the store and took note of the people inside.  I noticed the farmer who owns the store behind the counter, a local police officer who appeared to be buddies with the farmer, a woman in the kitchen who was covered in flour from the pumpkin bars that were baking and filling the air with wonderful fall smells of pumpkin and nutmeg. And I noticed a few other patrons who were visiting with a cup of coffee in hand.

After allowing me to peruse the store for a few minutes, the farmer called out to me in a friendly tone, "I don't recognize you. Can I help you find anything?" 

"I am new to the area and was told I should come here and check our your store" I replied.



The farmer, who's name I later discovered was Tim, asked me where I had moved to. I told him I was living in Fonda.



"What?! Someone actually moved into Fonda? I thought everyone was moving out of there!" the police officer chimed in.


I laughed nervously. And as the conversation continued those in the store discovered that I was married to Josh, the new pastor at Fonda Reformed Church.


Once they knew who I was, I quickly discovered that they already knew that we had recently moved from MI, that we were living in the house next door to the church, that our house backs up to Stewart's (similar to 7-11), and that I had already had some of the homemade bread from this very store, because "Debbie" had been in the store and bought a loaf to give us as a welcoming gift.  My jaw just about hit the dirty floor of this farm store, housed in an old red barn.


Another instance where I realized that I am no longer invisible in a sea of mid-westerners, was when Lydia and I went to our new local library. It was on the second Tuesday of our new residency in Fonda, Lydia and I walked to the Frothingham Free Library located 2 blocks from our house. Much to my surprise, the librarian was Sherry, whom I had met on Sunday at church. She is a long time member.  After getting re-aquainted with Sherry, Debbie appeared from around the corner. She too, works at the library and is another active member of our congregation. As the conversation continued Sherry mentioned that she had seen me earlier in the day coming out of the State Farm office. I laughed. Debbie then added that I must have been everywhere that day because she'd seen me pulling out of the post office.

Did I mention that I can't blend in and go un-noticed anymore?  But I'm discovering that anonymity is over-rated and being noticed, recognized and waved to around every corner is a welcome change.

Royal Welcome to Fonda, NY

Whoever composed the book of rules for blogging probably wrote somewhere that you shouldn't post too many blogs in one day. But so much has happened in the last month, and I feel the need to catch you all up to speed.
And this post needs to be published in order for my MI friends to see the pictures I've taken of our new home and town. You will be relieved to read, that I don't plan to make a habit of composing 3 posts in one day.

We arrived in Fonda, NY on Nov 1, 2010. The people of Fonda Reformed Church have graciously allowed us to live in a house that they own next door to the church. And we are grateful to have such a wonderful place to stay. When we arrived, we were greeted by new friends who were thoughtful enough to have cleaned the house top to bottom, stocked the cabinets and fridge with food, and left welcoming gifts for the kids on the table. We felt so blessed right away by the warm welcome given to us.

Here are some pictures of The Village of Fonda, NY.

Our new Fonda NY home. I have my own porch now!

Fonda Reformed Church

Frothingham Free Library

A view of our street.

Our new favorite Chinese restaurant

Post office in the background. We go there everyday for our mail. No mail delivery in the village.

Josh's parents made the drive out to Fonda, NY with us and stayed for several days to help us get settled. We are forever indebted to them for the assistance they gave us in helping us get unpacked and making this new place feel like home. Ed spent the better part of 2 days in the dirty basement cleaning and organizing, so that the task of doing laundry down there would be less dreadful. Never mind that he will have to be treated for lung disease of some sort in years to come!  The most priceless assistance they offered was the love and care they showed to Solomon and Lydia. While being surrounded by everything new, the presence of Grandma and Grandpa offered a sense of familiarity and safety. It made the transition to our new home tear-free and peaceful.

After 4 days with us, it was time for Grandma and Grandpa to say goodbye. Lydia asked Grandma, "Grandma, why is your face all red?"

We were all feeling a little choked up when it was time for them to leave.

The sadness took a little longer to hit Solomon.