Inside Tour, Part I

Since it's all decked out for the holidays, I thought I'd put up some pictures of our house for those who are interested.
Here's a little taste of the Hilliger's at Holiday time:

Not just about a birth

For the past couple of Christmases, this one included, Josh and I have kept ourselves busy with Christmas concerts. This is something we've really come to enjoy. This year we went to four. It's acutally become kind of entertaining working out our schedule in order to fit them all in.
This year has been different, though. It has been a sweet blessing to my heart. As a result of the teaching at the concerts paired with the great sermon from Pastor MacArthur last Sunday, I have been thinking a lot about the point of Christmas. What we celebrate and why. For maybe the first time, my thoughts have not been on the birth of the baby Jesus, or the perfect way in which God orchestrated the attendance of the shepherds and Wise Men, or even the supernatural virgin birth. I've been thinking about Jesus's death.
On Sunday, Pastor MacArthur said that a person's death is the culmination of his accomplishments. The point at which, retrospectively, one's life can be counted worthy. Though there was the promise in the Old Testament of the life Jesus would lead, every other human that was and will be born, comes to the world with no accomplishment. Nothing praiseworthy. No great work or influence. Yet, we note the births of people, even great leaders, as a means of honoring them. A day on which we have accomplished nothing.
This is why, this year I can only think about the most important death that this world will ever know. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day, he gave purpose to His birth and His life. He triumphed over death by taking on the the sins of the world, crushing Satan's head. And in His resurrection and ascension, he completed His salvation work and gave the promise of the Holy Spirit, giving sinners the opportunity to have a relationship with a most holy and just God.
A while ago, Josh and I made the decision to keep Santa Claus out of Christmas in our home. Completely. Yes, this decision does reflect each of our backgrounds and traditions, but ultimately it was a decision we came to together. A decision for our family, as a family. We know that one day our children will wonder about Santa Claus. Maybe they'll wonder why I don't have any Santa decorations in the house or why they don't take pictures with him at the mall. But after this Christmas 2008, I believe that I will have a complete answer for them.
Christmas is about one thing only and one Person only. It is the celebration of the culmination of Jesus' life. That the Son of God, who laid down His deserved glory to be born in human flesh, lived on this earth so that one day He might die for the sins of man, be raised into Heaven and returned to Glory, and offer the greatest gift there could ever be. One that is not wrapped, it's not under the tree or delivered via reindeer and a chimney. Christmas is about the gift of salvation and the majesty of a Baby that was born to provide it. And that is it. That is Christmas.

"This has been my best day ever"

Last night's entertainment of choice. I have wanted to see this for a while, but could never convince Josh to agree to it. Last night was "Laina's Choice" at Blockbuster, so...sorry Joshua.
He complained, of course, and I told him he'd eat his words.
He didn't eat his words, per se, but he definately snacked on them.
Son of Rambow was adorable. Definately quirky, overall humorous, and at times very strange, but adorable still. I'd watch it again.
It helped that the main kid reminded me of Freddie Highmore who is the cutest kid in movies today.
For those of you who liked Lars and the Real Girl, this might be up your alley. For those of you (Renelle) that didn't...don't even bother. Instead, you should watch Little Manhattan. You'll like that one.

Sweet

If I could build a house from scratch and had an unlimited amount of resources (aka $$$), I'd be a copy cat from sites like this:

http://mysweetsavannah.blogspot.com/

I'd like some sweet stuff of my own.

Cuz it's cool

Homeowners

I'm not quite sure where to start. It's been so long since I've sat down to write something substantial (besides poking fun at Dan).

Josh and I have been keeping ourselves very busy for the last few months. On Halloween night, Josh and I moved into our first home. We'd been looking for a house for about 6 months with little success. In September we finally found one.

I was amazed at the challenge of getting the paperwork and loan documents taken care of. It seemed like it was one thing after another. If it wasn't signing docs, it was scheduling deliveries. It was re-ordering appliances. It was driving here and there for meetings during lunch breaks and after work. Everyone involved worked really hard to get us into this house.

But now we're in and we're loving it. Josh feels perfectly at home and I love the opportunity to decorate and add my own personal touch. Like most houses in the valley, it's over 50 years old and still has many of it's original features. It will need some upgrades. A remodeled kitchen, refinished floors, new bathrooms, landscaping-front and back, central heating and air. You know, nothing major.

But it's ours. Our home. Our first home. Together.


We are blessed.