I have been convicted by a song for a while now. The song has been teaching me that even though things get tough in this life, we have a hope that never changes. A hope that is offered to everyone and a hope that can change lives. It seems that lately, all around us things are not going as we would have liked to "plan or control". And I know sometimes it is hard to see past our current bad circumstances. But as this song says, Jesus/God/Our Hope is bigger than anything we encounter and even what we think we can get through.I love the words to the song, but also enjoy the music. In the side bar, I have a rendition from YouTube. You may have to mouse over each to find it. But here are a few lyrics to get you interested;"Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
We never walk alone
this is our hope.
Our hope endures
the worst of conditions.
It's more than our optimism.
Let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged"
This is a song by Natalie Grant on the Relentless CD.
I love to let this song remind me of the unchanging hope I am given in Jesus. I also love how this song reminds me that God is even bigger than my feelings of optimism, because they are only temporary and He is not.
Just feeling a bit philosophical today and thought I would share.
kel
We had a great time on Christmas and I wanted to share with everyone a little glimpse into our day. The girls woke up around 7:15am. Mike and I wanted to start our morning remembering the reason why we were making a big deal of the day so we did our final scripture reading and candle lighting of our Advent wreath. The girls were so good. They were excited about reading the Bible and praying before we went downstairs to see what Santa had left. Not once did we here a "are we done yet? Can we go yet?" . I was so proud of them. I can't wait to do the Advent wreath again next year, it was a real learning experience for us.
Morgan's wish list this year contained one item, the Wii. So, Mike convinced me we should get the girls this for Christmas. I am not sure who the gift was really for HAHA.
We had some technically difficulty getting our Wii in color, but Mike has since fixed that. After the Wii was set up, Nicole promptly whipped Mike at tennis. Must have been all of that practice against Ian.
Rachel was opening only her gifts this year and really understood more what protocol was for gift opening. She had a blast.
Grandma Kelbert bought Papa a Wii for Christmas. So we had to teach Papa the games. I think he enjoyed the bowling.
Every year Christmas 
Eve rolls around, and I wish I had holiday PJ's for the kids. I finally remembered with enough time to buy them this year and I love how the pictures turned out with the PJ's on.
Rare picture of Mike with a hat on, unless it is the day after he has fallen out of a tree and split his head open. This was a gift from his sister.
Ken's girlfriend, Christina is a trooper. She is loved by all of the kids and takes a beating when she is around. They love to jump, climb and be around her.
Ken and Drew man and Jacob.
The Kelbert/Nugent grand kids. This one took some work and bribery from Grandma. I didn't think my mom had it in her, but this was the statement made before the picture-"Grandma will get a picture of the five of you, or we won't open gifts".
Way to show your true colors Rae.
My mom made all of the girls aprons this year. Mine is great. I love the colors.
Kids table for dinner. Chris and Jen made dinner this year, giving mom a break. Thanks you guys. 
