Merry Christmas

We were blessed with a very merry Christmas this year. We were able to celebrate with all of our family and enjoy our new niece too!

Emma looked beautiful in her Christmas dress and Greyson was such a little man in his sweater.

Jon was off work Christmas eve night so we celebrated our family Christmas that morning.
I realized how stressful the last few Christmases have been for me once I noticed how relaxed I was this year. Funny how looking back gives you such a clear perspective.

Now onto the new year!

I am so thankful for so many things and I want to remain thankful all year long. So much happens and changes in one year's time. It sounds like a long time, a year, but it's really not. Time does fly by.

I am starting back to work on Monday. My first inclination is "boo hiss". But that isn't really true. I am thankful, very very thankful, for my job. I'm thankful that it's part time and only during tax season. I'm thankful to get to return to my friends at work and be productive in a different way.

I DO love being at home and will miss my kiddos terribly while I'm at work but I want to choose a positive and cheerful attitude. I am working for Christ, not my employer and so that means I have a reason and a challenge to do it to the best of my ability.

God has blessed me with a husband and two grandmas to take care of the kids while I work. I couldn't ask for more than that.

So I am choosing to be positive about returning to work. My kids will be there each day when I get home to welcome me with smiles and hugs. The relationships they will build are precious and priceless.

Thank you Jesus for my family and for my job!

dry cleaning

I picked up some dry cleaning today and had it on my car seat on the way home. The dry cleaning people put those clear plastic bags over the clothing to keep it clean. At first glance it would seem they are trying to be nice... but those bags are SO slippery that I am beginning to think it's a conspiracy. They slip off of everything you lay them on, ensuring that your freshly dry cleaned clothing ends up on the dirty floor.

It seems like maybe the dry cleaning cleaner people are making sure they keep business coming their way with all those clothes in the slippery bags falling onto the floor and slipping out of the bags.

What do you think? courtesy bags or conspiracy bags?

Can you feel it??

Can you feel it?

The excitement in the air.

Christmas is coming!!!!

Years ago, a dear pastor preached his sermon about anticipating Christ's arrival. All the while, unbeknown to us, he had a bread machine under the pulpit baking bread. Throughout the service we all started smelling the wonderful aroma of warm bread baking.

Oh, just the thought of it now makes my mouth water. We all felt that anticipation by the end of that sermon. It has really stuck with me - the idea that Christmas excitement is about Jesus' birth. Just as we get excited for the birth of our own babies or for those close to us, we should have that same excitement for Jesus' birth.

I was reminded that even though I know the story of Jesus' birth, I can still be excited about it. God's word is living and breathing and He can make this story and my experience new each year.

As the sweet aroma of Christmas gets closer I get more and more excited.

Jesus is coming!!! Jesus is coming!!!!

Mary

Our pastor preached a sermon today about the three wise men.

They brought gifts to Jesus and he said, more than that, they brought the reassurance to Mary that Jesus WAS God's son. Jesus WAS who the angel told her He would be. These wise men traveled a long way to worship Jesus. And these wise men, of course we all know, brought gold, frankincense and myrrh.

I wonder what Mary thought as she saw each gift opened and presented to them.

When the first wise man unwrapped gold and handed to them she must have thought
"Oh! Joy!" This was confirmation that Jesus was royalty. The Son of God.

Then the second wise man opened the frankincense and Mary must have smiled and thought
"Yes!" This was confirmation of his Priesthood. It was just as the angel had said.

But then the third wise man opened his gift. I wonder what Mary's heart felt. I wonder whether confusion or confirmation filled her bittersweet spirit.

Myrrh.

It was the spice used for burial. And it was being offered to her sweet baby boy.

Her Son.

I wonder if God had placed the knowledge somewhere deep in her that the baby she carried, birthed and now held in her arms was destined for sacrifice.
The baby that smiled at her and cooed and giggled when she made faces at Him... if she knew that same sweet face would be later beaten.

I just wonder what went through Mary's heart and mind. I can only imagine the anguish she must have felt as those wonderings crept into her mind over the years.

Death would find her baby.

Then Joseph was warned in a dream to flee with Mary and Jesus and go to Egypt to save Jesus' life. I wonder if that began the black spot in Mary's mind and soul that someday her Son would be killed and the Myrrh would be needed.

How many times did Mary lay awake and wonder if and when He would die.

But it didn't come.

Years passed and Jesus grew up. Did she push that Myrrh so far into the back of her mind that she let it go?

Then she asked Jesus to perform His first miracle (recorded) when they were at the wedding and the wine ran out.
I wonder how she knew He could do it. What all did she know in her heart about her blessed Son?

God asked so much of Mary. He asked her to give from the beginning. He asked her to give up her reputation, her excitement of her first pregnancy, and ultimately give up her first born.

And she did it.

I'm sure that's why God went to her. He knew she would do it. He knew her heart and knew her spirit.

I am thankful for faithful saints like Mary. I am sure she was very thankful for the gold. It reassured her that Jesus was royalty and practically, it was a great resource for their family since they were poor. Our pastor said it probably was the only means they had for their upcoming trip to Egypt.

I'm sure they were thankful for the frankincense too. It had medicinal purposes and reminded her that Jesus was our Great Priest.

However, I'm sure the myrrh was hard to accept. Some of God's gifts are. Sometimes the very thing He gives us, knowing it's the very thing we need the most, we are the saddest to recieve. It feels bitter at the time. But on the other side of the cross. I am the most thankful for this gift brought to Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Because this myrrh was used on my Savior. It was used in His death and through it I am saved.

I am thankful for Jesus this Christmas.

Grandparents are great!

Jon and I were able to get away for a date last night! yay! Grandma and Grandpa kept the kids and they had this project to do with Emma.



She was thrilled. She has been asking about a gingerbread house for over a week and Grandma already had one for her to decorate. So it made us leaving for our date much easier for Emma. (She had been asking why she couldn't come with us on our date.)

She loves her grandparents (both sets) and we are so blessed to have them available and wanting to spend quality time with their grandkids. They love Jesus and show that to their grandkids too. What a joy to know that Emma has such a wonderful relationship with Nana and Papaw and Grandma and Grandpa. Greyson is developing that already and I don't take for granted that it is rare to find such incredible grandparents.

So last night, Grandma and Grandpa kept the kids and Jon and I went to Strongsville Mall. We had a wonderful time. We got to talk uninterrupted in the car and laughed and sang along to Jon's itunes. I was able to finally use a gift card I recieved LAST Christms and pick out my present from Jon for this Christmas. We grabbed some (messy) dinner to eat on the way home and enjoyed every bite.

I'm so thankful for Jon. He is a wonderful husband and friend to me (not to mention a great daddy). I love laughing with him, debating with him and I even learned some new things about his childhood. It felt like we really connected and got to focus on each other. I have missed that lately. We are still adjusting to him working third and having and infant at home to care for along with our busy three year-old. We are finding our "normal" just in time for it to change in January. I'll be back to work for tax season. I'm super glad that I only work those three and a half months but it will be a whirlwind I'm sure.

We might feel like ships passing in the night sometimes but we'll get through it. And those wonderful grandparents I mentioned... they are going to help babysit during tax season. Could I ask for better? I think not!

I think she likes him

 

 

 

Always something to smile about