Decking the Halls

We're starting to get settled here in TX, though it's kinda hard to feel Christmasy when the needle outside points to 72 degrees. I can't say I'm not enjoying it though, because I am! We all are! I felt a little down this weekend as my family celebrated together with my Grandparents at their annual gathering. The first one I've ever missed. My sister called me and told me about the feast and how everyone was doing, and everyone shouted, "HI, JODY!" so that I could hear them. I felt a little better.

Last week we were able to locate the box labeled "Christmas Tree" and then the boxes with the ornaments, and we set our tree up last week. The kids and I had fun making the house look festive, even if it's only one corner of the house. The other corners are still decked in brown boxes!



We even made a few batches of cookie dough together.





I'm also working on our Christmas letter. First up, I needed a family picture. I had outfits in mind. Rob had a great idea for a location. We stopped by after church, since we were all dressed up. Unfortunately, the wind didn't give pause to our plans, so we'll try again later, maybe later today. This is an actual, untouched picture of the wind and my hair duking it out. Definitely NOT Christmas-card worthy.



Saturday, the youth activity center had a Christmas party for the kids. There were pony rides (of which all but Lily said, "No, thanks." Not a novelty for the boys, but Lily, a girl after my own heart, can't say no to anything equestrian.)



Of course, they all got a turn sitting on Santa's lap. Even Caleb and Gabe, who had eyes only for the goody bags he was handing out. Seth ran in and grabbed Santa in a huge hug and shouted, "Hi, Santa! I would like a toy robot!" A little too enthusiastically for this mom who is trying to teach her children to embrace the true meaning and spirit of Christmas. Yet I happen to know personally that Santa is looking for a robot to fill a certain red-head's stocking.

That morning the children from our chapel performed some Christmas songs for the crowd, and they repeated the performance Sunday morning. The crowd favorite: "Go Tell It On the Mountain." Gabe is a natural, and he performed like a Broadway star. Caleb played it coooooool, man. Great fun was had by all.





And as the children shared the true meaning of Christmas by song, their sweet, precious hearts kindled in me the hope and peace Christmas brings, even without the Currier and Ives view out my window. Even with family and friends who are so precious to me miles and miles away. God is near, WITH US even, and there it is, the Christmas spirit my heart was looking for.

Comments

christina said…
I wish we were there already. We would have enjoyed the holiday party with you guys! We will soon be there 6 more days. see you soon.
Christina Haley
December 15, 2008 at 7:48 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shifting Sands

Image
You know those movie scenes where the camera is focused on a dazed and often wide-eyed character while the world zooms past in an unrecognizable blur? Or just imagine standing on the beach in springtime while chilly waves furl and curl and drag the sand right out from under your feet. That is a completely accurate description of my life this last month. I'm almost dizzy, close to fragile, barely comprehending the blur on either side of my head, toes gripping like mad to maintain balance. Sing with me, "On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand." Yes. Second week of March : the kids and I travel to Indiana to be with my mom as she goes through surgery for cancer. Though the week was emotionally and physically exhausting, God worked out great things in her life. The tumor was contained, removed, declared stage one, no further treatment needed. Our family feels like we can exhale for the first time since her diag...
Read more

The Back-to-School Post, And It's as Wordy as the School Day is Long

Image
School's been going on strong from my four little scholars for the past three weeks. This is the first year in six years of homeschooling that we "officially" started school before Labor Day. What was the difference this year? I don't know. Often the seat of my pants flies before me, and I just follow along. Actually, the local public schools started on the 23rd, two of our close homeschooling family friends decided to start up, and it's just too bloomin' hot here right now to do much else. I don't have any cute pictures of them climbing on the bus or dressed up with their oversized backpacks and squeaky new shoes. But perhaps a few candids from inside our classroom might stir-up some nostalgic back-to-school feelings. So this is what it looked like in front of my chair for the three weeks prior to school: Every year our school changes flavor a little bit to match our family. Or because something we did last year didn't quite work, or because one kid h...
Read more

A Stranger at the Door

Last week, on a Sunday afternoon, our neighbor called. This wonderful neighbor and his wife are a tremendous blessing to us, and one of our biggest sorrows about having to move is leaving them. Neighbors like these come but once in a lifetime. On that afternoon, a repairman was working on our neighbor's furnace. For some reason, God laid it on our friend's heart to share with him that the family next door--that's us--had a heat pump that had not worked for two years and we were using a wood stove to heat our home. And God then moved in this repairman's heart to say, "Well, since I'm already out here, maybe I could go over and take a look at it." So we got a phone call from our neighbor asking us if it would be okay for his repairman to stop by and take a look. I was kind of confused, because 1.) If we could afford to have it fixed ($7000), we would have done that a long time ago, and 2.) We had already had it diagnosed, by the company that installed it, no...
Read more