Saturday, December 18, 2010

Oh, Christmas Tree....

Our tree was up with lights strung.   The decorations weren't up yet.  There just hadn't seemed to be enough time.

We spent time visiting with friends in their homes one weekend.  The first evening I took notice of the tree in the living room.  Decorated to match the room in a crisp apple red.  The gifts under the tree wrapped perfectly to match.  We spent the rest of the evening in their beautifully, newly remodeled basement family room.  In that room sat a tree decorated in blue; the perfect accent color to the brown hues in the rest of the room.  The gifts also wrapped to match the tree they sat under.   They also had a beautifully decorated tree in the master bedroom.

The second evening we spent in the new home of our very good friends.  The previous owners of the home could not take the their Christmas tree with them so our friends were able to purchase it and use.  I think it was like 13 feet high!!!  I really don't know how tall it was but my friend needed a ladder to decorate it!!!  The towering, giant evergreen adorned in red was breathtaking!   

As I lay in bed that night thinking back on the trees we had seen I realized I was having tree envy.  The trees that I had seen over the weekend all could have been in Christmas magazines.  Mine sat in our living room, undecorated, with lights falling off from curious cats.  I knew it would be decorated eventually but my tree would not be fit for a magazine.  

I sighed.  "Everyone has such pretty Christmas trees."

"I think your tree says a lot about who you are."  My Sweetie commented.

I had decided that today was the day that the tree would be decorated.  I carried up the containers that held our decorations from our basement and gently pulled them out one by one holding them for just a second before placing them on the table.  

There were several "Babies First Christmas" ornaments.  Ornaments my mom bought for our boys every year with their names and dates on them.  Ornaments that My Sweeties mom either bought or made our boys every year.  Ornaments that were My Sweeties when he was a child.  Ornaments that we brought home with us from Disney world.  Ornaments with younger, sweet faces of our boys sprinkled with glitter. Ornaments that were made by our boys and given to us as gifts.

It was like opening a box of memories.  Everyone of these ornaments had either been given or made with love.  Everyone of these ornaments had a story behind them.  



At the end of the night, after the precious hands of anxious boys had carefully placed all of those memories on the tree so lovingly...



 I stepped back and took a look.

 It was just as breathtaking as the ones I had seen just a week ago.    It was sitting exactly where I had envisioned it to sit for our first Christmas in our yellow house on the prairie.  It was full of love, full of memories and looked so much more beautiful and more perfect than I had envisioned.

 

Thursday, December 16, 2010

The Christma Story *cubed*

Here are 3 different videos that I've seen posted on Facebook recently.  All tell the Christmas Story in a different way.   I couldn't decide which one to post so I chose all three.  Enjoy. 

This one made me chuckle a couple of times....



               
What if....Mary and Joesph had a facebook???  I thought this one was pretty powerful. 

           


And THIS is really what it's all about....

Monday, December 13, 2010

Reminders from God

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel"  Isaiah 7:14

Immanuel:  God with us.

I was rolling this concept around in my head this evening as I drove through the dark night across the Mississippi bridge on my way home from running errands trying to "get done" with Christmas. 

The hustle and bustle of this busy time of year frustrates me more and more every year.  I'm trying to teach my children the true meaning of Christmas.  I'm trying to create memories that they will cherish when they are older.  I do want to give them that warm and fuzzy happy Christmas morning feeling that every parent wants their child to have.  I want to be a blessing to others so I mail Christmas Cards, bake goodies to give to friends and neighbors, buy gifts for the children on the angel tree.  There are Christmas programs and concerts that the kids are in.  Sometimes I find myself longing for the peace and quiet of January.

Through all of that, I need to keep reminding myself what is really important and that God is with us.  

Maybe I should restate that.

I need to BE reminded of what is important and that God is with me.

Today I was looking out the kitchen window and off in the distance I saw some sort of a hawk or eagle soaring in the air.  As it came closer to my home I could clearly see the majestic bald head of the eagle just before it flew over my house.

Almost instantly Isaiah 40:31 popped into my head.

"But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint"

God is with me in this season of busy and will keep me going.

This evening BuhBuh asked if he could wrap up one of his old toys and put it under the tree for Little Dude.  I really wanted to say no because it is a similar thing that Little Dude is getting on Christmas.  But I couldn't crush his gift-giving heart.  He later told me that Little Dude would really enjoy it much more then him.  He also whispered something in my ear that he'd like to give The Boy.  

God is with me and I can see Him in the heart and actions of my precious 8 year old.

As I hurried into town trying to keep all of the things of my to-do list straight I head the lyrics of a song playing on the radio, 

"Father, let the world just fade away
Let me feel your presence in this place
Lord, I've never been so weary
How I need to know you're near me
Father, let the world just fade away" (He Is by Mark Schultz)

God is with me, calming me and centering me back on what is really important.

On my way home the song that is the inspiration for a sermon that I'm working on came on.

God is with me as I remember this one-more-thing-on-my-plate thing, reminding me that it will be Him speaking through me on that Sunday morning.

And as I crossed the bridge on the last leg of my journey home I saw off in the distance a shooting star.  It took my breath away.  I was amazed.  A bald eagle and a shooting star in one day!!! WOW!

As if on cue, just after the shooting star vanished from sight another song on the radio.

Light light light up the sky
You light up the sky
To show me You are with me
I I I can't deny
No I can't deny that You are right here with me
You've opened my eyes
So I can see You all around me
Light light light up the sky
You light up the sky to show me
That You are with me (Light Up the Sky The Afters)

Apparently today I needed a lot of reminders that God is with me.

But I am so thankful for a God who is ever-present in my life; thankful for a God who loves me so much to keep reminding me until I get it; thankful for a God who is with me even when life is busy and I can't keep anything straight in my head; thankful for the baby who came in the manger to live among us, and die for us and still be with us. 



Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Car Talk

The following car talk is all from one ride, all within a few minutes of each other and all completely random.

BuhBuh:  Who anointed me?

Me:  Um, you mean baptized??

BuhBuh:  YEAH!!!!  Baptized!!!

*******************************************************


Do you recall this recent Car Talk??  Apparently some things have changed. 

BuhBuh:  Yeah, I don't wanna be a cop anymore because all 'dey really do is eat doughnuts.  ***lip smacking sound***


 ********************************************************
Me:  Hey!!  Did you use your giant pencil at school today??

BuhBuh:  Yup! 

Me:  Did anyone laugh??

BuhBuh:  Nope, but they were jealous!!!!

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Ready to Learn

 "I'm ready for school,"  BuhBuh announced as he pulled out a larger than life pencil.  

He had gotten it as a Christmas gift from his Grandma and Grandpa.

I was attempting to get some breakfast ideas out of him as he pretended to do "homework" with this enormous pencil.  

"BuhBuh, are you listening,"  I asked.
"I'm doin' my homework," he let me know. 

**sigh**  He's a nut.  It's really hard not to laugh. 

Friday, December 03, 2010

Different

Me:  BuhBuh!  Were you suppose to be dressed up for the field trip to see the play today.

BuhBuh:  Yeah

Me:  Why didn't you tell me?

BuhBuh:  I like to be different!!!  **pause**  Just the way God made me. 

Me:  ***grin***