Christmas Joy On Christmas Eve

I've been reading through this book this season.

It was a gift from someone a few years ago and is full of Bible verses, stories, song lyrics, quotes, and interesting facts about Christmas.  It has been a treat to read!

I love the Christmas season.  Absolutely love it.  And one of the quotes from this book really captures how I feel about the celebration of our Savior's birth and the sheer wonder of it all.  I have read and reread it often.  It goes as follows...

"Christmas at its core is larger than life, grander than we can begin to comprehend.  We cannot even imagine the scenario - God, the Son, wrapping himself in human flesh and being born in a humble stable to parents of little worldly consequence.  Perhaps that's why Christmas never loses its wonder year after year.  The story simply cannot be taken in at once.  It takes a lifetime of Christmases, and even then we remain starstruck, still unable to understand fully what God has done for us, what He has given us.

This Christmas, hold nothing back.  Look up and hear the majestic angelic choir, look out into the night in search of the brilliant Christmas star.  Cherish every expression of Christmas love, joy, and peace - immersing yourself in the wonder if it all!  Don't worry about going overboard.  In a million lifetimes, you could not grow weary of it - it's a truly eternal story."

An eternal story it is.  Because it is about Jesus, the One who was and is and is to come.  And it is a truly joyful story - because Jesus is joy!  And He is hope, and peace, and rest, and laughter, and celebration, and sacrifice, and the ultimate love, and everything we could want or need.

I hope you allow yourself to fully enJOY the celebration and be completely captivated by the wonder!  Most of all, I hope you know Jesus, because He will change your life.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas, wherever you are!

May it be meaningful and merry and wrapped in love!

How To Build A Southern Snowman

For years my mom would get an annual Southern Living Christmas idea book ~ did anyone else grow up with those hardback books around their house?  I remember her setting up the card table in our family room, making homemade gifts and decorations late into the night using ideas she got from those books.  One year when I was in middle school we found an idea to make cookies that looked like a piano keyboard...I have played the piano since I can remember, and upon seeing the photo wanted to give them to my music teachers.  I remember her helping me make those cookies.

I now have a few of those old books and like to browse them when Christmastime rolls around.  The other day I was looking at the 2003 edition and saw an idea I remembered seeing years ago.  It was to make a "Southern Snowman" using grapevine wreaths.  My husband helped me put it together on the stoop outside our front door, and this snowman is just too cute!

Jimmy wired the three grapevine wreaths together and hung the snowman on the house.  I threw one of my scarves on him, set out an old pair of rubber fireman boots from Trevor's preschool days that I couldn't bear to part with, and cut a hat out of chalkboard crafting paper.

And just like that we had built a snowman, right down here in the South!

Thanksgiving Morning

I set out this Thanksgiving break with a different goal than usual.  Because Thanksgiving is a bit later this year and we will only have three weeks of school between this break and Christmas break instead of four,  I decided I wanted to take down my beloved autumn decorations, do some cleaning and major catching up on laundry, and get my Christmas decorating done before Thanksgiving Day.  I don't think we've ever decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but I must say I am so thankful we did it.

Because this Thanksgiving morning is so calm.  The house is (mostly) clean and sparkling, with lights aglow and wassail on the stove and quiet music playing.

We had a beautiful cold front come through and woke up to sunshine and brisk temperatures.  It won't be long before we gather around the table for a bountiful feast for lunch.  The day will be slow paced and spent with family.   This weekend will involve more time with family and friends and some Christmas celebrations.  Right now I am in my chair enjoying the music and twinkling lights and scent of oranges and cloves wafting in from the kitchen.  At 25 weeks pregnant, I am thankful to put my feet up for a few minutes and enjoy the simplicity of the moment, reflect and give thanks on day I love and look forward to each year, and rejoice in the beauty of a season that celebrates the birth of Savior who changed my life.

These lyrics just flooded my home and heart a few moments ago...

Christ is the Lord! Oh, praise His name forever!

His power and glory evermore proclaim!

What a thought for this gorgeous Thanksgiving morning.

Christ is the Lord! 

Today and every day we give Him honor, praise, and thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving Morning!  Wishing you a blessed and beautiful day!

When Christmas Doesn't Go Quite As Planned

Well, December flew by and Christmas arrived and we lit candles and worshiped and sang of Jesus and His birth.  Then gifts were exchanged and Santa came and unfortunately so did the flu, so some festivities have been delayed and things are very low key around here right now, though yesterday morning was still full of childlike wonder and for that I am so thankful.

It hurts your heart anytime your children are sick.  When they spend Christmas Eve on the couch or lie down in the middle of opening presents on Christmas Day, your heart breaks a little.  It could be so much worse though, I realize that.  Many suffer far, far worse than we do this Christmas.  And honestly, this year's dose of sickness doesn't hold a candle to our worst Christmas ever that I told you about last year.

We have, however, spent the last few days putting our little loves in cool baths to lower high fevers (even as I type I am praying for a fever to break), wiping away tears and holding buckets, finding kids who haven't taken naps in years sound asleep on the couch.  It has been sad.  It's not what we had planned.  But it is okay.

Because we are together.  We are watching I Love Lucy (Santa brought each of them a new season in their stockings!) and Disney movies and building Legos and playing American Girl hospital.  We are drinking hot tea and wearing comfy clothes and pj's and listening to Christmas music and enjoying this blessed season.

Because actually, the Christmastide/Yuletide that we sing about is from December 24th to January 6th from what I've read.  I like that, because growing up we didn't rush right out of Christmas (of course we didn't start it until after Thanksgiving in those days either).  We let the season linger a little bit.  The week or two after Christmas there would still be gatherings and open houses and trees would still be lit and gifts still on display.  Christmas music would still be playing in homes and everyone would be wearing new clothes and playing with new toys and still caught up in the spirit of giving and celebration and fellowship.

Which is why my decorations usually stay up a little into January and why I really enjoy the week after Christmas.  Honestly, with school getting out so very close to Christmas this year and the sickness that has hit our home the past couple days, I am praying everyone gets well quickly to enjoy some of the Christmas traditions we haven't gotten to yet throughout the next week.

 To catch up on Christmas a bit, if you will.

That's where we are right now.

And wherever you are, whether you've already packed Christmas away until next year or you are going to join me in letting the season linger a little longer, I hope yesterday was special.  I hope you were given a fun surprise and gave something special to someone you love.  I hope you ate delicious food and were surrounded by love and happiness.

Most of all, I hope this Christmas season you encountered Jesus.  I hope you worshiped at His manger throne and made your heart His Bethlehem.  I hope you remembered how very much He loves you, and how love came down that starry night.

It's not too late.

Come and adore Him.  Let Him wrap you in love and fill you with the joy of the season.

After all, He is what this beautiful season is all about.

Actually, He is what everything is about.

It's all about you, Jesus.

Thank you for coming, and for bidding us come.

When Christmas Collides

It's been a strange Christmas season for me in some ways.  I alternate between being caught in the wonder, then not really "feeling" Christmas much at all.

Why the latter?

Probably because calendars are full and I am busy spinning and jumping from role to role and the kids' first weekday off of school is not until Christmas Eve and my refrigerator desperately needs cleaning but I don't want to do it and what I really want to do is sit down with my family and watch Polar Express and White Christmas but we haven't gotten a chance to yet.

Or because I need to go the grocery store about every fifteen minutes.

Maybe because work collides with the wonder, hustle-and-bustle with the holy, rush with the reverent.

And I am caught somewhere in between.

Rushing here, there, and everywhere from Pre-K to the Retirement Home, up to my elbows in soapy water one minute, sitting peacefully at the feet of my Savior by the lights of the Christmas tree the next.

Don't you wish you could go back in time to Bethlehem that starry night?

I close my eyes and try to imagine the scene.

The grandest collision of all.  Heaven tearing into earth. God in human form.  His voice a baby's cry.

Angel song exploding, prophets proclaiming, kings journeying, shepherds kneeling.

A young girl becoming a mother in the most mysterious of ways, carrying both a baby and a burden.

The prophet told her a sword would pierce her soul.

Can you even imagine what she would live to experience?

I think of my own son, then I shudder to think.

But this holy mystery, this wondrous birth, this humble entrance of our Savior - the King of Kings and Lord of Lords - God coming right down to us to die in our place, it is what we celebrate.

So I find scattered moments amidst the rush to sit and ponder.  To worship Jesus and marvel at the wonder of it all.

Then I get back to work, my heart longing to stay in Bethlehem.

There is so much to do.

And it must be done.

But later I will find pause and kneel at the manger throne once more.

And one day I will spend eternity worshiping my Savior, kneeling at His heavenly throne.

Even so, come once and for all, Lord Jesus.

Light, Peace, Christmas

As I prepare my heart for Christmas, I am loving these prophetic words of Zacharias after his son, John the Baptist, was born to prepare the way for Jesus...

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins,

Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;

To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Luke 1:76-79

Praying you have experienced God's mercy and salvation.

Hoping you know the light and peace Jesus brings.

Merriest of days to you!

Finding Calm And Bright

After the deliciously slow pace of Thanksgiving week, things changed drastically around here.  I knew they would and that there wasn't a thing I could do about it. There are times you simply have to work your way through extra full calendars doing the best you can.  Last week was busy and this week is crazy.  It just was and is.

But it is also getting closer and closer to Christmas, and I so badly wanted to decorate our home for the season.  Madi and Trev get incredibly excited about this, and I felt like Friday evening was our "now or never" moment to bring everything down from the attic and get started.  After a jam packed week I really just wanted to crawl under the covers and check out for about twelve hours, but instead I helped Jimmy take everything down, turned the Christmas music up, and got going.

It was a sweet family night.  The kids were beaming with excitement so we helped them decorate their own trees first.  Jimmy started stringing lights on our big tree, I started unpacking boxes and deciding what I would do this year since I decorate a little differently each Christmas season.  Once the kids' trees were finished, I made hot chocolate and we put in a good old Mickey Mouse and friends Christmas movie and all four of us snuggled up on the couch to watch it.

And it was seriously all I could do to keep my eyes open.

So instead of staying up all night to finish decking the halls, I went to bed, knowing there would be a morning piano student and two Christmas parties (one of which I had to cook for) waiting for me the next day.

In between the festivities I did a little more decorating, but only got so far.

Then Sunday came and it's the time of year for extra long music rehearsals and such, so I only had a really short time to make more progress.

Monday was packed with caroling at the retirement center, grocery shopping, laundry, homework, school projects, etc, you know the drill.

I did a little more.

All the while I was starting to feel like the walls were closing in on me.

Because there were boxes everywhere stacked high and we were stepping around piles of ornaments and all those little stray pieces of styrofoam were started to make me twitch.

Not to mention how full of dishes my sink had gotten since what little extra time I had I was devoting to unpacking boxes and trimming trees.

The evenings are so cool and lovely here that I always open the windows, and I realized the neighbors had a front row view of our state of chaos every night.

I started to expect to hear a knock at my door and open it to find a huge truck, a professional organizer, a therapist, and a TLC video crew ready to film me for one of their reality television programs.

Had they come I think I would have taken them up on the therapist.

Today I subbed for Pre-K, then did some after school work with Madi and Trev.  When we got home I was determined to make some major progress in the house, so I brewed a cup of coffee, ate some chocolate, and asked Jimmy if he would bring home Chinese food for dinner.  Jimmy sweetly fulfilled my request, and while helping with homework and waiting for him to come home from work, I found my kitchen sink again which was a relief.

Then I put on Mandisa's Christmas album and with some "help" from the kids, I have nearly turned this place into a winter wonderland.

I can see my floor.

I vacuumed up most of the styrofoam.

Tucked two little loves in bed.

And now I am having my Christmas moment.

I can breathe a little more evenly.  The instrumental Christmas music is playing, a candle is burning, and the lights are twinkling.  There is just something about all the lights of Christmas that set my mind on my Savior.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 1:4

As I sit surrounded by twinkling lights, I realize that in this quiet moment of rest, things are starting to look and feel more calm and bright around here.

I've been reading the Christmas story this week.  The light of the star led the wise men to Jesus.  The lights in my Christmas home help lead my heart to Him too.

Which is why I invest the time to decorate our home each Christmas season, even though it sometimes takes a few days of clutter and stress and Mommy almost going over the edge.

Because when I am finished we can revel in the wonder, bask in the peace.  We can, as Trevor did tonight, dim the lights and truly savor the season as the gentle glow of Christmas contentment surrounds us in this home we share and love.

Coffee, chaos, and contentment.

I experienced all three once again this evening.

Life isn't perfect, but for this moment it is calm and bright.

So I sit, surrounded by light.