Gift Giving

I have been thinking about gift giving this Christmas season. I was well pleased with the gifts I gave this year, which isn't always the case. Sometimes the gift is chosen in last minute desperation. This year they seemed like perfect choices to me...exactly what they asked for or something that perfectly reflected and encourgaged who they are. As they were opened I got different reactions. Some were genuinely pleased and spent more than the passing, "Oh, thanks," with the gift. They went back to look at it or use it again. Some said, "Oh, thanks", put it back in the bag and went on. I have no idea if they ever got it out to look at or use again. Some I haven't heard from and didn't get to witness the opening. So, that was how it looked from my side of the gift. I was often happy, pleased, and sometimes saddened. Now, I think about the other side. How did I respond to the gifts I was given? I tried to show all the gratitude and joy I could even when suprised by the gift. I was, for the first time, this year way less interested in getting the gifts than in giving. My joy this year was in the giving...hmmm.
Then comes the BIG thinking. While driving hither and yon you have lots of time to think.
I know how excited and content I was with the gifts I was giving. I was also a little nervous at their reception. If in my tiny humanity, I felt these things, what must God have felt that first Christmas?
Surely he knew that he had the BEST gift. Surely he was content. Perhaps he was a little nervous about the reception...
How have you recieved the Gift? Did you accept it with tears of joy and then put it away? Did you only barely acknowledge it before moving on? Did you just ignore it all together?
Or, maybe, you received Him joyfully and turn to Him daily? Can you imagine the smile on God's face when we love the Gift and the Giver with our whole heart?
The Perfect Gift well received...that's Christmas!

A New Christmas

This year has been very different for me at Christmas. There is nothing on my list, so everything will be a wonderful surprise. I found simple gifts that seem just right for all of my family and can't wait to see if they agree...and knowing my family, I will still be OK when they don't get excited. I know it is a good gift that will be used and appreciated, if only silently, over the years.
This is the very first year that I haven't been waking someone up with, "It's Christmas! Let's open the presents!" I know. Really. At the tender age of 53! Well, better late than never. Instead, I got up and started making the cookies for my brother...joyfully, with the help of my little husband.
Only after that did we exchange our gifts. Ahhh.
Now we are off to Monroe's to help in anyway we can with the free dinner Jimmy serves each year.
Then off to my dad's for the night.
It's taken 53 years, but maybe, just maybe I am beginning to "get" it.
Merry, merry Christmas to you and yours.

Snow Writing

I went for a walk up at the track this evening (in the dark, but not really very dark since the snow is so shiny) in an attempt to ease a bit of serious back pain.
I had to climb over a snow plow pile to even get there, but when I did, it was so worth it. Pure snow! No one had been on the track since we got about a foot of snow over the weekend...Yippee! There were a few animal tracks, but not even many of them. I walked around the curve to the straight and it was just too tempting for me. It was a blank slate waiting to be written up on...a rare and wonderful opportunity. So, I began.
I walked and wrote in cursive clear down the straight, around the curve at the far end and back up the other straight. It says:
Believe in the miracle of a baby born to save you. Love came down at Christmas.
Hallelujah. Amen.
Now, if I just had some way to get up in the air and see it all layed out there...
Regardless, I feel better and I have shared the message of Christmas with whoever stumbles upon it before it melts. An hour well spent.
Believe in the miracles in your life...believe in the God of the universe...Merry Christmas!

First Snow

Well, it is here. It is beautiful. It is SNOW!
I am looking forward to a day of quiet. Snow makes everything seem more quiet....muffled.
Went out to Shangri La Ti Da for a check. Went out to eat Chinese. Now home.
It just doesn't get any better than this, does it? Slow and peaceful. In from the snow and looking at a new seed/plant catalogue and thinking of the garden to come in the spring. After having read Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I am excited to try some fun plants in the garden this year. Our first garden at Shangri La Ti Da...which is, by the way, already winterized with about a foot of mulch over the two new 4x40 foot beds.
This is the pace I am looking forward to after retirement...time to enjoy and see and appreciate what is around me.
I don't even have all my Christmas done, but I have shed that frustration and anxiety and feel peaceful with what is done already and the wrapping I can do and plans to make for what still needs to be done.
Thank the Lord for this Christmas miracle...
Amen

Slow Down

As I have been edging toward a simpler, quieter, slower life and praying, I am sometimes surprised by God.
Tonight I was over booked and knowing I would be in a rush all evening. I had a doctor's appointment in Terra Alta that I had to zoom away from school for. Then I had to zoom back for a PTA meeting and I need to cook something for a church dinner tomorrow night...aarrrggh! Where's the peace, right?
So, on the way up the mountain my car dies. As I am trying frantically to get Stevie so she can come and get me, my cell phone starts to have issues.
So, now I am thinking it was all a slow down message. We did live before cell phones. I could have walked somewhere to use a phone and give someone a chance to show some Christian charity.
I did get to the doctor and she was very nice and took a lot of time with me. Told me everything looked good inside and out...for my age! It was all so good that I completely forgot to worry about getting to my meeting...and it all went well at the meeting even with out me....how about that?
In all of this I was forced to slow down and think again....
Thank you, Lord.

Minimumly Musical

My little husband and I went to the community Christmas dinner at the high school tonight. It was tasty enough, but the real fun was the entertainment they had planned. The musical theatre group as well as the bands and choirs performed. It was a nice variety of music.
But the main thing is that because I am only minimumly musical, I can, and do, enjoy it all. I don't know enough to be analytical about what I am hearing.
It is kind of interesting to me. I have a hard time, nearly impossible time, sitting still while music is being performed, but I don't really feel like I have much rhythym. I long to be a dancer, but am not brave enough.
And here's another part of the puzzle. Mostly I don't care for radio music, but almost any kind of live music I am happy with. Maybe it is the connections. Seeing those kids perform tonight and knowing how that, all that, that goes into a performance is making them more prepared to be the future...teary eyed through most of it.
But none of this is the best part yet. At the very end...after 2 long hours on the bleachers...I got to sing the Hallelujah Chorus with the choirs and anyone from the audience who wanted to join us on the floor. It was great!
See, being only minimumly musical means I can sing with abandon and joy. I know enough to stop singing if I am way off, but otherwise I don't sweat the small stuff and just enjoy!
Amen!

Mission Accomplished

You know why I love being married? Well, married to my little husband in particular? He is good with me being an able assistant on projects and not much of a house cleaner. Right, Little Husband?
We have been having a bit of wind the last few days and this afternoon our neighbor pointed out that the antennae on top of our roof was listing (and not to port...must be starboard). This is not a little bitty antennae. It is a 12 foot antennae on a 30 foot pole that was attached to the chimney with brackets and secured with steel cables at 3 points on the eaves. Now, why we needed this monstrosity when we don't even have a TV is another discussion all together.
Anyway, after the helpful neighbor pointed this out, my husband began planning. The plan came to fruition at about 10:00pm tonight. He sets up the ladder, plugs in the Sawzall (is that how you spell that toy?), and up we go onto the roof of the house. It is not nearly as breezy as it has been, thank goodness. We cut the one remaining cable. He starts the cut on the bracket attaching it to the chimney and then hands off the toy. He goes to the mid point of the support pole and I put the flash light in my mouth and get to finish the sawing! Much more fun than say, sweeping or dusting or doing the dishes! I cut the bottom bracket and we put the antennae on the ground behind the house...all without any mishap or excitement!
The only bad news is, the house still needs cleaned!
The best news is that my husband loves me anyway....ahhh, blessing.

Disney

In the middle of the Advent Conspiracy posts...but it really took place before I started them...a report on the Disney trip.
We had a great time. Enough laughing to cause incontinence! Enough screaming to cause sore throats. Enough lights to cause squinting. A bit of an adventure seeing all those Christmas decorations in palm trees and such, but a lot of lights twinkling always looks good, right? Enough sweet desserts to keep you awake for hours and happy about it! Enough walking to make you not feel too badly about eating at a dessert buffet at 9:00 at night!
I have been to Disney World a few times, but never before in the "Christmas" season. The weather was much more agreeable and the lines were much more manageable. I would suggest this time of year to anyone with kids. We did 4 parks in 3 days and I think each of us saw most of what we wanted to see. We arrived as the park opened and left as it was closing 3 different days. We are so lucky to have Amy who is a type A planner of all things recreational. No thinking involved when you are on one of Amy's trips. You just get to enjoy the sights...if you can keep up with her! I hope she enjoys doing the planning as much as I enjoy the plans.
All of that said...I did have some twinges of elitism (is that a word?) that I am not comfortable with. Generally, if something isn't available to any and everyone, I don't want to be part of it either...and a Disney trip is expensive for a family. And then of course, I get back to hear about the Advent Conspiracy and begin to think of all the things I could have spent that money on...
But, I did enjoy time away with good friends and that is worth more than any money.
I would show you some photos, but the trip coordinator is also the photographer and I haven't gotten any photos yet. She took some great ones, so that is something you can look forward to...

Advent Conspiracy

We are doing an interesting and though provoking study in Sunday School this month. It is call the Advent Conspiracy and it is about bringing Christ back into Christmas. The first week was about worshipping fully. How often the thing that we worship at Christmas is finding the "perfect" gift. Perfect because it cost the right amount (want to impress, want to save money, agreed to spend $20); perfect because we know the person so well, perfect because we would love to have one, perfect because we will get to use it, too, but we can count it as a gift...you get the idea.
The PERFECT gift was given all those years ago by a God with a plan for each of us.
How often the thing we worship at Christmas is "time off " to do nothing or do something different or spend time alone or spend time with loved ones.
Why do we need time off to do these things? Perhaps we should take time off from our important life to be still and know God. Christmas is a good time to start that.
So, anyway, the point is that we should worship fully the Baby, the life he showed us and gave up for us. It isn't about the stuff that we gather, give, return...and other wise worship. It is about loving...not stuff.
Give presence. Do you or anyone you know really need anything?
Just think about it...

The Villages

I got to go to Florida for Thanksgiving this year to help my friend, Stevie, celebrate her 60th birthday a bit early. We were lucky enough to be able to stay in a friend's house while there. It is in The Villages at Lady Lake, Florida. The Villages are a grand retirement village of about 70,000. Can that really still be a village? It was an eye opening and laugh inducing experience. These folks know how to enjoy the life they are living. There are activities scheduled all the time, from polo to woodworking. There is live music every night in the square. It is very appealing. Their main mode of transportation is a golf car (not cart). And these are not just your plain old golf carts...it was great fun to see all the individuality. They built a bridge just wide enough for 2 carts to pass to go over the 6 lane freeway below and tunnels to go under...what a juxtaposition! Speedy and slow. I am so looking forward to the slower pace. We got to spend an afternoon and evening with two friends who live there. They were so sweet with us and each other. How gentle they were. I can see now the possible reward for working all this time...a slower, gentler time is in my very near future!
Wonder why we can't live that life now and then???