Love

There is a new Christmas song out this year by Mandisa and Matthew West called Christmas Makes Me Cry . I LOVE it. I will be the first to say that I prefer traditional Christmas songs, and I really don't like to stray too much, but this new song has really touched my heart. There is a particular verse that I have been marinating in for a few days, and now, lucky you, get to read all about what my heart has been camping on.


The verse goes:

I think of Mary and the virgin birth

And I’m amazed at how much God thinks we’re worth

That He would send His only Son to die

And sometimes Christmas makes me cry.

For the past few years I have purposely found some idea to sit on during the Christmas season to keep me focused on the reason we are so full of joy during this time. I have sat on what it must have felt like to be Mary, and all the turmoil she must have had to go through being an un-married mother-to-be. How strong she had to be during what had to be such a frightening time, and how she had to sacrificially give her life to be Jesus' mother.

I have thought about how important it was that Jesus was born in a manger among the lowly and led a life that was not fit for the King he was. Had he been born in a palace and lived a life being served, and treated like royalty, he would never gone through some of the struggles that we have had to go through ourselves, living in a world of sin. We can't ever say "No one knows how I feel/what it's like."

This year, I am trying as hard as I can to fully comprehend how much "God thinks we are worth". For Him to send his "One and only son to die", floors me sometimes, especially now that I am a mother myself.

After having my children, I got to experience a whole new level to the word love. Here was this person that had done nothing to earn my love, but yet I was head over heals. For no other reason except that they were here on this earth. I just can't say that about anyone else.

There is no reason that I shouldn't believe that God felt the same way about his own son. Yet, despite knowing what was going to come of His son's life, he still loved me enough to sacrifice His ONLY son's life for me. And let me just say, this was not an even swap in the least. It was no "eye for an eye" type thing. This was His only son. His PERFECT never sinning son. I mean a son that makes the terms "Angel Baby" or "Angel Child" take on a whole new meaning.

I don't know about you, but I would give my own life for my children in a heartbeat. I love them so much it makes me ache at times. However, as much as I hate to admit, my children are FAR from perfect. Just like us all, they have very ugly moments.

My Father gave up his PERFECT son for me! Little ol', silly, everyday sinning, me. ME! And for you too. That is the kind of love that is so big, no other human could ever give it. That's how much "God thinks we are worth."

That thought alone, is enough for Christmas to make me cry. This year at Christmas, I may cry. It will be tears of thankfulness, tears of hope, and tears of joy.

My prayer for myself and for you is that in the next few days, we would be able to fully comprehend how much God, the creator of the universe, thinks we are worth. To comprehend as much as our human hearts will let us, the kind of love it takes to make the sacrifice that our Father made when he gave up His one and only Son to die. He came to this world for us, and he died for us. I pray that the idea of this never becomes small or out of focus.

Christmas can be busy and hurried, full of fun, a time of giving and receiving. It's hard not to get all wrapped up in all the excitement, but I pray that the main source of that excitement is our hearts understanding, "How much God thinks we are worth". He sent His Son to this earth, fully knowing how it would end...for you and for me.

Hallelujah!

I will choose for my joy, this Christmas, to come from this fact, and then, because I am a emotional person who cries at commercials sometimes, I will cry. Tears of thankfulness, tears of hope, and tears of joy.

May we all walk around blubbering this Christmas!

(in case you're wondering/keeping count, I think that is 2 hallelujahs this week!)

Spreading Some Christmas Cheer

Tonight we made some baked goods, and in efforts to spread some Christmas joy, were going to package them up and give them to our neighbors. The kids were very excited to do this. Earlier this afternoon, however, they had decided to put on their jammies for the rest of the day. I figured since I hadn't planned on going anywhere, it would be ok. So, after the cookies were made, they (Scott and the kids) were off to deliver cookies to the neighbors in their jammies (for some reason (pure laziness) I felt there was no reason to get dressed back in regular clothing...hmmmm).

Here's Delanie...Very cute jammies and slippers (thank you Grandma Wright) and the coat even coordinates!


And here is my son...ummmm...just a bit different from his sister:



You know it's going to be bad when Scott says, "Oh my goodness honey, you really should get a picture of the Dude's outfit!"

Yup, that would be my son in his new favorite Buzz Light Year jammies (thank you Braden), his camo crocks, a Cars hat (yup it's back!), and his snow jacket. Somehow, not quite the same as his sister...

Can we talk about my boy's new found power in flexing his fashion muscles? As you can see, he has the hat back on...ok, at least it's Winter and not warm out in the least bit. Plus, I don't have to comb his hair. The new jammies are a whole different ball game. He NEVER wants to take them off! NEVER! I fought with him this morning for 15 minutes to get him dressed to take his sister to school and run errands. The only thing that saved me was a promise that he could put them back on as soon as we got home. Trust me, he held me to it.

On Sunday, when I dressed him for church, he insisted he HAD to wear his Car's hat. I told him that the Car's hat isn't something we get to wear to Sunday school. This upset him enough to give me a low growl, and then he traipsed off into his room only to return with his Car's tennis shoes. He told me, "Mommy I can't wear Car's hat, but I will wear my Car's shoes instead, OK?" Somehow I distracted him long enough to get him out of the house with some shoes that matched.

I am beginning to realize, that I have an uphill battle on my hands, and I could just be at the base of that hill. Unlike Delanie, who wants to look cute and takes all my suggestions, my son doesn't care. He wants to wear what he wants to wear and what he thinks is cool. My opinion on the matter is not appreciated...not in the least.

Let me just say, I don't really care all that much what he wears when we are at home, or running errands here and there, but there are some places I feel like I have to draw the line, and church is one of them.

Some might say, "Well just don't get him stuff that you don't want him to wear, and then it won't matter." That sounds really good on paper, but doesn't really work. I have come to find that even if stuff is dirty, or "lost" my boy will still find a way to flex that fashion muscle. Plus, let me post that picture again so you can see the look on his face when he has all his favorite stuff on:

Pure JOY I tell you! JOY!

So, with that in mind, I think I better start liking, no loving, the taste of humble pie.

Seeing the Light

I have been loving watching Delanie grow in her faith these past few months. It seems like lately all that she has had read to her, told to her, prayed over her, etc. is finally being verbalized by her. Here's a snip-it of some of the conversations we're having:

Snip-it 1: Eating Breakfast
Delanie: Momma, you know what?
me: What?
Delanie: Satan and the Devil are the same people.
me: yup, same person different name, huh?
Delanie: Satan will try to get you to do bad things, and make wrong choices. He tells lies to you.
me: Yes, he does. You have to be very careful not to let him trick you.
Delanie: God would never trick me. He doesn't lie either.
me: No He doesn't.

Snip-it 2: Riding in the car
Delanie: You know what, Momma?
me: What?
Delanie: God is always on our side.
me: Yes He is. We are so lucky!
Delanie: God can do anything He wants.
me: Yes, He can.
Delanie: He made everything.
me: Yes, He did.

Snip-it 3: Riding in the car at night, Delanie is playing with a light up Tinker bell button that has run out of batteries.
Delanie: I wish this Tinkerbell pin would work
me: Yea, I think it needs new batteries, but we don't have the right ones.
Delanie: I remember when it used to light up.
me: Not anymore, huh?
Delanie: Nope.
(continues to play with button when all of a sudden she gets a flash out of it)
Delanie: Oh my gosh! Momma!! My button! I can't believe it! My button just worked for a second!
me: It did! Wow!
Delanie: Yea, Momma, I think God just changed the batteries for me!
me: ummmmmmm (giggling) You don't think that maybe the batteries just worked for a second?
Delanie: (ponders the question)uhhhhmmm I don't know....(gets another little flash) MOMMA!! It happened again! I think God is fixing the batteries in my button! Oh my goodness!! (giggles with joy) God can do anything!

Yes, daughter. Yes, He can.

Rules and Regulations

If you didn't already know, I belong to a VERY exclusive gym. Since it is so exclusive, there are some very important rules and guidelines that must be followed in order to keep your membership.

1. Matching cute outfit: Not required

2. Hair, Make-up, and smooth legs: Don't even think about it.

3. Having a love for a cluttered space: Required

4. Praise music only

5. Singing out loud regardless of ability: A must

6. Throwing your hands up in the air to praise Him through out your work out: Plan on it

It's hard some mornings to get up and go. My home gym may not be the ritziest place in town, but those rules and regulations make it hard to beat. Hey, the price isn't bad either!

A Wii Bit of Shopping

Today, I was blessed beyond measure as my Mother-In-Law offered to take the kids for the day so that I could get some Christmas shopping in. I have realized that A) Christmas is less than 2 weeks away B) I have not shopped yet and C) Since I have not shopped, there is nothing wrapped. Knowing that I love to see gifts under the tree each year, I thought I better get on it. Thankfully, I knew what I wanted to get people. I just needed to get out there and do it.

Scott decided that he would like a Wii this year. I told him it wasn't happening because there were none to be found, and I wasn't going to be able to sit in lines or wait on delivery trucks each and everyday. He decided it was OK if he didn't get one under the tree, and would settle for one after the mad holiday rush for them was over.

I was discussing this with a friend, who did the whole mad searching and scrapping to get one for her hubby, and she told me she now had an "in", and could probably get me one in time for Christmas! I was elated. This was going to be my biggest Christmas moment EVER! I had it all planned out in my head how this was going to play out. I was going to be this hero who went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure my little honey didn't go empty handed at Christmas. Oh,the look of excitement in his eyes as he opened the gift...it was going to make my Christmas! I almost couldn't sleep that night as I thought about how wonderful it was all going to be.

Since Scott's gift was already planned out to perfection, I had him come along with me to help with the shopping. As we were walking into a store in a strip mall by our house, he mentioned when we were through he would like to go to the gaming store a few stores down. He wanted to see if there was a list we could get our names on for after the holidays for a Wii...or really get any info on how to get one. Going along with my plan of surprise that would re-write all Christmases past, present, and future, I said, "sure, let's go get our names on the list."

Names on a list for a gaming system that people have been known to wait outside of stores at 3AM, that people have been calling stores EVERY day at delivery time to see if there was one on the truck that they could then quickly swoop in and get (some people have been known to take their half naked children, rudely awaken from naps), people are fighting over these things!!! The employee looked at us kind of like we were crazy and replied, "Why would I put your name on a list? We have 3 right here in the store."

ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME!!!

Of course, Scott doesn't hesitate...He buys one!

My plans. My hopes. My dreams!!!! SHATTERED PEOPLE SHATTERED! I will no longer be the Hero of Christmas this year.

I will say a few things about this...1) My husband is very happily playing his little games like a young boy...very content, and is not wanting for anything, which was the point. 2) Maybe this whole "Hero of Christmas" thing got a bit out of hand, and this was God's way of reminding me that we've already got a "Hero of Christmas"

There will be no substitutions.

Hallelujah!

The Great Cover-Up

Hats are great. They keep us warm, they look cute, and they cover up stuff we don't want people to see. I've been known to throw on a cap every now and then to hide my unwashed hair, un-made up face, or un-waxed eyebrows. I've even worn a few to keep warm and save my ears from frostbite or a chilling wind.

For the past week (at least), Pax has been wearing a Car's (the Disney movie) knit snow hat. He will not take it off. In fact, this morning he told me he couldn't get out of bed until he found his hat. No joke, he would NOT get out of bed.

He wears this thing all day, in his jammies, out in public, while eating his meals and snacks, and in the car. I make him take it off for nap and bed time. Although he has been feeling ultra-cool in his hat, he also has been hiding a serious mop that would've most definitely caused some humiliation (even if only on my part, as his mother).

Today, I took Pax to get his hair cut. I will NEVER get used to the fact that he needs to have his hair cut every 6 weeks. Being a female, having a daughter 1st (and a bald one at that), and growing up with sisters only, I am not used to needing to see a stylist that often. I like the locks long, and cutting them that often does not allow for long locks. I do not like to see long locks on my son, however.

So, we cut that mop off! He is very handsome with his trimmed hair, and for some reason it's only after his hair is cut that I realize how long it was in the first place. I am so pleased to say that after he got major oooo's and aaaaaah's from the hair dresser and I, he decided it was time to lose the hat. I asked him if he thought it would be OK if he kept the hat off so everyone could see how handsome he is. He replied humbly with a "Yup!" It hasn't been on since then!

Maybe, he knew his hair was getting too long?

Now if only there was some sort of Car's knit hat I could put on my car...it's in DIRE need of some TLC. Then there's my kitchen. I wonder at times if I will ever see it clean between all the mail, Christmas ads, school projects, and oh yea, the food. Do you think they make a knit cap big enough for a kitchen? Oh, why stop at the kitchen, I really could, at times, just throw a Car's hat on my whole house.

It is so much cozier with a hat on. I think I know what I want for Christmas!

BRRRRR...

It was a cold day today...gloomy, snowy, grey....BLAH. I just wanted to stay in my jammies all day, but Delanie had school which meant I had to get dressed. Thankfully, Scott was also home today which meant Pax didn't have to brave the elements.

My boy loves to be outside. Until recently, he really didn't appreciate the cold weather or snow. I completely understand. Sometimes he forgets that he now finds it fun to play with snow. Thanks to daddy, he can fully appreciate a snowball fight. At first glance though, he was not too excited about the weather this morning.

Pax: (Long deep sigh as he is looking out the sliding glass door)
me: What's wrong dude?
Pax: Mommy...aaaahhhh(another sigh)
me: yes
Pax: Mommy, sometimes it's not Summer out.
me: (a small giggle) Nope, sometimes it's not. It's wintry out.
Pax: Sometimes, mommy, it is Summer!
me: yup!
Pax: (looking back out the window with a scowl on his face)(now a deep growly sigh) but sometimes it's not.

I can completely understand the frustration...He is soooo my son!

Pax: (thinking for a bit then slowly getting a mischievous grin) (with a somewhat growly voice)sometimes I throw snowballs! (now he is giggling) Let's go play outside!

And his Father's son!