Christmas 2008

To my family in Africa:
You are the ones my heart longs to be with, but time & circumstance will not allow it. I pray that you have been blessed by surruounding yourselves with people who love you and will help you celebrate this wonderful day. Even though we are apart, know that you were not replaced or forgotten. Merry Christmas to those who consume every though of every day, and who are the subject of every conversation to anyone that will listen.

To my family in Canada:
I sure wish I could have spent this white Christmas with you. In fact I am jealous you had 2 ft of snow, and all I had was 33 degree weather with the sun shining. Life is different that we used to know it. Oh the memories of sitting on the kitchen floor (yes all 7 of us grands), and Poppa complaining that we had 200 chairs to sit on and we choose to sit on the floor. The days when getting gameboy was easier for Nana to buy than for her to decide what size of clothes would be best. Merry Christmas to you all as we go about the changes that life brings. Especially now as we branch out and become our own families. May we never forget the traditions that have made us who we are and may we celebrate them for many more Christmas' to come.

To the family who cared for me on Christmas 2008:
You all are incredible!!! My heart is overwhelmed at your thoughtfulness as you took in 2 stray girls and loved us like your own. You made us feel like we belonged and that was the greatest Christmas present anyone could ever give. You accepted us for who we are and allowed us to be ourselves. I pray you all will be blessed for giving the simple gift of love. You will never know what a great feeling it is. I am so blessed to have you in my life. You made me feel like I was with my own family. In fact there were a few times, that if I closed my eyes I thought for sure I was with them. I knew I loved you before this holiday and now I am convinced that I love you even more!! Merry Christmas to you ALL (the puppies included)!!!!!!!!

Life

Life sure has been crazy around my house for the past few days.

It goes something like this:

-taking care of Pastor Trimble's family while he had open heart surgery.
this means going to the hospital everday for a week, & making sure everyone had eaten that day.
-during that time, I was laid off from my nanny family. I am sure going to miss those kids.
-decorated the church for the Christmas program.
-directed the choir Christmas program.
-Choir Christmas party.
-Jr & Sr Bible Quizzing started.
-my friend Amy had jaw surgery. I stayed with her overnight for 3 nights.
-Christmas shopping.
-wrapping all my presents.
-car shopping.

Yeah I know this list isn't that long, but by the time you drive and run all over time there isn't much time at the end of the day to blog.
I have not neglected you faithful readers - life just has been so busy. I have found myself asking what is more important sleeping or eating. And at times sleeping has won the battle.
Thanks for your support!

Be Still

I literally have had this blog up for a couple of hours contemplating on how to convey what is on my mind.

My last post I referenced the verse in Psalms that instructs us to "Be still and know that I am God." I truly have been doing that the past couple of days. It seems like as the holidays draw nearer, more and more seems to pile up. I get so frusterated with myself for the simple fact that I run hither and yon and really don't take the time to Be Still. I get so busy, that I double book myself with appointments, I put to much responsibility on my own shoulders instead of spreading the wealth.

However last night I was stopped dead in my tracks with the news of a few simple text messages. My dear friend proceeded to tell me she has cancer! Even now typing this I have a hard time comprehending this. As she began to tell me all that was going on, I suddenly realized that I was supposed to go for coffee with her about 2 weeks ago. I asked her if this is what she wanted to talk to me about that night I cancelled. She said yes and immediately I was so convicted. How could I be so selfish and not put her first. Isn't that what I learned in Sunday School - JOY = Jesus, Others & Yourself last? As I sat there for 2 hours texting her back and forth, I knew that I had learned my lesson to take the time to "Be Still".

Please be in prayer for my friend. She is 24 and has been diagnosed with malignant lymphoma. The doctors feel like that they caught it quite early, however it does not take away from the fact she has cancer. Also, she has not been in church for over a year, and pretty much believes that God is punishing her for this. She made the statement last night "I am ready to die, that way I would know where I was going. I don't know if I believe in Heaven or Hell." Pray that God will give me wisdom to help her through this and that she will be restored to Him - body, soul & spirit.

So today I was at the bank and Lorraine was helping me. I felt that I should invite her to our Christmas service on Sunday. Right then and there, I took the time to Be Still and plant a seed.

No longer will I avoid those moments of stillness. I recognise that in that stillness is usually when God reveals some incredible things in you life. I encourage you today in the busy-ness of Christmas to take the time to Be Still and hear the voice of the one from the manger.

The Most WONDERFUL Time of Year

This truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
The happiest season of all!
Hearts will be glowing!

Yes, this is my most favorite season of the year. The decorating, the party planning, the christmas musical at church, not so much the cold weather unless there is 10' of snow & I HAVE to stay home, the christmas lights, the logs in the fireplace - all of it I just love.

Even though it is the 5th of December, I have found myself already going to the malls like everyone else who waited til the last minute, however my tree is decorated, the outside of the house is decorated (mom you would be so proud!!!), my christmas cards are ordered, and I have even a few presents bought, just not wrapped. In the midst of all this I just find myself so busy running here and there, making sure everything is just right!

I have been finding myself thinking about buying gel pens to match the color of the cards, what kind of new recipe I will make for the Pastor's family this year, what type of decorations I will need for the Christmas musical, what dates my "Before & After" Christmas party will be. However in my "busy-ness" I fail to remember why we celebrate this wonderful season. It is so cliche' but Jesus truly is the reason for the season.

Tonight we had choir practice for the Christmas musical, and as we began to sing about how glorious, majestic & worth our King of Kings truly is ~ He came into that practice. I finally ended the song and turned it into a beautiful time of prayer. I had our Music Director lead us in prayer. She began to quote Psalm 46:10 'Be still and know that I am God." She began to encourage to put God back in His rightful place. I couldn't help but to stop and pause and rest in His presence. To truly concentrate on Him and thank Him that He came as a sweet little baby to this earth so long ago. Also remembering that He created us to worship Him & that He deserves all praise and glory.

Since leaving practice I have been repeating that verse of Scripture over and over again. I was also reminded of a blog that my sister wrote a little while back. It's not Christmasy by any means, but it's appropriate for this blog.

"The Silence Between the Notes."

She wrote,

"Have you ever noticed in life that sometimes the quietest moments are the ones that define you the most? Just recently I was reminded by the great composer Ludwig VOn Beethoven that it's not necessarily the musical notes that carry the mood of the piece but the dramatic pauses in between.

SO here I am today faced with the longest and loniest and largest PAUSE in my life. I have reached point A and am moving to point B but the journey between the points is what is defining me as an individual. Life is not always about achieving one goal to the next; sometimes life is about learning from the journey that has brought as far as we are. Life can not alwasy be about one event or another,finishing one task only to look for another, or to achieve the greastest reward still looking for something greater. There are times when we need to realize that being still and quiet are not bad things but they are sometimes the most valuable to you spiritually,emotionally,physically and mentally.

As a Christian how can you expect to hear the voice of God when all we ever do is talk or busy ourselves with the voices of other people. We listen for the approval of men never really seeking the approval of the ONE that matters the most. I think that sometimes we surround ourselves with noise and voices to drown out the VOICE that speaks the loudest. Beethoven also said that while God whispered to all men HE shouted at him(Beethoven) causing him to go completely deaf. It was not until then that Beethoven actually listened and heard music for what it really was. He realized then the importance of a PAUSE was the importance of the SILENCE.

I belive that life in its own way is a symphony that only you and I can determine where the PAUSES and the silence play HUGE roles. Life can't always be about the crashing of the cymbals and toooting of horns and the delicate whines of a violin; but somewhere along the line there has to be a PAUSE a time of reflection a time to stop and ponder the moment a time to rethink and a time to refocus.
It may come at an awkward time in your life or rather unexpectedly but never disregard the silence. In the silence is where we hear the most."