Everything I needed to know, I learned from a Blog

I have been reflecting on the past year, what with a new one around the corner and all. and although I only started my blog sometime in July, I feel as if I have learned so much from the new and exciting world of blogdom. I have "met" people all over the world and have found that we all are the same in so many ways. It's crazy, in a way, to be so connected to people I have never met and would never recognize if I passed them at Mall Of America. But, I feel as though I am..connected. Each morning I have to go and find out how everyone is. Rand and Twinklemoose had their new baby, Joe and Jane let us know about thier newest coming addition, and that they are all fine somewhere in Asia. I have a strong support in Virginia, who, when I met her was Ruby and then came clean and now I have to remind myself that she's actually Donna. She has taught me so much about being real and loving Jesus and what that looks like, daily. I have a friend in the Pacific Northwest that I can relate to on lots of levels, living in a pastor's home, (she's married to one, my dad was one,) being a mother and wondering if you will ever have time to do all that needs to be done, living in my birth state and consider it to be "home" even though it's been 3 decades since I lived there and I love to hear about it every day. There's a drama teacher that I live vicariously through, because I love drama, and I wish I had thought to become a drama teacher. Since I lived in Canada for so many years I can almost picture Mrs. Diamond when she talks about all things Canadian and what an amazing mother she is. and MaryKay has offered so many great pieces of parenting advice, I'm considering having her on retainer.

Then there are other blogs I follow at times, there's the story of a woman, somewhere, who desperately wants a baby and can't so now she has turned to a surrogate and so far so good, but you never know. I read about a woman and her preemie and all they went through in the NICU and I cried for a woman, who in the midst of what seemed to be finally a successful pregnancy lost both boys she was carrying. These are amazing women, who I admire for their passion and their courage and it makes me so thankful for the kids I have and I realize I have never really stopped to think what it might be like for some who have trouble conceiving, or carrying a baby to term. and they share their stories with the world.

So, to all of you in my blog world, thank you. I hope and pray all the best for you in the new year and can't wait for the all the stories to be told in 2005!

This and That

Since I have not posted in a while, I find myself with a few things to say, all unrelated.

First, on hearing about the disaster in Indonesia and other parts of Asia, I was worried about Joe Missionary and so upon returning home after the weekend of Christmas at the in-laws, I was able to read on his blog that all is well in their part of the world. Also, I was worried about our sponsored child through Compassion that lives in Indonesia. I called Compassion today to find out if they had heard anything yet and I was told that all of their project sites are in locations that were not hit. I was so relieved to know this.

Second, as a child, we always had butter in the house. My dad loves butter and he loves it soft, so it stayed out of the fridge in some fancy butter dish in the cupboard. (I know what you're thinking, but we used a lot of butter and there just wasn't time for it to go bad). Well, my in-laws are really great people and try to accomodate each of us on our visits there. We were there for Christmas and so she bought butter for me. They all eat the "I can't believe it's not butter" (I can) So, not only does she want to make sure there is butter for me, but she wants it soft for me as well. Even though you can tell this is a very tough thing for them to do, they put it on a butter dish and that's sort of where it falls apart. They are unsure of what to do with is. You see, this butter dish does not have a lid and it's just a bit weird to put butter in the cupboard, let alone, uncovered butter. So, the first night it was wrapped in tinfoil and put in the cupboard with the plates. The second night the tinfoil was traded for that new fangled plastic wrap that sticks. Believe it or not, that was just the background to my story. My husband's uncle and his wife were there also for dinner on Christmas and she and I were putting the meal together. She reached into the cupboard to pull out plates and almost put her hand through the softened butter. So she looks at me and says, "what's this?" "butter" I say. Okay, she knows this family, this is not usual, so she has a question in her eyes but is unsure how to ask it. "It's for me" I say. She is still unable to form a question. "My mother-in-law really likes me and she knows I like butter and she knows I like it soft" I say. "okay...?" she says. "what can I say, I'm special" was my reply and then we had to move on because the potatoes had to come out of the oven and the roast needed to be cut and the green beans strained, and, she still had not pulled the plates out of the cupboard. We moved on, but I could see by the look in her eye that she thought I was nuts. Oh well, what can I say, I like my butter soft.

Third, I discovered that there's a sure fire way of knowing if a family on your street is "Christian" or not. It's whether or not they have Christmas lights up on their house. That's according to my husband's grandmother, anyway. I hope it's not true, since we don't have any lights on the outside of our house. Isn't it funny how some people think, though?

And finally, I have discovered and am pleased to report that I am in fact, SuperMom. There are 4 adults that live in this house and I am the only one that can drag the garbage and recycling to the end of the street. I am also the only one that can cut an apple into 8 slices as requested by B4, even if he has to come in to the bathroom while I am in the shower to request it. I am also the only one that can make chocolate milk and peanut butter and jam sandwiches and I am also the only one who knows to look UNDER the pile of hats, mitts, and gloves on the floor for the mitts you are looking for that you were just wearing yesterday. It's amazing, really. I did not realize before the super powers that I possess. It's nice to know.

Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus!

"Well, everybody has a birthday, and a cake and a party too, and all your friends come over and sing Happy Birthday to you.
When Jesus has a birthday the whole wide world is there and we can all remember the gift the Father gave
so we sing, la la la Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday Baby Jesus. Even when your birthday's through. All year long we'll remember, each precious gift we get from you."

These are some of the words to a song we used to sing when we were kids. I can't remember it all now. But I love Christmas and it has nothing to do with the gifts under the tree. I think it is an amazing time where everything sort of slows down (okay, not out in the retail world) and you can reflect on that first Christmas and you can wonder at the amazement of the shepherds and you can once again realize that Christ became flesh and dwelt among us. I think it is an amazing time for my kids to understand more fully what Christmas means to us as Christians. We talk a lot about how we celebrate their birthdays and so we also celebrate the birthday of the Savior. No, Santa doesn't come to our house. I personally have 2 reasons for not lying to my children about Santa. One is because I don't want them to ever wonder if I am also lying to them about Jesus and two, because, we wouldn't want to share our birthday celebration with someone else, why would we share the Christ's birthday with someone else.

Yes, I know December 25th is not actually the day Jesus was born but it is the day we celebrate it. I love the Christmas lights and the Christmas music and I enjoy honoring my friends' by acknowleding their birthdays and so even more so the celebration of the Savior of the world.

We had an amazing time in church yesterday, where we reflected on what we have to offer to Jesus. We each were given a scrap of "swalding" cloth and asked to come lay it in the manger and tell God what we were giving His son for Christmas. Some gave certain attitudes, or fears, or dreams, some gave their hearts. I gave my kids back to Him, again. I know they're not mine but sometimes I hold on too tightly and I realized while sitting in church yesterday morning that I was holding on too tightly and trying to "make" things happen a certain way with them or be a certain way or accomplish certain things. So, I gave Him my kids and asked for help to be a better parent and the one He wants me to be. and my 7 year old son was with us in the service and he came up with us and laid his cloth in the manger, too. I don't know what he was thinking but I know it was moving for him.

So, Merry Christmas to each of you. May you know the love of the Father and may you wonder at the miracle of His Son's birth. Happy Birthday, Jesus. I hope you get what You've always wanted this year, from me, at least.

Kids and Christmas

We just finished putting up the Christmas tree, (yes, I am well aware of the date!). I'm really not the greatest light stringer, but I did it and then the kids helped hang the ornaments. I gotta say, my son, B7 has WAY more patience than I do. It was amazing to watch him as he lovingly helped his little sister pick out just the right ornament to hang up and then pick out just the right tree branch to hang it on and then step back and admire it or decide if should be moved. time after time after time he did this. I thought I would lose my mind just thinking about trying to hang the ornaments with the "help" of a 21 month old, but it turned out to be quite simple, only because of the long lasting patience of my 7 year old. He's such a great kid.

B4 was fun to watch too. I have a collection of gold dipped (?) ornaments that are quite exquisite and each time he would take one out he would say, "Look, Mom, how pretty this is." or, "Don't you think this is the prettiest one?" Yeah, that's my 4 year old, with a taste for the finer things in life. (He's also the one that picked out the crystal glass for the bathroom to use as a mouth-rinsing cup after brushing his teeth.)

And now, that it's all done, my little Diva will look at the ornaments and find the one of the baby Jesus in the manger and start to sing a song, "ba ba ba baby, baby" or something like that. It's very melodic and the tune doesn't change. I just have no idea what song she is singing.

It was great to experience each one and the way they went about helping with the tree this year. A moment of peace during what I had anticipated to be a time of stress.

Fear Not

Every year at Christmas time I wonder what it will be about this year that will make it special for me. Sometimes I feel as though I've heard it all, seen it all, experienced it all. I love to celebrate the birth of Jesus. I think it is an amazing time and very special. But I always want to "feel" it.

I did. Yesterday morning, while sitting in church. Our pastor can preach the most amazing sermons. Yesterday he spoke on how every time an angel was sent to give a message to someone on earth they had to say "Fear not' because it was very scary to come face to face with the angel of the Lord (and usually their faces were down in the dirt). But Jesus wanted us to really know that He loved us. We all know John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave..." That's how much He loved us. Those of us who are parents cannot fathom giving our child up that way and we understand, at least in part, the extent of His love for us.

But I never thought about it the way it was presented to us yesterday. If Christ wanted to, He could have just made us love Him. Right? He's God after all. But He wanted us to want to love Him. and so He wanted to come to earth and "dwell among us". "What could be less scary than a new born baby" There was no reason for anyone in Jesus' life to run around before Him saying "Fear not" because He became human. He gave up the crown and the royal robes and approached us in the vulnerable state of a baby and of a human. In fact, He was so human, those in His hometown could not believe He was the Messiah. There was nothing about Him that made Him stand out. And then He started doing miracles. But wouldn't it have made sense to do more miracles? To heal everyone He came in contact with? Don't you think more people would have believed if Jesus had done more, overwhelmed us with His Godness? Even today, couldn't He do more to prove to us who He is? Yes, He could, but then we would be compelled to worship one so mighty and magnificent and His power would be so overwhelming we would not be able to refuse. And God wants us to want to love Him.

So He sent His son, to be born in a manger, to live a life that was normal as a child and young man, to show us how to love each other, and to lay His life on line to pay the penalty for our sin. He had to leave His royal throne and come dressed as a human, to show us His love for us.

Meal time at its best

Food Network is taking applications from people who want to start their own cooking show. I enjoy the Food Network. I like to see how recipes unfold and all the ways you can use thyme. And all the ideas you can find on how to make a meal in 30 minutes has its place. But do we really need another cooking show. Think of how easy it would be to make dinner if all your ingredients were sitting out in front of you in brightly colored bowls, prepared by someone else? What we need is a cooking show that teaches us how to cook, at the last minute, with next to nothing in the cupboard. Take me, for instance, the other night. I should have had a camera on while I was fixing dinner, I could have submitted it. I decided on bacon and eggs, because that's what we had. So, while making scrambled eggs, putting toast in the toaster, frying bacon, frying eggs, I was also, correcting homework, wiping up spilled juice, referring some dispute over a lego piece, answering the phone, consoling a crying little Diva and keeping markers out of her hands. I mean, really, if you can make a healthy meal in that environment, don't you think that would be beneficial to other families out there?
Although, part of the enjoyment of watching TV is leaving your own situation. Who would want to watch that if it was all happening around them. Reality cooking. I'm not sure we're ready for that.

Ah, Christmas time!

So, my parents live with us and recently I have found myself resorting back to practices from my childhood. We had to have a new water heater installed today (Merry Christmas to us) and in order to do that the guy has to go through my parents' room. Well, after my folks were both gone to work for the day, my hubby and I had to move their bed in order to make more room and lo and behold, there are all our Christmas presents. Instantly, I was back in time, remembering the days around Christmas, just waiting for my parents to go out to attend some sort of a meeting and then go looking for the gifts. Of course, they were wrapped then, and they were today, so really, you have no idea what's in there and my guess is that most of the gifts are for my kids anyway, so what fun is that? But it was fun to have that memory and and since now we have spent all the Christmas money on the new water heater, it's comforting to know that my kids will have gifts under the tree after all!!

Kids, you gotta love 'em

You know the worst thing about kids? they want to eat, like more than once EVERY single day!! I mean, really. For some reason, planning dinner menus is just not my thing. I hate trying to think of what to make EVERY single day of my life. and then when I figure it out and go do it, I feel such a relief! but, then I just have to do it again the next day, and the next day and the day after that. You wouldn't think that after nearly 10 years of marriage and 7.5 years of having at least one child, the need for food on a daily basis would come as some sort of a surprise to me. But it always seems to sneak up on me.
Oh, well, I gotta go, I have to figure out what to fix for the kids' supper.

Down in the Valley, Valley so low

On this journey called life, I have spent a large portion of it down in the valley. Especially recently. Come on, I'll show you around. See, it's really not that bad down here, yes, it's a little chilly, what with no sun shining down here or anything. But the little brook that runs through the valley is very pretty and makes a nice noise. See, the kids have all their toys spread around, and those dishes over there? that's where we usually eat. I also do a lot of laundry here. Even down in the valley we have had some good times. and if you look up, you can see the sun shining, so it's still there and you can rest in the knowledge that the sun is still there, even if you can't feel it on your face. And at night, if you look up, the stars are there as a testiment to the fact that there is something else besides this valley.
So, even though it is dark and cold, I have become acustomed to this valley. and now, I feel as though God is leading us up the mountain side, towards where the sun is actually shining. It looks to me as though this path could be rough and will take a lot of energy. In fact, right off to the side is a huge archway with a sign that reads "Elevators". I'm thinking that this could take us up a whole lot faster and easier, what with all our belongings and stuff. But I have a feeling that this would be the "easy way, or the broad way" and that steep slope over there is the narrow way.
So, here we go. Towards the sun shine and the warm summer breeze. I can feel it, even though we are not quite there yet and while I am a bit anxious at what I will find once we crest the mountain, I am beginning to feel something that I haven't felt in a very long time. It feels a little like, Hope.