Its the most wonderful time of the year!

What makes it wonderful?

#1 Christ.  It is Christmas after all.  The image of a sweet, precious infant born in a cold, smelly barn, only to die in the prime of His life, every bit as innocent as the day He was born... makes my heart break and rejoice at the same time.

#2  Family time.  I love Christmas movies, our Christmas tree and the boat load of snacks that we've collected from all the parties.  We have made almost every night this month "family night".  Its been a blast.

#3  Quotes from "A Christmas Story".  "Never had the words poured from my petty pencil with such feverous fluidity." "What is it with this irrational prejudice against the Red Rider and his peace maker?"  "The old man stood, quivering, trying to come up with a real stinger.  All he could manage to get out was "NOT A FINGA."  "My old man worked in profanity like other artists might work in oils or clay.  It was his true medium.  A master."

#4  Music.  My life is a constant theme song.  Some days, the CD is on repeat and all I hear is "I think I can, I think I can."  But during the holidays, I am blessed to be bombarded by Christmas music everywhere I go.   The only negatives are sappy songs like the one about the Christmas shoes.  Seriously... I don't want to be reminded of tragedy during this most wonderful time of the year.  I've had enough of my own, and when I want to spiral down into a wormhole of misery, I can just ponder those fond memories.  This is a time of Hope.  Let's listen to happy things, Ok?

#5  Ridiculous holiday sweaters.  I don't know why, but people feel compelled to where them.  Still.  Cracks me up every time I see one.  God bless their sweet souls.  Festive to the end they are.  My kind of people, just different tastes in clothing.  :)

#6  Giving gifts.   Ok, so I like GETTING them too, I won't lie.  But I really do like giving them just as much, if not more.  I love picking out the perfect gift for someone.  And I love being able to give to those who have little or nothing.  If I had a magical sleigh and endless funds, I would take the santa job in a heart beat.  (BTW, I don't believe in santa.)  Bah humbug :)

So many things come to mind that I could be writing for days.  Lets just say that I really do think that this is the most wonderful time of the year.  Following old traditions and making a few new ones, I think this year will be one of the best yet.  I wish all of my dear family and sweet friends a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year!  Go watch a Christmas Story... I know I am.

My cup runneth over

How do you say thank you to a merciful God?  Words just don't cut it.  Not only has HE created the beautiful universe and this wonderful earth, but HE saw it fit to create us, in HIS image, simply to love us and have fellowship with us.  As if giving us life AND sustaining our lives aren't enough, He cares for us.  He cares for me.  He really does work all things together for our good AND for His glory.  Makes me grateful that someone with some competence is in charge!  I would totally botch the whole plan.  Scratch that, I wouldn't have a plan.  I'd still be flying by the seat of my pants with everyone else hanging on for dear life.  Nope, I'm glad to relinquish the controls to the only One capable of handling all things for my good.  He really is a great father. 

Steven passed his board exams.  Its official... he's a surgeon.  Thank you Lord for giving bountifully, disciplining graciously and forgiving mercifully.  We are beyond grateful for your love and care for us.

The big one...

Steven and I are here in Salt Lake City, Utah, waiting for tomorrow.  The big day... the big test... the biggest anxiety overload that he has ever had Im sure.  I get stressed just watching him study all of this material.  I know that he knows this stuff.  He knows that he knows it.  God knows that he knows it.   Now he just has to convince three rooms of three doctors that he knows it.  They won't get any idea of the kind of man he is, how he has the best work ethic of anyone I've ever met, how he is considerate enough for his patients feelings that he will speak with them in the middle of the night to calm their fears, or how he fully understands that the job he holds is not just a job, but that he is being permitted to work in the realm of the closest creation to our Lord Almighty.  No, they won't know any of those things.  They will only have thirty minutes to an hour of his time, in which they will give him scenarios and have him explain to them what he would do with each.  Then they send him on his way, and decide if, after 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school and 5 years of residency, he is fit to be a surgeon.  hmm
I know that tests are necessary.   I know that we have to follow the rules.  I also know that we serve a sovereign God who has taken us this far, hopefully not to let us fail now.  Faith the size of a mustard seed, right?  :)
My prayer is that God will allow Steven to find favor in the sight of the test givers.  That He will give Steven peace, and clarity of mind.  Peace above all.  Please pray for him too? 

"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."  Psalm 9:10

Exerpt from "Confessions of a Prayer Wimp" by Mary Pierce

   Clear some time in your schedule, some time to do nothing...to just think.  Life is simpler when you know our purpose.  Why are you here?  A friend says it doesn't matter why we are here or what we do, because a hundred years from now, nobody is going to know the difference. 
   Decades ago Robert Frost wrote his poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."  Reading it today, I am moved by his words, by the picture of a man and his horse, stopping in dark, wintry stillness to "watch the woods fill up with snow."  He longs to stay there but remembers that he has "promises to keep and miles to go before he sleeps."  Just like me.  His decision to stop and watch the snow, and to write about it, matters to me today.  My pessimistic friend is wrong.  Almost a hundred years later, Frost makes a difference.
I want a simple life with uncluttered space to put the most important things first in my schedule.  I want to wake up thankful for life and breath and health.  I want less confusion and more calm, less stress and more sanity.  Each day is a gift, a fresh chance to love people.  I want the time, the space, and the energy to do that.

I want more time to watch the woods....

   In another moment, I know, I'll have to get back to those promises I have to keep and the miles I must cover before I sleep.  But for this moment, I close my eyes, feeling God's presence and peace, thinking about how a hundred years from now, what I do today might be making a difference in someone's life, somewhere out there in time.  But for now, I sit and smile.  This is my moment in the sun.

"Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways.'"  Haggai 1:5

40 Days for Life continues

This is an excerpt from a daily email we get about the 40 Days for Life Campaign.  It was too powerful not to share.

 

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DAY 17 INTENTION
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May all understand more deeply that the pro-life message is rooted in the two basic truths of life:

There is a God; He isn’t me

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SCRIPTURE
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And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

– Genesis 2:7

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REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
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From the beginning of the Bible until the end, the theme is echoed that God alone has dominion over human life. He made it; shared it; died to save it; will raise it up forever.

The act of creation described in Genesis 2:7, and earlier in Genesis 1:26-27, is a sovereign act. God did not have to do it, and would have been happy forever without us.

Yet without our asking for it or earning it, God brought us out of nothingness and into life, and sustains our existence at every moment. And He does so in Christ. “For by Him all things were created…in Him all things exist” (Colossians 1:16-17).

“You are not your own,” Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 6. God alone owns us. While He entrusts us to the care of one another, He does not allow any human being to own another.

A Southern California abortionist, James McMahon, once explained how he justified killing children after 20 weeks gestation by partial-birth abortion. He did not deny that this was a child, but rather asked, “Who owns the child? It’s got to be the mother.”

The struggle over abortion is really a struggle over the dominion of God. The Christian individual, and the Christian Church, cannot sit idly by when others declare that God is not God.

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PRAYER
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Lord, we are yours. Thank you for breathing into us the breath of life. Thank you for claiming us as your own. May our words and actions in defense of human life proclaim to all the world that you alone are Lord of life and death, Lord of our freedom and of our choices. We pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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So ready for some heat relief!

Its almost here, I can feel it.  Fall.  Its just around the corner.  The temperature hasn't dropped yet, but Im praying it does...SOON.  We came home today and our apartment was 80 degrees.  AC on the spits, again.  Oh well, its fixed now and we'll be cool by the time the game comes on tonight - we hope.  I had high hopes of making hot wings here, but Im not about to start frying something now that its good and muggy inside.  The wings will have to wait for another day.  Take out tonight woohoo.  I do a little happy dance with the thought of not cooking in the heat. :)
Steven has taken the girls to Starbucks so that he can study. ?   rrrrrright.  He was hot and they have nice cool frapaccinos.  Im sure I spelled that wrong, but you know what I mean.  Meanwhile, I stayed here because my boy was fast asleep in his bed, sweating.  He doesn't care about the heat, as long as he gets juice and a movie.  I had a diet pepsi and two dove dark chocolates, so, at the moment at least, I don't care either. 
Hope everyone has a happy weekend.  I'll be praying for the cold.

Its the small things in life

The greatest thing just happened.  Well, two great things actually.  I just got John Abraham registered for pre-school (he's been on the waiting list).  He is so excited and frankly so am I.  On the way home I made a delightful and surprising discovery... a Mariachi station on the radio.  Im not sure why this excites me so, but the second I heard it I got happy.  Made me want chips and salsa.  So I've decided to learn spanish so that I can thouroughly enjoy the melodies of Mariachi (don't want to be singing along to the likes of la cucaracha... yuck).
Anyhoo, Im a happy girl today.  Three days a week for two hours a day I'll be a free woman, and I'll be listening to mariachi.  Bah da bah da da bah da da bah da.......