Now that Christmas Day 2009 is behind us, I've been traveling down memory lane.....reflecting on Christmases past that have left a significant imprint. This particular Christmas will certainly be part of the list, but more about that later.
I remember Christmas 1971.....our first Christmas, the year before we married. Al gave me a jewelry box, one of those that sits on top of the dresser and has lots of drawers. And he put a little gift in each drawer :) I think that even back before the world had been introduced to the "five love languages" he somehow understood that my love language is gifts! 1972 was our first "married Christmas". We had a beautiful tree, a Scotch pine decorated (very sparsely!) with ornaments and lights purchased at the previous year's after-Christmas sale! I still remember that tree as one of the most beautiful we ever had. The other memory of that year is that by Christmas day there were no gifts left under the tree. We had opened them all already!!
I remember Christmas 1975 as not only our first-born's first Christmas but as the year my mother-in-law had cancer surgery on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, she is a cancer survivor and still with us! Christmas 1993 was the first year we stayed home for the Christmas holiday.....no visits over the river and through the woods to visit family. It was Brian's first year in the Air Force and he came home on leave from tech school for the Christmas holiday. The following year we shipped Christmas gifts to him in England and missed him terribly.
Christmas 2009 will remain memorable for far less sentimental reasons. This was the first Christmas when it was literally just the two of us.......no extended family around.......both our sons were with the other side of their families this year, we would not be traveling any where due to my recent surgery, the first year without either of my parents (my mom went to be with Jesus in 2000 and Daddy joined her there this year), and no plans to see my brother, whose daughters are both now married so there is a lot more coordinating to do on that front as well. Al's parents had decided at the last minute to drive up from Columbia and Al had decided that grilling steaks for Christmas dinner was something he could manage a lot better than a "traditional" dinner. What none of us really planned on was an ice storm!
Al's parents arrived Christmas Eve to their house a little down the mountain from us. The plan was for them to come up here on Christmas morning. But........the road was covered in ice, and then a tree fell on a power line just above our house, so we were without power from about 8AM until late afternoon!
So......peanut butter and ritz crackers for Christmas dinner!! Not like any Christmas ever :)
We're going to try again today.......and I'm really looking forward to that steak!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Counting Down
This is the time of year when we are bombarded with "____shopping days until Christmas" or when we count down the days until family arrives or we're counting down the days, not so much for shopping, but for celebrating Christmas.
I'm in a countdown of a different sort......8 days until surgery! This will be a busy week, with a pre-op appointment, some last-minute cleaning and organizing to make things easier for Al (and ultimately for me, so that I won't stress over the details as I am sometimes prone to do!), some grocery shopping, a manicure and pedicure (the last pedicure for a while!), two extra choir rehearsals in preparation for next Sunday's Christmas program....Whew!! I'm tired just thinking about it all. It will likely be no problem at all for me to sleep through the surgery :)
I've also been organizing my reading materials and Bible study materials.....getting my paper and pencils in a readily accessible place, as well as organizing the books by category....biographies, non-fiction, political thrillers, "fluff". I know, I'm a compulsive organizer!
And I'm looking forward to next week. Not so much to the actual surgery, but to the day when the pain is gone and I can walk like a "regular person". People who walk without pain take so much for granted!! And I'm actually looking forward to the recovery period......the time of sitting, and reading, and studying, and hearing what God has to say. Looking forward to the time of forced inactivity, a time to "be still and know that I am God". It is my prayer that the surgery goes well, that the recovery will be complete and that the surgery accomplishes what it is intended to do. Even more, it is my prayer that I will use this time of sitting wisely, and that I will cooperate with God so that He can accomplish in me what He intends during this time.
I'm in a countdown of a different sort......8 days until surgery! This will be a busy week, with a pre-op appointment, some last-minute cleaning and organizing to make things easier for Al (and ultimately for me, so that I won't stress over the details as I am sometimes prone to do!), some grocery shopping, a manicure and pedicure (the last pedicure for a while!), two extra choir rehearsals in preparation for next Sunday's Christmas program....Whew!! I'm tired just thinking about it all. It will likely be no problem at all for me to sleep through the surgery :)
I've also been organizing my reading materials and Bible study materials.....getting my paper and pencils in a readily accessible place, as well as organizing the books by category....biographies, non-fiction, political thrillers, "fluff". I know, I'm a compulsive organizer!
And I'm looking forward to next week. Not so much to the actual surgery, but to the day when the pain is gone and I can walk like a "regular person". People who walk without pain take so much for granted!! And I'm actually looking forward to the recovery period......the time of sitting, and reading, and studying, and hearing what God has to say. Looking forward to the time of forced inactivity, a time to "be still and know that I am God". It is my prayer that the surgery goes well, that the recovery will be complete and that the surgery accomplishes what it is intended to do. Even more, it is my prayer that I will use this time of sitting wisely, and that I will cooperate with God so that He can accomplish in me what He intends during this time.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Some Thoughts about Thanksgiving, Grandchildren and God's Grace
Thanksgiving weekend is now history.....and what a wonderful weekend it was! The house was full of people, lots of laughter, good food, great memories! It was so much fun to see AJ and Christopher playing together. Of course, for a not-exactly-mobile person such as I am right now, having the floor covered with toys presented some interesting challenges. I am happy to report that there were no stumbles, and all the army men are now safely back in their plastic container until the next visit, all the legos are safely put away, and all the pieces of the board games are in the correct boxes!
Watching AJ and Christopher together is like a trip down memory lane for me. They are both so very much like their dads that I could almost believe I have been transported back in time.....at least until Brian and Brandon come into the room! Interesting how they are so very much alike yet at the same time so very different. I find myself chuckling (very quietly, mind you!) when I hear Brian and Brandon saying to their sons some of the very same things Al and I said to them not so very many years ago. And I think that, in spite of the many mistakes I made as a parent, I must have gotten a few things right!
AJ and Christopher are both such precious little boys. Not perfect, but precious. And so very loved by their Nana and Opa. I think this may be a good illustration of God's grace toward us. He doesn't love us because we're perfect, because we always get everything right. Rather, His love toward us is in spite of the fact that we aren't perfect, that we don't always make good choices, that more often than we care to admit we make poor choices. Yet His love never stops. Just as my love for my sons and my grandsons doesn't stop when they "mess up", how much more this is true of God's love for us. Because we're not perfect......but we are precious!
Watching AJ and Christopher together is like a trip down memory lane for me. They are both so very much like their dads that I could almost believe I have been transported back in time.....at least until Brian and Brandon come into the room! Interesting how they are so very much alike yet at the same time so very different. I find myself chuckling (very quietly, mind you!) when I hear Brian and Brandon saying to their sons some of the very same things Al and I said to them not so very many years ago. And I think that, in spite of the many mistakes I made as a parent, I must have gotten a few things right!
AJ and Christopher are both such precious little boys. Not perfect, but precious. And so very loved by their Nana and Opa. I think this may be a good illustration of God's grace toward us. He doesn't love us because we're perfect, because we always get everything right. Rather, His love toward us is in spite of the fact that we aren't perfect, that we don't always make good choices, that more often than we care to admit we make poor choices. Yet His love never stops. Just as my love for my sons and my grandsons doesn't stop when they "mess up", how much more this is true of God's love for us. Because we're not perfect......but we are precious!
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