December Thoughts

Okay. So like all my friends have been posting on their blogs this month and I've been happily reading them and I was thinking as I did this, "When was the last time I wrote on my blog?" Hmmmmm.... So it's been a while. I really don't have much time for blog writing, but I went ahead and signed on and realized I missed some important posts from a couple dear friends that I maybe should have shown some support and love towards by responding to their posts. How do you get it so posts will automatically tell you when your friend puts up a new post? Is that even an option? Well, if it's not, it should be and someone needs to tell me how to get it to do that for me! Anyway, forgive me friends if I didn't read your posts and didn't respond when I should have. Please know that I love you and if I had it more together then maybe I'd be more proactive and accomplish more things. I'm trying.

So life has been throwing more interesting curve balls our family's way, some good and some bad, but all wonderful ways to learn and be grateful and see God's hand in our life. The most being how grateful we are for Doug and his life being spared. Homeschooling has been going fairly well, though I think I am falling short and should be doing so much more. Doug had the motorcycle accident which is consuming a large part of our life right now in trying to obtain proper treatments for his hands. I am stressed with all the extra driving I am having to do. The children are stressed with all the extra time I'm away doing driving and doctor appointments for Doug. There are many good and exciting things going on in our lives as well though.
At the forefront of the excitement is this wonderful Christmas time of year which I hold so dear. I absolutely love all the goodwill that comes out of people at this time of year. There is so much more joy in the music we listen to, the shows we watch, the people we spend time with, and the thoughts we entertain. Why can't this spirit shine always? I think it can if we will choose to let it. It is the spirit of Christ that comes forth as we put Him in the focus of our minds and thoughts. This time of year is almost magical.

This year my little sister, Jen, has secured a condo in St.George for both our families to stay in while we celebrate Christmas with my parents and family. My brother will be coming down with his wife and kids, my older sister will be coming with her son and it will be the first time in I think 10 years that mostly all of us will be together. My children have not seen some of these cousins in about 7 years and half of my children have never seen any of them. Family means so very much to me and it means so much to me to be able to spend this time together.
Because we are going to be going up North and spending time with so much family it has created a change in our normal Christmas traditions in a way. We will probably still do a Family Home Evening on the Christmas story in Luke and act out the scripture. We usually try and pick a family to do a service for but this year we will be making homemade gifts to give to family members and that is pretty fun and exciting as well. Our family always concentrates Christmas time on giving, loving, and most of all remembering Christ and all He's done and continues to do for us. We do not celebrate Santa or do any of the cultural traditions surrounding him. He detracts from the true spirit of Christmas in our eyes. We teach the children the story of St. Nikolaus and how Santa came about and why he is celebrated but we tend to keep him on a back-burner. Well, except for the traditional Christmas movies. We love those. :) I guess we are just cautious to make sure truth is kept at the forefront of the holiday. I think our kids have sat on a Santa lap maybe twice in their life. It's just not what is important to us. What's interesting is that I think we've come to enjoy the spirit of giving more than thinking about what we might get and that is what I think is most important. Many years we've had nothing to give the children for Christmas but somehow the Lord always provides, whether it be through friends, relatives, or church members, we always seem to get the things we need and some fun wants in there too. We are greatly blessed. I think when we finally get to a point where we have lots to give our children for Christmas, we will still seek to give it to others instead. There are always those less fortunate than we are. I love the creativity the season of giving inspires in my children. They are busy thinking of things they can make for others and how they can help. I think the things my daughters love the most is all the time we get to spend together baking and making candies to share with others. It is a favorite tradition of ours. I am so busy this year and time is going fast but I look forward to the next two weeks of giving and sharing in this wonderful spirit. I hope that we can create some more bonds with our extended family this year and get to know them all better and I hope we can carry and keep the spirit of Christ with as we celebrate together.
Anyway, much love to all. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas this year!