This morning I awakened at 4:12AM. I came downstairs, turned on the radio on Family Life, Christian radio, and sat down to enjoy the music to greet my day. I've listened to and been so very blessed by the messages of Chuck Swindol and David Jeremiah so far this morning. What incredible, powerful messages!
My prayers today revolve around my husband and oldest son. They awoke at O-dark-thirty to prepare for a day of hunting. I don't doubt their hunting abilities. I have no doubt they do a wonderful job. My concern is the other hunters with my husband and son out in the woods on the first day of buck season. Some hunters are careless. It doesn't matter if they've taken hunter's safety courses. Things happen that you have no control over. My prayer is greatly leaning toward safety for everyone as well as wisdom.
When they do get venison, we get it butchered just down the road from us. The people there are so very nice to us. We love living here in this community. They do such a good job for us, many times over. It stands to reason that with such wonderful treatment that we would be frequent patrons at their store. :) So much so, that they know the kind of lunch meat we'll order when we come in. LOL
I almost have everything upstairs decorated for Christmas this year. I would love to go get more decorations because I just love to decorate. This is my favorite time of year.
This is one of my favorite decorations.
My brother-in-law gave me the little house. It has sparkly glitter on it and a removeable roof for easier access to the candle. I've never lit the candle, but it is nice to know that I can. LOL This is a special gift for me, even though it is so very simple. You see, my brother-in-law is Learning Disabled. He picked this out by himself for me the year I gave birth to DA. DA's middle name is after my brother-in-law. :) He doesn't ever really say much to me in conversations, but this precious gift spoke volumes to me.
My mother-in-law gave me the 2 precious angels one year. I came up with this little arrangement when I was placing things for Christmas. I love how they peek in to the windows. It helps as a reminder to me that we could be "entertaining angels unawares."
JL is 8 in this picture, but one of our favorite decorations is behind him. We love interactive decorations for the children. This particular one plays a variety of familiar Christmas songs while a train circles the Christmas village on the top. As you can see, his hand in on the train. What fun!
I made this one at a women's retreat years ago. I love this set because it is kid friendly. The kids have played and played with this set reenacting the beautiful Christmas story with their other animals they find in their toy box. It was especially interesting when they included a stegosaurus, T-rex & "long neck". LOL Precious memories...I love how "real" the Christmas story has become to them just simply by being able to play with baby Jesus.
I made this picture larger so that you can see my angels. Through the years, my husband has bought me beautiful angels. The past few years he hasn't because I haven't found any that strike me like these two have. These are the beginnings of a Christmas angel collection he's started for me. He won't buy them unless I like them. I don't buy them myself. He has to be with me. :) I'll try to get a better picture of them this year. The pink one is just beyond the aloe vera.
Once everything is decorated, I'll take pictures and post them. I do something a little different each year. We have everything almost done. We just need to get the tree and put the bins away. :) Today is not going to be the day we get the tree though, unfortunately.
A few days ago we were out doing a little shopping and returning some tools to Sears, when we were discussing the 2 major holidays of our year. I asked the children, which is more important, Christmas or Easter? I received a variety of answers, then my husband pointed out, "That's just like asking which came first--the chicken or the egg." I told him that I knew that, but I wanted to see where their thinking was and why.
So, if Easter is more important than Christmas, why not decorate and "celebrate" more then? We probably should, then, huh? I would LOVE to decorate for Easter. The only problem is there's too many bunnies, chicks and eggs out to decorate with. Must figure something out. Maybe we should make a cross out of tulips and daffodil bulbs like some others have done? Or how about an empty tomb? I've seen a used car lot in Seneca, PA cut a van in to pieces and made an empty tomb inside it. It is unmistakable. They've added 3 crosses beside it with the words "He is Risen" hanging over the opening. It is definitely something to take your breath away because it is so very unexpected, especially from a used car lot.
Christmas is so much more than decorations to me. I look at these simple reminders of God's love toward me and my family through the years, from the simplest of times when we were first married to now, with children in their tween & teen years. I do not use them as idols, of course. I love to remember the precious times of love we've shared. I love to see the memories every time I look at something. It warms my heart and helps me to remember that the season isn't for stressing out, but for celebrating the love that God showed us by sending us His son to earth. I'm hearing about this being Cyber Monday when many people make a lot of their Christmas purchases online. It isn't all about the shopping, the baking, the parties, or getting the biggest and best gift.
It is all about Jesus.
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