It is 7 am on Christmas morning. My husband has left for work, my kids are upstairs sleeping. I sit alone in the living room, staring at the Christmas tree. Next door, where my parents live, the lights have come on. I know that my sister's children are up, waiting for my family to join in so they can start opening the stockings that "Santa" left last night.
I'm profoundly grateful at this moment. God loves me. Christ's blood washes my sins away. My husband adores me (not a small feat given my propensity for outrageousness). My children are healthy and amusing. My friends are true. My church family is a beautiful support structure. I have the health and ability to serve God. I am free from finanical worry.
The thought most on my mind this morning is my family members who don't know Christ. Only my husband, parents, and siblings know Christ. No Grandparents, no in-laws, no aunts, no uncles, no cousins. I pray that I see the opportunity that God grants me to display his grace and love today. I pray that this whole year will be one where I can be of service to the King.
Merry Christmas to all you pleonast-ers. May God make us all useful in his service this coming year.
We took our kids to A Christmas Carol at Seattle's ACT Theatre last night. Actually, the whole family went...my parents, all my sisters, sister's husbands and kids. The only one that didn't get to go was Cade because little ones aren't allowed in the theatre.
Gotta say...it was a bit scarier than I remembered. The ghost of Bob Marley was gruesome looking, the children "ignorance" and "poverty" that come up from the underworld were so emaciated looking, the ghost of Christmas future is the grim reaper, the scene where Tiny Tim dies is sad, the creepy dude that they sell Scrooge's clothes to is well...creepy, and the grave scene is morbid. I was so nervous the kids were going to start crying. But they didn't! Cheyenne, of course, asked if she could go touch the grim reaper. All the girls stayed on a parent's lap instead of their own seats. Our lone boy child, Christian, was a man and stayed in his own seat.
It was a delightful evening. We did warn my dad that if any of the children had nightmares, we'd be calling him in the middle of the night to comfort them. My children made it through the night without any nightmares. Hopefully my sister's kids did too!
Go see the play if you get a chance. I think it is delightful!
Man, you never can tell with live theater - but what a great, memorable experience for the kids.
Next year check out book_it.org...the BookIt Theater does an annual children friendly Christmas play - intimate theater next in the Seattle Center, sets are minimal & creative, actors very talented, all lines are actual text written by authors - sometimes they highlight classics, and sometimes modern authors. Very, very well done. One has to be careful with their regular season - sometimes too skanky...but they are one of my favorite theaters.
Let me tell you...this has been a week for cookies and candy. I've made myself healthy food and just have no appetite for it. I haven't wanted to eat breakfast, except for a mocha. The Christmas cookies, however, go down just fine. I was just reading in Readers Digest this morning that stress can cause carbohydrate cravings...duh...I know that. Why didn't I realize that?
Somehow that places my snack attack into a different light. I feel more powerful to resist them. I refuse to let stress add on the pounds that I've worked to get off. Today I WILL eat fruit, I WILL eat veggie, and I WILL eat some protein.
Having said that, today will be a day of driving around in circles. I've got to drop off my mom at an appointment at 10:15, drop off the girls at their Gran's work at 11 am, pick up my mom at 11:15, pick up my girls at 3 pm, drop off my girls again for homework night at Daniels at 4 pm and pick them up again at 7 pm. The temptation to make food a "drive-by" experience will be high.
Today will be a day of good eating and grateful thinking.
God Blessings surround you today!
I wouldn't say that homosexuality is an issue that I seek out as a way to express my faith, but lately I just can't seem to avoid it. There is an article in Newsweek (click Here ) that distorts God's position on homosexuality as well as marriage. It is so bad that I would cancel my membership if I had one. I think it crosses the line from ignorance to purposeful misleading.
