With Wondering Awe

Merry Christmas from the Crisis Center!!! 

 And since this bit of cheer is also a few days tardy....Happy New Year, too!!!

I hope all that read this had a wonderful Christmas. I know, unfortunately, at least one of my dear friends did not. I wish I could have swooped you up and brought you here. We were blessed with an unusual helping of Christmas magic this year....and it had nothing to do with Santa.

One of the ways that my Sweet Man and I have been able to make Christmas 'happen' for our children is to let go of everything needing to be purchased new. We also start shopping in June or July. We look for items at yard sales and second hand stores that fill the needs of our children. Then the week before Christmas we assess all the needs again, and go shopping for any gaps.

There were more pressing needs this year than purchasing presents and the two of us counseled together and came to the conclusion that all would be well with what we already had. My faith in God and his goodness has been strengthened. He is so generous!

We divvied up the loot from our summer adventures and were shocked at what we found. (I tend to forget what I hide as time goes by!) There were nearly new clothes for just the children that needed them, shoes in just the right sizes for the feet that were in want, and exciting little treasures that made just the right amount of annoying noise for my little boys. When we finished, all we were lacking was a dolly for Miss Ivy and something fun for Sir Matt. At almost the exact moment we realized this, my sister-in-law brought a bag to the door and asked us if we could use some dollies and trucks. Her sister had passed them on weeks earlier with us in mind. I wouldn't classify dollies and trucks in the needs department....but apparently my Maker does. What a tender mercy and a reminder to me that even the slightest and insignificant details of my life are noticed by a very kind and loving Father in Heaven.

There were so many tender moments for me this year. Maybe because I wasn't caught up in the shopping, maybe because I was trying harder to find those moments. Our thoughts were not wrapped  up in to-do lists but rather with two tiny babies that were each fighting for their life. A change in perspective is often a result of a change in prayers. I am so grateful that my niece's son is out of the NICU and in his mother's arms where he belongs. I am also filled with rejoicing that my dear friend's precious daughter has made it through her second heart surgery. Oh, happy day!

When I wrote about my Irish Twins I mentioned a tad bit about our Christmas traditions. We were delighted this year to have a few extra souls around our dinner table on Christmas Eve. The Little People were very excited to have their own special Little People table. When I brought in the fresh centerpiece I had made with some branches of their Grandpa W's climbing trees, they decided they should have something special in the middle of their little table, too. It touched my heart that they unanimously chose their wooden nativity scene.

After dinner we began the exciting search for costumes to be worn during our reading of Luke.  Maybe exciting isn't the right word. Perhaps creative is more fitting when you imagine grown men with silk scarves tied around their heads and one of the sheep wearing a monkey blanket!

Even our Nativity seemed more special this year. My sweet baby Miss Nichole is not a baby any more. She was 'espoused' for realsies to her 'Joseph' just two nights earlier. There was genuine love, compassion and tenderness as he lead the 'donkey' (Sir Tom) into the living room and he and 'Mary' laid the baby Jesus (Sir Harley for the fourth year in a row!) into the ottoman...I mean manger.

I was slightly nervous about having visitors at our Christmas Eve testimony meeting. These very precious moments with my children are my favorite of the entire year. I had absolutely nothing to fear and everything to gain. Having 'extras' is going to be our new favorite tradition. I learned so much from each of them and the love that was felt in our home was only magnified. What a great blessing to have even more of the best in life.

And then, as if my heart wasn't full enough, I received a phone call Christmas morning from my beautiful son that I haven't talked to since Mother's Day. He is so happy! We were able to Skype with him later in the day and his countenance simply radiated. Hearing his upbeat voice, even if it is with an accent, will get me through these last few weeks of his mission.

 I overheard one of my children saying this morning, "Only 361 days until Christmas!" 

Maybe I'll start decorating right now.