Some Very Special Holiday Memories

Remember each and every day you have the opportunity to 'Make a Memory.'  Not only the over the top days, sometimes they are the ordinary things and yes, there are are those days you think you'd rather forget- in the long term you may smile at those crazy ones. I can just say that, know this, in the long run, it's the memory of all these things that you will have come to mind, and they can encourage you on darker days, just bringing a smile across your lips can change your day. Enjoy life, and each day take advantage of the moments that you can use to make memories for you and your family. 

Since the day after Thanksgiving I have been sharing some memories of the holiday season. There is something so magical about those days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, whether you are a child or an adult you know it's true.

Some memories are from my childhood and youth and others since I was married, I am going to share a couple here that are different from what I've put on Facebook, they have a special place among all my memories for one reason or another as you will see. 

Christmas mornings with our kids, it's so hard to pinpoint one, you see each one has moments that are engraved on my heart. Generally I was pretty tired when they started... due to the fact that I was the one who wrapped the gifts and it usually took place after the kids were asleep on Christmas Eve. 

We would start the mornings with cinnamon rolls, the store bought, orange kind, they were baked before the turkey went in. After the rapid elimination of them the kids were allowed their stockings, for gifts, they had to wait until Glenn was ready... I think he stalled at times just to drive them nuts!

Once they were old enough to read names on packages I had to get creative with identifying the gifts so that they didn't guess everything ahead... Amber was a master guesser! This was done in a variety of ways, different every year; bow color, paper, reindeer names, numbers- that was the hardest for them, because I simply wrote a list with the numbers and who the gift was for, in no real order. The game then became, 'What system is mom using this year?'

The delight on the kids faces always warmed my heart, even in the toughest of years, they were always grateful for what they got, and we had some very lean years as well as some very abundant ones. I think those hard ones were harder on me than the kids... very hard, but God has worked on that part of me too.

Grandad & Santa Rosa- The year after my mom passed away,  we were in Santa Rosa and couldn't afford to come to Oregon and visit family, it was a very lean year. But God found a way to make it a very memorable Christmas for us. My brother had arranged for my dad to fly down and be with us for Christmas. The kids were so excited that he was coming, and some neighbors of ours had invited us to join them for Christmas, and blessed the kids with some gifts too. It was a wonderful time and very special to my heart.

Something the kids did that year still makes me smile, they have always been creative, and that year they took it upon themselves to put things under the tree, they regifted toys to each other and made necklaces of beads and buttons, though I don't have them, I can still see them in my mind's eye.

My Coat - When I was in high school there was one year that all I really wanted was a specific coat, it was a long coat, knee length like everyone was wearing that year. I had my heart set on it and was so sure I was going to get it, we unwrapped all the presents and it wasn't there, I don't remember what all I got, and I didn't say anything about it, but about a half an hour after the gift mess was all cleaned up, my mom asked if I was okay... I guess my face said what my mouth didn't. I said yes, she pressed me, I fessed up that I had been hoping for the coat  we had looked at. Well, the look that came over her face--- "Uh Oh" could only kind of describe it, she made a dash for her closet and brought out a package, that hadn't made it under the tree. (Easy to happen with 5 kids.) And it was my coat! She was so sorry for forgetting it, but I was so elated for it's arrival that it being late, really didn't matter.

Following Nana's gift advice- I think I was about 8 or so, and my grandmother, "Nana," had taken me Christmas shopping, I was absolutely stumped on what to get one of my brothers, Brent must have been about 13 and in Jr High, and those big kids were hard to shop for. So Nana offered a suggestion that she thought Brent would appreciate because he was always so aware of his appearance. She had me get him some Head and Shoulder's shampoo.... LOL, it seemed like good advice at the time, and the people that used it in the commercials were all so amazing and popular... yeah Gift FAIL!  I never followed her gift advice again.

Oh Holy Night- The final one that I will mention is so precious to me- it is about the first Christmas after Glenn got saved, and our hearts were turning toward the Lordship of Christ in our lives, we weren't fully there yet but the shift had begun. It was before we were married, we had been at his parents for Christmas eve and we decided to go over to St. Anne's for the Christmas Eve Mass. This is the church that he had served in as an (ornery) alter boy when he was in grade school. We went and as the traditional carols were sung, Glenn did something that turned a few heads, he put up his hands in worship during those carols (not normally done there at that time, drew a couple looks, oh well, lol). They were no longer just 'songs,' the meaning of them had taken up new significance. Even though it was some months late,r that we really began to make the changes in our lives that we would carry into our adulthood and 99% of our married life, it was evident to both of us that something had changed in us that night.

Take some time in this crazy season to make a memory, freeze a moment of time in your mind, as I know from experience, they can, and will help you to smile and get through the toughest of moments that may come. Above all, remember the reason for the season is the celebration of the arrival of the Greatest Gift the world will ever know- the gift that brought us everlasting life, it arrived in the form of a small baby, Jesus.

May you have a blessed and joyous Christmas Season, don't let it overwhelm you, let it warm you.

Blessings!

Mary

Thanksgiving Thoughts...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I really wasn't sure how I would be emotionally going into today, but as of this moment I can honestly say, I think I'm going to be okay... yes moments, but really okay.

I did something that I have done for the past few years that really has helped. Each day of November up to today, I posted something I was thankful for. It really did something.

It may seem trivial to say, "count your blessings," but trust me, if you do, you will realize that there is so much to be thankful for. I see the hand of God on my life, yes, even in... no, especially in this last 20 months. I am blessed! 

I miss Glenn immensely- especially this morning, in a funny way. You see, I know how to cook a turkey, well at least I used too, but Glenn's love of cooking had a way of overtaking him so that no matter who started cooking he seemed to take over the job- even last year when the girls were doing the Christmas dinner, he just couldn't help himself. It started about 5 years after we were married, and well, this morning I had to remember how to do a turkey- yes, now I was a bit annoyed at him because of this, darn it, he should be doing it! LOL 

I am thankful for the sense of humor that the Lord has given me, it's a little warped but He uses it to jog memories that can't help but make me smile. He is so good and faithful to me, gently helping me through every day. With each memory I find more reasons to be thankful- here is my thought, if you want to find joy in the everyday, have a thankful heart!

I am blessed today with all of my children, my grandchildren and Glenn's parents coming over for the holiday meal; and we are doing a mini-Christmas for Jeremy, Whitney and Asher since they can't come back from Alaska next month... It will be a joyous day and make more memories.

Beginning tomorrow on my facebook I have a sort of spin on what I did this month, it will focus on holiday memories... helping to stir thankfulness in the every day.

Be Blessed and Have a Great Thanksgiving!!!
Rejoice and in all things give thanks!!

Observations...

Part of my job is to make deliveries, this takes me to all parts of the south end of Medford, upper east side to far west side as well as Phoenix and I have seen a lot. I have been to the poorest of neighborhoods and some of the wealthiest; views of the whole valley and views of a dirty rundown trailer park under a freeway overpass.  But this last week while I was delivering pizzas for work I saw a couple things that really hurt my heart and really caused me to think more about the statement made by Bill Wilson -- It is easier to raise up boys and girls for the Lord than to fix broken adults.

This may sound weird, but what I saw may have struck me even more than the poverty I have seen... Two deliveries, both to kind of average apartments, but what I felt and saw was hatred, and it's not what you may think. Both deliveries were to young people, between 19-23 and the hatred was reflected differently in both of them. 

The first was a smiling young lady, who if you were to see her in jeans and a t-shirt would have seemed fine, but she answered the door in shorts... the reason for my assumption of hatred you ask. The self mutilation she was doing to herself, on her legs were so many scars and marks of cutting. This girl, has something in her life creating a self loathing, it broke my heart. As I approached my car my eyes had tears in them, I began to pray for her. She needs to know that there is a God in heaven that is there, no matter what has been going on in her life, He is there and He loves her. I pray that she will find Him and the peace and love that He can bring into her life. She needs to learn that through Christ she can begin to love herself.

The second place that I delivered that struck my heart, did so for an entirely different reason. The young man that opened the door was nice enough, but behind him on the walls of his apartment were 3 Nazi flags, again I don't know that he even understands the truth of the level of hatred that these symbols represent. My heart broke for him for a different reason, if he understood what they mean then someone has taught him to hate... that kills me, I can't imagine raising a child into an adult that hates another because of race or nationality... wrong, just wrong!! If he doesn't understand, then I hope someone can explain it to him and help him to see the truth and for him to decide to take them down. This one didn't evoke tears, but nonetheless it brought forth prayer. I pray that he meets the Lord and learns to love others not hate or glorify things that represent hatred.

I have had a rough year or so, but being out and about delivering pizzas has helped me to count my blessings, and there have even been a few times that the Lord has used me to minister to others. All in all, it reminded me that no matter what has happened, what I have walked through, God is good, and He is faithful and loving. Sunday during worship we sang a song that says; Where You go I go, What You say I say, And what You pray I pray, And what You pray I pray... and that is the way I want to live, whether I'm at home or on the job, I want to live a Jesus led life.