Yes, life is wilder, messier and more full of grace than we ever could have imagined, especially at Christmastime. Wishing you peace and joy this holiday season and for the rest of the year, too!
They were lopsided and some of them looked more like a cyclops than a Christmas cookie, but we are building memories that I hope will join others in his anticipation of Jesus’s birthday and his understanding that this is good news for HIM!
Oh. Wilder and messier describes my life, but not necessarily in a positive way. For the last two years, our holidays have been muted and woeful as my mother’s health decline (both physical and mental). Heart failure, chronic lung problems and dementia slowly sucked the life out of her, until the Lord called her home this past September. So this year I am thankful that we are past the journey we were having at this time last year; yet mourning that she could not enjoy her last holidays on earth.
I completely understand your journey. Both my parents had severe dementia. Mom was bedridden for two years before God graciously took her home. My dad’s dementia got so severe he had to be hospitalized twice. God finally took him home March 2017. This isn’t a journey I wish on anyone. Hard times & the holidays don’t make it easier. Praying for peace & comfort for you family as you grieve.
Praying for the wedding. May God richly bless the couple with many happy years together. May you all have good weather & a great time.
Wishing you and your family a happy and blessed Christmas!
What wise guide words you’ve given us for a sensible, Savior-focused Advent season: delight and wonder, humility and self-forgetfulness. I’m writing them on a Post-It right now for my desk area! Thank you, Holley!
We tend to be perfectionists when it comes to Christmas. The very first Christmas was anything but perfect. You have a pregnant girl who had to ride a camel many many miles. No room inside the Inn so to the barn they go. Smelly, messy animals making lots of noise. No doctors or sterile conditions. There wasn’t even a crib to put little Jesus in. He had to be put in a feeding trough. We do have a young couple being obedient to God. Knowing all this why do we think there must be a “perfect” Christmas? I have heard of another phenomenon – POP or perfect ornament placement. They want the tree to be beautifully decorated. They are learning that it is ok to allow children to put the ornaments on the tree where they want. It isn’t about the tree & how it looks as much as the fun the children are having.