I finally get to sit down and wrap up a snowy, frigid day. I'm grateful that we were all safe out on the roads today. Although the day was beautiful and classic winter scenery, things got a tad slippery. We saw a wreck, slid a few times ourselves, and even watched a truck do a graceful 360. I'm grateful for a day to just think over the last couple of days, do several hundred loads of laundry (or 7...I can't remember exactly), do some cleaning, take a break from school, and see my three guys.
This morning I had the chance sleep in, wander around the house, read to Elijah....and answer the doorbell to the smiling face of a friend while I was still in PJ's with unwashed hair, unfed children, and a house in a state of chaos. Get this. She and her family had just had family photos made. Can you even imagine the contrast between her appearance and mine? It was priceless. I was given no opportunity to present myself as anything I wasn't. When she drove away with my kids in the back of her car, I started to laugh. Really hard. I so needed God to remind me that pride isn't his thing, so it shouldn't be mine. There was just no way to salvage the way I looked, the way my house looked, the fact that my kids hadn't had breakfast, the state of my house, the way Elijah's hair looked....no way. And that's good. We're not supposed to be about salvaging our pride, we're supposed to be about transparency and authenticity. And so, there I was. Entirely too real for my own comfort.
Thinking back on the weekend has been fun. It was like a giant Christmas present just the way I would have ordered it. 13 people. Countless toy weapons. Foosball tournaments. Piles of food. Joseph's basketball game. Church service. People sleeping in every room (except the kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms). Christmas presents. Noise. Pianoguys.com. Simon's Cat on youtube. Small house. Snowball fight. Christmas music. Cider. Exhaustion. Laughter. Sleeplessness (just me, everyone else was fine). Family.
Really good. Really, really good. Gift from God. We have walked through some dark places. We will most certainly walk through some more. Not everything is exactly perfect at the moment. But, grace. God to us, in us, through us to each other. Family.
Tonight, we all prayed together and did our usual list of "thankful stuff" to God. As Joseph prayed through his list, it went something like this: "...and thank you for Dad, Mom, Elijah, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, Jesus, a playdate today, finishing my book and....ummmm....oh yeah....we wish you a Merry Christmas." My eyes flew open in surprise. I honestly believed he had just wished God a Merry Christmas. Then I noticed Brian's eyes were also wide open in surprised, but he figured it out before I did. We watched a new Shaun the Sheep movie that a sweet friend mailed to us. It's called "We Wish Ewe a Merry Christmas". Whew. Mystery solved. But wait....now that I think about it, is it all that weird to wish God a Merry Christmas? I mean, the whole thing was his idea. He started it. Why not include him in the traditions? It certainly must be a merry and joyous thing for him to see the work of the Son he sent redeeming people into light, hope, and life.
And with that, good night. Stay warm.
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First of all, thank you for my sweet card. :o) Second, I love your family photo up there^! And third, that sounds like quite the weekend you had! But those are the best...chaos with family, nothing beats that.
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