Christmas is almost here! I know that if I don’t write about the adventures and memories of the past few days, I’ll forget! We are so thankful that it is now Christmas break. Chandler has a “Freshman Focus” trip planned for next week (several of the freshman are going on a trip to encourage fellowship and hopefully deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ). Other than that trip for Chandler, we plan to stay around home. Last Christmas the kids and I drove from Maine to Michigan over Christmas break, so this Christmas I am thankful to be sticking around home!
In the past week, we’ve done A LOT of Christmas baking! I think we made 39 little boxes of treats for our neighbors, teachers and friends. The most popular treats were peanut butter balls and Christmas crack, but we also dipped Oreos, made oreo truffles, caramels, chocolate chip cookies, and a bunch of other sugary treats! I am about sick of making peanut butter balls, but hopefully others will be blessed and encouraged by a box of Christmas treats!
A few Sundays ago, our Sunday School teacher was talking about Random Acts of Kindness. I know it’s been on our hearts and minds (Roger and I) on how we could help teach this to our children. I printed several Random Acts of Christmas Kindness cards for our kids to hand out to strangers, and I was pleasantly surprised as to how much they seemed to enjoy the idea. Then I had the idea to print a bunch more of those same cards and challenge our 4th and 5th grade classes at school to pass out the cards! So I spent much of last Monday printing out the cards, attaching an invitation to our church’s Christmas service and a candy cane. Then Jennifer and I gave them out to our library classes on Tuesday. We didn’t make the students take a card, but we just encouraged them to take one if they would use it. The majority of the students did take a card, and I’ve been praying that God will specifically use those cards to encourage some spiritually weary people in our world and point them to Jesus. This world needs Jesus, and since we have our hope in Jesus, we need to share that with the world!
The boys survived mid-term exams! I wasn’t sure that we would make it through the week, but by the Grace the God, we made it through! It was a long week, and it was more stressful that I would’ve liked, but it is behind us for now. Last Friday evening, the kids and I went over to a friends house to do some Christmas baking- including more peanut butter balls! This family has two teenage daughters and a fourth grader boy. It was refreshing to see the teens have conversations with each other and laugh together. I think that teens are often intimidated to talk to the opposite sex because then some one will tease them about “liking” that person! It’s annoying to them and it’s discouraging as a parent who’s trying to raise kids to have healthy relationships at their ages!
We had over some friends last Saturday, and we did more Christmas baking! Maria and I made oreo truffles and more peanut butter balls! It’s fun to have them over as they have a bunch of boys too, and we enjoy fellowship with them. On Sunday, our Spanish church was having a potluck Christmas dinner and Maria invited our family to join the Spanish church dinner. It was a little odd to go to a potluck dinner knowing that I hadn’t made anything to contribute, but per usual for church dinners, there was plenty of food! It was a good opportunity to interact with families outside of our normal church circle and to be introduced to some ethnic Mexican food. It was delicious!
Monday began the last 1.5 days before Christmas break from school! The older kids (6th-12th grade) had a special day of games for them. The boys all agreed that it was far better than school, but they would’ve preferred more active games- sounds pretty typical for them! The more running, moving, and being active, the better in their opinion! Meanwhile, the younger grades had one last rehearsal for the Christmas program! I had the opportunity to be involved a little in the rehearsals, and it’s always fun to see it finally start to pull together. After weeks of instructing in music, drama, songs and telling students to be quiet on the stage, it’s nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel…either that or it’s an oncoming train! I had the opportunity to be involved in several years of music in Maine, and I’m glad that God continued to allow me to have a small part in this new Christian school. I worked with two great ladies, Lauren and Tamela, and we were all thankful to know that by Tuesday at 11:30am, this program would be behind us! The students did a fantastic job on Tuesday morning, and I think we are all relieved that we don’t have to hear those Christmas songs for a while!
Roger’s parents came for a few days, so we were able to enjoy some time with them. They arrived on Monday afternoon and left on Wednesday morning. They are traveling a lot this Christmas season as they visit several of Roger’s siblings and families. We enjoyed conversations, laughter, lots of food, and opening gifts together with them. Mom and Dad were able to come to see the Christmas program on Tuesday morning, and we were thankful that they were able to spend some time with us.
I’ll be honest- this Christmas season has been a rough one. I don’t know that I could adequately express how I feel, but tears have been close to the surface many times in the past few days. My heart hurts for those that have lost a loved one recently. One of my friends lost a son this past year, and we’ve shared many moments of watery eyes. My heart hurts for those that are hurting this season. It’s a season of joy as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but for some it’s a season of deep sadness and grief.
Transitions are hard- even if they are good transitions. We are figuring out new friendships and relationships here in North Carolina, and it’s not without some rough moments on both Roger and I and our kids... especially Emma and Travis. We left behind six years of friendships in Maine, and some of those will remain life-long friends. I miss shopping trips and church events with Allison, laughing with Jess, and school and church Christmas programs. I miss deep conversations about things that really matter with some of those very close friends. I know that God is at work here too, and that He will bring about those friendships and conversations in His perfect timing. It’s hard not to feel sad about what was behind, but I also know that God will continue to work out His perfect will here too.
But, we’ve made friends with a military family that’s also new to the area. Getting to know Justin and Laura and their family has been a blessing to our entire family. Laura and I have shared conversations about raising teenagers, and I’m thankful for another “like-minded” mama. Also, I’m thankful for friendships such as Jennifer and her family. Jennifer and I have been working together in the library, and she and her husband have been an encouragement to our whole family. They’ve shared fellowship with us, welcomed our family, and have encouraged both Roger and I. Wyatt and Travis have made friends with Gabe and Enzo, and I have been encouraged by conversations with their mom, Laura, and we always have lots of laughs together! It’s been six months since we’ve moved, but God has been faithful. Even when I am weary or discouraged, He is still good. He never changes!
Just this week, God provided several blessings for our family.
*Garett got his driving permit! I can’t believe our son is old enough to drive! His brothers do not like him to drive because they say that he drives too slowly, but he is being responsible! We are thankful that he takes this responsibility seriously.
*Christmas cards! We are still one of those weird families that send out Christmas cards, and we also enjoy receiving them! This week we received several cards from friends in the mail, and our kids pour over the pictures and letters also. “Look how big so and so is!” “Mom, did you know…?” Even if they don’t know or remember the family, they enjoy looking at the pictures on the cards also. Also this past week we received a special card and note from some dear friends in Maine. Roger has stayed in touch with them, and we were blessed by their thoughtfulness and generosity to our family.
*Christmas break- oh, I am so thankful for Christmas break! We are looking forward to soaking up some time together as a family as well as just relaxing at home.
Photo credit: seedsoffaithdesigns.com
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