After over a week of lots of sugar, rich foods, a different sleep schedule and lots of excitement, we are heading back to school tomorrow! We’ve enjoyed some “down time” this past week with our family, extended family and friends.
A little over a week ago, on Christmas “Adam” (the day before Christmas Eve), we went over to a friends house. We’ve become friends with the Everett family, and we always have good food and fellowship when we are together. We had dinner at their house as well as another family. Lisa and I went to school together - a long time ago! It was good to see Lisa again and meet her family. We had eleven kids between us, so there was a lot happening! It was a bit of a cold day (especially for North Carolina), but we went on a walk anyways! I wouldn’t say that all of the walkers were willing participants, but it was good to get out in God’s creation! It was good to see our teenage kids interact with other teenage kids with lots of laughter and fellowship for them too. We enjoyed a fun relaxing evening on the day before Christmas activities.
Last Saturday (Christmas Eve), we were planning to go to Hickory to see some of my extended family. However, last week was cold in North Carolina, and we had a lot of wind come through our area. We had two trees that were blown down due to the wind, and just as we were getting ready to leave for Hickory, the power went out at our house! It was about 12 degrees, and we didn’t have any idea of how long the power would be out. It’s a four hour drive to Hickory, so we needed to decide what we were going to do. Roger ended up staying home to make sure the pipes didn’t freeze as well as he was the “on-call” patrol pilot for fires. We were disappointed that Roger wasnt able to come with us, but the kids and I had a good time anyways. It’s a bit of a hike from our house to Hickory, but we were there around eleven in the morning. We enjoyed our time together, and my cousin, Brittany, and I even went on a walk. It was chilly, but I like to do something active every day if possible. We made it back home by around 9:00pm, and we are thankful for the Lord’s traveling mercies.
This was our first year in a long while that we didn’t attend a Christmas Eve service, and I think that next year I’d like to find an area church that is having a Christmas Eve service and attend with our family. Christmas Day was a beautiful albeit still a chilly day for North Carolina. Our church was having a Christmas Day service, and we were looking forward to that. We opened our stockings, ate a delicious breakfast together, and then headed off for the 10 o’clock church service. I was surprised at how many people came out for the service! It was a good Christmas Day service, and I’m glad that we had the opportunity to actually be in the house of the Lord on Christmas Day! I do enjoy singing “Silent Night” with the candles lit, and I think there were even a few people that raised their hands for salvation during the invitation. It was a blessing to worship together.
We spent Christmas Day gathered as a family at our home. We enjoyed a relaxed afternoon together, and we ate a lot of delicious food! (We’ve been eating lots of good food all week long!)
On Tuesday morning we dropped Chandler off at the church building for his Freshman Focus trip. Chandler is not a big talker by any means, but he did tell me that he was excited about going on this trip with a few other freshmen in his class. Five boys went and four girls on a trip to Florida. They arrived back on Friday night so it was a whirlwind of a trip! Chandler said that he had a really good time, but he wished that the trip had been a little bit longer. He was just starting to become better friends with some of the freshman and then the trip was over. But it was a good experience for him, and God provided the perfect timing. It’s a hard adjustment on teenagers to move, and the rest of the freshman class has pretty much grown up together. It was a good opportunity for Chandler to get to know some of them a lot better as well as have other adults provide discipleship in his life. We are thankful that he had the opportunity to go. God is so good.
Also on Tuesday, we went ice skating! Not outside- it’s not been THAT cold! Our friends, the Hardisons, invited us to come along with their family to an ice skating arena. Emma has the least amount of experience with ice skating, but we were all looking forward to going. The boys have missed playing pond hockey this year, and they were happy to see that their ice skates still fit them. We enjoyed the time together as well as dinner with the Hardisons afterwards. We are thankful that they thought to invite us, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know their family better. Emma was a little bummed as she was the only girls with six boys, but she survived!
The weather continued to get warmer throughout the week, and by Friday, it was about 65 degrees! We enjoyed a lot of time outside this past week. Emma enjoyed a play date with her friend, Cynthia, at Chuck E. Cheese on Friday. We had dinner at the Pastor’s house on Saturday along with another family. Emma was again the only girl with seven boys, but she’s used to it! We enjoyed talking about many topics, and getting to know both the Pastor and his family better as well as another church family. It takes time to build relationships and friendships, and we are thankful for so many that have extended hospitality to our family.
Sunday afternoon gave us the opportunity to host at our house! I was excited about having people over to our house, and while the boys were excited about having friends over, they were not excited about all the extra cleaning I made them help with! But by three o’clock, we were ready for our friends to come. We had invited several families, but not every one was able to come. We ended up with 22 people at our house for a New Year’s Day get together. It was super informal, but I think we all had a good time! There were eleven young men, so they spend most of the time outside playing soccer and basketball until it was too dark to see. Emma and Cynthia were happy to have some teenage girls to interact with while the adults enjoyed fellowship too. We ate lots of food (again!), and played a bunch of games together. The Carillo Family brought over some sweet tamales, which is something none of us had tried before! We had lots of desserts, food, and laughter. Our last guests left around 10:00pm, so it was a good way to wrap up the night before our last day of Christmas break. Our kids went to bed encouraged by laughter and fellowship, and Roger and I had a great time also. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to have people over in our home, and no one even seemed to notice that the windows might not have trim or that the yard isn’t landscaped or that 100 other projects are waiting to get done. Instead we focused on building relationships, fellowshipping together and opening our home to our friends. My friend, Laura, and I sat at the kitchen table after everyone else had left and just spend some time talking and praying together. I think that the older I get, the more easily I cry! I cry when children are singing, or over someone’s heartache, or over a heart-felt prayer, or anything else! I’m thankful that we were able to have over friends that share our desire to raise up sons and daughters to fear the Lord and to be warriors in the Army of the Lord! We cannot falter or give up as we endeavor to press on to raise up a generation that will be steadfast, unmovable and abounding in Jesus!
We also asked our children about some goals that they would want to set for the New Year. I’ll have to share some of those goals in another post, as I need to wrap this one up. We have another year ahead of us. Every day is a gift from God, and I certainly want to use each day wisely. God is so good to me and our family. We are so blessed.
Happy New Year!
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