I heard the best Christmas song at a Dave Barnes concert last weekend that made me think about my family. Wanted to share it with you guys. It brought back all the old memories of Santa Clause, Christmas eve at the Henderson's, waking up to toys and ski clothes, and reading through the Christmas story as a family. And as we grow, our lives become so much richer with each addition! I love my family! Take it away, Dave.
Family Tree, by Dave Barnes
Family car we barely fit
Christmas time had come again
Bundled up to fight the freeze
Picking out the family tree
We'd decorate with clumsy hands
And hope that Santa comes again
And in the morning wake to see
Gifts beneath the family tree
And I don't know where I'm going
But I do know who I'll be
These memories and names like leaves all hang on us
The family tree
We're older now, We all have changed
But we all laugh at the same old things
We'll spend the night with memories
Gathered 'round the family tree
And I don't where I'm going
But I do know who I'll be
These memories and names like leaves all hang on us
We're so much more than blood
We're more than names
We're bound by bonds that only God sustains
But this time of year
We all gather here
And I always know I'm home
There are voices now where silence was
The subtle signs of growing up
Where one is born, another leaves
Branches on the family tree
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Christmas Cheer
We had a fun little Christmas celebration with the Bible study group on Monday! Linda hosted us and had a great fire burning when we arrived. Lots of Christmas music and laughter!
She gave us each a devotional book called Jesus Calling. It's so great! My sis wrote a review of it here.
And we had pizza from Uncle Maddio's! It's a build-it-yourself place in Toco Hills. Delish!
One of Linda's famous, spectacular salads. Secret ingredient = mint!
And we had a killer cake for Elizabeth/Jesus' birthdays.
We exchanged some classy white elephant gifts and told some great stories!
I found these wine bottle characters and got one for everybody!
And Linda had the bessst party favors ever. Glasses that make Christmas images appear when you look at a light! They are hilarious! I wore them in the car all the way home and saw angels in every street lamp!
She gave us each a devotional book called Jesus Calling. It's so great! My sis wrote a review of it here.
And we had pizza from Uncle Maddio's! It's a build-it-yourself place in Toco Hills. Delish!
One of Linda's famous, spectacular salads. Secret ingredient = mint!
And we had a killer cake for Elizabeth/Jesus' birthdays.
We exchanged some classy white elephant gifts and told some great stories!
I found these wine bottle characters and got one for everybody!
And Linda had the bessst party favors ever. Glasses that make Christmas images appear when you look at a light! They are hilarious! I wore them in the car all the way home and saw angels in every street lamp!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Georgia??
Not sure what energy drink I was sippin on when I thought I could do a post per day. Especially during Christmas? But nevertheless, I will make it up to you, bloggies. For now, I will blame frozen fingers. Check out my car temperature from yesterday morning. In Georgia. Good gosh.
And it snowed on Sunday and Monday! Didn't really stick, but still so fun! I'm just hoping the cold stays around until Christmas so I can sport my new sweaters on Christmas morning instead of a t-shirt. And no, that is not snow on my dashboard. Just a little dusting from the elves. Car wash needed. Stocking stuffer hint, Santa.
So maybe you're wondering what I'm doing with all of this free time now that school is out...since I'm clearly not blogging. This weekend I went to Athens for my cousin Joseph's wedding. LOVE THAT TOWN. I got so pumped when I pulled onto Broad Street. All the downtown trees were lit. Great memories! And the wedding was spectacular!
Sunday night was a lessons and carols service at church, which I will be sharing more about soon, because the songs and scriptures were so great. Monday night we had a Christmas party at Bible study. Pictures to come. And other than that, Christmas shopping like mad woman! Not so much relaxing but that is next on my to-do list!
And it snowed on Sunday and Monday! Didn't really stick, but still so fun! I'm just hoping the cold stays around until Christmas so I can sport my new sweaters on Christmas morning instead of a t-shirt. And no, that is not snow on my dashboard. Just a little dusting from the elves. Car wash needed. Stocking stuffer hint, Santa.
So maybe you're wondering what I'm doing with all of this free time now that school is out...since I'm clearly not blogging. This weekend I went to Athens for my cousin Joseph's wedding. LOVE THAT TOWN. I got so pumped when I pulled onto Broad Street. All the downtown trees were lit. Great memories! And the wedding was spectacular!
Sunday night was a lessons and carols service at church, which I will be sharing more about soon, because the songs and scriptures were so great. Monday night we had a Christmas party at Bible study. Pictures to come. And other than that, Christmas shopping like mad woman! Not so much relaxing but that is next on my to-do list!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Shout out to moms
After returning from Thanksgiving with my sister, I was talking with my friends who also have nieces and nephews about how hard it must be to be a mom. Constantly chasing, feeding, changing, interpreting cries, soothing, entertaining, and forgetting about yourself. Often without any help or recognition. Around the same day I read this on someone's blog, and I hope its an encouragement to you moms out there:
It all began to make sense, the blank stsares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .
I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devoured - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, “Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.
Invisible Mother.....
It all began to make sense, the blank stsares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .
I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devoured - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, “Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.
The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Return to posting
Alrighty...lets see if I remember how to do this. Sorry for going MIA. I am officially DONE with classes and finals for this semester! So, maybe my goal will be a post a day while I'm out of school. Ambitious?
As far as gluten is concerned...didn't even miss it. There are some great substitutes out there and I seriously didn't notice a difference. We went to a gluten-free bakery/restaurant and I had one of the best wraps I've ever tasted! We also made some killer pumpkin pancakes:
Sis busted out the fancy china and goblets!
We had brussel sprouts, turkey and stuffing, acorn squash, cranberry sauce, and strawberry pretzel salad. And a pumpkin pie for dessert!
And this is photo evidence that my 16 month old nephew likes brussel sprouts!! That's right! Pretty sure Matt did some type of fist-pump when this happened.
Posed for the camera...
Bonded with grandma...
Decorated the tree...
Ate some ashes...
Even though we're smack dab in the middle of Christmas cheer, I would be remiss not to at least share my Thanksgiving travels. Especially since it involved the.cutest.nephew.ever.
This is Will's "I don't think I know you..." face. But all it took was a banana for him to warm up to me.
As far as gluten is concerned...didn't even miss it. There are some great substitutes out there and I seriously didn't notice a difference. We went to a gluten-free bakery/restaurant and I had one of the best wraps I've ever tasted! We also made some killer pumpkin pancakes:
Sis busted out the fancy china and goblets!
And this is photo evidence that my 16 month old nephew likes brussel sprouts!! That's right! Pretty sure Matt did some type of fist-pump when this happened.
The rest of the weekend we chatted...
Did some taste tests...
Posed for the camera...
Decorated the tree...
Ate some ashes...
and enjoyed the company! It was a great Thanksgiving! Miller and Matt were excellent hosts and chefs. And Will was my constant source of smiles and entertainment!
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