Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

I love, love, love the Christmas season.  I've always loved it.  When I was little I was just mesmerized by the Christmas lights and how Santa somehow snuck into our house on Christmas Eve and put our presents under the tree.  I remember going to a Christmas service at the church my dad was a part of.  The wonder of us all coming together to celebrate God given us his only son.

Now that I have children of my own I want them to also feel the wonder and amazement of the Christmas season.  I don't want them to grow up to only remember the presents that Santa brought them.  I hope that they remember the warm feeling they get when we pick out gifts to give to our loved ones.  The sense of joy as we bake cookies to give to our neighbors.  But most importantly I want them to remember why we celebrate Christmas.  We are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, God's only son.  Who came so that we could be forgiven.

Today we picked out our Christmas tree.  We bundled the girls up and loaded them into the car.  As we were driving to tree farm Scott and I were discussing some of the Christmas plans.  When we got to the farm we began our search for the perfect tree for our living room.  Kennedy would of been content with a short little tree,  in fact, it's really what she wanted.  It didn't take us long to find the tree for this year.  We cut it down, dragged it to the car, actually Scott dragged it to the car.  Scott strapped it to our little red Alero and we drove home.  I dug out our decorations for the tree and we began to turn the pine tree into our 2010 Christmas tree.  I love decorating the tree.  Reliving the memories and significance of each ornament is one of my favorite parts.  Tonight after the girls go to bed Scott and I are going to sit back, enjoy a nice drink and just be together.  Here's to a great Holiday season.

Until next time ~

Whew, so glad that I did.

Yesterday Scott and I spent all day getting ready for a very much anticipated Thanksgiving dinner with Scott's family.  There would be 11 total people around the table to share a wonderful meal.  Those coming included Scott's father, Randy, Scott's brothers, Justin, Nico and Christian, Nico's girlfriend Jess, Scott's Grandma Mary and Scott's Uncle Doug.  Scott spent the day cooking and preparing the food while I cleaned up the house and tended to the Kennedy and Lexi. (Mackenzie was spending Thanksgiving with her dad.)

The week before I kept seeing a lot of Thanksgiving related TV shows where someone would say a prayer out loud before the meal.  I just knew in my heart that this is something that I wanted to do before we all shared our meal.  I brought the idea up to Scott and he said "That's fine, as long as you say it."  I wasn't surprised by his answer at all.  All day Wednesday into Thursday I prayed about it.  Asking God to not let me chicken out and give me the right words to say. See, I've never said a prayer out loud in front of anyone before.  And here I was going to do it for the first time in front of Scott's family.  I know that most of them are believers.  But it's been a hard year for some of the others since Harla past away.  Their faith has been shaken severely and I think they may have given up hope that God still cares about them.

As dinner was close to being done and ready to be enjoyed my nerves started to get to me.  But I kept hearing God telling me to do it. The world needs more prayer. I knew what I wanted to say, I had been rehearsing it all day. Right as dinner was coming out of the oven I called everyone into the living room.  No one but Scott and I knew what was going to happen.  They were quite surprised when I said that we were going to pray before we eat.  (We had never done that before at a family gathering.)  It was short prayer, I said how we were thankful for the opportunity for us all to be together to share a wonderful meal.  That it's been a hard year as we were missing Harla but we knew that she was with us in spirit.  It's been a great fall as Scott's brother Justin is back in our lives.  I ended by saying that we were thankful for all that God is going to provide for us in the future.

Last night after everyone left and Scott and I reflected on the day he said that what I had said was very touching.  He even noticed that some of his family had gotten teary eyed. Whew, I did it.  You know what, when I finished a huge sense of peace came over me.  God lead me through it and I can't wait for the next time I get to say a prayer out loud again.

Until next time ~Anita

Transformation in progress.

Last week the ladies and I in our Friday morning Life Group finish the book The Miracle of Life Change by Chip Ingram.  It was a very good book.  I was challenged to think about things that don't normally cross my mind.  My relationship with God is definitely different, in a good way.

Like most followers of Christ I have my good days and my bad days.  I have days where I feel really close to God and days where I feel so far away I'm not sure how I'll ever get back.  I'm still amazed that no matter how many times I blow it God also takes me back, He longs for me to come back to Him.  To find comfort in his arms.

I still get distracted by the "got to do this" and "have to do that".  One thing that has helped me to keep things in the right order; God first then everything else, is by staying involved in the Life Group at church.  The ladies in my Friday morning group are truly amazing.  I've made friends and found mentors.  I am developing authentic relationships.  I know that I can share with these ladies what is inside my heart and I trust that they will not judge me.  They are there to listen, offer advice and help me to listen to God and hear His whispers.  

I know that I am still a work in progress.  But I also know this; God is always here to help me and guide me along the way.

Until next time ~ Anita

The Lord had great plans for Greta.

Today my friend Greta got on a plane to go to Ethiopia.  Yup, you read that right, Ethiopia.  She is part of group of 18 people traveling with Children's Hopechest.  I can't even find the words to tell you about her trip so please take a look at her blog: Give me your eyes.

Greta, we miss you already and can't wait to hear about your trip!

I hope I would do the right thing.

Tonight after the girls were in bed I was watching one of my favorite shows on ABC called What Would You Do?  I love watching this show.  Just seeing all the folks stand up for what they believe in and doing the right thing is moving.  At the time of the situation the folks don't know that everyone involved are actors.  But before the person leaves the host steps in and lets them know that it isn't real.

I always hope that if I saw something going wrong that God would give me enough courage to stand up for someone in need.  Life is scary and unpredictable, you never know how someone is going to react. I hope that God would tell me what to do and how to do it.  I just hope that I'm listening when he tells me. 

I know that God uses us all in ways that are part of His big plan.  He puts in certain places for a reason.  Make sure you are paying attention.

So my question for you is - Do you know what you would do?

Until next time ~ Anita

Who’s “To do” list are you working off of?

Growing up I never thought I would be a stay-at-home mom.  When Kennedy was born on January 24, 2008 Scott and I were still toying with the idea of Kennedy not going to daycare and me not returning to work.  When my maternity leave was up 3 months later we had decided that I would indeed be a stay-at-home mom (SAHM).  I had all these ideas as to what that meant to me.

For almost 3 years I’ve been struggling with the definition of being a SAHM.  I thought that our house would be picture perfect and always company ready.  There would be homemade dinners every night  and wonderful breakfasts in the morning.  My “to do” list would be completed at the end of everyday.

When in reality the only “to do” list that I need to be worried about is God’s.  Right now the living room is scattered with toys and I’m almost positive that there are dirty clothes to be washed.  As I was getting Kennedy ready for nap today it was like God smacked me upside the head, saying “Don’t worry about the clothes, the dishes or the fact that the house isn’t company ready.  I have entrusted these little angels to you.  They are to come first.  Make sure they know how much you love them.  Be patient with them, the house will still be here when you are done.”  Now when I get up in the morning I'm going to ask God what he wants me to get done that day.  What does he want me to accomplish?

I’m not sure why it has taken so long for this to come to me.  However, I am so glad that it did.  The anxiety is starting to melt away.  Of course there will be days where God is going to have to remind me again and again and again.  I am no where near where I would like to be but I’m getting there. Only with God by my side will I be the woman of God that he wants me to be.

Until next time~ Anita