Christmas Blessings 2015

Each year I am humbled by the blessings that others bestow on our family.  This year was no exception.  As is too often the case, our year end budget looked bleak and certainly didn't indicate the Christmas that was to be.

However, fruit arrived from several sources, and we feasted on pears, apples, grapefruits, mandarin oranges and oranges.  Chocolate goodies plates, a food basket with two hams, eggs and a huge load of gifted canned goods made our cupboards, refrigerator and counters overflow with abundance.

Then a surprise from a high school friend brought amazingly generous gifts for each of our kids and Aldi's gift certificates for Ed and I to fill-in the grocery gaps....we have had fun making a shopping list for the things that cause a crisis if we run out...pancake syrup, ketchup, garlic salt, SUGAR, cooking oil, etc...will soon be restocked and ready for 2016!

When we opened the mailbox we found surprises in the form of gift cards too.  Each was a blessing.  One came without a name, and we turned it into a FULL tank of diesel for the bus (and will be able to top off the tank again after our holiday travels).  For those of you without a bus, let me explain that a 55 gallon tank is a BIG investment which usually lasts us 8 to 10 weeks.  We typically cannot afford to fill it up so we feed the bus $10 and $20 bills with the goal of keeping the gauge above a quarter. Having a full tank of diesel before coldest weather of winter is a big stress reliever.

At the end of October, when we had not picked up many walnuts to fund Christmas because of flu/cold/ear infection bugs and a general lack of walnuts because the trees just hadn't done their part in SW Missouri this year, I never could have predicted the abundance that Christmas would bring from so many generous and caring people.

Thank you, blessings and peace to you all on this wonderful Christmas day!

And my God will meet all your needs 

according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

~Philippians 4:19

Christmas 2014

Thank you to Grandparents, Cousin Cassidy (the suspense to open your presents was killing them), House Hero Angela (who gave us pizzas and a movie for a perfect family movie night...and a mommy's cooking night off), Karry who sent several of the kids their own cards (Vanessa has hers hung up and may NEVER take it down), the Deckers, the Wassenaars and the Brazeals who gave us diet-friendly fruit treats, and so many others (known and unknown) who helped make this a truly special Christmas! 

The two anonymous cards with encouraging words and gift cards were especially surprising and helpful!  Ed and I had so much fun planning and going on a restocking shopping trip for peanut butter, jelly, ketchup, dryer sheets, cereal, shampoo, razors, toothpaste, dishwasher soap, printer ink, spices, butter, cheese and so much more that keeps our household running...it is such a stress reliever to have these critical items on hand again! 

We appreciate everyone so much!  Thank you.

Christmas 2013

Christmas was not exactly picture perfect.  On the 23rd, we had planned to see Christmas lights on the way to Grandma's house, but the thick layer of ice on the side windows of the bus would not melt fast enough.  It was blocking our little passengers' views.  Therefore, we had to postpone this annual outing to Carthage.  Then Nate sat in front of french doors that caused most of his photos to be overexposed so there is virtually no photographic evidence of his Christmas gifts. Hannah ate too much Christmas candy and had it suddenly revisit us at Christmas dinner.  We arrived at the farm and the propane tank had been turned off so there was no heat. We all huddled around the oven and ate pizzas while waiting for the whole house to heat up.  Each of these non-photographed items will probably be more memorable than most of the photographed events.

Below is a collage of a few of the 2013 Christmas highlights.   This is the first year that Vanessa had something that she desperately wanted for Christmas.  She has been asking for months and thanks to grandma and grand-dad, she got it...a Nintendo DS.  Everyone had more fun, just because Vanessa was so excited!  Plus I got a picture of my folks that proves that my Dad has a ton of fun when he is annoying my mom. (I hope you can see his big his smile in the photo on the collage.  If you double click on the picture, it will make it bigger.)

Like most families, challenges are all around us.  Owning multiple houses and trying not to let multiple mortgages rule us, having what seem like "the usual" unexpected stresses and most importantly knowing that God has it all under control gives us reason to celebrate His amazing love and sacrifice.  May He help us to remain faithful and may we be better examples of His love during the holiday season and throughout the year.

Reflect upon your present blessings,

of which every man has plenty;
not on your past misfortunes,

of which all men have some.
--Charles Dickens   

Christmas Spirit Challenges

Not only have I been neglecting my blog, I have been neglecting Christmas.  Oh, I have made cookies, sent cards, received cards, put up a couple Christmas trees...but my heart and spirit are just not embracing Christmas this year.  This failure on my part to feel all the joys of the season is only intensified by one our of children, who I am sure could easily hold and defend the title of "Miss Merry Christmas".  (You can probably tell which child from the photos below.)

Christmas cookies are NOT a dieter's best friend, but they are a must in our house!

Decorating one of the Christmas trees.

Christmas isn't complete until we ring the bell!

Stamping the special postmarks in Noel, MO

The Postmaster's Elf

Like many people, I am going through the motions, but I simply feel too unsettled to really feel the extra peace and joy that Christmastime brings.  As many of you know, we bought 2 homes in Kansas and have been in the process of transitioning to Kansas.  We were in the process of widening doorways, adding bedrooms and building ramps when we learned that our new community's school will be closing.  As a result of the closing, the kids will be bused to a school with three unconnected buildings and many steps.  (I cannot even get into the office or lunch room.)  The buildings require frequent trips outdoors to get between buildings and this setup will not work for three of our children.   We are researching our options including out of district placements which Kansas allows, but so far no district has committed to taking our whole family.  Due to these situations, our Kansas house is not home; our Neosho house is not home and the Ava property which does still feel like home is too far away to visit regularly. 

Please be praying for us as we try to ensure that Kansas is the right place for our family before we complete this move. 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and

do not be afraid. ~~John 14:27

Christmas 2012

Whew!  What a December and what a Christmas!  It is good to know that no matter how busy, distracted, or stressed we get around the holidays that we all slow down and celebrate together.  Plus missing pecans for the candy, limited funds and unfinished projects cannot deminish the joy that we as Christians find in the real reason that we are celebrating.

We were blessed with sending out Christmas cards again this year and we even got to take our annual trip to Noel to mail the cards with a special stamps, despite our car troubles.  Then Corrine rang the bell for the Salvation Army and greatly enjoyed the 2 hours in the cold.  Our family took the bus and went to see the Christmas lights in Carthage.  Plus our church had the annual Christmas dinner which was a great opportunity to enjoy a good meal and good company. 


Since Grand-dad is taking medications by IV and is still recovering, we took our Christmas gifts and our bus full to their home this year.  Usually they come to our home and keep the chaos here so this was a brave decision to have us come to their home.  We opened gifts at their home Christmas Eve and then drove home thru Monett so we could all see the Chistmas lights.  Finally, Christmas morning the kids opened their stocking gifts and we enjoyed a huge ham with all the trimmings for lunch and dinner.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

~~Isaiah 9:6 NIV

Christmas Chaos & Joy

My family has always opened presents on Christmas eve, but my hubby's family usually opened presents on Christmas morning so when we got married we had to pick a tradition to follow.  Because my parents like to be at our house when presents are opened, we ultimately decided to follow my family's tradition.  The kids stay up late on Christmas Eve playing, and Christmas morning is more leisurely.  The kids sleep while we are up early starting Christmas dinner.  They have small stocking gifts waiting on them; then breakfast; get dressed and play some more before dinner!

Christmas Eve this year was especially chaotic.  The twins had clogged the downstair's bathroom's sink, played in the water and left the water running until the wet family room carpet was discovered sometime later.  So around noon, Mr. Workman started intensive clean up with the wet vac and using every fan in the house.  As you might guess, this is the same carpet that I JUST had professionally cleaned two weeks ago and NO it was NOT dry by the time we opened gifts in the evening (or even yet this evening).  So gift opening was restricted to the dry side of the family room, which made picture taking angles difficult.  

We usually take turns opening gifts in an orderly fashion, but with three 3 year olds and a 4 year old running on crazy-high octane-Christmas-grandparents-candy-adenaline...well, orderly wasn't going to happen!!!  So with paper ripping, screaches of joy and lining up for Grandpa to free their new toys from the packaging...the boys opened their own gifts AND each others gifts AND came to help each of us open our gifts in all of 10 minutes.  (The clean-up took forever!  But they didn't care or know since they were playing with their new toys.) 

Antonio & Pauline with their 2 kids &

our kids from Haiti

This year, a big dinner and church, were pitted against each other so we had a big turkey dinner with all the fixings last Saturday with friends and our special guests Pauline and Antonio who worked at "our" orphanage in Haiti.  It was so nice to see them.  They are currently living in Tulsa, but they will be moving soon to Florida.



So today on Christmas Day, we decided to go with something easy for lunch after church.  We went Italian.  All the kids ate great except the twins who each fell asleep on sofas in different rooms during the brief 20 minute prep-time.  When they woke up an hour or so later, they feasted too.  I got a long nap.   Mr. Workman kept working on drying the carpet.  The kids played with new toys or read new books, and it was a VERY good Christmas Day!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.~~Isaiah 9:6

Christmas Spirit

Salvation Army Band in front of the Fox Theatre.

This year I have been determined to take time to feel and live the Christmas Spirit.  The last few years, our Christmastimes have included surgeries and doctor visits and hurry and rush and stress.  However, I promised myself that would not be the case this year.  I would take time for friends and family, for celebrations, for decorations and if we get any, I may even play in the snow!   

So the first weekend in December, Ed & I headed to St. Louis for an overnight stay and to see "A Christmas Carol" at the Fox Theatre.  We are so out of practice with these get-a-way things that we forgot to take cash for parking, but disaster was averted after a complete search of pockets, bags, and floorboards yeilded the $8 we needed.  THEN, we had the "fun" of handing the change to the attendant and wishing him a "Merry Christmas".  He didn't want to accept it, but his boss assured him that it was legal tender and they accepted it!  The show and the Fox Theatre were as awesome as when I had visited last and I especially enjoyed the details and personality that actor Jeff Horst injected into his character Scrooge.   Then after the show, the Salvation Army Band was playing on the sidewalk outside the theatre.  It was positively Christmas perfect, except I had left the 11 cents of "extra cash" on the dash of the car and didn't have even a penny to put in the Kettle!  The group still insisted on taking a request and it was wonderful! 



Live Nativity by our friends John & Nancy Young



This year I have taken time to enjoy hosting a get together, which we hadn't done since July 2008!  Our whole family has enjoyed time with friends and special projects, the parade, a live nativity and Christmas lights in Carthage and Monett.  For the first year ever our Annual DVD is not yet done, but it will be soon for those who are thinking that I forgot you!  My Christmas shopping is not done.  My celebratating is just not finished, and I'm not worried because I have almost 5 days to enjoy the process of finishing Christmas preparations. 

 

Corrine enjoying the "Way of Salvation"
 light display in Carthage.



 If you are needing a little help feeling in the Christmas Spirit, then I have two small project suggestions for you that are less than a dollar and would really improve someone's day.

PROJECT 1: Write a note and/or send a card to Ashlea Burkhart.  She lives in Joplin and was severely injuried in the tornado.  The recovery and rehabilitation process from the brain injury has been especially tough for this mother of two and her husband.  Her mother has had to quit her job to help with Ashlea's care, but Ashlea IS improving, especially since a group of friends took on a project to get cards of encouragement sent to her.  Since November 15th, she has received over 1,000 cards and these are used as part of her recovery is to go get the mail everyday and read the cards aloud.  You can mail the card to the following address: 

Ashlea Burkhart

3609 E. 13th St.

Joplin, MO 64801

PROJECT 2:  Send a Christmas card to and pray for Troy and Angie Jensen.  Troy had a bone marrow transplant in Oct. and under normal conditions would have been able to leave the hospital in November. Unfortunately he has had many set backs and is still in the hospital and will not be leaving before the holidays. Angie has put a small Christmas tree in his room and plans to fill his window with the Christmas cards that are sent, so that when Troy is able, he can see the evidence of all the people who care for him and have been praying for him.  Angie's St. Louis address is below.

Troy and Angie Jensen

4555 Forest Parkway

Apt 301

St. Louis, MO 63108

   "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!"~~Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Christmas

Mr. Workman and I were discussing tonight (well, this morning), how our measuring of a good Christmas has changed through the years.  We mused that Christmas used to be measured by things like....how good the gifts were, how tasty the food was, and how much fun the gatherings were.  It amazes us that we now measure Christmas by things like how much time we got to spend doing fun holiday stuff with the kids, having resources to have good gifts for each child, and getting to share the Biblical Christmas story with our children.  By the current measuring stick we had an amazing Christmas! 

Serious Christmas celebrations started with a get together at my parents home on Thursday.  Then Friday night, my folks came to visit and as is traditional we opened gifts after dinner.  As part of this tradition, dinner is take out and usually pizza.  This year it was pizza, pasta and bread sticks.  Then after dinner we rearranged the family room furniture and passed out gifts.  We usually start with the youngest and go to the oldest, but this year we skipped Nate until after Grace because he was being so good watching everyone else. 

The twins seemed confused at first, but after a few packages, they were ready to play and it was hard to keep them busy opening more while Grand-dad and Dad assembled and added batteries to toys.  The race track, that I almost didn't buy for them, surprised me by being the twins and Matt's favorite toy.  Matt got a "Cozy Coup" car and wanted to take it outside to play immediately.  He was pretty disappointed when we told him no because it is dark and very cold. 

Matt was our most excited child and he kept asking, "Mine?"  When we said yes, he would smile so big.  David was our next most excited and he was definitely the easiest to photograph.  He knows the "drill" and was facing me as he opened most of his gifts.  Jon obviously didn't realize that he was included too because when Corrine brought him his first gift, well...he almost leaped out of his chair!  Jon loved everything!  I had picked out two awesome toys for him that had buttons that he can reach and press.  Jon approves of my choices and has played with them non-stop.

Vanessa got a doll and lots of clothes including a fuzzy pink sweater, which she hugged when she opened the box.  It was very cute!  Hannah's favorite gift was a pair of super soft, fuzzy socks that Grace had gotten for her.  Corrine loved it all and Grace got an unusually large gift...a laptop!  She thought we had wrapped her Christmas in my old laptop box so she did not realize that she actually got a laptop until she reached in the box.  Great fun!

Nate opened his gifts last, after the other kids, and he was more interested in Jon's toys and the ribbon than in his gifts.  However, by Christmas morning he was ready to play with his too. 

Christmas Day was filled with kids playing with new toys, watching new movies and sharing a huge turkey dinner.  What a great celebration!

Luke 2:4-14



4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Holiday Buzz....

The upcoming Christmas celebration has our house buzzing!  The kids are so excited. We are so excited!  BUT the volume is unbelievable!  Ed's parents gives us money each year to buy the kids gifts from them.  My parents do most of their own shopping, but I help with part of it, especially for ones like Jon and Hannah.  Then I shop from us.  As the piles of presents grow so does the curiosity of the kids.  However, they have all done well to leave the presents alone, except for one....Baby Nate!  He can reach one stack in our bedroom and as soon as I put him on the floor (no matter where) he crawls as fast as he can for our room and that stack of presents. 

I'm behind on getting Christmas cards out due to a Mr. Workman turning off the power during an update and corrupting the file with our Christmas DVD.  Hopefully, by the end of this week, Christmas cards and DVDs will be in the mail.  It has been stressful making a whole year's worth of video in a couple weeks.  Everyone will just have to be understanding that this year's DVD will not be the usual style or quality, but there will be a DVD!

This week we will also start the beginning of making Christmas goodies.  The kids are all excited, especially Corrine and David who are my two main kitchen helpers.  We have our groceries and they are ready to mix, bake, and most importantly TASTE all the treats.

This coming Sunday is the Christmas program and there is still many preparations to be made for it!  In fact, I'm a bit overwhelmed thinking about it since our kids made up a majority of the cast!

I've been looking for some elves to come help me and the older kids get the Christmas tree up this year.  So far I haven't found any elves, but hopefully yet this week.  Mr. Workman works every weekend until Christmas due to debate tournaments so he won't be able to help decorate until right before Christmas, and I hate to say, "Honey, now that your vacation is finally here, I've got a few thousand things for you to do..lets start with the tree."  We did agree that this year we would skip the outdoor decorating and some of the "not baby proof" upstairs decorations like the foyer tree and my snowmen collection.  But the upstairs ledge is lined with poinsettias as is the table (15 in all) and some of my favorite wall hangings are up so it definitely looks like Christmas.

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day;

their old familiar carols play,

and wild and sweet the word repeat

of peace on earth, good-will to men!"--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Christmas

Tonight I started teaching a WWU class in Branson so I had a long drive to/from class. On the way, I got to thinking about Christmas, and I must say I've decided that I'm ready to have Christmas right NOW....not ready "ready"....no cards addressed or presents purchased, but I'm ready for cool weather, fireplaces, Christmas spirit, visits from friends/family and all the great foods. Maybe it is because Christmas 2009 was so interrupted by the kids hospital stays or maybe because we are facing surgeries again for the kids, I don't know why, BUT Christmas sounds like a good idea right now to me!

BTW-Nate has surgery this Thursday & Jon on Tuesday. Please keep them & us in your prayers.