Merry Christmas (late)! I hope that Santa was good to you and you got everything you wanted. I hope this was your best Christmas ever. :-)
My Christmas was very different than it's ever been in my life. This year Andrew spent Christmas Eve with his dad's family and so my sister and I stayed at our house instead of being with our parents. That meant this was the first year EVER (in my 39 years) that I didn't wake up in the same house with my parents. Talk about odd....it was VERY ODD. So, my Christmas morning was spent sleeping until around 9AM and then I hung out at home mostly by myself, wrapping all my Christmas presents, since Lyn went to lunch with some of her friends. Finally, I was able to pick up Andrew from his dad and stepmom's at around 2PM and we then headed to momma and daddy's house. When we made it to momma and daddy's is when my Christmas officially began.
When we got to momma and daddy's house, Jon, Erin and Zach (brother, sister in law and nephew) were already there. We hung out for a while and then we ate dinner. A friend of the family smoked a turkey for us so we had smoked turkey, dressing, gravy, peas, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and rolls for dinner. After dinner we opened presents. Andrew got a Buzz Lightyear and that was the thing he wanted opened right away. He got a Woody but it was at our house waiting for him since Santa left it. Now, he's got both of them and usually if he has one, the other isn't very far away. He loves them and them along with his Potato Heads (Mr. and Mrs.) he reenacts scenes from Toy Story sometimes- very cute!
One of the good things about having experienced a different type of Christmas meant that I was able to attend my church's Christmas Eve service this year for the first time. It really was a great time for us to get together as a church family to celebrate the reason for Christmas- Jesus's birth. My pastor talked about the anticipation of Christ's birth- his coming was foretold numerous times in the Old Testament. For a lot of people there was huge anticipation of his coming. For his mom and dad, Mary and Joseph, there was tons of anticipation too. Afterall, anytime a new baby is coming, parents are excited and anxious for the birth. But Mary and Joseph had even more anticipation since they were both visited by angels and were told that Jesus's birth was something very special. So, our pastor challenged us to look for the things we can anticipate in our lives that God is going to give to us. With that challenge, I'm excited and ready to see what new things God has in store for me in 2010.
I hope and pray that the end of 2009 allows you some time to ponder the last year and what has happened- good and bad. Are you any better or worse off than you were in 2008?
What are the big thigns that you hope happen in 2010?
Are you planning to wait on God's plan to unfold in HIS time or are you going to do whatever it takes to make it happen on your own? I pray that you wait for God and HIS timing. HIS timing is perfect.
