Merry Christmas 2010!!!

Merry Christmas! Our family photo for this year was taken 4 nights before Christmas. We were given our color assignments and told to meet down by the piano in 20 minutes. Miraculously, the 30 minute photo shoot was a success and no one stomped off because the final selection was not their best. Yours truly has never done this before :) I have always thought it would be fun to have another sibling or two, but come Christmas-card-picture-taking time I am thankful for our family of five!


Why does it seem that the ‘Most wonderful time of the year’ is always the most busiest, craziest, weight-gained time of the year?! With 4 parties a weekend, cookies & treats brought into work daily, and a fractured foot, this has been a fast-moving, blur kind of a holiday season. Every year the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years go by faster and faster; I am thankful for the Christmas lights to light our paths! Ha! It is sad, though, that we spend this special time in such a tizzy; I don’t believe that this was ever God’s intention.

This year was different for me as I was trying to finish my B90X challenge. (Remaining B90X posts to come soon!) As it worked out, I made it into the Gospels in the midst of the hustle and bustle that December always brings. It was good for me to read the Christmas story multiple times this year.

The story of Jesus’ birth is exciting, miraculous, mysterious, and so many other things and every year I find a new truth or exciting piece of the story that rocks my world. This year said truth was every one’s obedience to God’s plan. No one could have even begun to understand or imagine what God had planned for this tiny baby, yet the major players (Mary and Joseph) never once protested-it’s not recorded that they did, anyway-and made the appropriate adjustments to their lives and routines to submit to God’s will.

I pray that God’s will be made so clear for me this year that I do not question Him either. I want to be like Mary, Mother of Jesus-confident in His will so that the only questions that I ask are ‘Am I still IN Your will? Doing what you have planned for me?’ instead of ‘Is this REALLY what You have planned for me? Why me? Why do You have me here?!’ I pray that His will will be made clear to you as well as we enter into a new year; a time for new beginnings and experiences.

I started a new job one week before Christmas day (why not throw something else into the crazy mix of things?!) At this job I am exposed to more people, many of whom do not know the Lord. Most of them fall into one of several groups: those who are searching for something, those who know but do not live for Him, and those who don’t know that they are even in need of a Savior. As we were preparing and anticipating the Christmas break, it broke my heart as I realized how many do not make Christ the center of Christmas. I pray that I can be an example of Christ to these people and that His Light is evident through me.

I hope that you and yours had a wonderful Christmas day with family and friends.