Bah Humbug Averted

So towards the beginning of the month of December I was definitely channeling some Ebenezer Scrooge.  But thankfully, due in part to the multiple visits from various Spirits of Christmas, I finally caught the Christmas joy myself.

My first Spirit of Christmas came in the form of my wonderful husband who pointed out the whole dead dreams ordeal.  Thankfully that light-bulb moment has turned my whole direction around.  I am dreaming again – just not putting concrete time frames on those dreams – but definitely working towards them again.

My hubby also sent me to Idaho to visit my side of the herd.  The 30 plus hours in a car with 5 kids fortunately didn’t do me in, thanks in part to audio books.  And I got the bonus of seeing my kids dress up for a family nativity.  Abner, T-Rev and my brother Zippy make quite the impressive beardless Wise men, don’t you think?

 

Santa even made a surprise appearance and Hope had to bend his ear and then some… I mean the girl would talk to him non-stop, even as he was visiting with her other cousins.  She nigh near snowballed him with question after question about reindeer and his sleigh and everything Christmas.  But seeing her so into the magic of Christmas helped me gain a little bit of that magic myself.

Then it was back to the house to see how many grandkids it takes to tackle grandpa.  I got a workout just watching the mini-wrestling match.

All in all it was a wonderful trip, full of family visits, elf previews of Christmas, lots of nummy-yummy treats, digit numbing cold snow, Christmas lights, Iron port drink from the local drive-in, and Love.

Then it was back to our Pacific Northwest home for Christmas.  It was by far our most simple Christmas but the kids handled the low volume of presents with not a single complaint.

My husbands parents nailed me with one of the best gifts,  a dream necklace and CD full of dream songs.  I keep them right next to my dream journal when I’m not wearing or listening to them.  My kids thought I was nutty when I started crying when I saw the thoughtful gift, and they are right, I am nutty.  But it was the perfect gift.

Christmas day would have been perfect had the car not broken down.  But we are used to these unexpected bumps.  I have to say the downer of that break-down was more than made up for by this miracle.

Remember my redneck kitchen?

Well my friend Good Enough’s Angel Husband decided to help rebuild part of our missing kitchen.  We salvaged the drawers and door fronts from our old cabinets and he built them into some more salvaged bases and painted them for us.

Poor guy had to endure me sitting in the kitchen, watching the cabinets go in,  grinning like an idiot cause I was so happy.   Wow, it’s beginning to look like a real kitchen again.

I love all the angels that made this year so special amidst all the unbloggable stuff.  Thank you Angels.  I certainly hope that sometime in the near future I can pay it forward times ten.  I would just love to share the happiness that they gave to me.

Dear Christmas Angel,

We received your gift a couple of days ago and are still a little overwhelmed by your generosity. It’s something my husband and I never expected. Dear Angel, you came silently and anonymously so we have no idea how to thank you.

At first it was very hard to recognize your sacrifice, probably because of a little pride on our part. Our first thoughts were there are sooooo many other people who are in worse condition who deserve this more than we do.

Yes, we’ve had some unexpected and expensive things happen to us over the past couple of months, but as would most people, we were just moving forward, making plans and working out solutions to our problems. We did not feel that we were in real need.

I guess what we’re saying is – It’s really hard for us to ask for help. And sometimes it’s harder to receive. We like to give. When I (FawnDear) got sick a couple of years ago. My husband and a good friend gave me a blessing. In the blessing I was told I would be whole again. Normal. But our wise friend told me he really thought that blessing would come true (and it has), but he was inspired to tell me that it would take time and that he really felt that I needed to learn how to receive help. I needed to learn the blessing of letting other people give service.

For a little bit, we secretly thought of giving your gift away. I’m sorry that we thought that. Then we realized how we would feel if we gave a precious gift to someone who turned it away – it would break our hearts. I guess that’s when we finally saw you. You dear angel have opened your arms and heart to the true meaning of Christmas. God’s love for all his children shines bright in your actions and in giving to us you have given much more than we could ever receive.

Matthew 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Dear Angel, thank you for sharing your Christ-like love with our family. Thank you for your example and your gift. We will treasure it, honor it and always remember it.

Love, Prince Erik and FawnDear