Real Life is Better Than Fiction

One of my sisters after a "light" snow. We were hit with a pretty big snow storm last weekend, big at least according to Virginia standards. Whenever it snows memories from my childhood always come to mind. Growing up in New York, there was no shortage of snow, especially since we lived near Syracuse, which holds the record of being the snowiest city in the country. I remember one year to snow plows piled the now up so much on the corner in front of our house that my grandpa parked his car in front of it and made my brother and I sit on top of the pile so he could take a picture and show people how much snow there was. I remember another snowy evening, okay, it was much more of blizzard-y evening (I know that's not a word!). It was shortly after Christmas and we were taking down all our decorations so the house was a complete mess. Then someone knocked on the door. My mom sent all four of us kids "the look" that we knew meant, "Cram everything ...

On this TBT, I’m throwing it all the way back...to last week. It’s only Christmas Eve, but I’m pretty sure I’ve already received my most memorable gift of the year. Several fellow homeschooling moms and I enjoy an evening out once in a while. We have been trying to get together for a couple of months with no success. With classes at our homeschool co-op on Christmas vacation, we thought we could use that time that’s normally already scheduled to get together at my house for lunch and a cookie exchange. We were all sitting around the table cramming our faces with food, talking about the problem one of us, I’ll call her Renee, has with ADD. She chose that moment to hand out her gifts to us. They were journals. That alone makes it a perfect gift for me, but then I opened the journal to read the inscription. “Ruth, Merry…” I burst out laughing as I learned over to another friend to see what Renee friend had written in her journal. She got, “Tiffany, Merry Christmas. Love y...

The song of the week this week was my mom’s favorite.  As I sit here to write, I seem to be at a loss for words. Maybe that’s how it should be these few days before Christmas. Maybe we need to do a little less talking and a little more reflecting on what a holy night it was. 

This is the sappy song of the Christmas season for me. When I first heard it, I was driving down the road. I had to pull over until the tears stopped because I couldn’t see to drive. I heard this after my mom had passed away and my feelings were still raw. I am always jealous of those who still have all their loved ones with them. I know I shouldn’t be, but I can’t seem to help it. I have had to rethink things and envision what Christmas is like in heaven, wonder how those who have gone before us celebrate, wonder if they celebrate. I know there is worship both in heaven and on earth. The song this week is in honor of all of those who have gone on to heaven before us. While they may not be with us physically, they still live on in our hearts. 

I know that according to the calendar, the season of Thanksgiving has already passed. But should it ever really pass? Shouldn’t we be thankful all year, for all of God’s blessings? It’s so easy to get caught up in all the “things” (and I use that word in the truest sense) we don’t have, that we miss all that is sitting right before us. Finding contentment is such an issue in our society. This year, as I was putting up our Christmas tree, I could not help but think of all the blessing in my life, and many of those blessings are represented by ornaments I’ve been given over the years. All of these are treasures to me, just like the ones they remind me of. My husband is one of the greatest blessings in my life. It was God who brought us together –there’s no other explanation. Maybe that’s a story I’ll share on some other TBT post. He gave me this little writing mouse. The first Christmas we were married, my mom sent me all these homemade, stuffed ornaments. You...

When I first heard this song years ago, I didn’t like it. I think it was a combination of the arrangement and the singer that I didn’t like. However, when I heard this arrangement, my mind was forever changed. This is now one of my favorite Christmas songs. I can listen to it over and over again without getting tired of it. This is one of those songs that really lends itself for private worship, at least for me. It stirs me in ways that other songs can’t. As you listen to the song this week, focus on the Baby in a manger who came to give you life. 

As the Christmas season approaches I am going to be featuring Christmas songs as the Song of the Week. There are so many songs I could choose from and not enough space to share them all. I hope you enjoy the ones I do share through December. The first thing I want to encourage everyone to do is to make sure that your life doesn’t get so busy that you can’t enjoy the reason we are celebrating. Don’t get so busy that you don’t spend time with your family. Slow down and reflect. One of the things that I really enjoy doing during the holidays is just sitting in the living room with the Christmas tree, all the lights turned off except for the tree lights, and just soak it all in. I pray for those that come to mind and worship quietly, thankful for my Salvation that was born on Christmas Day. Try it for yourself.