A Season of Holy Nights

Christmas. "Jesus is the reason for the season." I have seen this sentiment thrown around more and more each year, often in the same breath someone is rattling off their to-do or have-done list. Christmas has become exhausting. But this year, I needed it to be different. I needed to be on my knees, in that manger, adoring the King who put on flesh to be among us. My soul was weary and my heart heavy. I really needed Jesus to be the reason this season.

 

 

I love lists. The joy I get from crossing things off is sad. The whole holiday season (Thanksgiving to the new year) carries so many "have to get dones" that I make a list as second nature as I take a breathe. But this year, the Lord has been teaching me to embrace the present and be present and to pour out myself as an offering in my daily life, serving Him and those around me as best I can.

 

I came in to December with high hopes. Being in a major metropolitan area, there are tons of options to see beautiful lighting displays. I wanted to soak a few in. I also had high hopes to make a ton of baked goods and pass them out to everyone I knew. I wanted to make each weekend memorable, with hot chocolate and Christmas movies and cookies. Our gingerbread house decorating adventure this year would be homemade and beautiful and delicious. My list just grew and grew. We had to do Christmas right. So I started with studying the scriptures, observing Advent. Then, He spoke in to my heart.

 

What would this season look like if I looked to Him instead of at this list? What if my primary objective this year was to be thankful for His promises instead of trying to do it all- all the things we feel like make up Christmas time. Those things are not BAD. Lights, cocoa, bows- small pieces of His grace and goodness evidenced here on the earth that we can share together. Things that can lead our minds to Him, His hand in creation, becoming creation. They can lead us to Him if we focus on Him instead of focusing on the many shiny things. 

So, I let those ideas go of what a "perfect" Christmas looked like. Instead, I embraced taking a few extra minutes on our drives to and from the house to see the lights in our own neighborhood. I enjoyed decorating a prebuilt gingerbread house. We have watched our favorite Christmas movies when we have a moment to. But mostly, I've dug in to His promises. I've spent moments praying that the Lord would change my heart to be like those Magi who followed a star for a King they heard about, a King swaddled in an animals feeding trough that they gave luxurious gifts to.

Christmas parties and presents and stockings are fun and happy and joyous. But all things should ultimately lead us to that humble place where Jesus came to live among us and ultimately die by our hands. Light the candles and sings the carols. Read the story of truth and hope. These are the things that have filled my soul this season. No lists. 

 

I have experienced more joy this year than any other year. A husband who embraces these same thoughts has been an enormous portion of that. Someone to reflect and give thanks with has made the difference. The availability of books that go along with scriptures have also been a blessing. The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp, a daily devotional to work through during the month of December, has been challenging and eye opening. Our church also has an Advent guide to work through weekly as a family that corresponds with lighting the Advent candles and it has made for a sweet time between The Mister and me. There are numerous other daily advent readings available that are wonderful and truth filled.

 

 

Now my prayer is that I carry this desire to know Christ more instead of follow what the world says should be done through every other season. May we be people who rest on His promises daily. May we remember that Immanuel came- our Savior God among us. All the wrappings and ribbons and holly cannot compare to the beauty of a baby in a manger. Let us be like Mary, treasuring all the truths of God coming in her heart.

 

 



 "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29

Road Trip!

5 days off for The Missus and available vacation time for The Mister meant a vacation was in store. We threw around several ideas - fly to New York, go to D.C., visit family on the coast... but we wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been before. This is how we went on a road trip to Tennessee.

What I wanted from this was relaxation and Chris wanted adventure and relaxation. The original plan was to make stops in Little Rock, AK, Memphis, TN, and Nashville, TN. My favorite part of what actually transpired was that we made it super flexible so things could change easily if we wanted them to. We kept it flexible by not booking any hotel rooms or making any appointments. This is definitely not THE MOST cost effective way to plan a trip, due to the fact that it is usually cheapest to book any trip as far in advance as possible to save the most money, but it kept our trip spontaneous!

We went hiking in Arkansas, visited Beale Street and the Gibson factory in Memphis (and ate some delicious BBQ), then decided we really wanted to go back to Arkansas, but instead visit Hot Springs, we didn't have anything to move around or cancel. Lola came with us so we found pet friendly hotels and locations, and made sure to pack her crate, food, bowls, and toys.

We had an amazing time that was totally us. I learned more about my mine and he learned more about me - and I'm still surprised by this because of just how long we have been together!

Here are our tips to having a fun, memorable road trip:

• Remember that the amount of planning you put in determines how flexible your schedule can be. Try to pick out 1 or 2 things you DEFINITELY want to see/do and then gear your time around that.
• If you are crossing state lines, stop at their welcome centers. They usually all have maps and lists of the top attractions to visit while you are there.
• Always look at the times your desired activities are available to you! I really wanted to take a soak in the baths at Hot Springs, but we were there on a Sunday and they all closed early in the day. Don't make my same mistake!

• Pack snacks and drinks and entertainment for the drive! But take advantage of the local cuisine.
• Things you already have at home are best because they will cut down on unneeded expenses.
• Entertainment can be songs (don't always rely on the radio!), recorded books, lists of random questions to learn more about your travel buddies, stuff for hobbies you may have like knitting, taking photos, drawing, reading... but don't do some of these things if you get car sick like yours truly. We stuck to questions, recaps on our favorite memories, stories from our childhood, and music.
• A cooler is always a great thing. Pack things you already have that may even go bad while you are gone. If you would rather not pack all perishables that may go bad while you are gone (we didn't pack our cilantro - there was no need for that on our road trip) give them away or throw them away so you do not come home to a stinky kitchen.
• Never forget cell phone chargers, a charger for your camera, clothes for all sorts of weather situations that you may run in to, and a first aid kit.
• Things we packed that were specific to where we were going, like hiking for example, are bug spray, sunscreen, fishing poles, a picnic blanket, a travel pillow, hiking shoes, hats, sunglasses, and a ball to play fetch with Lola.

I hope you all are turning over potential road trip destinations in your mind right now. If you would like more details, I am sure I will share them here soon. But specific requests will receive specific responses!! Happy planning.

Remembering A Vacation

The last big vacation that The Mister and I went on together was our honeymoon. And you know that was a year ago by the fact that we just had our one year anniversary. And this year has been beautiful, and wonderful, and encouraging, but also challenging, and stressful. Chris was unemployed twice last year due to lay offs (wasn't the economy great?), I was in school full time, and it was nursing school at that so SUPER stressful and busy. I just graduated. Chris has been working at his newest job for 6 months now. We have moved. We dealt with the loss of Chris's best friend. It has been a crazy first year.

So, we are dreaming of a vacation. But,we can't plan one just yet because we lack the funds, and I am not sure what my work schedule looks like just yet so Chris doesn't know when to ask for time off.

We went to Pagosa Springs, Colorado on our honeymoon and stayed at a place where Chris's grandparents had a timeshare which they lovingly gave us to use as a wedding gift. It was a one bedroom condo right by a lake (we could see it from our windows). I'm thinking back on our honeymoon because I want to remember that feeling- being a newlywed, saying The Mister is my husband for the first time to strangers, planning a trip out of the state for a week. It was awesome. But I am also remembering a few mistakes we made. Here are the lessons we learned:

1. But plane tickets as early as possible. Seriously, even early in the day. We had a busy morning so we had planned to buy the tickets at night, right before we went to sleep. Then, the eastern coast switched over to the next day, so prices changed right when we were about to checkout... costing us another $300.
2. Get the weather update for where you are going. We did this, but only for the last few days. Try to track the weather for the last month so you can pack the right stuff. I am always the one with this issue, so we had to stop at a store and but me 2 more long sleeve t-shirts and tall socks. I love the cold/cool, but I am a bit of a wimp if I am under dressed in it.
3. Bring as many snacks as you can. We brought enough granola bars and whatnot for the plane ride, but it would have been nice to have some for the condo we were staying at, to keep in our rental car as we scaled the mountains and went on hikes.

We had fun. And are looking forward to our next vacation. Maybe a beach on one of the coasts??

The Changing Seasons & Conflict

Winter seems to be fading and spring has decided to stick around. We love the sunshine at the lake!

This day ended perfectly. But it started out with a very silly argument. After talking it out, crying, and talking some more, we found the root was what most of the roots of arguments are: miscommunication and misunderstanding. Praise God that we now expect that to be the center of a conflict, so we hunt to find it at the first shining light of a "fight."

To make it better, we hugged, kissed, cuddled Lola, and went to get food. We are trying to make wiser fast food choices so we are now leaning to not fast food. We make meals at home or we get food from a not fast food place. This time, we went to Central Market. He got a burger. I got brisket tacos. We shared chocolate whoopie pies and off to the lake we went.

A picnic, talks about us and our life and our dreams, and Lola swimming in the Lake all made for a wonderful evening.

At the beginning of our relationship, an argument would have ruined the whole date. Now, an argument in marriage can ruin a whole night (or even the next day if it's a big one that is allowed to fester). We have made it a point to solve any argument before we go to sleep. This was a phrase I have heard many times: Don't go to bed mad. It is so true. Do not. Don't. Period. Get to the root of it (after there is a moment of cooling off). Don't yell. Speak calmly. Find out what is REALLY the issue. Then hug, kiss, and share a whoopie pie.


P.S. Isn't Lola such a cute swimming dog? She was practically begging us to jump in the water. It was precious.

Pride

Photo: Holly, friend

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I love my husband.

We had a one sided argument yesterday. It was one sided because he was gracious, merciful, patient, and loving. I was disrespectful, unloving, and not the wife I want to be.

It was one sided because I became hot headed, gave way to the silly alternate reality in my head, and started spouting off accusations and "you should have" and "I always." As soon as much of it had escaped from my mouth, I immediately ached inside because I realized how sinful I was being. So what did I do?

I got madder. Of course. Blamed more. Brought up old stuff. What did my husband do?

Say he was sorry. Rubbed my shoulders. Told me he loved me.

He killed my pride with kindness. I broke down later, apologized, and repented for my sinful heart and disrespectful attitude.

My husband showed me a picture of how one can act like Jesus when faced with someone who is sinning against you. I hope he never has to show  me that again.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2

Dog Toy Dilemma

Meet Lola.

Lola is an Australian Shepherd (and there are theories about what she may be mixed with, although our vet believes she is all Aussie).

Lola loves her toys. Chris and I got her when we were first engaged. My sister rescued her and already having a dog, couldn't take her. We fell in love instantly. If you are a pet owner, you know how easy it is to figure out their likes and dislikes. Lola tends to enjoy things that squeak. If it is a toy that has fuzz inside, her sole mission is to pull all of it out. 

As she has grown, the time in which it takes her to completely destroy her toys has become shorter and shorter. So, Chris and I thought that giving her more toys at one time would help all of them last a bit longer. If Lola has no toys, she tends to get bored and starts chewing up other things (magazines, decor...).







Pictured above is Lola with her Christmas presents. We had high hopes for that squeaky, rubber chicken because it had no fuzz inside and had thick rubber. It is now without feet, and a head. The sock monkey lasted a little longer than expected, but it is now turned inside out. the rings lasted less than a day (that was very unexpected)- Lola pulled off the fabric. The bone is still kicking, though. She only plays with that if another dog shows interest in it.

So, Chris and I are at a bit of a loss. Any suggestions for dog toys that will last?