A cheerful heart....

Every Christmas season it seems as though I have to be reminded of how fortunate I really am. Situations that really put things into perspective for me.

In Sunday School on Sunday morning someone announced that there was a family in dire straights at our church. Single mom with no money for rent. They were going to be kicked out of their house if they didn't come up with money for the rent by Wednesday. (Tomorrow.) While I felt very sorry for this family, the selfish part of me thought to myself how financially strapped we are right now. I didn't really think much else about it. Of course, if we had extra I would've gladly given. Well, last night Chad brings it up again. He felt lead to give a little something even if it wasn't much. After all, we were going to have a home to celebrate Christmas in and our kids were going to have something to wake up to on Christmas Day. Again, I scoffed a little at him for saying that. We have bills, we have a tight budget, sometimes we worry about having enough for groceries, etc., etc. Again, very selfish thoughts. Then this morning as soon as I opened my eyes my thoughts immediately went to this family. I knew what God was telling me to do. Besides, it is Tuesday, and they could be homeless by this time tomorrow. I know God tells us to always give with a cheerful heart, but sometimes when you're so clouded in your own pity, it's hard to remember there is always someone worse off than you.

While we may not have the biggest, fanciest house, and we may drive cars rolling close to 200,000 miles, and we may not always get what we want when we want it, it's so important to remember that we have things that God has chosen to bless us with and we are very well provided for. Even the simple things mean the most to me. Like being reminded of the family and friends I have. The fact that everyday that I've gone out to the mailbox since Thanksgiving, we have 2 or 3 Christmas cards from friends and family we've known and have gotten to know over the years. I've even run out of room on my Christmas card holder and am having to find other ways to display them. I love opening the mailbox and receiving such meaningful reminders of the things that really matter.

I complain all the time how we've already outgrown our house, but it's a good problem when you know your kids are so blessed because they have so many things that there isn't enough room for all the stuff that they have. Just a couple of weeks ago I cleaned out Brennan's room getting ready for all the other stuff he'll get for Christmas, and he saw me putting toys in garbage bags to get rid of. He questioned me about this and was very upset about it. Well, our church has adopted an apartment complex in S. Jackson and we did our own version of an angel tree this year. In addition they were taking any donations of toys, clothes, etc., that people could give. So I had to explain to him that he had so much and he was going to get new toys for Christmas and we needed to share with others who don't have the nice things that he has. I think it took awhile to sink in, but he eventually got used to the idea. I have been reminded while we may not have everything, it is so important to teach my children the joy of giving and sharing. Not just at Christmas, but always. Not only does it bring happiness to those who are the recipients, but it makes the giver feel a little bit better about themselves and what they are able to share.

I know that my thoughts were very selfish. After I spoke with someone at the church this morning I was told that there were actually several families in our church who were reaching out for help and who were in need. I never would have thought. After all, we go to a church that's not very big. It's not a small church, but it's not huge like some others around the metro area. You never know the things that people are dealing with in their lives. I only wish now we really did have a little more to give....

Office Christmas festivities....

Dr. Harkins and his two FAVORITE assistants. (Okay, we're his ONLY assistants...)



The women of the office.



Elaine is thirsty! And she makes me laugh.

Dreaming of a White Christmas....

Brennan getting ready to throw a snowball.



Our outside "Christmas Tree". Look carefully and there are presents under there.




Trying to smack the dog with a snowball.



Our house.

So this morning I was one of the geniuses who should NOT have been out on the road. But alas, I had to work this morning. I knew when I said my prayer this morning that God had something in store for me today. I should have prayed a little harder. I had not even ventured out a mile from my house before I had a small accident. Yes. An accident. With my car. My fault. Long story. But the girl with whom I collided with went on her merry little way. I had to go hunt her down. She was a teacher at Steen's Creek Elementary. It was freezing, I had no coat on, and the puddles were ankle deep in Florence. I called Chad crying, trying not to panic. So, I went inside the school and asked around wondering if anyone knew anybody who drove a black Chevrolet Impala because we had just had an accident and it needed to be reported and she needed my insurance info-- and she had disappeared. The accident was my fault. They had to page her over the intercom of the school. She came to the office. She was crying. I was crying. She was pregnant. I was late for work. She was shaken up. I was shaken up. It made for a bad morning. She felt bad for me. I felt bad for her. Then she hugged ME. The accident was my fault, she was pregnant, but she gave ME a hug. That's the south for you, I guess. Fortunately God was watching out for me this morning. It could have been a LOT worse. I pulled out in front of her thinking she was going to make a right turn. I thought I saw her blinker on. Obviously I saw no such thing. She tried to stop but the roads in Florence were already starting to ice over at 7:00 this morning. I saw her tires lock up. It all happened in slow motion.

After all the drama, I called my boss and told him I was going to take it slow and I was going to be late for work. I think my excuse was a solid one. We ended up only seeing 3 patients before we called it quits and canceled the rest of the day. It has been one long day. I'm glad it's almost over. I like to see snow. But I like to see it from the inside looking out.

Weekend Update....

Brennan and his friend, Hayley, at the Byram Christmas parade.



Our Sunday School float.



Chad and Adam after the parade.



Ronnie and Kim. Can you tell they are Alabama fans?



Some of the girls in our Sunday School class. The lady in the red vest is our teacher.

Saturday our church held the Byram Christmas Parade. It was so much fun. Chad and I are on the Children's Ministry Team and we were in charge of the parade. It took 6 months worth of planning, but we all had a great time. It was very cold Saturday. I had on my running tights under my jeans and wore gloves so I didn't stay too cold. I will admit, being out in the freezing weather so early in the morning reminded me of how I do NOT miss running that much. I HATED running in the cold. I would much rather run in 90 degree heat. Call me crazy, but I HATE being cold. I love cold weather, but I don't like running in it.

Saturday night was our Sunday School Christmas party. We had so much fun. Our class is full of pranksters and they keep everyone on their toes.

So this weekend was an extremely busy weekend. Sunday I think I must have come down with some sort of small bug-- that or it was stress. I woke up Sunday morning feeling queasy, so thinking it was all the party food from the night before I took a Tums and went on to church. Later that afternoon I started feeling worse. It just continued to progress. About 8 o'clock I was in tears because I felt so miserable and I think I must have been running fever. I took a hot bath and couldn't get warm, then I went to bed decked out in the warmest pajamas I could find, with socks on my feet, and my ceramic space heater blowing full blast on me while I snuggled under my down comforter-- and I still couldn't get warm. I was shivering. I am a big, fat baby when I feel bad, I admit. Chad, who once was a pre-med major, was a horrible nurse. He did take care of the boys, but he showed no sympathy towards me. I told him God knew what he was doing when he changed Chad's mind about majoring in medicine. I was so close to calling my boss and telling him I wasn't going to be able to come in Monday morning, but I decided to sleep and see how I felt when I woke up. I still felt icky when I woke up and couldn't make lunch for Chad and me because the thought of food nauseated me. But, as the day went on I started to feel better. Thank goodness. This was a bad week to get sick. Thankfully next week slows down a good bit for us.

Hope for America...

There is still hope for America AND television. You know everything is still okay when "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is in the television lineup every Christmas season. I'm waiting for the year when someone decides it should no longer be aired because of it's religious references and values. Then we'll know we're in serious trouble. Sure does bring back childhood memories. Good times. Good times.

Things that make life complete.....

This was an all day process just about. I almost lost my religion over this *#%^ thing!



Ethan watching...



Brennan is very meticulous about making things perfect.... (He doesn't get that from me!)



Eating the icing!



Ethan loves his big brother. Every time Brennan walks into the room Ethan starts smiling and cooing. He doesn't even have to see Brennan. Just by hearing his voice he lights up. In the above picture, Brennan is singing the ABC's to Ethan. They were cracking me up! I couldn't stop laughing at both of them.

Two-day old news....

Well, now I remember the reason I quit subscribing to the newspaper. Who has the time? My Sunday paper-- one of my recent Sunday afternoon lazy indulgences--still lays on the kitchen counter unwrapped from it's plastic. So I guess I could unwrap it and take out the coupons. That's about all it's good for now...

So here was my Thanksgiving in a nutshell: Busy, busy, and, you guessed it, busy. I was so exhausted when I got home from work yesterday that I almost couldn't make myself change clothes and get back out in the cold. But, I did. For there are always places to go and things to be doing. So when I finally got home for good last night I did things that needed to be doing here and crawled into bed and I don't remember much after my head hit the pillow. Although the glass of wine I had with dinner could have been my ultimate demise. I doubt it though. I was already tired. So tired.

Now of course we have a dead car. Why? Because it's Christmas. And really, that's the way our luck goes. Not that we really believe in luck. But, our life seems to be the epitome of that good ol' saying, "when it rains, it pours". So I guess we'll have to manage with one car for the next several days until we can get our other car repaired. If I can say one good thing it's that I'm glad that it went dead in our garage this morning and not at River Hills Country Club last night. I was surrounded by Lexus's and Mercedes and BMW's. Oh, well. All we can do is manage to do the best with what we have.