Happy Birthday Jesus!

my little elves

Last week was busy, but not so busy it was crazy.  It was fun!  I am beginning to feel settled and really enjoyed last week.  Yay!  I had coffee with a new friend from Rhode Island.  Alison is a lot like me and we could so relate to each other.  I look forward to this new friendship!  I also had time with Mary Kay last week walking and talking and shopping one day.  I enjoy both of these new friends so much!!  God is blessing me.  We went out to dinner with Steve and Wendy on Saturday night and went to their house for games afterwards and had a great time...lots of laughs - which is normal whenever I play games (for some reason I am not very good at games and usually do lots of stupid stuff!!)  The four of us get along great and I look forward to getting to know them even more.  All of a sudden we are connecting with people!  The kids both had friends spend the night on Friday night.  I helped in Evan's classroom with a Christmas art project and then went back another day and read them my all time favorite Christmas story, The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher.  We had Emily's Christmas program at school, a scout meeting (watch out it is almost cookie time!!), and her basketball practice last week too.  Things seem almost normal.

Emily did a great job reading about Hanukkah in the Holiday Program!

We went back to Southbrook Church yesterday and heard a fantastic message!  After church Jeff asked me if I'd like to stay at this church.  We both really felt it is a good fit for us.  The kids like it too.  So, Southbrook it is!  I am considering going to a fellowship night that they have for women on Thursday night.  Christmas is on a Sunday this year.  Southbrook is going to have a breakfast for the homeless at their Monroe campus that morning and have a service playing.  Jeff suggested that we go as a family on Christmas morning to help out and serve breakfast.  I was thrilled.  As much as we wanted to be in our own house for Christmas I knew it would probably be somewhat lonely and non-eventful.  This is going to be very memorable and meaningful.  We are going to have lunch with Tony and Sue on Christmas Eve and go to church in the evening.

We had a showing on our house last week and the people left very positive feedback indicating that they liked it and might want to make an offer.  But no word back now.  So frustrating...  I sent Vectren a nice email about the high bills we are continuing to receive even though we have nothing plugged in or on except heat at a very low setting!!  They responded saying basically, 'too bad.'

So, my birthday is Friday.  Yup, I am old.  Jeff always tells me so, since I am 5 months older than him.  Although he has more gray hairs than I do!  The kids and he got an Oreo ice cream cake which was just what I wanted.  But they couldn't find a 3 or a 5 for the candles.  So, they just used a 30 + a 4 + a 1.  ha ha ha - whatever.  Jeff has always done such a good job making my birthday special and distinct from Christmas.  Being born just 9 days before Christmas I have mostly loved this time of year.  Sometimes though I disliked the Christmas season birthday because my special day got lost in the busyness of everything going on.  People are busy and there are things to do, places to go, stuff to get done.  It is enough for people to keep their head above water this time of year than to acknowledge my birthday and make me feel special too!  When I was little (and not so little) it was hard to have parties that other kids could come to because people have other commitments.  I oh so loved the presents that were always wrapped in Christmas paper - "might as well use this, it's out - don't want to make a special effort to get out birthday paper" or the "this is for Christmas AND your birthday."  And, no one wants birthday cake when they've already had a ton of Christmas cookies and desserts and other crap at get-togethers.  See - it was just horrible!!  Ha ha ha!  But, I also have special memories of my birthday - a birthday sleep over in grade school when we all went outside in our pj's and looked up the road at all the beautiful Christmas lights on, a shared birthday lunch with my neighbor at Chi-chi's, my 16th birthday driver's license cake and party, and a bouquet of sugar cookies (even a moose) that my mom made me on my 30th birthday.  I have complained a lot in the last few years about the timing of my birthday.  Yesterday in church the pastor talked about how the season of Christmas has become about everything BUT Jesus' birthday.  We forget that it is a BIRTHDAY celebration, not just a fun gift-giving, red and green, holly and mistletoe holiday.  How do you think He feels as we make everything in December more important than His birthday?  As Christmas gets closer we stop talking about Jesus and talk more about "Do you have your shopping done?"  "What kind of baking are you doing?"  "Wow, that's a lot of activities this week!"  "Yeah, I am so stressed out, I can't get all of this done!"   I know how I feel when people are too busy this time of year to give me attention or celebration.  I had never thought that I had this kind of connection with Him with my December birthday.  The difference is - I only think I deserve this attention.  I don't.  But He does.  I definitely don't want Him to not get the honor and celebration and attention that He deserves.  It opened my eyes to making this season more of a birthday celebration than just a pretty and busy holiday time of year. 

Happy Birthday Jesus song