An Unforgettable Christmas...

Our hope and prayer each Christmas is to have a happy, special and unforgettable Christmas holiday with our family. Cooking and making crafts with the grandkids, visiting Christmas events, and enjoying lots of "family time" together. I call it “making memories”. Having a one-of-a-kind holiday experience that continues to be talked about through the years to come, handed down from generation to generation. However, this Christmas season surpassed all I asked for or dreamed of. It all started when…

“Okay, is everybody ready?” Both sides of the family headed into the different vehicles. Preparations had been underway since the day before. Floors mopped, furniture dusted, and special dishes prepared until the list was finished. We all trooped out the door. Mike and my son-in-law, Kevin had left an hour earlier to make sure we had seats for the Christmas Eve program. Anticipation.

We all got to the church, got the kids into their respective classrooms and headed for our saved seats. Wow! The Dallas String Quartet was playing. (I would love to have their talent.) The violin pieces were awesome. The singing was wonderful. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sing due to a cold and a froggy voice. (THAT didn’t make the singing wonderful, thank you very much. I KNEW what you were thinking.) The pastor shared about the significance of Christmas. Next,we had communion. Then suddenly…

I noticed my daughter’s father-in-law rubbing his face intently. This continued for a while. Suddenly, he and his wife got up to leave. Then his wife returned, spoke to several of their children and they left the sanctuary also. Bewildered, I asked my daughter what was going on. They were taking her father-in-law to the emergency room at the nearby hospital. Whoa! We got the kids and returned to the house, awaiting news of the situation.

For the next few hours, some of the family spent time at the emergency room enduring countless tests while others waited at the house. The Christmas Eve dinner became a drop-in dinner, with people coming and going. We all prayed for a good report. Eventually, we got word that he was going to be sent home. Apparently, it was a false alarm. We were all thankful it had turned out all right. So...I did get my unforgettable Christmas, just not the way I had planned to. Perhaps it turned out better. We experienced the real meaning of Christmas...the birth of Christ, who later died that we might have life. The unexpected event gave us a true appreciation of life through Christ this season. What better gift to receive at Christmas?

Patience is a virtue...

I don't know who coined that phrase, however, I must be a very virtuous woman by now. After going through the interview grind...three interviews with the same company, then two interviews with another company, not counting a few others, I was finally offered a job. It was a "God thing". While interviewing for a part-time job at a library, it was dropped into the conversation about a full-time job coming up. After the interview, they asked if I would be interested in the full-time job and gave me the job description.

Truthfully, it looked a bit overwhelming and after reading it several times and discussing it with my husband, I thought I would pass on it. However, little did I understand the impact it would make on my brain. For the next few weeks, I was kept awake thinking about it, entertaining ways to do the job. Creative ways to interview kept entering my mind.

I couldn't get the job out of mind no matter how much I protested. I told Mike, we prayed about it and I felt I should go for it. Anticipation, fear, and dread were all mixed in one. After two weeks and no response, I figured I was out of the running. Then suddently, THE CALL. Sooo, I interviewed for the job. And the NEXT DAY, ON MY BIRTHDAY, they called and offered me the job. They will even wait a month for me to take the position. (Christmas plans, you know.) Excited and fearful at the same time.

Everyone keeps telling me it is the perfect job for me. Yet, I times I ask myself what I got myself into. Who do I think I am? What have I done? Then I tell myself that God will go before me and prepare the way, that everything I put my hands to will prosper. Fighting fire with fire, as they say.


So...within a few months my life has drastically changed. I've joined a grassroots effort to support Mike Huckabee and started a support group and NOW I've got a full-time job. Famine to feast! This year will definitely NOT be boring.