CHRISTMAS DAY 2011
Well, I was up at 2:00 and at 4:00 and now it’s 6:00. Coughing my head off and feeling like yuck! No way I can go to church…and I am so sad to miss the 65th anniversary celebration. But, I am sure I am still contagious and besides that, if anyone sat near me they could not hear anything! Why does God keep things like this from us when He knows how much we desire them? I have no answer other that knowing it is better for me to be at home taking care of myself, than being at church. I know God sees where the greater good will come and so that is what I have to trust in. I don’t have to be happy about it, though. But, His will, not mine.
So, since I have an infinite amount of time here…I shall upload to the blog the lovely pictures we made on Christmas Day 2011. Yes. Yes, I know it is almost February and I am quite late. No. No, the pictures have not been in my possession. No I did not take them. I am just thrilled to have them now…and that’s all I’m gonna say about that! So here we are …in pictures…
THE OWENS FAMILY
THE McKIBBEN FAMILY
THE TOWNSEND FAMILY
WE ARE BLESSED…AND BLESSED …AND BLESSED SOME MORE! GOD HAS BEEN SO GOOD TO US AND ALL OUR PRAISE GOES TO HIM!
2012
It’s here…2012…are you ready? Here are a few reminders…
Do you make resolutions? Some folks think they are fine just the way they are… Others, like myself, KNOW I should make some changes…but staying focused is a big problem! So, I’ll start with this…
Then I can surely use this reminder about my ‘hands’….
And, I can work on myself to be able to ‘live’ this verse….
We should all remember…
And, the best news of all….
God’s greatest blessings to you in 2012!
CHRISTMAS REMEMBERING
The carols of Christmas have been around for ages and no one can improve on them or their message. They are the time-honored classics that we sing in church and as we go carolling. We hear them in our cars, in the mall and in from our homes. They are the songs that bring tears to our eyes, because we can recall singing them with our parents or grandparents or dear friends. They stir our hearts because they remind us of the true Christmas meaning. Can you imagine hearing the host of angels in the sky singing, “Gloria, Gloria in Excelsis Deo!” (which means “in exaltation of God.”)? I can. Just read these beautiful words…from the song Angels, From the Realm of Glory
Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.
Refrain
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:
Refrain
Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.
Refrain
Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.
Refrain
Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you; break your chains.
Refrain
Though an Infant now we view Him,
He shall fill His Father’s throne,
Gather all the nations to Him;
Every knee shall then bow down:
Refrain
All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in ONE
*************************
I love how each verse talks about a different group of people…Angels, Shepherds, Sages (Wise Men), Saints, Sinners, Us, All creation. Is anyone exempt from this most marvelous gift? No…it is for everyone! He came for everyone!
Thinking of these songs reminds me of the wonderful years we had together at Southside Baptist Church when we performed a Christmas Pageant which included a huge Living Christmas Tree. I was the drama director for the program, working with Tina. These are some pics of our children when they were a part of it…such beautiful memories.
Adam and Carrie…Alex and Ben…A King’s Court…Ian, Elizabeth,and Hannah…Tara and Lori…Mom and Danielle (as homeless family)…
I have hundreds more…we did it for many years. Looking at these pics, it brings a prayer to my heart. ”I pray that my children always remember the foundation they were given in church. May they always hold Christmas and its true meaning close to their hearts. And, may they always be bold to share the wonderful story with others.” Amen
Happy Christmas Eve Eve!
LEVI…AT CHRISTMAS
Will someone please tell me who this strange man in the red clothes is supposed to be? He doesn’t seem to know many words, either…he just keeps saying “HO! HO! HO!Maybe he needs to work harder. He’s older than me and I can say, “Ma-Ma-Ma and Da-Da-Da!”
“Will you look at this? I was getting ready for my bath and here they come with that camera again. Slapped my hat on and then showed me these pretty lights. I forgot all about my bath! These lights sure are pretty…but, don’t taste them…they’re not good!”
What a gift to our family! This sweet baby has has expanded our hearts and lifted our spirits to the highest realm! We recognize the ‘Giver of Gifts’…our Heavenly Father, who gives ‘all things good’. And the gratitude we feel in our hearts is over-flowing.
"The Lord has done this, it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23
BLESSINGS
And, so the Thanksgiving Weekend comes to a close. It’s been a sweet one for the Owens’.
On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving…..of course, I told you, Joy was in charge of the feast….
It was wonderful, as we knew it would be, and we all enjoyed it!
Sweet Tara came bringing John Thomas, who is into everything and talking a mile a minute! So precious!
And we were all joined by our friend Danielle and her fiance, Zach. It was great to have them with us, as well.
After lunch…Joy cleaned the kitchen…and we set about decorating Pop’s house for Christmas. That was the part I was in charge of…lest you think I was a slackard and just let everyone else do the work! And, as you see here…I managed to put my whole self into the job…
This is not finished, by the way…but I pretty well was by the time I did this cute little trick two times!!!
While we ladies, including Suzanne and Tara worked…Tommy tried to keep John Thomas corralled…
And, Don tried his best to entertain Levi….
Lori came in a little later she had to work at the hospital today… She helped Joy divide the food that was left…
I struggled to get one picture with Sweet Levi…. Isn’t his shirt cute? His Lulu made it for him…:-)
But all he wanted was his Mama…
And all Pop wanted was another piece of pumpkin pie!
As you can see…after the fiasco with John Thomas and Levi (last post) we didn’t even try any more posed pictures.
Posed or not…the family was together and these pictures show us working together…all doing our part…(Ian got the things out of the attic…Adam will put them back…Will was hunting a deer for another feast)…having fun just being together. All the things a family is supposed to do. What a blessed day!
AND—HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET DAUGHTER IN LOVE! WHAT A BLESSING YOU ARE TO US ALL! I LOVE YOU, MY DEAR!
AND, THEN…on Friday evening, Ian announced that he was cooking a meal for us. He snagged Adam to help him and they went to the grocery store and the butcher shop…they got all the ingredients they needed…and came home to begin the creations. He informed us we were having Roast Pork Loin stuffed with Rosemary, Bacon and Onion…..Spoon Bread…..Pear Crostata and Apple Crostata. And, cook it, he did. Yelling to Adam and Alex to ‘stir’ or ‘turn the heat down’ and to Don to ‘hurry up and grate that cheese’. And, my only contribution was to set the table and fix the glasses of tea. Why, friends, we could have been eating in the fanciest restaurant in Anytown, USA. It was delicious! He did a wonderful job at preparing all three. Just look at these……..(and that was no store bought dough, either)
What was left…
And this was all that was left of the roast pork…
I know you are not used to seeing pics of good food on my blog…but, this was too good not to share!
On Saturday, Ian and Adam did computer work. While Suzanne was out he called and asked her to cook some hamburgers. She adds ‘magical ingredients’ when she mixes up her hamburgers and they are so good. Of course, WE didn’t get to sample them this time! :-)
Sunday was a sweet time at church, and Ian headed out to Birmingham early. This is Monday and Joy and Pop have gone to Birmingham for his first check up since his eye surgery.
Life is full of blessings for us, but we were so sad that Alex could not be with us on Thanksgiving, but he was able to get up for a while to help Ian with his feast. Alex’s health continues to be a matter of prayer for us, and we are content with the fact that God’s hears our prayers. He continues to give us all strength…and we are ever hopeful that we will discover help for him at some point in time. God is good…all the time.
Now…let the countdown to Christmas begin!
CONFESSIONS
I do not like confessions. Well…those that I have to make, anyway. And, occasionally I have to. Yes. I tend to get excited and go rip-roaring through life, and sometimes that is not a good thing. I frequently find myself having to back pedal. Not fun.
But, my DH is usually just the opposite. Ambling slowly through life is more his style. And, that gives him a chance to correct things as he goes along, or sidestep them all together. And, that is probably a much better way of living than mine…but…it is what it is.
HOWEVER…there are times when he will lose his mind…temporarily, of course…and go on a rip and a tear. In sharp contrast to the ones that I go on…his usually only last a minute or so. What sets him off is usually something that is out of place, or some perceived ‘stack of mess’…which is, in all actuality, NOT. It is usually a ’stack of things that I want to get to when I have time’. I don’t ‘stack’ junk…just the things that are worthy of my time. DH, unfortunately, has quite a different idea of ‘junk’ than I. And, therein lies the reason for this post.
I have on my island/counter/hub of activity station a large wooden box. Inside are my candles, and salt and pepper, and other things that we frequently need here. And, so, knowing his bent to pitch what he considers junk…I put a small stack of papers and catalogs inside so they would be safe from his hands. Imagine, then, how I must have felt when I walked into the kitchen this morning to go through my stack of goodies while I savored my pop-tarts…and my stack was gone. GONE, I tell you—–nowhere to be seen. In times past I have sometimes been able to rescue portions of other ‘discarded by him goodies’ from atop the garbage can. But, his latest lapse was last night….while he was gathering the trash……to put in the big trash cans to take to the street…for garbage pick-up today since Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, which is our usual garbage day. So, there was no rescue going to take place. There was no getting back what he had thoughtlessly swept into the trash. [Well, actually, he didn't 'sweep' it...he had to make a conscious decision to pick it up and discard it. Which in my book is much, much worse.] So, here is CONFESSION #1——I don’t actually remember what all was in the stack…so I cannot be specific in my fussing. I do know that I had some important coupons, and a magazine, and a catalog that I was going to order something for our sweet little grandson on his very first Christmas and which now he will never have and it’s all his fault. DH’s fault…all his.
So, what was I going to do while I sat and ate? I realize that some of you dear readers do not find it necessary to do two things at once, but I function so much better when I do. Even though it doesn’t make sense, I feel the need to do something else while eating if there is no one to talk to. And, there wasn’t at 5:30 this morning. Looking around the kitchen and the den, I didn’t spy anything that grabbed my attention. There was only one small devotional book lying on the ledge of the box. And, so, here is CONFESSION #2——-I didn’t really want to read the devotional book. I had more important things to read. Not proud of that.
But, I did pick it up. And now I can tell you, that that is what I was intended to read this morning. It is what I needed to read. And, this is the blessing I wish to share with you. There was an article there entitled The Miracle of Food. What a blessing. I have never thought of food in quite the way that this author does. The article consists of an interview with Alton Brown, who is host of several cooking shows and winner of numerous awards for his culinary talent. I offer you the link, and hope that you have the chance to read this before the big day tomorrow. But, even if it is after…the thoughts contained herein are so worth your time. Read it here…The Miracle of Food, A Conversation with Alton Brown. Go, read it now…and come back. I have something else to tell you, but you won’t understand it unless you have read the article. So, GO, I’ll wait for you.
And, now to CONFESSION #3——–I am NOT the one with the gift of service in our family. That person would be my sister, Joy. Quoting from the article…”Cooking is an act of service, an act of hospitality……No one will cook as well for you as someone who loves you and cares for you. That’s the food that nourishes above all, because of how and why it was produced. And, so cooking for our families, eating with our families—that is powerful stuff.” Joy is in charge of Thanksgiving for our family. She has planned it…she is cooking it…she will set it all up at Pop’s house…and she has already told me- she will do all the cleaning up. That is a gift of service.
[I disdain cooking. It never goes right when I do. Someone always complains about this or that...and rightfully so. My mom was a wonderful cook...and my Mother-in-love was a wonderful cook...and my sister is a wonderful cook...and my daughter-in-love is a wonderful cook. And, I think that is plenty of wonderful cooks in any family!!! Seriously, I can cook, but I have never enjoyed it. And, now we have a gas stove which shoots fire at me everytime I turn it on and an oven with so many buttons and pings and dings and sounds it makes you nigh unto crazy just trying to preheat it!] But, back to Joy…
And, this is not the only area she gives of herself. She watches over all the members of her family with love and care and understanding. She serves our church by sharing her musical talents as our church pianist, and she loves and cares for so many of the older members of our church. She keeps in close contact with so many of them, and especially those who were friends with Mom. And, she is the major ‘go to person’ for Pop. She shoulders most of the load in doing things for him and with him. I cannot tell you what all she does, and she would be upset with me if I did. I am so often tied up with Alex and my own health issues, but Joy is always there. I thank her and love her for all she does for us our family. You have heard me say before how my boys love her. And, she, them. We, as the Townsend/Owens/ McKibben family are blessed beyond measure to have her as ours.
To end, CONFESSION #4—–I am still upset about my ‘stuff’ that DH threw away… guess I’ll just have to start a new stack!
Thanksgiving—-it has come to be thought of as most about the food…and that is important. And, it’s not such a bad thing really. Because it serves as a reason for our families to get together…to eat together…to laugh together…to recall blessings together…to pray together.
May God bless you and yours with health, happiness, and peace……and lots of laughter!
About Me
I am a Christian woman who has survived 56 years on the planet. God has blessed me with a wonderful family: husband, 3 sons and a dear DIL. I also have dear friends to keep me inspired. I am an artist of sorts and am finding my way through the great blessing of retirement. I recently retired after 20 years as a music teacher. Life is good!
My Parents
Me & Don
Gatherings
