It was a grand and glorious two day celebration!  Our Adam (who is a paramedic) had to work on Christmas Day.  So we had our immediate family celebration on Christmas Eve!  Because of God’s great goodness, Alex was feeling well enough to be up with us the whole evening!  He so enjoyed time with his brothers, as they did as well!  Isn’t it wonderful how God just drops in a miracle to give us joy and happiness.  We all truly doubted Alex would be able to join us.  But, God came through.  Praise His name!

A little African drum solo to add to the merrymaking!

Remember the old Operation game?  It’s still fun!

Me and my boys….

The whole crew…look carefully…Don is in mirror!

On Christmas Day, Don and I attended worship service at our church.  It was lovely!  We sang all the old Christmas carols, had an inspiring message, and then shared communion as we departed.  How blessed to be able to attend worship on Christmas Day!

Back home, Ian and Don and I began to prepare dinner for the extended family.  I had put in my JENNIE-O COOK IN THE BAG TURKEY  🙂 in the oven before I left!  (By the way, it was as delicious as ever!)

Family began arriving around 4 and from there on it was a cacophony of laughter and squeals and paper tearing and singing and love…lots of love!  (Alex was here in spirit, but unable to be up today…we missed him so).

First order of business, make the little boy’s pics in their Christmas pajamas!  They were really not in the mood to pose for pictures…but we cajoled and threatened and promised and managed to get a few good ones!

Photo bomber!!!

Silly boys..climbing around like monkeys!

Joy and her girls…

The keeper of the trash!  Thanks, Ian!

And to our parents, who are celebrating Christmas in heaven…we love you and honor you and miss you everyday…and especially at Christmas.

Thank you, God, for sending your dear son, Jesus, to us on earth.  He is the reason there is love and hope and happiness in the world.  He is the one we strive to be like.  He is the one who cares for us and cherishes us and forgives us and saves us!  To Him be all glory and honor and praise!

(To preface this post, you should know that I’ve attempted to wrap 43 Christmas presents for friends and family today.)

I get it.  Every retail store (well almost all) have to price their product.  Fine and well.  They should put the price where it is easily found and easily read.  Some of the higher priced stores have begun putting the tiniest of prices  at the very bottom the product description tag.  Which insures it is always priced….but causes those of us with tired eyes lots of trouble.  If you can find the price…you can’t always make out the numbers.  You know…you’ve seen it…is that a 9 or a 7?  Is that a 3 or a 5?  It’s not fun!  But that’s not even what the rant is about….so that’s just an extra little opinion I’m passing along…no extra charge.

What is driving me up a wall are those big sticky squares that are on all the other products.  You find them on picture frames, glasses, toys, dishes, decorative items, jewelry, food products, shoes, ornaments, mirrors, books, etc.  Almost anything you can name has one.  Which is good, because you can usual see it well.

But, it’s way more bad than good for me.  Ever try to get one of those suckers OFF?  Well, of course you have.  Have you ever in your entire lifetime had one peel off nicely and leave no residue?  Why of course not.  They tear off in strips so you have half the words and the other half glue mess.  Or  the top layer comes off and then you start all over.  I suppose that is why God gave us fingernail to scrape at minute pieces unit they change residence from the item to under our fingernails and then we have to dig them out.  And do that over and over again to get it all off.  Or you can just mark it all out with a Sharpie…which is such a nice addition to your beautifully wrapped gift!

Use Goo-gone, you say.  The Goo Gone folks say it takes off everything…it does not.  Use Goof Off, you suggest.  Some times it works, mostly does not.  The latest I read on the internet was to rub with Dawn dishwashing liquid and it would just dissolve, pretty as you please.  Don’t buy that one either.  I’ve heard try rubbing alcohol…it takes off the paper, but not the glue.    I’ve heard to use a hairdryer…or even nail polish remover, or WD40.  They perhaps will work if you happen to have the glue they will dissolve.  If you don’t, it’s still a search mission.    Use a knife and you’re libel to slice off a finger!  Here’s one I made up myself…if it is on a solid object like a glass or plate…pull off what you can and then rub a piece of heavy duty duct tape over the remaining glue.  When you pull the tape off, all the glue should come off too.  ‘Should’ being the important word here!  Sometimes it does, other times it doesn’t.  Don’t ever use this idea on something made of paper, like a pretty box you lovingly chose as a gift for someone special.  It could, perhaps, maybe just pull off a big piece of the box the size of the tape.  Never do that! Then you have to go back out in the horrible Christmas traffic to find another gift.

This will cause extreme agitation, let me tell you!  Cause every single driver is on a search and destroy mission to get to a certain store and get a certain gift at a certain price!  They are so certain it is waiting patiently for them there, they do not see anything but the road in front of them.  Their lips are pursed, their eyes are fixed.  You can forget if you are attempting to get out of a parking lot or onto a street.  They will not allow you into that line leading to the goodies.  Don’t even try to ease out slowly in hopes of coaxing them to do a kind deed and allow you into the line.  They are so tuned in they do not even know there are other drivers on the road.  The true fact is …most everybody in that line that stretches all the way from Wiregrass Commons Mall to   Northside Walmart over to Barnes and Noble feels that way!  I’ve seen it for myself and it’s not pretty!   But, I digress…

Have you ever purchased an item with tags like these below?  Been discounted so much, it should be given away!  Beware, though…sticker glue resting upon more sticker glue is double the trouble!  Flee from this sort of aggregation…it is not worth losing your sanity over trying to make a gift presentable to the receiver!

Occasionally, I will have a moment of unbridled joy when a sticky tag comes off easily.  This doesn’t happen very often.  Very rarely, as a matter of fact.  I’ve only had the experience once or twice in my lifetime.  I think whatever retailer has this type of sticky tags should be honored near and far.  Obviously, they care about the mental health of their customers.

It seems to me that the manufacturers of sticky tags for the world of retail should all get together and choose one type of glue.  One type that will peel off with no residue.  There are many types of glues in the world…bone glue, fish glue, hide glue, hoof glue, albumin glue, casein glue, meat glue, natural resin, coccina, gum arabic, latex, library paste, methyl cellulose, mucilage starch, urea-formaldehyde resin, acetone, hexane, citrus terpenes, ethanol, acrylonitrile, cyanacrylate, acrylic, resorcinol glue, epoxy,polyamide, polyvinyl acetate,polyvinylpyrrolidone, rubber cement….and on and on.  Perhaps some of these I’ve listed are toxic and we don’t want that, of course.  I am not smart enough to understand all the chemical makeup.

What I am, though, is smart enough to know it has been done…and it can be done again…and retailers can copy each other and use a glue that would make the lives of their customers easier.  Perhaps if we asked the check out clerks to remove all the pricing before bagging our merchandise, we may hear a bigger outcry.

OK…so in the grand scheme of things, this is not a major problem…unless you have a gift to wrap quickly.  Forgive yourself if you think some unkind words about the tag makers of the world…it happens.  Forgive yourselves if you break a nail and some of those words escape your mouth…it happens, too!  Or you can just get a box of generic stickers and slap one over the offending tag residue and leave it to the recipient to wonder why there is a wonky placed sunshine sticker on the bottom left corner of their gift!

Once a teacher, always a teacher!

I have always loved the music to the Christmas carol, Good King Wenceslas.  It has an odd, moody sound that carries me to a cold, dark winter’s night…snow on the ground and a full moon casting shadows all around.  It also makes me think of those Old World Santas that are so elegantly clothed with layers upon layers of clothing and a big hood covering the head.  But, here is an artist’s rendering of what King Wenceslas looked like…

Not quite like the Santa figure, I’d imagined!

I must confess that I have learned the words to the first verse only by osmosis.  I’ve heard it a lot, but it is not one that I can ever remember singing.  Hearing it so many times in my lifetime, I guess those words just stuck.  But, since the words are very unlike today’s spoken language, I’ve just never bothered to read more of the verses or learn about the song.  It certainly is not among the more popular Christmas songs.  And you may have only heard it in a collection of Christmas music.

King Wenceslas was a Catholic and was martyred…assassinated by his brother Boleslaw and his supporters.  His Saint’s Day is September 28th, and he is the Patron Saint of the Czech Republic.

The words to this carol were written by John Neale in 1853.  The music itself comes from Finland some 300 years earlier. King Wenceslas was the King of Bohemia in the 10th century.

What is most unusual about this Christmas carol is the fact that there is no mention at all of the birth of Jesus or any of the Nativity story.  St. Stephen’s Day is September 26, which is why this song is sung as a carol.  The words do lead you, however, to see a miracle occurring and it reiterates the Christian values of aiding the poor and needy.  Interesting how the King went on this mission himself and didn’t just send his page to deliver the goods.

Good King Wenceslas looked out

On the feast of Stephen,

When the snow lay round about

Deep and crisp and even.

Brightly shone the moon that night

Though the frost was cruel,

When a poor man came in sight

Gath’ring winter fuel.

“Hither, page, and stand by me

If thou know’st it, telling,

Yonder peasant, who is he?

Where and what his dwelling?”

“Sire, he lives a good league hence

Underneath the mountain

Right against the forest fence

By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

“Bring me flesh and bring me wine

Bring me pine logs hither.

Thou and I will see him dine

When we bear him thither.

“
Page and monarch forth they went

Forth they went together

Through the rude wind’s wild lament

And the bitter weather.

“Sire, the night is darker now

And the wind blows stronger

Fails my heart, I know not how,

I can go no longer.”

“Mark my footsteps, my good page,

Tread thou in them boldly.

Thou shalt find the winter’s rage

Freeze thy blood less coldly.”

In his master’s steps he trod

Where the snow lay dinted.

Heat was in the very sod

Which the Saint had printed.

Therefore, Christian men, be sure,

Wealth or rank possessing,

Ye who now will bless the poor

Shall yourselves find blessing.

And, that’s today’s lesson.  Merry Christmas!

Oh! My! Isn’t it just the most glorious thing when you experience a serendipitous moment!

I have been helping out at the preschool this week helping to get the place all spiffed up for Christmas! It really is such a joyful place to be! And, I do so love decorating with the children (and parents and teachers) in mind. So, I had almost finished and just lacked a couple of things to put the finishing touch in place. Since it was ‘Levi’ day, I decided I needed to make a run to ACS (a  certain store) before he was out of school. I also needed to pick up a gift for a Christmas Wish our Sunday School class was doing.

So off I went with my list of 4 …just 4…things. Found them all quickly and for some unknown, crazy reason…turkeys came to mind. Perhaps the adventure from Thanksgiving was on my mind, or perhaps I remembered that I usually get my favorite turkey at W M. Any way, I made my way from one side of the store to the other.

Now, I don’t know about you…but it is dangerous for me to be turned loose in ACS. I just pass by so many things that I had forgotten I needed. (I used to favor the one with the big red circle and still like it better than ACS, but that’s another story for another day. Sure do miss that store. ) Anyway, by the time I had made my way to the other side of the store, I had picked up a blanket, 2 candles, a box or two of cookies, toilet tissue, paper plates, a magazine, 2 candy bars, 2- 6 packs of Coke, 1 -6 pack of diet Dr. Pepper, 6 bottles of Fanta orange, 8 bottles of regular Dr. Pepper, a gallon of Gold Peak Tea, and a bag of white mini doughnuts and 2 containers of chicken salad and a box of Wheat Thins! Along with the 2 robes for the Christmas class, and 4 tiny trees for school…and a ‘partridge in a pair tree‘! Why there was scarcely any room for a turkey if I did find one!

I looked around and didn’t see any turkeys at all! Finally I asked a lady who was in the process of putting something out in the freezer section.  WAIT!  I held my breath and said a prayer at the same time. “Ma ‘am, by any chance would they be Jennie-O Turkeys? “, I asked. “Honey, I don’t never even look at labels…they’s just turkeys all I know.” she replied. So, I thanked her and stood back by the cheese counter and waited for her to open the box. She had to go and find a box cutter! Of, course! And, I had to pick up Levi in 45 minutes! Back she came…she opened the boxes and began heaving turkeys over her shoulder and into the freezer section. I stepped closer and ‘what to my wondering eyes should appear…but 5 Jennie-O turkeys…right there! so near!’  Then, just as fast as my heart soared…it fell to the floor. There they were…Oven Ready Jennie-O turkeys…CAJUN STYLE ! CAJUN STYLE ? Who ever heard of a Cajun Style turkey?  (Yes, I know many of you would like that!)  She turned to walk away and I asked her if that was all. She looked at me with weary eyes and said, “Nope, these 4 boxes is filled up with turkeys. But, I bout threw my back out putting those in so I think I’ll go on my break before I finish.” I decided to be bold and asked her if they were all Cajun Style. She sighed and said, “I don’t know…but if’n you want me to, I’ll check.” “I would be so appreciative, ma ‘am…if you don’t mind…”  She sighed and began opening the boxes.  First…more Cajun Style…Second…Cajun Style,  Third…Jennie-O, but not the Oven Ready.  

She opened the last box and little blue birds flew down the aisle…and the top of the store opened up to a cloudless blue sky and the sun shone brightly…I even think I may have…perhaps…possibly, heard an angelic chord or too! And, there was my Jennie-O turkey. Oven Ready. Just snip 5 holes in the top of the bag and put it in the oven and stand back and bask in the compliments! “That’s my turkey!” I said. “Well, good for you,” she said…not at all as if she really meant it. She then asked how many I wanted.  “Only one, “ I answered. “Huh, figured you want 4 or 5 way you ’s waiting around and all. These any good?” And, I started to tell her my story…but I could tell she really wouldn’t be amused…so I just said, “The best I’ve ever cooked.” “Humph, “ was all she said.

I thanked her profusely and asked if she needed any Tylenol for her back.  She had some.  I told her again how thankful I was for her.  And, then I said, “You know, I’ve searched everywhere for these turkey…for several months.  I even prayed about finding one.  I think the Lord just planted you right here in ACS today to answer my prayer!”  She smiled, “Well, to be sure, no one has ever said I was an answer to their prayer before!”  And, since the opportunity was there, I asked her if she was a Christian.  She said, “Dearie, I don’t know much about much.  I’m tired and don’t have much money and got a bad back.  I got children to feed and bills to pay.  I wonder every day about making it on to the next.  But, I’m shore of one thing…I will see Jesus one day!  He saved me and He saved my children.  And, if that’s all I ever have, then it’s fine by me!”  I said, “Wow!  what a testimony!  Not only did I find my turkey, I got an uplift to my spirit.”  I told her I would pray for her…and she said, “I wisht you would.”  Then I slipped some money into her hand and walked away.  She said, “I can’t take this.”  I said,  “It’s to buy yourself one of these turkeys…and not the Cajun Style!”   And, I quickly slipped down the next aisle.

I practically floated to the check out aisle. And, this is how I know it was a God thing that happened to me.  When I got to the checkout… I didn’t have to wait in line!!!!! I have never in the 44 years I’ve shopped at TCS, ever walked up and paid and didn’t have to wait. See they have about 25 registers, but only about 3 or 4 people working  them….strangest thing.

Anyway…come Christmas time…I’m ready. No thawing. No heat gun. No patting. No dancing with my turkey by the moonlight…she cooks from the frozen state.

Friends, I don’t like to cook. I don’t even like to be in the kitchen. I despise grocery shopping. But, I am smart enough to know that of the things I do cook well…it’s best not to go trying to change them up. Stick with what you know. And, wait for the turkeys to finally make it to the store.  And, perhaps, if you’re lucky…the Lord will meet you there with one of his angels!