Antonyms

Packing: my least favorite thing about moving.

Decorating: my dad's least favorite part of Christmas.

All of this is happening this week.

My sixth graders have been studying antonyms this semester and I can definitely say that my life right now is a giant antonym. Everything is so opposite than what it is supposed to be. Instead of unpacking box after box and decorating the house, I am putting my entire life into boxes.

And if that wasn't enough, I will be having my surgery two days after we close on the house, meaning I will not get to move any of the boxes, furniture, or other items in our house. I have to rely on my family and friends to help.

Christmas in America is all about the stuff: how much more you have than your neighbor, and how much better the gifts and decorations are than last year. Every commercial, every TV show and movie all focus on this drive for being better. But as we all know, this isn't what Christmas is about.

While boxing things up today, I was able to take a brief inventory of all the material goods God has blessed my husband and I with. It was a very sobering experience.

This Christmas season, take inventory of your blessings and count the ways God has blessed you.

Christmas Joy

With life being so chaotic due to my upcoming surgery and buying a new house, I have somehow regained time to write.

On December 16th, Kevin and I will officially have a new home! I am so excited to be moving into a much larger abode than the tiny trailer we have now. Even though it is still a trailer, the +2,000 square footage makes up for it! I will be posting updates on moving as they happen (with pictures, of course).

Yesterday was my pre-operational exam, so I have a clear idea of what will be occurring during my 3 hour surgery. It isn't as simple as I thought it would be, but I know that when I wake up, everything will be fixed and I can finally gain my life back.

The only problem: it is two days after we close on the house, and exactly a week before Christmas.

God gives good gifts. We all know and believe this simple truth. What we don't understand is that it isn't always in the way we expect them. The picturesque example of this is the birth of Jesus.

Mary was a virgin, unwed and untouched. Back then, women were not allowed to be in the same room as men unless there was a good enough reason. Virgins were as common then as cell phones are now. Yet, the Bible still makes a big deal of detailing the fact that Mary was a virgin. Why? Because if it wasn't, the birth of Jesus could have been viewed as a scandalous affair that caused the conception. However, God performed a miracle by breathing life into the womb of an untouched woman.

Although my situation is nowhere near as great of a miracle as that of Jesus' birth, God has still given me a miraculous gift: the gift of hope. I have been bitter for so long as I have lived my life in pain. With this doctor, I have gained back the idea that one day I will be able to sit and exercise and travel without hurting. Soon I can say that the miracle was God healing me through the hands of my doctor.

The other miracle is that we have found a house large enough so that when I am healed, we can have children. We can also live in a home that is (in my opinion) beautiful and one I will be satisfied in for years.

This Christmas, reflect on the miracles in your life, reader. No matter how big or small they may seem, a miracle is still a miracle, and miracles should always be viewed as a joyful blessing.

Laughing at Circumstances

I love Christmas for every reason there could possibly be! I love the closeness of my friends, family, and church. I love the sights, smells, and sensations. I love celebrating the birth of Jesus. That is also the time I begin looking forward to my birthday.

This year, Christmas is going to be quite different for me because I am unsure of what is to come. I am unsure of my physical abilities and limitations. I am unsure of the level of pain/discomfort I will be in. I am even unsure of how the Youth Christmas play will go because this is the first year I will not be fully directing it.

Yesterday the announcement was made that the moment we (my husband and I) get back from Thanksgiving holiday the Christmas decorations are going up. That includes at the school. I want everything this Christmas season to be full of joy and peace, not sympathy for me.

As I get older, I am falling more in love with winter. The smells associated with winter are so enchanting. Peppermint, vanilla, cedar and pine, not to mention all the yummy spices and baking! I was smelling my way through a Yankee Candle Co. catalog and I was wanting everything they sold associated with winter.

One terribly amusing scent was "Whiskers on Kittens" which is a part of the My Favorite Things collection, inspired by The Sound of Music. The reason why I was so tickled by the scent is what it said underneath the fragrance title: with pure, natural extracts. I laughed way too hard at that saying!

Learning to laugh no matter the situation is a talent. A very inconvenient talent. I often make jokes about my spine and people will look at me like "Oh my gosh are you twisted?" to which I reply "You should see my x-rays!" My husband and sister get to see my dark humor in action the most.

At the same time, learning to laugh at yourself is very beneficial. It makes the issues you face a little easier, and it helps your stress level. The Bible says that laughter is like a good medicine. Research shows that when you laugh, your entire body benefits! Your muscles relax, breathing is easier, your blood pressure is lowered, and it is healthy for your heart. With benefits like that, why wouldn't you want to laugh more?!

We remember this quote from the Lion King:

Well, what about laughing in the face of our circumstances? Most women I know, including myself, like to bottle everything up. We don't want our problems to be known because we would become vulnerable. We want to put up this front that we have it all together, we are Suzy Homemaker with a perfect home, family, and life. Guess what compadres, we are FAR from it! Even that girl who you are envious of is just as imperfect and ill put together as you are. She just has a prettier mask than you.

Today I have a challenge for my readers: burn the mask! Quit putting up a front that you have it all together and be honest with the people you encounter. 

If you have a weak area in your life, ask God to help you overcome it through Him. After all, God has told us that in our weakness, He is made strong.