As I am preparing for Christmas Eve dinner for family and friends, there's alot of sorting going on. We are spending Christmas in Shreveport this year and everyone will be coming for dinner after church. As I set the tables and shine silver, I have piles set aside for things that will go to OMESA for next Christmas. My emotions are close to the surface as I find myself using some of my beautiful wedding gifts for the first time. It's hard to believe that these beautiful gifts have been wrapped and stored all this time. For many years we didn't have the money to entertain and when we did it was picnic style because that is what works best with kids and dogs. Now after 32 years I am using some of my grandmother's hand crocheted linens, my mother's crystal that she was given at her wedding and gifts that people gave us over the years.
A friend of ours lost his wife early in their marriage ( early is after 30 years) and they were not able to live out their life into the Golden Years. After she died, he found drawers of things from night gowns to china, all of which she was saving for that special day. Why do we pospone living when life is right before us? I am guilty, yes, I pospone because my Mom and Dad posponed living. Then my Dad unexpectedly died and never took the trips he wanted to take with mom, never wore his fine suits or ties, kept his finest material things in boxes with the tags still on them. Yes, I am guilty. I want to leave everything for our children too. However today I realize that I have been postponing and it is time to use what God has provided. Reminds me of the scripture about the men who were given money. One used all his, one made more with what he was given and one buried his for a rainy day. I don't think the Good Lord was too happy with the one who buried his nor was he happy with the one that spent it all foolishly. It's a good idea to assess ourselves and try to see those blind spots in ourselves. The hole has much buried and it's time to dig it up and use it for God's glory.
Yes, I will take many beautiful things to OMESA but in the meantime, I will use, give, multiply what God has provided and isn't really mine at all.
There are great lessons for me this Christmas Eve 2010, lessons that life doesn't end at the grave, that love is eternal, that God loves me just as I am ( this pitiful person that tries to be perfect at times), and that the Holy Spirit, God my Father and his SON, whose birthday we celebrate are with me NOW. Life is just as it is supposed to be. JOY TO THE WORLD!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Christmas 2010
Yesterday, workers continued to work into the early evening because this is the last day before Jim closes the job site for 2010. It's officially the Christmas Holiday! There were 22 men working to get their work complete, particularly the insulation folks from Foam One. This is necessary because soon after the first of the year, we will warm the house and keep the temperatures cozy for the anitque floors to go down.
It was a windy day, so windy that the port-a-potty turn 180 degrees and several temporary doors blew down. It was 22 degrees in the early morning but with the sun shining, it made for a beautiful day. It is the kind of day that you build a fire in the firepit, brew a warm toddy or some hot chocolate, rock in an 'ol rocker and remember the blessings of this year. I suspect we will be doing this at O'Mesa next year at this time.
Today, it is one week until Christmas and I am in Shreveport where we will be having our Christmas Eve celebrations this year. I am preparing for a large dinner, wrapping presents, baking, delivering gifts, decorating the front windows with lights, sending cards, all the while listening to a symphony of Christmas music. At the same time, I am puppy sitting Trey and Gus for William and Jorie and little Frtiz is happy as can be having some "friends" to play. All this preparing for the celebration we will have in honor of our Savior. "Behold the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel." As I pray: Lord, Prepare us to celebrate with fitting honor the coming feast of our redemption. Let our hearts be humbled by your offering to save us from our sins, sending your son for us to know and let us truly be grateful for all you provide, not letting a day go by without recognizing the sacrifice you made for us, that we may have eternal life, always in love. Amen
It was a windy day, so windy that the port-a-potty turn 180 degrees and several temporary doors blew down. It was 22 degrees in the early morning but with the sun shining, it made for a beautiful day. It is the kind of day that you build a fire in the firepit, brew a warm toddy or some hot chocolate, rock in an 'ol rocker and remember the blessings of this year. I suspect we will be doing this at O'Mesa next year at this time.
Today, it is one week until Christmas and I am in Shreveport where we will be having our Christmas Eve celebrations this year. I am preparing for a large dinner, wrapping presents, baking, delivering gifts, decorating the front windows with lights, sending cards, all the while listening to a symphony of Christmas music. At the same time, I am puppy sitting Trey and Gus for William and Jorie and little Frtiz is happy as can be having some "friends" to play. All this preparing for the celebration we will have in honor of our Savior. "Behold the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel." As I pray: Lord, Prepare us to celebrate with fitting honor the coming feast of our redemption. Let our hearts be humbled by your offering to save us from our sins, sending your son for us to know and let us truly be grateful for all you provide, not letting a day go by without recognizing the sacrifice you made for us, that we may have eternal life, always in love. Amen
Monday, December 13, 2010
"Honey. it's cold outside" Christmas 2010
Today it was 20 degrees at O'mesa and expected to be cold through Christmas. This has not stopped the sub contractors from attending to their chores. Some days it is like a swarm of bees with masons, electricians, plumbers, roofers, rainwater and gutter servicemen and more, all working simultaneously to take part in this creation. We are only 12 days until Christmas so it's a mad rush to complete all the work inorder that everyone take 2 weeks off for Christmas.
We are giving Jim Donaldson 2 weeks off to be with his family for the holidays, a well-deserved vacation for this hard-working chap. He leaves his family in Wimberly and stays at O'Mesa most nights during the week, in an old Katrina trailer we bought for the construction site. He eats frozen dinners most meals and never complains. Many of the other sub contractors are heading South to Mexico to be with their families. They work all year long to save enough money to go "home". Amazing how the holidays invites folks back to their roots. Somehow it isn't the holidays without being in that 'ol familier place surrounded by the sights, smell and sounds of Christmas past. My own mind drifts off to Christmas in Stowe, Pennsylvania.
As children, Tina and I had either new ice skates, a new sled or at the least a new pair of boots or gloves for the winter season. Ice would form on the "alley" where there was a low spot and we would skate in our back yard. About a block from the house there was a large enough hill for us to sled, which was so much fun. Somehow I never minded the cold back then and looked forward to the first snow storm, building snowmen, shoveling the sidewalks for a path, wiping the snow from the windshield of the car and layering in all our woolen clothing, some that still smelled of moth balls. O'Mesa will never have this much snow and ice but it does get brisk in Fredericksburg in the winter. Today was one of those days.
As for the sights, smells and sounds of Christmas, it wouldn't be Christmas without Dad's Christmas Fruit Bread Stollen and Mom's Greek Pastries. This year Bill wants us to bake our favorite family foods. His is his grandmother, Mae O'Brien's "nut cakes" with raisens soaked in bourbon. Mine is my Dad's bread. Next week we will spend a day making these traditional foods for our children and hope one or more of them will enjoy keeping these foods on their holiday table as well. These are the blessings of Christmas: a warm home, family to share, foods to enjoy and gifts from our Savior. I can smell that bread baking already!
We are giving Jim Donaldson 2 weeks off to be with his family for the holidays, a well-deserved vacation for this hard-working chap. He leaves his family in Wimberly and stays at O'Mesa most nights during the week, in an old Katrina trailer we bought for the construction site. He eats frozen dinners most meals and never complains. Many of the other sub contractors are heading South to Mexico to be with their families. They work all year long to save enough money to go "home". Amazing how the holidays invites folks back to their roots. Somehow it isn't the holidays without being in that 'ol familier place surrounded by the sights, smell and sounds of Christmas past. My own mind drifts off to Christmas in Stowe, Pennsylvania.
As children, Tina and I had either new ice skates, a new sled or at the least a new pair of boots or gloves for the winter season. Ice would form on the "alley" where there was a low spot and we would skate in our back yard. About a block from the house there was a large enough hill for us to sled, which was so much fun. Somehow I never minded the cold back then and looked forward to the first snow storm, building snowmen, shoveling the sidewalks for a path, wiping the snow from the windshield of the car and layering in all our woolen clothing, some that still smelled of moth balls. O'Mesa will never have this much snow and ice but it does get brisk in Fredericksburg in the winter. Today was one of those days.
As for the sights, smells and sounds of Christmas, it wouldn't be Christmas without Dad's Christmas Fruit Bread Stollen and Mom's Greek Pastries. This year Bill wants us to bake our favorite family foods. His is his grandmother, Mae O'Brien's "nut cakes" with raisens soaked in bourbon. Mine is my Dad's bread. Next week we will spend a day making these traditional foods for our children and hope one or more of them will enjoy keeping these foods on their holiday table as well. These are the blessings of Christmas: a warm home, family to share, foods to enjoy and gifts from our Savior. I can smell that bread baking already!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Advent ...A time of waiting
Titus 2:12-12 Let our lives be honest and holy in the present age, as we wait for the happiness to come when our great God reveals himself in glory.
My prayer today: Father, may our communion teach us to love heaven. May its promise and hope guide our way on earth. And as always, we ask this through Christ our Lord. AMEN
Today, my heart is full and unsure how to express itself. Several words continue to present themselves: WAITING, HONEST, HOPE, COMMUNION. HOLY....
Waiting ....just waiting...waiting to see what this "home built on rock" will be like
Honest....staying true to the Christ-like values as each decision is made
Hope....for all of us as we wait in joyful hope
Communion...with friends and family as they gather in your name
Holy.... in keeping with our love for Christ that this home remains a sanctuary for all
...and so in keeping with my love for Christ, I am thankful for the opportunity to build this home, waiting to see what forms as it is truly a work in progress, staying honest to the vision, hoping for a beautiful, holy place where folks gather in love and in His name always.
As I pass through the gates, I leave myself at the base and drive to the hilltop with a peaceful heart.
My prayer today: Father, may our communion teach us to love heaven. May its promise and hope guide our way on earth. And as always, we ask this through Christ our Lord. AMEN
Today, my heart is full and unsure how to express itself. Several words continue to present themselves: WAITING, HONEST, HOPE, COMMUNION. HOLY....
Waiting ....just waiting...waiting to see what this "home built on rock" will be like
Honest....staying true to the Christ-like values as each decision is made
Hope....for all of us as we wait in joyful hope
Communion...with friends and family as they gather in your name
Holy.... in keeping with our love for Christ that this home remains a sanctuary for all
...and so in keeping with my love for Christ, I am thankful for the opportunity to build this home, waiting to see what forms as it is truly a work in progress, staying honest to the vision, hoping for a beautiful, holy place where folks gather in love and in His name always.
As I pass through the gates, I leave myself at the base and drive to the hilltop with a peaceful heart.
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