What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Monday, December 29, 2008

A week away~ what a week it was!



Soooo...how was everyone's Christmas?

If it was anything like ours, it was B.U.S.Y

Because this is our first year closeby the family AND with Matt having Christmas Day off, we were pulled in lots of different directions for the holidays. Still, we were able to carve out a bit of our own holiday time. We started Christmas morning with fresh baked cinnamon rolls and HIS story. Sweetness for our bellies and our souls, truly filling us from the inside out.




In order to appreciate the gifts of the season, we decided to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas-which we are in the midst of as we speak, although with only three presents each, the gift part of the celebration won't be stretched out quite that far. On the days that we celebrated elsewhere (my parents', Matt's parents' and Gram's house with extended families) we didn't open any of our own personal gifts~and on those days that we stayed home, one was all we got for the day. It worked out wonderfully well~ affording us lots to look forward to and lots of time to appreciate (and enjoy) what we had received.



We have been abundantly blessed by the kindnesses of those we love and we are basking in them with each new book read, each truck pushed along, each tip of the ballerina shoes and each extension of love now unwrapped.

Giftwrap now ripped and wrinkled is getting set aside for the burnpile, gift bags carefully folded for another day, new acquisitions made room for and all the tasks that have been put off for days are now glaringly obvious in their need to be done. Laundry. Dishes. Cleaning. Slowly but surely, life is returning to semi-normalcy.

There is so much I would have liked to share with you this holiday season~ the crescendo of Corynn's voice singing "O Come All Ye Faithful", the vanity I struggled with as our massive, glorious Victorian tree turned into "The Dorky Tree" with Matt's hasty and extreme "trimming", Mary's ponderings made my own, and joy.

Such JOY.

Time is fleeting and slips too easily between my fingers, so these things will just have to be cherished quietly, without the aid of hastily typed finger clacks.

Bellies rumble as I type and I must be off to feed those noisy beasts before their rumbles turn to roars~ but in the meantime, I leave you with my favorite stocking stuffer this year...

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6 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great post...:)

Bonnie said...

Hmm, a Dorky Tree? Sounds like another person has entered the High Halls of Dorkdom. (just teasing, plus I like saying-well typing here I guess- Highest Halls of Dorkdom. It makes me laugh.)
Sounds like you all had a lively week. Love all the pictures!
My B. is very good with the 3 grandmas we have. Teases gently,always gives a hearty hug, and my 2 grandmas all but worship the ground he walks on.
Its good to watch.
I swiped your idea for gifts- 1 they need, 1 they want and a book.
I'm quite pleased with how it came out, and once we were at my parents Christmas Day, Audrey kept telling everyone "We don't need anymore presents! We have enough!"
Sigh. things that make a Mama proud, especially when they are unprompted and unrehearsed. Unmentioned to her too, it was her own little pink idea.
I'll stop talking now, I'm boring myself.

Anonymous said...

Such a beautiful stocking stuffer! I liked the pics of your "older" little ones dressed in red jammies, too! Hope your Christmas was all you wished for... but then you already know the greatest gift...the birth of a little baby so many years ago! May you rest in the peace of our Lord. Merry Christmas to all of you. Hugs, Aunt Bea

Unknown said...

You write so wondefully Rebecca. And I love the photos -- how wonderful is that last photo! I don't comment often but visit your blog every day and am touched and awed and humbled by it. Thank you for letting us into your life.

Full of Grace said...

All I can say is Thank You Rebecca- you know why :)

Abigail said...

Praise God for a day spent in celebration! It sounds like you struck a good balance.

How come MY stocking didn't bulge with such cuteness? Could it be that my baby would rend the seams of said stocking?! :)