christmas 2013

do you ever pray and ask God to be blunt? I do. usually he isn't though. or maybe he is and I don't want to see it. Many, many things are cut and dry in the Bible, many. buuuut there are the gray (grAy in America grEy in Europe...per pinterest) areas that leave me asking for specific answers from Him. this Christmas he wasn't very gray. He assured me time after time that my family was doing "Christmas" with the right heart. some little things that alone I would be like "hm, that could go this way or that" but with all things together, He answered my many, many, many prayers. many prayers. about Christmas in our home.

1. He united me and my husband on the way we celebrated - yeah. that is for sure #1
2. a friend told me as she came by one day "your house is exactly how i dreamed mine would be as a kid; with all the lights on every eave" - her words, not mine. then she brought her kids to see our house at night - ours was first on her list
3. our church did a series called UnChristmas - literally fell in line with what I had studied and came up with myself over the past few months. no, not a church that didn't do Christmas. A church that was very intentional about doing Christmas different and bringing focus to Christ, God, the promise that was fulfilled, the salvation that was given, the truth that was accepted. where (many) Christians have taken Christmas to a worldly level - even in church; God reassured me through a 4 week series in church.
4. free trains. silly? dumb? meaningless? not at all. in our quest to do Christmas different we were being; well...cheap this year. i texted a friend who had lots of trains that would fit on Austin's train table and asked to buy them used - a good deal I was hoping to get as new ones are expensive. her reply? no. you can't buy them. you can have them. she brought me 11 trains for Austin to have. what a blessing. i'm sure this family could use the extra cash we would have paid them; but God used them instead.
5. free 4wheeler. ha. that seems a little more than free used trains but it's the same. same good heart. same good intention. same God leading good people. we were going to buy Courtney a 4wheeler...for a decent price of course but still way beyond our Christmas "cheap". a job fell through and it just wasn't going to happen. Paul was open with the guy as far as just telling him we couldn't afford it but maybe when we got a big job we could. a few days later Marty calls Paul and tells him to come get the 4wheeler. Paul is crazy thankful and tells him they can work something out when he does some more work for Marty. Moments later Paul gets a text saying the 4wheeler is a gift - to pay it forward one day. to send him a picture of Courtney's face Christmas morning. simply amazing.
6. Courtney told me Christmas Eve - we aren't really doing Christmas different. we still have lights (she doesn't care or notice the peanuts character and Sock Monkey blow ups aren't out), we still have a tree (she didn't care that we have a charlie brown tree that is fake and borrowed and maybe as tall as her with home made paper ornaments on them...or that there were not other "Christmas" decorations in the house), we still have presents (she doesn't say or notice that there are many, many, many less than previous years or the lack of stockings). see. to me that meant that Christmas was always right for her, in her heart. which blows my mind and makes my heart full of joy and rest.
7. Jesus. yep. that's what our house said in lights this year. When we explained to Courtney that we were trying to make it about Jesus she said "lets make it say Jesus". out of the mouths of babes - pure simplicity. we are adding to it, but this year it just said Jesus. 

thank you God for using all these people to answer my prayers. and for my kids who will read this one day. Christmas is your heart. Christmas isn't about a day Christ was born. don't fight about a day we don't know. give thanks for a fulfilled promise that he was born. don't stress about fitting into the world and what is going on outside your home. but when you do, be thankful for a merciful God who forgives you and brings you back to Him. make your home, your family, your traditions, your values, your way of celebrating. make it yours. know what you know and why and then hold on to it and thank God for it.