My weekend starts on Thursday night since I don't work on Fridays. I've been taking a Biblical Counseling class on Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. It is a fascinating class but it makes for a very long day. This week, the class was cancelled at the last minute because the teacher was sick. Though I felt bad about that, I was somewhat relieved. I was feeling a bit rundown and was also struggling to get into the "Christmas spirit". I decided to do a little Christmas decorating with the sudden free hours. I managed to set up a couple of artificial trees (I had decided last year to skip a live tree because I didn't want to have to ask for help in getting it.) I love the lights so I like to set up multiple trees. I went slow Friday morning but then got going and cleaned the kitchen, dining room, and living room. That may not sound too exciting but I felt so much better. I like a clean and tidy house, especially during the holidays. Then I rewarded myself with a little sewing time and got a skirt put on the dress I've been working on for Felicity. After that, it was time to get all gussied up to accompany my dad to the Senior Banquet at church. It was a pleasure to spend the evening with him and I was reminded of how fortunate I am to have him and to have such a close relationship with him.
Saturday morning I continued to attempt to do a bit of decorating and also tackled cleaning my room and bathroom. I was beginning to lag, however, and I realized that the whole "decorating for Christmas" thing all by myself was starting to get me down. I kept at it, though, as if sheer will power would change my attitude. Mid-day, I got a phone call from Tammera, my daughter that lives in Tucson. She LOVES Christmas so her enthusiasm is infectious. She is expecting her 3rd baby any day now. It was so fun just to hear her voice. I miss her a lot! Later that evening, I had a long phone conversation with Sarah and we talked of serious things and I was again struck by how blessed I am. My girls care so much for me and I am so glad that we can talk about most anything. Later, my oldest grandson, Gabriel, came over and was spending the night with me. I had set up a little Christmas corner in my bedroom with a couple of very small trees. At first I thought it might be a bit pathetic, to have Christmas trees in my bedroom. But as I said, I love the lights, so I decided to relax and enjoy them. Gabriel and I sat in relative darkness, in front of the trees, and I read him the Christmas story. He loves the part where the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary. This kid keeps me on my toes. When I read about the angel telling Mary that she would have a baby who would be God's Son, he asked, "Isn't that like Mary being God's wife?" He is 9 years old and we proceeded to have a conversation about how God planned for Jesus to be born, Jesus being both God and man and also talked about the concept of the Trinity (in very basic terms). What a privilege it is for me to have this time to share with him. On a lighter note, we then climbed up into the attic, a space that is accessed by a ladder in my closet. He isn't usually allowed up there but we got comfortable on a blanket surrounded by all the junk that I store up there and we read "Horton Hatches the Egg". He thought it was pretty cool and suggested that we sleep in the attic. As good an idea as that was, I opted out for the night and suggested we plan ahead so that we could actually make a bed instead of making Grammy sleep on the plywood.
This morning found me helping in Kian's Sunday School class where I have somehow ended up volunteering "temporarily". Each week, I enter reluctantly, but each week I leave being glad that I was there. I am helping my friend, Armida, who felt God called her to pitch in when the revered Miss Pam moved down south. I just sort of tagged along thinking that I couldn't let my friend tackle it alone. So here we are, two relatively old women, trying to manage about a dozen 2, 3, and 4 year olds. Thank goodness for the teenage girls who have taken pity on us and come to help out. We'd be lost without them.
After church, Jen and Zac informed me that they were coming to my house to help me finish decorating. They knew I had been struggling a little with that whole project. Zac has been very sensitive to that and has initiated a day for the last couple of years to get me going. I took their 3 oldest home with me while they went to buy a dishwasher. The whole "reading in the attic" had been so successful with Gabriel that I decided to repeat the experience with the Hanna kids. They each picked out a book and climbed eagerly up to the attic where we read while we waited for Jen and Zac to get done with their shopping and bring us pizza. While in the attic, the kids discovered some old Fisher Price toys that I had packed away so we got them down and they happily played with them for quite a while. Later, we added a newer Nativity set. They had no problem playing with the baby Jesus and the manger along side of the gas station.
Zac drug all the decorations out and we made quite a mess but we got the trees "dressed". Donny had to work today but evidence of his care for me was demonstrated when I found extra little trees very lovingly packed so neatly and the boxes labeled and the extension cord that I needed tied up in a nice bundle, all done last year when he helped me clean up after Christmas. Though Melissa wasn't with me, I knew she was home, happily sewing on the machine I had recently gotten for her. It does my heart good to know that she now shares my joy in sewing.
Zac and the kids surprised me with a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies plus a delicious dinner of chicken, couscous and salad. Could the day get any better?
My dad joined us briefly...
Who can resist that chunk-o-monk?
So now I sit in the quiet of my room, enjoying the lights in my "corner", and reflecting on the blessing of family, the gift of God's Son, and the joy of a weekend that reminded me that I am not alone.
