wonders and reflections in God's presence

this idea is from my friend.

EDIT: I tried it and this is what I came up with … Enjoy.

(In your archives go to the first post for every month, take the last sentence and post it here. That is your year in review! Enjoy!)…

JANUARY: They need to get the money out of it while the market is good and it’s good to move someplace less stressful than New York … but there will be tears, necessary, good, and healing tears.

FEBRUARY: I think many of the problems our churches have faced are because we are not paying enough attention to how we live the path of discipleship, and, instead, we attempt to “discipline” good, faithful people for not following the rules.

MARCH: Now, as I get ready to send her off … more than anything, I feel blessed to have been chosen as her mom.

APRIL: Life is good.

MAY: How can we tout we are a Christian nation and then act so inhospitable?

JUNE: And we should provide ways of nurturing and encouraging love and spiritual understanding in marriage.

JULY: And .. maybe … we can get more of us to start blogging more often.

AUGUST: We don’t know how long she was stuck this time … but she left a huge mess in the hottub.

SEPTEMBER: I always try to relate my articles to something going on in my life and to the church at large … dealing with issues of transformation, discipleship, engaging community, evangelism … things that relate to my job here in the Church.

OCTOBER: Anyway, it’s her birthday … so please, give her a call, an email, or a hug … let her know that her mere presence in the world blesses our lives in ways we’ve never imagined.

NOVEMBER: God bless him and his fiancé, and, God, please bless me with the right words to say and issues to raise.

DECEMBER: I also have a few other little things that make me happy these days … Christmas trees, home-made Chicken soup, and my wonderful husband.

Not a bad way to review the year … I got to look back on a lot of my posts and remember where I was and what was going on … it was a full year.

I like to think of Christmas as a season, not just a day.  It’s a time to realize how real and how present Christ is in our lives.  Today is day three.  No, I’m not doing anything special … but I’m NOT taking down the decorations until after the twelve night and the beginning of epiphany. 

Christmas Day and Christmas Eve were wonderful.  I had a great time playing chef.  Three big meals … our traditional Cornish Hens with lime and ginger on Christmas Eve, california eggbake with apple fritters on Christmas morning, and Prime Rib with baked potatoes for Christmas dinner … yum … and I’m still eating the leftovers.

Mom and Dad were here … and Matt came Christmas morning when he got off work at about 6:30 AM … that’s when we all got up for breakfast.  Matt was surprised, he thought we’d all be asleep and he’d just sneak upstairs to go to sleep.  But we were up to welcome him with a merry Christmas.

We opened our presents next.  First we played a game with the stockings … Matt suggested that we pass the stockings around as we read, “Twas the Night before Christmas.”  Everytime we read the word “the” we passed the stockings to the left.  It was a lot of fun.

Then the presents … Dwayne bought me a new palm pilot that I really like.  We gave Katie a beautiful red leather jacket and a featherbed for her dorm.  I bought Dwayne a toy for his new electric bass … now he can play along with his favorite songs … kind of like a karaoke for the bass.

My parents got us a very nice firepit for the backyard.  We actually lit our first fire on Christmas night … but it was still a bit too cold to stay out there too long.  I’m looking forward to new years eve … we’ll have the fire going most of the night.  Maybe even make s’mores.

Now I’m on vacation for a few more days.  Yesterday I took care of most of my errands and cleaning up … today it’s pure relaxation.  Some prayer and mediation … maybe a trip to the beach.

I hope to see you all on New Years eve.  Please stop by.

Ahhh … I love food, so I’ll play this week. The meme is from the RevGalBlogPals … go there for more …

1. Favorite cookie/candy/baked good without which, it’s just not Christmas. Chocolate covered cherries. I love them, and if I don’t get a box for myself (that I don’t have to share) I get very very very sad … hubby, you’re reading this right?

2. Do you do a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, both, or
neither? (Optional: with whom will you gather around the table this
year?) Because of Christmas Eve worship services, we’ve tried to keep Christmas Eve simple yet special … so a few years ago we started making Cornish hens stuffed with ginger and lime for Christmas Eve dinner … just the three of us. Then we’d travel on Christmas to one of the out of town families. This year, my parents and brother are coming here … so it will be Cornish hens on Christmas Eve and a Prime Rib Roast on Christmas Day. Yummmmm. We won’t dress up for either meal, though … just casual Christmas.

3. Evaluate one or more of the holiday beverage trifecta: hot chocolate, wassail, egg nog. Oh, yes … hot chocolate is me. I enjoy the smell of a good wassail stewing, but I don’t enjoy drinking it as much. And eggnog … well … it can be ok, but it’s not chocolate!

4. Candy canes: do you like all the new-fangled flavors or are you a peppermint purist? Don’t care for the peppermint, really … unless their crushed and added to a dark chocolate fudge …. yum … I guess I’m not really a candy cane kind of woman.

5. Have you ever actually had figgy pudding? And is it really so good that people will refuse to leave until they are served it? No … and I don’t think I’d like figgy pudding … when I sing that verse of the song, though, I think of a hot, moist, bread pudding with a few raisins in it, coming out of the oven and drizzled with vanilla/rum sauce. That makes my mouth water.

Edited to add: Well, I am APPALLED with myself that I forgot to include a question about the crown prince of holiday foods–the fruitcake. Feel free to add your thoughts on this most polarizing holiday confection.

Nah, I won’t go there.

We’ve decided to open the house and backyard for new year’s eve … all of our friends are invited to come over. There will be food and drink, hot tub and heated pool (if it’s not too cold) … and lots of good old-fashioned fun. Email me or call for directions. We’ll begin at 8:00 and continue until the last one has left or gone to sleep.

In a few minutes, Katie, Dwayne and I will be leaving to go to DC.  We will see family we haven’t seen in years (some Katie hasn’t even met), we’ll exchange Christmas gifts with my brother’s family from NY, and we’ll attend the memorial service for my grandfather who died on September 12.  Grandpa was 86 years old and a WWII vet.  The service will be at Arlington Cemetery on Monday morning.

We’ll see all our friends in Baytown when we get home … to my friends recovering from surgery … I’m praying for your quick, healthy recovery.  To Dustin and Ree … don’t forget about Lizzie … thanks.

We had to turn the air conditioner on again today … isn’t this December?  Glad I’m heading north and to the east coast this weekend … will it feel more like Christmas?