December 2010

So this has been a really odd season for us this year. I have felt increasing degrees of cruddy and decreasing degrees of energy for weeks now and just didn't have the gusto to orchestrate all of our typical holiday festivities like I normally do. Plus I've pretty much been a grouch, or a grinch would be more appropriate I guess. Here's the thing: I LOVE children and I LOVE being a mom. But I really despise all that it takes to get children on this side of the womb. And that's all the complaining I'll make you endure -- at least for now. But if any of you wants to take Kurt out and buy him a drink, he more than deserves it.

Nevertheless, we managed to have a pretty good December, no small thanks to our families and dear friends. Here's a taste of some of the highlights:

Us in front of the Christmas tree that Madelyn chose.

Maddie and Max -- BUDDIES.

Our secret is out: we pretty much get trees at Lee Farms because they make the BEST pumpkin donuts ever.

Maddie started asking to make and decorate gingerbread cookies before Thanksgiving. One morning, I figured she had waited long enough, so we abandoned everything else on our list and made some cookies. We had a great time, and they were pretty darn tasty.

We are totally pro-Santa in our home and love getting caught up in the full spectrum of the magic of Christmas, but we have worked really hard to emphasize to Madelyn that Christmas is first and foremost about the birth of Jesus. Nana made us the beautiful Advent Calendar you see behind her, and she has genuinely loved hanging each little character in its place building up to Baby Jesus. On Christmas morning, she came running into our room shouting "It's Christmas! I get to put the Baby Jesus on the Advent Calendar!" With all the mistakes we've made as parents thus far and all that we are sure to make in the future, this was a fairly proud moment for us :)

Checking out the evidence of Santa's visit.

Maddie wearing the little fingerless gloves that I knit for her -- so cute I think I might make some for myself!

Loving her new fingerpaints!

Our wish for each of you and the whole world in the coming year.

Maranatha

I learned a new word at church on Sunday, which was particularly exciting because its definition has been -- and will continue to be -- my life's mantra. The word, Maranatha, is a Greek word meaning "O Lord, come." I don't know if I can even delineate or separate the number of times I utter those words on a daily basis. I think it's just become a general pleading of my heart that plays on a constant loop from day to day..."Come, Lord. Save us from ourselves. End our suffering. Return, Jesus. Come now, this day, this minute." Perhaps like many of you, I am acutely aware of and tuned into the extensive and never-ending pain and suffering that exists in this broken, sinful, not-what-it-was-intended-to-be world. For a small percentage of us, life is disproportionately easy and peaceful and joyful. For the vast majority, however, life is filled with hardship and fear and sorrow. It might be a 13-year-old girl in India who is raped multiple times each day because she's been sold by her family to a brothel or it might be the 40-year-old man sleeping in a sleeping bag under the Burnside bridge that I passed earlier this evening. I ache thinking about these people, and if I ache, I can only imagine how much their Creator aches and wants so desperately for them to feel whole and safe and cherished. Maranatha indeed.

Which is why Christmas is just so awesome: Christ came. It's so easy for Christmas to become routine because it's this major holiday that we celebrate every year and it's become so tragically secularized, but the reality is -- whether you acknowledge it or not -- December 25th is celebrated because God answered humanity's cry to enter into creation and save us from ourselves. And He did it in the most humble of ways, which is even more fabulous for those of us who are suckers for underdog stories. And upon His death, resurrection, and ascension some 30 years later, He promised that He would come again. Given the precedent He set with His first carnal entry, can you imagine what the sequel will be like? I love thinking about it because it fills me with such hope and confidence and relief. The world's suffering will end. It will end. Anyway, I could go on but I won't because it's getting late and there are still a few Christmas Eve-y things to do. Just wanted to share these few time-sensitive thoughts with you.

Merry, Merry Christmas and Maranatha...