Sunday, December 09, 2007

family blessings. . .







Great weekend...had our decorating last night...so nice to hear a 16 year old boy say, "That was fun!" (Although he won't take a 'normal' pose for a picture) We ate, we listened to Christmas music and talked about the magi as I put up my 30+ year old nativity scene under the trees.

Snarfing all the wrong kinds of food ( I avoided most of that...had shrimp and eggrolls)
Got up early this morning, feeling GREAT (have gotten 2 good nights of sleep), got coffee and bible and turned on the newly decorated trees (three small trees surrounding the creche), baked wheat free pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting, walked the dog in the early morning cold rain. It was fun...for her. Watching her bounce/walk, tail waggin' in the cold wet air was fun for me...she spies a neighbor's moving "reindeer" that they left on all night. Gracie thinks it's real and goes after it. Exciting....what did she think she'd DO with it if she'd caught it? It's certainly not a bird!

We decorated the little trees (we have several sizes, but the guys like the smaller ones so the animals don't mess with them) with small ornaments. Most of our family ornaments stay packed, which kind of bothers me...but not the guys. I still sift through the larger ones. Memories come back as I touch each one. Mom made this one, a star...that went on the tree. Aunt gave this one; a neighbor who moved gave this one years ago. Some of grandparents' old glass ornaments. They don't have to be hung, just remembered.
The guys decorated (and argued!), and I tied bows and added their baby photo ornaments. They recoil at that action. Sorry! I insist on those!

It's cold and rainy, but I know it's better than what some of you have.

I find a card from Connie in my Bible that she gave me a couple of years ago with a silky shawl she made for me. She called it a garment of praise and put this on the card:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me. . .
To comfort all who mourn...

To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes.
The oil of gladness instead of mourning.
And a garment of praise
Instead of a spirit of despair...Isaiah 61

For the first time in a long time, I have the Christmas spirit. . .before Christmas! :-D

11 comments:

Helen said...

Hi Karen glad you are feeling better and have managed to sleep, your weekend sounds fun, bet the decorations look nice.

Thankyou for putting that verse, it is one of my favourites and I have in written on the inside cover of my Bible, it was given to me earlier on in the year when Simon lost his job and is very special, I find God speaking to me in different ways and I am encouraged.

Have a lovely Christmas and thanks for your blogging friendship!
Helen x.

karen said...

Helen, thanks, sweetie...confirmation comes in many ways, doesn't it? I'm encouraged, as well.
Bless you, my sister.

Missy said...

Yea! What fun and how encouraging that you're in the spirit. "Garment of Praise" - what a beautiful idea and gift. I pray the spirit not only stays with you but grows through the season!

Is is different having grown kids at the holidays? Does it affect your feeling of spirit of the season differently?

... Paige said...

thanks, I needed that

karen said...

missy, having grown kids is only different in the Christmas morning experience...which ain't so bad...now it's coffee and breakfast, and relaxing! They don't get into the materialism, which is a blessing.

Thinking about you, Paige!

Pat said...

You are truly blessed! My granddaughter, Katie, has asked that I wait to decorate our big tree that goes in the den. That thrilled me. When they were little they would come and decorate and do an amazingly good job. I'd hold my breath as they stood on chairs to put decorations on the top parts of the tree and even insisted on doing the angel or star on the very top.

We have the old ornaments, some that my grown kids made when they were little and even on Santa that I made as a child. Love Christmas depite the comercialism, there is something that touches my heart and makes it sing.

Connie said...

Looking for tapestry to sew bags I ran into some of the garment of praise fabric. I think it is time to do some of those again. I need to get out mine and wear it...helps me remember to pray without ceasing!

karen said...

Amen, sister! They are wonderful to wear with everything!

Pat said...

I learned something--how to make a better face :-D WOW!

karen said...

Yeah, that pic was better than the one with the shrimp hanging out of his mouth.....
I deserve it...I wouldn't take a normal pic when I was younger, either! :-D

Bar L. said...

I love this pic so much! It screams "FUN!"