She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. ~ Luke 2:7 NLT
Welcome to Friday!
They took me to a musical! Of all things, a musical at 10 o'clock at night. Sydney was asking to go see a movie for the past few months. She kept telling me about the upcoming movie about P.T. Barnum and I told her I would see. So, after reading a leadership article at work based on lessons learned from the movies, specifically "The Greatest Showman", I told Sydney we should go. Little did I know, the movie was actually a musical. I should have known something was funny when I agreed to go to the show and Sydney started smirking and the rest of the girls were like, "Really?". Apparently they all knew. So, after getting inside and finding our recliner seats, yes the new theater has recliners for seats, we waited for the movie to start. It opened with a word from the director and lead actor. And then... it happened. Somewhere after a few minutes of the movie, a song. And then another one. And then another one. The jig was up. I turned to Sydney with an incredulous stare, "You brought me to a musical? You know I despise musicals." She smiled, gave me a fist bump and then smirked every single time the story line broke into a song. Nearly 2 hours later we emerged from the show, and I will have to admit it was a great movie. Despite the songs that popped up every two or three minutes, the movie was awesome. I really enjoyed it and so did the girls. We laughed and joked and then made our way to Wal-mart and then the house. Welcome to Friday!
So, how are you doing? How are things going with you and in your world? Tell me about your Christmas? How were things at your house for Christmas? Did "Santa" come by and stuff your stockings and put something special under the tree? Where you "Santa" again this year? More than thinking about "Santa", how did you make time to remember the birth of the Savior during Christmas day. I'd love to know about your family traditions, what kind of things you did to make the Christmas holiday merry, bright and meaningful. I hope your day wasn't too busy and I definitely pray that you had ample time to consider the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace who came in a manger. I know first hand that it takes extra effort to stay focused on Christ - especially when the stores are busy, the roads are packed, and so many retail vendors try to drown us in stuff, instead of inviting us into a relationship with the Son of God. Thank goodness I have Trish, who finds a way to make sure that we read the birth announcement, do some form of a morning devotional (this year was one from LifeWay Christian bookstore), and read some scripture verses before we got into the busyness of the morning. Well, if I didn't say it before:
Merry Christmas!
NOTE: You are about halfway through today's letter.
We had a great Christmas holiday. For me it started well before Christmas day. Despite some rough days and some frustrations in traffic and in crowded stores, we all got our Christmas joy going on Saturday night. We wrapped some last minute gifts, and then talked and joked about the upcoming White Elephant gift exchange. Sunday night we had our gift exchange. It was too funny. Ava bought a fidget spinner for the exchange, Paige bought a stuffed unicorn, I bought a VR headset and also re-gifted a $10 gift card. Cassarra put in a gift card (per Ava's memory), Gabbi put in some makeup, Sydney put in a nice warm blanket, and Emma wrapped up a small toy featuring the characters from Frozen. I believe Trish actually had one of the best gifts, even though it didn't get picked. Ava couldn't wait to start, and right before the gift exchange she leans over to me and says, "After this, I'll have two fidget spinners." I had to pick first. I reached for the safest option on the table, the gift card. But, Trish told me I had to pick something that I didn't buy and something that I didn't know what it was. You guessed it! I opened the makeup. The girls all laughed. I was secretly praying someone would take it from me. I couldn't believe my luck. I joked that if someone didn't pick it from me, I was going to put on the eyelash stuff. Paige opened her own gift before mom could catch her. Then, mom had to lay down a no plotting rule, as big sister Cassarra was tyring to convince Ava, who was next to take the makeup. Once the rule was made, Ava quickly reached into the middle of the gifts, grabbed her present and opened her own gift. The rest of the exchange had only one moment of drama. Cassarra and Gabbi jockeyed for the makeup with Cassarra winning and agreeing to share with Gabbi. Emma opened her Frozen dolls and Trish unwrapped the blanket - which all of us have been sharing since then. Sydney was the least enthused when she opened the virtual reality (VR) headset. I was sure that it was going to be the best gift of the night, sadly I was wrong. It wasn't until Gabbi tried the headset that it actually became popular enough for Sydney to stop pouting.
One of the best parts of Christmas was spending time with Trish putting together a huge doll house. I'm not as handy as my dad, and for that matter I'm not even as handy as Trish, so sometimes these joint assembly projects can be tricky. This time it was fun - even if we didn't get finished until almost 2am. There were a ton of pieces, a lot of screws, and mostly pictures without words guiding the way. And not even good pictures. There were at least four pictures that confused the heck out of me. On top of that, the power screw driver's batteries died and I couldn't find new ones that night. Despite all of this, Trish was a trooper. She kept the project moving, put up with my deep sighs, and I'm sure she prayed as much as I did that it would all go well. I'm telling you, I enjoyed the time we spent together building the doll house. We talked about the projects we've done, laughed about how tough it was, reminisced about Christmas over the years, and fell asleep exhausted. By 6:30am the girls were up and we were back in business. The girls checked out their "Santa" toys. Most of them were chill. Ava was the only one who had this one lament, she remarked that she didn't get anything on her "Santa" list. Less than an hour later, as we opened our gifts, Ava got a remote control car that she was asking for (and so she could stop taking mine), and she had a blast playing with it. I think she forgot all about the "Santa" list. I'm pretty sure she did. She even cleaned off her dresser top so she could start her own collection of remote control cars like her dad. I smiled. You'll have to ask the rest of them about their favorite gifts. I know that "Santa", as well as mom and dad did a great job this year. Especially mom! She really out did herself with getting unique things for each of the girls.
We made it to Georgetown to finish out the night. We visited both houses and had a lot of good food, good fun, and fellowship. At my mother-in-law's house we had a big dinner. We had turkey, dressing, ham, macaroni, and Chocolate Delight. We opened more gifts, caught up on what's been going on, and then took the post dinner naps. When we hit my parents house, Trish took a ton of great family photos. Some of the kids (my parent's grandkids), some of all of us (parents, kids, spouses, and grandkids), and some of random collections (kids and grandkids and spouses). We used daddy's tractor and the barn for a background. I've seen a few of the final shots and they are so cool. The fact that Trish managed to get all of us in a photo shoot, with the sun going down, and the temperature following it, was nothing short of amazing. The light was fading, the temperature dropping, and not everyone was a willing participant - but she did it! Not only that, after the outside photos, we moved inside, she lined up a number of indoor photos and even agreed to take some glamour shots. She has some amazing photos. Just one more reason why Trish is amazing! I had some more Chocolate Delight after we opened presents, and then I managed to find the barbecue. Oh how I wished I wasn't so full. I only managed a few shreds of barbecue and a small slice of ham before I felt like I would pop. At least the next morning I was able to get some more of both in the morning.
Well, I could keep going, but I'm sure if you've read this far you are nearly exhausted. I've got so much more to talk about like:
- How the kids thought I was lame for getting so excited over the label maker Trish gave to me. It was perfect. I've already put my name on the remote.
- How the same group got a huge laugh over Trish being equally as excited over the gift of a car wash gift card that I have her.
- Getting a new journal and a calendar from mom.
- Seeing the creativity of gifts given this year
- Watching my nephew Ben play with his Thomas the Train and toy tractor
- Time off from work
- Dinner on Christmas Eve - non-traditional pinwheels, Philly subs, and popcorn
- Dinner with a round table on what life lessons you've learned in 2017
- Not everyone who says they are your friend is your friend - Gabbi
- It's okay to go it alone, be alone, and not be in the crowd - Cassarra
- Keep your word - Paige
- Forgive people... - Trish
- Life falls apart without God - Cassius
- Don't take anything for granted, nothing is a given - Sydney
- Don't be afraid - Ava
- Don't fight - Emma
- Ava, Emma and I trying to go to the movies only to find out it was sold out. As we got out of the line Emma said, "It's not fair. It's not fair that we don't get to go to the movies!" I told her it wasn't my fault. But, she wasn't hearing it. "We should have left earlier," she continued. "It was your fault dad," Ava chimed in. Maybe tomorrow!
Welcome to Friday! I hope that you have had and will continue to have a wonderful, peaceful, and Christ-filled Christmas holiday. I am also praying that you will have a joy filled, beautiful, boldly blessed and favor filled New Year. May the God of all joy give you joy and peace, today and always. And as always,
Welcome to Friday!
I am thankful for:
- Trish
- The girls
- Movies
- Christ
- Christmas
- Fun
- Family
- Photos
- Memories
- Gifts
- laughter
- time off
- Christmas decorations
- Dinner
- Chocolate delight
- parents and siblings
- YMCA workouts
- Health and strength
- coffee
- Date night
--- Cassius Rhue
"Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. (Job 28:28)"
"May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. (2 Thessalonians 3:16)"
