I am Grateful for... Nov 27 '13

As the Thanksgiving holiday draws near, I am reminded to pause and reflect - to count my blessings - to recognize the goodness in my life.  This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for by:

Grandbaby-to-be - my first grandson is due any day now...

A glorious Thanksgiving feast, shared once again with aunts and uncles and cousins and brothers and sisters-in-law and children and lots of wee ones - so many families in our culture are fractured...by distance, by disagreements or misunderstandings, and sometimes, sadly, by death or real misfortune. My family is so very blessed to be together for Thanksgiving!

Turkey I - I love a good roasted turkey...the savory aroma, the golden crispy skin, the tender meat, the leftovers, turkey pie and turkey soup and all sorts of turkey dishes afterwards. How fortunate we are to have a local supply of inexpensive turkeys, when for some a turkey is an insurmountable cost...

Turkey  II - I earned a free turkey this year and gave it away to younger couple who were dumbfounded by the cost of a bird and were discussing they might stretch a chicken...they have no clue who gave them the free bird, the cashier helped me to pass along the kindness...(big smile)

Turkey III - There were years that the "free earned turkey" was the only way my famiy was going to have turkey at Thanksgiving, so I am grateful to the shops that offered this bonus. Yes, its a way to ensure sending loyalty...but if I am going to buy my groceries there anyway, why not toss in a turkey now and then?

Wee nieces and cousins to share Thanksgiving fun with - tomorrow, I will be happily gluing red and orange and yellow construction paper "feathers" onto brown "turkeys"...glue sticks will be glorified...crayons and paper will keep the grumpies at bay...and how lucky am I to have beautiful wee ones to share all the fun with?

Each year at Thanksgiving dinner, we go around the table and take turns sharing what we are grateful for. What are you grateful for?

Five Things I am Grateful for Thanksgiving 2010

There is a popular (and rather old-fashioned) Thanksgiving tradition called "The Five Kernels" . It seems that over that first harsh winter, the Plymouth colonists' rations dwindled to the point that each was given five kernels of corn per day - about half of the folk who had come across on the Mayflower died before spring.

And yet that autumn, as they gathered their first harvest, they did not wallow in miseries that they had overcome but rather they celebrated with a feast of Thanksgiving to God for the blessings He had bestowed upon them! And so many families since have carried on the tradition of handing each person at the Thanksgiving table five kernels of corn. A glass is passed around, and as each person drops in their kernels they share five things to be grateful for this year.

I humbly present my list:

1 - My children. I am so proud of the people they have become, and continue to become (as none of us stay the same always!). I am proud to have had a part in their lives!


2 - My family! We have shared joys and sorrows, we have celebrated together marriages and births and good fortunes, and we have grieved over disappointments and set-backs and loved ones taken too soon and others taken in their time.  I am fortunate that I have brothers that I consider among my best friends - I know how very rare this is! And I am fortunate that they married women I count among my best friends. 


3 - My nieces, wee and not-so-wee. Yes, I know technically they are family, but there is more than just the "auntie to niece" relationship - these precious little souls inspire me!


4 - Good friends who have stood with me and by me thru the years - friends who are indeed family!


5 - Plentiful healthy and delicious food - that I am "free from want" - true want, not the sort of "want" that the adverts try to convince us is real! 

Santa Claus and Appollo 8

The Santa wars are alive and well on the homeschooling and parenting blogs these days! There are some (like me) who enjoy Santa but focus on Christ in Christmas, there are some who follow the secularized Santa version of the holiday exclusively, and many more who believe that any reference to Santa is anti-Christian idolatry. And, to be honest, on some days I can see their point! Christmas in our modern culture has come very far from its intended purpose.

When Matt was younger, I enjoyed the mythical Santa with him - but we always focused on what "real" Christmas was all about. And now with the wee nieces I also enjoy Santa - and at the same time we watch the Little Drummer Boy and Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey together and talk about the baby and the star and the promise. A gentle introduction into the true meaning of the season :)

And for a little Santa fun from my childhood, here is a bit from the actual transcript of all Apollo 8 radio contact:

089:34:19 Mattingly: Hello, Apollo 8. Loud and clear.
089:34:25 Lovell: Roger. Please be informed there is a Santa Claus.
089:34:31 Mattingly: That's affirmative. You're the best ones to know.

Keeping Christmas Preparation in Perspective

My family has simplified Christmas over the years, and the season requires some planning to keep it simple.

Please keep in mind that I am no saint - I have wrestled with my own holiday demons, including envy and avarice, and while they may be in abeyance at this moment, I know that doesn't mean I can sit back and assume they will not creep back into my life.

Choosing simplicity means making choices against clutter and chaos and materialism every day - some days it seems like I am making these choices every moment.

Choosing simplicity is a lifestyle that brings me a great deal of peace, as I allow myself to live differently, to become more true to myself and less caught up in what Madison Avenue is selling this week - but trying doesn't always mean I am successful. That is one of the reasons I write - to remind myself about my goals and to hold myself accountable...

My focus is on a spiritual Christmas. After all, Christmas is a religious High Holy Day, not a secular celebration.

Christmas is the birth of Hope, the Light shining in the darkness. 

Christmas is not about maxing out credit cards, competitive gifting, or whining children begging for everything they see in the commercials.

Altho Santa can have an appropriate place in the Christmas celebration (and does in our home), he should not be allowed as an excuse for shopaholic behavior and he does not replace Jesus as the focal point of Christmas.

One of my top tips for sanity at the holidays is turning off all television. 

We no longer have television at all in our home, so the sheer volume of toy/junk ads aimed at our nation's children always surprises me when I am visiting others. Turning off the telly helps to deflect this media blitz, and to stop the annoying "gimmes" that sp many children develop.

Our Advent wreath and our creche come out the first Sunday of Advent, so that the spiritual preparation for the season stays foremost in our minds. Lighting the candles, reflecting upon the theme of the week, and saying a short prayer helps to focus anticipation. Keeping the "Reason for the Season" in its proper role helps to keep rampant materialism and consumerism at bay.

I usually buy a Christmas tree the Second or Third Sunday of Advent, and decorate it with lights, ribbons, and simple ornaments. We play favorite carols at the piano or on iTunes, and  enjoy the pretty display. Some years, when we have small tots expected, I place pieces from my Santa Village under the tree - which creates an effect of a snowy mountain landscape.

How do you keep Christmas in perspective?

In Remembrance

"And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?

Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again."

On this day, Armistice Day, we honor fallen warriors. We honor the blood sacrifice that millions of men, women and children made during "The Great War" - also known as "The War to End All Wars". This day was created as a day of remembrance in the US by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919, and then extended permanently by an Act of Congress in 1938 as "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."

In 1954, Congress amended the Act, replacing "Armistice" with Veterans - to honor all Veterans of all wars. And in the US today, we honor those who chose to serve and die in the wars of several generations: World Wars 1 and 2, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq...

And today in Paris, for the very first time since that Armistice in 1918, the leaders of France and Germany came together to honor the moment the guns were silenced - to lay wreaths for the dead, to mourn the horror and destruction their two countries shared, "to jointly commemorate the suffering and to honor the memory of the combatants and celebrate the peace of which they dreamed at the bottom of their trenches."

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “I know that what has gone before cannot be erased. But there is a power, a power which helps us and which can help us bear what has passed: reconciliation.”

Let there be Peace on Earth!

I'm in love with him and I feel fine...

For the first years M and I were a couple, M felt that Valentine's Day was "a commercial holiday - I refuse to support it - I can tell you I love you whenever I want and not be dictated to by Hallmark and the candy companies!"
So I wrote cute little love notes to him and truly didn't mind. After all, I insisted upon loving a man who told me my eyes were beautiful... like pond algae...I knew what I was getting into.

Then, we grew into a more romantic phase - when he called me his little turtledove with a straight face, and brought me beautiful flowers on random "they made me think of you" days.

Tragedy struck on 9/11 and we grew stronger with each other's support. We had ups and downs afterwards - some of the worst times of my life - but having grown thru them, we are a team and no man can tear us asunder!

Last month, we had our 11 year anniversary. I have known this man since he was a gawky, shy 15 year old track star and I was an awkward, shy 14 year old track wanna-be. We didn't exactly run together, for he was and is far more a talented athlete than I - in fact, he probably would have preferred to toss me off the team altogether! It would be several years before we were on friendly speaking terms.

We are now in our mid-40s, and I love him in small quiet ways and I love him in big gushy, embarrassing ways.

I loved the way he would blush and be all self-conscious when girls would wolf-whistle and call out "great legs!" to him in high school. I love the way he plays piano and completely, unselfconsciously loses himself in the music. I love the way he now needs reading glasses at night when he reads his Bible in bed. I love the way he pursues truth even when it annoys the living daylights out of me. I love the way he ran 2 miles in the middle of the night to the hospital to be with me in the ER when I was hit by a car (I was ok - minor fractures/bruises). I love the way he cried with me when my brother was killed on 9/11. I love the way he eats my cookery experiments and tries to sincerely compliment dishes I know he can't stand. I love the way he helps to care for our home, even though he hates owning "lots of things".

Most of all, I love that he loves me - and that we are truly partners. This week I have been a bit depressed and cranky and I love that he still cares for me and my tender feelings even when I'm being completely unreasonable.

For Valentine's Day, I am making him oreo truffles because he likes sweet things and I have not baked sweet things since Christmas. (Note to self: Muffins do not count as sweet things because they can be eaten as meals?) I am also writing him a mushy love letter outlining why I am glad to have had 11 years with this wonderful man as my own - and 20 years of "on and off" friendship before that!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!