Tamara Henion Photography

Oops!  Just when I thought Christmas 2013 was a wrap, I see something that was left out.

There it stood in plain sight: my Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. How could it have been overlooked? That’s an ironic thought when you put it in the context of the story itself. The rest of the gang was thinking quite the contrary, how could it not be overlooked.

Yet, like Charlie Brown Christmas, we both had it in our possession.

 It’s a quiet reminder that though the day we choose to celebrate Christ’s birth has come and gone for another year, the reason it’s  a joyous occasion at all needs to visited-in our hearts and homes-every day.

Although I have to put away Charlie Brown Christmas tree for now, I’ll continue to celebrate Jesus’ birthday.

 I’ll choose to remember that He came as that babe in Bethlehem with a purpose. He was born to die… and to live again.

Easter is just 106 days away!

It was 1996.  Just yesterday in my cleaning and organizing spurt -that didn’t last nearly long enough-I found a dusty, red spiral notebook. None of those are unusual at my house: dust, notebooks, finding old things…  I digress.  After swiping away the dirt and wondering why I had written “Private Property” on the cover, I rolled back the cover and began reading as my own handwriting script filled page after page.

Mid-way through, I get to the part where, as a new mom, I was praying for my baby son.  I asked the Lord not for the  things my little boy would do in his life, but rather who’d he become.  I wanted him to learn to love the Lord. I prayed he would have a kind heart and seek after God’s heart. I could quote it all here, but my words are not the important part.  Come with me now,  18 years later to today.

My baby son will be 20 years old this year.  Like a lot of 19 year old young men, he spends part of his life every day with little buds in his ears and  fingers on a keyboard.  There he sat doing the same thing he does day in and day out. Just him and his savior. Today he got up from the table for some reason, and about that time I was scuttling through the kitchen.  His ‘stuff’ was sitting predictably in his ordinary place, so I am surprised I took a second look at all.

But I did.

Sure am glad the Lord prompted my heart to pause and reflect on what ordinary looks like, and where it comes from.

…and as I type the tears cloud my vision.

Now all I have to say is, Thank you, Father. I am forever grateful.

Bless this son of ours with your goodness and mercy. Continue to use his life and his gifts to bring honor and glory to your holy name.

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Was Christmas really just 8 days ago? Really?

It was a simple but nice morning here at home, and everyone was happy giving and receiving special gifts from one another. To be sure, my 9 year old was happy with every gift he got-so happy that it was on to the next gift in record time. We could tell when one was more special than the next, because he’d go back to that opened gift and stay with it awhile more.  I loved watching that.  If you ask him what his best Christmas gift ever was, he’d  probably respond with whichever one he most recently played with- just like any other little boy who loves his toys would.

My oldest is 19 and it’s harder to buy gifts for young men who love baseball and, well, baseball when their equipment needs are well stocked.  However,  gift cards for his favorite restaurant and itunes cards speak pretty nicely to him. But, what fun are too many of those?  Then there’s cash.  Funny how starting your own job gives cash a fresh value-and it is always nice, right? But this is us. We often do things differently such as wrapping up an old baseball bat because we knew he’d be anticipating a new one. (I mean, a baseball bat in a box is pretty telling.) That was a fun year, and don’t worry, he did get his new bat!  This year we had a likely parents-only-funny moment as we were shopping in Target for an itunes card. We walked by the sweaters…and there it was staring right at us. A grey shawl collar knit sweater in size small. Yep. My 6’4″ 285 lb son was getting a sweater in small.  Not that size would matter too much because he hasn’t worn a sweater since he was 4 years old.  I wish you could have seen his face as he pulled that gem out of the box Christmas morning!  Funniest thing was watching him dig deeper into the then empty container. What did he think was in there?   That was a great way to give a gift card (if you ask us)!  Feel free to  use that idea  for yourselves next year when finding your own best Christmas gift ever. 😀

I do love giving my family gifts. I love watching their faces and their excitement. I love hearing their hearts come out in words as they thank us for something that is special to them. In that regard, I take my time when it comes to opening my own gifts. This year, the joy was in my sons’ faces as they eagerly awaited my response to the gifts they had lovingly chosen and wrapped for me.  Do I love Hobby Lobby? YES! Can it-or anything else-compare to the message on this envelope?  NEVER.  I love my boys and the best Christmas gift I’ve ever gotten, “To the best mom on earth,” and it was for ME!

Proverbs 31:28 Her sons rise up and call her blessed.

Somethings simply can not be underestimated.