Christmas is Over?

It's been a lovely Christmas here. Normally, I would start to feel sad that it is all over, but not this year. There is too much to look forward to in the coming year to mourn Christmas' passing.

Perhaps, it is more than just the happy things that are coming up.
Christmas to me this year was just more meaningful. Without the true hope of Christmas it would be very shallow and meaningless.

I will share a few photos from our weekend travels.

There was a lovely snow up north. 

We had oodles and gobs of cookies!  (Still do!) 

We have a new radio for camping and emergencies. 

And...

Lots of fun with these guys. 

It snowed!

Here's a song that makes me smile.  I hope you will agree. 

Have a Merry Little Christmas

With only 10 days left until Christmas, I am looking at my long list and crossing off things that do not go along with my desire to have a more simple life.  One of those items is blogging.  So, I am going to take a little bloggy holiday.  I do plan to visit blogs, but probably won't update much until the first of the year. 

Have a wonderful Christmas.

~Jenn

Back on the Right Track

Almost a year ago now, we got the family a Wii for Christmas. A week later, my Christmas dream was fulfilled by my MIL, as she got me the Wii Balance Board and Wii Fit. Faithfully, I mastered the games and really enjoyed them. Then we moved, which sent me into a fog and I gave up on my Wii Fit. And worst of all, I gained 20# back that I worked so hard to loose going to Weight Watchers the previous summer. (It is amazingly effortless for me to gain weight!)

Anyway, that is the past and I am finally motivated to go on now. Mostly, the motivation came watching my Grandma fall two weeks ago on Thanksgiving, when she broke her ankle and had to have surgery. Long ago she gave up her mobility. I resolved that I was not going to do the same thing.

My new plan is to get on my Wii Fit Monday through Friday right after my husband leaves for work and do 15 to 20 minutes. Doesn't seem like a lot to ask, but it takes half an hour with the body testing and everything.

I've noticed some good changes in this short two weeks. I am feeling stronger. I am feeling muscles ache, too. My weight is down 5 pounds. My mental state is more positive.

Yesterday was the first day that I really did not feel like doing my program. I sat for 30 minutes on the couch arguing with myself. I didn't want to get on and be weighed because the night before I attended a Christmas party and I ate cheesecake. I did not want to see the numbers. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the numbers went down! Yippee! And again today the numbers were down. I am now really hoping that I can get through the next 2 weeks without gaining those 5 pounds back.

Oh this time of year is so hard! I usually bake like crazy in December. I am just not going to do it. Will the earth stop on its axis? (hee,hee.) Nope. My family will probably complain, so I do think I will try to make one small batch for each of them, their favorites, but I will do this right before Christmas and we will limit ourselves to eating them just on Christmas Eve and day. Lord give me strength!

My resolve will need to remain strong. I have two Christmas parties to attend this weekend. The weekends are always hardest on me. I do so well during the week and then the weekends come and I eat. I think I am going to do my Wii Fit this weekend and see if that helps. It can't hurt!

So, how about you? Do you struggle with any of these issues? What are you doing to get through the next two weeks?

The Antique Mall

We pass miles of old dishes just like Grandma's.  Bits of history are mixed with retro.  Toys from my childhood are hidden in unexpected nooks.  Then my 11 year old finds what his heart has been desiring, a manual typewriter.  My heart sings.  Yes, he gets it that not everything worthy comes from a box store.  "Mom, I like old things."  Me too.  Me too.  This Christmas is going to be really special.  Old dolls made new.  An old typewriter gets a new writer.  Trains from a hobby store.  Just enough and nothing that would date itself to this age. 

It's Not That Bad...

So the sun shines, another day begins and the world is seeming to go on.  It's difficult to remain
blue when the people you are mourning for are not themselves sad.  They are turning to the Lord and waiting on His provision.  I feel ashamed to think how heartbroken I was/am for them.  They are solid in their faith and a wonderful example to me. 

I am not in the mood to write much here today.  I just didn't want to leave that other post out there with the possibility of people thinking I was hanging in a bad place.  I am not.  I am choosing to trust as well.  Thanks for your comments and prayers.  They are still needed, the prayers, that is.  Maybe we will move Heaven.  It could happen. 
~Jenn

When Trials Come

I find my mind wandering back to the same topic.  I should be engaged in our day.  It's just that my heart is so heavy today as some of my close extended family is going through a very hard time right now.

God is pruning and refining before our very eyes and it is painful to watch.  My first instinct is to want to protect them, but there is really nothing that I can do except pray and thank God they are walking with Him through this trial. 

I also thank Him for preparing ahead of all of this to remove me from the direct path of this trial, as it would have devastated my world.  But at the same time, I struggle with feeling guilty because He chose to be gracious to me and so far not to them.  Who can understand the ways of the LORD, yet His good. 

So, what else can I do.  I will wait on Him to rescue my precious family and give thanks for loving them enough to allow this pain.  That is all I can do. 

Psalm 3  (NLT)

A psalm of David, regarding the time David fled from his son Absalom.

1 O Lord, I have so many enemies;
so many are against me.
2 So many are saying,
“God will never rescue him!”

Interlude[a]


3 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me;
you are my glory, the one who holds my head high.
4 I cried out to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy mountain.
Interlude

5 I lay down and slept,
yet I woke up in safety,
for the Lord was watching over me.
6 I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies
who surround me on every side.


7 Arise, O Lord!
Rescue me, my God!
Slap all my enemies in the face!
Shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Victory comes from you, O Lord.
May you bless your people.

Interlude







Footnotes:

a.Psalm 3:2 Hebrew Selah. The meaning of this word is uncertain, though it is probably a musical or literary term. It is rendered Interlude throughout the Psalms.