In which I whine

So, it's December 28th and we've been sick since December 22nd. Vacation has been miserable. We slogged through Christmas just because we had to. Michael even missed Christmas eve at my parents. I went and returned home feeling like I was going to die if I didn't get to bed immediately, only to toss and turn and ache so badly I wanted to die. Yeah, it's not been the best holiday. As I write, Michael has run to town, the first time he's left the house in seven days, for more cough drops and McDonalds. I feel miserable and achy and very worried about Stars on Ice being a reality two days from now. So much for a merry Christmas!

Realistc Expectations

Less than a week until Christmas, but more importantly today is Michael's last day at work. We look forward to this long stretch of togetherness all year long. The rub, however, is that I never really am on vacation, because my job is here. Laundry and cooking and housework never go away. So today I will work hard to get ahead. I have two crockpots going...one filled to the brim with scalloped potatoes and ham, one with hamburger mac soup. Perfect more than one meal dinners. Some foods are even better leftover and these both qualify. That should cover today and through the weekend. Jello salad, sugar cookies, all made with the weekend in mind.

 I will clean deeply today, so that I can run over things lightly each day for the next few day. Good is good enough, right? Right. Sheets have been all washed and changed and won't get done again for awhile. We shower daily, so how dirty do sheets really get anyways? All laundry will get done today and then not again until Monday. A girl needs a break from the laundry every now and then. Two days off seem fair, plus no mess in the mudroom that way.

I know my expectations are rarely met for this vacation time. I envision Norman Rockwell and it just isn't real. The food will run out and I will need to make more. Laundry will pile up, no matter how much I want a break. Let's face it, we are a bunch of messy, sinful people... which is exactly why we need Christmas in the first place. Jesus came to our messy, sinful world to redeem us. Not to make life perfect, but to make us his own dear children. Messy, imperfect, hungry children, but His none- the-less. God is good!

50 years of love

Today marks my parents 50th wedding anniversary and that is a lot of days. A lot of good times and bad times and mundane every day times. A lot of health and quite a bit of sickness. Some poor times, some rich times, but mostly just enough with a little left over times. Days of working hard and struggling through and days of fun and laughter. Day after day after day, no matter the circumstance, always, always together. Half a century of love.

The heritage that they have passed to me and my brother and my children is staggering. Fifty years of standing strong together, with never one doubt about it being any other way. They have taught us what faithfulness looks like, what true love is. True love is day after day after day after day being there for someone else, laying down your life for them and enjoying them. I have watched them have fun over the years...snowmobile trips, camp, Lancaster and I have seen them waiting for a doctor to come into the room while the other lies in a hopital bed. I have seen them go through hard things, but at the end of the day it was them together that always made me feel stable and secure even when things were not really stable. What a gift to give your family. Faithfulness and stability and the example of someone who truly enjoys their spouse. I am grateful.

I am certain that they could not have accomplished this longevity, had it not been for Jesus. Early on they found the Lord and as is their way, there was no looking back. He has been the absolute center of their life and therefore their marriage every since. Always, always they looked to him, leaned on him and enjoyed him. He has always been faithful to them, in good times and in hard times. I am beyond thankful for learning to lean on Jesus by seeing them do the same!

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad. I love you so much! Thank you for loving each other every, single day. Thank you for enjoying each other. Thank you for loving the Lord so faithfully.

 And by all means, keep holding hands and never stop kissing in the kitchen!

Christmas again

Another Christmas season. Another tree, more fudge, more gifts. Boys who are men now. Daughters who are such a part of our family that we couldn't imagine it any other way. Time is fluid. It never slows or stills. Believe me, I have tried to stop it...wished for days gone by. No more little ones to read Jothem to, to count down with. No more matchbox cars in stockings, no more models to build.

But we will all be together on Christmas morning and even though I miss the days of squeals over new toys and "Can we come down now?", I am grateful for adults who still want to come home for Christmas. I love this season and I love my family. And I am grateful that we will have eternity together...maybe we win in the time flying by thing after all! God is good!

peace

It's been a quiet, cozy sort of day. The sky is steel gray and the outside is cold, but here in my home the wood fire is toasty. Candles are burning and soup is simmering away in the crockpot. It's sensory heaven in my cozy home.
This past month has been a lovely one. We have remembered how fun it is to play family games at night. Sequence, Wizard, Rummy, Blokus...so much fun to be together. Winter may have her faults, but she forces us to slow down and enjoy our evenings together. I thank her for that. Now if she would just dump a foot of snow on us. I would really like to give my snowshoes a workout. And I know some boys who are yearning to ski.
It looks like our weekend will be more of the same. I am not complaining. God is good!

Faithful God

I think about where we are today versus where we were last year and wonder where will we be next year at this time. I think that God was faithful last year and He will be faithful this year. I think that no matter what happens, this one thing I can count on. God is good. God is very, very good.

My Parents...forty-seven years and counting

I've been sitting here trying to write a post to honor my parents. After all, forty-seven years is a long time in a fallen world. And I am acutely aware of the gift this is to my brother and me. I wrote a whole post about their faithfulness to each other and to their family and the church and God but it seemed so dull. True and noble, but dull, none-the-less. Faithful is the one word that exactly describes them, but it doesn't sound all that thrilling or romantic or exciting. I mean serving each other, even when it isn't fun or what you want to do, day in and day out isn't what romantic movies are made of. Taking care of each others parents, cutting your wife's father's toenails and visiting nursing homes and hospitals isn't the stuff of romantic movies. Making it through financial hard times and lawsuits and the time your kid wrecks your new truck isn't all that exciting. I mean, yes, they stood by each other through thick and thin, through surgeries and lean times, but what really stands out to me and what I clearly remember and suspect may be the true glue is this...

They were always kissing in the kitchen.

And that may just be the secret to their long and faithful marriage. I am following their example closely, so in twenty years, I will know for sure.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! I love you and am proud to have your wonderful example to follow!