Tis the Season to be Crazy...Fa La La La La La La La La

The past 5 days have been nutty at best. The schedule of events this past week has left me longing for a day of absolutely nothing. While we have enjoyed the culmination of many practices and activities of the kids, it has just been too much.

Tuesday night was D's orchestra concert. The weather was horrible with snow flying and very slippery roads. Thankfully we did not have far to drive. I feel like this is the last of so many things for her. I know that after this year many things will change. It is her last year in elementary school which is certainly bittersweet. She played her cello wonderfully and we had great seats right up close to her. The other added bonus was that B sat still during the entire concerts. Clearly, this was a miracle!

Wednesday night the kids had Christmas program practice at church and I had to work. I normally don't work nights, but we had our major fundraising event for the Foundation called Festival of Light. All of the auction items were beautiful and it was nice to see some of the decorated trees being donated back to the community.

Thursday night was the "Winter" concert at school. It was a LONG night. Since the concert started at 6:45 we arrived around 6:15 to get seats. Thankfully we arrived early (which is not typical for us) because shortly thereafter it was standing room only. The concert concluded around 8:45 which means we were there for 2 1/2 hours. B did not sit still for this one. In fact he was down right miserable, which made us miserable as well. K & D did a great job. I love that K is so enthusiastic during his singing. His facial expressions and dance moves are great! D is so grown up and did a beautiful job as well.

Friday night we unfortunately had to attend a visitation at the funeral home. It is difficult to see someone so young pass away. We are praying for peace for her family during this time. I pray she is in the arms of the Lord who has taken away all of her pain & suffering. It was K's first time seeing a person who had died. He was very nervous at first to go in but after lots of reassurance and answering any questions he did fine. I want my kids to know that death is a part of life and it's nothing to be scared of provided you have the assurance of being saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord for your gift of salvation!

Saturday morning K had basketball and D had church program practice. K was supposed to be at church practice too, but since his part was a song (which he knew) and basically standing around in the "stable" I thought it would be more productive to send him to basketball. D had a lead role as one of God's Angels (based on the old TV show Charlie's angels) so she definitely needed to be at church. K also had a birthday party to go to in the afternoon. Later in the day nana came over to watch the kids so my darling husband and I could go to a Christmas bingo party for my work. It was nice to actually go out alone and do an adult activity. We didn't win anything, but we got to eat without having to cut up anyone elses food which was a huge bonus. Afterwards we went out to Target to do a little Christmas shopping.

This morning we had the Christmas program at church. It was really well done and all of the kids and coordinators of the program did a GREAT job. D was one of God's Angels and had to go on a mission to see Joseph. K was a chicken in the stable. Everyone said it was the first time they saw a chicken at the manger. I guess there's a first time for everything. After the program we had potluck so I got out of cooking lunch...yeah! When we finally got home we did nothing. I even got to take a little nap.

Our family is moving into a season of quiet reflection. We look forward to enjoying the true meaning of Christmas in these last weeks before the celebration of Christ's birth. This season is not about gifts or events or finding the right name brand to give. It is about our Lord and saviour coming into the world as a child to ultimately deliver us. What a miracle!

I'm praying that you are all enjoying the season and finding the time for quiet reflection. Blessings to you all...

Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’
Matthew 1:23