Christmas Presents

You know... some of the best Christmas presents are not always found underneath the tree. I found this especially true for me this year.

I'll start with present # 1 my car!

My husband and I have had our car for about 3 years. It's been a great car, nothing fancy, but it always gets us where  we need to go. We've not had any problems with it until a few weeks ago. I began hearing this knocking noise when the car was in park and proceeded to get louder as I put it into drive. Now, I know very little about cars but what I did know is that this noise sounded serious and expensive! Knowing this was probably going to be an expensive repair, but needed to be done, Trevor went ahead and made an appointment to get it fixed. We thought our full warranty on the car had expired, but to our surprise and delight, we had 68 miles left until the expiration. Therefore the expense would be covered through the warranty! God is awesome!

    

Now the second part of this story is that we took the car in to get fixed on Monday, December 20, and did not get it back until yesterday, December 29! Wow, can I say I'm so thankful for my car! Going 9 days without out it has made me appreciate it more.

Christmas Present #2- Rest & Enjoyment:

This present is actually a result of not having my car for a week! Fortunately, because I was on Christmas break when my car was being fixed, there weas no need for a second vehicle. Thankfully, I had planned ahead and had purchased most all of my Christmas presents, except one, (don't worry, I was able to purchase it by the end of the week.. thanks to my husband!) Therefore, I had no need to be out or to go shopping. Although, I must say I'm also very thankful for friends who were willing to share their vehicle with us as we traveled to my parents house for Christmas. I can't express into words how restful and enjoyable my week was. I was able to slow down and take time to really enjoy the true meaning of Christmas. If I would've had my car, I know for sure I would've found a reason to go places and buy things that weren't necessary and I would've missed out on the rest and quiet that was found by staying at home. I guess I've learned that staying on the go is an esy way of keeping you distracted from what's important. It can also keep you distracted from what God maybe trying to speak to you. I was able to unclutter my mind and enjoy rest. My simple week was a blessing from the Lord!

Christmas present #3 Completing our Dave Ramsey class:
We finished our last class on Monday, December 20, and have gained so many valuable tools to help us live financially in a way that pleases the Lord. We are currently working toward baby step #2, which is is the debt snowball. Our goal is to have this completed, being debt free except for our house, in 15 months. We continue to pray and use Godly wisdom as we plan and prepare for our future!

Christmas present # 4 Health InsuranceBack in November, I unexpectedly lost my insurance benefit through my job. As this happened so quickly and suddenly, my husband and I were trying to make some decisions and explore our options. Well, the day I received the news at my job, it just so happened to be the day after our Dave Ramsey class on insurance. I found this to be odd but at the same time I felt comforted believing that God had a plan. Eventhough I was surprised, He wasn't. And actually, Trevor and I had talked about looking into getting insurance apart from my work because it was so expensive. Well, we were able to contact one of Dave's insurance reps in our town and were able to purchase health insurance with her, which was much cheaper than I had before with the same coverage and with dental added on!! WOOT! WOOT! Again, I give all praise to God! He is so awesome that He is able to take our negative situations and turn them into blessings! :)

Christmas present #5 is two- fold: Snow and FamilyThis year for Christmas we traveled to my parents house in SW Virginia (a.ka. snow captial of VA!). We arrived on Christmas Eve and awakened Christmas morning to a beautiful snow fall. Now they already had snow on the ground, several inches in fact, but it was beautiful to watch and it sure did encourage the "Christmas" atmosphere. Now, it became a bit of a traveling issue trying to return home but it still made me warm and fuzzy all over!

While we were at my parents, I was able to see my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece and nephew that I don't get to see often enough. We had such a wonderful time together. Of course it's always fun to watch the kids open their presents. But it was definitely a gift for me just to be with my family. The gifts under the tree will in years be forgotten but the time and memories spent talking and sharing with my family will always be cherished.

Ok, so I had some extra special presents this year! This has definitely been an unsual Christmas but one where I know I'll look back and be able to see God working around me... even if at the time I didn't always see it as a blessing.



I'm praying that you'll see and experience the overwhelming comfort in knowing that God has not forgotten you and that you are placed in the shadow of his wings!

The Blessing of Family

For the past six years, my husband and I have enjoyed a tradition of having both of our parents together at our house the second weekend in December. Our parents live about 5 hours apart and don't get to see each other very often. Thankfully, our parents get along well and enjoy each other's company. So... after moving back to Virginia several years ago and being fortunate enough that we live about halfway between them, we decided to invite them both to our house each year for  a little Christmas celebration. We always have such a great time together. Each year I try to plan something fun we can do together on Saturday evening. This year we went to the Hotel Roanoke to see all of the beautiful and interesting trees they have on display.



Our parents usually arrive on Saturday and I take our moms shopping while the guys usually watch football. Then in the evening I cook dinner and afterward we head out for our fun activity. This year Trevor and I decided to take our parents to Cracker Barrell for dinner! :)

 I always look forward to this special time.

Trevor and I were thinking back from the time we began this tradition and and all of the fun things we've done together. Here are just a few....

attending Thomas Road Baptist Church's "The Living Christmas Tree"

going to the Festival of Lights downtown

taking them to Dickens of a Christmas downtown and seeing the Christmas parade (it was SO cold)

going to the movies to see The Nativity

and many more- 

and I must acknowledge the year I had a virus all weekend (ugh!).... can't forget that... NOT FUN!

Our family is truly a blessing to us. We are so thankful for the family God has blessed us with. I am also glad that Trevor and I started this tradition. I know, as I have already experienced, that one day we will look back over these years and cherish the special times we were able to have both of our parents together in our home. 

I pray that everyone has a wonderful Christmas celebrating the true meaning..... Jesus, the light of the world! 

Blessings!

Operation Christmas Child

One of the highlights of my Christmas season has become helping out with Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse run by Franklin Graham. For those of you who do not know, the ministry sends shoe boxes filled with gifts for children around the world, in order to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ.

For the second year in a row, I was able to be a part of a team from my church to travel to Charlotte, NC, and help in one of the warehouses where all of the preparation happens before the boxes are shipped. It is amazing to see all of the volunteers and workers.

My description of it is like this..."Santa's Workshop".

It was very organized with a leader at each station. We were set up in an assembly line. Each person had a job they were responsible for and then passed the box to the next person. The last person loaded the shoe boxes in large packing boxes and sent them off to be shipped.

Here is the  group from my church working...

Here is my hubby... he was placed at a different station. I guess his "muscles" were needed more somewhere else!

As I was taking a break, I had to take a picture of what I found in the restroom.... scary I know... but no one saw me take this picture....

Ok, so you know all of those hand soaps and lotions that were put in the shoe boxes .... you guessed it.... they put them in the bathrooms to be used for the workers.  Let this be a lesson to those of you who do not read the instructions about what to place in the boxes. Anything liquid can not be shipped, even if it's in a plastic bag! Therefore, it is taken out of the boxes and replaced with a "filler" and either used at the warehouse or sent to a local homeless shelter or ministry. But, it is kind of funny walking into the restroom to find a plethora of soaps and lotions... needless to say, I took a little longer in the restroom trying to decide which soap and which lotion I would use..... I can have a difficult time making a decision... especially with so many choices!!!! As it's hard to see in the picture, the counter top wraps around the other wall with many more lotions and soaps!!



Here are all of the countries the boxes from this center were going....

Needless to say, we had an amazing day. I was so blessed to be a part of such an awesome ministry... even if it was just a little part.

If you are interested in knowing more about Operation Christmas Child... check out this website:

operationchristmaschild.org