Merry Christmas!

Sunday Morning Freeze

Today being the first official day of winter, I'd like to lodge my first official protest of winter:

Enough of the below zero temps already!

Now, I don't mean to be a big whiner, and I have lived my entire life in the northern parts of the USA, but c'mon! -40 windchill?!?!?! Is that really necessary?

I am very relieved to see that the forecast for the rest of the week has us in the above zero temps. Christmas itself should be quite nice, in the twenties. But this is the second Sunday in a row that I've had cancellation in services!

Last Sunday all services got cancelled. Today, it's just the 9:45 service. It's a bummer, because it was supposed to be the Christmas program that Lil' Princess is in, but its been rescheduled for next Sunday. The 11:15 service in the church in the town down the road is still on, and the church 30 miles away is having their Christmas program service at 4 pm today.

The high is supposed to be -5 today. Whooppeee!

It's -14 right now, and I worry about the many elderly folks going out in the cold, about my folks far out on their ranches traveling 30 miles to get to church....

Dad, I blame you that for the big worrying part of my nature, just so you know.

So Lil' Princess and I will bundle up in a ridiculous amount of layers in a little bit, and head to the 11:15 service. Which will probably have 6 people at it. But despite the cold, the Word will be preached, and Holy Communion will be shared, and the Holy Spirit will do it's work. Even on a grumpy heart like mine this morning!

Friday Five - Christmas To-Do List

Given the craziness of this time of year, RevGalBlogPals are keeping the Friday Five simple this week.

"Tell us five things you need to accomplish before Christmas Eve."

1. Mail Christmas gifts - I just have my nephews' gifts left to send, so I'm doing pretty well this year. They are wrapped and in a box, so just need to seal it up, put a mailing address on it, and actually make it to our local post office during the tiny window of time that it is open for business on Saturday mornings.

2. Write sermon for this Sunday - two of my churches have Christmas programs, which will be oh so very cute and inspiring. (Lil' Princess stole the show at rehearsals, her enthusiam is awesome!) I have a part in the services, but don't have to preach. BUT at the third church, which has no children, I am on for the sermon. I am finding it very hard to get motivated to write it, though I love the Gospel lesson. Adding to the uncertainty of it all, the temps are supposed to be between -10 and -17 Sunday morning, with a high of -4 for the day. We usually cancel worship when it gets that cold, since we have alot of elderly folks. So who knows what actually will happen on Sunday?!?!

3. Write Christmas Eve sermon - for reasons I can't quite figure out, instead of a worship service of lessons and carols sans sermon, I created a service with sermon. Fa la la la la, la la la la. Don't get me wrong, I love preaching Christmas. It's just knowing that time is running short, and that Lil' Princess is going to be home full time now...which means I will have a constant little shadow wanting constant attention!

4. Finish baking - I did baking for our open house, but those treats are long gone. Now I need to do some for our Christmas celebration. I don't plan to do a whole lot, since it's just the three of us this year, but at the very least I'd like to get some spritz cookies and candied pecans made.

5. Finish planning our Christmas meals - this is the first year of my ENTIRE life that I won't be celebrating with my family, and won't have lutefisk and swedish meatballs on the table. So, I'm thinking ham, since my family members really like it, and it's a no-brainer to cook. I am planning a special Christmas day brunch that I'm excited about; Belgian waffles with blueberries, strawberries, Cool whip and maple syrup to choose from for toppings. Yum!!!! Add some hot chocolate or hot tea and a long lazy morning spent in pajamas, and I think we will have an absolutely lovely day! (Especially once Lil' Princess sees what Santa left her in her stocking - my girly girl's cup will be running over)

Below Zero

Today the temperature is negative fourteen, with a windchill bringing it down to negative fifty-two.

Needless to say, we're not straying far from home today!

All our services were cancelled yesterday, and Lil' Princess had school cancelled today. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I find I'm feeling a little stir crazy - after being stuck inside for four days in a row, I am so ready to get out! I still have some Christmas presents to get, so I'm hoping to get away one day this week.

Well, back to Mary Poppins...we're about half way through, so that means we're almost to one of my favorite songs, "Chim Chimmini"

Giving Thanks, One by Three

We're leaving in just a little bit to begin our journey to our friends' house. We'll get 5 hours of the driving under our belts today, and stay at a nice hotel tonight. It has a great pool, with a curly slide, and is next to a mall, and I booked a nicer room than I usually would get (I'm cheap!). Then tomorrow, we get an early start, and finish the last 4 to 5 hours of the drive, and arrive to celebrate Thanksgiving with some dear friends from college, and their three kids. The eldest is my godchild. We haven't been to their home in over five years.

I am so thankful for friends, and the opportunity to spend time with them. These are folks who know us well and love us anyway. Who despite distance, occasional crabbiness on all our parts, and busyness of life, have remained close and dear to us. True friends are precious. You can tell them the most vulnerable thoughts and events, share theirs, laugh, cry, eat, stay up too late, tease each other out of grumpiness, and just truly BE who you are with each other. What a gift.

Heavenly Father, Eternal Mother, I give you thanks for the precious gift of friendship. I thank you for the people who you have blessed my life with, and the lives of my hubby and daughter. Bless them and keep them. Help us to treasure these relationships, to tend them, to nourish them, to never take them for granted. Help me to be open to New friendships in places and people I may not expect or may not be looking for, open my heart and life to the love you would have me share. Thank you for the amazing friendship of my husband, out of which blossomed our love. Keep it strong. All these thing I pray trusting in the work of your Holy Spirit, and joyful in the gift of your Son our Savior. Amen.

I am blessed beyond all measure.

Giving Thanks, One by Two

I am grateful for this beautiful world, this flawed, but gift of a creation that God has placed into our stewardship and keeping...

-for fresh fallen snow glittering in the moonlight

-for Peter the rabbit and his family nibbling at the corn beneath the bird feeder

-for the sunset over the buttes

-for all the national and state parks that have taken my breath away

-for memories of sumac hill, and the joy of growing up in the woods of MN

-for fields of wheat, golden in the sun

-for antelope running gracefully along a ridge

-for all the ways the world speaks life and hope and the presence of God

Mothering God, you brought your children to life, and nurture us under the shelter of your wings. I praise you for the wonder of your created world and the complex beauty of all that you have called into being. Help me, and all of your people, to gratefully and fully take upon ourselves the calling of steward, and deal gently and lovingly with what you have put in our care. Most of all, help us to see not simply that which we can use for our purposes, but that which you have created out of love and joy. Cleanse and renew our attitudes and actions to reflect your will. You are our source, our hope, our eternal Mother. All thanks and praise to you! Amen.

I am blessed beyond measure.

Giving Thanks, One by One

My girl woke up smiling today. She beamed at me from her pink sheets, and had to tell me about the BIG number she knows. She then counted from 30 to 39. Then she told us that in school she learned that another word for a baby pig is a shoat. (sp?)

All this before I'd even gotten a chance to get her clothing out of the dresser.

While we waited for the bus, we wrote our names in the snow using really big sticks, she wanted to use the one that's taller than she is. Then she bounded into the bus, got into her seat, and blew kisses through the window to me.

In this Thanksgiving week, I'm doing some intentional blessing counting here on the blog, and I have to start with Lil' Princess, our miracle baby. After ten years of marriage, a miscarriage, and almost giving up hope, she arrived in our lives, and has been an evolving miracle ever since.

Thank you God for my precious girl, for her love of her family, her wonderful imagination, her enthusiasm for life. Even when she's a grumpy little pain in the morning. I remember so well all those years I begged you for a child, like Hannah, like Rachel, though I didn't have to wait as long as they. All those years you stayed with me and hubby, and now in these years, in the fears and guilts of parenting, you continue to abide and comfort, guide and prod. Help us to be the best parents we can be to this child you have entrusted to our care. Walk with her, protect her, and nurture her flame of faith. Most of all, thank you, thank you, thank you for our girl. Amen.

I am blessed beyond measure.